The manipulation of lives, so deft, as to be terrifying. This was a revisit of DAMAGES for me, I first watched this series when it was new, but I'd forgotten the story arch, although the fierce carnage of the characters never really leaves you (which, I think, speaks to the superb writing and performances). Twists and reveals that aren't predictable. Nothing is as it seems. No one is who you think. Great casting and performances. A mystery that keeps your attention throughout - never a false step, never a complacent moment (although, with the same emotional arch in each season and a learned reluctance to trust what is being shown does lead to some viewer disillusionment by making the unpredictable expected). I give this series an 8 (great) out of 10. [Legal Drama]
Bryan Cranston stars as a judge who confronts his deepest beliefs when his son is involved in an attack that confuses an organized crime family. Faced with a series of impossible choices, he discovers how far a father will go to save his son's life.
I was a little late starting this series, but when I saw Cranston in the lead, I knew it had to be good! This does not disappoint! This show actually has shades of Breakin Bad in that Brian is once again in a position to make up stories on the spot, make up the lies, and get himself and the ones he loves into deeper and deeper nightmare scenes. The tension is palpable and heartbreaking and intense, right from the start ... This show hooks in and won't let go. Powerful renditions here of someone's worst nightmare ... Ordinary people try to cope with an unfathomable situation as best they can, but create an ever-worsening cascade of domino-like events, one of which triggers the other, and so on. The son does a fantastic job and the mafia boss's choice is perfection to play out Cranston's portrayal of a loving and honorable father who is suddenly pushed to the limit and as he tries to protect his son, he becomes the polar opposite of everything. he was dear before. Stellar and absolutely compelling storytelling ...
The adventures of my favorite fictional Angus was a staple of the 80s and early 90s. Holds up exceptionally well. Can't speak for the remake as I've never seen an episode of it
the theme music was lit too
(Initial impression) I think I'm going to like this. The writing is sharp. The characters are approachable. Simone Missick has a serenity that balances the rapid fire dialogue. It's going to have to self correct on edging toward being sappy but, otherwise, I think this has potential. I give this pilot a 7 (good) out of 10. [Legal Drama]
Disclaimer: I didn't play the game, so I can't comment on how well it was ported to a TV screenplay. Asides from that I really have to say that the show caught me off-guard in multiple episodes. Going in, expecting another bland post-apocalypse setting with people fleeing zombie hordes à la TWD, it soon became apparent that this will be an emotional and protagonists-centered series. And boy do they deliver. Despite essentially being a rebrand of the Mandalorian "deliver the child" plotline TLOU really shines from stellar performances of Ramsey and Pascal. Given the extensive acting career of Pascal, it's really Bella Ramsey who deserves all the praise for portraying genuine emotions all through-out the 7 episodes I've seen thus far. She really lives up to her earlier GoT appraisal.
One particular point I want to stress is how well the story deals with the LGBT topic. Even as a left-leaning millenial, I do support the conservative notion that this often feels forced into the script in recent (streaming) productions. Don't get me wrong. The exposure should be there for people of the community to identify with but not feel tokenized. TLOU really handled that gracefully and organically in Episode 3 and most recently 7 with Ellie's sad backstory. Episode 3 alone could've been a full-length feature film thanks to memorable performances of Offerman & Bartlett. People commented that the episode made them depressed but I honestly felt happy for a grumpy character (classic Offerman) who found true love after most of the world was already in shambles.
Having said that, I'm really looking forward to how the story plays out and hope that the chemistry between Joel & Ellie keeps on giving.
Girls just got stronger as the series went on. Lena Dunham who created, wrote, directed and starred is extremely talented. Pretty sure I'm not the target demographic (37 year old Australian male. We are fairly niche), but the writing and honesty in Dunham's performance is really something. The 10 episodes of season 1 felt very organic, they all fit together very well. By the end it feels quite tidy, but open for a second season.
They make a nice nod to SatC in the first episode, but dismiss it. On paper comparisons on premise could be made, but it clearly isn't and they tell you up front.
I found the character of Adam fascinating with an amazing performance.
Ridiculously good show, but one where people criticising the "formulaic" nature are missing the point entirely. The medicine is merely a vehicle for the logic, philosophy, ethics, and comedy involved in the intricate writing of the show. Re-watching forevermore.
Best sports documentary series in my lifetime. Must see if you're into sports and docs. Even episodes I have no interest in the topic are entertaining. Good behind the scenes insight.
