truthbrarian Reviews

What If...?: What If... Peter Quill Attacked Earth's Mightiest Heroes? (2023) Season 2, Episode 2

Lots disliked this? but it at least felt like Real What-If Scenario

[7/10 · 25 December 2023]

This was an interesting one. Its 1988 and a tween Peter Quill crashlands on Earth. One of the weird things to start, he like kills 20 people crashing in NYC. But the rest of the episode has no deaths, I just found that odd. I loved the idea that his father destroys his walkman thereby symbolically taking away his sons soul and making him spoiled. If you are a comics fan its enjoyable at least to see the new characters that haven't been in a movie before like Dr. Bill Foster and King T'chaka. I loved how they made Hope this very sexy vivacious woman. When a Giant Bill opens his hand and Hope was reclining with her leg up, that got my heart fluttering. The MCU needs a lot more cheesecake/pinup if you will, it would be very refreshing.

I guess I enjoyed this overall because it was fun to see Ego and Peter at the height of their powers and some of the performances such as Bucky's were so cool. When Peter said "this is why I am called STAR LORD" that was freaking awesome. Come on admit it.

I think too many of these shorts aren't even that What-Iffy like nobody ever thought wow what if Hogan became Purple Hulk or what if Nebula was in Blade Runner but actually getting to see what if Peter was raised by Ego is an actual interesting question.

I am not sure if I like the idea that Peter is now joining some kind of vengeance force to kill whatever is left of Ego though, I wish he had a chance to be a wholesome kid. Overall... I can't understand what people want with this show, you gotta be able to turn your brain off, pour yourself the most unhealthy sugar cereal you can find, and watch episodes like this with a silly grin on your face.

What If...?: What If... Nebula Joined the Nova Corps? (2023) Season 2, Episode 1

A Good Looking Slick Show With a Plot On 8x Speed

[6/10 · 23 December 2023]

A sprawling metropolis... One of the creepiest speeches The Watcher gives begins the action...heavy rain... neon lights, a corpse on the ground, that corpse - Yondu! Is it Blade Runner? Nope its What If.

This story is all about Nebula and her time becoming an elite detective crawling about the city in her flying car. In a alternate world where Ronan the Accuser kills Thanos and becomes the Emperor of the Universe and stuff and Ronan wants to conquer the planet Nebula lives on.

This is amongst the best animation and art design What If has ever had! Colors that are muted but pop whenever they can. Big widescreen shots that look like paintings. I have to say that rock guy by Taika Waititi looks astonishing, much better facial detail than CGI can ever do.

So whats the problem then? Sadly, they make the plot so frustratingly simple and boring by stuffing way too much in 28min leaving not much room for real mystery. This would be a Guardians of the Galaxy movie normally but these guys said yeah we can do this in 20% of the time, sorry writers but you can't. So really every answer to every mystery is just a$$ pull. Problems are just solved because "its time to solve the problems lets just do X Y Z"!!! Yay!

Mainly all the dialogues is like "kids playing with their toys" level like when your son says hahaha I betrayed you but no no your other son says I had the doohickey all along and I reprogrammed it because I am a android and the other son says noooo I will punch you over the cliff" you know what I mean?

So in the end this gets a 6, I had fun with it, it looked beautiful and sounded good. Laura Karpman got a partner and the music was better and less maudlin. I am not one of these jerks who gives stuff 0/10 because of bad plot.

Also is Howard the Duck a joke or a real character now I can't tell?

Secret Invasion: Resurrection (2023) Season 1, Episode 1

I really wanted a Mystery more than a War Show

[5/10 · 24 June 2023]

This is going to sound weird but, I genuinely think if they played this episode in reverse that this would be an amazing show. SPOILERS TL;DR on bottom my ultimate review

First you open MOSCOW, Nick Fury is investigating 50 people going mysteriously missing along with his new lover Maria Hill. Its shocking but they are an item now. In my version they kiss. Nick goes to get a cotton candy and then explosions rock the carnival! In the fray, someone shoots Maria and she dies. Now this becomes a personal Final Retirement Investigation/Saving the World for Nick Fury.

Nick meets up with Ben Mendelsson as his Skrull contact and they have a beer at a bar discussing old times and Ben goes to help get info. Nick is very drunk and leaves the bar and gets captured by Olivia Colman's spies in his weak state. Ben then meets up with his daughter to get info about Marias killer. Emilia Clarke gives him a bunch of lies and then drives off to her secret Russian Base and you see the truth! They steal the brains of people to use to blend in to the world!!! Its all this plot to steal Russia so Skrulls have somewhere to live or something.

The episode ends with the Skrull shooting the SHIELD guy and then they have that footrace and the big reveal is that Nick discovers its a dead Skrull and this is a Skrull plot!!! The last shot is Ben trying to contact Nick Fury and Nick doesn't know whether to answer...Secret Invasion directed by:

Anyway, my point being, TL;DR I was going into this show hoping it was a mystery. I want to discover secrets WITH Nick. I don't want to just be told and shown the stakes in the first 20-30 minutes and just be waiting for the bad guys to get comeuppance. I am sick of this stupid trope where there is a character that tries to be evil but realizes that her leader is lame and she just helps Nick which is obviously what Emilia Clarke will do if I am wrong I will eat my hat.

