Review: As the synopsis implies, His & Hers is about the very different sides to a story. When that story involves a brutal murder in a small town where the residents have long-standing histories with each other, the theories and accusations that fly can be damning for everyone involved. Based on the best-selling novel, His & Hers is a limited series that faithfully adapts Alice Feeney’s book while shifting the setting from a British village to the suburban outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia. With Jon Bernthal and Tessa Thompson in the lead, His & Hers is a sexy thriller that has more twists, red herrings, and misdirections in just six episodes than some series contain across multiple seasons. As crazy as this story is, His & Hers is a really entertaining watch.

It becomes apparent right from the outset that His & Hers will not follow the more traditional formula we have seen in other series. While thriller and mystery stories like Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, and The Woman in Cabin 10 have been structured around a major plot twist, His & Hers drops these constantly, with a handful coming within the first episode alone. The story follows Anna (Tessa Thompson), a news anchor who dropped off the radar after the death of her daughter, who happens to have direct knowledge regarding the murder of Rachel Hopkins (Jamie Tisdale). Detective Jack Harper (Jon Bernthal) is called in to investigate, along with his new partner, Priya (Sunita Mani), and they quickly clash with Anna. It is soon revealed that not only do Jack and Anna know each other intimately, but they also both have potential motives in the death of Rachel. Whether Jack or Anna committed the crime is teased through the series, but there is so much more going on in this show.

Like any whodunit, there is a cast of suspects ranging from Rachel’s cuckolded husband Clyde Duffie (Chris Bauer) to the severe headmistress at the local private school, Helen Wang (Poppy Liu), who also happened to be a member of a clique that Anna and Rachel were a part of as teenagers. There is Anna’s rival news anchor, Lexie (Rebecca Rittenhouse), and her husband, Richard (Pablo Schrieber), who is also Anna’s new cameraman as she returns to work as a reporter. If you recognize these actors, you also know they are all really attractive people, which is where His & Hers amps up the sexiness with all sorts of explicit happenings peppered through each chapter. His & Hers is not going to qualify as an erotic thriller, but there is certainly no lack of sexual energy pervading every inch. Add in additional characters like Jack’s unreliable sister, Zoe (Marin Ireland), and Anna’s mother, Alice (Crystal Fox), who is suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, and you have countless angles and combinations of motive and opportunity that could have resulted in Rachel’s death, along with other bodies that begin to pile up.

By shifting the setting to Atlanta, His & Hers exudes a summer feeling perfect for warming up the January doldrums. The pervasive sound of cicadas and the glimmer of sweat during the outdoor scenes is palpable. It also helps that Tessa Thompson and Jon Bernthal have fantastic chemistry on screen. Each episode pulls the pair together before separating them as each investigates the central crime on their own, before inevitably running back into each other. In most stories like this, there are cops chasing criminals, but the blurred lines between guilty and innocent parties make it easier to distrust everyone and suspect everyone. Through that, both Anna and Jack are difficult to trust or believe in, as we see what they are guilty of. But, even knowing the truth as viewers, it is so easy to watch Thompson and Bernthal on screen. Tessa Thompson, who evoked a similar sultry nature in Hedda, slinks across the screen like a femme fatale. Bernthal, who affects a light Southern drawl, loses some of the gruffness in his signature roles as Frank Castle and Shane Walsh here but maintains an everyman approachability that feels violated by some of the actions Jack takes in the story. However, even when we know something is wrong, it is still fun to watch.

Created by William Oldroyd along with showrunner Dee Johnson, His & Hers stays very close to Alice Feeney’s novel in how the twists are revealed all the way through to the big shocker at the end. Oldroyd is best known for directing the films Lady Macbeth and the Anne Hathaway thriller Eileen, both of which were similarly intoxicating to watch as this series. Dee Johnson’s resume includes work on shows like ER, Melrose Place, and Southland, providing her with a solid foundation in both soapy melodrama and procedural series, both of which are key to making His & Hers work on multiple levels. William Oldroyd directed three episodes of the six-episode series, with the other chapters helmed by Anja Marquardt (The Girlfriend Experience). Oldroyd also wrote three episodes with Dee Johnson, while Tori Sampson and Bill Dubuque wrote the rest. The shorter length of the series never feels protracted or stunted, as it is just the right amount of time to stay faithful to Feeney’s novel. The development of the characters is perfectly paced to keep you guessing through all six episodes, but I am sure no one will see the ending coming.

A perfect series to watch in the depths of winter, His & Hers has all of the trappings of a guilty pleasure binge but delivered in a high-quality production. This is a very well-acted, written, and directed series, made stronger by the casting of Tessa Thompson and Jon Bernthal, who are perfectly suited opposite one another. Chemistry is a word thrown around often, but these two talented actors embody the word when they share the screen in His & Hers. Both Thompson and Bernthal are amazing to watch when they are apart, but when Anna and Jack share the screen, the show takes on another level. His & Hers may divide audiences by the time they reach the end of the finale, but even if you don’t buy the twist, I am sure you will be talking about it. His & Hers is exactly the type of quality we need more of, as it joins shows like The Beast in Me and movies like Wake Up, Dead Man as fun ways to talk about brutal killings.

His & Hers premieres on January 8th on Netflix.

His & Hers

GREAT

8

The post His & Hers TV Review: Jon Bernthal and Tessa Thompson have great chemistry in this sexy murder mystery appeared first on JoBlo.

Review: For the first forty years of its existence, the Star Trek franchise consisted of six series, ranging from the 1966 Original Series through the prequel, Enterprise. Over the last nine years, we have produced five series, with the sixth, Starfleet Academy, poised to take Gene Roddenberry’s creation in an entirely new direction. Set in the 32nd century version of Federation introduced in the third season of Discovery, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy presents a vastly different perspective than we have seen from any other series or film in the franchise. Aside from the first half of J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot, we have never spent this much time exploring the educational and training aspects of Starfleet’s university. Connecting elements and characters with the rich canon history of the Federation,Star Trek: Starfleet Academy introduces a young, diverse ensemble of characters from across the galaxy who learn the rules and morals of the Federation while also navigating their burgeoning adulthood. Very different from the mature, adult characters from prior series, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is designed to welcome a new generation of viewers to the franchise and manages to have some fun doing so.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy opens with Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter) meeting young Caleb Mir (Sandro Rosta) as a child when he is separated from his mother (Tatiana Maslany) after she is captured by the Federation alongside Nus Braka (Paul Giamatti), a half-Tellarite and half-Klingon criminal. A decade later, Ake is reunited when Caleb is captured and offers him the chance to find his mother if he enrolls in Starfleet Academy, of which Ake is now Chancellor. Echoing Christopher Pike’s invite to James Kirk in 2009’s Star Trek, the rough-around-the-edges Caleb accepts and reluctantly joins the new class of cadets aboard the USS Athena, a ship that is also able to dock in San Francisco as the campus of Starfleet Academy. The school, which is run in parallel with Starfleet’s military school known as the War College, boasts staff including Klingon/Jem’Hadar cadetmaster Lura Thok (Gina Yashere), engineer Jet Reno (Tig Notaro), Voyager‘s 900-year-old holographic Doctor (Robert Picardo), and a digital Dean of Students (Stephen Colbert). Much like a teaching hospital, the USS Athena serves dual purposes as a fully operational vessel that facilitates field lessons in diplomacy and active engagement with adversaries. The campus environment feels like a blend of a school and a starship, with the hierarchy of officers mimicking the expected structure of past franchise vessels. Holly Hunter’s Nahla Ake is a unique leader in that she has a much softer touch than most past captains, owing to her extended lifespan due to being half-Lanthanite, the same species as Carol Kane’s Strange New Worlds character, Pelia. Hunter is fun but also commands authority, making her a natural leader and an interesting character to watch.

Diversity has always been paramount to the message at the core of all Star Trek shows, and there is no exception with Starfleet Academy. The students at the center of the cadet class whom Caleb befriends include Klingon cadet Jay-Den Kraag (Karim Diane), who eschews the violence of his species, Sam (Kerrice Brooks), the first member of the holographic species known as the Kasqians to join Starfleet, cocky Darem Reymi (George Hawkins), who is the first Khionian to join Starfleet and whose species has special abilities, and Genesis Lythe (Bella Shepard), a Dar-Sha cadet and daughter of a Starfleet admiral. The class is also joined by Bajoran siblings, including Tarima Sadal (Zoe Steiner), who develops a potential romantic relationship with Caleb. As Caleb tries to find clues to his mother’s whereabouts, he begins to accept his place at Starfleet Academy. In the six episodes made available for this review, the story opens with a mix of space battle action and an introduction to the school year, which often feels like the Star Trek equivalent of The Boys’ college spin-off, Gen V. Like recent Star Trek shows that came before it, Starfleet Academy does boast an episodic nature blended with an overarching season-long storyline. After the premiere episode introduces Caleb’s search for his mother, that plot takes a back seat to school-centric plots, ranging from prank wars to debate teams, with a heavy dose of complex diplomacy for good measure. Like classic Star Trek, these episodes are science-fiction twists on timely storylines and news subjects ranging from refugee displacement to war and its consequences.

If you have read this review up to this point and are wondering why I haven’t mentioned more about Paul Giamatti’s character, it is because his presence in the six episodes I have seen is minimal. A longtime Star Trek fan who lobbied for a role in the franchise, Giamatti’s approach to playing Nus Braka will feel very familiar to anyone who has been online over the past decade. A contentious believer in conspiracies and the threat of government, Braka is a brash sower of dissent who feels like a blend of Original Series antagonist Harry Mudd and the menace of Khan. Despite limited screen time, Giamatti is a great villain whose connection to both Caleb Mir and Nahla Ake serves as a central element to the entire series. The fact that Braka comes from two different alien species also contributes to the even larger melting pot of the newer Star Trek series, further blurring the lines between racial identity and morality, as well as belief. Despite Giamatti serving as a supporting player, the main ensemble is also augmented by appearances from Star Trek: Discovery characters Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) and Charles Vance (Oded Fehr), with an audio cameo from Brit Marling as the USS Athena computer. With each episode clocking in at an hour, there is a lot in every chapter that keeps the episodes moving along at a solid momentum and never feeling like it is pandering to the audience.

While Star Trek franchise showrunner Alex Kurtzman boasts credits for writing episodes this season, as well as directing, including helming the first two episodes, Starfleet Academy comes from a fresh creator, Gaia Violo. Violo previously created the series Absentia and offers a new voice in the Star Trek canon that helps this show feel fresh. Directors this season also include veteran franchise helmers Jonathan Frakes, Olatunde Osunsanmi, and Doug Aarniokoski, with writers Noga Landau, Jane Maggs, Alex Taub, Kiley Rossetter, Eric Anthony Glover, Kirsten Beyer, Kenneth Lin, and Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Tawny Newsome. While there are numerous references to various eras in Star Trek lore, including Easter eggs for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Deep Space Nine, this series is written in a way that is inviting to both dedicated fans of the franchise and newcomers to Star Trek. There is less technobabble dialogue than we used to get with an easy use of contemporary language and a smattering of profanity that makes this series feel less rigid than older Trek, but still follows the same thematic formula that has worked for sixty years. Jeff Russo, who composed the music for Discovery, Picard, and Strange New Worlds, offers a stirring theme for Starfleet Academy that complements the modern sensibility this new chapter brings to the Star Trek saga.

For the first time since The Next Generation, we have a series that truly feels like a new iteration of characters in a unique setting than we have ever had before. While Star Trek: Discovery introduced audiences to the 32nd century setting, Starfleet Academy feels wholly designed in the new time period and mines the hopeful nature of Gene Roddenberry’s original series. Robert Kurtzman’s work on the 2009 J.J. Abrams film has a direct influence on how this new series is developing, and while I had wanted a lot more of Paul Giamatti, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the show. It is a different vibe than we have seen from the franchise before, but Starfleet Academy is wholly representative of what Star Trek is. A good amount of action and a touch of soapy melodrama are mixed into an innovative and rich portrait of the future and what it could hold, making Star Trek: Starfleet Academy a solid debut season that has the potential to become one of the strongest Star Trek series in the years to come.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy premieres with two episodes on January 15th on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

GOOD

7

The post Star Trek Starfleet Academy TV Review: An introduction to the next generation of the franchise appeared first on JoBlo.

Review: This time last year, one of the best shows of 2025 made its debut. The Pitt followed in the footsteps of the Michael Crichton-created NBC series ER with an unflinching look at the frontline workers in a hospital’s triage. Unlike ER, The Pitt used a real-time approach to chronicling fifteen consecutive hours in an emergency room while eschewing the melodrama and backstories that began to bog down ER in its later seasons. Led by recent Emmy winner Noah Wyle, The Pitt was one of the most impressive first seasons of any television series and quickly garnered a second-season pickup. The sophomore run of The Pitt is every bit as good as the first, with even more timely storytelling as it continues to look at the immediate care needs of Pittsburgh residents during the Fourth of July holiday. Just as bloody as season one, The Pitt continues to showcase breakneck storytelling and thrilling medical drama without the soapy extra material that often weighs down similar doctor shows.

Picking up ten months after the end of the first season, The Pitt opens with Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) arriving on Independence Day to transition his role to his temporary replacement, Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi (Sepideh Moafi). After his panic attacks came to a head, Dr. Robby is taking a sabbatical for three months as he drives his motorcycle around the Northeast. But, first, he must contend with getting sucked into the overwhelming medical needs at his trauma center while also making sure Dr. Al-Hashimi does not undo all of the things he has worked hard to maintain at The Pitt. While the rift between the two attending physicians does offer some melodrama to the mix, the focus of The Pitt remains on the barrage of cases that enter through the ambulance bay and test the patience of the entire staff of doctors, nurses, and supporting contributors that make hospital emergency rooms operate. Across the nine episodes made available for this review, the cases range from shocking to tragic, with a few moments of levity interspersed throughout.

With the majority of the Season 1 cast returning, and the notable absence of Tracy Ifeachor as Dr. Heather Collins, the ensemble remains just as strong as ever. Residents Dr. King (Taylor Dearden) and Dr. Mohan (Supriya Ganesh) are joined by newly minted doctor Whitaker (Gerran Howell) as they contend with personal issues that are referenced and peppered into their daily work, rather than receiving heavy focus. Dr. McKay (Fiona Dourif) is no longer tethered to an ankle monitor, while Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball) returns after completing his rehabilitation and must deal with the fractured friendships and trust among his coworkers. There are also new medical students on staff who try the patience of the experienced staff, as the rookies last season are now veterans in the emergency room. Everyone pairs off in different capacities, but the all-stars of this show, including award winners Wyle and Katherine LaNasa as charge nurse Dana Evans, are just as brilliant as ever. The inclusion of Sepideh Moafi provides a foil for Dr. Robby, but her portrayal of Dr. Al-Hashimi strikes a great balance between medical knowledge and a different perspective from Robby.

The first season of The Pitt used extended plot threads to connect the fifteen-hour shift, and that remains the case this time around, including an Alzheimer’s patient who must repeatedly learn bad news, an abandoned baby, and a potentially abused young girl. That is just a sample and only from the first few episodes. Each arc ebbs and flows around new patients, some of whom return from the first season, while the staff keep pushing forward through each successive hour. The idea that this is Dr. Robby’s last shift before he leaves for his sabbatical adds some additional momentum to the already steady beat of The Pitt, but the inclusion of topics like artificial intelligence is as timely as the first season’s plots involving the COVID-19 pandemic and active shooters. AI is a major hot button in Hollywood and everywhere, and the series examines how it can assist medical professionals, particularly in emergency rooms, while also highlighting the risks it poses to the human interaction inherent in patient care. The approach to incorporating it in this series is interesting and opens up conversations about the real-world implications of the technology, something The Pitt handles really well.

Series creator R. Scott Gemmill returns as showrunner and wrote the opening episode, which is once again helmed by ER veteran director John Wells. The creative consistency behind the scenes allows The Pitt to feel like a natural continuation of the first season, despite almost a year passing between the two shifts portrayed on screen. Rather than getting stuck in rehashing what happened between shifts, the developments in character lives are hinted at through dialogue, giving the organic sense that we are peeking into a moment in the lives of these people, rather than just watching a television series. Gemmill and his writing team do not significantly alter the formula developed in the first season. The Pitt approaches the intense and non-stop environment of emergency rooms as a testament to the hard work that doctors and nurses do every single day, even if it can sometimes feel more dramatic for the sake of storytelling. This is, after all, a television series that serves as entertainment, which is why it is much easier to forgive some of the dramatic elements, such as romances and preachy messaging, that still make their way into The Pitt. The lack of a musical score (other than the opening of the first episode) and the constant use of medical jargon effectively emulates what an ER would be like, even if it is not entirely realistic for those who actually work in them.

With only minor quibbles that come to mind, I once again loved every intense episode I have seen of The Pitt‘s second season. I loved ER during its initial run, but The Pitt adopts a no-nonsense approach, bombarding audiences with the intensity of a shift in an emergency room without getting bogged down in soap opera subplots. I know the potential for any emergency room to deal with this many shocking cases in a single day is likely unrealistic, but it is still closer to reality than the fictional settings of Grey’s Anatomy or Chicago Med. The Pitt is still a television show and one that breaks the expectations that we have come to accept from medical dramas. This is a great show that tackles current events from an informed perspective while remaining incredibly entertaining. With returning favorites and new additions mixing into a solid ensemble, The Pitt continues to be one of the best shows of the year, only a week into January.

The Pitt season two premieres on January 8th on HBO Max.

The Pitt

AMAZING

9

The post The Pitt Season 2 TV Review: The real-time ER drama returns with an even better sophomore run appeared first on JoBlo.

PLOT:  As Vecna prepares to destroy the world as we know it, the party must put everything on the line to defeat him once and for all.

