Review: Four years ago, Liane Moriarty’s bestselling novel, Nine Perfect Strangers, became a pulpy summer hit for Hulu. With an ensemble cast that included Regina Hall, Melissa McCarthy, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Shannon, and Nicole Kidman, the drug-fueled thriller blended some dark comedic elements within a mystery set in the remote Australian wilderness. While the David E. Kelley-created series was based on a standalone novel, the success allowed the door to be opened for a sophomore season. With Kidman returning as Masha in an all-new European location, Nine Perfect Strangers manages to improve upon the story from season one as it aims to follow in the footsteps of The White Lotus.

The first season of Nine Perfect Strangers found the title group of protagonists attending a remote retreat called Tranquilium, led by the enigmatic Masha Dmitrichenko (Nicole Kidman), who uses hallucinogenic drugs to help her guests reach a mental and psychological balance. As the guests endured visions and reached their mental breaking points, they reached clarity at the end as Masha departs, and we see her with a vision of her dead daughter by her side. The second season finds Masha a notable success after the controversial treatments from season one. It has transferred to a facility deep in the Alps called Zauberwald, run by her mentor, Helena (Lena Olin), and fellow scientist Martin (Lucas Englander). As in the first season, Masha assembles a new group of patients to undergo the next stage of her drug-induced treatment, which carries an even bigger purpose than before. The connections between the guests at Zauberwald are not clear at first nor direct, but as the eight-episode season progresses, the truth behind Masha’s experiment is revealed.

The cast of the first season was excellent, exceeding the quality of the material. Still, this season we have an even more substantial assortment of characters who all inhabit their roles wonderfully. Imogen (Annie Murphy) is a judgmental woman who struggles with her mother, Victoria (Christine Baranski), who arrives with her much younger lover, Matteo (Aras Aydin). Musicians and couple Tina (King Princess) and Wolfie (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) are dealing with a creative block that has put a wedge between them, while Peter (Henry Golding) is looking for meaning alongside his father, wealthy magnate David (Mark Strong). There is also the former nun, Agnes (Dolly de Leon), and television personality Brian (Murray Bartlett), who have all arrived to seek Masha’s guidance. As their stay at the snowed-in retreat keeps them cut off from cell service and access to outside assistance, the stakes begin to be raised as the drugs kick in. This gives us a lot of back and forth from the cast, especially Murray Bartlett, who once again steals the show as he did in The Last of Us and The White Lotus. Everyone is excellent, as no single role feels underdeveloped or wasted.

As in season one, each episode dives into the backstory of one of the ensemble cast, giving us a more profound exploration of why they seek Masha’s treatment. Dolly de Leon, a breakout star in Triangle of Sadness, offers a beautiful performance that may be one of the strongest supporting roles of the year. Murray Bartlett and Annie Murphy continue to prove themselves capable of any role they take on, and Mark Strong is once again a steadfast anchor for the entire cast. Lena Olin works well alongside Kidman and Lucas Englander, while the frigid castle location offers an entirely different tone and feel compared to the tropical first season. The most notable thing about the second season of Nine Perfect Strangers is how bad it makes the first season look. With elevated writing and a more connected narrative, I overrated the first season. Taken as individual series, each season can be watched as a standalone, but when compared to each other, this run is the better of the two by a significant margin.

While director Jonathan Levine returns after helming the entire first season, the Warm Bodies and Long Shot filmmaker shares duties with Anthony Byrne on half of the eight episodes of this season. Series creators David E. Kelley and John-Henry Butterworth remain executive producers this season but have no writing credits as the team of scribes includes Rachel Shukert, Jaclyn Moore, Dan Robert & Lisha Brooks, Sarah Sutherland, and Jonathan Levine. The new team makes excellent use of the foundation laid in the first season while expanding the story in a new direction that feels more mature and less melodramatic than the first season. Liane Moriarty’s novels have become global bestsellers but have paled compared to Big Little Lies, the marquee HBO series that Nicole Kidman headlined. Moriarty’s Apples Never Fall was another lackluster adaptation. Still, Nine Perfect Strangers has evolved from the limitations of the source material to become an even better and more engaging mystery this time, even if some of the revelations are telegraphed early in the season.

