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Reviews
The Mandalorian: Chapter 22: Guns for Hire (2023)
This show is so stupid.
The Mandalorian started off as a promising show, but it's now an utter disappointment. The first season of the show was decent, with its unique take on the Star Wars universe and its emphasis on character development. However, the second season completely fell apart and turned into a childish mess.
The show's downfall can be attributed to several factors. Firstly, the second season is overly reliant on nostalgia and references to the original Star Wars trilogy, to the point where it becomes a distracting gimmick. This has continued. Secondly, the show's writing has become increasingly inconsistent and lazy, with several episodes feeling like filler or re-treads of earlier storylines. The characters have also become one-dimensional, with little to no growth or development.
Moreover, the show's overall narrative structure has become disjointed and unsatisfying. Instead of focusing on a single main character, the show tries to juggle multiple storylines and characters, resulting in a lack of focus and direction. The show's attempt to expand the Star Wars universe by introducing new characters and concepts also feels forced and unnecessary. What happened to it being a simple, cool, story about a bounty hunter coming across adventures in the galaxy? Now it's a jumbled mess.
The Mandalorian has lost its way and become an absolute narrative disaster. It's a shame to see another Disney Star Wars show fall short of expectations. I would advise viewers to avoid the show, especially if they're looking for a compelling and well-written story.
The Last of Us: Kin (2023)
Great, but slightly rushed
Show continues to knock it out of the park, just wish it spent more time to breath. This episode has one of the biggest emotional moments in the game and it has amazing acting and dialogue in the game, but I don't know, I feel like it didn't hit as hard here.
Knowing how long the game is, its quite a shock to see the scenes being sped through so much. Sometimes it feels way less fluid, even the dialogue. But in comparison to other video game adaptations, this is still amazing.
It's a little concerning that there's only a few episodes left because I feel like they're really going to have to rush through stuff. I have faith though.
Halo: Transcendence (2022)
Better... still not incredible.
Great action, sub-par CGI and writing can be a bit weird at times.
Always good to see Master Chief doing Master Chief things. It's a little coincidental how when Halo is being Halo, it's a higher rated episode, right? He actually wears his armour for more than 2 minutes in this episode! Wow!
Trying to avoid spoilers, but at the end Master Chief acts more like Master Chief than he has ever been in the show. Stop with the mopey arse who keeps taking his helmet off to show how mopey he is, and make him the solid dependable dude he is that doesn't break rules because he feels like it but for the sake of humanity.
Where. Was. This. Chief. Earlier.
Halo: Allegiance (2022)
Good! An episode without Kwan is a quality episode!
Much better than last episode. One of the best, in fact. There are still some things in this one that I don't think fit in the Halo universe and Master Chief being humanised as much as he is doesn't fit the games at all, but this is a TV show and as far as the show is concerned, this is a very good episode. Visuals are very nice, decent action and surprisingly entertaining choreography. Some genuinely good dialogue too. UNSC plotline is getting interesting, and for the first time I've left an episode wanting more. If only the show started with this quality maybe there wouldn't be such a hatred for it. But I will still praise the show for improving.
I've come to terms with the fact that Master Chief never wears his armour now (and if he does his helmet is almost always removed), but I still wish they showed off his armour more. It's a very faithful recreation of his Mjolnir armour and they barely ever use it. There is a scene in this episode that would have worked amazingly if he wore his armour. Unfortunately, the actor is probably getting paid millions to have his face everywhere even though he delivers his lines almost exactly the same each time and we don't really benefit as an audience by seeing his face, as it doesn't really add much but takes away so much of his mysteriousness.
No Kwan in this episode! Hallelujah! Having her in the show has left such a bad first impression for people. If and when she ever comes back, the show will immediately get worse. It seems like the Kwan writers don't really know what to do with her and are just writing because the producers wanted a subplot with a teenage rebel girl, but the UNSC plotline has way more budget, focus and quality. It's not amazing, but it's starting to get decent and I can appreciate the effort to improve and create an entertaining storyline.