REVIEW:  Stranger Things has always been about friendship, fear, and the messy, sometimes painful magic of growing up together. After five seasons of nostalgia-soaked sci-fi horror, the final episode, The Rightside Up, does not just wrap things up. It reminds you why this show mattered in the first place, and why it managed to stick with audiences for nearly a decade.

Season 5 was a roller coaster for me. It was ambitious, often to the point of feeling overstuffed, and there were stretches where the pacing dragged under the weight of its own mythology. At times, it felt like the show might not be able to pull all of its threads together in a clean or satisfying way. Going into the finale, I had genuine doubts, and maybe a little worry.

Thankfully, those doubts disappeared once it matters most.

The finale pulls the season into focus and delivers a conclusion that feels thoughtful, emotional, and earned. Instead of trying to outdo itself with nonstop spectacle, The Rightside Up remembers what Stranger Things has always done best: grounding big genre stakes in small, human moments. The danger facing Hawkins is real and overwhelming, but the episode never loses sight of the people standing in the middle of it.

The scale is massive, the tension never lets up, and the final stretch delivers exactly what it needs to. But the real power comes from the character payoffs. These moments work because they are built on years of shared history, trauma, loyalty, and love. Long-running arcs reach natural conclusions that feel true to who these characters have become, not who the plot needs them to be.

Some of the strongest beats are also the quietest. Looks held a second too long. Conversations that do not need to spell everything out. The show trusts the audience here, and that trust pays off.

From the outset, The Rightside Up never shies away from high stakes. Vecna’s plan to merge the Abyss and the Upside Down threatens everything the Hawkins crew has fought to protect, and the final battle is big, loud, and packed with heart. But it’s the character moments, the emotional payoffs, that give the episode its weight. Will’s psychic contribution, Joyce’s badass resolve, and Eleven’s choices all resonate because we’ve lived through these characters’ joys and tragedies with them.

The defeat of Vecna, the Mind Flayer, and the destruction of The Upside Down may fulfill our expectations of spectacle, but it’s the resolution of relationships reminiscent of The Return of the King’s lengthy epilogue:  Steve finally finding peace, Nancy and Jonathan accepting where they stand, and the gang’s bittersweet goodbyes.  That’s what makes this finale linger in the mind long after the credits roll. 

And it’s damn near impossible to talk about Stranger Things without mentioning the music.  Music has always been part of Stranger Things’ DNA, but the finale’s needle drops hit on another level. When “When Doves Cry” comes in, it immediately sets the tone for the takedown of The Upside Down. There is a sadness and reflection baked into that choice that signals the beginning of the end.  But this isn’t the only Prince jam we get.  

Then “Purple Rain” kicks in.  This was especially exceptional since it has never been licensed outside of the Purple Rain movie, and from that moment on, I was an emotional wreck. No exaggeration. And I stayed wrecked for the next 45 minutes straight until the credits rolled. I won’t go into the exact details of what transpired in this scene, but I will say it does not feel manipulative or flashy. It feels honest, like the show finally allowing itself to letting go.

One of the episode’s standout moments comes during the graduation ceremony, where Dustin delivers a genuinely heartfelt speech that perfectly captures the spirit of the series in a very John Hughes way. Awkward, sincere, emotional, and funny in that very specific Stranger Things way. The scene is capped off with Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper”, which feels exactly right and a welcome tribute to Eddie. It is defiant, triumphant, and a reminder that these kids have been through hell and kept standing.

The final needle drop is the most fitting of all. As the show winds down and the group sits together for one last Dungeons and Dragons campaign, David Bowie’s “Heroes” plays, and honestly, I can’t think of a more perfect choice. It is not about winning. It is not about saving the world forever. It is about friendship, endurance, and the idea that being a hero sometimes just means showing up for the people next to you.

It is inevitable that some viewers will walk away feeling let down or underwhelmed. There will be those who argue the show lacked the guts to kill off a major character, as if tragedy is the only metric for meaningful storytelling. But Stranger Things understands something many finales miss: not every great story needs to end in death to resonate. Emotional weight comes from investment, from time spent with characters, and from watching them change. Loss can be powerful, but survival, healing, and moving forward can be just as impactful.

What The Rightside Up ultimately pulls off is rare. It honors the legacy of the show without turning into a self-congratulatory victory lap. It embraces the horror, the humor, and the heart that defined Stranger Things, even after a final season that did not always feel steady. The epilogue gives the characters and the audience more than enough room to breathe, to reflect, and to say goodbye.

By the time the credits roll, this does not feel like a show that simply ran out of story. It feels like one that knew exactly when to stop. Season 5 may have started as my least favorite, but it ends with one of the most emotionally satisfying series finales I have ever seen.

And in the end, that final image says everything. They were not just heroes. They were not just survivors. They were friends around a table, rolling dice, and telling stories together.  And that’s what Stranger Things was always about.  Not the monsters, not the mythology, but the bonds that carried them through it all.

FOR ANOTHER OPINION ON THE FINALE – CHECK OUT OUR TV CRITIC ALEX MAIDY’S REVIEW

Stranger Things

PERFECTO-MUNDO

10

The post Stranger Things: A Second Opinion on why the finale is one of the best ever appeared first on JoBlo.

Review: The finale of Stranger Things is here. As a critic, I usually get the chance to watch episodes in advance to prepare my review, but to avoid spoilers, Netflix kept the eighth and final episode of Stranger Things 5 under wraps until it simultaneously debuted on the streaming platform and in cinemas around the country. The two-hour last chapter of the series temporarily brought down Netflix servers as fans clamored to find out how the story ended before the ball dropped, signalling a Happy New Year. Having now seen the anticipated episode, “The Rightside Up,” I am content with how The Duffer Brothers have tied up their sprawling genre series, even though it did not take too many chances along the way. Stranger Things 5 ends on a bright and positive note and will surely have satiated many fans. Warning: this review will contain some spoilers for the series finale. Do not continue reading if you have not watched it yet.

Opening with a shortened credit sequence and picking up right after the penultimate episode, “The Rightside Up” puts the crew’s plan into action to let Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) pull the dimensional world known as The Abyss down onto The Upside Down so they can cross over to battle him. With Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton) and the military on their trail, the battle must be fought on multiple fronts. Right away, the action kicks off as Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and her sister Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) work with Max (Sadie Sink) to get into Vecna’s mind. At the same time, everyone else attempts to climb the radio tower in the Upside Down when it is close enough. This early action sequence showcases some impressive special effects work and offers the first of many teases of characters dying that ultimately do not come to fruition. What does happen are several moments where characters take the time to chat about their relationships, this time pairing Will (Noah Schnapp) and Mike (Finn Wolfhard), rivals Steve (Joe Keery) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), as well as Hopper (David Harbour) and Eleven. Each pairing takes a minute or two, but it is clearly designed to provide audiences with additional closure.

Eventually, the major battle begins as Henry/Vecna confronts the cave that holds the truth of his true nature: he is being controlled by the alien monster known as The Mind Flayer. Unifying with the gigantic beast, Vecna engages the human heroes in a battle that resembles a Marvel Studios action sequence, as directed by Guillermo Del Toro. The action is brutal and massive, leading to Eleven and Vecna’s much-anticipated fight, which also includes Will getting the chance to use his newfound abilities. While it comes as no surprise, Eleven and friends vanquish their foe and save the world, including the kidnapped kids. The battle is an entertaining one that also boasts Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) finally getting her moment to shine while also delivering the series’ sole f-bomb. It is a great moment, but it also comes with forty-five minutes left in the episode. Eleven saves the group one more time when she sacrifices herself to close the portal to The Upside Down for good and prevent the military from gaining any more power. This results in an emotionally devastating final scene with Mike, followed by the reactions of all of her friends to losing their friend. Now, with half of an hour left, what will The Duffer Brothers do?

To tidy up the story, the last half hour of the series jumps eighteen months into the future. With not much fanfare after serving as the second antagonist all season, the military is now gone, and Hawkins is rebuilding as a free town once again. The teens are all graduating from high school with Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) as valedictorian. The older kids are now off at college, while Steve is working as a coach and teacher. Hopper proposes to Joyce, and they decide to move to Montauk to start over, a clever nod to the original New York setting and title of this series before the Duffers settled on Stranger Things. Everyone is finally happy again, except for Mike, who still mourns the loss of Eleven. After a heart-to-heart with Hopper, Mike attends his graduation, and the friends meet for one final game of Dungeons & Dragons. After they play, Mike tells the story to each friend of where he sees their lives going next before telling his theory that Eleven did not die but faked her death with Kali’s help. We see Eleven living in a faraway place and are left to wonder if she really made it or if this is just wishful thinking. The episode concludes with Mike’s sister, Holly (Nell Fisher), and her friends launching their own D&D campaign, passing the mantle to the next generation.

Written and directed by Matt and Ross Duffer, the finale of Stranger Things 5 delivered bombastic action in two major sequences and did not result in the deaths of any main characters. While you do not have to kill characters off to make for a satisfying ending, the idea that a foe as substantial as Vecna and the Mind Flayer end up being defeated with no casualties seems a bit unrealistic. Everyone gets something to do in the last push, including Murray (Brett Gelman), but it all ties up in a massive otherworldly fight that is ninety percent CGI and as far from where the series started as it could get. The Duffers had a vision for where this story would go, and I am going to trust that this was always what they wanted the ending to be like. However, it does feel somewhat safe that everything ends on a happy note. The flood of sentimentality in the final hour of the series filled me with emotion after I had joined these characters over the last decade, but it also made me wonder if there was a point to some of what they faced. Linda Hamilton was a great addition to the cast. Still, the presence of the army in Hawkins ultimately served almost no purpose other than plot convenience, and it was then removed once the story no longer required it. The only major casualty in the season also turned out to be a supporting player who was brought back halfway through the season. Again, these are nitpicks, but ones that detracted from the overall momentum of the show.

Despite my nitpicks, I found myself satisfied as the end credits of Stranger Things 5 began to roll. I will admit I held out for a potential post-credit scene (there isn’t one), and I am glad to know where all of these characters will be headed in the 1990s, as they still have their lives ahead of them. While I prefer my endings a bit messier and with more emotional scarring, Stranger Things 5 held onto its nostalgic core and gave us a reason to hope for what comes next after these characters endured years of hell instead of childhood. The scars remain, but hope prevails. While fans will continue to theorize whether Eleven is alive or not, this is the best way to keep fans talking about something after it is over. Stranger Things 5 had a daunting challenge to wrap up this much story in just two hours, and overall, I think The Duffer Brothers stuck the landing. There is something for everyone and just enough left open for a potential return if the right story ever comes around, but Stranger Things has gone out with a bang and one of the best action sequences of the year, big screen or small. I will be sad to not return to this world, but I am excited for whatever The Duffers work on next.

Stranger Things 5 finale is now streaming on Netflix.

Stranger Things

GREAT

8

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REVIEW: Of all the comedy legends we grew up with, Chevy Chase may be the one whose reputation has taken the biggest beating over the years. While he’s had his share of huge successes, and is still beloved (by some), there’s no denying that he leaves a complicated legacy. Why? Chase has never really been “cancelled,” but his reputation for being an asshole is well established. Right off the bat, this is acknowledged when documentarian Marina Zenovich tells Chevy she’s “still trying to figure him out,” and he snaps at her, saying she’s not “bright enough.” Rather than come off like he’s kidding, it seems like a flash of anger from Chase, who quickly acknowledges that he’s quick to lash out when he feels slighted, but it starts the documentary off on an honest note. While far from a hack job, this isn’t the love letter to its subject Zenovich’s Robin Williams: Come Into My Mind or Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic was. This is more like her documentary on Lance Armstrong, with Chase an irascible interview subject.

Yet, it’s worth giving Chase credit for the fact that he’s willing to sit for such an interview and doesn’t shut down difficult questions — even if he seems highly offended when he’s reminded of a homophobic AIDS joke he made at the expense of a young SNL cast member when he hosted in the eighties (at first he says the actor — Terry Sweeney — is lying, then he backpedals, saying it was a joke, before then saying he doesn’t remember). Others who are interviewed without much nice to say about Chase at all include Kevin Smith, who says when he briefly worked with him he realized every bad story he heard about him was true. In an excerpt from another interview, John Carpenter, who directed him in Memoirs of an Invisible Man, says he almost quit the business after working with Chase. Jay Chandrasekhar, who directed him on the Community episode that got him fired from the show, also tells some harrowing stories, even if he admits he still has affection for him.

Yet, as terrible as Chase often comes off, not everyone hates him. As Zenovich says in one of their interviews, some people hate Chase but others love him. Goldie Hawn, who co-starred with him in Foul Play and Seems Like Old Times, only has positive things to say about him, as does his Vacation co-star Beverly D’Angelo, whose history with Chase runs deeper than most. Dan Aykroyd, Paul Shaffer, and Garrett Morris are the old-school SNL castmates who go on the record about him, and they all seem fond of him, as does Lorne Michaels. Yet, no one pretends he was easy to work with. Former agent Michael Ovitz proves to be an excellent interview, with him saying Chase never recovered from his disastrous choice to host an infamously short-lived talk show (the clips used are excruciating).

Notably, while Chase often comes off as a man who’s exceedingly difficult to work with, he does come off as a devoted and loving husband and father, with his daughters and wife showering him with praise. They try to give context to some of his behaviour, acknowledging that he was badly abused as a child, and also battled a crippling cocaine addiction in the eighties, with him eventually relapsing badly on booze when shooting Community.

Indeed, Community seems like it proved to be Chase’s ultimate downfall when it should have been his comeback, as initially he earned great reviews for the show. But he had a famously troubled relationship with his colleagues, with none of his co-stars willing to discuss him on camera, nor does showrunner Dan Harmon, with whom he publicly feuded. Their absence speaks volumes, as does the lack of famous colleagues like Bill Murray or Steve Martin (although Martin Short is on hand — even if the “amusing” stories he tells about Chase, such as when he beaned Mary Hart in the head with a dinner roll, make him sound insufferable).

What’s especially sad is that Chase, at this point in his career, seems well aware of the mixed legacy he leaves behind, with him deeply hurt that he wasn’t used in any sketches in the SNL50 schedule (he has a point — he should have been given more to do, as SNL without Chase doesn’t exist). At least Chase has found happiness in home life, and he also has a nice retirement gig going, as every December he tours with screenings of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, a movie that’s proved to be his most enduring legacy, and he seems deeply appreciative of his fans and the fact that people still love that movie.

In the end, I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not feels like an honest, fair documentary. It’s not a hack job, and it acknowledges that despite his faults, there are still many people who love him — and any man as well loved by his family as he is must have done something right.

I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not airs January 1st at 9pm ET on CNN.

Chevy Chase

AMAZING

9

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Review: Network television has long been enamored with the world of spies. For decades, espionage thrillers have been a staple of small-screen entertainment, and the world of streaming has opened up numerous new avenues for shows about spies, as well as various ways to showcase the shadowy world of government agencies and technological innovation. The latest addition to the genre is Peacock’s The Copenhagen Test. Starring Simu Liu in his most significant role since playing Shang Chi in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Copenhagen Test takes elements from shows like Alias and Mission: Impossible with a healthy dose of The Bourne Identity to deliver a binge-watch series that is chock full of technospeak and action with a twist that is meant to set it apart from everything else out there. Instead, The Copenhagen Test is a fairly by-the-numbers spy series that wastes the talent that Simu Liu has to offer.

The Copenhagen Test presents a fictional intelligence agency known as The Orphange, which contains analysts on its lower floors and active field agents at the top. Run by founder St. George (Kathleen Chalfant), The Orphanage is the utmost secret agency in the United States government. Alexander Hale (Simu Liu) works as an analyst but aspires to move up to field duty. Formerly an active duty soldier who made a decision that has haunted him, Hale suffers from panic attacks that he must keep secret from his superiors if he hopes ever to become a field operative again. There is also the fact that Hale has been implanted with technology that has turned him into a transmitter, allowing a rogue nation to access what he sees and hears. Hale’s superior, John Moira (Brian d’Arcy James), offers Hale the opportunity to turn into a sort of double agent and help The Orphanage track down who hacked him and bring them to justice.

The eight-episode first season of The Copenhagen Test quickly introduces Alexander Hale’s friends and coworkers as it structures the world around him. He has an ex-fiancée, Dr. Rachel Kasperian (Hannah Cruz), as well as a new love interest, Michelle (Melissa Barrera). Michelle, a bartender who flirts with Hale, is also connected to the espionage world of The Orphanage, which also features rival agent Cobb (Mark O’Brien) and Parker (Sinclair Daniel), as well as Hale’s mentor and former spy Victor Simonek (Saul Rubinek). As Hale tries to figure out who he can trust and who works for the enemy, the series showcases a hidden world of agencies and factions that you will need to keep notes on to stay aware of. Like Alias, the various fictional agencies come into contact with real groups, but everything is designed to save the fate of the free world from the hands of nefarious terrorists. The question is whether Hale is working for the good guys or the bad guys.

Having seen the entire first season, The Copenhagen Test differs from most network series only in that it includes profanity. The level of violence is not much different than what you would see on NBC, nor is the quality of the storytelling. The series wastes Melissa Barrera in a role that could have been more significant but is instead a fairly cliché supporting player in Alexander Hale’s story. Simu Liu is a very charismatic actor who has enough charm and comedic timing to have played this role as more capable than he is. Liu is very dour and serious, with the actors around him contributing the levity or humor that Alexander Hale is lacking. By making Hale a first-generation Chinese American, The Copenhagen Test offers a unique twist on the typical spy story. Still, it is tacked onto an overly generic techno-thriller that feels like it is covering very familiar territory. I do like Saul Rubinek and Brian d’Arcy James, who both add some dimension to their characters, but the series seems unable to use everyone consistently throughout the season.