As a War show, we know basically its Skrulls vs Humans and they blew up humans, abduct them, so a lot of the magic of the premise is just lost for me. It will be interesting to see who betrays Nick and all that I am just saying if it was more of a mystery I would get to discover scenes with Nick and feel like I was part of a cool mystery thinking about if there are good Skrull/Bad Skrull what the dude who shot the SHIELD guy means. But as a War show I just see this as Nick needing to save the day from evil forces which is just boring to me and not what I was hoping for.

Succession: Tailgate Party (2023) Season 4, Episode 7

Lets say they are going with a Kendall = Hero Ending how would it go?

[10/10 · 13 May 2023]

Something hit for me this episode, it was strange because I never understood what Lukas Matsson does and how he got so rich? Well after I heard the description of what Gojo IS I now believe Lukas is a parody of the CEO of Spotify Daniel Ek. His girlfriend and lady Lukas abuses looks a lot like Daniel's Ek's wife Sofia.

I could see this show IF they were going for a positive Kendall wins the "Game of Thrones" ending like this: in real life Spotify has two big weaknesses. One would be the pay artists receive from the service, often reaches hilariously awful levels like pennies a month. The second is that Spotify COULD be vulnerable to another content creator IF people are given reasons to hate Spotify.

Therefore, Kendall gathers troops and begins rounding up propagandists against Gojo saying how Gojo exploits artists. Kendall uses Tom who runs News who is just wanting to join Kendall's team and divorce Shiv but come out ahead to create a 24 hour news cycle about how corporations like Gojo exploit art. This allows liberal causes to support "The New Progressive Vision Of Waystar News" and gives a small window of opportunity for leftists to support Connor Roy's presidency when Connor brings up a new Social Capitalism.

The next step is to make a competing streaming service which pays its artists a lot more probably too much but this is briefly to just destroy Gojo stock value.

Next, attack Lukas for his bigotry, how can Greg steal the security footage from Shivs apartment (all rich people have security systems). Show the homophobia. People then begin saying Vote of No Confidence in Lukas and then Waystar moves to acquire Gojo for 69 dollars per share.

Roman's reward is getting to look right into the face of the completely broken Lukas as he fires him, saying talk trash on my father now you fake eurotrash loser. Or something. He has security take Lukas off the premises and then Roman is sent to be CEO of Gojo.

So there is an episode of a fast forward finale episode about what is every Roy doing five years later. Connor won the POTUS. Tom runs Waystar News. Shiv sleeps with powerful men and is basically lost in her own cage. SEC doesn't allow Waystar to buy Gojo and Roman is still CEO so just goes against Kendall in a affable rivalry.

Greg ends up finding his father and getting him a job, running Parks division and kinda is that Bob Chapek arc. Everyone else does their thing I can't tell every character.

I just think my weird fanfic is best here if you think this will happen like my post. I will use this as a prediction.

Love & Death (2023)

Written From The Male Gaze

[7/10 · 27 April 2023]

I had fun binging both Candy and Love & Death today and here are some observations I made. I noticed the writers on Candy were women and the writers of Love & Death were men. I felt like this has big differences in certain scenes. First off, the look of everything in Candy has this incredibly gritty and realistic setting, like I am not kidding as a man of a certain age I know these places deep in my childhood memory banks. While Kelley's Texas is trying to be realistic but its more of a American Gothic type of glamour happening.

While, the writers of the Hulu version Candy, want you to feel creepy vibes and see these people as trash the writers of Love & Death want to glorify Elizabeth Olsen as this sexual Queen of the Jungle or something. Seriously, Olsen is being gazed upon by the writers with extreme love and it shows, the writers want Olsen to be lusted after and want the affair to feel sexy and as glamourous as possible. Her clothes are all so fashionable and her "shirt support" and tight pants makes Olsen appear like she should be the Head Cheerleader of the Dallas Cowboys. The affair in Candy the Jessica Biel version, is almost wearing rags, her awful wig is stringy and the affair written from a female gaze comes off filthy and tawdry. The writers want you to hate the sin going on here. Nothing glamorous here its disgusting.

This leads into the depiction of the affair, from Candy the affair is portrayed as this gross and almost horrific thing, the lighting of the dimly lit hotel feels like out of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the sex is the most documentary style grim, unsparing, unsexy way possible. Think more like True Detective style. You see the shot of Biels face and viewer is left to wonder if she even likes it.

Contrast that with the way they depicted the scene with Liz Olsen and oh my, I guess there was a lot of pent up waspy lust there, she not only likes it, it looked like she umm... had "lots of fun" as well. Woof. Very extended.

There are some other differences, take her friends in Candy, they are often just boring or unlikable. Then they switch it up and remember that Candy is the killer so they make Candy unlikable instead. Olsen's Candy is like Wandavision just more 80s. Every one of her versions friends is cute and charming in a reserved Texas protestant way anyway.

One interesting detail is that they show the car scene opposite.

In Candy, Candy kisses the husband and then runs away but in Love & Death its shown as the husband smooches Candy and runs away. There are some other minor details as well, just how things are depicted as more glamorous or more screen time given to church things. For example.

