General_Haberdashery Reviews

The Leftovers: Axis Mundi (2015) Season 2, Episode 1

Off To An Impressive Start

[10/10 · 5 October 2015]

From the heavy handed metaphoric opening scene, to the spoon in the disposal, everything seemed very ominous and tense. Like something terrifying was being held at bay behind a very thin curtain and you can see it pushing towards you, shapes and all, only to have it rear back into the abyss.

The tension was playful at times, then outright shocking as we slowly got to know the people of Miracle, but what I think I liked best was that this episode showed just how uncertain the world is now in a more subtle way. There were signs (some violently/graphically bloody, others innocuous like the hidden cricket) that kept the viewer in a state of unease yet left us wanting more.

The new additions to the main cast were phenomenal. Such powerful and believable performances particularly from Regina King and Kevin Carroll. The way he casually brought up his time in prison as a way to warn the new neighbors not to cross him and his family was very well played and well written.

Director Mimi Leder knocked this one out of the park, and the script had just the right beats to bring us back for more.

I cant wait to see where this show takes us next.

10 out of 10.

Doctor Who (2005–2022)

Thank Gallifrey For Peter Capaldi - Finally No More Doctor Rom-Com!!

[8/10 · 8 November 2014]

I really hope the writers have worked the 'awkwardly goofy but enduring hip pretty boy pining away for his attractive but already attached companion' thing out of their system because I'm finally watching the show again.

Look, I understand that they wanted to try something new, and they clearly wanted to appeal to a younger female audience, and it spawned a whole horde of heart-filled fan art of the would-be couples in 'maybe' love, but it really got to the point where I felt they lost what Doctor Who was all about.

The Doctor isn't standing in the rain pulling a sad-face because he thinks his companion might be in love with another person. The Doctor isn't some flirty young hipster in an ENDLESS quasi-romance with his quirky travel companion that really distracts from everything else and makes the show feel like a cheesy romantic comedy with time travel.

Why was he pining away for Amy for so damn long? Isn't he married? Who wants to even see Doctor Who become a paperback romance novel and not the kick-ass sci-fi fun it used to be? Who asked for this?

Yes, the female fan base may have loved it, and yes they deserve to, but at what point does the Doctor cease being the Doctor? When does Doctor Who start to turn into 'Twilight'? All hope really seemed completely lost and I was about done with the show entirely.

THEN PETER CAPALDI TO THE RESCUE!

Wait, we have a Doctor that actually doesn't see his companion as an attractive young female he'd like to awkwardly court for a year like most of the more recent Doctors have?

Wait, he looks at her almost objectively and as more than a giggling cute chick hitching a ride?

Wait, he sees her as an abstract individual, and a partner?

Wait, he's more pensive, a bit distant, mysterious and even aloof?

He feels like an actual alien being and a learned master of time and space?

Oh yes, Capaldi is the quintessential Doctor. He's an alien not desperately trying to find love or be more human, he's a mature time-lord that doesn't behave like some schmaltzy guy on a blind date trying to awkwardly impress his fidgeting A.D.D. would-be love interest. He's perfect and they've written him like the Doctor needed to be written. I actually like the show again, and I praise them for not pursuing the already worn out quasi-companion-romance angle.

I'm really glad he's not some goofy hipster-like pretty-boy or some other obvious fan-girl bait. I'm ecstatic, actually.

The last couple of seasons felt like one long schmaltzy awkward 'first date' that may or may not end in a kiss and it was torturous.

I don't need to see the Doctor Rom-Com for a while.

I can only hope the boastful "Don't you know who I am? I'm the Doctor, now tremble and fear me!!!!" monologues will also NEVER return.

I cringed every time Matt delivered those, and he did quite often.