Tag Archives: TV

TV Review – Star Trek Discovery: Through the Valley of Shadows

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TL;DR – In our darkest moments we show our true strength or failure, and be glad we had Pike on our side.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Star Trek Discovery: Through the Valley of Shadows. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

Review –

Things are starting to really hit the fan in Star Trek Discovery as a secret sentient AI is positioning itself to wipe out all sentient life and it has started using nanites to replicate real people. That’s a problem, a real problem, a ‘resistance is futile’ kind of problem. But never fear because the red lights are back and this week brings us revelations of the future and connections with the past.

So to set the scene, with the knowledge that Control now has 50% of the sphere’s data and that there is no more Red Angel to help because her time crystal was destroyed in last week’s Perpetual Infinity, everyone is a little bit on edge. No one more than Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) who watched her mum come back from the dead, be mostly disinterested in her, and then get sucked back into the future with no hope of returning all in a space of a day. That is going to be upsetting. But another of the red bursts has emerged this time over the Klingon planet Boreth, a sore spot for Ash (Shazad Latif) as it means reconnecting with L’Rell (Mary Chieffo) now the Mother of the Klingon Empire. As well as this, a Section 31 ship had an odd transmission and Michael is desperate to find Control and this might be the way to do it. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.     

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TV Review – Star Trek Discovery: Perpetual Infinity

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TL;DR – Um wait, what, um did it just get all Borg up in here?

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Star Trek Discovery: Perpetual Infinity. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

Review –

This is an episode of reconnecting, finding purpose and watching that all fall apart because that is how life is. This week we look upon the precipice where nearly everything is falling into place and we discover that the big bad might not be as unfamiliar as we once thought.

So to set the scene, at the end of last week’s Red Angel Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) was brought back to life as the trap the set to capture the Red Angel worked. Only to discover that the Red Angel was not Michael (I mean causality theory should have let you see that one coming) but was instead her mother Gabrielle (Sonja Sohn). Today we get to see it all happen when one moment Mike (Kenric Green), Gabrielle, and Michael (Arista Arhin) were sharing dinner and the next thing the Klingon’s arrive. Gabrielle jumps into the Red Angel suit in the hopes of jumping back an hour to warn them but is instead thrown 900 years into the future at which point her suit malfunctions because no matter what she does, it keeps bring her back to that point 900 years in the future. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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TV Review – The OA Part 1 and 2

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TL;DR – This is a show that entrances you and then just when you think you have everything worked out it shifts the game completely and you are left in awe with what just happened.

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

The OA Part 1 and 2. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

I have tried to keep up with all the new sci-fi shows dropping on Netflix, but occasionally one of them slips through the cracks, and this week we are looking at one of those with the brilliantly odd The OA. When a friend highly suggested that I give it a watch I thought I would get it an episode or two to see how it was and then at some point during Part 2 I looked up to see that it was 3 am and I truly wondered if I should watch the two last episodes then and there, so that should give you an indication as to how good the show is.

So to set the scene, we open with a rainy day as people drive over a bridge when someone records a woman in white running across to the edge of the bridge and then falling off into the water below. She survives, but won’t tell anybody her name or where she is from. Meanwhile in a small town, in a housing estate that was never finished, Nancy (Alice Krige) and Able (Scott Wilson) are going about their day when someone sends them a link to something online and they watch at their long lost daughter Prairie (Brit Marling) jump off a bridge. They race to her hospital, retelling the story of how their daughter went missing one day seven years ago, they race into her hospital bed where the woman in front of them goes by The OA not Prairie and does not recognise who just walked in, that is until she touches Nancy’s face. For you see when Prairie was taken she was blind but now she can see. Now, from this point onwards, we will be looking at Part 1 and Part 2 as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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TV Review – The Orville: Lasting Impressions

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TL;DR – It looks at the addictions we could have, to objects, to people, to the past, and how sometimes we need help to get us out of it.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

The Orville: Lasting Impressions. Image Credit: Fox Network.

Review –

As we continue through Season Two of The Orville, tonight we take a step back from the big galaxy-ending conflicts to take a smaller quieter look at the past. However, while this is a smaller story, it does not mean that it doesn’t pack a punch. It explores what it means to be alive, what it means to get lost, and what it means to not be able to give up.

