“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.
“The Story and the Engine” is quite the writing feat. Of all of the episodes this season—or last season—it feels like it has the most going on. Plotlines are not only densely interlocked, but the foreshadowing happens quickly and frequently. And, somehow, this episode is also one of the most expansive for the overall magical lore of Doctor Who.
I sadly disliked “Lucky Day” more than I expected. I get the vision. The idea is sound. Frankly, like a lot of episodes in this season so far, this is such a cool idea for a Doctor Who episode. But as time has gone on, I’ve been less and less fond of this one.
“The Well” is kind of everything I want from a spooky Doctor Who episode. It’s a classic science fiction horror scenario—abandoned, hostile location—with a pinch of cosmic unknowableness, and a slower pace to build that dread. It’s a shame that a few moments brought down the otherwise excellent experience slightly.
Alright, “Lux,” I’m onto that game. Having canonical critics in the episode point out its flaws to prevent people from considering them flaws is a fun trick. Hilariously, I hadn’t been bothered—or even noticed, honestly—that Lux changed his plan halfway through. I had long ago just accepted that this was going to be a surreal episode that wanted to really play with the fourth wall and that it wouldn’t have much of a true story.
“The Robot Revolution” has given me a bit of a theory about Doctor Who as a series—at least lately. I don’t think its runtime allows it to satisfactorily run two simultaneous plotlines well. Something’s going to give.
The Electric State is terrible. A very generic plot with guessable moments at every stage only highlights how nonsensical the out-there worldbuilding becomes.
Exit Strategy Shouldn’t Work As A Sci-Fi Book I don’t understand how Murderbot (the book series) keeps getting away with this. Exit Strategy is a slog to read for so long, with exposition being thrown at you with a density I am unsure how anyone is expected to navigate. But, by the end of it,…
The Mightnight Sky is bleak. A sense of loss, sadness, and more just permeates every moment of this movie. Even the biggest moment of levity made me tense, not relieved. And you really have to be in the right headspace to enjoy it.
Paradise is one of the best-written shows I’ve seen in a long time. It’s intricate without being confusing. Multi-layered without pulling away from its core storytelling. And gives answers to its many posed questions at a good enough pace that it’s always surprising that there’s another layer of mystery to uncover.
Much has been said, no doubt, about the social satire inherent to Severance. It’s the most immediate aspect of the show—and only continues to become more aggressive as the series continues. But I am not the reviewer to talk about its accuracy to either the feelings inherent to such a type of work or the setting’s accuracy.
Before reading this review of Dune: Part Two, I urge you to look at my previous one. It simply saves us some time. The issues of Dune: Part One carry over—as does much of the praise. As is ideal for the second part of a two-parter, this feels like the natural continuation. The long play simply had an intermission. Dune: Part Two assumes you recently watched the previous film and explains little to nothing.
