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Stranger Things Season 5 Review

2026-02-01T02:00:00.285-05:00

Stranger Things (2016-2025)

Season 5 - 8 episodes (2025)
Watch Stranger Things Season 3 on Netflix
Created by: Matt Duffer , Ross Duffer
Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery,Maya Hawke, Linda Hamilton, Nell Fisher
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
Season one was set in 1983 where a mother tries to find her son after he disappears mysteriously in the small town of Hawkins.
Season five occurs in 1987 with Hawkins under quarantine and Vecna having fractured reality by opening rifts in season four. Eleven and the gang unite for a last stand against a powerful darkness.

Verdict
How can you not watch the final season of a show that's spanned nearly a decade? The ending is sufficient. It's not easy to end a show that should have ended long ago and has continued to reinvent itself with new villains. This season is mostly action with the new plot device being just that. Vecna has a goal but only because the plot needs it. This does provide a nice enough epilogue, but overall it isn't a good season. My enjoyment stems mostly from the closure it provides.
It depends.

Review
Season 4 introduced the terrifying villain Vecna, revealed as Dr. Brenner's first test subject Henry Creel/ One (Jamie Campbell Bower). From the Upside Down Vecna targeted traumatized teens like Max (Sadie Sink). Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) must regain her powers while she's in California to fight him after losing them while fighting the Mind Flayer in Season 3. Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Murray rescued Hopper (David Harbour) from a Russian prison.
New character Eddie Munson is wrongly accused of Vecna's murders and ultimately sacrifices himself to save his new friends, though the season ends with massive Upside Down gates ripping open in Hawkins which sets the stage for war. Season 4 retconned Vecna and his plan into the show, previously he was an unknown character. We're introduced to yet a new villain with a plan to do... stuff. Season 3 introduced the new villain the Mind Flayer that wanted to merge Hawkins and the Upside Down.

Thankfully the first episode begins with a recap provided by new radio DJ Robin (Maya Hawke). The military has invaded Hawkins, patched the rifts, and are actively searching for Vecna in the Upside Down. The Hawkins kids are also searching the Upside Down for Vecna while Eleven trains for the eventual face off. I thought the kids looked old in Season 4, but now they could easily play college aged. Mike's sister Holly seems to be the target of the Upside Down, but why? I barely knew she was a character in previous seasons.

E2: Nell Fisher, Jamie Campbell Bower play Holly Wheeler, Henry/Vecna

These kids have beaten the Upside Down so many times. Last season attempted a soft reboot with a new villain that's been just off screen the entire time. Eleven heads back down to search for Holly where Hopper is already there looking for Vecna.

This season is a lot of gunfire and action courtesy of the military. There's lots of collateral damage. Hopper and Eleven have teamed up while the rest of the team must save Derek, as unlikable as he is. He's Vecna's next target. They stage a trap at Derek's house to fight a demigorgon.

E3: Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Joe Keery, Charlie Heaton, Gaten Matarazzo play Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair, Nancy Wheeler, Steve Harrington, Jonathan Byers, Dustin Henderson

It turns out Vecna didn't want just Holly, he wants all the children. He's going to use them as weapons somehow.

This season was released as three parts comprised of episodes 1-4, 5-7, and 8. In episode four Will (Noah Schnapp) realizes he received some of Vecna's power. He just needed a dire situation to unlock that ability. He's basically Eleven, and faces off against the military base in the Upside Down that's overrun with demigorgons.

Last season Vecna wanted revenge against Eleven. Now he's back with a new vendetta, though it's a bit flimsy. Will only has powers when he's connected to the hive mind, so the team must resurrect a demigorgon to act as an antenna. Also it turns out everything we've known about the Upside Down is wrong. It frequently feels like the show pulls the rug out from under the viewer just to prolong the story. At first the Upside Down was just an alternate dimension. They it was an underground evil world, and now it's something different. It's only a bridge. The question remains, what is it connecting?

Episode six does provide a nice moment for Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) who's been insufferable for the first half this season. He's grieving Eddie and how he's remembered as a criminal despite his heroics last season.

This season frequently goes big; action set pieces and gun fights. That replaces character development and triumphant moments. Well, not entirely. Will's coming out monologue is clumsily integrated. What should be inspiring is just awkward. I don't have an issue with the concept, but shows typically set it up better, providing scenes that hint at it. While scenes from other seasons hint at this in retrospect only, I can't remember benign scenes spanning over a decade. It's also strange placement when the group is preparing to save the world. It creates odd pacing. I wonder if it's a scene related to the actor's own orientation, but this could have been done so much better.

E4: David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown play Hopper, Eleven

The final episode was released a week after part two, and also appeared in several theaters. This finale is nine years in the making. We know the plan is to use the radio tower to gain entrance to the abyss, though I doubt anything will be as straightforward as we assume. It's an intense episode. The other world is dropping, Eleven and Kali enlist Max to attack Vecna directly while the other kids are on the radio tower ready to breach, and Holly and her classmates try to escape Vecna. Cutting between these stories makes the pacing quick. The show is pulling out all the stops.

Vecna wants to use these children's minds as extra power. It seems inefficient. It's revealed that Henry gained powers due to an alien rock. That's a new one. How does that square with Eleven sending him to another dimension? It's an answer, but it's not satisfying. If the rock gave Henry powers, how does Eleven have powers if she was generated from Henry's blood? And with this revelation about the Upside Down and the abyss, why are there no monsters in the abyss?

It's amazing to think where this show ended versus where it began. It doesn't even look like the same show. That's not a bad thing, but this is also a story that kept having to go bigger, sacrificing what made the first season so engrossing in an effort to achieve that scale. The big fight occurs half way into the episode, and then there's also the military. Linda Hamilton played one of the commanders, but she's completely underutilized as a token villain. I kept wondering when she'd get her moment. It never arrives. This season's end mimics the first season and for similar reasons too.

E8: Vecna, Eleven

The episode is also a lot of fan service with a several flashbacks. The epilogue is nice, as we get to see where everyone lands. I don't understand how Hopper is a cop again. Did the military let him skate? We get to see the kids graduate as well as what the older kids are up to now. Mike, Will, Dustin, and Lucas were twelve when the show started, and now they're eighteen and graduating. They play a game of Dungeons & Dragons where Mike tacks on a nice story about Eleven, but I can't help but think it's just a story, something to make them feel better as wishful thinking. Is this coda all fan service? Sure, but I can't blame the show. I enjoyed that aspect of it. The show has been around a long time, even if we don't have that many episodes. It's a good enough conclusion. There's no good way to conclude this as it's clear it was never planned for multiple seasons and plots were invented for each season as needed. The plot and villain machinations have bounced around so much. I think this season could have focused more on the characters instead of gun fights. The first season did explore middle school issues. Later seasons, and this one in particular, could have focused on high school issues and the parallels. Still, it's sufficient.

A Man on the Inside Season 2 Review

2026-01-11T02:00:00.066-05:00

A Man on the Inside (2024-)

Season 2 - 8 episodes (2025 November 20)
Watch A Man on the Inside on Netflix
Created by: Michael Schur
Based on: The Mole Agent by Maite Alberdi
Starring: Ted Danson, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Lilah Richcreek Estrada, Mary Steenburgen, Stephanie Beatriz, Gary Cole, Max Greenfield, David Strathairn, Michaela Conlin
Rated: TV-14
Watch the trailer

Plot
Charles, a retired professor, gets a new purpose in life when he answers an ad from a private investigator and goes undercover as part of an investigation.

Verdict
While it treads similar ground as the first season, an undercover case and family dynamics, it's still just as sweet, humorous, and emotional. This expands past parent and child relationships to friendships and romances. Charles has a love interest, and the parent relationship is explored through Julie and her mother. It's a light and easy show with a surprising amount of depth, though this season covers a lot of the same ground as season one, and I like the first one more due to additional depth.
Watch It.

Review
In season one Charles (Ted Danson) posed as a new resident at a retirement home to catch a thief. In doing so, he has to confront his feelings of grief and guilt surrounding his deceased wife. While he searches for information, he makes friends, finding what his life had been missing. It was drama and comedy in equal measure as Charles isn't adept at acting his part and his fastidiousness often annoys the private investigator. He and his daughter also have to manage their changing relationshiop as Charles has to confront growing older.

This wastes no time with Charles getting a new assignment to pose as a guest lecturer at a local college due to a missing laptop. Someone doesn't want Wheeler College to take wealthy donor Brad Vinick's (Gary Cole) money. The question is who is it and to what lengths will they go? In just a few minutes we've seen most of the old cast as Didi (Stephanie Beatriz) asks Julie (Lilah Richcreek) to do background checks.

Mary Steenburgen, Ted Danson play Mona, Charles

Charles still hangs out at the retirement home, maintaining the friendships he formed in the first season. While undercover at the college, Charles quickly falls for Mona (Mary Steenburgen). She's a free spirit artist that's a near opposite of Charles. He can't help but admit to her that he's a spy, which causes Julie to enter the campus and investigate. She's suspicious of Mona in part because Charles is adamant it can't be her

This season expands the story to the difficult relationship between Julie and her mother. They're estranged. Julie remains distant while her mother Vanessa (Constance Marie) would love to put the past behind them.

In episode five everyone is at Charles's house for Thanksgiving. This season continues to balance comedy and emotion. While the case at Wheeler College provides plenty of drama and comedy, Charles balances his fake job as a professor with a budding relationship. While the parent relationship is more about Julia and Vanessa, that overlaps with Charles and his daughter Emily (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) as well. Didi and Julie were at odds in the first season, but they find common ground this season.

Stephanie Beatriz, Lilah Richcreek play Didi, Julie

Through a few leads that turn up little, Charles and Julie get a big break when they find a plot to destroy the school. Vinick wants to reshape the school so Charles recruits his friends from the retirement home to steal Vinick's phone in an attempt to figure out details.

In the final episode Charles thinks he has the case solved, only to discover he doesn't. It's basically an Agatha Christie type reveal. The series can be so overwhelmingly sweet, and that's a good thing. It's humorous and entertaining while exploring relationship dynamics. That's not just parents and children. Charles also has to grapple with his and Mona's evolving relationship and what they want it to be.

This season doesn't have as much depth as the first season where Charles and his daughter explored their relationship as well as Charles dealing with getting older and how he's isolated himself. With this season, Charles only has to worry about his romantic relationship. The turmoil between Julia and Vanessa doesn't have the depth that Charles had in the first season. The romances just seem more generic.

Death by Lightning Mini-series Review

2025-12-31T02:00:00.394-05:00

Death by Lightning (2025)

Mini-series - 4 episodes
Buy the book (paid link)
Based on: Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard
Created by: Mike Makowsky
Starring: Matthew Macfadyen, Michael Shannon, Betty Gilpin, Shea Whigham, Bradley Whitford, Nick Offerman
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
James Garfield reluctantly ascends to the presidency, focused on political reform. His admirer Charles Guiteau's increasing obsession with the president leads him to the act of assassination.

Verdict
It's the history of a forgotten president that faced several political hurdles, feeling relevant even today. This is a great history lesson delivered by an impressive cast that reveals the challenges an earnest president faces contrasted with a swindler that will tell any lie to get ahead. Despite Garfield's short stay in office, his death affected sterilization in surgery as well as made his successor Arthur a better president. Guiteau's passion quickly becomes misdirected as he seeks vengeance instead of change.
Watch It.

Review
The question that opens the series is, who is Charles Guiteau?