So to set the scene, in the far future of The Orville there is a quaint moment when a time capsule near Albany is dug up from 2015. In the time capsule, there were all sort of artefacts from the time period and such a diverse collection that Dr Sherman (Tim Russ) is taking them to be displayed in a museum. However, there is one area where they are at a loss, in the capsule, there is a mobile phone, but the battery is long been depleted. Well, the crew of the Orville will not stand for that so they work together and finally get all the power back revealing the phone was owned by Laura (Leighton Meester) who left a message for whoever would find it and who instantly captivates Gordon (Scott Grimes). Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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TV Review – Brooklyn Nine-Nine: The Therapist

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TL;DR – It take a moment amongst all the shenanigans to really explore some of the characters.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: The Therapist. Image Credit: NBC Studios.

Review –

There is a certain joy that comes with seeing one of your favourite shows come back from the brink, but there is also a little hesitation. Will they be able to capture that magic again? Will they evolve as a show or will they keep everything the same to keep the people who push for the reinstatement happy. Well, today we get to see a character have a major realisation about their past.   

So to set the scene, Charles (Joe Lo Truglio) comes to Jake (Andy Samberg) with a juicy potential murder. A Dr Tate (David Paymer) has come to them with a concern about some of his patients, for you see a husband had called him out of the blue and acted out of character and then they did not turn up to couples counselling. Meanwhile, a parcel was mailed to Amy (Melissa Fumero) that was clearly meant for Terry (Terry Crews) and Captain Holt (Andre Braugher) invited Rosa (Stephanie Beatriz) and her new girlfriend to dinner only to get a surprising rejection. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead

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Article – Why I Love Farscape

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TL;DR – This is a show that is bold, funny, weird, and heartwarming, one of the best Science Fiction shows I have ever had the pleasure of watching.

Farscape. Image Credit: The Jim Henson Company.

Review –

Last year I had some time and sat down to write about my love for Star Trek Deep Space Nine and the impact it had on my like and joy of film/TV. Since then I have been looking for the next subject to write about and it never quite worked out. However, with the announcement that Farscape is about to drop on Amazon and a whole new generation of people will be able to understand what frell means, well sometimes life lines it up for you. With this in mind, today we will be exploring what makes Farscape so special for me, and why you should check it out.

So to set the scene, John Crichton (Ben Browder) is an astronaut from Earth, from a family of astronauts. He is testing a new slingshot engine on Farscape-1 hoping to use the Earth’s gravity to send astronauts across the Solar System. Only on this test flight he accidentally stumbles across a wormhole that flings him across the galaxy and into the middle of a war. On board the prison transport Moya, the prisoners Ka D’Argo (Anthony Simcoe), Pa-u Zotoh Zhaan (Virginia Hey), and Dominar Rygel XVI (Jonathan Hardy) have escaped and are trying to remove its control collar. While captain Bialar Crais (Lani Tupu) is sending Prowler fighter crafts to take the ship back before it could escape. The prisoners detect John’s unusual ship and bring it on board not before John accidentally crashed into one of the pursuing Prowlers sending it crashing into an asteroid (it may have had Crais’ brother on-board). Everyone was able to get the control collar off with thanks to Moya’s pilot Pilot (Lani Tupu) and she starbursts away, dragging one the Prowlers with then containing Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black) a Sebacean that looks very human. Aeryn is declared contaminated and has to go on the run with the rest as they flee pursuit by an insane military commander while doing everything to find a way home.

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TV Review – Star Trek Discovery: Project Daedalus

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TL;DR –  This is both a beautiful episode and also a heartbreaking one, it also reveals all the cards Discovery has been holding.  

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Star Trek Discovery: Project Daedalus

Review –

As this season has progressed so far, it has felt like there were a number of disparate threads running through, and it was not entirely clear how, or if, they would all come together. Why is the Red Angel jumping through time and space? Why did it lead them to the Sphere? Why is it saving certain people? Why does Section 31 have so much power? What does Spock (Ethan Peck) have to do with all this? Today some if not all those questions are answered in a very interesting way.

