The Stolen Earth is the Doctor Who event: the first part of a culmination of everything Russell T. Davies has brought to the show. Big, loud, bombastic & ends with multiple cliffhangers on a sprawling, galaxy-wide scale where the heroes lose. Infinity War, only better.
Turn Left is a trial run for the brilliant Years and Years - Who at its darkest and most dystopian? Terrifying. This is another 10/10 in a row here, Russell T. Davies firing on all creative cylinders, Catherine Tate (her best performance) & Bernard Cribbins are phenomenal here. "The Stars are going out" is more chilling than it has any right to be. A depressing reminder that it can always get worse.
That's another stellar episode of Doctor Who - maybe Russell T. Davies' best script for the show? It's a perfect bottle episode (dare I say the best bottle episode of television apart from Breaking Bad's Fly?) A great slice of Twilight Zone-esque brilliance at its finest. Lesley Sharp is terrific. This run from The Unicorn and the Wasp to Journey's End is pretty much perfection.
Rivals Blink in terms of scare factor, this two parter's terrifying. "Hey, who turned out the lights?" The River Song mystery being introduced so early comes as a surprise, but Alex Kingston has an instant chemistry with David Tennant from the word go - it's completely believable. Hits all the right beats, makes you care about even the side characters who you've met for seconds - I always seem to underrate these two when making lists, but they're just so good! Possibly one of Tennant's better performances as The Doctor in this pair of episodes, too.
Same school of thought as the previous celebrity historical episodes, but with a surprise Felicity Jones appearance! of course she's the thief, tons of fun with its Cluedo-esque mystery "what are you doing with that lead piping?" and obviously, the CGI with the wasp hasn't aged brilliantly, but it's really fun overall and Agatha Christie and The Doctor teaming up to solve crimes never fails. Also the bit about The Doctor/companions bouncing off ideas about books that the famous authors haven't written to them yet from The Shakespeare Code never gets tiring.
I'm not too keen on this one.
It's better than The Lazarus Experiment, Stephen Greenhorn's last Who episode, but not by much - and suffers from just not being as good as the rest of Series 4, which - because it's so good, makes the weaker episodes stand out all the more - put this in Series 3 and it's a solid middle of the road episode. It'd probably be one of the better ones of 2 or 7. Jenny needed a bit more development as the show never gives her any room to breath and it struggles to quite get the Doctor/Donna/Martha/Jenny/both factions balance right in this episode, even if I like the dynamic between Donna & Martha (which is refreshingly not combative in the way that Rose/Sarah Jane was) and the reveal about the war only lasting 7 days, 7 days being "generations" to the clones was a pretty effective moment - the emotional beats in this episode did a good job at landing, thanks in no small part due to Tennant's brilliance which makes up for the revelation about The Doctor's daughter being a clone being something of a copout - I remember the days of the speculation back in the runup to this episode as it aired! Not sure all of it stuck the landing.
On the plus side, this is the last (and only) not-as-good episode of Series 4! There's nothing but great episodes from here on out.
Really fun mood setter featuring an early performance from Andrew Garfield doing an American accent. Infinitely better than Evolution of the Daleks that holds up so much better on a rewatch, the Murray Gold score is firing on all cylinders. It's one of those stories that captures its time setting perfectly.
A mostly really solid episode that follows the present day-past-future formula of the first three episodes of any given season that RTD stuck to quite frequently during his era. The dystopia set-up of an endless motorway of caravans is established with ease, the return of the Macra is handled really well, and I love the establishment of the "You Are Not Alone" mystery with the return of the Face of Boe. Maintains its suspense throughout and Tennant is able to sell even the cheesiest of scenes with the emotional beats handled really well. Novice Hame is handled much better here than in New Earth, and it acts as a great sequel.
"I've Invented a Sport!"
Love the dynamic between The Doctor, Martha and Shakespeare in this episode. Shakespeare being treated as one of the rockstars of his age feels appropriate, and The Doctor quoting Shakespeare back at Shakespeare will never not grow old. A few sketchy moments with the writing aside that have not aged well, The Shakespeare Code is still a fun romp in a mostly consistent season.