I had hoped that, given James Wan’s involvement as a producer through Atomic Monster, the series would incorporate the director’s distinctive style or approach to storytelling. Creator Thomas Brandon (Legacies) and co-showrunner Jennifer Yale (See, Legion) do not incorporate any of Wan’s techniques into The Copenhagen Test. Instead, the writing team, which also includes Jamie Chan, Adam Benic, Marilyn Fu, Hannah Rosner, and Monica Buccini, plays by the numbers with the elements of countless spy shows and movies we have seen before. The series adopts the “mission of the week” mentality from its predecessors and eliminates some of the cursory villains and subplots, but is less reliant on them than other shows. There is a through line to the season-long narrative that offers some spins on the expected direction. Still, directors Jet Wilkinson, Nima Nourizadeh, and Kevin Tancharoen cannot elevate The Copenhagen Test above small-screen budgetary constraints that confine the action to warehouses and office buildings.

With all eight episodes dropping at once, Peacock may be hoping that audiences want something to binge after celebrating Christmas. Or, it could be a way of dumping this series as quietly as possible. The Saturday release does not bode well for The Copenhagen Test to pay off any of the cliffhangers left at the end of what was clearly designed as the first season of an ongoing series. I really like Simu Liu and had hoped that The Copenhagen Test would be the deserved star vehicle the actor should have received right after playing Shang-Chi four years ago. While harmless, The Copenhagen Test is a bland attempt at crafting an action spy story that is too bogged down in a complex techno-thriller concept, wasting the potential of the cast and leaving audiences with a forgettable series.

The Copenhagen Test premieres on December 27th on Peacock.

The Copenhagen Test

AVERAGE

6

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Review: While many may not be fans of the split release schedule for the final season of Stranger Things, you cannot deny that it has built some serious momentum for the feature-length series finale coming on New Year’s Eve. Debuting on Christmas, the three episodes that comprise Volume 2 of the fifth season are chock full of reveals about the true nature of Vecna’s powers and the existence of the Upside Down, along with vital connections to the stage play, The First Shadow. As Stranger Things careens towards its final episode, The Duffer Brothers take time to address questions that have been lingering since the first season, while also fulfilling as many fan expectations as possible. Be warned, this review contains spoilers for Volume 2 of Stranger Things 5.

Picking up directly from where Volume 1 left off, the fifth episode finds the various groups of characters still split in different locations. Hopper (David Harbour) and El (Millie Bobby Brown) have located El’s “sister” Kali (Linnea Berthelsen), who has been held prisoner by Doctor Kay (Linda Hamilton). They learn that Kay is using Kali’s blood to try to create more numbered children in an effort to harness Vecna’s powers. But, as El and Kali realize, the only blood that has enough of Henry Creel’s (Jamie Campbell Bower) essence is in El herself. Also in the Upside Down, Steve (Joe Keery) and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) clash about the rift in their friendship in the wake of Eddie Munson’s death. At the same time, Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) come to terms with their relationship troubles, even if it doesn’t serve as the right time for Jonathan to propose finally. It is while in the Hawkins Lab in the Upside Down that the quartet begins to learn the truth about the parallel world: it is actually a wormhole to another dimension.

Back in Hawkins, Will (Noah Schnapp) harnesses his ability to tap into Vecna’s Hive Mind. However, the connection Will forges with the enemy works both ways, as Vecna locates where Max (Sadie Sink) exists in the real world. Max has spent the last two years in a coma, stuck within Vecna’s prison, where she and Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher) have been trying to escape. In the guise of Mr. Whatsit, Henry has been echoing Holly’s love for the book A Wrinkle in Time, but it is not enough to hide his true motives. With twelve children kidnapped from Hawkins, Max and Holly make their escape while Eleven tries to rescue Will from Vecna once more. All of these elements converge in the seventh and last episode of Volume 2, where Stranger Things once again delivers a massive showdown that includes the true motive behind the military wanting to control the Upside Down (a Cold War arms race with Russia), and Will finally comes out as gay to Mike (Finn Wolfhard).

While Volume 2 does not boast the deaths of any major characters, it does spend a lot of time bringing the characters back together for the last battle of the series. Stranger Things has always been better when the ensemble is all in the same place, but this run of three episodes features the strongest groupings the show has had in a long time. I appreciate the connection to the Stranger Things stage play and subplots throughout the first four seasons in a way that does not feel heavy-handed but works organically within the series-long narrative. While the scale of this story has moved further away from the Amblin-esque first season, which was an homage to Steven Spielberg films like E.T. and the novels of Stephen King, this new season feels closer to Spielberg’s Jurassic Park and King’s It in sheer bombast and grandeur. By taking the onus off of Eleven having to be the sole hero, this run of episodes gives everyone, down to supporting players like Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono), a satisfying showcase.

Volume 2 begins with the second episode directed by Frank Darabont, followed by an episode helmed by Shawn Levy, and concludes with a co-directed chapter from Levy alongside The Duffer Brothers. The episodes are written by Curtis Gwinn and Kate Trefry, followed by the Duffer Brothers themselves. Darabont includes a clever nod to A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, which he wrote. The budgetary commitment from Netflix is on full display in these three impressive episodes. The Levy-directed sixth episode, “Escape from Camazotz,” is the best of the three in this volume and has some of the best scored moments courtesy of composers Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon. This volume feels like it could have been a season unto itself with Darabont, Levy, and The Duffer Brothers all in sync with a run that rivals any three episodes in the entire series.

Stranger Things 5 is shaping up to be worth the long wait since the fourth season, and justifies the controversial three-volume release schedule. Volume 2 is an intense and epic run of storytelling that already makes me sad that we only have one more episode to go. It was going to be an impossible task to live up to every fan theory and expectation. Still, the Duffer Brothers understood where they were always headed and have grown their storytelling and directorial prowess as much as the main cast has matured. While Volume 1 concluded with a massive cliffhanger that twisted expectations for the series, Volume 2 gives us an even more jaw-dropping tease of what comes next. Thankfully, we only have a week to wait to see how Stranger Things ends, and I cannot wait to see it.

Stranger Things 5 Volume 2 is now streaming. The series finale debuts on December 31st on Netflix.

Stranger Things

GREAT

8

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Review: Mainstream acceptance of same-sex relationships has reached an all-time high in the United States, but Hollywood still lags behind some countries in depictions of gay and lesbian couples on screen. Canada has done a much better job showcasing these couplings with the recent hit series Schitt’s Creek as a prime example. The new Crave series, Heated Rivalry, based on the best-selling novel series Game Changers, premiered in November with a simultaneous launch on HBO Max and has become a pop culture beacon. Starring Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie as rival professional hockey players who are also having a steamy romance, Heated Rivalry has already earned a second season before the finale hits the air. I checked out the Canadian show to see what the buzz is all about and found it to be well deserved. Heated Rivalry is a solid drama with a good dose of sports to balance out the romance.

Set across a decade starting in 2008, the six-episode first season of Heated Rivalry opens with amateur hockey phenoms Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) playing opposite each other in a tournament. Their first meeting is cold, but the hint of chemistry between the two begins to show. As they are drafted, Ottawa-born Hollander to the Montreal Metros and Russian Rosanov to the Boston Raiders, the two compete on the ice as well as in the media. The first episode of Heated Rivalry jumps weeks and months at a time as Hollander and Rosanov cross paths repeatedly before Rosanov makes a move and engages in physical contact with Hollander. The scene, set in a gym with the two players sweating and breathing hard, is constructed in a way that gives the moment maximum sexual heat without showing any nudity at all. That seems to be one of the biggest techniques that Heated Rivalry has in its favor: an intensely sexual chemistry that does not require explicit nudity to be perceived as erotic.

The series is not softcore in the least. Sex is secondary in Heated Rivalry to the romantic and relationship elements of the story. By setting the series just under two decades ago, the closeted protagonists not only have to navigate their burgeoning feelings for one another but also the stigma of being gay in professional sports. While the National Hockey League did not provide any licensing rights to the series, Heated Rivalry mimics the NHL in appearance. The short, six-episode first season of Heated Rivalry also manages to cram a lot of development into a short amount of time. The first episode alone spans multiple years, with both Hollander and Rozanov meeting secretly numerous times but never consummating their relationship. By building the sexual tension, as well as the on-ice rivalry, the series continues to amplify the connection and barriers between the two leads. The subsequent episodes also build on additional characters, including veteran player Scott Hunter (Francois Arnaud), whose own relationships impact the secrecy of Hollander and Rozanov. There is also the pressure from Hollander’s parents, Yuna (Christina Chang) and David (Dylan Walsh), who view their son as a model for Asian-Canadian kids across the country.

Both Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie are excellent in their roles as Hollander and Rozanov. The two actors both inhabit their characters and have a casual chemistry that drives the love story between the competing players. While Hollander is coming to terms with his sexuality, he also lives in fear of being outed by his teammates as well as the potential discovery of his secret by his mother, who also works as his manager. Rozanov has the burden of coming from Russia, where homosexuality is viewed in a vastly more repressed manner. He must also deal with his brother, who is constantly asking for money, as well as his father’s intense pressure for Rozanov to win at all costs as a representative of their homeland. Both Williams and Storrie have extensive experience acting in short films, with Williams having directed several. Storrie does a great Russian accent here in his most significant role since portraying the inmate who kills Arthur Fleck at the end of Joker: Folie à Deux. The two actors navigate the pitfalls of their relationship as deftly as they do their on-ice scenes. While hockey is a significant element of the series, Heated Rivalry does not feature many on-ice scenes, instead favoring brief moments in locker rooms.

Jacob Kierney, best known as co-creator of the hit Canadian series Letterkenny, wrote and directed all six episodes of Heated Rivalry. The source material for the series, Rachel Reid’s Game Changer novels, provides three books’ worth of material for Heated Rivalry, with two of these serving as the basis for the first season. By keeping this season to a modest six episodes, Kierney ensures that there is enough tension and development to keep each episode on pace, heading towards a satisfying conclusion. The fifth episode, “I’ll Believe in Anything,” has already been hailed as one of the best episodes of television this year and is considered one of the most highly regarded episodes of any series of all time. Without spoiling any of the plot, it does involve substantial revelations by characters that alter the landscape for everyone in the entire series. It is also a prime example of how Jacob Tierney transforms Heated Rivalry from being easily cast aside as a forgettable romance series to one that boasts quality dialogue and plot development, allowing it to sit alongside the better television series on the air.

Heated Rivalry is a unique series that succeeds in showcasing same-sex romance without succumbing to preaching on social issues. The series devotes a significant amount of time to developing both main characters and providing the audience with a compelling reason to invest in them throughout the entire season. A rare series that can transcend labels, Heated Rivalry may not appeal to everyone, but it will likely appeal to a broader audience than many queer-themed series have in the past. Because the series is about a gay romance but organically shows the hurdles and roadblocks in their path, it can be appreciated as much as any on-screen love story. Leave it to Canada to deliver the most accessible queer tale and make it about hockey. Heated Rivalry is a well-acted and well-written series that has earned acclaim and will surely launch Connor Storrie, Hudson Williams, and Jacob Tierney to new levels of fame.

Heated Rivalry is now streaming on HBO Max.

Heated Rivalry

GOOD

7

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Review: The first season of Fallout was a welcome surprise. With video game adaptations no longer suffering under weak budgets and lackluster production values, the subgenre has become marquee entertainment thanks to projects like The Last of Us. Fallout blended the retro-futuristic appeal of the video game franchise while forging a completely original story set within the universe of the games. Led by Ella Purnell, Walton Goggins, and Aaron Moten, the first season of Fallout benefited from Jonathan Nolan’s credibility, which helped it reach a wider audience. Now, just over a year later, we have the second season continuing the story while expanding to familiar locations like New Vegas and showcasing fan-favorite factions, all while continuing to develop the journey of Lucy MacLean, Maximus, and The Ghoul as we learn more about what happened to the world. The sophomore run of Fallout is every bit as good as the first season and includes a balance of fan service and original explorations of the post-apocalypse that is as funny as it is fun.

Season two picks up after the showdown between Lucy (Ella Purnell), The Ghoul (Walton Goggins), Maximus (Aaron Moten), and Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan) that sends them in different directions. While Lucy and The Ghould decide to track Hank towards Las Vegas, Maximus returns to the Brotherhood of Steel, where he is hailed a hero for seemingly killing Lee Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury). The season starts with the introduction of Robert House (Justin Theroux), the head of RobCo, a rival to Vault-Tec. How House factors into this season’s story unfolds across the season and is key in the first six episodes made available for this review. The division between focusing on Lucy’s journey and The Ghoul’s takes precedence over Maximus’ storyline, but both are deliberately scripted to converge narratively throughout the season. By dividing the trio who came together at the close of the first season, Fallout can explore new areas of the wastelands and introduce new factions familiar to players of the video games.

The season also returns to Vault 33, where the series began, and expands on the fate of the denizens left behind. This includes Lucy’s brother, Norm (Moises Arias), who receives a substantial increase in screen time this season, as his exploration of the true nature of the vaults parallels the discoveries of the other characters. The season also introduces Macauley Culkin and Kumail Nanjiani as new characters who seamlessly fit into the retro-futuristic world of Fallout. Many supporting characters from the first season, some of whom I didn’t think we would see again, are included in this new season, which adds to the world-building that this series does so well while also connecting plot threads that will have you going back and rewatching earlier episodes to see how they fit together. We also get game elements like supermutants and deathclaws, which are of significant importance to the season two narrative, rather than throwaway references. With Fallout already renewed for a third season, it is clear that this season is taking its time in developing the story and not rushing to include fan service. This helps the new season of Fallout feel like an inclusive and expansive world, rather than an attempt to capitalize on franchise recognition.

This season continues to benefit from the great Walton Goggins’ exploration of the dual nature of Cooper Howard/The Ghoul. Goggins has already delivered a standout performance in the third season of The White Lotus, but does even more impressive work in both flashbacks and contemporary scenes. As Cooper Howard, we see the tragic build-up to the apocalyptic bomb dropping event from the series premiere and how his wife, Barb (Frances Turner), factored into the end of the world. The emotional toll of his past plays into his present as Cooper’s transformation into The Ghoul becomes a tragic arc this season. Goggins and Ella Purnell share the most screen time this season, and it makes for some hilarious and action-packed viewing. Moises Arias gets a lot more to do this season compared to Aaron Moten, with Maximus feeling like a third-tier character. Balancing this many storylines is hard to d,o and in the episodes I have seen, the focus on Vault 33 and those who stayed there feels like it takes up far more screentime than it should. Nevertheless, with only two episodes left unseen, I have enjoyed the packed six episodes that seem to cover a lot more material than the entire first season.

While Jonathan Nolan does not direct any episodes of Season 2, duties are solidly handled by Frederick E.O. Toye on three episodes, Liz Friedlander and Stephen Williams on two episodes each, and Westworld co-creator Lisa Joy helms the sixth episode. Showrunners Geneva Robinson-Dworet and Graham Wagner wrote the premiere episode, with subsequent entries written by Chris Brady-Denton, Chaz Hawkins, Jane Espenson (Game of Thrones, Foundation), Owen Ellickson (The Office), and Dave Hill (The Wheel of Time). Each hour-long episode boasts the impressive production values we saw in the first season, with improved special effects across the board. The Ghouls’ make-up remains a highlight of the season, but the new supermutant and deathclaw characters are an impressive new addition to the mix. The soundtrack of old-school big band numbers adds to the unique look and tone of the world of Fallou,t with the entire Las Vegas set design an impressive treat for fans of the games. Even those with no experience playing the games will find this an engrossing world that is as fun to watch as it is to explore virtually.

Fallout is a rare series that can deliver video game action and violence in equal measure, accompanied by emotional and dramatic tension that ranks among the best in any television effort, regardless of genre. Yes, Fallout remains a violent and gory science-fiction world, but one that is also deeply rooted in great storytelling. Fallout is as funny as it is dramatic, and every guest star and new cast member is a fantastic addition to this world. Other than Game of Thrones or The Last of Us, there are few series that can transcend genre to appeal to as broad an audience as Fallout does. This is a brilliant series that improves on the first season and has me even more invested than I was before. Knowing that a third season is already on the way, I am eager to see how this season concludes and what audiences have in store. Fallout continues to sit at the top of the best video game adaptations of all time and may just have taken the crown.

Fallout premieres on December 16th on Prime Video.

Fallout

AMAZING

9

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Review: Through a twenty-three-year career, Kurt Sutter has written for four television series and just a single film, Southpaw. While that may not seem as lengthy a resume as other producers and showrunners, it helps to know that those series include The Shield, Sons of Anarchy, The Bastard Executioner, and Mayans M.C.. All of those series aired on FX and, except The Bastard Executioner, they lasted for multiple years. After six years. Sutter returns to the small screen with The Abandons, his first project for Netflix. A 19th-century Western, The Abandons features returning faces from Sutter’s prior series and a new historical era to explore, while retaining the blunt-edged dialogue the writer is synonymous with, as well as the brutal violence surrounding a story of family unconventional for shows or films set during the era, but timely to our current world. Led by Game of Thrones star Lena Headey and The X-Files star Gillian Anderson, The Abandons blends all of the dramatics of shows like Yellowstone and Sons of Anarchy within a nineteenth-century setting reminiscent of Deadwood and Hell on Wheels.