Weirdly, David E. Kelley seems obsessed with religion in his version, the Candy on Hulu barely cares about it. I feel like it reached an offensive degree of religiousness. They really tried imho to make it appear like Christians are all like this and all hypocritical. "Wow they think God is real but they all seem to want to do SINS and kill people" and they couldn't wait to hammer home that point when after the affair Olsen takes a shower while a hymn plays and there's a flash of murder and blood. Oh bloodthirsty Christians who will stop you?

I wonder if Jews would like the same done to them? Or Muslims. So that just annoyed me a lot. I will say though I appreciated some of the church politics and how well they delved into what being a preachers wife and stuff is like.

I feel like I saw 3 episodes then speedwatched Candy on Hulu and I got the whole story so I will probably stop here but I give this a 7/10 for acting, and the overall vibes and eroticism. Elizabeth Olsen is definitely one of the most beautiful women on Earth and her acting is so bold and effective you are ravished by her portrayal. Its worth checking out for her. Emmy nomination I believe is a near certainty.

Ted Lasso: Sunflowers (2023) Season 3, Episode 6

Two writing flaws kept the episode away from perfection

[9/10 · 22 April 2023]

This is easily the best episode this season. The showrunners proved that they could do a different city justice, honestly, it was underrated incredible what they did to make Amsterdam feel real and feel wonderful, a place I am sure many want to visit after seeing it here! I have seen a lot of shows and especially comedies try to fake being in different cities and they never pull it off like Ted Lasso did even if they actually go to the city!

I am now totally back on board, I think the show breathed fresh air into the premise as we watch a sports team and coach execute a new plan and it feels like a renewed hopeful show again and hopefully will feel like a sports show again as well.

My two issues with this show that kept away from the 10/10.

One: the suggestion of the Dutch player of going to Martin Garrix in a special place, its too obviously better than any other choice and really annoyed me to see everyone fight to do a "sex show" or see tulips. If he had just said "I got a cousin who runs a rave" it would be a lot closer of a choice. Maybe it was worse since I would actually like to do this IRL!

Second issue, I couldn't relax and get myself into the romance of the boatman because I knew he was up to no good and thus I kept expecting some catch to it. It will be interesting to see what sort of evil tricks he's doing I am thinking he's stealing her money or something. Had they just made this a twist like he picks up his phone and makes it clear he's setting her up it would've been a lot nicer imo.

Anyway this episode was a solid 9 and will be a must rewatch for me, the writers gave us so many sublime moments of healing and joy.

Star Trek: Picard: Surrender (2023) Season 3, Episode 8

Troi Finally Is Done Justice

[10/10 · 9 April 2023]

I thank the writers from the bottom of my heart that you found a way to give Deanna Troi a real feeling of being a integral part maybe even a all important part of the narrative this time. When I grew up, Troi felt like almost a joke character, a Troi episode would either be some silly thing or just outright one of the hardest to sit through because it was something psychosexual. Her idea of character development was to say something painfully obvious like "I think the angry alien is angry Jean Luc" And I was afraid here its happening again she's apart from Riker and offering just a few jokes in the first few episodes.

However, now that she is with the crew you've really given her a real purpose to awaken Jack Crusher and unlock his mind and memories and comfort Riker so he can stand up against his foes. You also gave Beverly Crusher new life and that is also amazing. Each of these characters has come into their own and finally feels important to the plot equally.

Also I love the little things you are doing with musical cues this season. When Worf saves the day, you hear his theme song remixed to be like a heroic Lone Ranger type jingle! It was so cool.

And what you have done with makeup and styles is leaps and bounds away from Seasons 1 and 2. Everyone is very old by this point yet you are making them so handsome and beautiful. Its heartwarming to see the ending scene around the table and everyone has nice facial hair, nice hairstyles, well arranged makeup and looking as good as a 60-80 yo person can.

I would recommend after this, you put these makeup artists at work on Tulsa King since Sly has often looked a bit fakey and bloated and I would love to see him back to his movie star status!

Anyway, you guys deserve the best score for what you have done to rescue Picard, you not only rescued this show, you rescued every actor within it from career ignominy and gave them the greatest ST product they have had yet (imho if this season was a movie it would be by far the best movie and as a season of TNG might be in the top 5) and they can all retire head held high.

The Mandalorian (2019– )

Lack of Payoffs Lets The Show Down

[6/10 · 16 March 2023]

After six episodes what is my new opinion on the show? I believe the problem with this season is in the lack of emotions, stakes and payoffs. If the writers have done their work in making us get more invested, the latest episode might have been very interesting!

The problem with episode one ended up making episode six worse than it should've been. The droid payoff that could've existed. The point of that episode was to find a droid to use to explore Coruscant, and guess what, IG4 was standing right there! So what happens to the droid? Does it get repaired and be a best friend for Din? NO It just attacks Din then gets destroyed. So here is a second chance droid, its an astromech! So what happens to that? It gets destroyed too!

Fast forward to episode 6, the droids on the planet they fly to, they are malfunctioning. In the investigation about why this is, Din and Bo go to a Robot Bar. What would've been a cool payoff is having a droid friend that could go to the bar and persuade the bartender droid to let them into this protected bar. But since they don't seem to plan on what they write, they just appear to write on the fly, this could've been a memorable moment in the SWU! But wasted.

