sean-bardgett Reviews

The Odyssey (1992–1994)

The most original and thought provoking show that I watched as a kid.

[9/10 · 13 January 2014]

I loved this show from the first moment I watched it. I had a hard time getting the chance to see it at first because I only had basic cable back then and it wasn't until YTV picked up the show that I was able to see it in its entirety.

This show focuses on a 13 year boy named Jay Ziegler who falls out of a tree house while trying to retrieve his father's telescope from Keith and a group of his friends that pretended to befriend him. As a result of the fall, he is knocked unconscious and ends up in a coma. This is only the start of Jay's problems, as he finds himself in an elevator that transports him into the "down world" a place where only kids exist and no one exceeds the age of 15. This world is comprised of Jay's subconscious and exaggerates a lot of the struggles that Jay eventually deals when he comes out of the coma. As the series goes on he tries to find ways to get back to his own world and eventually realizes that the key to doing so is to find his father who traumatized Jay by faking his own death and abandoning him.

The story overall was very original and well written. It was a shame that they didn't continue it because I think it would been interesting to see if his fathers past would have added on to the troubles that Jay already had trying to grow and adjust to the real world again. There was still enough meat on the bone that there was always new material that could have been found. You also have to give credit to the actors of the show as well, such as Tony Sampson, Ashleigh Moore, Andrea Nemeth, and of course Illya Woloshyn who played Jay to perfection. Considering that most of the cast members were kids they were very convincing in the roles they played.

Overall the show's theme was really good as it shows kids the consequences and challenges of growing up and how finding the truth can make you feel like a child.

nWo: The Revolution (2012 Video)

Better than the 2002 Back in Black video in every way.

[9/10 · 20 August 2013]

When Eric Bischoff became the executive vice president of WCW, he went about changing the structure and old school attitudes to make the company function in more modern way. He started this by creating WCW Nitro. At first people believed that Eric was just another guy with radical ideas that was going to keep the company in the stone age. Then came the nWo.

With the arrival of Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and the infamous heel turn of Hulk Hogan, the nWo changed the foundation as to how wrestling on television was shown to a mass audience. In many ways it was reality TV before reality TV became popular because even though it was still fake, you honestly believed that everything was happening was real. It also allowed wrestling itself to become mainstream picking up athletes like Karl Malone, Dennis Rodman from the NBA and Bill Goldberg a retired NFL player who went on to become one of the biggest household names.

The idea had promise and generated ratings but it wasn't without its flaws. WCW was not known for allowing newer talent to be pushed to mainstream status, plus despite being cool the nWo were bad guys. The problem was they were bad guys that always won. Fans were always waiting for the day where the nWo would finally lose and even when moments came whether you had the outsiders losing the tag belts, or Hogan losing the WCW title to either Goldberg or Sting, the victories never really seemed important.

One thing however that I disagree with was the when they arrived in WWE that they were old news. The biggest issue was that they were not promoted properly. During their time in the company they were beating up crewmembers backstage on Raw and Smackdown shows, and wrestling no name talents like Spike Dudley. With proper story lines that would have helped to promote them as the top heels, it would have made for more meaningful matches against superstars like Austin and the Rock. For someone who doesn't like to make bad business decisions, Vince McMahon seemed to have no trouble, killing a group that was guaranteed to make him millions of dollars.

Smallville: Luthor (2010) Season 10, Episode 10

The Return of Lionel Luthor

[10/10 · 21 April 2012]

Over the years, Clark has developed hard feelings for the Luthor's with all of the trouble that they have caused him prying into his personal life. With the revelation of Lex Luthor's clones in Cadmus Labs and Tess Mercer being Lionel Luthor's daughter, it seems that the Luthor name is slowly crawling back into Clark's life.

As Lionel Luthor's only living heir, Tess is given a relic from Krypton that transports Clark to another world where he comes face to face with a shadow. One that he never expected to lay his eyes on and up until now puts Darkseid to shame. That being Lionel Luthor himself, who is anything but dead. Clark finds himself backed into a corner when dealing with Lionel, while also learning about his alternate half Clark Luthor,a relentless murderer who was raised by Lionel and transported to his world.

While previous episodes of this season mention Clark's dark side, this is the episode where we finally see a manifestation of it. While Clark has shown to be ruthless in the past (due to Red K) he has never been evil. Through Clark Luthor, allegations of Clark's darkness become facts that his loved one's can no longer simply ignore.

And who better to bring that side out of him then the same man that drove Lex to the Darkside. While Darkseid himself may be the embodiment of evil, his overall effect on Clark doesn't hold a candle to Lionel Luthor's. Through Lionel, Clark learns about his life and choices that he made in this world and even gains insight as to why Lex Luthor, once his best friend turned to evil. He also faces his worst fear of Lois Lane truly hating him. Most importantly, Clark finally understands just how easy it can be for someone to be corrupted when there is no light to guide them.

I think this is the best episode of this season, and definitely one of the best episode's in the entire series. The best part being of course the return of Lionel Luthor. John Glover proves that despite being gone for 3 years, he has not lost a step which makes his return all the more exciting. The biggest surprise for me was how impressed I was with Tom Welling's acting. His portrayal of Clark Luthor was creepy and vile, something I would have never expected him to pull off, and so expertly too. I love what they did with the alternative world too. The colder colour tones made it look like your were seeing into the negative side of a film or photograph.

I won't give the ending away with this one, but I will personally give it a 10 out of 10.