Reviews

A fun blend of period piece and gothic horrorshow, the first season of Penny Dreadful wasn’t quite the slam-dunk Showtime might have hoped it would be – but it still managed to be solid debut for a show refreshingly different to much of the prestige and genre drama on offer these days. Season 2 is…

Take the title character from Dexter, throw him into a world where instead of killing the bad guys, he’s destroying their lives through digital espionage, and you start to get the vibe of the new USA Network series Mr. Robot, which had a special episode one premiere at SXSW earlier this year, ahead of its official…

Though far from outright awful, Orphan Black’s second season failed to escape the shadow cast by its debut. It frequently found itself bogged down and tangled up in its own mythology – losing a grip on the masterfully-paced escalation that made the show’s first season such a thrill. Season 3, however, hits a bit closer…

  When we were first introduced to the inmates of Litchfield Penitentiary in the 2013 debut season of Orange is the New Black, it was quite clear that we were supposed to be introduced to this new environment through the show’s protagonist, Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling). The upper-class NYC dweller’s transportation to a world completely different to…

With a premise encompassing the lives of eight individuals who find themselves connected by a strange psychic bond, Sense8 often feels like a bunch of different shows blended together. Depending on the character, the show can feel like a techno-thriller, mobster drama, romantic melodrama or sprawling science fiction mystery. Even back when I wrote-up my…

Once again, Game of Thrones reminds us that the series owes us – and our feelings – nothing (no “fan favourite”, no “hero” to root for – nothing), and the showrunners are still committed, despite all the book differences this season, to showing what an inventive, murderous author George RR Martin is by staying faithful…

I often watch an episode of Game of Thrones more than once, and happily re-watch scenes over and over again. But there is one particular scene in “The Dance of Dragons” I won’t be watching again, not because it was boring or mishandled, but because it was emotionally draining and incredibly depressing, even if it…

Game of Thrones upped the ante in “Hardhome”, bucking the trend of Episode 9 being the big action-packed set by giving us a ferocious, layered, and brilliantly executed big battle in the episode’s last half. That isn’t only why “Hardhome” is the best Season 5 episode yet though, every other story line during the first…

While pacing was surprisingly rapid in the half of “The Gift”, the episode served us up some big, although fairly quiet, developments. Similarly to last weeks “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” focus was on the smaller character moments here, with storylines leaping forward involving Sansa, Tyrion, Cersei, and Sam. Let’s start with the more negligible part of…

Westeros is not somewhere I’d ever like to live. It’s dark, brutal, and defeating, full of liars, manipulative Littlefingers, and selfish Queens who do not put the same amount of value in life as we (most of us) do in the real world. If you’re looking for justice, you’ve come to the wrong place. George…

We’re now at the halfway point of season five, and things are really kicking into high gear. Storylines from all areas of Westeros, and Essos, are being born, nurtured and steered on what is sure, in many cases, to be a disastrous course. Much of the focus of this episode wasn’t in Westeros, but across the…

The bloodiest Season 5 episode yet, “Sons of the Harpy” was packed full of important happenings, especially showcasing chaotic power plays from two of the seasons newest threats. The dark, sinful corners of King’s Landing weren’t safe from the uprising the pious Sparrows brought with them, letting loose the Faith Militant (knights/warriors committed to enforcing…

Now that we have passed the first two episodes and caught up with the working storylines for this season “High Sparrow” was perfectly placed to shake things up a bit, and it did so with a very eventful episode that gave us one very satisfying death, one very shocking betrothal, one new and important character,…

Wesley’s death may have come as a shock, especially given who pulled the trigger. But the death of Ben Urich? Well that’s just something else entirely. For the sake of the narrative of this show, I get why Ben had to die, but I still feel as though the writers have made a pretty big…

Just when you thought Foggy discovering Matt’s secret identity was the best cliffhanger pulled off by Marvel’s Daredevil, “The Path Of The Righteous” comes along and knocks it straight out of the ballpark. When Wesley kidnaps Karen following a phone call with Wilson Fisk’s mum, I knew that there was no way there could ever…