Star Trek hasn't been this good in a while, fresh, exciting and optimistic more than living up to its bold, inclusive mission statement. As addictive as ever and instantly bingeable, Doug Jones & Sonequa Martin Green are the MVPs of this season with excellent performances from Mary Wiseman, David Ajala & Anthony Rapp. This feels more like an ensemble than ever with great attention given to the entirety of Discovery, it's far more than just the show of the select few.
Would have been happy with how it ended if that had been a final season, but I'm really excited to see where they take Season 4 next.
Completely fearless, brave, unique and breathtakingly weird. By far the most original show to come out of 2020, Lovecraft Country is a trip that has to be experienced fully to be believed: I loved it! Its anthology-esque structure is refreshing with largely different storylines each episode with a core group of characters. It throws everything at the wall and most of it sticks, the genre-shifting is handled really well and you will almost certainly be surprised. For a great double-act, pair it with the equally insane Lovecraft horror fare Color out of Space.
This remake gets everything right: the tone, the soundtrack, the performances are all spot on across the board: Zoe Kravitz is terrific in the lead role. This show deserved the world: it should have never just had that solitary season.
Talk about a show that has unfairly swept under the radar of many: a spiritual sequel to Crystal Moselle's terrific Skate Kitchen utilising the same cast for a series of 30 minute episodes. It's over too quickly but captures the same indie tone effortlessly and is a joy to watch unfold, the performances are mostly natural and the group has brilliant chemistry across the board. One of my favourites of the year.
Star Wars at its most bland, boring and predictable since The Rise of Skywalker. This whole season has felt like a backdoor pilot: the TV series, falling into the same trap as the hot mess that was Titans Season 2, setting up too many characters' shows and losing interest in its own to the point where it ends with a tease for another series rather than the third season of its own show. It feels like it's ticking off checklists and resorting to lazy fanservice (in hindsight it's about what we should have expected with a script written by the director of Iron Man 2) instead of trying something new or different like with The Clone Wars' animated series, Rebels' later seasons, or The Last Jedi. The Mandalorian feels like a supporting character in his own show, and the big Deus Ex Machina with Luke Skywalker confirms that the franchise is far too reliant on one character to truly move forward: what was supposed to be the series' big moment just left me cold and soulless, completely empty. I knew this was coming the moment they teased another Jedi apart from Ahsoka and brought back Boba Fett, but did it have to be this uninteresting?
The bit where we got to see Mando's face in front of everyone was a cool culmination of his arc and all, and easily a high point of the episode for me with the right emotional beats working that features a terrific bit of acting from Pedro Pascal that feels like he's been waiting the whole show to to get to grips with. It's easily a series highlight. And the stuff where Moff Gideon was able to almost manipulate Bo Katan and Mando into a fight and coming to blows was a good thing that played to all three characters strengths. But what followed was a colossal let down that flat out killed my interest in Season 3 if this is the direction of where this show is headed, it just feels like Star Wars is playing it far too safe right now, focusing on the same one character in a way that is determined to tie everything together. I also love the subtle nuance where we get to see the brief personalities of the minor Empire pilots and their troopers that adds a bit of depth to the world and explores how the characters react to the changing events around them. That stuff is good!
Good to see everyone is enjoying this more than I am. It's not for me! And that's fine.
A mostly consistent season; even if that works both ways - aside from maybe the finale itself there are no bad storylines here; but there aren't really any episodes that I'd call top-tier TNG apart from maybe Tapestry either, so it's a step-down from Season 5 in that regard (Darmok, The First Duty, Cause & Effect & I, Borg - all episodes that I'd put in my Top 10 TNG episode ranking).
The double header of Rascals & A Fistful of Datas are both TNG at its most fun and entertaining; whilst Chain of Command is a two-parter that is elevated mainly thanks to Patrick Stewart's impeccable performance more than anything else. There's a few good episodes in here like Relics (Scotty!) Timescape, The Chase, Face of the Enemy & Birthright in addition to this but the main novelty here in Birthright is seeing it be the crossover episode with Deep Space Nine: Julian Bashir showing up was a welcome surprise.