In light of how superior this second season is, I may have overrated the first season in my review. Had the first season been as well assembled as this, it would have been an even bigger hit with audiences and earned more critical praise. Nicole Kidman has built upon the vague origin of Masha in the first season to make her an even more intriguing presence here, with the potential for a third season to dig even deeper into the complex psychological issues her treatments bring to the surface. As much as I liked Kidman this season, being surrounded by this ensemble is the winning formula for this series to be the next big anthology-style hit everyone will discuss and theorize about. While the formula means we won’t see most of these characters again, the final moments of the Nine Perfect Strangers season two finale intrigue me for what comes next.

Nine Perfect Strangers premieres its second season on May 21st with two episodes on Hulu.

Nine Perfect Strangers

GOOD

7

The post Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2 TV Review: Nicole Kidman returns for another psychedelic trip with an all-new cast appeared first on JoBlo.

Review: I am not a car guy, but I am a sucker for movies and series that feature racing. I am also a sucker for kids banding together and forging a team to push back against bullies and bad guys. Whether it be The Goonies, It, or even the Harry Potter films, when a series or film can deliver a teen-centric drama without pandering to the soapier tendencies of young adult fare, it can make for a very entertaining watch. So many shows pander to the audience and treat the underage protagonists as dumb kids, but the new series Motorheads offers a refreshing change of pace. While most of the cast are in high school, the series provides a realistic portrait of a part of America not often shown in big-budget programming. With a combination of car racing, criminal factions, and a mystery underlining the entire season, Motorheads is better than you would think and can be a breakout hit for Prime Video.

Motorheads follows Zac (Michael Cimino) and his sister Caitlyn (Melissa Collazo) as they move back to their dad’s hometown in rural Pennsylvania along with their mom, Samantha (Nathalie Kelley). Living with their uncle, Logan Maddox (Ryan Phillippe), a former NASCAR mechanic who runs a fledgling auto shop, Caitlyn and Zac try to keep their connection to the Maddox family secret. Years prior, their father, Christian Maddox, was embroiled in a notorious crime that also marked his disappearance. Looking to try and reset, the teens run up against a crew of rich kids led by Harris (Josh McQueen) who race their souped-up sports cars and judge the poorer people in town. Zac kindles interest with Harris’ girlfriend, Alicia (Mia Healey), which pits the two teens opposite each other. When challenged to a race, Zac and his sister team up with local outcast Curtis (Uriah Shelton), who builds motorcycles, and aspiring artist and designer Marcel (Nicolas Cantu). They stand a chance of competing with Harris as a team, but they have to learn to work together.

As a straightforward plot, the core narrative of Motorheads works pretty well. But if that were the only driving element of the story, it would easily fall prey to feeling redundant and derivative of countless similar series and films. To complicate matters further, the dying town suffers economically, forcing many locals to turn to crime. Logan has dealt with a local gang of criminals who strip cars for parts. Led by Ray (Drake Rodger), the crew of thieves pulls off daring crimes in and around town, drawing attention from the local sheriff. It also does not help that Ray is Curtis’ older brother, adding complexity to the interconnected relationships across the ensemble cast. Curtis also has feelings for the tomboyish Caitlyn, which is also complicated in its own right. The romantic elements of the plot are the most YA part of the series, which also incorporates the mystery of what happened to Christian Maddox. This event overshadows everything in this ten-episode first season.

What elevates the story of Motorheads over countless other teen dramas is the way the characters are built as three-dimensional characters. Harris could have been dismissed as a Johnny Lawrence stereotype, and Ray could have been the greaser antagonist, but the characters’ motivations are all rendered authentically and nuanced. This is not a series about racism or sexism or anything other than locals versus outsiders, wealthy versus poor, all in service of social status and legacy. It also works as an underdog story as the teen crew assembles a cool car. The adults are also realized as full characters rather than authority figures or tropes to add roadblocks for the younger characters. Ryan Phillippe is great here as he is a mentor figure over the younger characters; he likely would have played thirty years ago. Philippe’s maturity is balanced by the excellent race sequences that elevate this from melodrama to action-drama.