Denny Crane loves Alan Shore! Hope they live together to the end of the world!
What a couple, what a marriage... I am hoping for an extra season or episode of marriage stories, dramas and ups and downs...
This is a great legal dramedy and I love the character of Alan Shore, a personal favourite!
January 23, 2020 simply can not get here soon enough! :)
The plot itself is great, but the characters and sideplots are not very compelling. The crime aspect is also really interesting but often gets interrupted with mundane things like misbehaving children. Easily could be a 8/9 rating show for its content but doesnt quite reach its full potential because of its flaws in having compelling characters or side plots or even sometimes the twists. The direction and cinematography are great but the editing is just alright. Episodes 8-10 are probably the worst episodes of the 1st season but I will be following.
I haven't had this much fun with a (sort of) sex centred show since Californication! The characters are instantly likeable, the soundtrack is not only very good on its own, but also neatly adjusted for the show. Like others have mentioned, the cinematography is superb, every time I'd watch an episode I'd feel as if I had just bought a new TV. It's that good!
These characters are so adorable and well written that one can't help but laugh with them, get angry with them, get horny with them, and cry with them throughout the whole show.
Sex Education makes me wish I was in a relationship that was broken just to get sexual advice from Otis. Damn, that kid is good!
And here's a shout-out to the guy who had things worse during the first season: Gillian Anderson's sink. We feel your pain, bro.
I was waiting for the grand ending where Otis and Maeve end up together, fuck you wheelchair guy. Fuck your life
I have watched Star Trek from the beginnin, with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.
I have watched all of the Spin-offs, Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Discovery.
Of them all I loved NextGeneration the most, with Patrick Stewart.
I just stumbled across Star Tek - Picard, and thought OMG OMG OMG must watch.
I have done and now cannot wait for Season 2
In a nutshell Picard isn't all bad. But it doesn't exist in a nutshell - the complete title is "Star Trek":Picard. And with that comes a certain obligation.
I have the highest respect for Patrick Stewart and Picard is one of my favorite characters ever. But to be blunt this show is mostly generic action sci-fi that catches fragments of Star Trek lore along the way. It misses on the part of the Trek philosophie and/or vision. And please spare me the "this is darker Star Trek because we live in a different world" speach. You can make a dark Trek show while still staying true to the principles. Do a season spanning arch and still have seperated episodes that deal with characters. See DS9.
The new characters are not something I care for about much. I actually liked Raffi in the Una McCormack novel that predates the events in the show. But it didn't carry over. As I mentioned it's not all bad, at times a glimmer of that philosophies shines through but is mostly put out fast. And that was frustrating every time. It was great seeing part of the old crew again and there was a lot of closure on that behalf. Which is about the one thing I got out of this show.
All this would have been better suited as a final TNG movie with a lot of stuff removed. Of course that would have limited the target audience a lot. I would still watch the second season althought I have no idea what they could do story-wise.
Star Trek needs someone like Michael Piller again.
Overall I liked the show but wished the episodes were longer to go more in-depth in each episode. It would have been great if they showed more of the husband and her co-worker's reactions to what she did. We also would have more time to show Eric's trauma to the experience. They only show maybe 5 seconds of it in episode 9 and that was it. There isn't enough time to get an emotional connection with him and his experience. Not even a therapy session or anything. What a waste of 10 episodes.
I found this show compelling yet challenging. It isn’t an easy watch and often has me feeling crap after watching an episode. So why do I keep watching? This is a question I haven’t been able to answer.
Season one is well written, however it took me most of it to realise it wasn’t going to get to end happily.
Season two opened the world up a bit more but leant heavily into how futile the struggle was. Despair would find a new depth with each episode.
Season three has a greater sense of optimism however, after watching the previous two seasons I feel like I should know better than to hope for a truly positive outcome. Time will tell.
A very enjoyable watch!
It started out interesting if not a little bit strange. I was worried that it would be dark and twisted.
By the end I was hooked and I cant wait for series two.
The good:
There is a lot of action in this series and there are some truly awesome fights. Baba is the man!
The scenery is stunning (ironic)
The character grow on you and they are mostly well cast
It is original enough to keep you interested
Suspense is built well, but doesn’t wait until the end of each episode to give you anything of note (looking at you umbrella academy).
The not so good:
Sometimes I think the directors forgot the characters couldn’t see, therefore allowing them to perform impossible feats
Needless elements that added nothing to the story (pleasuring the queen when having visions?)
