Let’s go back into the powder keg of possible issues that is Revival with the next episode, “Keeping Up Appearances.” And I am happy to say that this episode doesn’t turn into what I expected. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have issues; it’s just not the episodic structure I assumed a show like this would default to. It’s remaining an ongoing drama.
Revival has kind of a bad first episode in a lot of ways, but does reveal how a good premise can carry an audience through the initial setup. And that one big, showy premise can give rise to several core questions/concepts that are so intriguing, and open so many doors for seasons of storytelling that it’s hard not to want to see what could happen next.
Hello Tomorrow! is perhaps one of the most unique sci-fi shows to come out in a long time. It’s got such an odd combination of factors that somehow come together to deliver an engaging drama and mystery revolving around a big, central question. But, unlike a lot of other dramas, there’s no hero. This is a show where almost everyone is a scam artist—though some of them don’t actually know they’re running a scam.
Tales of the Underworld didn’t stick the landing. The second part—the Cad Bane part—is not nearly as good as Asajj’s section. The action isn’t as interesting, dynamic, or even as intense. Lightsaber fights are just way cooler than blaster standoffs unless you try really, really hard. And they clearly didn’t.
Like the previous “Tales” miniseries for Star Wars, Tales of the Underworld is not actually one narrative. It’s multiple stories bundled together under one theme. And because of that, I decided it would work better to review them separately. The first three episodes are for Asajj Ventress, and the last three episodes are for Cad Bane.
“Isle of Joy” is a fantastic episode. I am consistently enjoying the constant use of parallels between Fisk and Daredevil, and this time, it’s about love lives. It’s about interpersonal drama. How much of their “real” selves do they let through? How do others deal with them when they do?
“The Reality War” is a mess of an episode. I thought “The Empire of Death” failed to stick the landing, but wow. I don’t always make outlines for articles—I’m not that type of writer—but I did for this one, and it is longer than some articles I’ve written. Frankly, it’s hard to hold every opinion and reaction I had over the course of this one episode in my head.
Comparing the first three episodes of Murderbot to All Systems Red is a game of pros and cons. As a “fan” of the book series, I was obviously waiting for certain scenes and anticipating how well someone could play SecUnit, but the actual viewing experience was me going “that was good” followed swiftly by disappointment—and on and on it went.
I think one of the most efficient ways to review “Wish World” is to describe a little bit of what it’s like watching “Wish World.” Because this is one of the weirdest, most unmooring episodes of Doctor Who I have ever seen.
“Art for Art’s Sake” is so settled into what I want from a gritty superhero show that it paradoxically doesn’t give me as much to talk about. The plotlines are converging, interacting, cracking open one another in ways I mostly expected.
“The Interstellar Song Contest” only has one full song in it. The song is beautifully sung, and important to the plot, yes, but “The Church on Ruby Road” somehow gets a fully laid out song, with lyrics, and a dance number, and this one doesn’t? We get the full Mr. Ring-A-Ding number basically twice in “Lux,” but the scenes here keep cutting away for every performance? That’s so weird. This is a weird way to do this story.
Yes, finally! “Excessive Force” explodes with all the pent-up energy that this series has been waiting to use. It sets up the stakes and the dominoes so aggressively that there was never any question that Matt would become Daredevil, once again.
