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Reviews
Mr. Robot (2015)
A gorgeous mystery box filled with the best answers.
"What if changing the world was just about being here, by showing up no matter how many times we get told we don't belong, by staying true even when we're shamed into being false, by believing in ourselves even when we're told we're too different, and if we all held on to that, if we refuse to budge and fall in line, if we stood our ground for long enough, just maybe... The world can't help but change around us."
Mr Robot is the greatest work of art I've ever experienced. I adore the characters, the world, the cinematography, the performances, the original music and the story. Every essential element of a TV show is succeeded in here. The story that Sam Esmail crafts across four seasons is nothing short of a masterpiece. This is a recommendation, one that comes with the promise that if you allow this story to unfold, it will surprise you in ways that no other television can. It's an absolutely incredible TV series that has the greatest series finale I've seen of any show in history. The only difficult part about the show is writing a review for it. I don't want to tell you anything about it's plot, characters or world and allow the entirety of this story to play out in front of you, completely spoiler free. Given it's my favorite show ever made (by a landslide), I write this short recommendation that those can find what I found, a show that changes lives. I know it changed mine.
Dexter: Remember the Monsters? (2013)
"Remember the Monsters?" still sucks.
"I have to protect them... from me."
Keeping my overall thoughts on New Blood's conclusion aside, "Remember the Monsters?" remains as one of the absolute worst episodes of television ever released. I think this grand revisionism that this ending is good now is the dumbest thing I've seen in literal years. It is an absolute embarrassment for everyone involved, with some of the worst writing I've seen in my entire LIFE of watching television. Given how much of a pure shambles "Remember the Monsters" was, its difficult to pick a place to start tearing it to pieces. Maybe we should start with how many horrendous plot points there are in just this ONE hour of Dexter, but I'll try.
From Harold Saxon being able to literally beat a man to the floor in a crowded PUBLIC car park and steal his vehicle (whilst not being spotted by ANYONE, even though it isn't subtle at all), to Dexter being able to carry Debra's DEAD BODY out of a hospital wing through the FRONT DOOR, whilst (AGAIN) walking through a crowded car park full of pedestrians. Everything about this episode almost gave me a brain aneurysm. Every time I think about the episode I come up with one more plot hole or one more scene that I despised, "Remember the Monsters" is just THAT bad. I think the crowning jewel of how stupid this finale truly is was when Hannah literally injected Elway IN FRONT OF A DOZEN PASSENGERS ON A BUS and NOBODY saw it. I think that was the point where my brain finally decided to commit suicide, but alas, much like Dexter, my brain and him both failed.
The ending for Deb's character is horrendous. Given how much she suffers through in the entirety of this show, to say all I expected was for her to get a somewhat happy ending is an understatement. But instead she gets to be shot in the most ludicrously stupid way possible (I didn't review Episode 11 separately like I normally do for every Dexter episode. Mainly because I wanted to see how the cliffhanger wrapped up before judging it), and die anticlimactically after the audience is told that she will recover and live. Look I don't even like Quinn but I was devastated for him in this episode, Desmond Harrington gives his series best performance and (besides Michael C Hall) is the shining beacon of this last diabolical hour of TV. Look I get that Deb killed Laguerta but given that Laguerta herself was a truly AWFUL person (remember when she was the one cheating on Season 2's lieutenant because she wanted to emotionally manipulate herself back into the job position?), I could not care less about Deb killing her. Maybe that 'morally grey' choice would have been far superior if you put someone who I cared about in the position of Laguerta (say Batista?). The writers put the character that the vast majority of fans are literally rooting for to get killed and called it Deb's 'worst choice' ever. We can argue about whether she made the right choice or not for an eternity but what I hated was the logistics for her ending, from the awful shooting scene from Episode 11 to the super weird 'drop into the ocean' final season shared between her and Dexter... which was just... weird. Symbolically you can look at it as the routine for whenever Dexter kills someone and whilst he himself didn't actually kill Deb, he feels responsible for her death, the same way he would for one of his victims. But the actual execution of that scene is strange and rings hollow.
Oh and remember when Dexter kills Harold Saxon with a PEN? Dexter Morgan is the new John Wick everyone. He also does it whilst ON CAMERA and isn't even held for extensive questioning and is let go by Quinn and Batista, wouldn't this case have to be handled elsewhere because them having a personal relationship with Dexter would be a conflict of interest? Look, the episode blows so much that when you use literally 3IQ points, you can figure out all the stuff wrong with it. As for Dexter's actual choice to commit suicide, it makes sense thematically but the execution again is rushed and hollow. Abandoning Harrison with a woman who could get caught by the police at any moment and be put into a foster home is the choice Dex makes. I think my brain just committed suicide a second time writing that.
NONE of what "Remember the Monsters" does makes ANY sense. Its possibly the worst series finale you could ever write for "Dexter". Every choice made is unsatisfying, almost every scene has a myriad of issues that make them fall apart (the only scene I enjoyed was the brief flashback to Harrison's birth, which is ironic because its the only sequence not set in the present time that the rest of the episode surrounds itself in) and the final shot is an insult to the fans of the series. It's been said a million times how terrible "Remember the Monsters" is, so much so that the creators of the series had to come back and make a revival with a new ending (a FAR better one, by the way). "Remember the Monsters" concludes with the worst final minute of any series finale I've seen in my life. Dexter becomes a lumberjack... are you serious? Not only does he survive literally going into the EYE of a storm that destroys the entirety of his ship... but he becomes a lumberjack and abandons Harrison and Hannah? I actually don't think I could have thought of a worse ending if I tried. They say a photo can be worth a thousand words, so let that final shot of bearded Dexter Morgan be all the words that I just wrote.
Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part IV (2022)
What was the point?
