LeftHandedGuitarist

There's the occasional good episode in here, but this first season borders on unwatchable at times and shows no hint of the ambition and storytelling that would come later. Very basic plots, and the characters are simplistic.

The voice actors all do good jobs though, and while the animation isn't as good as it will later get the visuals are still strong. The Clone characters are the most interesting even at this stage, but they aren't quite being given enough to do.

At the end of the day it's a kids show and a lot of this is forgivable with that mindset.

Unbelievably good production design caused this to look more like a film than a TV show. This program created its own world, and it's stunning. While it got a little weird at times and felt a bit repetitive and predictable, there was enough here to make this stand out as something special. The humour was perfect and I really enjoyed the little fourth-wall-breaking moments. Great actors all around, and some good twists. I also appreciated that the font used for Sunny's subtitles reminded me of playing Monkey Island.

[7.5/10] The show finally begins living up to its potential. While it's still plagued by a number of weak episodes and pantomime villains, there is also really epic storytelling here. In addition, we are given strong character moments that finally make the show feel more personal. Ahsoka especially gets some excellent development.

The arc based around Asaaj Ventress was the real high point for me - even if it introduces the character with the worst name in Star Wars (Savage Opress). It finally gave her some depth and Dathomir is a visually striking location. Similarly, the Mortis arc was daring in its exploration of the Force and felt truly significant.

Some great clone-based episodes too, though I wish there had been more. The bad episodes do bring the season down and it can feel like a videogame a bit too often, but when it's good it's very good.

While I have to applaud the show for changing things up so much and not repeating what has come before, honestly I found the new direction to be a bit too much to take. I could barely recognise the show I enjoyed so much before and I just couldn't get into this. It completely lost the fun factor and changed the character's personalities too much, leaving us stuck in a really uninteresting and unpleasant future. Splitting up Josh, Tiger and Wolf for the majority of the season was a poor decision too.

This also felt a lot cheaper, especially with how it stayed in the same location the whole time.

There were good moments throughout and I thought the last couple of episodes helped redeem things a bit (despite Seth Rogen making a completely unnecessary appearance that felt too much like ego-stroking). It's been announced that season 3 will be the final one so I'll probably watch it to finish the story up, but I really hope it returns to the fun time travel antics of season 1.

This show has more or less reignited my interest in Formula 1. I was a big fan and watched every race from 2009 until about 2016/2017. Once Jenson Button retired, I found very little to interest me. Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton kept on dominating the sport, making the results a pretty sure thing before the weekend had even begun, with only Ferrari and occasionally Red Bull ever able to challenge them.

Drive to Survive has reminded me that the real stories and battles are being fought in the midfield. This is also where most of the fun and interesting drivers are. Absolutely, this series edits things in such a way to create a narrative that is more exciting than the sport often is, but it can't be denied that drivers like Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Seinz, Charles Leclerc and Nico Hulkenberg have some magic about them, both on and off the track.

Or maybe it's just human nature to like the underdogs who get all the bad luck. At any rate, this docuseries is fantastically put together and can work as a great introduction to the sport for newcomers.

Season 2 is more consistent than season 1 overall, but maybe doesn't quite reach the highs that one did. At least, not until the end with the finale being something very special. The new Inquisitors are a mixed bunch with the Seventh Sister being a far more effective villain than the Grand Inquisitor was, but the others are instantly forgettable and uninteresting.

This season takes us away from Lothal as the crew join up with a Rebel cell and begin working missions for them. It makes for a nice change and feels like the show is moving forward. The biggest boon is the inclusion of Ahsoka and Rex who for fans of The Clone Wars are a real joy to see on screen. We also get some appearances from Darth Vader and they are quite fantastic - maybe it's down to having James Earl Jones back to provide the voice, but he's a really strong presence.

Lastly, I'm really glad that Sabine and Hera are given more to do here and we get to know their characters much better.

