“The Devil’s Chord” is too short of an episode. I mean this as a compliment—and a criticism of everything added to the episode that limits chances to tell more of this story. This should’ve been a two-parter. It needed to be a two-parter. It could’ve been a top-ten, all-time episode if only it had been a two-parter.
“Space Babies” doesn’t seem like an episode to start a season with. Doctor Who is no stranger to weirdness, not by a long shot—but this episode is not only weird, it’s also goofy.
“Just Out of Jupiter’s Reach” is a fascinating, humanist piece of science fiction. Despite having almost no conflicts, barely anything that counts as a propelled plot, it’s intriguing all the way through. Reading it instills so many emotions: sadness, joy, wistful nostalgia, and the exact type of curiosity that incredible concepts have all the power to invoke.
“The Long Game” is actually a story about very short periods of time and the exploitation of a species. Its title refers to one idea in the story, among a few different, some related, some not, concepts—and the greatest strength of this one, like “How It Unfolds,” is how interesting those ideas are.
“Falling Bodies” is an outlier, so far, in this collection. The concept of time does play a part in the story, but no more than any story that deals with someone’s past. There are plenty of sci-fi elements, but it takes place on a normal time scale.
“Void” is a murder mystery story, front and center. And, with as much forthrightness, I’ll admit to my lack of knowledge of the subgenre. I don’t know the conventions.
The Murderbot Diaries is one of those series that is super popular and well-regarded, but it was not really on my radar until I went into this review for its first book, All Systems Red.
“How Things Unfold” is beautiful, devastating, heartbreaking, hopeful, fascinating, imaginative, and yet so much more. It’s a short story that captures a human message while delivering a sci-fi concept that feels original. And all of that in such a short page count.
I’m late to the Marvel’s What If…? party. But now that I’m here, it turns out I’ve been missing out. I love anthologies and especially considering some of the lackluster Marvel entries in the main canon lately, it’s a ton of fun to see the cast play out these alternative stories.
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.
Playing with Fire marks the last Marvel Rising entry. As far as I can tell, the series died with this one. It’s been years since the last one. But, against all odds, they managed to end with the best episode.
This review of X-Men ’97 has a caveat to it. This review is not intended for fans of the original series. I haven’t seen much of the original series, and it’s been a very long time since then. No, this review is for the people who are aware of the hype and want to watch X-Men ’97—but don’t know if they need the background context.