I've enjoyed myself mostly with the Kenobi series so far, I've had gripes with it here and there as most fans have, but it's mostly been fun but this episode was a disaster. What was the point of it? In this episode the basic plot boils down to Obi Wan saving Leia from being kidnapped by an enemy, then they escape to another planet (presumably in the next episode). That was literally the plot of episode 2. We have basically been cheaped out of an episode of the show, its basically the exact same story. Reva makes a big deal out of putting a tracker onto Kenobi's ship so they can follow him where ever he goes, why didn't she do that in episode 2? This whole episode is full of stupid plot points like this... a supposedly secure empire location whose windows can be destroyed by a blaster shot? Are you serious? The whole episode was terrible from pretty much start to end. Normally I can compliment performances and cinematography but the largely shakey cam feel of the episode shatters the positive of its cinematography and performance wise, there really isn't much good material here to get good performances out of. It's a nothing sandwich. I'll give it a 3 for that cool sequence where Obi Wan stops the window from cracking... but that's about it. Not got high expectations for the rest of the series.
Heartstopper (2022)
Wonderfully down to Earth and powerfully portrayed.
I'd heard a lot of praise about 'Heartstopper' before starting my watch of it. Surely a teen gay drama couldn't really be all that great, could it? Well, I was wrong. This show is fantastic, for a series that airs on Netflix you might think that it delves deep into that service's tried and tested tropes surrounding its original teen content, with love triangles and practically middle aged dudes playing high school seniors, but Heartstopper is completely different to what you might perceive it as on a first glance.
Not only does the story feel powerfully down to Earth and offer some brilliant representation, but its fantastically acted by its core cast. I can't give enough praise to the two leads Kit Conner and Joe Locke, they are the key that grounds this story and makes it work so well. They are both fantastically cast and have a ton of chemistry on screen with one another, evident from all the interview content surrounding the show itself, these two are close in real life and you feel that genuine friendship through their onscreen relationship.
Other cast members that deserve just as much credit are Yasmin Finney, William Gao, Corinna Brown and Kizzy Edgell, who each do their part in making the series feel more real to life and down to Earth for the viewer. The series on a service tells a simple love story between the two characters of Nick Nelson and Charlie Spring, but its shocking how much this story brought about emotion in me, a straight dude who just enjoys the odd teen drama. This relationship is one of the best in any series I've ever seen and I'm excited for the additional two seasons that this series has earnt a renewal for! If you haven't given the series a go yet, go watch it, its fantastic.
Fear the Walking Dead: Amina (2022)
It's a bird, it's a plane... it's a bird (7x15)
In the last few reviews I've gone on long tangents and provided in depth thoughts as to why the episodes of Fear's seventh season haven't been hitting the mark for me... and episode 15 is no different. Not only is this perhaps my least favorite episode of the season so far (and that's saying a lot), it's also the first time in the show's history that I've seriously considered to stop watching. The hallucinations are so stupid, the overall story of the episode is disjointed and unfocused, everything from the cinematography to the dialogue is bad in what should be a celebration of everything good about this show. Well, everything that USED to be good about this show back in its original run of seasons.
You'd think that Madison, whose driving force and entire character purpose was to protect her children would come back in this episode for a super emotional reunion with her daughter? You'd be wrong. Not only is she NOT in this episode (aside from those weird ass cutaways to the tape from season 4's mid season finale), she's not going to meet Alicia for quite some time (if ever), as its been announced by the show runner's that this is the final episode of her character. What was the point of getting Madison back? To retain viewers who'd leave after Alicia left? I'd assume so, from a business point, but from an universe and story telling objective view point, Madison's entire purpose is gone. Nick is dead and Alicia has disappeared. The show's gone so far off the rails that its shocking that it was even renewed for an eighth season. Just let it all go at this point.
3/10.
Fear the Walking Dead: Divine Providence (2022)
Was it all for nothing? (7x14)
When we look back on the long, weird and often insufferable post Season 3 legacy of "Fear the walking dead", several characters and plot lines stick out, both as good and bad. This will definitely settle itself into the 'bad' category' now that the battle for the tower is finally over, even though it basically never began. You have to give the show some leeway when you consider its budget is probably low and actually having several high budget action heavy episodes is difficult when you have little money to spread around, but at the same time, when we finally get given our 'battle' action heavy episode, its a massive mixed bag full of unfulfilled potential. Anyone that has read my views on the last few installments of Fear will know how much I'm waiting for Madison Clark to finally make her reappearance and maybe (I'm practically on the floor, begging) steer this practically sunken ship around.
The reason why I (and probably so many others) haven't abandoned the series is because of our investment in the original Clark's story. I love Alicia, she's one of my favorite TV characters and whether or not the actual stories she involved in are compelling, I feel an obligation to stay around until shes gone, after all, this is now her show (when it isn't Morgan Jones). Now, onto the actual episode itself. The cast for this show is huge at the moment, with so many characters on the list that even though Althea left earlier in the season, alongside John Sr's death (and now Wes' death), the cast STILL feels too massive to actually develop characters and make you care about them. I think I and a lot of other viewers were hoping that this episode would crack up the death count for the series and start to trim the cast heading into Season 8.
Look, its not that I don't like these characters, but what purpose has Grace, the Rabbi and Wendall actually served in this season's story line? They should've been some of the casualties of this ongoing war, to actually add stakes and make it feel as if characters can die in an unpredictable fashion, not long winded deaths like John Sr or Charlie (presumably, she'll be gone soon). Some fast, action heavy casualties would bring the suspense that this show has missed for the entire season, and allow other characters to come into the forefront and stop this long overused anthology format.
Strand and Alicia's relationship feels so weird now, he killed her love interest and also manipulated one of her closest friends (Wes) into becoming a psychopath, but after all this, she STILL (SOMEHOW) trusts him by the end of the episode's run time (before he turns the light off). This writing is bonkers. Strand has shown his true colors as an untrustworthy, evil, psychopath so many times yet Alicia is still going to trust him? Such a weird episode. All the stuff with Daniel's memory and his fight for his humanity in the decision NOT to kill Strand was actually fantastic, and the only redeeming features of this episode. The flashbacks to Ofelia from the early seasons were nice to see and the scene with Dan talking to Charlie was quite emotional by her bedside.