The final season (until it was saved) is a strong one. It works to tie up loose ends and mysteries from Attack of the Clones while also preparing us for what's to come in Revenge of the Sith. There's some ambitious stuff here and the use of guest star voices like Liam Neeson and Mark Hamill only serve to make it feel more epic. I missed Ahsoka being a part of the season, but in place I got some fantastic clone-based stories and a great adventure for Yoda.

I was a bit surprised that the season wasted time on the Clovis storyline given how few episodes they had to work with, but I can only assume the episodes were completed before they creators knew the show had been cancelled.

A season of two halves, but while the first half may be decidedly average the second is likely the best the show has ever been up to this point. The story arc on Onderon is just not very interesting and feels dragged out, while the arc with the Jedi younglings is more fun it it's just an unimportant side quest. Then we get a painfully childish and silly run with the story of the droids on their mission. I was worrying that the show was really losing its way.

But it all gets turned around. Darth Maul and his brother return with a vengeance and their takeover of Mandalore is epic and gripping. It results in some painful deaths and is a visual treat with some truly stunning cinematography. The final arc concerns Ahsoka being accused of a crime she didn't commit and I was surprised how emotional I got at the ending. Season 5 displays both the worst and best this show has to offer, but it will leave you desperate for more.

What a disaster. This just never once felt like the Muppets, with it's odd use (or misuse) of the characters and it's complete tonal inconsistency. It didn't seem to know if it was aimed at younger kids, teenagers or nostalgic adults, and instead is entertaining to none of those groups. There was the odd laugh here and there, mostly from Pepe, but the vast majority of this was unfortunately dull.

Mainstays like Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo and Rolf barely made an appearance. This felt like an entire exercise of forcing the Muppets into a format they aren't at all suited for, and the lack of variety between episodes really hurt it. Give us a character-focused scripted show with a storyline, please.

This may be Muppets Now, but I'd much prefer to have Muppets Then.

Making the fantastic feel mundane seems to be the aim of these stories, and that's really not a compelling or even good idea. The aesthetic is stunning and evokes some undefined '70s/'80s era extremely well. Gorgeously shot with some great, emotional performances but most episodes ended up as background noise for me. The characters are lifeless. It's a series for those more contemplative than me. A shame, I was very excited for this going in.

I did quite like the first episode, and also the one about May who discovered she could stop time. The episodes focused on Jakob and George were my least favourite by far. Rebecca Hall and Jonathon Pryce were severely underused.

Delightfully twisted and horrifically violent, but outside of a few moment s of brilliance I found it too unfocused. It never made me laugh, but Martin Freeman in particular was fantastic. Major pacing issues.

The first season is often derided for being weak. While it definitely pales in comparison to what comes later, it's nowhere near as bad as people say. At worst, it could be accused of being a bit bland but there are some incredibly strong moments here. Characters are strongly defined and a huge amount of plot elements are established. The episodes are all standalone and there aren't many major story arcs, but the characters are consistently grown across the season.

It's nowhere near as bad as early Next Generation, that's for sure.

Best episodes for me: Emissary, Babel, Battle Lines, Duet, In the Hands of the Prophets
Worst episodes for me: Dramatis Personae, The Passenger, Move Along Home, If Wishes Were Horses

Season 1 was excellent overall, although it took a little while to really click. Clearly using the Veronica Mars template to great effect, this is a witty and gripping show that works as both light entertainment and something you can get more invested in.

If it has any weakness, I would say that some of the casting is a bit off. Major is just a useless and uninteresting character, constantly trying to act the hero but coming off as pathetic, and his high school jock look doesn't help. Meanwhile, Babinaux is still a completely blank slate by the end of the season and his character needs a lot of development, or at least something to make us care about him.

Rose McIver carries the show really well, though, and makes up for a lot of this. She gets to apply different characteristics to her performance each week, which is no easy task, and while some of these do miss the mark and fall into pantomime territory, for the most part she is an absolute gem.