The seven-episode first season of The Abandons drops right into the ongoing feud between Constance Van Ness (Gillian Anderson) and Fiona Nolan (Lena Headey), the widowed matriarchs on opposite sides of a burgeoning town in the Pacific Northwest. The Van Ness clan is a wealthy family that has a powerful grasp over their city and the surrounding mines and lucrative land. On the outskirts of the community, controlling property the Van Ness family wants badly, are several families led unofficially by Fiona Nolan, who serves as an adoptive mother to multiple orphaned and outcast young people like Dahlia Teller (Diana Silvers), Albert Mason (Lamar Johnson), and Elias Teller (Nick Robinson). The multicultural mix of races, religions, and backgrounds flies against the conservative times, hence being labeled as those abandoned by their neighbors and banding together. It is the polar opposite of the traditional Van Nesses, something Constance rails against as she seeks to consolidate her family’s legacy in the name of her children, notably sons Willem (Toby Hemingway) and Garret (Lucas Till), as well as daughter Trisha (Aisling Franciosi). Very early in the series, the families are drawn opposite one another when a murder and disappearance occur, setting the stage for the rest of the season.

The world of The Abandons is populated by many familiar actors, including Michael Greyeyes as a trusted lieutenant to Constance, Michel Huisman as mercenary enforcer Mr. Roach, Patton Oswalt as the Mayor, Kurt Sutter’s wife Katey Sagal as the town madame, Sons of Anarchy‘s Ryan Hurst as an ally of the Nolans, and many Sons of Anarchy veterans including Marc Menchaca, Jack Doolan, Michael Ornstein, and Brian F. O’Byrne. The entire cast fills the period setting with an appropriate look of gritty endurance, which is enhanced by the bloody violence and sexual content that drive the era’s kill-or-be-killed mentality. This mentality does not escape the oversight of either Constance or Fiona. Both Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey portray their characters as mothers and women facing the consequences of their influential roles within their families and the community hierarchy. Still, the series does not define them purely by their gender. As a fan of the movie The Quick and the Dead, both actresses channel the same energy that Sharon Stone did in that film, embracing the gender dynamics of the time but never being defined by it.

The Abandons boasts impressive production values as the series was shot on location in Alberta, Canada, just outside of Calgary, and gives the series the rugged appearance of the American Northwest over a hundred years ago. Despite the modern ideas of women in positions of power in a traditionally male-dominated genre of storytelling, The Abandons deals a lot with the tropes of the Western. The good guys and bad guys are aligned with the values commonly seen in the genre, and both Lena Headey and Gillian Anderson play with and defy the stereotypes of the black and white-hat characters in prior Westerns. The Abandons is focused on the matriarchal characters just as much as it is on the relationships between the children of both the Van Ness and Nolan families, as we see some characters developing romantic interests in Romeo & Juliet-like pairings that defy the adversarial balance between their divided families. There are a lot of moments you will see coming a mile away in The Abandons, but that does not detract from the fun in seeing this ensemble play with and opposite one another from chapter to chapter.

The first episode and the finale are directed by Otto Bathurst, with subsequent episodes helmed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton and Stephen Surjik. Creator and executive producer Kurt Sutter wrote the first and final episodes of the season with Emmy Grinwis, Mary Kathryn Nagle, Ron Carlivati, Ryan Quan, Robert Askins, Leon Hendrix III, Sarah McCarron, and Denise Harkavy sharing credits on the remaining five episodes. Director Otto Bathurst and co-executive producer Rob Askins took over as showrunners late in the first season, following Sutter’s departure for undisclosed reasons, which may impact the direction of a potential sophomore season. It is clear by the seventh and final chapter of this season that there is plenty of story left to tell, as the resolution of the events of this season is left in a way that leaves the audience wanting to know what comes next. The creative team behind The Abandons does not make the dangerous time period and setting any less deadly for the ensemble cast, as, just like Sutter’s hit show Sons of Anarchy, any character could be killed off at any time, including the two leads.

I enjoyed this series for the same reasons I have enjoyed each of Kurt Sutter’s earlier projects. The Abandons is a thoroughly fun and engaging blend of soapy melodrama wrapped within the action and violence of the story and its setting. The entire cast is game to play cowboy, and the production values elevate this from being a throwaway attempt to cash in on Taylor Sheridan’s wave of modern Westerns. The Abandons has a great cast of young, talented actors. Still, it works thanks to Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey as intriguing leaders on opposite sides who want the best for their families as well as for themselves. The Abandons sets up an inevitable collision between Constance and Fiona that is worth the wait, even if it takes some overly formulaic paths to reach it. This series is not a revolutionary reinvention of the Western, but it plays within the genre’s sandbox while also delivering our money’s worth. I am here for more of this series as long as Headey and Anderson are at the top of the bill.

The Abandons premieres on December 4th on Netflix.

The Abandons

GOOD

7

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Review: It’s been more than a decade since audiences felt the sting of blade and sand as only Steven DeKnight’s Spartacus can deliver. Fortunately, those of us starved for Shakespearean drama amidst the arena are in luck. Spartacus: House of Ashur is here, and it feels like 2010 again in the best way possible.

While, on the surface, Spartacus: House of Ashur appears to be another blood-soaked arena drama with enough skin and debauchery to make Caligula jealous, I promise you it’s much more than that. Where the show excels in giving mature audiences what they want, with realistic gore, full-frontal nudity, and plenty of wine, House of Ashur offers more, presenting a dual tale of overcoming adversity, racism, and the corruption of power.

At House of Ashur‘s heart (or groin) is Ashur (Nick E. Tarabay), the slayer of Spartacus and “Dominus” of his own house, complete with title, a stock of glory-hungry gladiators, women, and enough drama to fill every seat in the hallowed arena. Tarabay plays Ashur with a passion that is sure to be noticed by the gods, as the actor’s theatrical background shines through in his character’s every lyrical word and decisive action. Though the show offers much more than Tarabay’s stellar scene-chewing performance, he’s a reason to tune in.

Stealing the show alongside Tarabay is the mightily bearded Graham McTavish, who plays Korris, Ashur’s “Doctore,” a stoic man of strategy who trains and manages the gladiators of the House of Ashur. By far my favorite character on the show, McTavish, explores his range by playing a queer warrior torn between his heart’s desire and remaining a respected man of the community that doesn’t care for his preferences. When McTavish isn’t kicking up sand on the training grounds, he spends much of his time with Opiter (Arlo Gibson), an influential player in the arena games and object of Korris’ repressed affection. Every scene McTavish and Gibson share is electric. Their relationship is by far my favorite to watch develop in the show, as their commitment to passion, sincerity, and intrigue is unmatched. Watch for the hot tub scene. You’ll know what I mean. Chills.

If there’s another player who deserves her time in the spotlight, it’s Tenika Davis as Achillia, the Goddess of Death. As history’s first gladiatrix, Achillia is a part of history in the making. Acquired by Ashur and urged toward the arena, Davis plays Achillia with a ferocity mostly unseen, given the rarity of gladiatrix content in popular culture. Physically and emotionally, Davis is hypnotic, pulling you toward her side with every near-defeat, defiant sacrifice, and dominance-asserting finishing move. Do not underestimate Achillia, lest you want to end up on the receiving end of a Mortal Kombat-like fatality.

Plenty of other performances make their way through the blood and dust, including those by Claudia Black, India Shaw-Smith, and Dan Hamill. Still, the first five episodes of the series offer more than visceral violence and opportunities to create drinking games using the word “cock.” The show’s political intrigue is also delicious, with every back-alley dealing and senate floor shakedown having consequences that spread throughout all of Rome. Someone is always scheming; no one is safe; and people move on plans without warning, leaving surprise attacks unexpected, even to their own audiences. There’s one skirmish in particular that has such a gnarly beginning that I audibly gasped and swore in surprise.

While I’ve only seen the first five episodes of Spartacus: House of Ashur, I eagerly await the chance to see the remainder of the season. Between the show’s unique dialect, unflinching approach to arena combat, and inclusivity about sex, relationships, and race, House of Ashur is firing on all cylinders so far.

Spartacus: House of Ashur

GOOD

7

The post Spartacus: House of Ashur TV Review: Blood, sand, and sacrifice power this stellar return to Shakespearean arena drama appeared first on JoBlo.

Plot: A year and a half after the events of the fourth season, in the fall of 1987, the group seeks to find and kill Vecna after the Rifts opened in Hawkins. The mission becomes complicated when the military arrives in Hawkins and begins hunting Eleven. As the anniversary of Will Byers’ disappearance approaches, the group must fight one last time against a deadly threat.

Review: Stranger Things fans have been desperately awaiting the final season of the series that started nearly a decade ago. As the young cast has grown older and ventured into other projects, the last chapter in the Netflix series has been a long time coming. Divided into three parts released during this holiday season, the first four episodes set up a massive blockbuster finale for the show that has been a blend of Steven Spielberg’s Amblin-style with the otherworldly horror and suspense of Stephen King. The build-up of four seasons and almost ten years of anticipation, Stranger Things 5 faces the difficult challenge of living up to impossible expectations while also delivering a satisfying conclusion to maintain the status the series has garnered as one of the most influential television shows of all time. While it is too soon to tell if Stranger Things 5 sticks the landing, Volume 1 does a great job of setting the table for the showdown between the residents of Hawkins, Indiana, and Vecna.

In the final moments of season four, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and the residents of Hawkins, Indiana, watched as the ground split and The Upside Down began to spill into the world. It was a shocking shift from the divide between the two worlds over the first four seasons, promising a change in power as the show drew to a close. If you are wondering how everyone is going about their lives with a giant crack in the middle of their town, the season begins with a quick explanation of how the military addressed the Rift, which drives their presence in the small Midwest town. Those same soldiers, led by Lt. Colonel Jack Sullivan (Sherman Augustus) and Dr Kay (Linda Hamilton), are not only in Hawkins to find a way to prevent further incursions, but they also want Eleven. As she and Hopper (David Harbour) evade capture, the rest of the gang continues with their usual activities, trying to find a way to stop Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) themselves. While Robin (Maya Hawke) and Steve (Joe Keery) utilise the local radio station, WSQK, to help their friends, others attempt to do so in their own way. Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) still sits vigil over comatose Max (Sadie Sink) while Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) still wants to avenge the late Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn).

The first volume of Stranger Things 5 moves quickly and does not play it safe. While the episodes begin with almost the entire ensemble together for the first time in a long time, the familiar divide-and-conquer approach to splitting characters into side quests and subplots occurs relatively quickly. Many of the same plot devices are back, including the rivalry between Steve and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), Nancy (Natalia Dyer) taking charge, and Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Will (Noah Schnapp) trying to mediate in the middle. The season sees the return of Murray Bauman (Brett Gelman), Erica Sinclair (Priah Ferguson), and Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono), as well as the introduction of new characters, including Derek Turnbow (Jake Connelly), and expanded roles for Mike’s younger sister, Holly (Nell Fisher). The life-or-death struggle to oppose Vecna means that no character is safe this season, and every episode keeps the tension running high with potential deaths coming from all directions. This does not diminish the characters’ exploration of romance, of course, nor does it stop the story from providing us with long-overdue explanations about Vecna and his control over the Upside Down.

Stranger Things 5 is full of callbacks to moments from the previous seasons, including connections to subplots that have been left unaddressed for quite some time. I saw some of the reveals coming early, but that does not detract from how well laid out they are in the narrative of the season. I am glad to see Noah Schnapp get a good amount of focus, as Will has often felt relegated to the sidelines since the first season, but he is as intrinsic to what happens in Stranger Things 5 as Eleven is. Millie Bobby Brown has become the most famous member of the young cast, but she seems to be a bit stuck in superhero mode in this first section of the season. David Harbour, the second most recognisable cast member, also appears to be in a somewhat backseat role in the early going. Still, much of this is due to the challenge of concluding a series like Stranger Things while giving the ensemble its due. Even with the new additions, everyone gets a fair amount of space to begin wrapping their characters, while some, like Winona Ryder and Sadie Sink, may have a little less to do. I fully expect that those who did not get spotlights in these first episodes will get their due in the final four.

Three of the first four episodes were directed by The Duffer Brothers, with legendary filmmaker Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) helming the third entry. Matt and Ross Duffer wrote the first two episodes, with Caitlin Schneiderhan and Paul Dichter scripting the third and fourth. The Duffers embrace their inner Russos with the scale and special effects this season. Stranger Things has never been shy about using CGI and stunt work, but there is a shift from a few set pieces per season to action dominating these first episodes. The final trailer for Volume 1 is primarily based on the fourth episode, which is packed with big-screen-caliber action. What is not shown is the Duffers’ trademark blend of nostalgia and pop culture references, which this season includes connections to the classic novel A Wrinkle in Time. The Kate Bush song “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” makes a return, as do the fashion changes and fads associated with the 1987 setting. The production values are as good as ever, despite the increased use of computer effects. Vecna still looks incredibly tangible, but the demogorgons have lost some of their realism.

Stranger Things 5 is the most ambitious and epic start to a season for the series to date. My review for the first season of Stranger Things was the very first posted online anywhere, and my appreciation for the Duffers’ mix of nostalgia, homage to the works of Stephen King and Steven Spielberg, and energetic return to the type of all-ages storytelling that has fallen by the wayside in recent years is still on full display in Volume 1. I am looking forward to seeing how the second volume and feature-length series finale will close out the story started back in 2016, but these four chapters bring a satisfying mix of laughs, scares, and intensity that gives me hope that the story will go out with a bang. Delivering on a scale that is on par with some summer blockbusters, Stranger Things 5 is a Thanksgiving treat that fans will be thrilled to consume over the long holiday weekend.

Stranger Things 5 Volume 1 is now streaming on Netflix. Volume 2 premieres on December 25, and the series finale premieres on December 31.

Stranger Things

GREAT

8

The post Stranger Things 5 Volume 1 TV Review: The first part of the final season is as epic as ever appeared first on JoBlo.

Review: Hold onto your Werther’s Original, folks, because Charles and Julie (Lilah Richcreek Estrada) are heading to college for the duo’s latest case. After solving his first case at the Pacific View Retirement Community, Charles quickly discovers that petty thieves and libertines make up the majority of his new clientele. Desperate for another thrilling case, Charles insists on investigating Wheeler College, where a stolen laptop threatens to shake the school’s future to its foundation. Wheeler is not as cozy a setup as Pacific View, but there’s still plenty of sleuthing to do.

It’s at Wheeler where Charles meets Mona (Mary Steenburgen), a firecracker of a music professor with a wild child still running rampant inside her. Charles and Mona quickly hit it off, and thus, we enter a romantic arc for Charles. The relationship allows Danson to delve deep into Charles’s emotions, his enduring devotion to his late wife, and what change and unpredictability can mean for a man who’s starting to love life again. It also helps that Mona is played lovingly by Mary Steenburgen, who often steals the show as Mona, a free-spirited spitfire of a woman whose storied past is the stuff of legend. She’s the opposite of Charles in many ways, but as we all know, thanks to Paula Abdul, opposites attract.

While the case of the stolen laptop and Charles’s quickly evolving relationship with Mona take center stage, Season 2 gives Estrada’s Julie more screentime by positioning her to mend fences with someone from her past; her mother. The struggle to make a meaningful and honest connection highlights Julie’s neurosis in a way that almost makes her feel inhuman, but forgiveness can sometimes be an elusive goal. There’s something about Julie that puts me off, but that’s part of the point. She’s neurotypical, a workaholic, eats childhood trauma for breakfast, and works alongside Charles, who pushes her buttons daily. It’s no wonder she’s often unapproachable or prone to backlash. Estrada plays Julie with uncanny awkwardness and frustration. It’s a fascinating mix.

Season 2 contains a handful of other stand-out performances, including Gary Cole’s Brad Vinick, a wealthy donor and Grade A, top-choice asshole in every sense of the word. Vinick oozes misogyny and cruelty. He reached the top by taking advantage of people and is in desperate need of a punch to the face every hour of every day. Then there’s Max Greenfield as Jack Beringer, President of Wheeler College, also known as a smarmy weasel wearing a skin suit. Jack is another fun character you love to hate, and Greenfield understands the assignment. He milks every moment of his performance, and there’s a moment inside a men’s bathroom that had me cackling. He’s that guy. You’ll know it when you see it.

Jason Mantzoukas pops in to play Apollo, the eccentric boyfriend of Julie’s mom, Vanessa (Constance Marie). Have you seen Brooklyn Nine-Nine? Apollo might as well be Adrian Pimento’s crunchy cousin, whose antics are nearly as confounding as his ideas and idiosyncrasies. Mantzoukas makes the most of his character’s drop-in/drop-out participation, but you won’t forget a moment spent with Apollo. Let’s say that Vanessa does the heavy-lifting for both her and Apollo.

Despite there being a fun case to solve, I couldn’t help but miss the halls of Pacific View, where the support cast and close-quarters nature of the locale lent to a more interesting yarn to pull. One holdover from Charles’s Pacific View days is Stephen McKinley Henderson’s Calbert Graham, Charles’s best friend, and my favorite character in the show. Of all the relationships in the show, Charles and Calbert’s is my favorite to watch evolve. When they’re together, it’s like watching two old souls connect, even when polite ribbing is their M.O. Graham plays Calbert with as much warmth, pith, and vinegar as he did in the first season, and you can always count on him to deliver a heart-tugging moment or two.

If you had told me two years ago that A Man on the Inside, a show starring Cheers and The Good Place alum Ted Danson, would become one of my favorite comfort shows, I’m not sure I would have believed you. Then again, I become more sentimental with each day, a sign of getting older. A Man on the Inside is targeting people like me. I might have a bullseye on my back. Then again, it’s good to get in your feelings for a bit, and surprisingly, A Man on the Inside is more than capable of giving you an excuse to get something in your eye.

A Man on the Inside

GOOD

7

The post A Man on the Inside: Season 2 TV Review: Ted Danson goes back to college for a silly, smart, and ultimately endearing mystery appeared first on JoBlo.

Review: While my IRL Dungeons & Dragons crew remains on hiatus, it sure is nice for Critical Role to give me everything I need to scratch my adventuring itch with The Mighty Nein, a mature-rated epic that never skimps on excitement, meaningful character development, and blood. Oh, so much blood.