Senator James Garfield (Michael Shannon) delivers a speech on behalf of another presidential candidate and winds up winning votes despite his protests. With vote after vote without a clear winner the tides turn and Garfield gains more votes. The convention eventually nominates Garfield as the presidential candidate. A chance encounter between Garfield leaving the convention and Charles Guiteau (Matthew Macfadyen) is the start of Guiteau's obsessive interest in the future president.

E1: Michael Shannon plays James Garfield

Guiteau is a liar and cheat, swindling his own family and boasting of big tales. I wondered if he was delusional or just sad. He's desperate for attention and a sense of importance.

Garfield doesn't have a choice in running for president, nor does he get a choice in his vice president. Chester Arthur (Nick Offerman) brings the New York delegation, and that's needed to win the campaign. Arthur and Roscoe Conkling (Shea Whigham) had a scheme to get a man in the White House. It wasn't supposed to be Garfield, but they're hoping maybe they can use him to their advantage. New York politicians are corrupt, and Garfield certainly poses a challenge to their way of politicking.

Guiteau is on the run from the police since he stole from his brother in law. A very drunk Arthur helps him evade the cops, misidentifying him as Cousteau due to an earlier misunderstanding. Guiteau always embellishes his accomplishments, claiming to have done and be more than he is. He thinks he deserves to write Garfield's speeches or be awarded a job in the administration, but his slights are only perceived. He thinks he deserves these roles, but he has no experience or relation to Garfield's administration. No one knows who he is. He seems delusional at times, but he's a scammer that's trying to con people to give him a job and to make all of his embellishments true.

E1: Matthew Macfadyen plays Charles Guiteau

Garfield is elected president but unable to do anything, hamstrung by Conkling who's been trying to pull the strings since the beginning. He can't get his nominations for the cabinet through due to meddling from Conkling and Arthur. Arthur attempts to use that to get himself removed from office, but Garfield won't let that happen.

Garfield is shot down just when his presidency was looking up. His legacy and widow are robbed. Guiteau thought the act would make his famous and then thought his execution would be his last stand. Instead both he and Garfield die, fading into obscurity. Even more tragic is that Garfield's death could have been prevented. Surgeon's didn't believe in antiseptics. While one doctor argues for the use, the main physician is hesitant to trust this 'new' information.

Chester Arthur succeeded Garfield and made a competent president, defying expectation of corruption to embrace reform. That has to be in large part due to Garfield.

Wednesday Season 2 Series Review

2025-10-28T02:00:00.105-04:00

Wednesday (2022-)

Season 2 - 8 episodes (2025)
Watch Wednesday on Netflix
Created by: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar
Starring: Jenna Ortega, Gwendoline Christie, Riki Lindhome, Emma Myers, Christina Ricci, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzmán, Isaac Ordonez, Steve Buscemi
Rated: TV-14
Watch the trailer

Plot
Smart, sarcastic, and a little dead inside, Wednesday Addams investigates a murder spree while making new friends and foes at Nevermore Academy.

Verdict
While I enjoyed season one, this season makes me question that. Has the show really strayed so far? This short season is so busy with many characters and subplots. They seem contrived as they all conveniently involve each member of the Addams family. The plots are less interesting than season one, and Wednesday seems like more of a plot device than character. This season never fully capitalizes on the inherent humor of a macabre teen dealing with the trials of being in school.
Skip it.

Review
In season one, Wednesday committed to solving a string of murders after being sent to a school for supernatural outcasts. That's the basis for the prior season but there was plenty of drama as Wednesday is still a high school girl despite being the antithesis of a typical teenager. There's plenty of tension with her roommate, her family, and a monster on the loose.

Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) spent her summer vacation tracking a serial kill, but back at school she's a celebrity due to last year much to her chagrin. New principal Barry Dort (Steve Buscemi) wants to capitalize on her fame as part of his fund raising efforts. He's especially interested in soliciting Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and her mother. Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) is now attending the school too.

These episode feel long for the type of show. The tone wavers between camp, morbid, and comedic. It frequently feels like characters aren't in the same genre. Wednesday is generally disagreeable and an angsty teenager, but it's like the show doesn't want us to root for her. It could tone it down while still having her as very dark.

Wednesday finds another case that needs solving, a murder that involves crows. That leads her to a psychiatric hospital. She's also dealing with a stalker that may or may not be related. What makes this season feel too busy is that we also have Pugsley and a zombie he finds and reanimates, Dort's fund raising which seems deceptive, and Morticia's involvement at the school.

This season features plenty of monsters and mysteries, but the season relies on spectacle and surprising reveals more than a well paced story. The first season was about this stranger character Wednesday experiencing the daily life of a teenager. This season swaps that for several mysteries and more characters. There's so much in this season, werewolves, hydes, mad scientists, spirits, zombies,and more.

E6: Jenna Ortega, Emma Myers play Wednesday Addams, Enid Sinclair

Episode six provides a fun sub-plot when Wednesday and Enid (Emma Myers) swap bodies. Earlier this season, Wednesday has a premonition that Enid would die. While she thwarts that threat, now it's an Addams that will die. That just seems too easy. This season finds a way to connect every member of the Addams family into the plot. So many elements feel contrived to involve the entire Addams family. It's too easy. This culminates in this mad scientist gambit across generations that of course involves everyone in the Addams family.

It's an overstuffed season. While the main plot is Wednesday uncovering a conspiracy at the psychiatric hospital, it's more complicated than that. Every secondary character seems to have a subplot, and most of them don't get enough time. I'd rather this slow down and follow Wednesday, a teenager who is dark and mysterious but still struggles with high school issues.

The Sandman Series Review

2025-08-19T02:00:00.016-04:00

The Sandman (2022-2025)

Season 1 - 11 episodes (2022)
Season 2 - 12 episodes (2025)
Watch The Sandman on Netflix
Created by: Neil Gaiman, David S. Goyer, Allan Heinberg
Based on: The Sandman by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg
Starring: Tom Sturridge, Boyd Holbrook, Vivienne Acheampong, Patton Oswalt, Jenna Coleman, David Thewlis, Gwendoline Christie, Stephen Fry, Kirby Howell-Baptiste
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the Season 1 trailer
Watch the Season 2 trailer

Plot
Upon escaping after decades of imprisonment by a mortal wizard, Dream, the personification of dreams, sets about to reclaim his lost equipment.

Verdict
Inventive and creative, it's a mythological tale about dreams, desires, death, and more. The concept alone carries this very far, giving agency to Dream who must escape imprisonment, regain his tools, and restore the barrier between the waking and dream worlds. It remains creative from start to finish and this gives voice and body to abstract concepts while introducing many unique characters. It's easy to get lost in this world that seems so much bigger than what we see on screen. Humans are pushed and pulled by endless creatures, personifications. While the concept intrigues, the story also delivers. The first season is great, the second season suffers from trying to fit several more issues into the same number of episodes, making it feel disjointed and aimless. The first season is worth watching. I felt pulled into the second season, but it's not as engrossing.
Watch It.

Review
Based on the 1989–1996 comic book written by Neil Gaiman, the first season covers the first sixteen issues while the second season covers issues twenty-two through seventy-five, completing the arch though a lot of material is omitted.

In season one Dream (Tom Sturridge) leaves his realm to search for a rogue dream, Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook) in the waking world. That proved to be his downfall. Grief, in this case a feeling and not a character, leads a man to the goal of reversing death to bring back his son. He plans to summon and imprison Death, instead he gets Dream.

S1: Tom Sturridge plays Dream

While Dream finally escapes after a century of imprisonment, his realm has deteriorated and he's lost his tools and thus his power. He must reclaim his helm, sand, and ruby. He consults the three fates for cryptic clues about where his tools have gone. Even with leads, his tools have been passed around for centuries.

What makes this fun is the mythology. It's a modern day legend about dreams, death, and many other immortals, making concepts anthropomorphic. It's intriguing intellectually and visually with a dark and macabre comic styling. We watch Dream descend to Hell and face off against Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie). It's a verbal battle as their words transform to images and fight.

S1: Tom Sturridge, Gwendoline Christie play Dream, Lucifer

The only episode in the first season that felt like filler was episode five. It drags for too long and unravels too slowly. The person that has Dream's ruby creates an experiment about truth. It's clear to see where it's going long before we get there.

Death's (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) introduction is more touching than I expected. We see her walking around the city, gently greeting those whose time has come. The second part is Death granting a man's wish to not die. Dream tells the man he'll beg for Death soon enough, and they agree to meet in one hundred years. They continue to meet every hundred years with the man defying Dream's expectations despite his ever changing circumstances. While I often criticize shows for a diversion episode that's divorced from the series, this episode provides insight into dream, his pessimism and how he views humans.

After regaining his tools, Dream returns to his original mission, finding Corinthian. Dream finds Rose, a human that's a dream vortex. He wants to use her to find Corinthian, his original mission. One of Dream's siblings, Desire wants to use Rose against Dream. All of the characters converge at a convention, and the subject of that convention is wild. It's a dark side of this season's plot.

S1: Boyd Holbrook plays Corinthian

This season is so inventive and creative. It's a modern day myth that avoids a lot of common tropes and generic plot lines.

The eleventh episode is a bonus episode, not directly tied to the plot. Part of it is an animated short about cats. Even animals dream of more. The other story is about a muse and an author that seeks inspiration.

Season two kicks off with a meeting of the family as Dream joins Destiny, Death, Desire, Despair, and Delirium. One is missing and that turns out to be Destruction, though it's not revealed until later in the season. Destiny relays a cryptic message about a a battle while Dream recalls a mortal woman, Nada, he loved who was condemned to Hell. He resolves to save her. This is a result of season one. Dream is different after his tribulations in season one, more caring even if he wouldn't admit it.

Lucifer has abdicated the rule of hell. The revenge is tricking dream into taking the key to Hell and thus having to choose a new ruler. Many want the key, but the series goes on a tangent about how Dream connected the dream and fairy world.

S2: Tom Sturridge plays Dream

Dream agrees to help Delirium search for Destruction in the waking world, but it's likely an excuse to seek Nada. While the driving force of the season is looking for Destruction, there are several digressions along the way delving into Dream's past. While we get information about Dream, this season doesn't feel like it has a true goal. Finding Destruction is just an excuse, a cover for Dream. I do like how this incorporates the legend of Orpheus into the narrative, but it also feels like another digression.That doesn't bring dream closer to Destruction or Nada. This season expands the lore. All mythologies and fables of various cultures are linked because they are all based on Dream and his siblings. Every civilization just interpreted them in different ways.

This season is the Dream redemption tour as we revisit his past mistakes that he now intends to fix. He breaks the rule of spilling family blood in a bid to fix the past. Initially we don't know what the consequences for breaking this rule are. In this show nothing is ever really set. The justice for breaking the rule isn't set. He's given time to say goodbyes and search for the dream baby that will take over for him. Dream recreates another version of the Corinthian. Holbrook makes the character a lot of fun. While everyone knows Corinthian as the psychopath from last season, he's different now; a rule follower.

S2: Tom Sturridge plays Dream

This season culminates in an attack on the dream world, and we finally see the consequences for Dream's transgression. A new Dream emerges, one that represents the lessons the original Dream learned throughout the series. This ends well, hopeful that Dream's second time around might be better.

The problem with this season is that incorporates many more books into just one season. That would explain why this season seems disjointed. While I enjoyed season one both the lore and the plot arc, this season is scattered. I appreciate how it expands the mythology and how Dream and his siblings are the origins of all myths, legends, and fables, but it never seemed coherent. That's the problem with condensing so much information into so few episodes. That's what brings this season down.