Overall, this is an extremely half baked, very plot hole filled episode that remains watchable only through the decent performances the cast give and some solid scenes spread throughout. Look, I'm not going to lie to you. I'm actually more invested in the cast remaining from this series (Strand, Daniel, Alicia and Madison) than the actual main series, so I'm hoping we get a somewhat compelling story for Madison when she finally comes back next episode (or the one after), here's hoping.
5/10.
Fear the Walking Dead: The Raft (2022)
Entertaining but flawed, also can we fast forward to Madison? (7x13)
Fear Season 7 continues that track record of making entertaining episodes on your first watch but stories that easily fall apart if you give them even the slightest bit of thought. A pregnancy test that somehow survived a week in a radioactive Apocalypse? Sure, why not. Air that sometimes okay to breathe in some areas in the radioactive landscape so that characters can talk without the audio being muffled? I guess. A character that by all means two episodes ago was a good person but now has turned into one of the series biggest psychopaths? Okay?
Look, I'm not going to sugar coat it. Fear Season 7 is a train wreck in storytelling if you actually think about the story being presented. In the span of 13 episodes we've had maybe 4 (?) episodes that have moved the actual season arc forward. This isn't to say that the entire season is poor, I've actually enjoyed watching a solid amount of it in a cheesy '80s horror flick kind of way. I think Season 6's anthology style worked mostly to flesh out these characters individually, to make the viewers invested in them BEFORE they reunited to fight a bigger evil. But that story now feels tiresome and just a way to cut salary costs.
At this point I think I speak for a lot of the fan base of this series, can we just get to Madison already? The original three seasons of this show had a unique flair to them that separated them from the main series. A visual style that felt unique and original. Characters that you didn't just 'like', but the stories of which you were invested in. From Season 4 onwards I've mostly watched the series because I LIKE the characters, not the stories in which they inhabit. I can't even remember half of the story of the fifth season besides some stupid stuff about a plane? Compare that to season three which I've re watched on multiple occasions and can describe the plot of in detail. Fear used to be memorable television, now its just something you chuck on in the background for dumb entertainment.
I realize that very little of this review is about 'The Raft' as an episode, and thats mainly because I have very little to say about it. Like most Season 7 installments, I enjoy it while I watch but feel a deep sadness that I'm not getting the story continuation Erickson planned past season 3. The show's become so ludicrous at this point that if you grabbed Nick Clark's corpse and dumped it in a lazarus pit just to bring him back, it wouldn't even be the dumbest thing the stories done this season.
4/10.
Fear the Walking Dead: Ofelia (2022)
"Your daughter is dead, Daniel" (7x11)
It's no secret that Fear has had a rocky season, perhaps its most inconsistent ever. Seasons 4 and 5 were mostly awful with only a few good episodes between them, they were consistently awful, where as Season 7 has been about 50/50. You tune into this season and either expect something really fun ('The Beacon', 'The Portrait') or a train wreck ('Reclamation', 'Mourning Cloak'). Even the fun episodes have flaws in them that when explored make their stories mostly fall apart, but with both this show and Walking Dead, you look past these flaws mostly just for enjoyment, this is a zombie show after all.
The anthology format is something that greatly benefited this show in its first half of Season 6, a chance to flesh out characters who still even after years of story telling hadn't been fully explored. But this method of story telling should have ended after the completion of 6A. By now it feels tired, tacky and a cost saving measure on actor's salaries. It provides far less time for our group of characters to bond with one another and makes their character relationships feel so much more hollow than the main series. The first 3 seasons were great at telling an overall story about the Clark family, interspersed with great character work with characters the family meet whilst on their journey (Daniel, Victor, Troy etc), with that cast of characters you really felt like you knew each person and they were developed really well across those seasons.
Unfortunately as time has gone on, the story has continued to add so many characters that they can't possibly have the run time to flesh out each one. Luciana has become a shell of her former self since Season 4 began, adding nothing to the story and instead being a background character that very rarely has anything of importance to say or do. She was a great addition to the cast in the original seasons and its a shame that the writers have treated her this way in the last few seasons, but thankfully she gets her time to shine alongside Daniel in this episode.
There are still some flaws here and there (Arno didn't need to die this early and trusting the stalkers and allowing them in the submarine even though they were Teddy's followers, essentially psychopaths, is a terrible story decision), but the episode is mostly an explanation of Daniel and Luci's relationship, dealing with his PTSD and its a great watch. Rubén Blades is a brilliant actor (and musician) and deserves far more consistent writing than this show has provided him in the past few years, but when the writing is good, he shines. One of my favorite episodes across the walking dead universe is Season 3's '100' which expertly tells Daniel's story from the middle of Season 2 to that point in the story, it's a brilliant, harrowing journey and this episode mostly gave me vibes of that story, but to a much lesser and lower quality extent.
Luci's decision in regards to Daniel's memory is very controversial, on the one hand I'm okay with the story choice but having Luci be the one who actually lies to Daniel is something I'm not quite okay with. I don't think she has it in her to act this way, especially given her anger against Arno when he was lying to Daniel about Ofelia earlier in the episode. But also we haven't had the opportunity to learn more about her personality and the development of character because we've spent literally no time with her in the last 2 seasons, meaning that the version of her that is in my mind is very much the version Erickson crafted in Seasons 2/3, AKA, the version I don't think has it in her to do this to Daniel.
8/10.
One Tree Hill: Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. (2008)
"Graceful, fluid, inspiring. They say on a goodnight it seemed as though he could fly... and now he can"
One Tree Hill can be utterly ridiculous at times, with bogus sub plots and insane love triangles, to the point where you might roll your eyes at some of the show's cliches. But in other times it can be one of the most powerful series ever aired on television. "Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly." acts as one of those episodes of the series, its a beautiful love letter about grief and the power a person needs to get through it. It even manages to juggle the somewhat ridiculous story line about Dan and Nanny Carrie into something meaningful alongside the main plot of the episode, since that story line also acknowledges grief and the power it can hold over a person to do bad things, whilst the main story line deals with the immediate aftermath of last episode's shocking cliffhanger, showcasing the rest of our main casts reaction to losing such an important person in their lives.