Overall, what a ride! I really loved Baba as a character and I really enjoyed the story. Well done Apple.
Could this be the new "House"
Just finished Season 1. The show is very authentic. From the military and intel side at least. However its very hard to make a series about the CIA and portray the agency and their officers in a good light. I'm not sure if the show was aiming to have me root for the antagonist but I was sure hoping his arc would have continued. I definitely liked how it changed pov so it wasn't always from an American standpoint and there was justified reasons for the antagonist. Strong series so far.
Can a show be bad and brilliant at the same time? Apparently, yes. This show is my guilty pleasure. At times I find myself screaming at the screen something along the lines of "That's not how this works you idiots!" but usually a few minutes later I laugh out loud when I hear Sylvester and Toby arguing over something. The show will not stun you with incredible acting, a complicated storyline or scientific accuracy, but it will surely be a good one if you want to sit in front of your TV and relax.
I really liked this. As someone who had never ever heard of the decade-long monopoly / McDonald's scam or its outcome, I was pleasantly surprised when I watched it. Yes, as others say it is a bit slow...but honestly, I didn't mind. I actually liked getting to know all the "crooks" in this and getting to see them in a light other than just them scamming or being used by scammers. It humanized them and that made the docuseries all the more interesting.
This show was honestly just great potential (potential that really stood out in that final scene in the 10th episode), very poorly executed.
+ See the review by @cutecruel on the final episode which pretty much says everything else I'd want to say.
This feels more like a rant than a review, nevertheless - The testimony of this series and its implications are disturbing. RANT: Isn't it time society dismantles the cult of celebrity that drives our culture (lest you feel exempt, it is not just the folly of our young - adults put a reality TV celebrity in the White House!). Parents talk with your children about their heroes and teach them how to identify/decipher a brand or a public persona to separate it from the person. It is so important that we remember that, regardless of their bursts of maturity, teens are biologically children and need guidance and protection until their natural facilities are matured. Also, official agencies and populous movements have power, so we need to be wise enough to weigh the testimony and act with social responsibility, according to the evidence (for example - Mute R. Kelly.) I truly hope this important documentary will bear fruit to protect or rescue the helpless. For an update on the response since the documentary aired, follow >https://www.thecut.com/2019/01/what-happened-to-r-kelly-after-documentary-timeline.html< (they promise to keep it updated as things change) END RANT. I give this series an 8 (important) out of 10. [Documentary Series]
Started of good, went downhill pretty quickly, had no empathy for any of the characters, wont be watching season 2
Interesting premise but how were they supposed to recreate civilization with 6 individuals ? They would not have had enough genetic diversity
Excellent feel-good medical show. Very political, in a way that will displease conservatives, and I'm 100% OK with that. Actually, New Amsterdam is the medicine that medicine needs. You can't have good medicine if you belittle your patients, you can't have long-term efficient medicine if you don't go down to the root social causes that make people sick, and you just can't have medicine at all if you don't let sick people reach you because it's expensive and that your public health system is broken - by design. New Amsterdam, won't just gloss over that.
Yes the plots aren't so realistic. Yes everytime everything goes fine in the end because Max has a genius idea that spontaneously and immediately works and leaves everybody happy. And what? Why should all modern shows be sad, pessimistic and remind us the shitty life we already live everyday, letting us think it's normal and that we should passively accept what we endure?
The show is a invitation to be good, kind and attentive to each other, have trust, respect and faith in others, stay optimistic and fight for our lives and rights.
This suffers from the same issues that took VIKINGS from a must watch series to a “Meh” - it lost its soul. When the charismatic Ragnar Lothbrok, complex Lagertha and winning Rollo exited VIKINGS, the series degenerated into uninteresting characters doing gory things. In this case, VIKINGS VALHALLA didn’t even find a soul. It doesn’t have a character worth investing in. Leif Ericsson comes off as a moody adolescent. The introduction to Freydis is promising but the role was horrible miscast and the other casting was mediocre (with the exception of Queen Emma who was a bright spot). It was basically beautiful people searching for a character. The “intrigue” was convoluted. The pseudo history was a mess. I guess you know where I’m going here, I give this series a 5 (meh) out of 10. [Historical? Fantasy? Drama]
Loved the ending. Not too sensational, but fitting.
Thank you David Shore, for an amazing series.
And Hugh, looking forward to your next project!