There are some big plot changes from the book going down right about now, but none quite as significant as Jamie’s fifth season quest and some other changes which begin in this episode. “The House of Black and White” sets everyone’s favourite kingslayer on a much different course than in the source material, and the…

The previous episode of Marvel’s Daredevil ended with perhaps the biggest cliffhanger of the series to date, with Matt’s best friend and partner Foggy Nelson discovering the truth about his secret identity. As the title “Nelson v Murdock” suggests, this episode is largely occupied by the repercussions of this discovery, and the consequences it may have on both their…

“Shadows In The Glass” is most definitely the Wilson Fisk show, and it may just be the best episode of Marvel’s Daredevil so far. The show has spent a great deal of time flashing back to Matt Murdock’s past, but this episode is all about taking a trip back in time to meet young ‘Willie’…

“Speak Of The Devil” is an hour of television that really had it all. It dug deep into the vaults of Daredevil lore to spin a narrative that would make diehard fans more than happy, whilst also setting up major repercussions for the remainder of Marvel’s Daredevil’s first season. There were two major highlights to this episode, with…

  With the Russians out of the picture, Marvel’s Daredevil needs to send Matt in a new direction and what better way to do that then introduce his mysterious mentor Stick? Yes, Scott Glenn finally makes his appearance in the series, and though he is only due to appear in this one episode boy does he make it…

“Condemned”, or as I like to call it, “The Matt & Vlad Power Hour”, is a world changing episode for our titular hero. Not only does he find himself one massive step forward in his quest to take down the criminal enterprises of Wilson Fisk but Matt (or at least his masked alter ego) also…

Don’t ever mess with Wilson Fisk on date night or you’ll end up with your head being decapitated by a car door. That’s the major message learnt in the fourth entry of Marvel’s Daredevil, an episode that gives a far greater glimpse into the life of the series villain. And let me tell you, it…

In “World On Fire” Wilson Fisk manages to get himself a second date, Foggy gets his first ‘date’ with Karen, and Matt and Claire share a kiss whilst he nurses her back to health in his apartment. We also get our first explanation (and visuals) of how Matt’s powers work, as he explains to Claire…

“Rabbit In A Snow Storm” is another strong world-building entry for Marvel’s Daredevil, which downplays the role of ‘Daredevil’ to instead give Matt and Foggy plenty of action in the courtroom. It also introduces two of the most significant characters from the comic book, investigative journalist Ben Urich (Vondie Curtis-Hall), and The Kingpin himself, Wilson…

The season premieres of Game of Thrones have almost always served the purpose of re-adjusting the show’s landscape to it’s constantly shifting dynamics, slowly but surely rearranging arrows to give us some sort of hint as to what we’re in for over the 10 episodes. “The Wars to Come” is no exception to this pattern,…

In late 2013, Marvel announced they were partnering with streaming giant Netflix to develop a number of shows based on their ‘street level heroes’, stating that they would be a grittier take than anything else seen so far in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). Nearly a year and a half later the first series Marvel’s…

The second episode of Marvel’s Daredevil dives straight into the aftermath of where the first episode left off, with Matt seriously injured after walking straight into a trap laid out by a Russian human trafficking ring. Lucky for him, the dumpster that he is left to die in just happens to be in the alleyway…

When we left the Nine-Nine precinct at the end of Season 1, Det. Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) was asked to go undercover for the FBI, his unrequited feelings for fellow detective Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) were still, well, unrequited, Terry Crews was still a large mass of comedic dynamite and Gina Linetti (Chelsea Peretti) had…

“Conquer” gave us a heap of great acting and character moments, sprinkled it with a bit of action – courtesy of Daryl and Aaron – and a triumphant return; but it did little more than make the wait for Season 6’s premiere all the more painful. There was a lot here that we wanted to…

Will we or won’t we? The Mindy Project’s fourth season has yet to be given the go ahead by US network Fox, but here’s hoping that we’ll see Mindy again – if for no other reason than I want to finally meet Mindy’s parents! I find it a little hard to believe that Danny’s never met Mindy’s…