Squid Game Season 3 Review

2025-07-31T02:00:00.132-04:00

Squid Game [Ojing-eo geim] (2021-2025)

Season 3 - 6 episodes (2025 June 7)
Watch Squid Game on Netflix
Created by: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Starring: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon, Lee Byung-hun
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
Hundreds of cash-strapped players accept a strange invitation to compete in children's games. While surviving the games provides a 45.6 billion-won payout, if you lose the games you die.

Season three continues where the second stopped with the winner of the 33rd games still grieving.

Verdict
This season doesn't stand on its own. It's the second half to season two, and you must watch that season. You can't rank one without the other. Together, this is the same concept as the first season, made to be bigger, longer, and more intense. The second season built the relationships and ended a few as well. This season doesn't have the interpersonal drama, it's a run to the end where alliances are strained and greed overcomes everything. After last season's revolt Gi-hun attempts to limit casualties. That's difficult with the very nature of the games, but he's unrelenting until the very end.
It depends.

Review
Season two and three should have been one season as the second one ends on a huge cliff hanger, stopping mid-way between games. While the second season did a formidable job of building on the first season and expanding the plot, the season was simply incomplete. That should have been part one with this as season two part two, or the two seasons should have released as one. The first season was fun enough, boosted by everyone stuck indoors during the pandemic. Season two and three are an obvious attempt to stretch the concept and length of a show that was a hit.

Season one was a wild ride. If you need a quick refresher, Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), player 456, was recruited to play the games because he was desperate for money. During the games he befriended a frail old man who turned out to be one of the wealthy men that created the games. Gi-hun won.
During the games police officer Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) infiltrates the facility, trying to find his brother who participated in the previous games only to discover his brother works as one of the masked guards.
In season two Gi-hun returns to the games to stop the cruelty and deaths. Plays can vote to opt out and stop the games, but only if a majority votes to do so. Gi-hun leads a revolt at the end of season two that is ultimately stopped. He's the only survivor and the games continue.

My suspicion that season three should be season two part two is confirmed when this season picks up right where season three concluded with no context or introduction. Gi-hun staged a revolt at the end of season two, his fate unresolved. The game organizers put Gi-hun back in the game. They don't punish him directly, but they did kill his friends and everyone that revolted. The games have never been subtle, and thus I question why they spared Gi-hun. The obvious answer is plot armor.

Gi-hun deals with regret and grief over those that died. The games continue. Despite all that's happened he can't convince the others to opt out. The greed is too great in the majority of players. This season and the last is less about sadistic games and more about pitting allies against each other. Hide and seek is especially brutal, and then episode four features jump rope. While Gi-hun has become more daring in his goal to spare people, another player finds a way to remove nearly everyone else from the game.

Then there is the baby. It's such an obvious ploy to raise the stakes, and it does a great job at that though that becomes more than a bit contrived.

With each death, the remaining survivors get a bigger payout. Even at the last game the greed wins out and more players want to play to increase their payout. Gi-hun's mission to stop the games was in vain. The orchestraters want to ensure the remaining players vote to play, so they assure them there will be a choice in who survives the last game. Gi-hun is the odd one out, the other players conspiring to eliminate him.

The first season told this story best. It was compact and shocking. Seasons two/three lacked the advantage of a fresh concept. There are a lot of arcs, the detective trying to find the island, the guard with an ulterior motive, as well as the actual games. I'd rather this focus just on the games and the players, but I'd guarantee Netflix wanted to expand on this surprise hit with as many episodes as possible designed to retain subscribers.

We get a fitting end to the show with the conclusion to big arcs and hard hitting payoffs. This just never escapes feeling like a redux of the first season. It's unavoidable when the concept is the same.

Dept. Q Season 1 Review

2025-07-19T02:00:00.125-04:00

Dept. Q (2025-)
Season 1 - 9 episodes (2025 June 19)

Watch Dept. Q on Netflix
Created by: Scott Frank, Chandni Lakhani
Based on: Department Q by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Starring: Matthew Goode, Kelly Macdonald, Chloe Pirrie, Alexej Manvelov, Leah Byrne, Jamie Sives
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
Carl, a former top-rated detective, is wracked with guilt following an attack that left his partner paralyzed and another policeman dead. On his return to work, Carl is assigned to a cold case that will consume his life.

Verdict
It's a solid, twisting mystery that keeps you guessing until the very end. An arrogant cop dealing with past trauma tries to solve his own case and a cold case. This never lets the viewer get too far ahead of the investigation. Each episode uncovers a new clue and suspect, as the leads track it down. The side characters are well developed, each of them with a goal and proving to be competent. Akram is the unsung hero of the show, a foil to the trouble and often unlikable Carl.
It depends.

Review
Carl (Matthew Goode) is a sharp detective, but he's difficult to work with and arrogant. He barely survives a police shooting and upon returning to work is asked to lead an unsolved crimes unit. He's not particularly interested, but he also isn't ready to return to active duty. He agrees and is given a sub-basement as an office while his commander uses the allotted budget on her own unit.

Throughout the first episode the parallel story follows prosecutor Merritt (Chloe Pirrie) as she pursues a case despite threats. It turns out Merritt is the cold case Carl chooses, with the help of Akram (Alexej Manvelov), to solve. She disappeared four years ago. It's a good hook for the first episode.

Matthew Goode, Leah Byrne, Alexej Manvelov play Carl, Rose, Akram

Carl's assistant Akram soon proves he's more adept than anyone would have guessed. Akram is Carl's foil. While Carl is smart, troubled, and haughty, Akram gets the job done quietly. He's certainly more devoted to solving the case. He reviewed all the cases when Carl couldn't or wouldn't. Akram has a sense of cases that could be solved, choosing Merritt's case. Providing some sense of hope are current scenes of Merritt. She's still alive yet imprisoned, and that generates a lot of questions.

Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Goode play Rachel, Carl

Carl and Akram retrace Merritt's steps in the search for clues; the ferry and her hometown. All the while, Carl still thinks about the shooting that injured him and his partner. Why were the suspects in the apartment? While he sees therapist Rachel (Kelly Macdonald) about it. Carl's resistant to the forced arrangement. At the same time, the people imprisoning Merritt ask her who she's wronged. She's come up with a lot of names, but none of them are correct.

Each episode unearths a new clue. Could the case in the first episode Merritt was prosecuting provide more information? If it is related, how?

This is a solid, twisting mystery. While there are plenty of red herrings along the bread crumb path, it maintains engagement. We connect the dots in step with the detectives; never ahead of them. You can't figure out the mystery until all the pieces are in play and that keeps you watching.

The Waterfront Season 1 Review

2025-07-18T02:00:00.161-04:00

The Waterfront (2025-)
Season 1 - 8 episodes (2025 June 19)

Watch The Waterfront on Netflix
Created by: Kevin Williamson
Starring: Holt McCallany, Maria Bello, Melissa Benoist, Jake Weary, Rafael L. Silva, Humberly González, Danielle Campbell
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
As their storied North Carolina fishing empire decays, the damaged Buckleys grapple to revive their imperiled maritime heritage.

Verdict
This is a high budget soap opera. It's maximum drama with every character having a secret and involved in criminal activity. The family used to supplement income with illicit activities and hard times have brought them back to that trade. That's the premise for the season's plot; they need fast money. One bad decision begets another, but each character keeps making stupid choices on repeat just to fill the run time. It reaches a breaking point by the end of the season, but of course no one in the family has to pay any repercussions.
Skip it.

Review
Williamson created Dawson's Creek (1998) and The Vampire Diaries. He also wrote the scripts for Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Patriarch Harlan Buckley (Holt McCallany) stepped away from the family business due to a heart attack. While away his son Cane (Jake Weary) started smuggling drugs due to their failing business. Things fall apart when one of Cane's boats is raided and his men killed. That's when Harlan is brought in. He used to run drugs back when but finally got out of that business. Harlan is a cold blooded killer, and that's his first solution to any problem. Cane is a foil for Harlan, always seeking to avoid violence. That wouldn't be so bad if Cane wasn't generic.

Holt McCallany plays Harlan Buckley

To figure out who raided the boat, Harlan plans to beat the information out of their contact Hoyt. Cane tells his father the guy isn't going to talk right before Hoyt tells them exactly what they need to know. It feels completely scripted.

Also Harlan's wife Belle (Maria Bello) is planning to develop land without telling her husband. Harlan's against that, though they are facing foreclosure. Daughter Bree (Melissa Benoist) is forbidden from seeing her son for a crime we initially don't know, and she's selling out her family to a cop. This is all drama all the time. Several characters are cheating on their significant other, talking about it, or heading that way. This show is full of people making poor choices just go generate plot point. Guess what, the new bartender also has a secret.

I could understand Bree selling out her family if it would help the case with seeing her son, but she's sabotaging the family because she hates Cane. What she's doing will destroy the entire family. We eventually find out that she's mad at Cane to avoid accepting responsibility for her actions.

The main drug runner was doing just fine, but now that Harlan is in the mix he's jealous and wants to exert his power. Why jeopardize your business like that? He could keep the money flowing or be petty, and he wants to act ridiculous. We already know Harlan's solution to every problem. This is an expensive soap opera.

Jake Weary, Topher Grace, Holt McCallany play Cane, Grady, Harlan

Harlan finally gets a meeting with kingpin Grady (Topher Grace). Grady's young and rather ebullient, a characterization that means he's probably a dangerous psychopath. It's clear he's going to be a problem, but he's a terrible person that's more fun than he should be because of his attitude. He's so friendly, but there's the unpredictable subtext as he could just as merrily murder someone. With the DEA sniffing around, Grady wants Harlan to solve that problem. In a power move, Grady kidnaps the teenage grandson and goes on a hunting trip. Everyone freaks out and Harlan begrudgingly joins them. Grady accidentally shoots the grandson, who is fine, and everyone is understandably mad at him. He can't understand why and the situation escalates at the perceived slight.

Maria Bello, Holt McCallany play Belle, Harlan

Harlan and Cane decide to make a deal with their former drug partner Parker, the one they previously said they must avoid, to get rid of Grady. They also hope to pay off debts with the deal too. As anyone even half paying attention could predict, the deal doesn't work out. It's an all out war, though I question how Parker's trained professionals can't kill Grady but Cane who was non-violent just a few episodes ago manages to sneak into Grady's compound unscathed.

The series loads every character with problems. It's one thing to have a character flaw that leads to conflict, but these characters always make a decision that will maximize the drama and subsequent fallout. The characters that die are always side characters, never the main characters that are laden with plot armor. Despite all their mistakes, they don't even face any consequences. I'm not sure they have any feelings. They are just pawns in the plot to create ridiculous situations.

Love, Death & Robots Season 4 Review

2025-06-02T02:00:00.131-04:00

Love, Death & Robots (2019-)
Season 4 - 10 episodes (2025 May 16)

Watch Love, Death & Robots on Netflix
Created by: Tim Miller
Starring: Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Boyega, Ed Skrein, Chris Parnell, John Oliver, Rhys Darby, MrBeast, Bai Ling, Ronny Chieng, Amy Sedaris, Kevin Hart, Nat Faxon, Niecy Nash-Betts, Brett Goldstein, Dan Stevens, Jim Broadbent, Jane Leeves
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
In this animated anthology series for adults, the shorts span the genres of science fiction and fantasy to horror and comedy while presenting a variety of animation formats from traditional 2D to photo-real 3D CGI. Each segment is about ten minutes long, created by different teams of filmmakers from around the world.