Much like Marvel’s Thunderbolts, The Mighty Nein assembles a group of misfit “losers” to achieve an impossible task: steal an ancient relic capable of untold power before an evil wizard, Trent Ikithon, can corrupt its magic for his own wicked ends. While the Thunderbolts don’t deal in magic, the similarities shine through when focusing on the character-driven narrative. Yes, there’s plenty of mischief and magic to go around in The Mighty Nein, but the manner in which the group comes together, and by extension, learns to trust one another, is the real stuff of legend.

The Mighty Nein introduces us, essentially, to six members of the group: Caleb Widogast, a tortured pyromancer capable of much more, whose ties to the central villain complicate the mission in unexpected ways; Nott the Brave, no comma, a child Goblin who has alcoholism and a general distrust for anyone and anything; Mollymauk “Molly” Tealeaf, a traveling seer with a dark and mysterious past; Beauregard “Beau” Lionett, a foul-mouthed monk with a lone wolf complex, Fjord Stone, an imposter Captain searching for meaning and a new crew; and my absolute favorite of the bunch, Jester Lavorre, a spritely conjurer whose happy-go-lucky demanor serves as a shining light in the group’s overall darkness.

The best part about The Mighty Nein, aside from the familiar yet thrilling story, is how the writers delve into each character and flesh out their flaws to significant effect. Almost anyone can write a character with trust issues, but there’s something about the group dynamic that casts a spell of sadness over The Mighty Nein. Fate may have brought them together, but it’s common ground that brings them closer, as each member steadily discovers that survival is far more likely when friends are there to back you up.

In addition to being exciting, violent, and charming, The Might Nein is funny. The show effortlessly weaves humor into the mix, with Jester and, surprisingly, Beauregard being excellent sources of chuckles throughout the adventure. While not every character’s journey had me on the edge of my seat – I generally found Fjord’s storyline rather ho-hum until later episodes – two characters in particular caught my heart. Nott the Brave is a fascinating character to follow. We don’t learn too much about her backstory, but there’s a sadness to her that I find compelling. Her alcoholism is a significant sticking point throughout the show, making for some of The Mighty Nein‘s most heartfelt and somber emotional beats. “Don’t like… need,” Nott the Brave says about her addiction at one point in the show, a deep and abiding sadness tainting her words.

Meanwhile, Jester Lavorre is far more than smiles, dirty jokes, and a delightful accent. She believes in an entity called The Traveler, an invisible god whose absence constantly brings their existence into question. Throughout the show, Jester struggles with her faith as she’s denied confirmation of the Travel’s aid time and again. Her frustration taps into something primal when it comes to questions of faith, and though it sounds cruel to say, Jester’s struggle is some of the show’s best drama.

As of the writing of this review, I’ve only seen the first eight episodes of The Mighty Nein, so I’m keeping this report relatively spoiler-free. Suffice it to say, if you’ve ever played Dungeons & Dragons or simply enjoy compelling characters in a fantasy setting, you’ll enjoy the hell out of The Mighty Nein. The show is packed with personality, will quench your bloodlust, and puts a new, uncomplicated spin on familiar story beats we’ve heard in many fantasy narratives.

The Mighty Nein

GREAT

8

The post The Mighty Nein: Season 1 TV Review – Critical Role’s bloody animated adventure is a compelling character-driven campaign of greatness appeared first on JoBlo.

Review: The Beast in Me is a series that harkens back to some of the best mystery thrillers to air on the small screen. A limited series based on an original idea and anchored by sensational lead performances, Netflix’s latest project is another win for the streaming platform, which does not follow the expected formula from its in-house creators and yet checks all the right boxes for a great binge-watch. Premiering at just the right time, The Beast in Me is the type of series that usually becomes a hit during the summertime but will debut just in time for the start of winter and give audiences something to discuss and recommend to their friends. Anchored by the great Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys and boasting the involvement from the creator of Homeland, The Beast in Me is a guilty pleasure that no one should feel bad about enjoying.

The eight-episode limited series opens with author Aggie Wiggs (Claire Danes) living in seclusion following the untimely death of her son in a car accident. Divorced from Shelley (Natalie Morales), Aggie lives in a beautiful home in an isolated subdivision. With her house falling apart and suffering from writer’s block, Aggie is surprised when infamous real estate mogul Nile Jarvis (Matthew Rhys) moves in next door with his wife, Nina (Brittany Snow). Nile is a forceful and blunt man who takes a liking to Aggie and her refusal to cower to his demands for an easement to develop a jogging path in the community. Nile is insulting and carries the stigma of being a suspect in the disappearance and possible murder of his first wife, which has made him a notorious figure in tabloids. Aggie and Nile develop a begrudging dynamic that borders on friendship as Nile insists that Aggie write a book about him. From there, the two maintain an orbit around one another that becomes more and more complex as Aggie begins to suspect that not only is Nile capable of the crimes he is accused of but that he may have committed more that involve Aggie herself.

Right away, I bought into The Beast in Me based solely on the lead actors. Claire Danes has proven her acting talent multiple times over, and reuniting here with her Homeland showrunner, Howard Gordon, was always going to result in something special. While Aggie is very different from her Homeland character of Carrie Mathison, both share past trauma and emotional volatility that make them fascinating to watch. In The Beast in Me, Danes gives Aggie a blend of paranoia, survivor’s guilt, and a skill as an investigator that evolves over the series as we learn more about the death of her son and how it impacts every fiber of Aggie’s being. Aggie is also a parallel to Jodie Foster’s Clarice Starling, with Matthew Rhys playing this series’ Hannibal Lecter. In an interesting twist, Jodie Foster serves as an executive producer on this series alongside Conan O’Brien. Rhys, best known for his fantastic work on the FX series The Americans as well as the under-appreciated HBO reboot of Perry Mason, makes for a chillingly seductive and charming antagonist. Nile Jarvis is a wolf in sheep’s clothing who, as the series progresses, may not even be hiding his true nature.

The supporting cast is all excellent, including familiar faces like David Lyons as FBI Agent Brian Abbot, Tim Guinee as Nile’s uncle, Breaking Bad‘s Jonathan Banks as Nile’s father, Martin, The Penguin’s Dierdre O’Connell as Aggie’s editor, and Hannibal‘s Hettienne Park as Agent Erika Bretton. Brittany Snow, recently seen in Netflix’s buzzworthy The Hunting Wives, is a major player in this story and holds her own opposite Matthew Rhys and Claire Danes. While Danes gets to wallow in the emotional range of her character, Rhys is astounding and terrifying as the calculating Nile through every episode of the story. The twists and plotting of The Beast in Me feel pulpy and border on the more melodramatic primetime dramas that air on network television, but the pitch black tone of the series allows it to feel more elevated and on par with marquee series like Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and Ozark. The series is violent, scary, and mature, yet it maintains a sense of entertainment that makes it easy to binge.

The series is created by Gabe Rotter, best known for writing on the eleventh season of The X-Files. Rotter spent almost seven years developing The Beast in Me before coming to Netflix, where 24 and Homeland‘s Howard Gordon came aboard as showrunner. Rotter is credited on the first and second episodes, along with Erika Sheffer, C.A. Johnson, Daniel Pearle, Ali Liebegott, Mike Skerrett, and Howard Gordon, on the other six episodes. Director Antonio Campos and Tyne Rafaeli share credits on the series that maintains momentum across all eight episodes without missing a beat. Unlike some streaming series that claim to be limited but are extended into ongoing runs, The Beast in Me has a concrete beginning, middle, and end, delivering a satisfying conclusion. Sure, there is always potential to revive the series should it resonate with audiences, but this story feels like it closes out in the right way.

The Beast in Me is the type of series that could have failed in less skilled hands. The story borders on silly but hinges on the impeccable acting of Claire Danes, Matthew Rhys, and Brittany Snow, which keeps it from devolving into a pulpy soap opera. There are genuine stakes for these characters who feel three-dimensional and fully realized, even if their decisions can be confounding and frustrating to the viewers at home. By the final episode, which I think many of you will binge to get to, you will witness some scene-stealing work from Matthew Rhys that will continue to cement him as one of the most talented and underappreciated actors working today. The Beast in Me is chilling, exciting, and a bold return to form for Danes and Rhys, and I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

The Beast in Me premieres on November 13th on Netflix.

Matthew Rhys

GOOD

7

The post The Beast in Me TV Review: Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys lead a thriller from the creator of Homeland appeared first on JoBlo.

Review: Everyone has a favorite Taylor Sheridan series. Those who are invested in the Yellowstone creator’s distinct brand of Americana programming have a favorite. With the flagship series off the air, Paramount has plenty of options to choose from. For all the fun offered by the range of series from the prolific showrunner, Landman is the one that feels closest in tone and scope to the Montana-set drama that started it all. After a solid first season, Landman is back for a second season with Billy Bob Thornton and Ali Larter leading the West Texas ensemble with new additions Andy Garcia and Sam Elliott. Boasting an expanded role for Demi Moore, Landman is as good as it was in the first season, as it balances family melodrama with the intense world of oil and gas drilling and the toll it takes on everyone from the frontline workers to the C-suite executives.

At the end of the first season, Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) found himself promoted to Vice President at M-Tex Oil as owner Monty Miller (Jon Hamm) suffered a fatal heart attack, leaving the company in the hands of his widow, Cami (Demi Moore). Tommy also found himself at odds with a drug dealer named Gallino (Andy Garcia), who controls the border between Texas and Mexico, where transport of his product takes place. Season two opens mere weeks after the first season finale and finds Tommy and Cami in the midst of a tumultuous transition of power as the old friends try to navigate running M-Tex without Monty. While only the first three episodes of the season were made available for this review, the story jumps right into things and carries the momentum from last season without missing a beat. The aftershocks of Monty’s death mean many are circling the land rights of M-Tex, which also means that secrets are revealed that could alter the company’s path unless Tommy and Cami can figure out how to stabilize it.

Landman balances the main arc of M-Tex and Tommy’s involvement with his family members. Tommy’s ex-wife Angela (Ali Larter) is still a force to be reckoned with, shifting from sexually voracious to on the verge of murdering Tommy, sometimes within the same scene. Daughter Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) is preparing for college as everyone still lives within a single house alongside M-Tex attorney Nathan (Colm Feore) and engineer Dale Bradley (James Jordan). We also see Tommy’s son, Cooper (Jacob Lofland), continuing his relationship with Ariana (Paulina Chavez), the widow of Cooper’s former engineering mentor. Cooper gets to finally explore his own aspirations as a landman at the start of the season, which comes with its own challenges, something he turns to Tommy to help him navigate. This season also introduces Tommy’s estranged father, T.L., played by 1883 actor Sam Elliott. Elliott is a perfect fit for this series, and his on-screen relationship with Billy Bob Thornton makes for compelling television. The entire Norris clan undergoes extensive exploration in these early episodes, and audiences are treated to multiple dramatic dinner sequences featuring face-offs between Tommy and Angela.

What has consistently engaged me about Landman, compared to some other Taylor Sheridan series, is the balance of humor alongside the drama and occasional action. The first season peppered in numerous events at various pumps and sites, ranging from accidents to crimes, and this season sees some unique events that caught me off guard. The series also provides every supporting player with a three-dimensional world to inhabit, revealing the daily lives of these characters, including attorney Rebecca Falcone (Kayla Wallace), Sheriff Walt Joeberg (Mark Collie), crew leader Boss Ramone (Mustafa Speaks), and others. With Jon Hamm gone this season, Demi Moore’s minor role is expanded to a significant part of the series, with Andy Garcia’s character also playing a key part in Landman‘s sophomore run. In just the first three episodes, I was hooked by the expansive amount of story in each hour-long episode and was more engaged than the last two seasons of Yellowstone combined.

As he did with the first season, Taylor Sheridan wrote all eight episodes of Landman’s sophomore run. The first three episodes of season two are directed by Stephen Kay, who helmed six episodes of the first season. The new season sees the return of Andrew Lockington to compose the score. The episodes I have seen expand on the characters and their backstories while continuing threads from the first season, notably the introduction of Gallino, as well as the relationship between Cooper and Ariana. The short time jump between the first and second seasons gives Landman an organic flow from the first episodes to this new batch, which also stems from the fact that production on season two began not long after the first season wrapped. Taylor Sheridan’s commitment to writing Landman comes through in the dialogue and plotting, which is the strongest work he has done on any of his series since the first season of Yellowstone. The entire cast is committed to this story and has just as much fun as they do digging into the serious elements of the narrative.

With so much in the first three episodes of season two, I cannot wait to find out where this series will go next. Learning more about Tommy’s relationship with his parents and how that shaped him, coupled with the onslaught of stress he endures from work and his family, feels central to what keeps Landman a fascinating watch. Combine that with exceptional turns from Demi Moore and Andy Garcia in expanded roles and the reliable members of the entire ensemble, and you have a series that is as fun to watch as anything on television. Landman leans into all of the things that made it a hit in season one without changing anything for the worse. Billy Bob Thornton has found a role that is more dynamic than what Kevin Costner, Sylvester Stallone, or any of the other leads of the Taylor Sheridan series have gotten to work with, and the consistency between the first season and this new run shows that this series could stay on the air for many seasons to come.

Landman premieres on November 16th on Paramount+.

Landman

GREAT

8

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Review: The trend in true crime series these days seems to be that podcasts are being adapted into documentaries, which in turn are being turned into tabloid dramas. Elevated in recent years by the boom in streaming platforms dedicating limited series to dramatizations of shocking crimes, the latest comes from producer Nick Antosca, who shepherded the acclaimed true crime dramas The Act, Candy, and A Friend of the Family in addition to his work on horror series Hannibal and Channel Zero. Murdaugh: Death in the Family is based on Mandy Matney’s podcast about the shocking murder of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh and the subsequent trial of Alex Murdaugh. Led by Jason Clarke and Patricia Arquette, Murdaugh: Death in the Family is a well-acted potboiler of a drama that channels all of the sensational details of the murder and the mark it left on the family legacy.

Spanning the years 2019 to 2023, Murdaugh: Death in the Family shifts back and forth between the multiple criminal acts committed by members of the Murdaugh family. A multi-generational family of notable attorneys in South Carolina, led by patriarch Randolph Murdaugh (Gerald McRaney), the series opens with Alex Murdaugh (Jason Clarke) calling 911 after discovering the bodies of his wife, Maggie (Patricia Arquette), and youngest son Paul (Johnny Berchtold) shot to death. The series then shifts back to show how the family headed down the path thanks to Alex’s drug abuse and embezzlement from his law firm. Before Alex’s acts could become front-page news, however, Paul was instrumental in a boating accident that claimed the life of a young woman named Mallory Beach (Madeline Popovich). As Paul’s crimes and those of Alex come to light, the family is torn apart by accusations and lies that leave the eldest son, Buster (Will Harrison), trying to find a way to clear his family name.

The eight-episode series, of which six episodes have already been released, takes a fairly conventional look at the crimes and trial that captivated true crime enthusiasts over the last few years. Based on the Murdaugh Murders Podcast, the series includes podcast creator and reporter Mandy Matney, played here by Brittany Snow. The framing story of seeing Alex Murdaugh’s secrets and lies unveiled to the world through the lens of a popular podcast feels somewhat meta in hindsight, with multiple series using the podcast angle to tell their stories, most notably Only Murders in the Building. The structure of Murdaugh: Death in the Family maintains a focus on the crimes themselves, taking dramatic liberties to enhance the tension and stakes of the story. At times, Murdaugh: Death in the Family borders on tonal similarities to Ozark or even Breaking Bad, with the story shifting from a network movie of the week to a tawdry expose.

While Murdaugh: Death in the Family is at times generic to a fault, it is elevated by the excellent lead performances of Jason Clarke and Patricia Arquette. Arquette received acclaim for her turns in Ben Stiller’s Escape at Dannemore and Severance, along with a chilling performance in The Act. At the same time, Jason Clarke has recently played a totally different type of role in the Apple TV series The Last Frontier. Both actors are at the top of their game, delving into the melodrama and nuances of playing Alex and Maggie Murdaugh, providing audiences with moments of pause as they question the motivations of everyone involved in the case. The supporting cast is all quite good, including Will Harrison and Brittany Snow as well as Jim O’Heir, Mark Pellegrino, Noah Emmerich, J. Smith-Cameron, and Gerald McRaney. Every actor channels the Southern charm of the South Carolina setting, while the story delves into the generational bias accumulated by the Murdaugh clan over the decades.

Created and produced by Michael D. Fuller (Locke & Key) and documentary filmmaker Erin Lee Carr (Stormy), Murdaugh: Death in the Family boasts a writing team that includes Anna Fishko, David Gabriel, Tika Peterson, Alana B. Lytle, Bashir Gavriel, and Gabrielle Costa. Directing duties fell to Steven Piet on three episodes along with Ingrid Jungermann, Kat Candler, Erin Lee Carr, and Jennifer Lynch. The series, set in the recent past, still feels somewhat dated and from another era, as it spans the time immediately before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Seeing a true crime series set during that era feels surreal at times, but that is also due to the familiarity of the material. Producer Nick Antosca has been central in producing recent true crime dramas, while Erin Lee Carr has focused on the documentary side of things; however, neither invests much in this adaptation’s unique aspects. It is disheartening that a shocking crime like those committed by Alex Murdaugh feels formulaic, but that could also be due to the numerous similar series hitting streaming this year.

Murdaugh: Death in the Family is a series that is good in the chronicle of a story that is too crazy to be fictional. The decisions and acts of Alex Murdaugh are disgusting and abhorrent, and seeing them told in a fictionalized setting does not make them any easier to stomach. Jason Clarke, Patricia Arquette, and the entire cast of this limited series deliver excellent work, with Clarke both physically transforming into Murdaugh’s doppelganger and giving another superb performance in a string of great roles. Murdaugh: Death in the Family is an entertaining watch, especially when consumed week by week, with each chapter leaving you guessing as to what is coming next. Even if you saw the revelations and news about the Murdaugh trial as it unfolded on the news, you will find a lot to keep you entertained as you watch this series, but it will work a lot better for those who don’t know how it ends.