Another point I want to make is the lack of satisfying victories in the season. Like at the end of episode 6, Bo challenges the captain of the opposing Mandalorian group so that beating him will gain his respect. Honestly, this duel is some nice action. However at the end, she never gets his respect even after beating him. Why? Well, Bo does not have the Darksaber. So, what do we do? Din has it, and he says an admittedly true fact, that Bo Katan used the saber to save Din at Mandalore therefore she earned it! Yay!

Except you don't get more than a confused shrug out of the captain and his soldiers as a reaction. Where are the loud cheers, the extravagant salutes or the swelling music? It was not there. You don't feel that was a real payoff just a rote plot contrivance that needed to happen to set up the ending.

There is a similar moment with Bo Katan where her and the Mandalorians she commands saves a town from a pirate attack. When they done winning the battle, the Mandalorians and the townsfolks gather in celebration. Except, when Din points out all the Mandalorians who saved the day to the townspeople, they barely cheer and clap at low volume. This should feel like one of the greatest moments of Bo Katan's life but this felt more like another weak foe in Bo's way barely acknowledged.

I think the writers if they ever want to write a blockbuster again need to understand to let the audience feel triumphs with the characters and build up challenges that can be overcome so we cheer the TV like we want too.

The Last of Us: Look for the Light (2023) Season 1, Episode 9

Did We Need a Videogame Reenactment?

[4/10 · 13 March 2023]

I will have the balls to be the first to review a 9.3/10 episode with a 4/10. Don't get me wrong if you look at my other reviews I am considered a fan of the show until now. After this episode I must give a low rating because I simply don't have any desire to continue with the series. I already played the game, I know what happens, I find the show version of nearly everything to be inferior to the game.

Without spoilers; what happens to characters is honestly deserved and the ending of TLOU2 is even more disappointing in the future episode of the show which HBO confirmed is going to take two more years to accomplish.

After this, I do not like Joel at all. He's a psychopath who has daddy issues and wants to manipulate and kill anyone who gets in his way of making Ellie a new daughter for him. Will put humanity at risk to do it. This is the behavior of a freakish character from a Rob Zombie movie not someone I am supposed to care about for possibly up to three seasons.

For some reason I accepted these deeds in the game but in the show it feels evil what Joel does. They added too much ambiguity so I am left with the facts of what Joel did. Just grab a gun and go mass shooting and even kill everyone else including a friend. It looks horrible on screen.

They give you no reason to distrust The Fireflies except that they are amateur and jerks who use flashbang grenades on people. However, the lengths he goes to save his adopted daughter are insane and what he does until the end is all to serve his dark goals of getting closer to Ellie.

I get it this twist ending is in the game and its interesting at least.

So I guess TL;DR I thought this ending was inferior to the games AND I now know besides one gay relationship the show and the game will be the same so why watch worse cutscenes?

Also while I am on a rant, the zombies in this show have to be the most boring and weak ever, if a pregnant woman can stab a zombie with a kitchen knife and win its a little hilarious. Most of the kills in the show are because someone needed to die from being bitten. There wasn't one memorable gore scene in the show.

I would have loved it if they could've given us something to think about like what if Ellie dies and the show changes to something else, what if Ellie lives and the vaccine might work, what if Joel just punches the Doctor out? As it stands this ending just shows that Joel will get what's coming to him, he will deserve it probably a LOT more than he did in the games, the revenge Ellie will try to take will be even less rootable and sadder and the series will just be an inferior more boring version of playing the games. So I must do 4/10.

The Last of Us: When We Are in Need (2023) Season 1, Episode 8

David is NOT Christian he is a False Teacher

[8/10 · 7 March 2023]

If you think David is Christian then you are being lead astray like his followers. I don't think the showrunners want you to think he is a Christian or teaches anything other than his own stupid interpretation of The Bible. Perhaps he could have been a true cult like make a "Church of David" yadda yadda just not to anger real life religious people. But honestly, if you look at real cults in real world they ALL use Christs name to get what carnal desires they want and lie about being The New Jesus or whatever lies make THEM the leader and get to have "relations" with the females. So its realistic. Do some research on cults before taking offense or writing petitions against the show.

It is obvious from the first scene that David is evil, most people fear him rather than respect him. The scene where they almost kill Ellie without David's approval proves that David is a weak leader people follow out of desperation not faith. Maybe if they went to extreme degree to blaspheme or mock legit religious rites or traditions then you would have a point.

As far as the episode I give it 8/10 because excellent acting, special effects and we finally get brutal kills as stated in the other reviews. I want to give a shout out to the one random guy who got stabbed in the neck by Joel his death glare was haunting and he really sold his gurgling. Sorry to be creepy but I am giving him his flowers.

Why I would take away 2/10 from the score is that keeping the entire focus on Ellie diminishes Joel a lot in my eyes. In the game Joel has an adventure getting to the bad guys resort and now its like his agency was undercooked since he wasn't in the episode beyond a torture scene. Not only that, Ellie gets out of her situation all by herself and does everything including kill everyone she has too. In a way this makes her an independent person already and it honestly feels like Joel needs her more than Ellie needs him.

