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East of Eden Mini-series Review

2026-10-15T02:00:00.000-04:00

East of Eden (2026)

Mini-series - 7 episodes
Buy the book (paid link)
Based on: East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Created and written by: Zoe Kazan
Starring: Florence Pugh, Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist, Hoon Lee, Ciarán Hinds
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
In the farmlands of the Salinas Valley in California, successive generations of the Trask family wonder if the sins of the past can ever be erased and whether a new generation is doomed to repeat them.

Verdict
It's a tale of people doing what they must, at least that's their disposition. The problem is they neglect others in their pursuit. This is initially propelled by the family drama between brothers Adam and Charles. We then follow Adam and Cathy's children, tripping on the same potholes that plagued Adam's childhood. Cathy moves on, seeking control in a world that denies women so much. She's desperate for power, and it doesn't matter who gets in her way. Mistakes repeat, as do tragedies. All of these characters are seeking kindness and affection they can't find. The message is revealed in the fifth episode. These characters have the ability to choose. They aren't doomed to their mistakes, but we see that these characters have been hardened by their lives, and that makes it difficult to alter their trajectory. I like this more upon reflection than I did while actually watching it. The power in this story is unpacking the characters after the series ends. The message is powerful. While it comes early, giving us reason to hope for change, the rest of the episodes show us how difficult it is to confront and triumph over the past.
It depends.

Review
Steinbeck is best known for his 1939 novel, The Grapes of Wrath. This is based on the 1952 novel, and creator Zoe Kazan's grandfather Elia Kazan directed the 1955 film adaptation.

This opens with a gripping scene. A grievously injured woman crawls along the ground. We don't know what happened to her, but she ends up on the front porch of brothers Charles (Mike Faist) and Adam (Christopher Abbott). From there we jump back to their history.

Charles and Adam's mother dies young, leaving them in their care of their strict father who doesn't know kindness. His control leads them to compete for his attention and affection that would never come. He clearly treats them differently which only exacerbates their feelings of resentment.

E1: Mike Faist, Christopher Abbott play Charles Trask, Adam Trask

Charles stays home to farm while their father enlists Adam in the military. Adam doesn't return home, re-enlisting at the opposition of his father. Charles is afraid he's the reason Adam stayed away. How he doesn't realize it's their father, I can't fathom, though they each have a very different relationship with dad. This is a lot of preamble to the story proper. It's not necessary, but it does create a foundation for this family's future generations. Adam finally returns home, and not long after a gravely injured Cathy (Florence Pugh) crawls onto their porch. It seems like Cathy will pit the brothers against each other.

The second episode explores Cathy's backstory. We see her as a teen, her voice over describing how women attract men's attention and that can be used to gain power. It casts a shadow on this story as we question her motives then and now. If she's a manipulator, she could wreak havoc on these brothers. When she tells Adam a secret, implying she knows who beat her but did it to save someone, that could be the split between brothers. Charles doesn't like Cathy, telling her that game recognizes game.

E2: Florence Pugh plays Cathy Ames

Cathy was beaten by a man she was manipulating, his realization turning violent. Her interest in Adam seems like a trick, a ploy for his inheritance. When she in turn seduces Charles, her goal seems to be to take both brothers' money.

Adam and Cathy marry and move to California, hiring Lee (Hoon Lee) as help. He's provided depth in the third episode, admitting to a neighbor he 'acts' Chinese and uses an accent as that's what people expect. He tried but wasn't accepted as an American. He was too white for the Chinese and too Chinese for the whites. Adam and Cathy have twins. She didn't want children. She unsuccessfully tried to abort, but to cover that up she had to admit she was pregnant. Now she's stuck. She neglects the twins, never having wanted kids. Adam is still infatuated with her, he too neglects the kids to tend to Cathy. He thinks she's suffering from post-partum depression and will get better. The children suffer, tended by Lee who is the only parent they have.

E3: Mike Faist, Christopher Abbott, Florence Pugh play Charles Trask, Adam Trask, Cathy Ames

I wondered where the plot went from here. Initially it seemed like the plot would be Cathy creating havoc in the lives of two brothers, but at the end of the third episode she's moved on. I wondered what she wants. She's been hustling since she was a teen. Does she enjoy the thrill of duping people? Does she just want power and control in a time where women get little? Episode four provides insight. Women don't have independence. The only way she sees to own something is to run a brothel. It's one of the few jobs available for women. She starts as one of the girls, soon befriending the madam under the guise of helping, but she wants a promotion. Cathy learns to run the house, putting her in line to run this brothel or to start her own. Her plan when she takes over the brothel is to hire girls willing to do depraved acts to increase profits. It's at odds with the current madam who prides herself on running a respectable house. We never quite know what Cathy is planning. She wants to take over the house, and it seems like she poisons herself to gain sympathy and avoid suspicion.