Murdaugh: Death in the Family is now streaming on Hulu, with new episodes debuting every Wednesday.

Murdaugh: Death in the Family

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Review: When Batman: The Caped Crusader debuted in 2024, bat-fans rejoiced at the results of Bruce Tim’s ultimate love letter to Batman: The Animated Series. Caped Crusader thrived on the nostalgia of old heads while introducing a detective-centric Batman to a new generation. While excellent, the mature nature of Caped Crusader could be considered too adult by some parents. This concern is where Bat-Fam comes out to play. The new series from Regular Show and Summer Camp Island writer Mike Roth welcomes younger viewers with open arms, sweeping them up with Bruce Wayne’s doting dad side and young Damian’s politely mischievous penchant for getting up to no good.

If someone asked me to describe Bat-Fam in one word, that word would be charming. Everything about the show oozes good vibes, from its exciting action to its revolving door of classic supervillains, and its gentle way of leaving every episode with a valuable lesson learned. It’s refreshing to see Bruce’s fatherly instincts be as much of a going concern as his mission as Gotham’s Batman. Speaking as someone who’s read a lot of Batman comics, being a good dad isn’t always Bruce’s strong suit. So, when it does shine through – and it does all the time in Bat-Fam – it’s the gift that keeps on giving, especially in a show as adorable and funny as this one.

That’s another thing about Bat-Fam, there are times when it’s downright hilarious. Dr. Langstrom, for example, is likely my favorite character on the show, and all he does is hang out at Wayne Manor. He’s like the Guy on the Couch if he were to get up and walk around more often. Other residents of Mayne Manor include Claire, a reformed villain trapped in the body of a young, attitudinal teenager, Alicia, Alfred’s niece and one of Bruce’s oldest friends, the “ghost” of Ra’ al Ghul, a Count-Chocula-like prankster who loves his nephew Damian to the Lazarus Pits and back, and Alfred. a shriveled sweetheart with a taste for salted tea.

All the characters have fantastic chemistry with one another, both in humor and in heart. The emotional crown, though, goes to Claire. Her journey of acceptance while being the newest member of the Wayne family is my favorite emotional thread of the show. Her perspective gives newcomers their ticket through the door, while seasoned Bat-fans can appreciate the nuance of her situation. Imagine finding out the people you love are a superheroic duo. What do you do with that information? The therapy bill!

The best part about Bat-Fam is that there’s something in it for everyone. Whether you’re tuning in to see old friends, love making new ones, or want to learn more about the powers of trust and found family, Bat-Fam delivers.

Bat-Fam

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The post Bat-Fam: Season 1 TV Review: Bruce and Damian invite the whole found family to fight crime in this wholesome, Bat-tastic series appeared first on JoBlo.

Review: Vince Gilligan’s career has been defined by his critically acclaimed work as creator of both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Gilligan, who has worked on other series including The X-Files, has become synonymous with his pair of AMC series, as well as the feature film sequel El Camino, which he directed. For the first time since co-creating the short-lived procedural series Battle Creek in 2015, Gilligan is back with an ambitious Apple TV series that has been releasing mysterious teasers since its announcement. Having seen Pluribus, I am unable to divulge much about the show’s plot other than that it is closer to Gilligan’s experience writing for The X-Files than it is to Breaking Bad. While the cinematography and tone do share a lot in common with Better Call Saul as well as star Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus is unlike anything Vince Gilligan has been involved with and is distinct from anything else on the air today. While I cannot tell you what is actually going on, I can tell you that Pluribus is a surreal, funny, and dark blend of science fiction and countless other genres that will have you transfixed as you try to figure out what is coming next.

Having seen seven of the nine episodes of the first season of Pluribus, I am still trying to figure out the series’ endgame. The setup is an intriguing one that unfolds over the first two episodes and justifies the cryptic marketing leading up to the premiere. Within the first minutes of the series premiere, the cause of the bizarre behavior seen in the trailers is revealed, but the reason why remains a mystery for the entirety of the episodes I have watched. Needless to say, an event causes a significant shift in the world that sets author Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) apart from the vast majority of humanity. Encompassing the breadth of the entire planet, Carol must figure out what makes her different and if she can undo the event that has changed life on Earth as we know it. There are definite dystopian and apocalyptic elements to Pluribus, but this is not a virus or zombies or anything as we have seen on screen before. Each hour-long episode delves further into the days and weeks immediately following the event at the center of the plot, focusing on Carol as well as some unique individuals who are in a similar situation, including characters played by Samba Schutte and Carlos Manuel Vesga.

A lot of the series is set in Albuquerque, like Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, and was written by Vince Gilligan specifically for Rhea Seehorn. Seehorn, who was acclaimed for her turn as Kim Wexler in Better Call Saul, delivers a standout performance here that puts her in the spotlight of virtually every scene in every episode. Seehorn portrays Carol as a sarcastic and angry character who opposes the series’ key antagonist. While I cannot say too much, I will say the series title and hints in the trailers should give you a big clue as to what Carol is up against. The series does offer Carol several characters to interact with, namely Zosia (Karolina Wydra). The dynamic between Carol and Zosia is central to the story, requiring a lot of coordination among the various supporting actors in the ensemble, which includes some familiar faces that may surprise you. Carol is also a reluctant protagonist and acts in the way many of us would if put in similar circumstances, with her choices deepening the sense of uneasiness that pervades Pluribus. With each new reveal in the plot, the series’ narrative becomes clearer while simultaneously adding more questions for the audience. In short, Pluribus is a series that will require an investment from viewers rather than casual audiences.

Watching the first seven episodes in a short amount of time allowed me to digest the overarching plot of Pluribus in a way that differs significantly from how general audiences will. While the first two episodes premiere this week on Apple TV, the series will shift to a weekly release schedule for the rest of the season. This will allow audiences to engage in extensive theorizing about what will come next. Each episode features major reveals that impact subsequent chapters, with many likely to be divisive among audiences. I know that, as entertaining as it is to watch Rhea Seehorn in the spotlight for a full season, the series’ pacing may frustrate some viewers. This holds especially true in the second half of the season, when questionable decisions by characters significantly alter the story. Like his previous projects, Vince Gilligan has taken characters who you would not anticipate as being the protagonists of stories and developed them in ways that are something to behold. There are several moments in Pluribus where the focus shifts unexpectedly, forcing us to move our vantage point to unfamiliar places and deepen the uneasiness in the world of the series.

Creator Vince Gilligan wrote and directed the first two episodes of Pluribus, with the remaining seven written by Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock, Ariel Levine, Vera Blasi, Jenn Carroll, and Jonny Gomez. Directors on the series include Gordon Smith, Zetna Fuentes, and Gandja Monteiro. The deliberate pacing of the series captures you and will give you as many laughs as it will gasps. I can say with complete sincerity that I did not know where each episode would go next, nor was I disappointed with any of the creative choices from the writing and directing teams. The production values are excellent, giving the series a scale larger than Gilligan’s prior New Mexico-set projects, yet retaining the same Southwestern charm. The complexity of coordinating and executing some of the sequences in this series is impressive, both technically and creatively, and becomes more amazing with each new episode.

It is challenging to write a review for a series without revealing any of the concepts that define it. Still, in an effort to preserve the shocking truth behind what the series is about, I will keep these details as vague as possible. I can tell you that Vince Gilligan has created something unlike anything else he has worked on before, while maintaining the same sense of pitch-black humor he incorporated into Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Pluribus is another ambitious genre offering from Apple, but shares no similarities with anything else on their platform. Pluribus is not like anything else I can think of, despite following in the footsteps of some films and stories that I cannot share here. Trust me when I say that the writing and acting in this series, along with the resumes for Vince Gilligan and Rhea Seehorn, should be more than enough for you to give Pluribus a shot.

Pluribus premieres with two episodes on November 7th on Apple TV.

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Review: Since the founding of the United States of America, only four sitting presidents have been assassinated. While Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy are the most well-known, the bizarre events surrounding the death of James A. Garfield are just as fascinating. The limited series Death by Lightning, which draws its title from a quote by Garfield, chronicles the unexpected nomination and election of the congressman from Ohio in parallel with the delusional fixation of Charles Guiteau, who would eventually shoot the President. Comprising four episodes, Death by Lightning effectively evokes the climate of 19th-century American politics, thanks to exceptional performances from Michael Shannon and Matthew MacFadyen in the lead roles. Anchored by an ensemble of talented actors in a series that is far funnier than I would have expected, Death by Lightning is a timely political series that shows how much has changed in this country over the last century and a half, as well as how much has stayed the same.

Beginning with the June 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Death by Lightning follows the intersecting paths of James A. Garfield (Michael Shannon) and those of Charles Guiteau (Matthew MacFadyen), a mentally unstable and criminal citizen. Garfield begrudgingly agreed to give a speech nominating his fellow Ohio congressman, John Sherman (Alistair Petrie), but instead finds his rousing oratory skills landing him the party nomination for President. With James Blaine (Bradley Whitford) supporting Garfield, the nominee finds himself at odds with New York Congressman Roscoe Conkling (Shea Whigham), who controls the Republican Party through bribery, intimidation, and underhanded means, alongside his friend and future Vice President Chester A. Arthur (Nick Offerman). While Garfield proclaims no desire for the office of President, he and his wife, Lucretia (Betty Gilpin), agree that his campaign will be handled from their home in rural Ohio rather than traveling the country. Garfield’s everyman approach resonates with the electorate, ultimately leading to his election as the 20th President of the United States. Michael Shannon plays Garfield as a subdued and honorable man who, unlike most elected officials, wants to represent the people and meets with them without protection, quoted as saying, “Assassination can no more be guarded against than death by lightning; it is best not to worry about either.”

While the series devotes a great deal of time to Garfield’s campaign and his battles with both Conkling and Arthur to reform the way politics are handled and return to working for the American people, we see Charles Guiteau becoming infatuated with Garfield’s outsider approach. After a passing handshake outside of the Republican Convention, Guiteau begins developing delusions of grandeur as he stumps for Garfield. Matthew MacFadyen plays Guiteau as a distraught and mentally unstable man who forges documents, breaks into the White House, and thinks he is destined for greatness despite his disheveled appearance and lack of discernible experience. With each crossing of paths between Guiteau and the various members of the President’s cabinet, including Garfield himself, it is distressingly clear and ominous what is going to take place. But the most fascinating parts of this story are not the assassination itself but what happened after Garfield was shot. If you do not know the circumstances around Garfield’s death, you will be even more shocked when you see what unfolds on screen.

The primary roles of James A. Garfield and Charles Guiteau are central to “Death by Lightning,” but the series boasts a host of great performances. Bradley Whitford draws on his experience starring in The West Wing to lend Secretary of State James Blaine an insider’s perspective, yet still portrays a politician who believes in the refreshing platform that gets Garfield elected. Equally good is Betty Gilpin as First Lady Lucretia Garfield. Gilpin’s role is small but vital as a key voice in the President’s beliefs. We see the entire Garfield family, including daughter Mollie (Laura Marcus), who expresses many outspoken beliefs that feel just as timely in 2025 as they did in 1881. The scene-stealers in Death by Lightning are Shea Whigham and Nick Offerman. Whigham is no stranger to playing devious figures of authority, while Offerman sheds light on future President Chester A. Arthur in a way that many may not have realized. There are shades of Boardwalk Empire and Gangs of New York in the background of Death by Lightning, but this series is focused on the political drama of the brief Garfield administration.

Created and written by Mike Makowsky (Bad Education, I Think We’re Alone Now) and based on Candice Millard’s book “Destiny of the Republic”, Death by Lightning captures everything you would need to know about the 1880 election and the following year, while also making it timely and entertaining. Death by Lightning is not as formal and grand as Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, but it still manages to maintain the production values and realism of a feature film. Director Matt Ross (Captain Fantastic, Gaslit) brings a prescient eye to the tumultuous politics of the 1880s, which feel eerily similar to current events. Ross also allows Makowsky’s dialogue to be freely humorous, as the characters, notably Nick Offerman’s Chester Arthur and Matthew MacFadyen’s Charles Guiteau, act casually, not as I would have expected. There is violence, sex, and ample profanity throughout the series, but it is still respectful to the historical events that took place and still honors the Presidency. At times, the dialogue feels slightly anachronistic, but this helps the series remain accessible to a general audience.

From the opening credits to the framing of the story within a historical context, Death by Lightning is a fascinating and fast-paced look at the rise and fall of James A. Garfield, a life cut short yet one that held so much promise. Both Michael Shannon and Matthew MacFadyen excel in their roles, portraying characters that capitalize on their strengths as actors, alongside great performances by Betty Gilpin, Shea Whigham, and Nick Offerman. I am glad this series keeps the episode count low, with Matt Ross making great use of every element of Mike Makowsky’s writing. Death by Lightning sheds light on a forgotten chapter in the annals of the American presidency, serving as a poignant reminder of the high stakes that the highest office in the United States entails and the perils of public service when the will of the people is sacrificed for personal gain.

Death by Lightning premieres on November 6th on Netflix.

Death by Lightning

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Review: The Witcher has been a very lucrative franchise for Netflix, with a spin-off (Blood Origin) and two animated films complementing the flagship fantasy series. With Henry Cavill bidding farewell to the role of Geralt of Rivia two years ago, the wait for the fourth season has been a mix of curiosity surrounding the next chapter in the tale, as much as it has been anticipation in seeing Liam Hemsworth take over the title role. Returning to the single release format of the first two seasons, the fourth volume of The Witcher replicates the separate narrative arcs for Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri that structured the debut season. By dividing the protagonists, The Witcher delivers a substantial amount of storytelling in this eight-episode run, setting the stage for the fifth and final season, which is already in production. Season four of The Witcher is the most cohesive run to date, with enough blood and monsters to let you forget about Henry Cavill’s absence. Well, almost.

At the end of the third season, Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) and Geralt (Liam Hemsworth) sought Ciri (Freya Allan), who they believed was being sent to Nilfgaard by the mage Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu). Little did they know, but Vilgefortz instead delivered Teryn (Frances Pooley) as Ciri’s double while the princess was instead saved from bounty hunters by a group known as The Rats, to whom she introduced herself as Falka. As this season begins, Yennefer and Geralt are on their own journey to try to rescue Ciri. Yennefer must contend with Vilgefortz, who has destroyed the Brotherhood of Sorcerers, leaving magic on the verge of annihilation at the dark wizard’s hand. Yennefer starts this season trying to gather mages who will align with her to destroy Vilgefortz. Ciri tries to start a new life as a thief alongside The Rats while distancing herself from her true identity. While Yennefer and Geralt are seeking Ciri, she is more focused on leaving her past behind and aligning with her new companions, including new friend Mistle (Christelle Elwin).

Geralt’s journey, alongside Jaskier(Joey Batey) and the archer Milva (Meng’er Zhang), aligns them with a band of travelers led by Zoltan (Danny Woodburn). The group includes multiple characters familiar to players of the video game and the source novels, including Regis (Laurence Fishburne), an apothecary with a mysterious past. Where the early seasons of The Witcher had Geralt facing a slew of monsters as side quests on his primary journey, the second and third seasons drifted away from that towards a unified narrative. This season returns to seeing Geralt face off with some unique creatures, but they are in service of the primary goal of reuniting the white-haired hero with Yennefer and Ciri. Of the three main characters, Geralt’s story is the most entertaining as it mimics a Fellowship of the Ring-style team. Laurence Fishburne’s presence adds a fun dynamic to the plot. Fishburne is one of several recognizable additions to the cast, which also includes guest stars James Purefoy and Sharlto Copley. Copley’s character is one of my favorites in this new season, and he represents the most intriguing foil for the main characters from any season. Between Fishburne and Copley, this season has the best cast additions the series has ever had.

While both Anya Chalotra and Freya Allan have mastered their portrayals of Yennefer and Ciri, both get to do a lot more physical work this season. Both actresses hold their own in some of the season’s best action moments, with Allan especially showcasing Ciri’s training from Geralt. The biggest question many have about this season will undoubtedly be whether Liam Hemsworth can succeed Henry Cavill. Cavill’s gravelly performance as Geralt was based as much on his physical presence as a substitute for his limited dialogue. Hemsworth certainly tries to echo Cavill’s gruff demeanor, but it feels like Geralt is much more verbose in these episodes than ever before. Hemsworth cuts an imposing physical presence as Geralt, which is not quite as massive as Cavill’s but suits the character. There is a lot of action in this season, and Hemsworth is right in the mix for the majority of it. While I am sure experts performed the more dangerous stunts, Hemsworth did his fair share of the fighting. The change in actors is handled well, with the focus remaining on the story and world-building, which feels much more balanced this season than in any prior run.

Series creator Lauren Schmidt Hissrich wrote the premiere episode, with returning scribes Tania Lotia, Rae Benjamin, Troy Dangerfield, Matthew D’Ambrosio, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Clare Higgins, and Mike Ostrowski contributing to the other seven episodes. The only director returning from prior seasons is Alex Garcia Lopez, who directs two episodes. The other helmers include Sergio Mimica Green, Tricia Brock, and Jeremy Webb, who each directed a pair of episodes. The Witcher novels that serve as the source for this season include Baptism of Fire and The Tower of the Swallow, along with elements from The Lady of the Lake. The plot elements remain consistent with the fates of characters and the introduction of new plot threads as the series approaches its fifth and final season, which will likely bring together the final books in the series. Due to the complex connections to European mythology, some readers who have not read the books may be a bit confused by some of the story’s directions, but going in blind will still deliver a satisfying and well-rounded fantasy adventure.