When Quentin first came into the series at the start of season 5 he wasn't likable, that was the point. His entire story was to show how even people who seem to be 'bad' can be put on a path to greatness and become better people with the help and influence of love. Sam's monologue towards the end of the episode perfectly showcases this and I would be shocked if there was a single dry face watching this at the time of airing, this episode is shockingly emotional, beautifully poignant and heartrendingly powerful. The last episode of the series to make me feel this type of way was Season 4's "Songs to Love and Die By" which also delved into the importance of being a good person and the how the choices you make impact your affect on other people's lives. Both episodes showcase how fantastic this series can be at the height of its quality.
People often laugh and judge me whenever I talk about the importance of television and film to make an impact on people's lives, but its a fact I'll stand up for, forever. Episodes like this are powerful, and important. Judging it by a numerical value doesn't seem appropriate, but given that's how IMDB and all other review based sites work, given how important this episode is to me, its a 10.
Smallville: Ryan (2002)
Emotional Rollar Coaster
I love so many "Smallville" episodes that looking at the large back catalogue of adventures feels daunting when wanting to highlight some of my favorites, but "Ryan" cannot go unnoticed. This is one of the absolute best episodes of not only "Smallville" but for me at least, television. The friendship between Ryan and Clark was one of the best pieces in the first season of this series and it continues to be heartwarming in this installment.
Unfortunately, even when Clark has all the powers that he does at this stage in the series, none of them can save his friend. Ryan dies of a brain tumor in one of the most heartbreaking final few minutes of an episode that I've seen. "Smallville" is my favourite Superhero television series, and episodes like "Ryan" remind me why that is the case.
Score: 10/10
Veronica Mars: Years, Continents, Bloodshed (2019)
I still Think About This Disappointment Almost A Year Later...
Unfortunately, TV Shows have a track record of having the worst finales ever from my personal experience. Dexter, Game Of Thrones, How I Met Your Mother and now, infamously joining the group last year, "Veronica Mars". I despise the last 15 or so minutes of this episode so much that it completely destroys the first 30 minutes or so. Rob Thomas, why? Why would you kill one of the best (if not the best) characters from your show?
Logan Echolls' character development throughout this show's four seasons has been quite extraordinary. I began the show with quite a dislike towards the character, finding him obnoxious and overbearing, however, as the episodes progressed, more information was delivered to us and the character continued to development. No longer was he the irresponsible, idiotic rich teenage boy, but a man who fought for his own country.
After years, and 72 episodes (alongside that feature film) it felt like Logan and Veronica were finally getting their happy ending and if this episode faded to black at the wedding, it would have been the appropriate closure for these characters (even if I'm still very upset that Wallace got practically no screen time this entire season). Rob Thomas didn't make that decision... instead he killed what made the show special by murdering Logan.
Happy this show still hasn't gotten renewed for a fifth season. It doesn't deserve it.
Score: 1/10
Frasier: Goodnight, Seattle: Part 2 (2004)
"Wish Me Luck" (11x24)
Wow. I'm beyond impressed. That might be the greatest single finale episode of any TV show I've ever watched. It felt like such a fitting ending to all of the character's arcs that it was so satisfying to watch. Martin gets to love again, Daphne and Niles have a child together, Roz becomes the head of KACL and Frasier goes for love, and like the woman who sat next to him in the airplane... I wish him luck.
10/10
Legends of Tomorrow: Slay Anything (2020)
Delightfully Devilish Seymour ("Slay Anything")
Heading into this week's episode, I was really looking forward to what they were going to do with this cool premise of a serial killer getting his 'encore' and this one blew away my expectations. This is arguably my favorite episode of "Legends Of Tomorrow", I was smiling and laughing all the way through. I really love this cast and "Slay Anything" really shows them off at their best, excellent chemistry and hilarious lines.
I'm a massive "Halloween" fan, cannot get enough of those films... even the abysmal ones like "Halloween: Resurrection" have kept me entertained, even for the wrong reasons (laughing in "Halloween: Resurrection), today's Legends is really a homage to that film series. In the opening, the shots even mirror Michael Myers holding a blood stained knife. Later on in the episode Ray references "John Carpenter", the creator of the "Halloween" franchise.
Another thing I'm a big fan of is the nostalgic era of the 1980s, a period of time that I didn't even live through but love to experience through media. This episode is jam packed with '80s hits and generally great set design. I also loved Sara's line to Ava about being the 'final girls' in a horror movie type situation, it is pure fun from beginning to end.
Constantine's side plot was pretty good, but I would've preferred if it had a larger focus in the next episode, because I was having so much fun with the main plot set around the prom that the Constantine side plot felt a little intrusive, even if it was still entertaining to watch.
"Slay Anything" is a golden episode of "DC's Legends Of Tomorrow" and arguably a series high point for the show. I absolutely loved this one.
Score: 9/10
The Flash: Love Is a Battlefield (2020)
"Love Is A Battlefield" (6x11)
I've been enjoying "The Flash" season 6 so far, each week has given me something to look forward to, a moment that I pick out as something that I loved. However, this week was super lame. I know that might not sound professional in terms of reviewing television, but this episode really can just be summed up by two individual words: Super Lame.
Amunet Black was a terrible villain from the fourth season of this show... and I hoped she would've stayed there but sadly she was brought back in this episode. Lately this season has felt so much more like the "Iris" show than "The Flash", specifically this week and last week's episode. I didn't love last week's episode by any means, but I did find it relatively engaging, but for me, this week's episode was a pure dud from start to 'almost' finish.
The Iris plot line was kind of interesting, getting to see an 'alternate' more evil Iris manipulate Barry's emotions was cool, but what really destroyed this episode's momentum was Amunet Black's romance with her 'mobster' boyfriend, it is so forgettable that I don't care enough to google his name. Allegra's story line with her ex boyfriend was also pretty terrible, it just did not work at all. The comedy didn't work for me, and that weird making out scene with Amunet and her boyfriend, with "Love Is A Battlefield" blasting was just so uncomfortable to sit through.