In the fifth episode Adam confronts his past, that being Cathy. He realizes the wife he loved was a conjuration. He no longer has to mourn the life he lost. It never was. While he can focus on raising his boys Cal (Joseph Zada) and Aron (Joe Anders), is he too late? Lee is the one that's raised them. Adam has subjected his sons to the same treatment he resented growing up, a neglectful father. Lee goes off to make plans in San Francisco, but he must return, unable to make progress due to the discrimination of being Chinese.

E7: Joseph Zada, Joe Anders play Cal Trask, Aron Trask

Cal discovers his mother is alive, seeking her out. Both brothers try to figure out who they are, unaware of half of their history. Adam never told them about Cathy, telling them she died. Aron heads to college while Cal looks to make his own way. Cal is upset that his father won't let him participate in the produce business. Adam's venture ultimately proves to be a failure. Cal gets into bean futures, looking to offset his father's losses, really seeking affection. Adam isn't happy the money came at the expense of farmers. Aron joins the army, upsetting Adam, just as Adam did to his father.

Cathy is still the madam, though she seems plagued by her past. I'm not sure it's guilt but more the show wanting to create tension. We see a flashback when Cathy was a child, hinting that she was assaulted. This reiterates a scene from episode four, making the implication clearer. That experience is likely what has made her so pessimistic. She's forever seeking the control she didn't have in that moment. She's trying manipulate others before they can do to her.

This leaves us with the question of what's next. Cal and Aron's relationship mirrors that of Adam and Charles. Both sets of brothers were neglected by their father with no mother present. Adam pitted his sons against each other just as his father did to him. The difference is Lee who was a force of good in the boys life, a barrier between them and their father. Is it enough to break the cycle? A repulsive attack on Cathy set her on a course of unhappiness. Her desire for control is a reaction to what was taken from her, but she clearly will never fill that void. The crux of the message is revealed in episode five. Lee discusses Cain and Abel. The story summarizes the struggle of human beings, but Lee finds hope in the translation of the word "timshel." It means "thou mayest." Despite what these characters experienced, they have free will to make choices. They're not destined to repeat their mistakes.

Little House on the Prairie Seaon 1

2026-10-11T02:00:00.000-04:00

Little House on the Prairie (2026-)

Season 1 - 8 episodes (2026 July 9)
Created by: Rebecca Sonnenshine
Starring: Luke Bracey, Crosby Fitzgerald, Alice Halsey, Skywalker Hughes, Warren Christie, Jocko Sims, Meegwun Fairbrother, Alyssa Wapanatâhk, Wren Zhawenim Gotts
Rated: TV-PG
Watch the trailer

Plot
The Ingalls family lives and works on a farm in Midwestern America during the late 19th century.

Verdict
While it touches upon the hardships of homesteading, the show is always geared for maximum drama. I wish it struck a better balance of feeling realistic. When does Charles even work? He's not nearly tired enough to be a one man farmer. The Ingalls are also the only just and righteous characters, even befriending the Osage. The family doesn't have to account for the fact they're stealing land. This show is designed to capitalize on nostalgia while creating something pleasing for the broadest possible audience. What results is unoriginal story lines that don't attempt to strive for anything more than mass appeal. It's a fantasy tale of settling the frontier.
Skip it.

Review
Based on the Little House on the Prairie books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and published in the 1930s and 1940s, the most prominent adaptation was the television series of the same name starring Michael Landon that ran from 1974 to 1983.

The new adaptation visits the hardships of homesteading, but it's less documentary and more soap opera. These settlers never seem scrappy enough. Charles should be toiling in the fields all day, but he seems to have a lot of free time. The show doesn't explore the contradiction of being the only family to befriend the Osage while also settling stolen land.

The Ingalls family's journey becomes treacherous quickly when trying to cross a river. They make it across, losing their dog in the process. I guessed that was a bit of emotional manipulation, and I was right. The dog returns at the end of the episode. Charles Ingalls (Luke Bracey) and Caroline (Crosby Fitzgerald) are trying to make this dangerous venture work. They sold everything to move west, implying there's a reason behind it. Eldest daughter Mary (Skywalker Hughes) tries to remain proper, wishing they had stayed in the city. Precocious daughter Laura (Alice Halsey) is excited by the new adventure. She wants to make friends with the Osage who are being ousted. There's tension between them and the town as settlers are pushing the Osage out, hoping the government will sign off on the theft. Laura can't understand why there's violence.

E2: Luke Bracey, Crosby Fitzgerald play Charles, Caroline Ingalls

They get their cabin built in short order, though there is heightened drama with the help, Mr. Edwards (Warren Christie). It's obviously telegraphed

In the fourth episode all the characters have visions of home. I get they all have 'the fever' and this is an excuse to explore how they feel about the move, but once it happens to multiple characters it loses some intrigue.