I hope for season 2 they really look at all the criticism and take it to heart. I think the show could be something really special if they did. Imagine if they ditched Kwan and put all the effort and budget into Master Chief and the Covenant, take a lot of inspiration from the games, actually made Master Chief more like Master Chief (to an extent, I know this is still a TV show), and maybe even get the soundtrack from the games too. I think it could be really powerful.
Overall, good. Forget Kwan, let's get back on track!
Halo: Inheritance (2022)
What has this got to do with Halo? Ridiculous.
The entire Kwan Ha character, and the vast majority of the other characters in the Kwan plotline, as well as the Kwan plotline in general, has nothing to do with Halo and it is an unfortunate waste of time. Kwan is an unlikeable brat who thinks she is entitled to everything, has nothing to do with the overarching story with the Halo ring and the Covenant, barely has anything to do with Master Chief, nothing to do with the UNSC, the artefact, nothing. The entire rugged desert aesthetic, plotline and characters feel so shoehorned in that it feels like its trying to capitalise off the famous Tatooine aesthetic from the recent Mandalorian, and Star Wars as a whole. And I don't need to talk about the obvious similarities between Baby Yoda and the Mandalorian, and Kwan and Master Chief.
I understand that the writers want a subplot to the main UNSC Master Chief artefact thing, but this Kwan one is so odd that it feels like I clicked on the wrong show. This show is NOT Game of Thrones, we don't need such a subplot! The smaller ones within the UNSC story is more than enough! ALL of the reviews I have seen have been critical of the Kwan storyline and how completely pointless and filler it feels, and now after dedicating an entire episode to her, this opinion has only been strengthened. The aesthetic of the UNSC in the Kwan storyline is laughable, and feels like a separate production with a different costume designer. The UNSC vehicles look downright cheap, and barely made an effort to fit the futuristic style of the UNSC but instead using blatantly real life car brands and slapping a silver paint on the bodywork. You'd think using the Warthogs, a reliable and rugged all-terrain vehicle (which is already in the show) would be perfect for this environment but they are nowhere to be found. The main villain for the Kwan storyline is such an over the top Nazi-like general that is so unbelievably evil that it isn't immersive.
The show had a good run lately with the two last episodes generally being a higher quality than the earlier ones, but this nonsense plotline is a constant stain on a story that has since been improving. In my opinion, there has been no good scene with Kwan in it. She does not fit in the Halo universe, none of the Kwan characters do. I sincerely hope she gets removed from the show or killed off or something so we can focus on this, admittedly already sub-par, Halo show that has huge potential to improve in the future.
Also, if you are watching the show and don't care about Kwan, skip this episode. Seriously. You will miss nothing, and the recap next episode will go through all the key details if you don't believe me. Please don't waste your time with this, I beg you. Go play Halo for an hour instead if you have time to spare. I understand they have to do something with the Kwan story in season 1 since it's all been written and directed and edited now, but in season 2, I think I speak for everyone when I say I hope she is removed no matter how jarring it would be. Please listen to the fans, writers, we love Halo and have the best interest for the show at heart. Jesus.
Game of Thrones: The Last of the Starks (2019)
Had more fun playing Crossy Road on my phone during the episode.
Does anyone even really care about Missandei? They seem to just be killing off all the side characters nobody cares about and making a big deal out of it. Yeah they killed a dragon and all, but the stakes just still aren't high enough for me to care. Where's the major character deaths? If Cersei actually killed people we cared about then maybe I'd have the motivation to feel relieved when Cersei dies as it would be avenging someone we cared about. But no. Missandei dies. Whoopdee-doo.
Game of Thrones: The Long Night (2019)
Embarrassingly bad
This episodes has so many bad ideas, plot holes and dead end prophecies. Makes half of the entire show pointless in one episode after EIGHT SEASONS of build up.
So anticlimactic. If I were the showrunners I'd be embarrassed by this, they showed just how incompetent they are without the books. Laughable. At no point in the episode did I feel tension because I knew from Season 7 that they showrunners wouldn't have the guts to kill any characters we actually care about. The show has just turned into fan service and people with half a brain think this episode is amazing. Actually pathetic. Don't bother with the show anymore.