A positive from an overall negative experience is the Nash Wells story line that seems to be heating up. I would love an episode with Nash seeing all the difference versions of wells that were extinguished during Crisis, that would be very emotional to watch but a very interesting episode. The set up in that small cameo from "Harry" is cool, I also really liked the cliffhanger for this episode, having iris in the mirror universe was a sweet twist that made me excited for future episodes... but future episodes that hopefully won't be this quality.
The first major dud of "Season 6", "Love Is A Battlefield" is thoroughly underwhelming and really unfunny. Super Lame.
Score: 4.0/10
The Good Place: Whenever You're Ready (2020)
"I'll say this to you, my friend, with all the love in my heart and all the wisdom of the universe: Take it sleazy!" (4x13)
Before I begin explaining why I love "The Good Place" so much, I just want to genuinely thank everyone who had a hand in the creation of this beautiful TV series. For me at least there has never been one episode that I haven't enjoyed, laughed at or disliked in anyway. I felt a strange calm whilst watching this that I don't think I've felt in almost any other TV series finale. I was completely devastated when I heard the news that this show was ending when series 4 would finish airing, however, over time, that has turned out to be the best choice this show has ever made.
I love when a show has a mapped out beginning, middle and end, and this series finale certainly shows the strengths of that strategy better than almost any other. I also appreciated the extended run time for this finale which helped it to feel less rushed and complete. I'm perfectly content with the way that each character ended their journey, and for once after a series finale has happened... I'm at peace. I'm not bitter about any of the choices made like some series finales ("How I Met Your Mother", I'm looking at you!), I'm beyond happy with how this show finished.
Ted Danson is one of the best living legends and I just loved Michael's character journey through this series, and to have him end up as a human right at the end was better than any other decision I could've made to end his journey. Chidi finally feeling at peace and not having a stomach ache over the decisions that he has made was also perfect. My heart broke for Eleanor as she realized that her journey was about to end, and she was left alone, until she was at peace.
Jason waited like 1000 years in a forest (we don't really have a correct passage of time here since it isn't measured) just to give a necklace to Janet... and that just felt right for him. Tahani finally gets some closure with her parents and even becomes an architect for a neighborhood!
Overall, everything just felt right whilst watching this, it felt like it had been mapped out and completed perfectly. Thank you to everyone who made this show, take it sleazy!
Smallville (2001)
"Smallville" - My All Time Favorite Television Series
Prior to this TV series, I wasn't a massive fan of superheroes. I'd watched a couple seasons of Flash and Arrow because I found them entertaining... but the show that hooked me right in and made me addicted to the superhero genre was "Smallville". There is just so much right about this show, from the cast to the music selection, to the special effects that after almost twenty years don't actually look too dated. Tom Welling plays Clark Kent perfectly, and makes him so likeable to viewers, he is compassionate and selfless, just like Superman should be.
Another cast member that makes this show so special is the wonderful Michael Rosenbaum who plays the greatest version of Lex Luthor ever put to film. Lex Luthor and Clark Kent begin as best friends from the pilot of this series and slowly transition into being bitter enemies by the show's climax. It's perfect storytelling and heartbreaking television to say the least. "Smallville" also includes various other iconic DC comics characters, from Clark Kent's parents (played perfectly by Anette O'Toole and John Scheider) to Lois Lane.
I feel like whenever I talk about the best live action versions of the 'Superman' characters, my mind always races to this TV Show. Whoever was in charge of casting should get a raise. But a great cast doesn't just make good television, the script is the most important thing here, and "Smallville" excels here. Some of my personal favorite episodes of television can be found in this ten year catalogue of perfection.
Seasons 1-4 take Clark Kent through each year of High School and the different story lines that arrive with each year of that process. All of it is fun to watch, even episodes that aren't 'masterpieces' are just so much fun to view because of the cast. Seasons 5-7 handle Clark Kent's life after graduation, these seasons tend to be more dark than the first few, basically showing that as Clark Kent grows up, so do the stories. I have an unpopular opinion of believing that the show got even better as it went along, especially during this period of its production.
Season 5 is fantastic and far better in quality to seasons 1-4 (however, I love all of these seasons as well). When Johnathan Kent passes away, Tom Welling brings out some of his greatest acting through the entirety of the show. Season 6 is also really enjoyable as it introduces even more characters from DC Comics, including Oliver Queen (aka "The Green Arrow"), played splendidly by Justin Hartley. Season 7 also introduces "Supergirl" and is so much fun to watch for the interactions between Clark and Kara. Season 7 also saw the end of Lex Luthor's regular appearances in the show, which is a shame because of his immense impact on the show's quality.
However, with all of that said and done... Seasons 8-10 still contain some of my favorite TV episodes ever, and Season 10 is actually my favorite season from the entire series. Whilst Season 8 is a dip in quality from the previous few, it's still fun to watch and has a cool villain in Doomsday. Season 9 rises the quality right back up with Zod making his first live action appearance in the show. Callum Blue knocks the role out of the park as we get to see someone who is the complete opposite of Clark Kent, we see Zod... a bitter and evil Kryptonian military leader. Also arriving in Season 9 is my favorite relationship in this show, the beginning of "Clark and Lois" (dubbed as 'Clois' by the fans of this series).
Tom Welling and Erica Durance have a lot of chemistry together and beginning the relationship as a friendship for many seasons was an excellent foundation for later on. Season 10 closes out the show perfectly with a selection of fantastic stories that held the series excellent reputation in tact. My favorite episode of the series is also found in season 10, labelled "Homecoming" which is about Clark and Lois attending their Smallville High School Reunion. I always laugh at Lois not understanding that anyone remembers her because she attended five full days. It really worked to put into perspective how far Clark had come at this point in the show, by bringing past events into the picture. The episode also ends with a fantastic scene where Clark flies with Lois for the first time, it is amazing from beginning to end.