The fourth season of The Witcher may be the best the series has delivered thus far. The story is the most cohesive and engaging with the finale setting up a shocking and epic final season to come. Liam Hemsworth holds his own as Geralt of Rivia and shares great chemistry with the entire ensemble. Even after two years away, The Witcher remains a fun and exhilarating adventure. I had a blast watching these eight episodes and appreciate the story more than I did the first twenty-four. While it is bittersweet that this marks the beginning of the end, I am impressed that Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and the rest of the writing and directing team have crafted such a solid run of storytelling. There is action, sex, violence, bloodshed, twists, turns, and lots of monsters, but none of it feels repetitive or rote. The Witcher continues to live up to expectations and, for the first time, has exceeded mine.

The Witcher premieres its fourth season on October 30th on Netflix.

The Witcher

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Review: I hope you’re down for some universe-hopping, friends, because the sophomore season of Fionna & Cake straddles Fionna-world and the Land of Ooo like a gymnast stretching before conquering a pommel horse. Gary Prince is about to realize his dream of opening the Sweet Spot, a bakery filled with confectionery delights, but only if Fionna and her friends can cut the ribbon in time for the Spot’s grand opening. Unfortunately, Queenie, Fionna’s sworn enemy, owns the land the Sweet Spot is built upon and vows to do everything within her power to keep Gary’s dream from coming true.

Meanwhile, Huntress Wizard goes in search of a cure after Finn becomes poisoned by the Heart of the Tree Forrest in the Wizard Cave. The quest takes Huntress Wizard on a multiversal adventure as she hops between Fionna-world, the Land of Ooo, and more for a remedy. Finn’s scenario creates a sense of urgency throughout the season, with everyone from Princess Bubblegum, Marceline, and Simon struggling to keep Finn alive until Huntress Wizard can return from her expedition with restorative medicine or magics. Is this starting to sound convoluted? I’ll admit there are a lot of spinning plates in Fionna & Cake Season 2, creating an exciting but uneven atmosphere of seriousness and silliness as we encounter life-threatening illnesses, relationship drama, friendship squabbles, and rites of passage.

Visually, Fionna & Cake Season 2 is a treat. No matter where you are, the environments are ultra-colorful, teeming with bizarre residents, and filled with secrets to discover. The season’s drama also introduces an unexpected maturity to the intricate web of plots. Whether Huntress Wizard is risking life and limb to save her friend Finn, Fionna is trying to get her act together while not letting her friends down, Cake is navigating a potential relationship with the silent Lord Monochromicorn, or Marshall Lee desperately attempts to come to terms with his familial bonds, there’s always something to pierce the ludacrisness and tug on your heart strings.

The Fionna and Cake series places itself in an interesting position. While the original Adventure Time series thrived on character development, zany sight gags, and wild fan theories about the Land of Ooo (is it a post-apocalyptic Candyland?), Fionna & Cake takes a more mature, somewhat depressed worldview. Fionna and Cake is a show for adults who grew up watching Adventure Time, and eventually came to learn how harsh the world truly is. While Finn and Jake battled fiendish kings and other fantasy-derived villains for most of their adventures, Fionna and Cake battle eviction, overdue bills, matters of the heart, and life-threatening illnesses as Father Time sinks his fangs into their fate. It’s a stark contract to say the least. These mature elements made for an interesting watch as I found parts of my own life reflected in Fionna’s everyday trials and tribulations. In that way, and more, Fionna & Cake is something special, though you’d best pray you can follow the many interlocking plotlines through a strange maze of overcoming self-doubt and multiversal madness.

HBO has only released seven of the ten episodes for the season at the time of this review. I hesitate to score the season at a seven when I feel that unreleased episodes could push it higher. Much like the original Adventure Time, Fionna & Cake is a rare gem that doesn’t come along in animation very often. Yes, we get plenty of adult animated wackiness from one series or another. Still, few introduce the heady, reflective elements of Fionna & Cake, a show that taps into modern woe, slavish responsibility, and interpersonal stife unlike much else on offer. If Fionna & Cake could get out from under its own weight from time to time, it could be close to perfection. While I struggle to score the show without seeing the entire season, the spinning plates continue to revolve inside my head as I wonder how it will all end.

Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake

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The post Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake: Season 2 TV Review – Multiversal madness ensues in this mature and trippy quest for salvation appeared first on JoBlo.

Review: When I was nine years old, my father locked me in a jail cell. He had a friend who worked at the local Huntington Station precinct in New York, and thought it would be hilarious to have me arrested, jokingly, and tossed in a cell. The officer on duty ushered me inside the cell and then instructed me to pay close attention to the sound of the bars as they slammed shut. I never forgot that sound. I say this because, as I binged on four seasons of Taylor Sheridan‘s Mayor of Kingstown to prepare for this review, I kept hearing that sound, propelling me back to that day when I learned about the fear of incarceration.

Sheridan’s universe isn’t for the timid. His intricate web weaves bold tales of crime, dangerous love, and death. Mayor of Kingstown includes all three, and more. While some series suffer from needless longevity, I’m thrilled to say that Season 4 is Kingstown‘s most intense, thrilling, and focused season to date.

The season begins with Mike McClusky and his brother Kyle preparing for Kyle’s prison sentence after he shot a fellow cop before they could commit a murder. The punishment and reality of being locked up hit the brothers hard, paving the way for familial drama, uncertainty, and close calls. Kyle has never questioned his life or family more than he does as he lives among those he helped put away.

While Renner commands the bulk of the season and does a fantastic job navigating the narrative’s constant twists and turns, it’s Taylor Handley who undergoes a remarkable transformation throughout the unfortunate events. By the end of the series, Kyle is a broken shell of the man he used to be, as the Devil of Survivors’ Guilt sits menacingly upon his shoulder. You can see the light leave his eyes throughout the season, essentially reducing him to a specter of Kingstown, a walking, talking reminder of how the town can steal your soul.

Speaking of soul-stealing. I do appreciate that this season pays extra attention to Mike’s capacity to deal with everything in Kingstown. In Season 4, Mike is exhausted, and on more than one occasion, asks if he can just shut his eyes and take a beat. I love this. Usually, it’s always go, go, go with these shows, paying little mind to characters’ mental health unless it’s expressly focused on. For me, the act of saying “I can’t right now. I need a minute,” humanizes Mike in ways that make him almost relatable.

New faces to the series include Edie Falco’s crookedly sharp Warden Nina Hobbs and Laura Benanti’s Officer Cindy Stephens, who’s new to Kingstown and in over her head, as anyone working the prison would be. Falco comes onto the scene like a quiet storm, riling within, ready to hurl lightning and thunder if and when she’s crossed. As good as she is on her own, Falco truly shines when Renner’s McClusky enters the equation. The duo feed off each other, bringing tension, frustration, and release as they reluctantly commiserate over their respective dilemmas. Meanwhile, Benanti’s Officer Stephens brings a welcome dose of humanity and warmth to the season as a mother of three trying to survive Kingstown and all its dangers.

While Mayor of Kingstown Season 4 is the show’s best offering yet, a handful of plotlines do wrap with a nice red bow, which left me questioning the lawlessness of the town. Still, rather than look at this as a negative, it speaks to the corruption of Kingstown and how its law enforcement and gangs run rampant in a wonderland of crime, bigotry, and territorial pissings. Should the series continue, I look forward to more, just as much as you can look forward to being stressed out for 10 episodes of bleak storytelling and bloodshed.

Mayor of Kingstown

GREAT

8

The post Mayor of Kingstown: Season 4 TV Review: Taylor Sheridan’s latest tale of corruption is also its best appeared first on JoBlo.

Review: The resurgence of Stephen King adaptations continues in a year that has seen the release of The Monkey, The Long Walk, The Life of Chuck, The Institute, and the upcoming The Running Man. The HBO prequel series It: Welcome To Derry may be the most anticipated of them all. Returning to the world of the 2017 feature film and its sequel, Welcome to Derry goes back in time to the cycle of Pennywise’s rampage in the titular town during 1962, serving as an origin story for many characters and their parents, whom we met in the movies. Digging into the thousand pages of King’s novel and expanding on mentions of the town’s history, Welcome to Derry is a worthy complement to the movies, boasting an original story that features the same style of scares, along with connections to other works in Stephen King’s expansive literary universe. It also sheds new light on the origin of what Pennywise actually is, providing a unique addition to It that honors Stephen King’s original book.

With the It films shifting their time period from 1959 to 1989, Welcome to Derry moves twenty-seven years earlier to 1962. In accordance with the lore of the novel, the series features many characters who are seen as adults in the 2017 film. Of these characters, many family names will resonate with fans of the book and movies, including Hanlon, Marsh, Uris, Bowers, and Kersh, to name a few. The Hanlon family gets a significant role in the series as young Will (Blake Cameron James) moves to town with his parents, Charlotte (Taylour Paige) and Leroy (Jovan Adepo). Leroy is a military officer brought to town by General Shaw (James Remar) to participate in a covert operation that also involves Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk). Fans of the novel will know that Dick Hallorann is a key character from The Shining who was name-checked as being part of Mike Hanlon’s grandfather’s survival at the fire that burned down The Black Spot nightclub. This major Derry event fueled Pennywise during that cycle. As Pennywise awakens from his three-decade slumber, the kids of Derry begin to see horrible things and must learn to fight back. But, this time around, it is not only the kids who are aware of what horrors lurk in the Maine town.

In the films, the adults forget about things as they grow up or leave Derry, but this series offers an original explanation for how some remember the monstrous reign of Pennywise. Without spoiling any of the twists and turns fans have in store for them, Welcome to Derry follows the formula of the movies in which various kids around town are subjected to their worst nightmares come to life as they band together to survive. The series also shows us the real-world horrors of racism still rampant in the early 1960s, combined with the supernatural terrors growing in town. This includes the local indigenous people, who have served as guardians of the land before Derry even existed, such as Rose (Kimberly Norris Guerrero), who knows more about the true nature of Pennywise than anyone else. By combining narrative angles of children and adults who must all endure the terrors of It, Welcome to Derry balances the jump scares of the movie with world-building that keeps this story growing across a full season of storytelling. Having seen five of the eight episodes of It: Welcome to Derry, I am fully invested in this story, which remains true to the tone and feel of the movies without being a carbon copy.

Through the first five episodes, It: Welcome to Derry is chock-full of easter eggs to other works by Stephen King, as well as films based on his writings. These are a treat to pick out of multiple scenes, but it is also the unique scares that distinguish Welcome to Derry. Like in the films, the monstrous creations are heavily CGI in nature, which blends their frightening nature with a sense of childlike nightmares. There is also just a hint of Pennywise’s presence, with Bill Skarsgard‘s eventual debut as the clown looming after haunting the town’s denizens, a wait that is a bit longer in this series than it was on the big screen. Nevertheless, the build-up to finally seeing Skarsgard back in costume is worth the wait, as the other scares along the way are pretty good. I would have preferred more physical effects work, but I still enjoyed the caliber of the production values here that are easily on par with the movies. It also helps that the cast is more than up to the task of fully inhabiting this fictional world, especially Taylour Paige, Chris Chalk, and Jovan Adepo. The kid actors are also impressive, with the ensemble doing great work even if they don’t immediately connect the way the Loser’s Club did in the feature films.

Andy Muschietti returns to direct the first two episodes of the series, followed by Andrew Bernstein (The Outsider) on episodes three and four, with Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr (Shogun) on the fifth. Andy Muschietti shares credit for creating the series alongside his sister, producer Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs (Pan). Fuchs serves as co-showrunner alongside Brad Caleb Kane (Crystal Lake), with the pair sharing credit on two episodes, while Kane is credited solo on one episode and Fuchs on two. The rest of the writing team includes Austin Guzman, Guadalis Del Carmen & Gabe Hobson, Helen Shang, and Cord Jefferson (Station Eleven, Watchmen). Fuchs and the Muschiettis have delivered a prequel that connects the historical period of the early 1960s to this story in a way that feels like Stephen King himself could have written it, and that is a compliment of the highest order. I am incredibly impressed that the marketing push for the series has also avoided any major reveals or twists, maintaining the integrity of the premiere episode and the direction this series takes as an early Halloween treat.

Countless series have proven the challenge it takes to adapt a franchise or feature film for the small screen, especially one with a dedicated fanbase. It: Welcome to Derry is as far from a cash grab as a series could be, with a story worth investing in that not only adds to the established tale but also improves the experience of what came before it. Welcome to Derry is good enough to have been subtitled Chapter Zero or Chapter Three with how seamlessly it connects to the original adaptations. The scares are plentiful, and the expansion of the title town makes Welcome to Derry another stellar HBO original series. This is the best of the short list of projects inspired by Stephen King. I am looking forward to the planned additional seasons that will delve even deeper into the origin of Pennywise. I am even more excited to see how much everyone enjoys this series once it debuts. You have no idea the tricks and treats you are in store for.

It: Welcome to Derry premieres on October 26th on HBO.

IT: Welcome to Derry

GREAT

8

The post It: Welcome To Derry TV Review – The Stephen King novel gets a worthy prequel chapter appeared first on JoBlo.

REVIEW: The era of streaming has meant we have gotten countless big-screen franchises continued in the form of small-screen series. But streaming has also afforded the chance for independent filmmakers to explore stories that would otherwise not have gotten the opportunity to be realized twenty years ago. Cooper Raiff has become one of the most intriguing filmmakers to watch after his festival darlings Shithouse and Cha Cha Real Smooth. With Mubi moving into the space occupied by A24 and Neon as a niche destination for filmmakers, Raiff’s series Hal & Harper was picked up out of Sundance with the hopes of garnering the same critical response as his featue films. The eight-episode series is easily Raiff’s strongest project to date and a beautiful drama about the love between siblings and parents navigating the pitfalls of everyday life. With a unique approach to handling flashbacks, Hal & Harper is a poignant series that ranks as one of the best of 2025.

Hal & Harper follows the titular siblings as they learn that their Dad (Mark Ruffalo) and his girlfriend Kate (Betty Gilpin) are going to have a baby. Hal (Cooper Raiff) is a college senior who has a strong bond with his older sister Harper (Lili Reinhart) who lives just a few miles away. Harper is struggling with her relationship with her girlfriend, Jesse (Alyah Chanelle Scott), while feeling a spark with her co-worker, Audrey (Addison Timlin). Hal is a chronic procrastinator who has an on-again, off-again relationship with classmate Abby (Havana Rose Liu). Both brother and sister have boundary issues with each other stemming from the childhood trauma of their mother abandoning the family, leaving Dad to parent solo while also deaing with his own emotional issues. The struggles that the three endure do not involve anything outside of what real people experience every day and it is that element that makes Hal & Harper incredibly easy to get lost in.

There is also something a bit different about the structure of Hal & Harper. I noticed very early that the twenty-eight-year-old Raiff seemed a bit old to be portraying a college senior while twenty-nine-year-old Lili Reinhart was younger than I would have thought in playing the older sibling. In most flashbacks to their elementary school days, we see the adult actors playing their child-like selves. Dressed as kindergartners and first-graders, Raiff and Reinhart interact with the age-appropriate actors playing classmates and friends. While this quirk could have been played for laughs as we see Cooper Raiff with a scruffy beard playing basketball with eight-year-olds, it works as a representation of Hal and Harper trapped in a statis in their lives that stems from not having a maternal presence in their lives. Mark Ruffalo does dye his hair and beard in these sequences to appear younger, but acts opposite Raiff and Reinhart as if they were children and not adults. At no point does the series feel like a joke because of thi,s nor does it detract from the dramatic moments in the flashbacks.

Four phenomenal performances anchor the series. Mark Ruffalo follows up his fantastic turn in HBO’s Task with this exceptional turn as a man getting a second chance to do right by a child while also trying to make amends for the mistakes he caused with his adult kids. Betty Gilpin is great as his girlfriend, navigating a difficult pregnancy while forging a bond with both Harper and Hal. Each character is given a strong narrative that alone could have served as the focus of this story with the rest of the cast serving as supporting players. Still, the construction of Hal & Harper interconnects each person as a fully realized story and allows each actor to take the lead as much as they help build the rest of the ensemble. Lili Reinhart receives the bulk of the stellar scenes as she portrays Harper, a surrogate parent to her brother, as well as a woman trying to learn about her past and build her future. For his part, Cooper Raiff echoes elements of his character from Cha Cha Real Smooth and has fun playing another average guy with the imagined weight of the world on his shoulders.

Consisting of seven half-hour episodes with an hour-long final chapter, Hal & Harper could have worked as a condensed feature film and cut out many of the subplots incorporated into the long-form series. Still, there is a charm to watching this tale unfold across multiple hours. Cooper Raiff creates effortless dialogue that shifts between natural and realistic banter to eloquent and poetic lines that punctuate the dramatic moments. This is also a hilarious story with the sibling dynamic shared between Raiff and Reinhart serving as one of the most charismatic pairing of actors on film. Whether it is Harper and Hal as children or adults, anyone with a sibling will recognize the natural connection shown on screen which makes their laughs brighter and their fights even more tangible. The production quality of the series keeps everything looking and feeling like an independent production and verges on almost documentarian in its authenticity.

Cooper Raiff has created an astoundingly good series with Hal & Harper that blends the emotional depths of real sibling and family relationships with the conceits of drama, comedy, and all of the feelings in between. With an eclectic soundtrack of songs and the quirky choice to have the main characters play their single-digit selves in flashback, Hal & Harper could have turned into a mockery of itself and lost the connection it forges with the audience in the first episode. This is a story that will connect with everyone who watches it and proves once again that Cooper Raiff is one of the top filmmakers to watch in the years to come. From Mark Ruffalo and Betty Gilpin to Lili Reinhart and Raiff himself, the cast of Hal & Harper represent one of the best casts of the year in a series that will end up in the top ten of everyone’s lists for best of 2025.