Verdict
This season isn't bad, but most of the episodes felt like only an introduction. Each episode left me wanting more of a story and that what I got was incomplete. Episode are short, so you never get bored, but there are no episodes that reach the heights of Season 1's Zima Blue.
It depends.

Review
Part of the appeal is that this is a collection of shorts. It's difficult to get bored with short episodes, and this provides a range of animation styles and stories. This season's episodes are so short it's difficult to get but so much out of them. It's more an idea, tech demo, or one note joke.

The first episode is basically a Red Hot Chili Peppers music video that's animated in CGI so they and the crowd look like marionettes. It's a cool music video, but not much more than that.

E1 - Can't Stop

Episode two is a hyper violent alien invasion shot with a tilt shift effect that makes it look miniature. It's violent and comedic with a neat perspective.

E2 - Close Encounters of the Mini Kind

The third episode features an android bent on revenge who finds solace while revisiting memories through a new pet.

I'm not even sure what the fourth episode is. A turf war turns into an alliance to fight gods, giant children, or something else completely.

With episode five a cat seeking world domination is limited by his status as a pet. That changes when his owners get a robot that learns to speak cat. It's cute, but it's just an introduction to a larger story. It has the best story thus far, but like so many of these shorts they don't offer a conclusion.

This sixth episode is a slight change. It's live action with CGI aliens. The aliens think that dolphins are the premiere being on Earth. We get a premise and a conflict but no resolution.

E6 - Golgotha

The seventh episode is on of the betters ones. It's gladiatorial games with dinosaurs for rich people's entertainment. Even then, I still wanted more from this episode.

Episode eight looks like traditional animation with WWII era planes and monsters.

In episode nine we get to see what smart home appliances are thinking. This episode has the least amount of story, other than the Red Hot Chili Peppers music video, it's just a collection of thoughts.

The final episode is a cat versus the devil.

E10 - For He Creeps

While I enjoy this show, this season felt like ideas instead of developed shorts. Often shorts push a twist ending due to the brevity, but this season didn't even do much of that. The brevity of the episodes works against it. Two episodes don't even have a story. I enjoy the show, but this is not the best season.

Black Mirror Season 7 Review

2025-04-24T02:00:00.204-04:00

Black Mirror (2011-)

Season 7 - 6 episodes (2025 April 10)
Watch Black Mirror Season 7 on Netflix
Created by: Charlie Brooker
Starring: Rashida Jones, Chris O'Dowd, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Emma Corrin, Awkwafina, Peter Capaldi, Will Poulter, Paul Giamatti, Billy Magnussen, Cristin Milioti, Jimmi Simpson, Jesse Plemons, Siena Kelly
Watch the trailer

Plot
Each unconnected episode examines the pitfalls when technology and society intersect. What happens when technology goes off the rails, creating a horrifying situation? Does technology make us happier, is being connected at all times beneficial, and does it do more harm than good? The stories are known for their harrowing nature and depressing conclusions.

Verdict
This season is the Black Mirror I've missed. It combines pop culture, technology, and the future to create intriguing yet solemn narratives. Half the episodes are great, and the other half are still really good, exploring a future that's just around the corner. My favorite episode is Eulogy due to the depth and story structure. With each scene we delve deeper into memories and how subjective they can be. The story keeps building. It exemplifies what makes this show so engrossing. The writers think through these ideas and how these concepts would play out in the world.
Watch It.

Review
Black Mirror explores the technology that's just around the corner. It solves a need, but there's always a catch, or more apt a company ready to exploit the technology.

In Common People a new technology is able to reverse the effects of traumatic brain injury by creating a digital copy of the brain. That information is then streamed into the mind of the patient for a monthly streaming fee. Amanda (Rashida Jones) benefits from this revolutionary technology, but it's like a cell phone. She has to stay in range or becomes catatonic.

Subscription services are often terrible, each upgrade makes service worse while adding unwanted features. Amanda is a human functioning on a subscription service, and each new roll out makes the existing tier worse. She can't get better service without paying more. If she wants increased range, she has to upgrade. The company starts pushing ads through her. Don't want ads? Upgrade. This is the personification of platform decay. It's wild, but like all things Black Mirror, you can see a world where this happens. A company is playing with people's lives.

Bringing this full circle to a website introduced early in the episode. Amanda's husband begins debasing himself on the website for cash to keep Amanda functioning. Once he starts that, it spirals and we know it will only get worse.

E1: Chris O'Dowd, Rashida Jones play

With Bête Noire, research lead Maria (Siena Kelly) hires an old classmate as a research assistant. Maria is bothered by Verite, but she can't articulate why. Is it the competition or hesitant to connect past and present? Verite wasn't popular in high school, and I began to wonder if Maria bullied her.

We get a Mandela Effect with characters even referencing it. Maria is sure of a fact and then proven wrong. From the outside Maria seems to be spiraling. I'm bewildered. If this is Verite on a revenge tour against her high school classmates, how is she doing this? This episode takes some wild turns. Two episodes in, and this season is bringing it.

Hotel Reverie fuses advanced green screening and AI to remake a Hollywood movie. Movies are using more AI and digital sets. This is a giant leap forward. A production company can recreate a movie virtually with an actor's avatar in only a few hours. There's a "Streamberry" reference that is a nod to Netflix I believe the show introduced in season six.

This episode is too comical and silly. The premise is interesting. Brandy (Issa Rae) plays a part in a virtual world. Of course the production goes off the rails, and there's a threat Brandy could be trapped in this virtual set. A question that pervades this season is what's real? Brandy is in this world where people aren't real, but when the software glitches, one of the fake characters seems real. Brandy is faced with escaping this world and eliminating this virtual character with which she's formed a connection or trying to stay and save her. I didn't like this episode as much. It's lighter in tone, sillier.

Plaything also explores the boundary between an artificial intelligence so real it blurs the line of whether it's sentient. Cameron (Peter Capaldi) steals from a convenience store, but he's quickly caught. This is a world where the police can DNA swab a suspect and instantly get a list of related open crimes. Cameron is accused of murder. Years ago he was hired by Colin (Will Poulter), a game developer we first saw in the Black Mirror choose your own adventure movie Bandersnatch. Cameron becomes obsessed with Cameron's latest game, Thronglets. Colin claims it's the first sentient digital creature. This is a trip. Is Colin becoming obsessed to the point of detaching from reality? For decades he's obsessed with this game, thinking he can decipher some secret meaning from sounds the game's creatures make. Are the Throng an entity? What are they after? The conclusion flips the narrative, but we're still wondering what just happened.

Eulogy introduces a new technology where AI can take you into a photograph. With this show, I assumed it would explore the ephemeral nature of memories. I love how this episode slowly unfolds. Phillip (Paul Giamatti) is asked to provide a memory for a woman he used to know that he can barely remember. The AI guide keeps digging, asking him to find photographs. With each image, memories slowly return. It's not that Phillip didn't remember the woman, he didn't want to remember these painful memories. This episode is so layered, and it keeps getting deeper. Each photograph and trinket reveals more about Phillip's relationship with this woman.

One issue I have is that the AI couldn't render what couldn't be seen in the photograph. Other images later in the episode don't have that limitation.

This soon seemed like less of a program to generate a eulogy but more of a way for his ex-girlfriend to reveal her side of these memories. This app helps him remember, but not in the way he thinks. I had a guess as to how this plot would unfold.

This is perfectly plotted, slowly building and exploring the depths of Phillip's memories. There are three sides to every story, Phillip's memories, the woman's memories, and what actually happened. The other side to this is that who keeps memories, souvenirs, and even photos in shoe boxes anymore? Modern society would never be able to experience this unless they keep old phones and manage to power them. This has to be criticism of how we do and don't store souvenirs.

E5: Paul Giamatti plays

Episode six is a sequel to the season four episode USS Callister. In the original episode Daly (Jesse Plemons) lives out his fantasies in a VR world. It's the only place where he's liked and popular, but the power he holds in the digital world combined with the mistreatment he experiences in reality soon turn him into a bully. In this episode the virtual copies from season four are trapped in the game. Being genetic copies, death in the game is real death. With this game being transaction based, everything keeps getting more expensive, forcing the copies to steal credits to survive. They need to find a way to escape the game, and that reveals the secrets to how the game was created. The entire game is built on illicit activities. This episode is feature length, and it's a ride.

E6: Cristin Milioti, Jimmi Simpson play

The first two episodes were great. I didn't like three and four was lackluster. Episode five brings it. This season is a return to form. Technology is great, right up until it's not. Black Mirror explores these ideas in such depth. Every innovation has a dark side and this show is ready to delve into it.

The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox Season 1 Review

2025-04-22T02:00:00.092-04:00

The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox (2025-)

Season 1 - 8 episodes (2025 April 8)
Watch The Clubhouse on Netflix
Starring: Jarren Duran, Tristan Casas, Alex Cora, Craig Breslow, Tyler O'Neill, Cam Booser, Brayan Bello, Joe Castiglione
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
Follows the Boston Red Sox during the 2024 MLB season with unprecedented access to players, coaches and executives.

Verdict
I'm a baseball fan. I'll watch every season of this no matter what, so that's my bias. This chooses a team that doesn't have any huge stars, but it does have plenty of interesting characters. I don't know the intent. This isn't for a baseball nerd, but it also seems like more than an introduction. This focuses on personal stories, which makes this more of a general reality show. If anything, I wish it had a wider scope. How many people work in the front office? How much does the team watch minor league players and what factors go into promotions? The series is nice but shallow aside from a few deep dives on players, mainly Casas and especially Duran. I would love to see how a baseball operation runs.
It depends.

Review
The bar for amazing sports documentaries is ESPN's 30 for 30. The only sport I follow is baseball, but those documentaries were riveting regardless of the sport. This series doesn't live up to that, but it's not meant to be a drama. This does have some great moments. My favorite might be when Jarren's car won't start and Tristan calls a limo service thinking it's AAA.

This reminds me of 2011's The Franchise: A Season with the San Francisco Giants where we follow the Giants baseball team for a season.

I expected more episodes for following an entire season. Baseball is a grueling, and I assumed we see more of the grind. This television season bounces around in the timeline as each episode primarily focuses on one person. That might be players, the manager, or the general manager. Since I follow baseball, I knew all of the players. This provides depth and insight to the season but that also feels superficial. While manager Alex Cora is featured in several episodes, his answers about the season feel are generic.

Each episode generally focuses on a particular person. Tristan Casas is a focus early. He's certainly unique, setting out to subtlety rile people up by painting his fingernails. For the Red Sox, it's a tough season and things don't go well. Trevor Story goes down early with an injury.

E4: Jarren Duran, Justin Turner

In one episode Jarren Duran is working on his Ford Bronco after it won't start post game. You just don't think pro athletes are banging on relays under the hood of their car. As Tristan tells him, he shouldn't be doing that. Jarren feels like the star of the show. In his feature episode he discusses his mental health which isn't something athletes often reveal. It's a standout episode as athletes are rarely that vulnerable.

Episode seven feels the most baseball. It's just passed the trade deadline and the team is struggling in August. If they're going to make the playoffs, they must play better. Each episode skips around. We don't even see the bullpen until the final episode, and I'd love an episode of just sitting in the bullpen during the game and see how the guys pass the time.

E6: Tyler O'Neill

This isn't a show for people that don't follow baseball, but it also isn't a show for fans that want to go into the clubhouse and front office. It's more of a light recap of the Red Sox season with a few interest pieces. I'd guess some players don't want to be on camera. Rafael Devers is the biggest start on the team and he's not featured. Neither is Story. While he's injured, what does a player do during that time?