"Finale" is excellent as well, it pulls Clark's story to a stop and begins his journey as the Man Of Steel. Whilst we never actually get a view of the full suit, I still found this finale very satisfying as it placed all of my favorite characters in the comic positions that I wanted them to be in. The final scene of the show is astounding, and it feels straight out of a Superman comic book. "Smallville" always had heart, from the family values to Clark's inner morals, the show got so much right about the character of Clark Kent.
When I try to think of a bad episode in this series, I really cannot think of one that sticks out in my head immediately. That is rare for any superhero show. Even the lowest rated one on IMDB still holds a respectable 7.1/10 score, and whilst this is my least favorite episode of the series. "Thirst" is just hilarious to me and doesn't particularly annoy me in anyway, its filler and has absolutely no impact into the series as a whole, and if THAT is the worst episode out of all 217... you have an excellent show.
Overall, this show stands the test of time better than any other show that I've watched. Yesterday, I sat down and placed a spin wheel around all 217 episodes of this series and ended on Season 1's "Obscura". The episode isn't particularly important in the grander scheme of things, but it presented so much of what I adore about this series. The acting was excellent, the corny dialogue was just right for the era it was produced in, and the early 2000's soundtrack brought back many good memories to me. This show is the definition of lightning in a bottle, it is practically perfect in every way. It is my favorite television series ever made.
Score: 9/10
POSITIVES:
- Amazing Cast
- Incredible Soundtrack
- Good Writing
- Great Characters
- No Bad Seasons
- Satisfying Finale
- Fantastic Romance In The Final Two Seasons (Clark/Lois)
- Good camera work
- Special Effects Aren't bad for early 2000s
NEGATIVES:
- Not every single episode is amazing (and that is ok)
- Not seeing a full shot of the suit in the finale
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
An Unintelligible, Poorly Paced, Poorly Acted, Poorly Written Mess Of A Movie
Before seeing this film, I had completely low expectations. The "Terminator" universe, for me at least, ends with the second film. "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" is, still to this day, one of the greatest films ever made, and its conclusion remains one of the most satisfying conclusions of a movie. Then came the sequels, which I didn't bother watching. I don't know the quality of the other movies purely because I had no interest in watching them, however, when I heard about this one bringing back Sarah Conner into the fold, I felt an obligation to watch it. I wish I didn't.
Let's begin with the biggest positive I have for this movie, the glimpse it showed at the beginning of "Terminator 2: Judgement Day", I enjoyed seeing the old archive footage of Sarah in the asylum rambling about the terminator. After this, we go straight to 1994, where Sarah has been de-aged... perfectly. It looked incredible. I was super excited at this point because I thought the movie might revolve around that year, and be a literal direct sequel to Terminator 2. It wasn't.
The decision to kill John Conner is possibly the worst decision to kill a character in any film or television show. I immediately felt the urge to leave the theater. You cannot kill a main character of a franchise in such an anticlimactic way. The film just continued to become worse as it progressed. Actually... just before I go on to talk about how much I hated this movie, Sarah and John were successful in defeating Skynet and stopping the future in 2029 from occurring... Actively acknowledged by this film. How come a Terminator comes back and kills John? It makes... literally no sense.
The movie flashes forward 22 years and we briefly follow the life of a woman Dani, a terminator spawns in to kill her because shes the future John Conner who will help lead the resistance, unknown to us (the audience) at the time, but further explained in the film. Another woman, called Grace, who is 'half human half machine' spawns in and tries to save her from the terminator. Dani loses her brother and father to the terminator and leaves with Grace, they're followed by Sarah Conner.
Sarah shows up and saves both of their asses, even though they seem less than thankful considering she just saved their lives. Grace consistently annoys Sarah, and the viewers, by insulting her across the film's runtime. Why the writers couldn't have just had a nice relationship between the characters... I'll never know. Grace explains the future set in 2042 where a group known as Legion has created terminators that have betrayed the humans and started killing them. Not only does this make the experience of the first two films less valuable, it literally destroys the point of their existence. Everything that Sarah and John did to save the world is just reset and the future still happens. Just leave this franchise alone.
How does Legion even exist? The audience isn't really provided a good explanation other than, "they do". Getting back to the terrible plot of this piece of garbage film, Sarah tells Grace and Dani about messages shes been getting on her phone that end with, 'for john'. They decrypt the messages, and find out that the coordinates that are tattooed on Grace's chest is the same location that the messages are coming from.
They begin to go to Texas and eventually, after wasting an entire hour of our time, find the terminator that killed John in the beginning of the film. Understandably, Sarah is upset... because he literally KILLED HER SON. However, its played for laughs. He has a family now and a conscious, don't even ask me how that 'works'. He talks about his job of selling drapes... but just an hour before we saw him brutally murder an innocent eleven year old kid... how are we supposed to 'root' for this character?? He is purely despicable and I wanted him to die the minute he showed up on screen.
The gang eventually is tracked by the other terminator and Grace sacrifices herself, alongside 'Carl' (the terminator who murdered John), to stop the terminator from killing Dani. The film ends with a lackluster messages of 'hope' with Sarah and Dani in a car ready to stop other terminators... or something. It really is never fully explained what the ending actually means. Are both of them close now? I felt no chemistry between the actors through the entire film.
I hate this film. So much. It ruins so much about the terminator lore and destroys the meaning of hope after the second film concludes. It kills John Conner, and the terminator who killed him is a character we're supposed to 'like'. This movie is genuinely one of the worst pieces of trash I've ever endured. I hate it so so so much. I'm done with this series, I will never watch another one.
Score: 1.0/10
Arrow: Reset (2019)
"Reset" Hits Hard With Some Of Arrow's Most Emotional Scenes Yet...
I didn't look up any information about this particular episode of "Arrow" because of Quentin Lance's return, I didn't want to be spoiled about any of the details... and it paid off. My favorite film of all time is "Groundhog Day" and this episode was a match made in heaven when it came to my personal tastes in film / TV.