Still, I think if they had possibly just cut once in between shots at the Bar, to Joel going to the resort as fast as he can it would unite the characters in a dramatic fashion.

Overall this is more gripping amazing drama by The Last of Us.

The Last of Us (2023– )

People need to relearn what TV Is Supposed to Be

[9/10 · 28 February 2023]

Modern TV shows and Marvel brainwashed people into thinking that every episode has to "progress the plot" or "lead to something big", to the point where we can't have self contained side stories without it being called "filler", that's not what an episodic format is, it never was, if you want a quick and focused story with little to no branching stories that's what movies are for, NOT Television.

The Last of Us has succeeded in giving us brilliant, entertaining, episodic television that is not afraid to give us single self-contained stories that also provide character development. This episode might not be your cup of tea BUT it a) was something that happened in the videogame DLC and b) DID give us backstory on Ellie being lesbian and why she was so into Dina in future episodes.

If you think this show is too slow or boring then try growing up with TV shows like LOST. It takes normal working people a week to finish an entire season. Would take a month of even decent binging to finish the series. So even if there was slow episodes, its still less than half the time it takes to watch LOST. The Last of Us is only slow compared to a show like The Bear then yeah its slow to current standards.

The Last of Us is not a zombie story its a human story that happens to involve stories also this for the record is NOT a "humans are the real villains" story either, its showing how humans are dealing with a worldwide crisis even if some are bad people a lot of people are really good too and the good deeds are just that much more impressive in a hardened world.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022 TV Special)

Humor, Strong Christmas (Holiday) Messages and Cosmo!

[24 December 2022]

I just wanted to say to James Gunn and all of the producers at Disney and actors thank you from the bottom of my heart for having actual Christian references (a manger scene and Kevin Bacon says see you on Easter!) in a Holiday movie. I hope that someone reads this and sees that nobody had a problem with it and my religious household was thrilled to feel seen. Its so rare when people's favorite Christmas movies are like Elf or Die Hard that we have at least some token references in a Holiday movie for Jesus. Please you don't need to force these things but please feel free to have Christian references in future Disney movies or projects.

Besides my message I wanted to send I just want to say that you really knocked it out of the park with the heartwarming moments and humorous jokes. Thank you Disney for really bringing something bitesized and quality for our Holiday Season!

Andor (2022– )

Pros and Cons

[8/10 · 20 October 2022]

Can people not see a world where dudes just want bing bing wahoo and lightsabers? Just accept that there are going to be people who need fantasy in their sci-fi: now that I said my piece

Pros of Andor: a) Bar none the most brave well executed and damn cool art design in a Star Wars show or movie since OT, somehow they NAILED the 70s Star Wars aesthetic and it didn't feel cheesy at all, it proved every SW property should consider stealing these design elements like the language should never be English and stuff should feel lived in whenever possible b) Acting is top notch, the finale had the BEST speeches possibly EVER you will feel every emotion in your bones and truly understand WHY the Rebellion worked c) Music and sound effects are immersive d) People say there are NO "characters" no way Luthen is the best execution of the "Star Wars Rogue archetype" we have seen since Han Solo, you will get sucked in to Luthen's story and manipulations. Stellen Skarsgard nails it! Bix Caleen is so intelligent and sexy you will be crushed in her darkest moments. Dedra Meero is the perfect example of a brutal Empire bureaucrat who is trying to vie for the leadership positions, making her cold and calculating, torture is not beneath her yet, she also has vulnerable and caring side too that holds her back. Andor is stone cold which sometimes works against him for the viewer, I can see why fans call him boring but I think he's doing a good job at showing how he is a survivor who has a lot of street smarts. Kino and the prison episodes, damn Andy Serkis is so cool as the Prison Gang Boss who ends up working with Andor against the Imperials.

E) Insane level of detail and exploring the universe in ways we have never gotten THIS DEEP before

Cons of Andor: a) You will sometimes feel the running time lag, they try to keep it fun to watch but because its a slow burn espionage thriller like a Tinker, Tailor, LeCarre novel, they show all the spycraft and show you insane levels of detail that also helps e) but makes it if you don't have a good attention span you will reach for your phone and miss them all texting :( b) Characters could be more "flavorful" I guess like what if there was a possible Jedi somewhere or what if someone had a Death Stick habit or one was a sex addict who cursed and smoked cigars c) The violence is a bit dull? Like when it happens violence IS brutal and all but its basically just army man type of violence, no fantasy elements to it at all, which is what Andor haters seem to be bothered by its well executed IMO though d) Even as a fan I can see how some episodes just feel wasteful and boring af like Episodes #2 and #5 come to mind the one before the heist episode

Overall I am shocked that you would not want a Season 2 even if it was just shortened and they got us to the events of the Rogue One movie because its just awesome to see Star Wars realized this high detail, high quality, if you ever wanted a show where it shows Rebellion spies LIFE and how everyone was living during the time of the Rebellion WHY would you not want to watch this show? Just watch it!