Hope to see more Veronica Mars cast appear in season 2!

What an improvement after the poor second season. Strong character development and exciting dinosaur encounters throughout with some creativity, as well as a good sense of dread and horror. And I finally have started to appreciate Kenji! The show has clearly established that these kids aren't in any real danger by now, but somehow it still works.

I just wish that the t-rex was featured more.

Definitely the most consistently entertaining season so far, although it gets off to a terrible start with the Mon Calamari episodes. There's some astoundingly good stuff as the season continues, with the Umbara arc probably being the highlight of the entire show up to this point. The cringe worthy episodes are fewer and far between, characters are given some really compelling stuff to do. I think if you haven't fallen for the show by this point you never will, and while there are so many things I could criticise about it I think that this show is becoming essential for Star Wars fans.

The action scenes can be overwhelming and cartoony, but they are always a visual treat. It can be throwaway entertainment, but it will surprise you more often than not and it's improving the prequels immensely.

This should have been 6 episodes or even less. The cast are fantastic and it's ridiculously gorgeous, but there's slow burn and then there's just spinning your wheels. After a very strong start it just peters out with a few glimmers of interest along the way.

The actors here can't be faulted at all though. In particular, Cynthia Erivo gave a fascinating performance as the peculiar Holly Gibney, and Ben Mendelsohn's emotional turn put me through the ringer a couple of times. I also thought that Julianne Nicholson gave a very strong and memorable performance as Glory.

I found that I did look forward to watching the episodes each week, but that's mostly due to the characters and the people playing them. When it comes to the actual plot it was a whole lot of nothing and while the resolution improved things it still fell pretty flat. This would have been much more powerful and lost nothing with a (much) shorter run time.

Season 2 managed to continue the quality storytelling that began with the first. I did feel like this slowed the pace down a bit more, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. There was room for some great character development, particularly for Claudia and Soren. Meanwhile, some of the most interesting season characters got left behind, such as Aunt Amaya and Commander Gren (who remains chained up cheerfully in a cell!).

One of the best things here was finally getting to see some big dragon action - something I had expected back in season 1 but never came. Very much worth the wait and impressively realised. It also gave us a lovely window into Callum and Ezran's mother.

The show is just gorgeous. It seems that the animation has been tweaked a bit here to include a few more frames-per-second and be slightly less choppy, but it never bothered me much in the first season. Mostly it's the art, design and colours that really capture me, and the cell-shaded 3D look really works wonders.

Hopefully I can watch this show with my nephews when they are a bit older!

Season 2 gives us a show in growth that begins to establish its identity. It's a definite improvement over season 1, while still not reaching the stellar heights that were to come. There's a good deal of character exploration and the actors have all improved greatly, seemingly getting more of a feel for what they're doing. The storytelling becomes a bit more complex and there are some continuing threads that spread across episodes, notably with the build up of the Dominion as a presence and the crossover stories with TNG that give us the Maquis.

The supporting characters such as Garak, Dukat, Winn and Bareil also get a lot more definition. While there's nothing here that is as impressive as 'Duet' from the previous season, it's definitely more consistent overall.

Best episodes for me: Cardassians, Necessary Evil, Armageddon Game, The Maquis, The Jem'Hadar
Worst episodes for me: Melora, Second Sight, Rivals, Playing God

When a show gets scarily close to things you went through with an ex...
That was a difficult watch for me, and I loved all of it.

Netflix finally manage to make a great comedy show. The central concept is not the most unique, but the laughs are genuinely funny and both Barrymore and Olyphant carry the show to a better place. Sheila and Joel are extremely likeable characters, and end up being the most normal people in comparison to the ridiculous humans surrounding them.

I was a bit disappointed that the show fell back on being needlessly vulgar most of the time, but that seems to be Netflix's thing. The younger actors also aren't the most amazing, but they got better as the show went on. The season also ended on a bit of a "that's it?" note.