Edwards is accused of stealing horses because why not. He's a great basis for a character, but the show only uses him as a means to add tension and drama. Carol is the most righteous one in the show, but it just makes her annoying. She encounters blatant racism against the owner of the general store. She doesn't take a stand, only pointing out how it's unjust.

It's winter in episode six, and I have go imagine it would be much more difficult than depicted. They should be freezing. People die in the winter during modern times. The episode is padded with drama between Mary and Laura. I get sisters fight, but this fails to explore the dynamic. Sisters clash and reconcile, but this fails to capture those moments. It's just tension leading to a big fight that's emotionally manipulative. It's forced and fake as we know it's a prelude to making up.

E5: Skywalker Hughes, Alice Halsey play Mary, Laura Ingalls

Frontier living is difficult, but this highlights dangers only as a way to create tension when needed. It's idealized. This portrays having a baby as incredibly oversimplified.

The reoccurring subplot is that all of these settlers are stealing Osage land. There's turmoil within the Osage as to whether they will sell or not. Most of them have resigned themselves to giving up, but this show doesn't delve into the violence and theft. It was easy enough to portray Charles as ignorant. He assumed it was just free land, as loaded as that is. Despite his lack of skepticism, once he works the land and builds his house he seems to consider it his. While he's befriended Osage, why do they see him as any better than others? While he talks to them, he still took their land.

With the nature of this show, I assumed the threat the family would be forced to leave was hollow and just finale episode drama. Surprisingly they are forced to leave Kansas and head to Minnesota. I'm curious how that works as they didn't have any money to start, never made any money, and racked up plenty of debt.

This show had the chance to be special. It could explore frontier conflict, the difficulties of starting with nothing, and what kind of people leave civilization behind to settle the west. Instead it opted for shallow stories and manufactured drama.

Human Vapor Season 1 Review

2026-10-08T02:00:00.000-04:00

Human Vapor [Gasu Ningen] (2026-)

Season 1 - 8 episodes (2026 July 2)
Based on: The Human Vapor (1960)
Created by: Yeon Sang-ho
Starring: Shun Oguri, Yū Aoi, Suzu Hirose, Kento Hayashi, Uta, Yutaka Takenouchi
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
In this Japanese language series, a man that can transform into a gaseous state begins killing everyone involved in "the White Center" organization.

Verdict
This is an interesting idea, a man that can turn into a vapor, and it spins a big conspiracy behind that. The effects look great, but once you get past that concept, the police and journalist investigation are fairly standard genre pieces. Once I got the answer as to what happened, this didn't have anything else to offer. While this leaves it open ended, the season concludes the story. The reveals make this interesting enough, but ultimately this relies on graphics and plot twists.
It depends.

Review
The first episode has a great hook. Smoke, or in this case a vapor, enters a scientist during a live television interview and he explodes. There was a suspicious box in the studio. Was the vapor in that box? Does it have sentience? The next day a man sends a video to all news stations, claiming he orchestrated it. No one can figure out how. The Human Vapor claimed the "White Group" needs to pay for their crimes. Did they do this to him?

E1: Uta plays Ren, the Human Vapor

Police detective Kenji Okamoto (Shun Oguri) and his former girlfriend reporter Kyoko Kono (Yū Aoi) look for links to the White Center. Decades ago the White Center helped clean up a meteorite. Okamoto discovers a link between the Vapor and the Yakuza. That's when the Human Vapor attacks a Yakuza boss. It's a wild scene as the cloud follows the boss and then his car. There's also a cop involved with the Yakuza and trying to cover up connections to the White Center.

The fourth episode departs from the main plot to follow two video bloggers that happen to spot the Human Vapor in a music video. They investigate the abandoned warehouse, and I guessed we'd see the Vapor's lair. It's a long way around to get that reveal. We also discover that the Human Vapor is controlled by someone else, though the specifics are vague. A Rube Goldberg type machine activates the vapor, but there's got to be an easier way. Does someone really set up that contraption every single time?

E5: Yū Aoi, Shun Oguri play Shun Oguri, Kenji Okamoto

It turns out that the Vapor was at the clean up site. His name was Ren. The White Center got kids to clean up the meteorite. The kids wear jump suits while the adults don full hazmat suits and refuse to go near the meteorite. It's easy to see something is wrong with that.

The plight of this series is revenge against these men that exploited children and went on to have successful and lucrative careers. The layers of that run deeper than you might think.

The question of what and why drives this, but past the unique idea the conspiracy is typical. Greedy men exploited people and prospered. The vlogger sub-plot seems like filler. I don't know what a second season would offer. Without the mystery, the Vapor is just a weapon. Those that wronged him are gone, and the story is done.

The Hawk Season 1 Review

2026-10-05T02:00:00.000-04:00

The Hawk (2026-)

Season 1 - 10 episodes (2026 July 16)
Created by: Will Ferrell, Chris Henchy, Harper Steele
Starring: Will Ferrell, Molly Shannon, Jimmy Tatro, Fortune Feimster, David Hornsby, Luke Wilson
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
Late in his career, Lonnie "The Hawk" Hawkins struggles to recapture the magic when he was 2004's top golfer, refusing to believe he's anything but one stroke away from golf's greatest comeback.

