Tag Archives: TV

Doctor Who: The Robot Revolution – TV Review

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TL;DR – An odd opening episode that is equally interesting, odd, and also a bit frustrating.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Belinda arrives at Miss Belinda Chandra I.

Doctor Who Review –

Well, we’re back, and the series that keeps on truckin’ is back with the second season of its third era. Doctor Who has always been a bit of an odd duck because there are times when it soars in the sky and other times when it flounders around with its but hanging in the air. Last season was a bit of both, where interesting characters and scenarios got lost at times due to a lack of focus. Will this second season work on some of those issues? Well, since it was filmed before the first episodes came out, I am not holding my breath, but I am always happy to be proven wrong.   

So, to set the scene, Miss Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) is a nurse working in a local hospital and lives a generally unremarkable life bar the time one day that an old flame bought one of those silly ‘name a star’ certificates. But the one people who did not think the certificate was ridiculous was the new robot overlords of Miss Belinda Chandra I. Who capture her and take her back to the planet, now named after her, to marry their AI overlord, who is the new royal queen of the planet. The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) is there to help, but it looks like time is in flux. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Recruit: Season 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – A fascinating fun romp through a situation that was always a hair’s breadth away from complete implosion.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this series.

Owen says hello by opening up his arms.

The Recruit Review –

I didn’t know what to make when I sat down to watch that first season back in 2022, but I was honestly surprised by how well it walked the line between comedy and farce. Noah Centineo takes a big swing away from the romantic comedies he was known for and nails them. Given how fun the first season was, well, when I heard there was a Season Two out, I had to give it a watch.

So, to set the scene, after getting kidnapped in Ostrava, Czech Republic, at the end of Season One. Owen (Noah Centineo) finds himself face-to-face with a murderer with a gun against his head and someone he didn’t know was alive. While he managed to get out of that situation with some of his blood still in his body, just, he was benched when he got back to the CIA. Even though several people still want him dead or want to drop the failure of the first operation squarely on his lap. Stuck in limbo until the guillotine falls. That is, until a letter lands on his desk with a hope of redemption in the air. All he has to do is go back to Seoul, where he grew up, and not be radioactive to everyone he comes in contact with. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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NCIS: Sydney – Heart Starter – TV Review

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TL;DR – I think this first episode did everything that it needed to do. It tied up the cliffhanger from last season and gave it the motivation to move forward, even if there were a couple of missteps.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that viewed this series.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

Back in 2023, there was this odd experiment that played out across the streaming space: what would happen when you smashed an American and Australian Police Procedural together and then put it into the weirdly optimistic world of the NCIS franchise? Well, there were some missed opportunities, but overall, by the end of the season, it had found its feet. The question then becomes, can they continue that good work into their new season?

So, to set the scene, while we may start with a funeral possession, the episode actually begins in the moments after the season finale, Blonde Ambition, with Mackey (Olivia Swann) drawing her gun on the now fundamental suspicious Colonel Rankin (Lewis Fitz-Gerald) who JD (Todd Lasance) just phoned on an assassin’s phone, which would be more of an issue if he didn’t just have a heart attack. An international assassin was killed, and a child returned to their father. But a tier one villain is out of custody and on the run, and the powers at Be are looking for a scapegoat, and they are coming for everyone. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Star Wars: Skeleton Crew: The Real Good Guys and Full Season Review

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TL;DR – A riot of fun from start to finish.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Jod performs for the droids with a lightsabre menacing those who know.

Skeleton Crew Review –

Well, it is season finale time for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew and I am kind of not ready for it. This has been such a blast of a season that I wish we had gotten more of it. But all good things must come to an end, so today, we will first look to see if they stuck the landing before exploring the season as a whole.  

So, to set the scene, well, the kids Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), KB (Kyriana Kratter), and Neel (Robert Timothy Smith/ Kacie Borrowman) are in trouble. They have made it home to At Attin but in the hands of Pirate Captain Jod (Jude Law), who now knows where the greatest treasure in the history of the Star Wars galaxy is hidden. He also knows who every single parent of the kids is and has made some explicit threats to their safety. The only question is: can the kids get the alarm out before the raiders take the planet? Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Awards – My Top 15 TV Shows of 2024

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This was an odd year for TV, with a bunch of shows that started strong and then just didn’t have the hold to keep me, but then we found a higher level of quality this year than many of the past, which has led us to a slightly longer list this year.

 
So this year, we will look at all the shows we reviewed last year, SEE HERE, and pick our Top 15 of the 35 shows we reviewed. For a show to count, it needed to end its run or season in 2024.  

Highly Commended – Buried, Citadel Honey Bunny, Doctor Who,The Gentlemen, Jurassic World: Chaos Theory, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters & Star Trek: Discovery

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Star Wars: Skeleton Crew: We’re Gonna Be In So Much Trouble – Review

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TL;DR – We are jumping from strength to strength, making this one of the things I look forward to during the week.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

The barrier of Ad Attin is a gas layer.