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022– )

This show will be my zone out show for years

[7/10 · 16 September 2022]

I guess for people who need their entertainment to always be flashy 11/11 blow the doors off drama and killer backstabbing, this will be a 1/10. For me I am trying to just enjoy myself without thinking too hard. Everything from the sets, to the costumes and the special effects works for me. I will of course admit the acting and plot decisions are often bad and don't hold up well under scrutiny. I can work with a laptop and watch this on my TV and darn it, I find it very pleasant.

I will say I think some of the stuff in the latest episode was honestly brave and cool. Who ever thought a TV show would put a light on Replacement Theory? The story of the elves reminds me a lot of the Indians and Chinese who came here for tech fields and H1B Visas and helped us through their "magic" and now we want them to go. The racism in our world is well parodied and the take this show brings us on that topic is very balanced surprisingly, with every race in Middle Earth showing some racism towards each other, its apparent we need to find a common ground even in the fantasy realm.

I hope people continue to give this show a chance because the foundations are solid even if the house is creaky. I am beginning to find the story groove and rooting for Galadriel to heal the evils of Sauron upon the world.

Cobra Kai: Molé (2022) Season 5, Episode 2

Great characters and plot but some terrible writing bring it down

[7/10 · 14 September 2022]

I think this episode manages to be action packed and emotional, its great all the different things they decided to do with the characters were pretty cool.

I just can't get behind a couple of the choices here. First the choice to have the two characters finding Miguel in Mexico in FBI shirts was simply moronic. I suppose some stupid decisions have always been in the certain persons character (vague to avoid spoilers) but come on this is really just beyond stupid it can get you killed.

Also I have to say I hate the writers decision with the Hot Pepper scene. There was an earlier scene where Terry explains away the cheating from Season 4 as it being only necessary. So there is a character eating hot peppers in a competition for money (it was only necessary to get a car) but it turns out he only pretended to eat the final most hot pepper. What is the moral ethic here for kids? Just cheat at everything to succeed? Even the good guys are cheating? The adult in the pair says "this was the most badass thing ever" (pretending to eat the pepper so the dude who ate the pepper for real loses). I just think this is terrible.

They even wrote it in a way where Karate training (mental training) was the key to succeed at first before the "surprise" of the cheat. If they had just left it that way it would have been so much better for everyone involved, the characters and the viewers its just astonishing. Maybe it pays off somewhere else.

Besides that this episode kicks a lot of ass with some very cool Karate sequences and a lot of heart and soul with all characters getting some time to shine.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)

Getting sick of postmodern morality in TV shows

[5/10 · 11 June 2022]

I just felt like making a little point. Every TV show I watch the bad guy gets away with all his crimes in spectacular fashion. Barry gets to live on to kill more. Homelander in The Boys gets to live forever to do gruesome destruction and hideous crimes and its even up in the air if he will ever lose. Dexter always lives. Saul Goodman always cons forever. I could go on.

My point is that seeing Reva torture Leia and all of her Inquisitors get to get away scott free and also Darth Vader, and seeing how pathetic and sad all the good characters are all the time. Its just yet more of the same.

I think people deserve to see a good character get to win once in awhile. I know this is a "kids show" but I really just want to see each punk Inquisitor trash get horribly owned slowly and satisfyingly by an enraged Obi Wan. I am sick of evil people always having the upper hand. I know they will punk out too. If the Inquisitors even die it will be by Force Choke or out the air lock.

I need to see as a fan, Obi Wan should get a Daredevil "I BEAT YOU" type moment and really stick it in their faces before cutting their heads off. Obi Wan should get to literally cut that stupid helmet off that one dudes dumb head. Reva should have a final failure and get her neck and all her bones snapped by Vader.

Someone needs to finally pay the price. Sorry that is pretty amazingly off topic but after this episode 4 I really want to see Reva get her big a$$ kicked. Lol Just let me see ONE bad person in a TV show get legitimately WHOOPED like behind the barn toolshed type of whooped. One time. NO REDEMPTIONS

I swear if they allowed Reva to join the cast for Season 2 and find redemption I will not forgive you Disney miss me with that by 72 parsecs off.

Severance: The We We Are (2022) Season 1, Episode 9

All I can add that nobody else has

[10/10 · 30 May 2022]

Is that Britt Lower/Helly, when she meets her father in the bathroom, that was the saddest thing I have seen since something like the end of Six Feet Under or something like that. At the end she talks out her apology speech in the mirror that she was made to say over 1000 times insincerely as a punishment and meant it sincerely this time, in grief that she discovers that she has helped cause the potential end of humanity as we know it and subjugation of the human race. That made me push pause for 5 minutes because I needed to dry my eyes and compose myself. Imagine being her in that moment, Britt acted that scene so well it blows my mind. Such a brilliant acting decision to not speak it out hysterically with tears but with grim determined regret. Emmy consideration big time, should win.

Barry (2018–2023)

98% on Rotty Totes

[7/10 · 24 May 2022]

It is now time to begin a conversation if this season of Barry is an all time great comedy season. Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld, Friends, The Office, Barry. Every episode is at least a double if not a home run. Every character is written in such an essential way you care about them, at least in the case of a few annoying characters they are used in a way that advances the plot in amusing ways. I have to admit I wouldn't cry if Fuches died but I have to admit he just kills me, I love his crazy cameos, Peruvian Farmer, dirt bike park, always laughing like crazy watching him.