Verdict
Will Ferrell plays a crass, selfish, washed up golfer. He's offended everyone that knows him and anyone else that meets him. It's Ferrell playing his typical obnoxious and absurd role. While there are plenty of subplots to fill the episode count, the jokes lack variety. The Hawk manages to stage a late career comeback, playing against his estranged son. If you like Ferrell's brand of comedy you might like this, but I often don't and I didn't. This coasts for far too long both on Ferrell's past movies and the premise. This takes a Ferrell concept that should have been a movie and stretches it to the length of a season.
Skip it.

Review
"The Hawk" Hawkins (Will Ferrell) is a has been golfer. Long past his prime, he keeps playing hoping to regain former glory. When his caddie and best friend Old Henry dies, Hawk wants to keep playing as he's doing well and doesn't want to stop the round. Everything about the character plays to absurdity, or comedy depending on your perspective, from the way he talks to the golf ball, propensity to wear a thong, to how he finds a new caddie, Sam (Fortune Feimster), in a Walmart parking lot.

Will Ferrell plays Lonnie "The Hawk" Hawkins

Hawk starts playing better, working his way through tournaments and even getting to the PGA tour. His son Lance (Jimmy Tatro) is a promising golfer, and he doesn't have much of a relationship with his father. Lance is unnerved playing against Hawk. The better Hawk does, the worse Lance plays.

This is a typical Farrell comedy, absurd and outlandish. Ferrell makes several 2000s era jokes claiming it was a different time only to be rebuffed. That happens several times. There are several sub plots to fill time. Lance has a rocky relationship with his fiancee. Hawk's wife Stacy (Molly Shannon) tries to market an alcoholic drink called Teed Off. She appears for comic relief, at least I assume that intent. She's also another character off which Ferrell can bounce jokes as he's still infatuated with his ex-wife.

It's another Ferrell character, but this stretches every aspect, from the length of scenes, the repetition of similar jokes, to padding the episode count. You could trim this season down to a movie that has the potential of not wearing out its welcome.

Fortune Feimster, Will Ferrell play Sam, Lonnie "The Hawk" Hawkins

Hawk has the chance to win at Pebble Beach, the only course he couldn't beat. As promising as he was, he lost there and his career was never the same. With a second chance will Hawk play to win or defer to his son who's only just beginning? As selfish as he's been, it's easy to assume Hawk will have a redemptive moment. If you watch this, you'll see there aren't many of those.

This relies on Farrell's former hits without adding much more. It's still mired in the same comedy with no updates. The only reason to make this a series would be a ploy to gain more watch time.

I Will Find You Mini-Series Review

2026-09-19T02:00:00.000-04:00

I Will Find You (2026)

Mini-series - 8 episodes (2026)
Created by: Robert Hull
Starring: Sam Worthington, Britt Lower, Chi McBride, Milo Ventimiglia, Jonathan Tucker, Logan Browning
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
A father imprisoned for his son's murder receives evidence suggesting his child may be alive, compelling him to escape and uncover the truth.

Verdict
The show provides cheap thrills. Outlandish is an apt descriptor, from how characters behave to the situations they find or put themselves in. It's a soap opera and thus works best if you don't think too much about its relationship with reality. The core is a twisting mystery that eventually involves all the characters to some degree. Nothing is quite what it seems. It's enjoyable enough, but it's also easy to start poking several holes into the plot.
It depends.

Review
David Burroughs (Sam Worthington) serves a life sentence for murdering his son, but he claims he didn't do it. When his ex-sister-in-law Rachel (Britt Lower), a disgraced former reporter, visits him, she shows him a photo of someone that could be his son. David is convinced it's Matthew and that he's alive.

There's a lot of heightened drama. A prison guard seems to be monitoring David. The warden is a family friend and wonders, with David's father, if there are any loose ends from the night of the murder. A serial killer approaches David, apparently with the intent to kill him. David also finds a discrepancy with a witness. Wouldn't he have pored over those files when this first unfolded? This show is designed for maximum drama. I would argue to a fault.

E2: Sam Worthington, Britt Lower play David Burroughs, Rachel Mills

David stages a jail break with a lot of help. Rachel picks him up, and they head to the guard, Wesson, that tried to kill him. Why would Wesson stay put at his own house? If he's afraid, wouldn't he try to run? He tells David they've been watching him since the beginning, but we don't know who. Everything is so cryptic. What kind of conspiracy merits this level of cover up?

David heads to the witness. She didn't exactly lie as David's family feared he was guilty and tried to cover up the crime. Despite that, someone else intimidated the witness to further incriminate David. It's convoluted to say the least. David meets with Skunk who pressured the witness and somehow has a role in this. Skunk tells David it's his father's fault, and that his ex-wife's current husband is also mixed up in all of this.