Skeleton Crew Review –

For quite a while now, Star Wars has been a product filled with animosity and frustration where it felt like those with their hands on the wheel didn’t know what they wanted and with no clear leadership at the top, the community became toxic, or more toxic. That is why it has been such a joy to find Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, which has seemingly punctured through that malaise and is linked back to what made Star Wars good in the past yet with a modern veneer.

So, to set the scene, well, things are finally looking good for the kids: Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), KB (Kyriana Kratter), and Neel (Robert Timothy Smith/ Kacie Borrowman). At the end of Zero Friends Again, they reclaimed the Onyx Cinder and are on their way to At Attin. The only problem is that Jod (Jude Law) and their pirates might have gotten there first. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Star Wars: Skeleton Crew: Zero Friends Again – Review

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TL;DR – It’s a fun little romp to get us moving towards the end game.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Skeleton Crew Review –

If there is one thing that I will always appreciate Skeleton Crew for, okay, other than for making me learn how to spell skeleton correctly, is that it brought the fun back to the Star Wars universe. Now, I don’t mean that they brought jokes back. Every film in the modern era has had its fair share of quips. I mean that joy you get when you have a smile on your face because what you are watching is fun. Today, we will see if they can continue that moving forward.

So, to set the scene, well, things are not looking good for the kids, Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), KB (Kyriana Kratter), and Neel (Robert Timothy Smith/ Kacie Borrowman). For in You Have a Lot to Learn About Pirates, Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law) betrayed them all by forcing SM-33 (Nick Frost/Rob Ramsdell) to declare that the dubious force user was now captain. Not wanting to be a part of his dastardly plan anymore, Wim has a quick thought and yeets the kids through a trap into the floor. Now they all have to work out where to go from here, trapped on the bottom of a mountain, away from their ship, betrayed by the one person they trusted. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Shrinking: Season 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – It is rare when a series can both genuinely make me laugh down to my core yet also deliver one of the most potent emotional slaps to the face that I have ever gotten.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the AppleTV+ service that viewed this series.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Shrinking. Image Credit: AppleTV+.

In today’s binge-streaming culture, it is almost expected that you will sit down and plough through a series in one or two sessions. Television that is almost just on in the background while you are doing other things. Well, today, we look at a series that respects you as a viewer in a way that you can’t watch all of it in one sitting because you need to savour every moment of it.

So, to set the scene, throughout Season One, Jimmy Laird (Jason Segel) was trying to find his place in the world as he was still reeling from the tragic death of his wife Tia (Lilan Bowden) in a car crash years earlier. It was in this space that he decided to try a more hands-on type of therapy with his clients called ‘Jimmying’. There were success stories and failures, but it was working right up until one of Jimmy’s patients, Grace (Heidi Gardner), decided to take some advice a touch too literally and pushed her abusive boyfriend off a cliff. Meanwhile, Gaby (Jessica Williams) is dealing with always having to be the support mechanism for her family while starting a new role as professor, Sean (Luke Tennie) is working through having his dad back in his life, Alice (Lukita Maxwell) is still processing her own grief, and Paul’s (Harrison Ford) Parkinson’s is getting worse. Now, from here, we will be looking at the series as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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Earth Abides: Forever is Tomorrow is Today & Full Season – TV Review

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TL;DR – A beautifully contemplative end to a fascinating series.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Stan service that viewed this series.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Year 20.

Earth Abides Review –

One of the interesting little gems that I found towards the end of the year was an exploration of life and death in the aftermath of absolute tragedy. What do you do when you are alone in a world that was once teaming with life? Do you survive? Do you pack it in? Do you reach out? Or do you close yourselves off from everything? These are the questions we ask in the ruins of the old world.   

So, to set the scene, twin tragedies have struck the small community of San Lupo. First, Heather (Aleksandra Cross) has returned home alone after a long sojourn north without Raif (River Codack). Even worse, after twenty years, the virus returned, and soon, many members of the town became ill. Sadder for Ish (Alexander Ludwig) and Emma (Jessica Frances Dukes), one of those affected is their son Joey (Elias Leacock), whose shoulders much of the future was resting on. We will be looking at the episode and season as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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The Diplomat: Season 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – A fantastic follow-up from the first season that had me on the edge of my seat at times and ended on one of the most bonkers moments I have seen all year.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this series.

A coffin draped in the USA flag.

The Diplomat Review –

My background is in International Relations, and it does not come up here as much as I would like, other than the occasional The Hitman’s Bodyguard jaunt. Well, today, I get to dive back into a series that plays on a lot of those themes, so much so that we get a deep dive into Australian defence policy that I never thought I would see on the big screen.

So, to set the scene, at the end of Season One, Ambassador Katherine “Kate” Wyler (Keri Russell) and Austin Dennison, UK Foreign Secretary (David Gyasi), discovered that while they know which terrorist undertook the attack on the British Aircraft Carrier. It was not the Russians who paid for the attack but Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear), the UK Prime Minister. What do you do when you discover the head of one of your most trusted allies might have undertaken a false flag operation, killing thirty of their own military personnel? A secret that not only could sink at least one government but could fracture alliances, and destabilise the world. Who do you trust when your main allies could be the ones not only stirring the pot but could be targeting you as well? Now, from here, we will be looking at the series as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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