I'd put this below Seasons 5 and 4, but above Seasons 1-3.
A mixed bag of a first season. It's not Game of Thrones, Black Sails or even Vikings yet; it doesn't have the budget but it started out on the BBC so that's to be expected. I'm looking forward to seeing what the move to Netflix will do it budget-wise. It's very impressive for a BBC series in terms of the scale and drama it achieves; and a lot of that is down to Bernard Cornwell's novels which - from what I remember, are very good, although it's been a while since I've read them.
The first episode didn't really grab me at all and was easily the weakest of the whole season. It was exposition heavy and Uthred isn't exactly a likeable protagonist early on. He grows on you as the series progresses; as do all the characters, but at the same time having him as a lead character for the first few episodes was as testing, especially when he stuck by Alfred after everything that Alfred put him through for minimal returns. The Danes were the more lively characters of the bunch and Ragnar and Brida needed more screentime - in general, The Last Kingdom has a major problem with its female characters that never really got addressed to the point where Iseult's plot and everything that happens to her is laughably bad. Mildrith deserved a lot better; and her storyline made me feel sorry for her character and the luck of the draw that she got. Brida threatens to be an actual character at times but the show pushes her to the side after a few episodes to the point where she and Ragnar almost feel like extras by the end of Season 1.
The action scenes are brutal and intense and I like that this show packs a lot of story in its episodes - it's rare that there isn't an hour long episode that doesn't make the most of its runtime and there's enough plot in episode five alone to fill an entire season which is a refreshing change when Netflix just lets its episodes run and run. Episode 5 is easily the highlight of the entire first season. Odda the Younger was a really detestable antagonist; and Ubba was a more than credible threat for the Viking side; so the series did a good job at building up its characters and making you invested in Uthred's struggles even if I never warmed up to him that much over the course of the show.
Verdict: Better than Season 4! If not by much. Definitely not good enough to justify the constant self-referential jokes about Season 4 being bad when there's still a lot of episodes that aren't much better than Season 4 (I hate it when shows make jokes about their past seasons without being good seasons themselves so this automatically causes it to lose points). Season 5a was a lot stronger than Season 5b - and I felt like this show lost a LOT when Donald Glover left, and it's going to lose a lot next season with no more Jonathan Banks and John Oliver too. Feels like it's a show that gets worse the more self-indulgent it becomes and it's very much a case of Dan Harmon being caught up in his own hype.
I talked about Pierce and Troy's farewell episodes a few days ago - and they're the high-point of the series I think for me. It handles Troy's farewell brilliantly and manages to get Pierce perfectly even in an episode without Chevy Chase ever actually being there at all, Walton Goggins showing up was hilarious and Troy's send off in a mostly Britta-centric episode worked well and made the best use of a LeVar Burton cameo. Also, this is probably due to the fact that I'm watching this much later after the app-rating parody trend seems to have passed - but App Development and Condiments just felt there to me; other shows have tackled a similiar subject so much better. And there's yet another trap that the show falls into of tackling high-concept episodes - they're fine in their isolation but there's just too many of them and they just feel like once again, the show's doing them just because they can and hasn't really learned anything. They keep repeating concepts without trying something new, and even the season's best episode - Basic Intergluteal Numismatics, which I liked - isn't as good as the Law & Order parody that came before it.
I'm fine with the odd one or two concept episode but they're still really overbearing - the Dungeons & Dragons episode felt a bit too repetitive and just a weaker retread of what had come before; and the G.I. Joe episode just felt like a weaker version of the Christmas animated episode and it felt really hollow as a result (especially given the lazy copout of the It was all a dream ending, which feels like a direct retread of the Season 4 finale). And even given the choice as much as I loved Geothermal Escapism, I'd take the paintball episodes over it. Community used to be a show that was able to balance emotional stuff with the concept episodes and although it does it with Troy's departure, that's probably the only time it manages this season as even Jeff and Britta's on/off marriage proposal/breakup just feels flat and forced like they needed to get two characters together and - yes, they called out on the trope but they didn't do anything with it. Also: Abed realising that he's on a show... didn't work for me, as much as I love Abed's character.