E5: Britt Lower, Sam Worthington play Rachel Mills, David Burroughs

Rachel's ex Hayden (Milo Ventimiglia) seems to be involved, but he's also been helping David because he still loves Rachel. That and I assume he's so rich he's bored and needed something exciting to do.

Then you have two FBI agents, Greer (Logan Browning) and Williams (Chi McBride), that are tasked with apprehending David. Even they begin to wonder if David was falsely imprisoned as there are so many things that seem amiss in this case.

David thinks he'll finally get answers from Nicky Fisher who it's implied killed David's kid as revenge. Nicky blame's David's father for the death of his son, though that's only part of it. This conspiracy spans the globe all the way to a Swiss orphan. Hayden isn't as selfless as he seemed. Rich people, am I right?

E5: Logan Browning, Chi McBride play Sarah Greer, Max Williams

This is a story built on unlikely scenarios and coincidences. I wasn't sure why Hayden had a part in this other than to build this big moment for the show. We discover a person helping David and Rachel has a completely different agenda.

The final episode is the wild face off where all is revealed, a convoluted and twisting maze that is much simpler than it appears. It's absolutely unhinged behavior, but it has to be to create a plot like this. The story's first goal is to entertain, and it does that by bending reality.

SPOILERS

The Haunting of Hill House Mini-Series Review

2026-08-13T02:00:00.000-04:00

The Haunting of Hill House (2018)

Mini-series - 10 episodes (2018)
Rent The Haunting of Hill House on Amazon Video (paid link)
Created by: Mike Flanagan
Starring: Michiel Huisman, Carla Gugino, Henry Thomas, Elizabeth Reaser, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Kate Siegel, Victoria Pedretti, Mckenna Grace, Timothy Hutton, Annabeth Gish
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
Flashing between past and present, a fractured family confronts haunting memories of their old home and the terrifying events that drove them from it.

Verdict
The show creates such a great mood. It's definitely dark, but this jumps between time periods and characters perfectly. Each episode reveals just a little bit more about the house and the siblings, augmenting what we know until it brings everything together towards the end. Tensions and stress within the family increase with each episode, as do the hauntings and scares. The way this builds the narrative is masterful. We've seen pieces of the whole from the beginning without knowing it. Each episode provides just a bit more context that continues to build the story. The culmination is well executed. It's such a well developed story.
Watch It.

Review
This jumps back and forth from when the Crain kids were young, living in the Hill house as their father attempted to repair and flip it, and when they're adults dealing with the trauma of having lived there. Growing up in that house affected all the children. Initially we wonder if the house is haunted, but with each scene the house is revealed to be menacing and definitely possessed.

Oldest son Steven (Michiel Huisman) became famous for his book about the house, but it alienated him from the family who objected. They didn't like he capitalized on their childhood. Shirley (Elizabeth Reaser) became a funeral director. Theo (Kate Siegel) has trouble connecting with people but is an adept child psychologist. Luke (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) struggles with substance abuse. Nell (Victoria Pedretti) still suffers from the memories of that house. The kids and the father grew estranged after they left the house, fleeing in the middle of the night with few answers.

While the first episode sets the plot about a haunted house, it also generates a lot of questions. What happened in that house? Through the season we learn piece by piece what happened as this deliberately builds the narrative. Each scene is edited to tie together via movements, actions, and subject. it helps to tie past and present together almost seamlessly.

E3: Elizabeth Reaser, Kate Siegel play Shirley, Theo Crain

Episodes overlap as we see events from each sibling's point of view. In episode one we thought Luke was robbing Steven, but in episode four we see that he was trying to help a friend in rehab. While it appeared he was suffering from withdrawal, there was a reason for his demeanor.

Each of the kids had strange experiences in this house, and their father's efforts to repair the place only end in more work. One repair leads to multiple problems. Episode five focuses on Nell. Even as an adult, she never overcame her experiences. She was plagued by the "bent neck lady" throughout her life. For whatever reason Nell returns to the house. It seems like an effort to confront the ghosts that have haunted her. She's in an abandoned house, but we see the fantasy playing out in her mind.

E4: Carla Gugino, Victoria Pedretti, Michiel Huisman, Samantha Sloyan, Kate Siegel play
Olivia, Nell, Steven, Leigh, Theo Crain

In episode six, the siblings and their father gather in one place and tensions overflow. There's the question of what happened that night when they were forced to flee. What happened to their mother Olivia (Carla Gugino)? Could she have been saved?

One room in the house has a red door, and throughout the season we've seen the kids try to get into that space to no avail. With each episode we see more ghosts, both in the past and present. We realize their father is covering up. Is he afraid to admit he encountered ghosts or is there something deeper, something he is protecting?