This begins with the thrill of the new season and the prospect of what the year could hold. The grind of the season and plenty of injuries has the team fighting until the end, on the edge of playoffs until their season concludes.

Adolescence Mini-series Review

2025-03-22T02:00:00.000-04:00

Adolescence (2025)
Mini-series - 4 episodes

Watch Adolescence on Netflix
Written by: Jack Thorne, Stephen Graham
Directed by: Philip Barantini
Starring: Ashley Walters, Stephen Graham, Owen Cooper, Faye Marsay, Erin Doherty
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
When a 13-year-old is accused of murdering a classmate, his family, therapist, and the detectives are all left asking what really happened.

Verdict
This is amazing. From the single continuous shot in each episode to the writing and how it allows the actors to emote in the pauses between dialog. Everything about this series is so deliberate, from what it shows or doesn't to the story structure. It's a heartbreaking premise where a family wrestles with the accusation. Every episode is a different character searching for answers, and the third episode best exemplifies this series with unparalleled acting. Ultimately there is no answer to the core question. We're left with a devastated community.
Watch It.

Review
The first episode wastes no time opening in media res with the police executing a warrant on a family of four. The teenage son Jamie (Owen Cooper) is suspected of murder. The family is utterly shocked as their lives are instantly upturned. We ride with Jamie and the police back to the station, wondering if this kid really killed someone. I had to assume the police have credible evidence to arrest him, but we're just as bewildered as the family. The cops need Jamie's father Eddie (Stephen Graham) present for questioning, and we get how the son and father feel; scared and mad. The interrogation is intense. Then we're shown video footage of the crime. I wondered what Eddie, Jamie, and their lawyer thought. Where does the show go from that point?

E1: Stephen Graham, Owen Cooper play Eddie, Jamie

With episode two the cops seek answers at the school. DI Bascome (Ashley Walters) fails to get any answers until his son, who also attends the school, provides insight. While the cops thought Jamie and Katie were friends, her messages on Insta were the opposite. While canvassing the school, one of Jamie's friends flees.

I didn't realize until the second episode that all the episodes are a single continuous shot. The show is so engrossing I missed it. I noticed in episode two and checked the first one. The technical side is amazing, but that also gives actors a chance to act and emote. Netflix UK posted to Twitter that each episode truly was a one shot. They planned for ten takes for each episode, but that became many more as takes were abandoned. With some mistakes filming continued while other mistakes required a restart. For episodes 1, 2, 3, 4 they used takes 2, 13, 11, 16.

Episode three features a psychologist, Briony (Erin Doherty) interviewing Jamie. She has to assess his mental state. We know what happened, but the question of why remains. We're analyzing Jamie, from what he says to how he reacts to the questions. The cops sought a motive in the previous episode, will this one provide it? Jamie claims he didn't do it, upset that he's stuck in this facility. He goes off, screaming and knocking things around. Briony is anxious as Jamie screams that no one tells him what to do. It's a lot of rage, and this episode is tense. We're in the interview room nearly the entire time. It's impressive the actors could do this for a full episode. We discover that Jamie asked Katie out but was rebuffed. I wasn't sure what Jamie's views on the events are. The cops think he's guilty and we've seen evidence but he claims he did nothing. At the end of the interview he flies into another rage, upset Briony is leaving and demands to know if she likes him. There's the implication of toxic masculinity and what Jamie thinks it means to be a man. That may have influenced him. Several factors can shape perception. It's not an excuse for what Jamie did, nor should it be, but throughout this series we wonder about the motive.

E3: Owen Cooper, Erin Doherty play Jamie, Briony

Episode four is thirteen months later and focuses on Jamie's family and the aftermath they endure. I still had so many questions, but this episode's answer is that the show is not about the crime but the ripple effects it creates. The family is infamous in the town. Vandalism causes them to go to the store where Eddie is recognized. The sales associate assures Eddie he's on their side, but it's still attention Eddie doesn't want. Eddie eventually flies into a rage, and we understand why. That doesn't negate the fact that Jamie may very well have learned rage through his father. Jamie's parents wrestle with what they should have done differently. They feel responsible, and it's a heartbreaking conclusion. The parents wonder how Jamie and his sister Lisa turned out so differently. What did they do wrong with Jamie and right with Lisa?

This show is methodical from what it shows in each episode to what it doesn't. We don't see Jamie in the final episode. The single shot makes us feel like we're in the action as it unfolds, and it captures the small moments and the silences that video often ignores and cuts. Those pauses give the audience a chance to internalize what's happening. The entire series is solemn. We watch this family try to navigate a terrible situation. In the last episode we begin to explore their shame. We're left wondering what's the root of the issue and what really happened. The series main point is how dangerous life for kids can be with so many influences. The root of Jamie's problem is his perception of what it means to be a man. While his father may have played some small part, social media likely play the biggest part. The internet was meant to bring the world together but more often then not it divides people.

Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 3 Review

2025-03-11T02:00:00.015-04:00

Cobra Kai (2018-)

Season 6 Part 3 - 5 episodes (2025 February 14)
Watch Cobra Kai on Netflix
Created by: Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg
Starring: Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Xolo Maridueña, Mary Mouser, Tanner Buchanan, Jacob Bertrand, Peyton List, Martin Kove, Gianni DeCenzo
Rated: TV-14
Watch the trailer

Plot
Decades after their 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament bout, middle-aged Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence find themselves martial-arts rivals again.

In this season students of Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai prepare for the Sekai Taikai, the world championships of karate

Verdict
Part 3 finally pays off what parts 1 and 2 were clumsily building. It saved all of the excitement for the third part. I'm not sure it was worth it, but this does conclude the series and provides endings for all of the characters. Part 3 is a lot of fan service and most of it is very obvious pandering. If you've watched up to this point of the show, you'll likely feel obligated to complete it, though I certainly wouldn't start the show based on this part alone.
It depends.

Review
I've watched all the other seasons, so I'm succumbing to sunk cost fallacy and finishing the series. It does seem absolutely ridiculous to stretch this one season into three separate parts. The first two parts were disappointing. This season wasn't set up to be split, so the first two parts have no conclusion. The best aspect about this part is that it concludes the season and the series. I covered my criticisms of the show overall in my review of part two, from how this show started to where it is now.

I had completely forgotten that episode ten ended with an all out brawl and a Cobra Kai fighter accidentally impaling himself. Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Kreese (Martin Kove) are reeling from the event, dealing with it in their own ways. Daniel is busying himself at the dealership while Kreese is reconsidering his years as a villain.

William Zabka, Ralph Macchio, Courtney Henggeler, Vanessa Rubio play
Johnny, Daniel, Amanda, Carmen

That's the thing about Kreese and the other villain Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith). I can't fathom two guys that care this much about karate tournaments, willing to commit felonies to win. It's just wild. This is a show that focuses on drama first and everything else second. This penultimate tournament, the Sekai Taikai, pops up when this show has exhausted all other sources of drama. In this tournament the games are made up and the rules don't matter. That could be the tagline for this show. I assumed they would take the championship fights all three rounds to maximize drama, but they don't. The fight could have been much more intense. You never really doubt who will win.

These five episodes are clearly the farewell tour. So many characters reminisce about how they first met, complete with flashbacks to the first season. Kreese turns a corner and wants to resolve how he treated Johnny (William Zabka) all these years ago. Johnny and Daniel have always been adversarial but finally come together for the sake of the tournament.

William Zabka, Lewis Tan play Johnny Lawrence, Wolf Xaio

Remember how I mentioned the tournament rules are made up? Johnny ends up having to fight against a rival sensei that became the head of Cobra Kai when Kreese took it away from Johnny in a previous season. It's absolutely ridiculous that to settle the tournament Johnny and another sensei need to fight.

It's an effective conclusion to the series with a lot of obvious fan service. The first couple of seasons were interesting, focusing on Johnny being stuck in the past. That soon devolved to a lot of teens fighting. That's when this show became karate and drama first with story, character development, and logic an afterthought.

Zero Day Mini-series Review

2025-02-24T02:00:00.389-05:00

Zero Day (2025)

Mini-series - 6 episodes

Watch Zero Day on Netflix
Created by: Eric Newman, Noah Oppenheim, Michael Schmidt
Starring: Robert De Niro, Lizzy Caplan, Jesse Plemons, Joan Allen, Connie Britton, Bill Camp, Dan Stevens, McKinley Belcher III, Angela Bassett
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
Former President George Mullen's comfortable retirement is upended when he's asked to lead an investigation into a devastating cyber attack.

Verdict
A convoluted conspiracy does just enough to keep you watching, but not much more. It's by the numbers and completely bland. While it's full of surprises, it's also very typical for a mystery like this. While I was intrigued through each episode, wondering how the pieces fit together, ultimately it's unsatisfying. The big reveal is generic. I didn't care about the characters' success or failures. All this show has is the conspiracy, and what character development it does attempt is perfunctory. How do you reconcile a show that kept you watching each episode but ends up being forgettable once the pieces fit together?
It depends.

Review
This begins with the how we got here trope, as former President George Mullen (Robert De Niro) frantically searches for something in his office before we start the story proper. I dislike this trope as it's often used to artificially add excitement. With this use, the frantic scene wasn't even a preview of anything substantial. It's pure manipulation to add false excitement.

A cyber attack freezes communications, networks, and transit. How could all these systems be affected at one time, and who did this? Mullen is initially asked to make an appearance and ease concerns before he's appointed to the Zero Day task force to find out who did it. He does get a chance to make a big speech and attack conspiracy theories while appealing to people's humanity. It's a bit too telegraphed. The first episode ends with a sequence that makes us questions Mullen's ability to function in this role. Is he suffering from a degenerative illness, is it related to the cyber attack, or is it something else entirely?

With the country being attacked and Mullen's episodes, I wondered if this was a Manchurian Candidate situation. It almost seems like certain words trigger a memory or action. There are a number of characters with varying interests in the event. Everyone initially suspects the Russians but Mullen's friend and fellow Zero Day member Roger (Jesse Plemons) gets information the attack was domestic, though we have to wonder if we can trust Roger and his contact. Roger is tangled up with some kind of wrong doing. Mullen's wife hires his former chief of staff Valerie (Connie Britton) to help him with this task force so he has someone to trust. It's implied and then overtly confirmed that Mullen and Valerie had a fling.

Robert De Niro, Connie Britton play George Mullen, Valerie

The root of this story is the question of how far will the government go in the name of safety and how many rights will get violated. This manifests the fear mongering in a devastating attack. We're introduced to a revered former President with a past that is slowly revealed. He goes from hero to vilified for leading this task force. The pubic is quick to jump to conclusions and latch on to conspiracies because they're quick answers and seem tangible. Talking heads like Evan Green (Dan Stevens) stoke the fire and present various ideas with no verification for personal gain. Mullen detains pundit Green after hallucinating a conversation with him on television along with some questionable evidence. Half way into the show, anyone could be a suspect.

The government had worked on a biological weapon, a focused weapon that affects the brain and appears degenerative. Mullen seems like he could be a victim, unless we get some kind of twist to that. If he has been targeted, why? Does someone want his task force to fail? That part of the story seems reactionary, inspired by the 2024 Presidential election with the two oldest candidates ever to run for the office of President.