I absolutely loved the way that this episode used emotion, Quentin being the person that Oliver needed to have that final conversation with was pretty devastating, especially because he stands as being in my top 3 characters of the entire series. Laurel getting some much needed closure with Quentin after the season six finale was also a highlight during this one's runtime.
I've always adored the episodes that focus purely on Oliver, and this one does just that. It reminded me of classics like, "Three Ghosts", "Kapiushon" and "Fundamentals" from seasons past. I think that Stephen Amell and Paul Blackthorne bring their 'A' game when it comes to the emotional scenes, you really feel the years that they've spent on screen together during this episode.
Having Lyla being the person that betrays Oliver, Diggle and Laurel was a good choice given Diggle's relationship with her and the past seasons that shes spent on screen. I also loved the cliffhanger bringing all of our heroes back to where it all began... Lian Yu... its Mandarin for Purgatory.
I cannot wait for next week's episode, I feel like the best is yet to come, and when this episode feels like the best that "Arrow" has to offer, it makes me even more excited to think of an episode of better quality. The writers have really upped their game this year.
Score: 10/10
The Good Place: The Answer (2019)
"The Good Place" Continues To Be One Of The Most Thought Provoking And Incredible TV Series Ever Made...
"The Good Place" has always been a show that I've loved. From its quirky and unique premise to the lovable cast playing the characters, quite literally everything about this show is pretty perfect. "The Answer" begins by taking us (the viewers) back to Chidi being born, and slowly transitions in some of the most engaging and excellent writing in this series.
We get to see all of Chidi's life through snippets, from the time when he wrote an entire lecture about his parents and why they shouldn't get a divorce, right to my new personal moment of the entire show as a whole (more on that later). Chidi is probably one of the most genuinely good people I've ever seen in a TV show before and is easily my favorite character in this show, excluding Michael (I've loved Ted Danson ever since his "Cheers" days), and getting an entire episode about Chidi was a welcome surprise.
I've always wondered what Chidi's various soulmates would look like across his many years in the afterlife (Michael rebooted him so so so many times) and being able to see even a couple of his partners was also a welcome surprise. The comedy in this show has also always been to my liking, and this episode didn't disappoint on that front either. Some of the funniest lines yet were placed into this episode, my personal favorite being; "I have a job Chidi, I have a family, until I read this, I had a will to live", even if its mean spirited it gave me a big laugh.
Now, onto the best part about the episode, the focus on the relationship between Chidi and Eleanor. I've loved what the show has done with their friendship over the years, gently nudging towards them becoming one of the best TV couples of all time. The last 10 seconds of this episode especially gave me a big smile. The moment when Chidi finally got his note back, reading "There is no answer, but Eleanor is the answer", was so satisfying.
In other words, I think this is a perfect "The Good Place" episode and one of my top 5 so far (which is a very large compliment because I believe that this show is one of the best TV series ever broadcast). I'm dreading waiting until the next episode because I want to desperately binge it right now... however, I'll live (hopefully). I cannot wait to see the final stretch of episodes that this show has cooked up and to see the conclusion of one of my favorite TV Shows, see you on January 9th!
Supernatural: Proverbs 17:3 (2019)
"I'm Where I'm Supposed To Be" (15x05)
This episode has a lot to love inside of it, from the solid werewolf storyline to the great dialogue between Dean and 'Ashley'. Werewolves haven't always been big favorite episodes of mine, as I've also found them to be kind of dull and not really scary... more annoying than anything. However, this episode is probably the show's best use of them since "Heart" from season 2.
I'm still not a big fan of how enemies seem to be able to defeat the boys so easily, for example, last week with the family of vampires, that situation was easy to get out of... Perhaps the boys believe that the situations that they're in aren't interesting enough for them to permanently die (Chuck wouldn't allow them to die like this). Lilith mentions that the werewolf brothers have to die like this to 'foreshadow' whats to come for the Winchesters... however, it still feels like a situation that could've been avoided when it came to Sammy getting held at gunpoint.
I am so happy that they've brought back Lilith, although... I remember from Season 13 being told that God couldn't interact with the empty, so how did he do this? Well... writers lie I guess. Her reveal scene was completely out of nowhere and was not expected at all... fantastic writing especially for that scene... regardless of the retcon...
I'm impressed that with each of the latest three episodes, the writers have been making what could be seen as filler "Monster Of The Week" content into actual important development for our characters. I'm extremely excited to see what new ancient foes are coming back.. especially if Lilith is back into the playing cards. A villain I never thought we'd see again, even in this final batch of episodes. I'm still crossing my fingers for Azazel to make his way back into the show, I want to see that son die twice.
Another note, I absolutely adore the "Alternate Endings" stuff that Sam seems to be seeing for the end of "Supernatural". It's a really fun way to bring back elements of past seasons, like the Mark of Cain, and make them relevant again in a new way. Extraordinary work on this front.
POSITIVES:
- Fantastic Lilith reveal
- Great use of "Monster Of The Week Content"
- Great dialogue between Dean and 'Ashley' (AKA Lilith)
- Good direction, and stunt work
- Good ending "How are we supposed to fight God?"
NEGATIVES:
- Slow build up could've been a bit faster regarding Lilith
- Retcon of the empty was a little bit frustrating
- Castiel needs to come back soon (thankfully, he seems to be in the next episode), this drama needs to stop eventually
Score: 8.5/10 (Great)
Supernatural: Atomic Monsters (2019)
"I Can't Forget Any Of Them..." (15x04)
Season 15 started out a little rough, episodes 1 and 2 weren't episodes I particularly loved, but this blew me away. The opening five minutes were perfectly directed with an awesome cameo and fantastic action. The monster of the week story line was really entertaining, the vampire mystery was fun to watch and not completely predictable... but what made this one stuck out was the dialogue between Sam and Dean.
I love Castiel, don't get me wrong. However, having Sam and Dean just by themselves for an episode is awesome, they have the best on screen chemistry of pretty much any two characters in television. The Chuck story line was incredible, for me, I was a little conflicted on God deciding to get the approval of his ex girlfriend on his stories... I thought that was initially a bit of a lame story to tell... well, it paid off. The murder of all of Becky's family was terrifying, Chuck's continuing spiral into madness makes the episode really enjoyable to watch.