E4: Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Victoria Pedertti play Luke, Nell Crain

In episode eight, Luke decides to burn the house down, but we're told the house will defend itself. All of the Crains are lured to the house in the present. In the past, the house targeted Olivia, baiting her into a trap. In episode nine Olivia finally enters the room with a red door. We don't know what's inside, but that makes it all the more disturbing.

The final episode is full of reveals. The room with a red door wasn't always exactly locked. The reveal of that is executed expertly. Lured back to the house as adults, each of the children is mentally tortured in specific ways. It's Nell that helps them wake up from the nightmares as their father Hugh makes a pact to end the hauntings once and for all.

SPOILERS

Lord of the Flies Mini-series Review

2026-07-07T02:00:00.030-04:00

Lord of the Flies (2026)

Mini-series - 4 episodes
Watch the trailer
Based on: Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Created by: Jack Thorne
Starring: Winston Sawyers, Lox Pratt, David McKenna, Ike Talbut, Thomas Connor
Rated: TV-MA

Plot
A plane crash strands a group of British boys on an unoccupied tropical island where they gradually slide into anarchy as social conventions disappear and attempts at responsible rule divide them into warring factions.

Verdict
This proves how delicate the balance between civility and chaos truly is. On the island, fun and eventually bullying trump logic and proper planning. Nicky has great ideas but lacks confidence. Ralph is torn between doing what's best and succumbing to peer pressure. Jack gains followers through violence, bullying, and empty promises. He casts Nicky as an annoying adult, turning others against him. With each episode we see a small society slowly crumble. Peer pressure has an incredible pull. Initially, we can excuse their lack of preparations on being children, but when this becomes violent it's all the more shocking as mere children are the perpetrators. Once the situation tips, there's no stopping the momentum without any adults to step in.
Watch It.

Review
This is based on the 1954 debut novel of British author William Golding. Thorne was the co-writer of Adolescence (2025). I haven't read the book, so I don't have a basis for what happens in the story other than what I've gleaned from pop-culture.

The island setting is impressive, lending this a sense of credibility. In the first episode Nicky (David McKenna), soon to be nicknamed Piggy, wakes up in the jungle. It seems his plane crashed, and before long he meets Ralph (Winston Sawyers).

E1: David McKenna plays Nicky aka Piggy

Nicky has plenty of ideas to aid survival and he tries to establish order, but he lacks confidence and instead relies on Ralph. That order is soon challenged by Jack (Lox Pratt), the leader of the choir boys. Jack wants to be chief, with Nicky pushing for Ralph to lead. It's a bunch of children with all of the adults having died, so order is rather difficult. The kids are easily bored and distracted, unaware of the fully gravity of their situation. They don't like Nicky's rules and orders, though we know he's right. Ralph is torn between Nicky and wanting to be liked. Insulting Nicky is an easy way to get a laugh. There's the push and pull of kids wanting to do their own thing, and that soon leads to a forest fire.

Jack wants to feel important, making up for what he considers his shortcoming through imposing his will. He declares himself the hunter of the group, a situation that's faking it til you make it. He threatens anyone that opposes him which proves to be effective. Jack focuses on killing a pig to prove his might both to himself and everyone else. Jack and the other hunters that join his group soon find a pig. I felt sympathy for it. While the piglets escape, the boys encircle the pig and beat it to death. Their victory certainly doesn't seem glorious.

E3: Lox Pratt plays Jack

Jack's obsession with killing the pig leads to neglecting the signal fire. That's unfortunate as a ship sails by and misses them. Any time Jack is questioned or criticized, he lashes out and any semblance of order dissolves.

There's a lot of friction between Jack and Ralph. Ralph tries to do what's right for everyone, with Nicky's help, while Jack only serves himself. That widening rift is the slow decline of the small society. Jack makes big promises that the kids want to believe, hoping it will be true. It's why people follow him. He promises them fun, decrying all of Nicky's ideas. Jack just doesn't want to be shown up. He's managed to get through life by bullying others.

Jack's group has devolved into lawlessness. Of course Nick and Ralph pay the price. In the final episode they face a tough situation, it's tragic watching them crumble with the regime Jack has instituted. Nicky was too much of an adult, and it was easy for Jack to sway the others away. Jack has given rise to the rule of Roger (Thomas Connor), someone even more cruel. The children go from hunting prey to each other.

This follows the break down of society. The kids want a leader, and unfortunately they'll follow anyone that stands to take the position. We want to think that these are just kids, maybe that excuses the disorder and violence, and that this wouldn't happen to adults. Even adults are susceptible to following the person that assume the role of issuing orders. Society hangs in a delicate balance as this series show. Once you make the situation dire, people become desperate. By depicting that breakdown through children, it make this all the more tragic.

Each episode has a sequence showing close ups of the children's' faces. It's effectiveness in showing us how things change. While these are just children, scared and lonely, creating havoc, these children grow into adults with the same capacities. Fear proves to be the most dangerous emotion.