I began to wonder about the end goal. What's the reason for this attack? The reason had to be destabilization, and while I understand wanting to keep the perpetrators secret this needs a driving force that's more than trying to discover who's behind the attack. Instead we're introduced to yet more people that could be involved. Mullen uncovers evidence that a tech mogul is behind everything. While they capture her, it's not satisfying as we know there has to be more to it. It's soon confirmed that the attack was domestic, but the perpetrators have gone to great lengths to conceal themselves.

In the final episode we discover who committed the attack and why. It was meant to galvanize the nation under a new leadership regime. Though really it's an excuse to grab power. This group had to consider the ramifications and the cost. It seems like quite the leap, and you have to wonder how no one involved could see the flaws in this plan. The question for the finale becomes upon learning the truth what will Mullen do. He's told the truth will tear the country apart but that he could spin it and portray a united government. Where does Mullen's responsibility lie?

With all the avenues this attack and resulting conspiracy could take, what we get seems banal. I spent the entire season wondering about answers, and what I got wasn't satisfying. Everything that could have been, and this is what we get?

The Night Agent Season 2 Review

2025-02-14T02:00:00.103-05:00

The Night Agent (2023-)

Season 2 - 10 episodes (January 23, 2025)
Watch The Night Agent on Netflix // Buy the book (paid link)
Created by: Shawn Ryan (Based on The Night Agent by Matthew Quirk)
Starring: Gabriel Basso, Luciane Buchanan, Fola Evans-Akingbola, Sarah Desjardins, Eve Harlow, Phoenix Raei, Hong Chau
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
Low-level FBI agent Peter Sutherland works in the basement of the White House manning a phone that never rings, until the night it does, propelling him into a conspiracy that leads all the way to the Oval Office.
In season two Peter has been promoted to a secret agent but goes on the run when a mission fails.

Verdict
Overall, this season feels more generic compared to the first. The story is broader and this develops more side characters, but with their limited roles does it matter? The first season had a neat concept, and while you can't do that again this season suffers because of it. This adds more in all aspects just for the sake of it. I'd rather this tighten the story and focus on making great moments. The show relies on near non-stop action to hide the flaws which are numerous.
Skip it.

Review
In the first season Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) was a low level FBI agent serving the mundane role of manning the night phone which never rings. Of course it rings and that starts the plot with Peter springing to action to help Rose (Luciane Buchanan). It's government corruption with Rose and Peter's plights intersecting. The pacing of the first season was excellent, perfectly building the conspiracy. While the broad story beats were predictable, the questions of how everything fits together drove the first season as the conspiracy manifested into an attempted attack against the president which Peter thwarted.

Gabriel Basso plays Peter Sutherland

With how disinterested I was during this season, it made me question my favorable review of the first season. A big factor in the first season is that the conspiracy reveals itself one episode at a time. With this season, we know early on what's at stake and it's just a question of whether Peter can stop the bad guys in time. It's just not as intriguing. Without a mystery propping up the season, it's a generic action story.

The first episode is an action packed opener as Peter is now a secret agent on task tracking a suspect when his cover gets blown. This mission is related to the overall plot where an information broker sells to the highest bidder. This season revolves around a government bio-weapon that's now being sold to terrorists.

Rose now works as an engineer on a tracking program she's pitching to retailers, but surprise it allows her to track and find Peter. That's quite convenient for Rose and the plot.

After the blown mission, Peter goes rogue, unsure of whom he can trust. Peter finds information on a government operation, but of course this plot is much bigger than Peter or his suspect. This involves a jailed dictator and a terrorist plot.

Episode four is a lot of spy games with not only Peter, but Rose under cover as well. They've got to infiltrate a party, scan documents, and leave the scene without getting caught while also relying on their asset. It's the most fun episode of the season.

I found it interesting that we get a scene of a henchman asking for a raise. It's not something you typically see in a show like this and it does humanize the 'bad guy.' I thought he might have a larger role in the plot, but he doesn't. Other than this one scene he's the typical henchman.

The core of the plot is a data broker that sells to the highest bidder. He sells chemical weapons to a dictator with a vendetta. If we get a better reason other than we need a big villain for a big action adventure show, I must have forgotten it. There's plenty of testing loyalties and stretching morals to complete the mission. While Rose doesn't like the lying to Peter's information asset, Peter knows they're potentially saving millions.

This season was a power play and the terrorists were just a side effect not the main villain. While the terrorist threat is mitigated, Peter and Rose have bigger problems coming next season as an unscrupulous character from this season now has access to the presidency. The third season has already been confirmed.

I liked the first season, but the story this season lacks depth. It's all typical fare and the big action set pieces don't do enough to mask that. The first season had this unique premise and an ever expanding conspiracy. This season abandons that for the typical secret agent adventure. I just never found it very interesting as it's not original. The only questions are whether Peter can stop it in time, and with a show like this I had a strong hunch he would.

American Primeval Mini-series Review

2025-01-14T02:00:00.119-05:00

American Primeval (2025)

Mini-series - 6 episodes
Watch American Primeval on Netflix
Created by: Mark L. Smith
Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Betty Gilpin, Dane DeHaan, Jai Courtney, Kim Coates, Shea Whigham, Preston Mota
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
Religion and culture violently clash for control of the new world, fighting to gain control of the American West.

Verdict
While it's a brutal and unforgiving tale of the West, it's an engrossing collection of characters living in Utah. There are bounty hunters, the military, religious leaders, traders, Native Americans, and plenty of killers. Every episode reinforces how difficult it is to survive. If the terrain and weather don't get you, animals or people will. With so many concurrent story lines, it helps cover how some plot points can be predictable. The season centers on an attack against settlers. The question is who did it, and that's thread the extends through the season. This does end well, with the conclusion fitting this story.
Watch It.

Review
This is from the same writer as The Revenant, with a similar setting and theme.

From the very beginning we see the unruliness and lawlessness of the west. Sara (Betty Gilpin) is traveling west with her son Devin (Preston Mota) to meet her husband. She's annoyed at the delays but finally makes it to Fort Bridger where her guide has already left due to her tardiness. While Sara was already uneasy at the shady characters at the fort, when she sees a man killed just a few paces away from her, she knows she has to leave this fort and continue her journey. Isaac Reed (Taylor Kitsch) is recommended, but refuses to accompany her. Sara finally gets a ride with Jacob Pratt (Dane DeHaan).

Betty Gilpin, Taylor Kitsch play Sara, Isaac Reed

Sara, Jacob, and the rest of the group make camp where they're soon attacked. This is the bloody and violent west. This attack is based on the real-life Mountain Meadows Massacre. This attack is the catalyst for the season. The military search for the attackers, Sara and Devin manages to escape while still seeking passage west, Jacob though injured searches for his wife, and the Mormons led by Brigham Young (Kim Coates) seek their promised land. With so many characters and arcs, this is never boring.

Fort Bridger

Reed just happened to be hunting nearby when the attack occurred which is very convenient for Sara and the plot. Reed didn't want to be involved, but he's in the middle of it now. Sara gets Reed almost killed numerous times, and that can be frustrating. We get initially she doesn't trust him, but at a certain point she has no choice and apparently everyone but her realizes that if you want to survive in the wild he's the guy. Bounty hunters are chasing Sara down which means they never get a chance to rest the entire story arc. Reed tried to avoid getting involved, but he's gone great lengths at this point. Why is he doing this? I guessed he'd have some big redemption arc at the end, and I was close.

Taylor Kitsch plays Isaac Reed

Characters in these settings often talk about how savage Native Americans are, but here the most savage people we've seen are white people, none more than Young's LDS church. While Young puts on a congenial facade, he's behind a scheme to take the land he claims is promised to them by force if necessary.

I was hoping this show would portray how difficult it is to survive in the wild. This world is brutal, braving the elements and people. This is rough around the edges, notably Sara creating so much trouble. Also, a lot of shot framing is at a slight angle which can be distracting, as well as the de-saturated color palette.

Betty Gilpin plays Sara

We know early who attacked the camp, and part of the plot is those responsible trying to track down any witnesses. Everyone is out to get everyone else. Towards the end, it doesn't look like anyone will make it out of this. It gets increasingly graphic as characters encounter injuries and hurdles. Jacob searches for his wife and ends up with a group of people that know more about the initial attack than they're willing to say. Jacob discovers this, stuck with murderers but outnumbered and thus unable to confront them.

This provides a view into the origins of Utah, and that involved a lot of death. Being a mini-series this ends well. You figure this will end with a lot of death, and it doesn't disappoint in that regard. The final sequence is a poignant Brigham Young sermon to his flock about the persecution they've faced, accusing everyone else of doing to him exactly what he's been doing through out the series

Squid Game Season 2 Review

2025-01-05T02:00:00.168-05:00

Squid Game [Ojing-eo geim] (2021-2025)

Season 2 - 7 episodes (2024 December 26)
Watch Squid Game on Netflix
Created by: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Starring: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon, Lee Byung-hun
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
Hundreds of cash-strapped players accept a strange invitation to compete in children's games. While surviving the games provides a 45.6 billion-won payout, if you lose the games you die.

In season two, the winner of the 33rd games returns for the 36th round of games.

Verdict
This season ends on a huge cliff hanger, so the verdict for this season depends on how season three concludes the narrative. We only get half of the story, leaving a huge hole in this season. Season 2 does a competent job of building on the first season and expanding on the plot while still creating the same chaos, unique relationships, and shifting alliances. Unfortunately this season is incomplete. Whether it's worth watching depends entirely on the next season. One thing is certain, it's not worth watching by itself. Season three may change that verdict.
Skip it.

Review
The third and final season is scheduled to premiere in 2025. The creator never planned for a second season, but I'm sure the success of the first season had Netflix wanting more. I also wonder if Netflix is the reason season two and three split the story.

Season one was a wild ride. If you need a quick refresher, Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), player 456, was recruited to play the games because he was desperate for money, like all the participants. During the games he befriended a frail old man who turned out to be one of the wealthy men that created the games. Gi-hun ended up winning the games after facing off in the final game with his childhood friend Sang-woo.
During the games police officer Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) infiltrates the facility, trying to find his brother who participated in the previous games only to discover his brother works as one of the masked guards.
Gi-hun ultimately decides to return to the games to stop the cruelty and deaths.

Lee Jung-jae plays Gi-hun

Gi-hun has been searching for the salesman that introduced him to the games in the intervening years since he participated. He's used his winnings to fund an entire staff of people. Jun-ho survived his plight in season one and is trying to track down the island, searching all of them in the area. At this point he's found nothing. The first episode drags. The draw of this show is the games and the shifting alliances. At this point we know the games and the show needs to get to the action.
To the surprise of no one Gi-hun and Jun-ho meet and team up, both looking for a way back into the games.

In episode two Gi-hun has made it back to the games and the first one is the infamous red light green light with the unnerving robot we saw in the first season. Gi-hun tries to convince everyone to leave the games, but you can't overcome greed. That and where would the season go if everyone opts out? We know there will be more games because there are still plenty of episodes. In season one Gi-hun was just trying to survive the games, now he's also trying to stop the games by convincing people it's not worth it.

As the season progresses we learn about the motivations of the contestants and watch unlikely contestants excel while the most athletic aren't always the best. Some of them develop a report which makes it all the more difficult when games pit them against each other. Episode six features a nefarious game where a certain number of people must get into a room in a set amount of time. If you have too few or too many or you don't get into a room in time, you die.

There's also contestant #001 that teams up with Gi-hun. This contestant is always curious, and towards the end of the season we wonder if he knows more than he told. In season one, #001 had a secret too.

