jensomehner Reviews

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2024– )

In one word: boring...

[1/10 · 3 February 2024]

No character development, no actual storyline, no build up of suspense, utterly predictable. I had to stop halfway through episode 2, for fear of falling asleep.

What were they thinking at Amazon? I know it is not supposed to be actually related to the movie, but apparently somebody counted on people making that connection, so you brought this on yourselves.

If only it were a bit like the movie, which had a lot humour besides action, but this is like a trainwreck. It is neither funny nor is there a lot of action, and there is not even the tiniest bit of suspense. After they delivered the cake in episode 1, I was actually counting down to the explosion.

The Terminal List (2022– )

Much too long

[1/10 · 5 July 2022]

There was a time when this storyline would have been made into a 90-120min movie, 8 episodes is much too long.

A tired old plot with yet another conspiracy plot involving the military industrial complex, events being regurgitated again and again, and the solution does not hold any surprises at all. Oh, of course the main character's family, including his young daughter, are threatened along the way, how original. Needless to say he also has memory issues, which seem to happen in film more often than in real life, and has conversations with the apparitions of his dead mates.

All in all highly unoriginal, I was bored out of my skull shortly into the second episode and I desperately want the hours of my life back that I wasted watching this drivel.

MacGyver: DIY or DIE (2017) Season 2, Episode 1

When will they have two teams?

[5/10 · 1 October 2017]

And another addition to a field team that in its original guise was just MacGyver plus the guest of the week, sometimes supported by Bruce McGill. I wish they would have concentrated on the core team, I do not think another agent is necessary, especially since it is just going to be for an exchange of repartee with the Jack Dalton character.

Contrary to what the other reviewer believes, the only nations where a woman without a headdress would be punished are Saudi Arabia and Iran. Since the action took place in the outskirts of Istanbul, Turkey's capital, a blonde woman would not even raise an eyebrow, especially since quite a few of female Istanbulians dye their hair.

There was also no mention of "kafir", but of a keffiyeh (aka kufiya), which is the widespread name of this traditional dress item which covers head and neck. The use of shemagh for this piece of cloth is actually limited to Jordan, parts of Saudi Arabia and the British Army (who picked it up in Jordan). On the whole, keffiyahs are rare in Turkey and most easily found among the Kurds. The patterns also are not tribal, although there are local variations regarding colours and pattern - you cannot tell a man's family by his keffiyah.

All in all, a nice popcorn episode which again requires a certain suspension of belief, but heck, it is entertainment, not a documentary. I have seen better episodes, I have seen worse, so it is kind of in the middle.

Almost There (I) (2015– )

Did they leave out any cliché?

[1/10 · 7 April 2016]

The show could have a bit of a promise - although the plot is absolutely nothing new.

I cannot stand the obnoxious neighbor (overused cliché) who does not seem to have any boundaries nor respects others' - in real life he would be isolated and constantly beaten up, because nobody can stand him.

And then there is the other neighbor, who also seems to have a boundary problem... And the efficient assistant... And of course a psychiatrist has to see another psychiatrist... There is not an iota of original thought in this.

I just switched off the second episode after ten minutes and I will not watch this regurgitated cliché-fest again.