Gene is a character that is so complex, honest, and broken, its interesting to see a character like this not always played for laughs, or be the butt of the joke but be genuinely trying to heal his relationships and regain dignity.

I won't go on forever. But I have to say even the so called villainous characters have all had heart and been interesting to watch. There isn't a truly "throwaway" character. Take an average sitcom, the MC will encounter say some hobo bum, buy some magic beans from him and never see the bum again. In Barry everyone is written with care as human beings Barry meets in the world, who could have a part to play.

In summary, I am laughing every episode big belly laugh once in Season 3, I am always entertained, curious, some characters are annoying yes BUT that is Hollywood baby, it attracts A Holes. Every episode this season has driven forward a story, been wildly entertaining, full of classic memes and jokes, great characters living through realistic plots, solid viewing, nothing tasteless or stupid, realistic gay romance, you can't wait to watch the next Barry. I gave 10/10 because this season of Barry is one of my all time favorite seasons of TV.

Barry: ben mendelsohn (2022) Season 3, Episode 3

I Just Wish This Was a 95% Comedy

[6/10 · 9 May 2022]

I was laughing my butt off in the first 10 minutes of this episode! Somehow watching Fuchs skipping down a grassy Peruvian field with a shepherds crook, the folk music playing, the funniest thing I have seen this year. But there is always in this show, a grim reminder, you are watching a ruthless caged psychopathic animal waiting to leap out.

Finding out more about Cousinou's past was interesting, I think there is a great story there possibly, where he was this monster whos fame in the 80s got to his head and he was blacklisted for being a jerk or something like that. He isn't sure he deserves redemption. I have a feeling his outburst at the filming will actually impress people as this show loves playing around in irony's muck.

I don't know what these alt-right chuds are talking about in the comments, I LOVE Elsie Fisher in her brief scenes so far, she's got that natural heart and soul kind of performing I have only seen in Kate Miccucci. I think she would be great as Raven in a Teen Titans movie or maybe Batgirl. Keep working Elsie I think you're going to be a star!

My problem with the show and this episode is that Barry is written too evil and too grim this season. Rather than consider a funny path around the Peruvians vs. Chechens like would've been done in Season One, its just "be John Wick for me". This plot took 10 minutes of the show making it roughly a 60% comedy.

Why can't Barry just be a hit man, assassin, or someone who is like Dexter who has to cover up disposing of a body? Why is Barry a horrific mass killer who is too revolting to root for in any way? That isn't to say he really does this mass murder next episode but for me even bringing it up as a possibility is just depressing.

Barry should just be quirky like this movie Grosse Pointe Blank. I don't want to have admit to friends I enjoy a show where each season has a genocide. I know the writers know what they are doing so they won't ruin the show, but I hope they won't have him kill 10 people again or that will force me to give up on this. Right now Barry is teetering on the edge of being needlessly grimdark.

Star Trek: Picard (2020–2023)

Just a point about Erasure

[10/10 · 30 April 2022]

I just want to say this about the show. I honestly can say I hate Picard as a character now. And one reason is that the writers have literally desecrated and erased the entire French culture from the STU. Just pause to imagine, in the future an African Federation captain grew up in Nigeria. In his flashback scenes he acted like a kid from China. Him and his parents spoke Chinese and did Chinese things. Apparently, the country in Africa had canonically no African heritage in the future. Think about that outrage that would cause.

As a character we grew up with Picard, learned about his various traits and mannerisms, now they were a bit odd, or not very Frenchy per se but even though he had a British accent we can all agree French accents are very...theatrical and humorous to listen too. Pepe Le Pew and all that. So we can let it slide.

However in this show they cannot let you forget how they excised ALL of France from Picard's life until you can utterly forget where he comes from. He may as well have grown up in a British boarding school. His mom and dad have British accents, he looks like the lead singer of Coldplay as a kid. Picard does not eat French food, have French interests and they make no attempt to even celebrate his background. Even though he lives in the 25th century, Picard as a kid has no computer games, or sports. What would have been fun is if he was wearing French Football team national clothes. And his favorite sport was soccer. His dad had a thick French accent and his mom was British. Given that he hated his dad and was a big time mommas boy, he chose British accent. That is a fun plot right?

But they tried in no way to portray that and therefore they are saying Britain took over France in the future and the entire French culture disappeared. I know there are a lot of reasons to dislike this show but I just wanted to mention something after the latest episode that highly bothered me about Picards story.

Halo (2022– )

Halo Proves Itself -- People Please Give This a Second Chance

[8/10 · 29 April 2022]

Episode 5, PROVES that Halo can do high budget, high budget sci-fi war movie action, contrary to popular belief. Its a much much better scene then what we got in Episode 1, possibly where most people gave up watching. It feels very HALO. Episode 6, PROVES Halo can do intelligent, high drama sci-fi in a way that is matching the games or exceeding the games.

Neither of these episodes features the loathed Kwan storyline. At the arc that Halo is doing I am telling you, kicking and screaming, if you abandon this show at this point its at least as bad a crime as cancelling Firefly but maybe worse since the committed budget has to be 10 times for Halo that of Firefly. We have gone from 6/10 E1: 2/10 E2: to 9/10 E5 and 8/10 E6, these writers are beginning to find their groove and giving me hope for 10/10's to come.