After each game the contestants vote on whether to continue. Tensions escalate between those that want to cash out and others that want a bigger piece of the pie. The animosity tips and a fight breaks out, escalated by the guards. Gi-hun uses the distraction to lead an ill-fated revolt. This season ends on a cliff hanger without the games ending and without seeing the full repercussions of the revolt. This is basically half a season with the next and final season resolving the plot. As is, this season offers no conclusions, relying on the results of next season.

Especially with streaming and the propensity for shows to get canceled, ending on a cliff hanger can be dangerous with the possibility of no conclusion. Combine that with the sheer number of shows and how easy it is to forget what's even happened, stringing this show along as such feels like a ploy to keep people subscribed.

Black Doves Season 1 Review

2024-12-16T02:00:00.120-05:00

Black Doves (2024-)
Season 1 - 6 episodes (2024 December 5)

Watch Black Doves on Netflix
Created by: Joe Barton
Starring: Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw, Sarah Lancashire, Andrew Buchan, Andrew Koji
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
When a spy posing as a politician's wife learns her lover has been murdered by the dangerous London underworld, an old assassin friend joins her on a quest for truth and vengeance.

Verdict
While it's a competent spy thriller, the characters, development, and writing are all top notch. All of these characters are resigned to their fates, but what drives each episode is how characters' pasts and their previous choices drive their current decisions. This is best encapsulated in the standout third episode. While not every episode reaches that level, it's an enjoyable show.
Watch It.

Review
While Netflix shows often seem to get canceled prematurely, Season 2 has already been confirmed.

Helen (Keira Knightley) leads a double life as a mother and spy. She works for an organization, Black Doves, that sells secrets to the highest bidder. When she's linked to a civil servant that's murdered, she feels obligated to investigate. That goes awry and she calls Sam (Ben Whishaw) who she hasn't seen in seven years to bail her out.

Ben Wishaw, Keira Knightley play Sam, Helen

All of these spies are so matter of fact and aware that their line of work can be fatal. The common refrain is don't get sentimental, which ironically is the reason Helen is embroiled in this mess. I like the dialog in the show, though the spies talk more than they would in reality. Life isn't about sounding cool. Even the side characters are developed well.

While this is an occupation where sentimentality can be detrimental, people just want a connection. Helen confided in Jason (Andrew Koji), something she didn't even reveal to her husband. Did that play a factor in what followed? Helen seeks answers on what happened to Jason while Sam is tasked with completing a job for an old employer that connects to Jason. Why was Jason killed?

Ben Whishaw, Gabrielle Creevy, Ella Lily Hyland play Sam, Eleanor, Williams

I did wonder if Helen has been dormant since the kids. How would she be able to leave at any moment? Even during this show her frequent disappearances you'd think would raise questions. Who keeps the kids? Is she getting information from her husband? I'd assume she is but we never see her probing.

The third episode is a standout. I like Wishaw's character a lot, and that one is his episode. Each episode mixes past and present. Shows often use this as a gimmick or to pad run time, but in this show it's integral to the character's backstory and their present decisions. It all ties together and we learn why Sam was quick to help Helen when she was compromised in the first episode. The episode is a masterful intersection of Sam's first hit, the code, the job, and his current task. This episode hits all the beats. This episode makes it worth watching alone.

In episode five we finally start to get answers and why all of these events unfolded. In the final episode all the main players meet up. While we finally get the answers, this does leave it open for the next season. I enjoyed the show, and I really liked the dialog. A lot of it is fun and clever, though these are some talkative spies and assassins.

Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2 Review

2024-12-06T02:00:00.124-05:00

Cobra Kai (2018-)
Season 6 Part 2 - 5 episodes (2024)

Watch Cobra Kai on Netflix
Created by: Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg
Starring: Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Xolo Maridueña, Mary Mouser, Tanner Buchanan, Jacob Bertrand, Peyton List, Martin Kove, Gianni DeCenzo
Rated: TV-14
Watch the trailer

Plot
Decades after their 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament bout, middle-aged Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence find themselves martial-arts rivals again.

In this season students of Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai prepare for the Sekai Taikai, the world championships of karate.

Verdict
I don't know why I keep watching this show. The first two seasons were good. The last few seasons have been nothing more than teens beating each other up amidst forced drama. This show resorts to fighting when it runs out of story ideas, and there's a lot of fighting. This show is so flat and boring. It's especially glaring with what the first two seasons achieved.
Skip it.

Review
This is the second of three parts comprising the sixth and final season. The third part will release in February 2025.

This show started as a gimmick, bringing back the original actors from The Karate Kid. It was never a great show, but it was a fun nostalgia trip. The original premise re-examined the villain from the movie, Johnny (William Zabka). It also put Johnny, stuck in the 80s, in the modern day to mixed results. Subsequent seasons lost any nostalgia or introspection and became high school kids beating each other up for a a host of benign reasons.

We were introduced to a plot in Part 1 that gets no conclusion. All we learn is that there will be a big karate tournament later amidst a lot of filler. The first five episodes could be condensed to fifteen minutes. Part 2 is set at the big karate tournament, the Sekai Taikai in Spain.

William Zabka, Mary Mouser, Tanner Buchanan, Xolo Maridueña, Jacob Bertrand, Gianni DeCenzo play Johnny, Samantha, Robby, Miguel, Hawk, Demetri

This show has long left what made it interesting. I continue watching due being a victim of misplaced nostalgia and the sunk cost fallacy.

There's a lot of drama; amongst the Miyagi-do team, between Miyagi-do and Cobra Kai, really between Miyagi-do and everyone else. Alliances are always shifting just to create drama. Tory (Peyton List) joined Cobra Kai in part one for no real reason other than to give this some kind of plot. Her relationship or lack of one with Robby (Tanner Buchanan) is more drama this season, and you'd think the show would have resolved that by now. It's just empty filler. Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) and Samantha (Mary Mouser) have very little to do in these episodes. Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny (William Zabka) still can't agree on a strategy despite merging their dojos in season four. It's an easy plot point which is why it hasn't been resolved.

Ralph Macchio, William Zabka play Daniel LaRusso, Johnny Lawrence

The show has introduced characters from the movies to mask the lack of plot and that's no different, though they're having to resort to lesser known characters. This brings back a villain from a previous season that is a desperate ploy. In the first couple of seasons this show developed characters and provided a new perspective on Johnny. Since then, this series has resorted to recycling plot points and abandoning any kind of development. Any time something happens that isn't karate, it always feels forced.

How this show doesn't have a bunch of injured kids in a hospital, I'll never know. These kids bare knuckle brawl constantly, and in reality they'd all have serious injuries. Also, I guess they no longer have school. Initially this was about kids developing their confidence, but that's no longer explored.

This season would work so much better if it wasn't split into three parts. This entire season could easily be ten episode or less. I didn't enjoy anything this season, other than when it ended.

A Man on the Inside Season 1 Review

2024-12-03T02:00:00.018-05:00

A Man on the Inside (2024-)

Season 1 - 8 episodes (2024 November 21)
Watch A Man on the Inside on Netflix
Created by: Michael Schur
Based on: The Mole Agent by Maite Alberdi
Starring: Ted Danson, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Lilah Richcreek Estrada, Stephanie Beatriz, Sally Struthers
Rated: TV-14
Watch the trailer

Plot
Charles, a retired professor, gets a new purpose in life when he answers an ad from a private investigator and becomes a mole in a secret investigation inside a nursing home.

Verdict
It's funny, but also overwhelmingly heartfelt. If you can't relate to getting older or trying to make friends at a new life stage, you can probably relate to caring for a relative. While Charles embarks on a mission as a spy, he ends up confronting the loss of his wife and making friends along the way. He finds where he belongs, and helps several people while he's there. This does a great job balancing the tone while also providing a satisfying conclusion.
Watch It.

Review
Season 2 has yet to be confirmed.

It's a funny premise, taking down a nursing home. Even in the first episode, this is comedic but has touching moments. Charles (Ted Danson) lost his wife recently who had Alzheimer's. He's hesitant to even enter the retirement home due to confronting those feelings and memories related to his wife. Danson does a great job, balancing both emotions.

Ted Danson plays Charles

Charles is trying to be a spy while also blending in. He's not great at either, but he's the best option the detective agency has. Like Schur's previous series The Good Place, this is comedy and drama in equal measure. There are more women than men at the place, and Charles generates plenty of interest. On top of that the director Didi (Stephanie Beatriz) is involved and caring which is great for the retirement home but causes difficulty for Charles who must proceed with caution.

Charles is making friends, and half way in I began to wonder if he'll want to stay. This is helping him move past his wife's death and giving him purpose. We've seen that his life is regimented and simple with little interaction. The retirement home provides what his life had been missing.

Stephanie Beatriz, Mary Elizabeth Ellis play Didi, Emily

Amidst the comedy this explores growing older, from a first person perspective or that of the children. Charles and his daughter Emily (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) work through their relationship; what it is and what they want it to be. This also looks at the difficulty of making friends and what makes it work. Charles makes a genuine friend in Calbert, though we know Charle's charade will be an issue.

This is such a touching story that explores common but important elements. This is parents and children, friendship, and finding a place. Few shows can balance comedy and drama so well. It's a fulfilling conclusion to the season while leaving the possibility of a second season open.

Outer Banks Season 4 Review

2024-11-21T02:00:00.113-05:00

Outer Banks (2020-)
Season 4 - 10 episodes (2024)

Watch Outer Banks on Netflix
Created by: Shannon Burke, Jonas Pate, Josh Pate
Starring: Chase Stokes, Madelyn Cline, Madison Bailey, Jonathan Daviss, Rudy Pankow, Austin North, Charles Esten
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
A group of teenagers from the wrong side of the tracks stumble upon a treasure map that unearths a long buried secret.

Verdict
This is so much manufactured drama and defying reality. It's not a great show, but I do watch every season that comes out because it does just enough to entertain. It may be ridiculous and frequently stretch credibility, but it's an easy watch. This is an action series that's big on thrills and light on most everything else that isn't drama. It's mindless entertainment, and I'd like more story and development. Every season I'm just curious enough to see what nonsense this group gets into, and I'm always surprised at how ridiculous this is and the amount of forced drama. This show is a drama manufacturing machine.
Skip it.

Review
After quite the adventure in season three of Outer Banks, the Pogues are rich, build a commune, and start a bait shop. Somehow they blow a million dollars and the first episode decides to throw in dirt bikes for no real reason. All of this is filler for the real mystery of Blackbeard's treasure. I don't know why the first episode has so much unrelated story that has nothing to do with the adventure. How does a group of kids get into so much trouble? I think they were in high school when this started, but they never go to school and live some kind of fantasy. This show is part teen soap opera and knockoff Indiana Jones.

This show takes huge leaps while also dropping obvious clues that no one would miss. The sub-plots are generic, and this season stokes the rivalry of the poor and rich for no real reason other than more drama. This show loves drama in all forms, and it's all so mindless. JJ's (Rudy Pankow) parentage suddenly comes into question, and both parents, real or fake, seem like they're trying to cheat him. John B (Chase Stokes) and Sarah (Madelyn Cline) got married last season. Pope's (Jonathan Daviss) parent want him to join the Marines, just in case we had forgotten about the character. That and we need more crimes as if the cops don't have enough reasons to chase the group.

The Pogues

A refresher I needed for this season is that Rafe (Drew Starkey) shot his sister Sarah and their father Ward (Charles Esten) faked his death in season two. In season three Ward really did die, sacrificing himself to save the Pogues, a heel turn as he was their enemy for the first couple of seasons. Rafe blames Sarah for their father's death as it's convenient for the plot. It's why this season ignores the fact he shot her.