E1 Title Card

Derry Girls Season Review

2026-07-05T02:00:00.064-04:00

Derry Girls (2018-2022)

Season 1 - 6 episodes (2018)
Season 2 - 6 episodes (2019)
Season 3 - 7 episodes (2022)
Created by: Lisa McGee
Starring: Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Louisa Harland, Nicola Coughlan, Jamie-Lee O'Donnell, Dylan Llewellyn
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
The exploits of a sixteen-year-old girl, her family, and friends during the Troubles of the early 1990s in Northern Ireland.

Verdict
It's rare a show seems too short, and this show egregiously provides too few episodes. While it leaves me wishing there was more, it also makes the episodes provided all the more delightful. This elevates teenage problems to a level teenagers would consider appropriate, and everyone else would find ridiculous, while remaining funny and clever. The teens are more concerned with their own issues while the conflict in Northern Ireland continues. The running jokes only get better with each episode, and all of these characters are given a lot of depth. It's an ensemble comedy with a distinctly Irish humor.
Watch It.

Review
The girls live in Derry, hence the title Derry Girls. McGee planned from the beginning on only three seasons. The show is fictional, but this references actual events throughout, including the Troubles and the Northern Ireland peace process. The sound track is absolutely great, featuring period appropriate music.

This follows the daily difficulties of Erin Quinn (Saoirse-Monica Jackson), her cousin Orla (Louisa Harland), their friends Clare (Nicola Coughlan), Michelle (Jamie-Lee O'Donnell), and Michelle's English cousin James (Dylan Llewellyn) during high school while the conflict in Ireland continued. To them, that was just life, a back drop. It does add an underlying tension to everything that happens.

Season 1
It's funny and silly. The stakes are much higher for the girls than any reasonable person would assume, but that's also a part of being in high school. Those years seem so important. It's only later we realize it wasn't as dire as it seemed at the time. These kids don't have that distance yet.

S1E1: Nicola Coughlan, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Dylan Llewellyn play Clare, Erin, James

While the socio-political issues in Ireland contrast with teenage drama, this is an outrageous comedy. It's fun in the way you'd like to remember your high school years. The plights are typical high school: detention, finding a job, a Catholic school miracle, exchange student, vacation, and the school paper. Each of these characters is developed and distinct, even their families.

The series is colorful, irreverent, and fun. It's sweet in it's own way. All this happens against the backdrop of the Troubles, but teens, and many adults, think their plights trump everything else in the world. In that way, this is fitting. I just wish there were more episodes.

S1E3: Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Dylan Llewellyn, Nicola Coughlan, Louisa Harland, Jamie-Lee O'Donnell play Erin, James, Clare, Orla, Michelle

Season 2
In the first episode, students across the barricade try to find common ground between Protestants and Catholics. Finding differences is much easier, until they realize parents are a common factor.

A secondary plot in the second episode is Erin's mom Mary pondering the identity of Keyser Söze when she misses the end of the movie.

S2E6: Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Jamie-Lee O'Donnell, Dylan Llewellyn, Louisa Harland, Nicola Coughlan play Erin, Michelle, James, Orla, Clare

So much of the girls' time is spent trying to avoid trouble and only making the situation worse. This show only gets better with every episode. The nun at the school is fed up with everything, completely apathetic about her job and wanting to avoid the children in public as much as they want to avoid her. Then there's the boring Uncle Colm. He's so dull no one wants to be around him, but that's also what makes him so funny. Erin's grandfather Granda Joe blames Erin's father Gerry for everything, no matter how impossible it may be.

Season 3
To start the season, the girls unwittingly participate in a robbery. It seems outlandish for this show. Plot lines have been more grounded, but Liam Neeson makes a cameo as a policeman. They use Uncle Colm to thwart the police investigation. While it seems over the top, it's also incredibly funny.

S3E1: Dylan Llewellyn,Jamie-Lee O'Donnell, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Nicola Coughlan, Louisa Harland play James, Michelle, Erin, Clare, Orla

This keeps getting better, the way the running jokes stack with each episode only makes them funnier.

This season seems less grounded. While it's funnier when not constrained by the bounds of reality, the coincidences that occur defy belief.

The final episode ties in to the Good Friday vote that ended the Northern Ireland conflict. It's a fitting end to the show.

I had heard this was good, but it's better than I expected. It's funny and touching while capturing how intense high school seems. Each character and the family only adds to the fabric of this show, with tension and plot lines that feel real and appropriate. It's such a great show that deserves more episodes.

Beef Season 2 Review

2026-06-12T02:00:00.207-04:00

Beef (2023-)

Season 2 - 8 episodes (2026 April 16)
Watch Beef on Netflix
Created by: Lee Sung Jin
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Cailee Spaeny, Charles Melton, William Fichtner, Youn Yuh-jung
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
A young couple witnesses an alarming fight between their boss and his wife, triggering chess moves of favors and coercion in the elitist world of a country club and its Korean billionaire owner.