The characters don't feel anywhere near close to what they were in the past especially by the end - in part due to how plot-driven the finale is, there's a few quiet moments but mostly they just feel there to react to the news that there's buried treasure and that's all we get. Most of the time they're all pretty much interchangable now to the point they all feel like shadows of their former selves. Also: Chang just becoming part of the group still feels odd especially given everything that happened in Season 3 - did they really forget about him essentially TRYING TO KILL THEM?, but I did like some of the material that Chang had this season. Even Season 4 had a better ending than Season 5 - at least they actually tried to give Jeff a character arc.
If anything - Season 5 feels like The Rise of Skywalker (although that's not to compare Season 4 to The Last Jedi because I loved TLJ and didn't click with Season 4). It feels very much like a course-correction, over-reactionary, safe and ambitionless when Community previously was daring, risk-taking and always trying out new things. And what's arguably made it worse is that this time it feels self-indulgent and self-righteous (see back to the constant gags about Season 4 being a 'blip'). When I started Season 3 I was worried it would go full Sherlock and jump the shark completely - and it looks like it has done. Now it's just - aside from the odd exception - stale and lifeless. Still: one more season to go! (If I ever do rewatches, unless Season 6 salvages it I'm sticking with Seasons 1-2).
Favourite episodes from the season:
Cooperative Polygraphy
Geothermal Escapism
Basic Intergluteal Numismatics
A really fun episode with a nice twist on the time traveller being from the past rather than the future. Matt Frewer hams it up a bit too much but the final reveal was, as ever, classic Trek.
I'm really starting to like Sela as an antagonist.
Leonard Nimoy is fantastic as Spock as always; and his scenes with Picard particularly knowing what had happened between Picard and Sarek really hit well. Patrick Stewart carries them brilliantly. Furthermore; the scenes between Data and Spock were powerful the more we learnt about Spock wanting to leave humanity behind whilst Data was trying to embrace it.
Between this and Discovery, Spock really does have a habit of going AWOL, doesn't he?
Surprisingly low-key for such a major crossover as this with Spock involved; he's barely in the first part at all. Seeing Picard & Spock pose as Vulkans was a fun diversion in Romulus but the best scenes of the episode were easily the moments between Sarek and Picard, they're amazing every time and both Patrick Stewart & Mark Lenard have great chemistry. Lenard is terrific - I'll miss seeing him on the show.
Star Trek: Black Mirror with the return of Wesley Crusher. I liked the send-off for Wesley the last time and it's cool to see him back, Wil Wheaton improved a lot the older he gets as an actor and the straightforward Wesley saving the day allowed for an almost horror-fied Trek. The game itself was a disappointment though, even by Trek standards. And was not expecting Ashley Judd to show up here.
Loved just how fun this episode was with some good role reversal for the characters. Picard working with children after they got trapped in a lift together was hilarious no matter how poor the child actors were, and Worf delivering a baby is a classic Star Trek moment. Troi getting the chance to command the bridge too was excellent, and a real welcome change of gears for the show.
A fascinating proto-DS9 episode that really puts down the groundwork for the Cardassian/Bajorans conflict. Michelle Forbes is great as Ensign Ro who goes against what we've seen from Starfleet officers so far, and this allows for plenty of tension with herself and the crew in a great way. Forbes works really well with both Goldberg & Stewart, her scenes with Guinan - particularly at the start, were a highlight, as were Picard's at the end.
Like with Family, Star Trek: The Next Generation is really good at those Picard-centric second episodes after a big blockbuster series opener. The performance here again by Patrick Stewart was excellent as the episode really got what Starfleet was all about and showed it perfectly down to a T. One of the best episodes of the series so far for me, carefully contained.