The show is always trying to outdo itself and episode nine is really stretching. The Pogues are on a boat in a storm, and it doesn't seem near as grave as it should be. We get people over board which seems like a death sentence, but in this show you never know. It would be some real stakes, but I never expect that from this show.

These poor kids from the Outer Banks get into all kinds of trouble while traveling the globe. With what transpires this season, I wondered if this was the last season, but the show is scheduled for a fifth and final season. Just as I think we're getting a conclusion to this season's adventure, we get a few scenes to extend the adventure into the next season. This show is action first. Yes, stuff happens but it's not far from filler. If someone asked me what happened, I could say not much and a lot. The reason it feels like there wasn't much is that most of it ultimately doesn't matter.

The Diplomat Season 2 Review

2024-11-12T02:00:00.090-05:00

The Diplomat (2023-)
Season 2 - 6 episodes (2024 October 31)

Watch The Diplomat on Netflix
Created by: Debora Cahn
Starring: Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, Ato Essandoh, David Gyasi, Rory Kinnear, Michael McKean
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
In the midst of an international crisis, career diplomat Kate Wyler lands a high-profile job for which she is not suited, with tectonic implications for her marriage and her political future.

Verdict
I like this season more than the first. It tells a more complete story, where the first season felt like half the story, this certainly is the other half. It does leave this season on a cliff hanger, but it's more of a chapter end. This season is all about the politics games, as suspects come and go and political moves come into focus. The sum is not greater than the parts. The characters are interesting, and the story puts everything into place, but it's not a show I'd miss if it were canceled.
It depends.

Review
The first season started with a bang when a United Kingdom air craft carrier was attacked. It's this attack that fuels the plot for the first season, but the answers never came. It was an okay season, but it was incomplete. Once we got the big reveal, the season was over. I hoped this season could provide some amount of closure. With how quickly streaming shows get canceled, it's annoying when a season ends on a cliff hanger. Even good shows get canceled. At least the first two seasons comprise a mostly complete story.

Kate (Keri Russell) got the job of Ambassador to the UK amidst a crisis. At the same time, she's being considered for Vice President though her husband Hal (Rufus Sewell) undermines her when he's not trying to maneuver her for his own gain.

Rufus Sewell, Keri Russell, Ato Essandoah play play Hal, Kate, Stuart

This season reveals who they think attacked the carrier in the first episode. The first season was just a big tease to this reveal. The spinning conspiracy of who attacked the carrier seems to involve everyone, even the prime minister. This season is better with the reveal of what happened, but it can't stand on its own without the first season. The first season set all the drama while this season begins resolving the loose threads.

The first question is who attacked the boat, but that transforms into who is behind that person. The characters guess at a few different people before it's revealed who actually did it and why. Except that person didn't do it. While this season is a convoluted investigation, the pieces fit together well at the end.

One of the best cameos is Allison Janney as the Vice President, giving Kate some advice. I still don't buy Kate as the VP, and the show always undermines any credibility she may have.

I like this season more than the first, and this season closes a chapter before opening another. There is more to this story, but at the end of the first season I was promised a season and only got half of it. This has plenty of moving parts and even some levity, but it ends up being just good enough; not great.

Terminator Zero Season 1 Review

2024-09-12T02:00:00.130-04:00

Terminator Zero (2024-)
Season 1 - 8 episodes (2024)

Watch Terminator Zero on Netflix
Created by: Mattson Tomlin
Starring: Yûya Uchida, Hiro Shimono, Shizuka Ishigami, Saori Hayami, Toa Yukinari, Timothy Olyphant, André Holland, Sonoya Mizuno, Rosario Dawson
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
In 2022 a future war has raged for decades between the few human survivors and an endless army of machines, while in 1997 the AI known as Skynet gains self-awareness and begins its war against humanity.

Verdict
Despite not being a completely new story in the Terminator universe, acting as an adjacent remake set in Japan of the familiar Terminator tale of hunting people in the past to protect the future, it defied my skepticism. This deftly handles multiple story lines and characters; surprisingly effective with more than a few call backs to the original movie. The pacing remains intense as the characters are on the run the entire time. The brevity helps; there's no filler to the series and this merges future and past with surprising intersections. It's less of an action movie and more of a horror movie like the original movie.
Watch It.

Review
The opening is effective with a human rebel in 2022 thwarting a Terminator. From the movies, I had always wanted to see more of the future. While I thought this might spend time there, most of the story takes place in 1997. It's a great first episode that establishes the world and concludes perfectly with the first Terminator sent back in time as the classic music fades in.

This takes a lot from the first movies. Certain scenes and sequences must have been directly inspired, like an assault on a police station. It's almost like fan fiction, though it's very well done fan fiction. Some of it feels like an homage, or an easter egg. While there are some differences, the premise is mostly the same. A Terminator is sent back to stop a scientist and ensure the creation of Skynet, while a human rebel is sent back to protect the scientist. This throws in the scientist's children as a way for the Terminator to manipulate the scientist.

This does a great job of maintain the spirit of the first movie in a new medium. It looks at the future of Skynet from a few different view points. The Terminator is after a scientist, Malcolm, using his children as leverage. It's a sprint to the end with the Terminator continuing to chase them. If anything it feels too quick.

While this borders on duplication, it's surprisingly good. I do wish it spent more time in the future to differentiate this from the movies. It does a great job of adding just enough to the story to give it a fresh feel. The question again is fate. Can characters change the future or only ensure it? Malcolm hopes he can change the future of Skynet, and his history provides an intriguing twist.

Kaos Season 1 Review

2024-09-11T02:00:00.146-04:00

Kaos (2024-)
Season 1 - 8 episodes (2024)

Watch Kaos on Netflix
Created by: Charlie Covell
Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Janet McTeer, Stephen Dillane, Aurora Perrineau, Killian Scott, Nabhaan Rizwan, David Thewlis, Cliff Curtis, Debi Mazar
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
A contemporary retelling of Greek mythology set in the present day.

Verdict
It's a neat idea and I like the presentation, especially the underworld. This certainly has some fun with it, but it's ultimately forgettable. This muddles the tone, staying away from being too dark or too camp and never developing the characters past a caricature. It's a story most everyone knows in part, and the only twist here is the setting. I wavered between wanting it to be more comedic and philosophical like The Good Place or darker like The Fall of the House of Usher.
It depends.

Review
This is campy and silly, but that's what makes it fun. It's the Greek gods in the present day. Zeus (Jeff Goldblum) is paranoid and erratic, afraid of a prophecy that his power could end. Dionysus (Nabhaan Rizwan) is the neglected, playboy son that just wants his father's approval. To gain that Dionysus hatches a half baked plan to impress his father by conquering the underworld with Orpheus (Killian Scott). That plan may be orchestrated to be Zeus's downfall. Amidst that we have family strife, a love story, a voyage to the underworld, and plenty of drama.

Nabhaan Rizwan, Janet McTeer, Cliff Curtis, Jeff Goldblum play Dionysus, Hera, Posedien, Zeus

This depicts the gods as spoiled and rich, living opulently with no responsibilities. Zeus in maniacal, worried about his downfall and a prophecy. Prophecies guide many of the characters, though all of them are vague. No one knows the true meaning of the proclamation until the end is near. Zeus consults various siblings/gods, concerned that any number of inconclusive signs could signal his downfall. Goldblum gives an otherwise unlikable character enough eccentricity to be tolerable. This could have been more fun with the interactions between the gods.

Stephen Dillane plays Prometheus

All of the scenes in the underworld are monochromatic. It's a great design choice visually and thematically that always provides a sense of place, but at the same time a fitting sense of despondency. Orpheus wants to find his wife in the underworld, believing his love can overcome the fact that no one has ever escaped the underworld. Then again, no one alive has ever ventured to Hades's (David Thewlis) domain. Orpheus is a pawn in Dionysus's plan and both of them are an object of Prometheus's (Stephen Dillane) plan. The further we get into the season, we discover that Prometheus has been planning something for a very long time.

This comes down to Zeus rooting for a human to defy fate to prove that if a human could do it, surely Zeus can defy his fated downfall. The fate of all these characters intersect at the end. This could be funnier, more philosophical, or darker. This tries to forge a middle ground. I want it to commit to one and go for it. As is, it feels watered down. I wonder if this didn't go further and held back to appeal to a wider audience.

The Umbrella Academy Season 4 Review

2024-08-15T02:00:00.148-04:00

The Umbrella Academy (2019-2024)
Season 4 - 6 episodes (2024)

Watch The Umbrella Academy on Netflix
Created by: Jeremy Slater, Steve Blackman
Starring: Ellen Page, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, Mary J. Blige, Cameron Britton, Adam Godley, Colm Feore
Rated: TV-MA

Watch the trailer

Plot
A family of former child heroes, now grown apart, must reunite to continue to protect the world.
In season four, the siblings must save the world yet again by repairing the timeline splits they've created.

Verdict
It's a well plotted end to the series, but the short season feels rushed. This sidesteps character development and even some of the humor of previous seasons as a ticking time bomb pushes each scene and every moment to the end. It's not the best example of the series, and if this had been the first season, I would be indifferent for future seasons. The show's best season was the first, and it's been declining since. It's a capable conclusion and being the final season, you want to get to the end.
Watch It.

Review
It's the final season. When we left the characters they had transported back to 2019 when the first season began, seemingly without their powers. This season picks up six years later with where the group is now. None of them seem to be very well off. Simultaneously, Gene (Nick Offerman) and Jean (Megan Mullally) have started the Keepers, a group of people aware of the alternate timeline.

Elliot Page, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Aidan Gallagher, Robert Sheehan, David Castañeda, Ritu Arya play Viktor, Allison, Five, Klaus, Diego, Lila

In episode two the family reunites and heads to a small town on their first mission, a rescue. They find Jennifer (Victoria Sawal) but soon realize they've uncovered something more. This town is an operation to contain Jennifer. This show has such a dark sense of humor as their rescue starts an attack by the locals, including townspeople dressed as elves and Santa Clause. I also appreciate the family acknowledges that they've saved the world three times. That's been the plot every season as it is this season too. The family has also been the reason the world needs saving.

In episode three the plot comes into focus. Jennifer is "the cleanse" and Gene/Jean are obsessed with the cleanse. While it will fix the timeline, it's also apocalyptic. The team learns Jennifer's role too late and must find her and Ben (Justin H. Min) while Lila (Ritu Arya) and Five try to change the past (Aidan Gallagher) with help from Five's restored abilities.

Robert Sheehan, Tom Hopper, Emmy Raver-Lampman play Klaus, Luther, Allison

This is such a quick season at six episodes. The show could have added more to develop the characters and the plot. While the episode count keeps the pacing quick, it feels like a mad dash to the end. It's disjointed with the team split up on their own adventures. The end of the world is the ticking time bomb present from the second episode.

I wouldn't like this season as much if I wasn't familiar with the show. I loved the first season, and the show has been coasting ever since. This season forsakes what made the show fun for a quick plot dash due to the shortened season.They end up having to fight a monster that gets larger the more you attack it. It feels like a final season just to conclude the show. I expected the alternate timelines to play a larger role in this season. This barely explores alternate realities at all. I wondered how this season would conclude the series. The show has a neat idea that connects from the first season all the way to the end. It's not a bad season, but it seems perfunctory. Previous seasons had character development, and paused long enough to have fun. This season is an end, and not much more.