Verdict
The narrative pushes people to their breaking point. The season is addictive. It's like watching a train wreck. Everyone is running some kind of scam or cheat, and there's no way the situation doesn't blow up for everyone. In trying to better themselves and their positions, everyone just creates more problems. That builds until the final episode where the line between winners and losers is drawn.
Watch It.

Review
This season is unrelated to season one; it's a completely different story.

The first few scenes in the initial episode provide sufficient backstory. Country club manager Josh (Oscar Isaac) and his wife Lindsay (Carey Mulligna) argue at home after an event at the club. They fight over his job, the money he spends, and the time he devotes to the job. She argues he wasted her sizable inheritance, and he responds that she lied when she stated money didn't matter. He thinks he has a lot of friends at the club, but she states it's his job to be there and friendly. He'll always be an employee.

They reach the point of both demanding a divorce. While this goes on, two employees that are also engaged, Ashley (Cailee Spaeny) and Austin (Charles Melton), arrive tasked with returning Josh's wallet that he left. They wander to the back of the house while recording video out of concern and see Josh smashing things with a golf club and raising it towards Lindsay, seemingly ready to strike her. Ashley and Austin wrestle with what to do. There's the stress of what they saw, and then the fact that they'll have to see the couple at work. Do you report the violence as that's the ethical thing or do you ignore it to protect your job? Ashley and Austin leave the wallet on the porch and flee.

E2: Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac play Lindsay, Josh

Josh and Lindsay argue that their fight is typical, though it's certainly not. Austin approaches Lindsay the next day despite he and Ashley agreeing to leave it alone. Lindsay patronizes Austin, stating he doesn't understand as he's too young. We're left wonder if she's in denial or really thinks the fight is normal. Josh confronts Ashley, making sure she won't cause any problems. All of this is on the eve of a new Korean owner, Chairwoman Park (Youn Yuh-jung). Josh is willing to do whatever it takes to butter up Park so he keeps his job.

Due to a health issue, Ashley decides she needs insurance. She and Austin agree the world is designed to marginalize people in their position while people like Josh and Lindsay never face any repercussion. Ashley approaches Josh about a promotion which would include insurance, and eventually he agrees. He realizes how bad the video looks. Emboldened, Ashley urges Austin to fake being a physical therapist so he can work at the club full time.

Josh plays the part of this rich club guy, but he's pretending. He's not as rich as the club members, and I wonder if they realize that and mess with him sometimes. They're fake friends that use him to get perks at the club. He's living above his means, and in episode two it looks like he's going to embezzle. Ashley is his opportunity as she's not qualified for her job. She's the perfect scapegoat. He explains the plan to Lindsay just in case the audience didn't pick up on it.

E4: Cailee Spaeny, Charles Melton play Ashley, Austin

Josh and Lindsay plan their bed and breakfast with the money they plan to skim. They visit a similar venue, realizing it's better in every single regard. They realize even more money must be taken. There's no way this situation doesn't blow up for both couples. Then we learn than Chairman Park is facing tax evasion charges and is under scrutiny. That's an issue when her plastic surgeon husband botches an operation and she needs to pay off everyone involved.

In episode three, Austin stumbles onto Josh's embezzlement completely by accident. In turn Park is alerted, and she gives Josh a contract as she plans to use him to solve her own problems with remaining hands off. She's going to use the club to pay off the people involved with her husband's medical malpractice case. Josh won't get the extra cash through embezzling, and now he's illegally paying people off all so he can keep his job.

Episode four takes place at the hospital as Ashley waits to be seen. It showcases everything wrong from the wait to disinterested staff to doctors saying she's fine to then needing immediate surgery. The episode, and the story, are pushing people to their breaking point. Ashley blames Josh for not helping her at the hospital when he could have. She breaks into Josh's house and taints the orange juice for revenge. It's incredibly gross.

E8: Charles Melton, Cailee Spaeny, Carey Mulligan play Austin, Ashley, Lindsay

Episode six jumps ahead one month. So much of this show is about connections and who you know, and the other aspect of it is cheating others to get what you want. Many of these characters act selfishly and succeed while ignoring collateral damage. Episode seven is the setup where everything is undone for the final episode. The last episode delivers. The entire season has been a wild run, but Park wants to tie up loose ends. Both couples have ended up in Korea, and that's not a good thing.

This skips ahead eight years. Ashley and Austin have replaced Josh and Lindsay at the club. We see how replaceable Josh was. The members weren't friends with Josh, they only wanted to take advantage and get free perks. Josh has transferred his general manager skills to prison.

A big help to this season is that it isn't constrained by the first season. It can go in any direction, and it's quite the ride. From the beginning we know the couples have an uneasy alliance borne of necessity, but I didn't expect it to become so toxic.

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