Harper & Hal premiered on October 19th on Mubi.

Hal & Harper

AMAZING

9

The post Hal & Harper TV Review: Cooper Raiff delivers a touching family portrait appeared first on JoBlo.

REVIEW: There is no question that Martin Scorsese is one of the most influential filmmakers of all time. The fact that the director of Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Mean Streets, The Departed, and more is still helming films is something we are fortunate to witness, as a new project hits screens every few years. At 82, we will hopefully have over a decade more time with him, but Mr. Scorsese feels like a perfectly timed reflection on Martin Scorsese’s six decades of films. Centered on a new interview with Scorsese, filmmaker Rebecca Miller, Mr. Scorsese examines the ups and downs of his work as a director, as well as the personal challenges he has faced along the way. A fascinating portrait for cinephiles, Mr. Scorsese serves as a fitting tribute to a filmmaker who has created films and documentaries that are just as reverent of their subjects.

Told across five hour-long episodes, Mr. Scorsese follows the career of Martin Scorsese from his youth through his most recent films. The first episode, “Stranger in a Strange Land,” revisits the filmmaker’s youth in New York City and utilizes family photos, as well as interviews with friends who inspired characters in movies like Mean Streets. There is a substantial amount of archival footage of Scorsese’s mother and father, filmed by Martin for his 1974 documentary Italianamerican. While Scorsese himself reflects frankly on his youth and growing up in an area of New York populated by gangsters. The footage from Scorsese’s early short films is fascinating to watch, especially for those unfamiliar with his work before his feature films, including Who’s That Knocking at My Door, Boxcar Bertha, and Mean Streets. The second episode, “All This Filming Isn’t Healthy,” centers on Scorsese meeting Robert De Niro, who is also interviewed, and directing the films Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Taxi Driver, New York, New York, and the documentary The Last Waltz. Interviews with friends, including The Band’s Robbie Robertson and director Steven Spielberg, lend some interesting firsthand experience to the mix.

Episode three, “Saint/Sinner,” opens with Scorsese’s struggles with drug addiction and the span of films that include Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, After Hours, The Color of Money, and The Last Temptation of Christ. The ups and downs of Scorsese’s career, both personally and professionally, are interesting to revisit alongside the critical perspective of his long-time editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, and his girlfriend, Isabella Rossellini. Scorsese’s daughters also provide interviews about their sometimes complex relationships with their dad during that era. Still, the analysis of Scorsese’s contemporaries, such as Spielberg, Paul Schrader, and Brian De Palma, along with current filmmakers like Spike Lee, Benny Safdie, and Ari Aster, offers an insight into how other directors perceive Martin Scorsese’s work. The fourth episode, “Total Cinema,” devotes its entire time to Scorsese’s work on Goodfellas, Cape Fear, The Age of Innocence, and Casino, with brief references towards the end to Kundun and Bringing Out the Dead. Some films receive more attention than others across the first four episodes. Still, the most famous films that Scorsese has helmed are given a thorough examination, without overlooking some of his smaller-scale projects and documentary work.

The final episode of the documentary, “Method Director,” covers the nine most recent films of Scorsese’s career, beginning with 2002’s Gangs of New York. The collaborations between Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio form the center of the last episode, with the chronology continuing to The Aviator, The Departed, and The Wolf of Wall Street, while skipping Hugo entirely. There is reflection on Scorsese’s relationships with his three daughters and his caring for his fifth wife, Helen Morris, who suffers from early-onset Parkinson’s Disease, as well as his work on projects like his George Harrison documentary, Living in a Material World, and his production company. Focus is given to his efforts to preserve world cinema, as well as his other endeavors. The exclusion of Hugo is strange since there are interviews shown that feature the film in the background. Given the considerable attention paid to Scorsese’s adult fare, particularly the level of violence and profanity in it, I was somewhat disappointed not to learn about his thoughts on Hugo, especially since it is a love letter to cinema, much like The Aviator.

Subtitled as “A Film Portrait by Rebecca Miller,” the film was initially developed as a feature documentary, similar to Miller’s documentary about her father, titled Arthur Miller: Writer. With unrestricted access to Scorsese and his extensive library of film materials from all his projects, as well as contact with friends, family, and numerous cast members and industry friends, Miller’s film is a love letter to Martin Scorsese that focuses on specific aspects of his life more than others. Scorsese’s Catholicism becomes a thread connecting his films The Last Temptation of Christ, Kundun, and Silence, while his New York upbringing factors into many others. The film was produced over the last several years, giving Miller access during the production of The Irishman and Killers of the Flower Moon. While The Irishman receives about five minutes of consideration, there is little mention of Killers of the Flower Moon, with only a couple of set photos appearing in the final minutes of the last episode and some brief behind-the-scenes shots, indicating that the movie was early in production at the time. The oversights are somewhat unusual for such a comprehensive documentary, but they are minor compared to the overall compelling and exhaustive nature.

Taken as a five-hour documentary, Mr. Scorsese is reverential of the director while still giving attention to his vices and the lows of his career. Hearing contemporaries tell stories about working with Scorsese and what he was like during the various phases of his career provides a unique insight into how he has evolved as an artist. Scorsese himself is not shy about the mistakes he has made, nor is he apologetic about the decisions he has made on his films. Mr. Scorsese is one of the most fascinating portraits of a filmmaker I have seen. He is a testament to Rebecca Miller as a documentarian who chronicles everything about one of the best directors we have. At the same time, he is still able to share insights about his life and filmography. Aside from the occasional exclusion of Hugo, I learned a great deal about the three dozen feature films that Martin Scorsese has directed and am eager to revisit them all with a new perspective on the man who made them.

Mr. Scorsese premieres on October 17th on Apple TV+.

Mr. Scorsese

AMAZING

9

The post Mr. Scorsese TV Review: An extensive deep dive into the career and impact of the filmmaker on cinematic history appeared first on JoBlo.

REVIEW: On the heels of Netflix’s latest entry in the Monster anthology, The Ed Gein Story, Peacock is delivering their own dramatic adaptation of a serial killer tale with Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy. Not to be confused with Peacock’s documentary series titled John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise (which is likely to confuse anyone anyway), the dramatic eight-part series chronicles the six-year spree of the Illinois man who would become known as the Killer Clown. Taking some dramatic liberties with the events of Gacy’s capture for the murder of Rob Piest, Devil in Disguise combines the investigation and trial of Gacy, along with flashbacks that add insight and depth to the multiple victims and how they fell prey to the murderer. It is an unconventional format compared to other recent true-crime series that puts the focus on the victims as much as the monster who took their lives.

Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy opens with the frantic search for Rob Piest (Ryker Baloun) by his mother, Elizabeth (Marin Ireland), and father, Harold (Greg Bryk), who last knew he was meeting with contractor John Wayne Gacy (Michael Chernus) for a job. The Piests go to the Des Plaines, Illinois, police, where Joe Kozenczak (James Badge Dale) assigns Detective Rafael Tovar (Gabriel Luna) to the case. By the end of the first episode, the investigation of Gacy shifts from surveillance of the contractor’s day-to-day activities to the revelation of what is hidden in the crawlspace of his Norwood Park home. The hints and teases in the opening episode are just a hint of what is to come across the series, as each chapter unveils the true darkness at the core of John Wayne Gacy. Each episode bears the name of one of Gacy’s victims, flashing back to show their lives leading to their deaths, along with the progression of Gacy’s life through his execution by lethal injection in 1994.

Most of Devil in Disguise takes place between 1976 and 1978 at the height of John Wayne Gacy’s murders, with the main cast inhabiting the horrors uncovered as the investigation took place. The cast is all solid, led by a career-best performance from Michael Chernus. Most recognizable from his roles in Severance, as well as Orange Is the New Black and Spider-Man: Homecoming, Chernus has been known mainly for his comedic roles, despite several dramatic turns. He brings a chilling physical resemblance to the real John Wayne Gacy and echoes the delivery and mannerisms from the copious interviews with the killer over the decades. Chernus presents Gacy as affable and likable, and when he switches into the darker aspects of his personality, it happens seamlessly, making it even more terrifying that this was a real person. I lived for years just miles from where Gacy murdered three dozen young men, and his legacy lives on for those who still reside in the area. The accuracy and realism of Devil in Disguise echoes what the suburban Illinois area looked like and stuck with me as I watched the series.

Unlike the brutal and macabre Monster: The Ed Gein Story, this series does not showcase reenactments of Gacy committing his crimes. In fact, virtually all of the deaths occur off-screen, with hints at the moments before and following Gacy’s horrific acts. Most of the series centers on the investigators and the trauma they experienced, as well as the attorneys on both sides of the case: Cook County prosecutor William Kunkle (Chris Sullivan) and Gacy’s defense attorney, Sam Amirante (Michael Angarano). Marin Ireland and Greg Bryk are at the forefront of the series as the most vocal family members fighting for Gacy’s prosecution, delivering brutally emotional moments in every episode. Augustus Prew portrays Gacy’s sole surviving victim, Jeffrey Rignall, who we see struggling with the aftermath of what Gacy did to him. The attention on the victims’ stories and their next of kin dealing with the horror story of Gacy’s trial and eventual execution does not lessen the chilling nature of this story, but it does transform it from being about the acts themselves to being about the injustice in how the police handled things.

The series is created by showrunner Patrick Macmanus (Dr. Death, The Girl From Plainville), who shares writing credits with Gregory Locklear, Matthew White, Yasmin Almanaseer, Ahmadu Garba, Ashley Michel Hoban, Larysa Kondracki, and Sebastian Rea. The eight-episode series was directed by MacManus, Hoban, Kondracki, Maggie Kiley, and Bille Woodruff. Producers of the Devil in Disguise documentary series, Sarah Bremner and Liz Cole, are credited as executive producers on the series. The series spends a lot of time showing the significant gaps in how law enforcement treated missing children, as well as the stigma against homosexuals that could have prevented countless Gacy victims from meeting their deaths. Each episode concludes with archival footage and photographs, as well as disclaimers that encourage viewers to contact organizations that can support at-risk teens, and provide instructions on how to contact the authorities if anyone can help identify the six remaining unnamed Gacy victims.

While John Wayne Gacy may not be as cinematic a killer as Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, or many others, his crimes are made even more evil due to his complete lack of remorse. Watching the documentary footage of Gacy is bone-chilling, but this series comes very close to dramatizing it. Michael Chernus gives the best performance to date as John Wayne Gacy, but it is the ensemble of actors playing the victims, family, and investigators that elevate this series. Devil in Disguise is a scary series, but in a very different way than other recent true crime series. This is one show you will not soon forget, and it works because of what it does not show, rather than being gory. Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy will make you uneasy and definitely think twice about why parents keep an eye on their kids as much as they do.

Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy premieres on October 16th on Peacock.

Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy

GOOD

7

The post Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy TV Review: A chilling true crime dramatization appeared first on JoBlo.

Review: It’s been 12 years since the last mainline Splinter Cell game, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist, and fans are more than ready to complete another mission with Sam Fisher, a retired, highly decorated Navy SEAL and former CIA paramilitary ops/clandestine officer. If you asked me how Sam would return to the public consciousness after so many years, a slick-looking, hyper-violent, animated spy thriller from John Wick creator Derek Kolstad would not have been my answer. However, after going dark to binge all eight episodes of Splinter Cell: Deathwatch, I can’t think of a better way to get reacquainted with our old friend.

Before we get into the details, I want to assure you that Splinter Cell: Deathwatch has the juice. While Kolstad’s plot feels vaguely familiar, the story is a well-constructed slow burn with knock-out action scenes to break the quiet tension. Co-directors Guillaume Dousse and Félicien Colmet-Daage present the world of Splinter Cell exactly as you’d expect: with slickness, grandiosity, and drenched in shadow. While appropriate, some of the darkly-lit scenes are difficult to perceive, though perhaps that’s by design. Either way, I found myself leaning into my screen on occasion to decipher who and what I was looking at. Maybe it’s time to make an appointment with my eye doctor.

Splinter Cell: Deathwatch finds Sam Fisher, voiced hauntingly by Liev Schreiber, teaming up with Zinnia McKenna (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), a fellow spy whose ex holds the key to stopping an oncoming crisis in the war for energy and power. Howell-Baptiste plays Zinnia like a scorned soldier out for revenge. Almost every word from Zinnia’s lips becomes coated with venom as she speaks about the injustices she’s endured and the severity of the mission. Her partnership with Sam is a highlight of the series, as soldiers old and new learn from each other and adjust to the times.

Those hoping for a fair amount of violence will not be disappointed, as there’s more than enough John Wick-like action peppered throughout the experience. Much like Kolstad’s live-action work, Deathwatch is chock full of clever gunplay, frenzied fisticuffs, and precision strikes lashing out at lightning speed. At several points while watching Deathwatch, I audibly commented on the animation, taking note of the fluidity of the body movements created by Sun Creature and Fost. The articulation of the limbs is nothing short of incredible, choosing realistic movements rather than hyper-stylized cartoon action. When a bullet lands, you can feel the zip of its trajectory and collision against blood and bone. When a knife nearly opens someone’s abdomen, I winced. To put it simply, the action is incredibly visceral, and I think people will enjoy it.

While the overarching plot is solid, I would have appreciated more time with the primary villains, Diana and her half-brother, Charlie. Diana is power hungry and manipulative, with visions of revenge for her father’s death dancing in her head. She’s intelligent, cunning, and quite the actress, but she underestimates Charlie’s part in her elaborate scheme. Meanwhile, Charlie is more like his half-sister than they’d care to admit, but with one significant difference: Charlie wants to watch the world burn before he’ll do anything to help fix it. The duo’s motivations are familiar to anyone intimate with power-hungry villains, which left me wanting more from their familial squabblings and inflated sense of purpose.

Overall, Splinter Cell: Deathwatch is a quick and stylish injection of espionage and engaging action for fans of the genre. Even if aspects of the story feel uninspired at times, Kolstad assembles a great cast of characters to carry out the mission while keeping you entertained. Keep your ears open for some cherry needle drops throughout the series, and consider putting the kids to bed before diving into this action-packed slow burner.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Deathwatch

GOOD

7

The post Splinter Cell: Deathwatch TV Review: Sam Fisher returns for an action-packed slow burn from John Wick creator Derek Kolstad appeared first on JoBlo.

Review: While I never encourage violence of any kind, watching Lady Scarlet feed a nobleman a knuckle sandwich with plenty of mustard is one of the most satisfying aspects of this rough and tumble regency anime. Let’s not dance around the truth. Right now, we’re living in a time when high-ranking individuals are determined to run and ruin the world. So, when an anime comes along that puts those who look down upon the 99% in their place, I can’t help but cheer.

May I Ask for One Final Thing? is off to an entertaining start. The story revolves around Lady Scarlet, the daughter of Duke Vandimion, a powerful, learned, and unconventional young woman of vast intelligence and savvy, possessing magical powers, a silver tongue, and fists of fury. Engaged to the intolerable Prince Kyle von Paristan, Scarlet entertains her fiancé’s abuse until one day, she snaps. The moment when Scarlet loses her cool, we’re off to the races. As she lays waste to an entire ballroom of nobles, the show’s “Eat the rich” theme starts showing its true colors. I am all in.

The show also boasts some wildly entertaining characters. Lady Scarlet is hypnotizing. She moves about the world as if on air, her every move deliberate and graceful. She’s five steps ahead of everyone in the room. Oh, unless you’re Prince Kyle’s more reserved, kind, and clever brother, Prince Julius von Paristan. This guy’s name might as well be Slick Dickly. He’s dripping with confidence, cunning, and precision. He’s got a hardcore crush on Scarlet, as he makes no effort to hide his affection. So far, he’s a good dude. I get the impression that Scarlet’s got eyes for someone else, but give Julius enough time, and I could see his efforts getting returned.

Finally, there’s Nanaka, a male beastkin often confused as a girl due to his androgynous figure and gender-neutral name. Nanaka is quiet, respectful, and eager to please Scarlet, knowing they share similar desires when it comes to bringing the nobility down several pegs. Beastkins, while able to transform into a human, often revert to their animalistic side. Because they’re rare and majestic, Beastkins are valuable victims of the slave trade. While slavery is illegal throughout most (if not all) of the kingdom, that hasn’t stopped various slave traders from enlisting humans and Beastkin into servitude.

Unsurprisingly, Lady Scarlet, Prince Julius, and Nanaka won’t stand for this indignation. If Prince Julius is to be king one day, he would see slavery weeded out, one slaver at a time. Meanwhile, Lady Scarlet wants to crack skulls. She gets a thrill out of it, but only if they’re of the nobility. Between the three of them, the kingdom is in for a serious attitude adjustment.

Because it’s early in the season, it’s challenging to know where the series will go and what kind of surprises await us. I’ve only watched four episodes as of this writing, and am doing my best to abide by Crunchyroll’s strict list of spoiler guidelines. Please trust me when I say there are some fun twists, fights that left me grinning ear-to-ear, and the teasing of romance elements is delicious. Every time Lady Scarlet raises her fists, I know I’m in for a good time. I audibly (and excitedly) yelled at my screen twice while watching the show, hollaring whenever Scarlet cracked a rich asshole in his square jaw.

In my estimation, May I Ask for One Final Thing? exhibits plenty of promise. The comedy is dry yet solid, the action is brief but impactful, romance is wafting through the air, and story elements that could expand the scope and scale of the series are beginning to emerge. I’m intrigued and look forward to watching more.

May I Ask for One Final Thing?

GOOD

7

The post May I Ask for One Final Thing? TV Review: Nana Ōtori’s black comedy takes a swing at the 1% with venom & vigor appeared first on JoBlo.