As season premieres go, this was a pretty good one that upped the stakes from the last episode with all the set-up out of the way. Having Denise Crosby return was a welcome surprise in a new role especially learning what happened to her after the events of Yesterday's Enterprise which was something I wasn't expecting the series to touch on again; and seeing Data in command of his own ship was so satisfying.
And we're pulled into another season finale which means a cliffhanger episode, and this was a big one. We've seen bits and pieces of the brewing Klingon Civil War in the background and the Romulans attempts to slowly get more and more involved in others' affairs and they come about in a big way here.
This was a huge episode for Worf and him leaving Starfleet to return to the Klingons would have been more impactful of a cliffhanger if I hadn't already seen Deep Space Nine and knew he returned to Starfleet. But still, there's plenty of material here for him that further cements his status as one of my favourite characters on this show. The conversation between him and Guinan is great (prediction: Worf will laugh in the next episode), and I did like the Klingon political stuff again because they're never boring in this show.
I'm looking forward to getting stuck into Season 5 and picking up where I left off. I did like the show's strong emphasis on its family and although the slog of episodes towards the end did get a bit rough at times in terms of quality there were a few standouts and the show has very much found its groove. I did like how much time the show spent dealing with the Borg and the consequences from that; you can see why they've become such an iconic Star Trek villain (although the Cybermen are the superior sci-fi monsters, fight me).
This concludes the "trilogy" of inter-species romances (and I say "trilogy" if you take out the previous episode) that bookended the series. that began with The Host & Half a Life. It's where Trek decided to turn into a romantic sci-fi show with... mixed results, but out of these three episodes I found In Theory to be the best. Data literally taking La Forge's advice to heart and asking everyone was fun, and we got to see various takes on his relationship with D'sora from the rest of the crew.
It was sweet, and very awkward with the kind of awkwardness that The Next Generation does so well. It would have been so easy to screw up this episode and it really only works because of how good Brent Spiner is at playing such a likeable character.
A decent episode, some Dr. Crusher stuff can be a bit hit/miss and this feels rather in line with the middle of the pack. Unfortunately the romance isn't as convincing despite the fun lead into the awkwardness of the the Dr. Crusher/Riker stuff. It feels largely half-baked mainly because the show insists on telling us rather than showing us how much the two love each other. Again it feels like a victim of TNG's firm attention to the standalone episode structure, as this show could have used more time to develop the characters' relationships than just what we had with them here.
Like Half a Life before it it tries to tackle the problems that come with romances between species and again, like Half a Life before it it's not the best executed episode of Trek ever. The episode raises questions as to how the Trill society functions - where do they get all their hosts from? and Dr. Crusher not being ready to accept Odan's new transformation into a woman feels much more like a step backwards rather than a step forwards for the character.
We did at least get the Trills' introduction though, which leads into Jadzia Dax showing up in Deep Space Nine as one of the franchise's best characters.
Half a Life (Or: What happens when Star Trek does Midsommar)
In all seriousness though, this episode has a lot in common with Ari Aster's latest. It didn't quite payoff entirely - there's some rough edges around the middle, but I didn't hate this episode. It's perhaps the one that's most at home in Star Trek: The Next Generation out of all of the Star Trek shows. Picard taking a reserve, back seat action to something that feels so inherently wrong a concept as this is certainly not something that Burnham, Sisko or Kirk would have done to name a few examples.
Rather than take the easy route of making the natives of the planet the bad guys or cartoonishly evil, even though they're in the wrong and nobody would argue otherwise (apart from that cult in Midsommar, I guess), the actors do a convincing job of selling their characters' beliefs and the script does an effective job at giving depth to them.
And it turns out Star Trek can do courtroom drama better than most courtroom drama shows that I've watched lately. What an episode! Probably a contender for one of my favourites from Season 4 so far; if not my favourite. This was a fantastic episode for Patrick Stewart to shine and he more than delivered. Jeri Taylor's scripting was excellent - particularly with Picard using the quote of Admiral Satie's father against her. Speaking of Satie; Jean Simmons was fantastic as the guest star in this, one of the better ones of the season. Frakes' directing is strong as ever.