Paramount+ has a lot of dreck but they need to be at least lauded for trying to invest so much in order to create the 21st century version of Sci-Fi Channel.

Star Trek: Picard: Monsters (2022) Season 2, Episode 7

Please Payoff

[2/10 · 16 April 2022]

This series has been nearly obsessed with Picard's childhood trauma and exploring all of that. They keep wasting our time and they did it again. Here is the thing, its 2022, you can go bold or go home.

What I would've done is give a HUGE reveal and that is to flat out admit Picard was horribly sexually abused by his uncle and his father. This explains why he is so often a scarred and afraid child, why his mother was so distressed as she was unable to expose the dark secret of her family to authorities, why JL Picard needed to go to Starfleet to somehow support himself escaping his evil family, why Picard had such a hard time recovering his sexuality, possibly a virgin until his late life or at least not easily entering into relationships. Why Picard never wanted children of his own, he was afraid he would abuse his own kids.

His memories were so repressed they could only be dredged up by turning Picards brain into a computer.

Or another route to make this episode awesome is just show that Picards mother was kidnapped by Borg and turned into The Borg Queen and this is the entity you see on Episode 1.

This show just never pays off and that is why its so unforgivable, if they just went big and gave fans big results, it would be a great show.

Halo: Contact (2022) Season 1, Episode 1

The most nihilistic opening to a show in a LONG time

[3/10 · 27 March 2022]

They set up this planet, these characters, try to open with a poker game conversation to get you to remember them or like them. Also a fun plant hunt with some teenagers. Then aliens came and then everyone you met dies, laughably outgunned. I see they are trying for a grimdark, brutal beginning to show you the stakes of this world. The weapons are awesomely powerful and Master Chief's look and acting are actually good.

Then they kill an entire room of kids because one guy is a coward and I got so angry at the writers. Angry mainly because they made me waste my time, I didn't have to know these characters, care about them, root for them, not even Master Chief GAF about the little girl.

You have to give me some payoffs for what you set up or its just soulless. Why couldn't the leader kill ONE alien, with a forklift or a crane, I dunno?

Why couldn't the little girl save the other kids by stealing a sword and stabbing the alien? I want to see the characters YOU made me invest in actually get to do something to help even the odds.

I usually finish every show I watch but that opening was too awful to stand and made me wonder what kinds of writers we were getting so I stopped.

Star Trek: Picard: Assimilation (2022) Season 2, Episode 3

Star Trek is good except for the parts that aren't Star Trek

[5/10 · 21 March 2022]

I would say this episode is a borderline bad one yet had a lot of good things too but I just want to highlight something. Star Trek is about humanity. It's about how humans seek to evolve and get better through adversities. The encounter between Raffi and the homeless guy was really anti-Trek and its moments like these that are bringing shame to this franchise and why fans get bitter with it.

Some homeless man attempts to mug Raffi aims a pistol at her. Says give me money. So, in response, she does her Feminist Punch, disarming his weapon and just flattening the guy. Not only that she takes his wallet somehow FULL of cash and walks away without a care.

Caring about money is beneath people from the Star Trek universe. What would be cool is if they wrote a way out of this situation. Could they use a replicator to counterfeit money so she could give it to the man who is now a beggar? Could she use a limb lock to force the bum to give her directions and tell him violence is what's ruining 2024? Could she tell the homeless guy to take that money in his wallet and bet it on the Rams winning the Super Bowl in exchange for favors?

Maybe she talks her way out of it instead of violence which is the Star Trek way. I decided to point this out because its what clangs loudly when trying to enjoy a Trek show, you'll find moments all throughout Season One that clang too.

I think its annoying that the episodes of this show that are really good just push the boundaries of Trek but its when they just go into base violence and gratuity it always gets them into trouble but they keep doing it.

The Boys Presents: Diabolical: Laser Baby's Day Out (2022) Season 1, Episode 1

Just a sick mindless gorefest

[3/10 · 10 March 2022]

This animation of this show is actually not that bad I will say that. This is one of those situations where I feel really old or it is society that is wrong but the content of this episode is just incoherent and gratuitous for me.

Don't get me wrong I grew up on Elden Lied and Attack on Titan but those episodes had gripping and inventive narratives to go with their gore.

This is meant to be a Warner Bros cartoon but an exaggeration. I think people misunderstand about these cartoons, there is violence but there is actually no death, the mind understands its a fantasy world soon into the cartoon. Its like this episode is trying to parody these cartoons without any understanding about the soul and wit of them to properly do it.

It is inconceivable that such a enormously powerful baby would be allowed to even leave its lab, that nobody has any fear of it killing hundreds of people with a sneeze is absurd and horrible to witness in action.

I will admittedly say that there is some joy to watching the baby get away from all the captors. The morals of the episode were so bad though. The thought that a baby is just innocent and blameless for doing these mass murders stretches credulity and the portrayal of how you are supposed to laugh at all the dead people who "dared" try to stop a baby from doing mass murder is absolutely bizarre.

This show is NOT for kids at least from the pure standpoint they might think killing at will was ever appropriate, the irony would go past their heads.