The last 5 minutes were a particular stand out too, I loved the dialogue between Sam and Dean, the decision to keep on going and fight the good fight in the memories of the people they've lost was nice to see. Hearing Sam talk about Jessica again, even if its only for a brief moment, was fantastic. It reminds us of how far the boys have come since the pilot episode.
POSITIVES:
- Fantastic opening sequence.
- Awesome Monster Of The Week Story line.
- Chuck story line was fantastic.
- No Dean and Castiel drama.
- Incredible last five minutes.
NEGATIVES:
- Sam and Dean outsmarted by that family... Surely by now the boys should be preparing more to make sure that these situations of being held at gunpoint aren't going to happen... I mean, its been 15 seasons.
SCORE: 9.0/10
(Edit: My episode didn't have any narration... Just wanted to state that)
BoJack Horseman: Fish Out of Water (2016)
One Of The Greatest Episodes Of Television In The 21st Century...
For others, it might be "Free Churro" or "Time's Arrow" and whilst those two episodes are masterpieces of television in there own rights, this one has stuck with me the most. This is a truly original episode of television, where almost no dialogue is used throughout it, and there is something so special about that. To have a story resonate with the audience when almost no dialogue is used... there is just something so special about that.
I absolutely love the animation throughout this episode, the underwater sections contain some of the most gorgeous animation seen in all of television. The final five minutes of it resonate the most with myself, and I'm sure, plenty of other viewers. "Kelsey, in this terrifying world, all we have are the connections that we make". This is the line that BoJack writes down towards the end, and its so perfectly written that its stuck out as one of the best quotes in all of this show.
The final twist, where BoJack finds out that he could've avoided all of this turmoil by using the voice function on his helmet is pure gold, and the song Sea of Dreams by Oberhofer playing at the very end is possibly one of the greatest song choices in the history of television. It is... perfection. Just like this episode.
Score: 10/10
Arrow: Welcome to Hong Kong (2019)
"I Need My Family To Live" (8x02)
This episode dealt with a lot of the emotional fallout that came with the end of the season premiere. There was a ton of stuff to love this week, from the fantastic performance of Katie Cassidy to the awesome action sequences towards the end of the episode.
It isn't flawless, the episode has some issues when it comes to the flash forwards... which are still the worst part of "Arrow" Season 8, they were also the worst part of season 7. The flash forwards interrupt very important moments during this episode for a story line that I and many other viewers have absolutely no interest in. I understand that they're setting the stage for the spin off... however, regular CW seasons are 23 episodes long, I'm very sure that they would've had the time to just develop the characters and story lines when the show actually begins.
With that core negative out of the way, I really enjoyed the present sections of this episode. I've always been someone who liked Season 3, one of the less popular seasons of the show and all the callbacks with the virus and Tatsu were done flawlessly. The fight choreography of this episode was a standout too, it had quite a few great sequences between Oliver and the people he was fighting.
The twist at the end with Lyla and the monitor was something that I was kind of expecting, given that some news spread a couple of weeks back about her becoming Harbinger. It was still a great scene though.
Season 8 continues to impress with an episode that deals with a lot of emotional fallout. I'm really looking forward to Thea coming back next week, I've missed her character.
POSITIVES:
- Good Hong Kong Story line.
- Excellent Set Up For Crisis with Harbinger.
- Awesome Oliver Moments With The Monitor.
- Great fight choreography.
- "I Need My Family To Live" moment was a standout.
NEGATIVES:
- The flash forwards genuinely feel so intrusive upon the main story line, it makes me angry sometimes when they interrupt some really good scenes. Roy Harper is no longer in them meaning that, for me at least, there is absolutely zero reason to be invested or even pay attention.
Score: 9/10
Supernatural: Raising Hell (2019)
What A Waste Of A Return... (15x02)
I was genuinely really looking forward to this episode, the return of Kevin was something that had me excited. They wasted it. Not only that but this episode was full of awful sexual tension, terrible conversations between God and Amara (I cannot believe that two episodes in, God is already nerfed).
The episode was just awfully written from the beginning to the end, it was boring and served no true purpose other than to tell us that Kevin wasn't actually sent to Heaven... but to Hell. Great. Thanks writers.
The previous episode set up quite a few interesting story threads with the ghosts. This episode destroyed them. Ghosts in daylight aren't scary and they look terrible.
I don't have the energy to say how terrible this one was, it could be broken down and destroyed because of the amount of flaws with it. I gave it a very generous 3 because of the acting from our main characters.
I say this as a massive "Supernatural" fanatic, if this is the type of episodes you're putting into the final season writers, do better. This episode would easily make my bottom 5.
Arrow: Starling City (2019)
A Masterpiece Of A Homage To Arrow's First Season
I've been watching "Arrow" for years, I started the show in 2016 a few months before its fifth season officially began airing. I've been with it through its ups and its downs... but I do love the show as a whole. I love the character of Oliver Queen, even if he isn't technically comic book accurate to the actual Green Arrow. Truth be told, I wasn't a DC fanatic until I gave this show a chance and binged the first season in 3 days, and that wasn't the only time I'd be watching season 1. I've seen it at least 5 times since, and will be watching it once more when the entire series has completed.
Season 1 of "Arrow" is one of my absolute favorites, it holds one of the top 5 Arrowverse villains with the Dark Archer, and this entire episode felt like a love letter to that particular season. Amongst all the darkness with Oliver's return, he brought light back as well, and this episode expertly demonstrated that with the alternate versions of previous characters.
I adored the way they incorporated tiny moments of season 1, through Oliver's return from the pilot to the season finale "Sacrifice" with the final battle between Oliver and Tommy on the rooftop. The Monitor still not truly stating his intentions makes me even more excited for the crisis to come.
If this is the type of episodes we can come to expect from this season then I'm all in. Loved it.