So to set the scene, at the end of last week’s If Memory Serves, the crew of the USS Discovery had a choice to make. Do they hand Spock and Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) back to Section 31 and have them disassemble Spock’s mind, or become fugitives and technically commit treason. There is only one real choice. Well at the start of this week they are still on the run, but not without some allies, as a single shuttlecraft glides over a darkened hull of a ship running on low power. As the shuttle arrives Admiral Cornwell (Jayne Brook) steps out to begin her integration of Spock to work out just what the heck is going on. She has footage of Spock killing people, but her tests make it clear that he is telling the truth. Something is wrong, and she is pretty sure where to start, so it is time to give Section 31 a wakeup call. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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TV Review – The Orville: Blood of Patriots

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TL;DR – A much more mature episode that we have seen in the past looking at the fallout of war and what that does to people

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

The Orville: Blood of Patriots. Image Credit: Fox.

Review –

“War is hell” it is one of those phrases that gets thrown around all the time by people trying to sound profound, without a real understanding of what that phrase actually means. War means making difficult decisions, one that haunts you at night, ones where there is not clear right option, and ones where even if you are doing the right thing, it may have disastrous consequences. Today’s episode puts the crew in the middle of such a quandary where they have to weigh in the choice of saving a hero or protecting a peace.

So to set the scene, at the end of last week’s episode Identity Part 2, The Planetary Union barely fought off an invasion and only stopped it because the Krill, a mortal enemy, was convinced that there was a bigger threat at play. This week we start off with the news from Admiral Perry (Ted Danson) that after decades of trying the Krill are finally ready to start peace treaty negotiations. This is a big deal because the thought of peace after so many years of war is something everyone can feel. The Orville is sent to a neutral location to meet with a Krill ship to begin the opening prelude to maybe having a peace treaty. As they arrive, they give the Krill a bit of trust and approach with deflectors down only to discover that the Krill ship is firing on one of their own shuttles. The shuttle askes to land, and when it does the crew find Orrin (Mackenzie Astin) and his daughter Lana (Aily Kei) in the badly disabled ship with only basic survival rations left. The Krill demand that they return the man because he is a terrorist putting Ed (Seth MacFarlane) in a very difficult position. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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TV Review – Star Trek Discovery: Light and Shadows

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TL;DR –  The Search for Spock is over, long live The Search for Spock

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Star Trek Discovery: Light and Shadows. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

Review –

We have reached the mid-point in the season, the point where the story should be coming into focus and propelling itself into the back half of the season, and today I think we got some of that, though maybe we got more questions than answers.

So to set the scene, at the end of last week’s episode The Sounds of Thunder, we discovered that the Red Angel is actually a being using some very advanced, possibly future technology. This means that there is a time travel component to their travels, which is backed up with the traces of tachyon particles found at every location it has visited. This means that the Red Angel might be from the future and might be messing with the timeline, and that is possibly not very good at all. So they decide to attack this on two fronts, Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) goes back home to Vulcan to find Spock (Ethan Peck), and Pike (Anson Mount) decides to stay and explore the slight fracture in time around Kaminar which is when everything falls apart. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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TV Review – The Orville: Identity Part 2

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TL;DR – We get what is not only the best episode of The Orville but one of the best episodes of Science Fiction I have seen.

Score – 5 out of 5 stars

The Orville: Identity Part 2. Image Credit: Fox.

Review –

Writing Science Fiction shows seems like it would be easy, I mean they are just westerns set in space, right? Alas, they are much more difficult than you think. You have to world build, but you can’t overwhelm the audience, every part of your universe has to have logical consistency, you need to fill that universe with interesting characters, and you need to always have in the back of your mind what future you want to present. Then, of course, you have to create stories that support every part of this. It is this alchemy that draws me to Science Fiction as a genre, and tonight we got to see an exemplar of a show doing it all.    

So to set the scene, in last week’s episode Identity Part 1, just about everything we knew about The Orville got turned on its head. This is because Isaac’s (Mark Jackson) mission on the USS Orville was not about seeing if the Planetary Union was good enough for Kaylon to join, but to see if biological lifeforms were worth preserving at all. Well after some consideration the Kaylon’s decided no it wasn’t and that they should make way in their need to expand. This led to them boarding the Orville, killing many of the crew and taking the rest hostage, as the ship runs vanguard in front of an extermination fleet headed for Earth. In today’s episode we find out how, if at all possible, they can stop them, and the repercussions of such a brutal betrayal. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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