Created by John A. Norris, Motorheads takes the strongest elements from YA series and enhances them with a layered ensemble of realistic characters. Norris has experience in the genre, having been a writer or executive producer on One Tree Hill, Beauty and the Beast, Bull, Deception, and All American. Norris wrote six of the ten episodes of this season, with the others penned by Adrian Dukes, Kenny Neibart, Carrie Gutenberg & Obiageli Odimegwu, and Wendy Straker Hauser. Directing duties fell to Rebecca Rodriguez, Tara Nicole Weyr, Glen Winter, and Ryan Zaragoza, with Neil Burger setting the tone and scope as director on the first two episodes. Burger’s resume includes The Illusionist, Limitless, Divergent, Voyagers, and Inheritance, all with solid action credibility and dramatic tension. Motorheads does not look or feel like a series but rather a feature film caliber production, including some of the best racing I have seen on the small screen.

With all ten episodes dropping simultaneously, Motorheads is a solid summer binge watch with intriguing characters, excellent action sequences, and enough subplots to keep you entertained and theorizing before a potential second season. If you aren’t a fan of relationship drama or car racing, you may not get as much out of this series as I did, but it exceeded my expectations as a fun watch. I would have liked less of the school stuff and more about the Maddox family and their illegal activities, but this is a pretty good start for a series not based on existing IP. As counter-programming to everything else on the airwaves, Motorheads is a decent replacement that a wider audience can enjoy

Motorheads

GOOD

7

The post Motorheads TV Review: Car racing and teen drama collide in the Ryan Phillippe-led coming-of-age series appeared first on JoBlo.

Review: Tom Segura likes messed-up humor. The comedian and podcaster has made a career by telling relatable yet slightly intrusive jokes. Along with his contemporaries Bill Burr and Bert Kreischer, Tom Segura’s brand of comedy is shockingly honest and shockingly blunt yet delivered in a way that makes you think as hard as you are laughing. Segura also loves the scope and scale of cinema and has channeled that into his new series, Bad Thoughts. A collection of loosely connected short films unified by episodic themes, Bad Thoughts is for fans of ambitious comedic series like Key & Peele, Louie, Better Things, and Dave, but through a twisted lens reminiscent of The Twilight Zone and Black Mirror. Hilarious and deeply disturbing at the same time, Bad Thoughts will have you laughing and questioning your own sick inner monologue at the same time.

The series opens with a Mission: Impossible-style film featuring Tom Segura as a black ops assassin whose only rule is that he does not kill women or children, and then proceeds to shoot a waitress in the head. What follows is an increasingly twisted series of events in which Segura’s character tries to get away from the scene but succumbs to diarrhea and offering sexual favors to his handler. The humor does not pull punches, while the production values still rival some big-screen espionage projects. It is a quick, self-contained vignette that transitions into a framing device featuring Segura in a white void as he introduces the episode’s theme. The framing space also allows Segura to share one-off jokes as he plays a contemporary equivalent to Rod Serling in The Twilight Zone.

The Twilight Zone is an apt comparison to Bad Thoughts as both series take normal activities and interactions and bend them just slightly to show a surreal take on the everyday. The darkness of where Tom Segura takes Bad Thoughts earns the series a parallel with fellow Netflix series Black Mirror, but the overall theme of Bad Thoughts is looser and freer to go places beyond technology. Segura and his writing team present everything from a spoof of the comedian’s own “feud” with country music superstar Garth Brooks to mocking Steven Seagal in a merciless short that sends up his weight, lack of physical movement in fights, and his notorious connections to Russia. In these sketches, Tom Segura takes center stage as the main antagonist; in others, he takes a back seat or does not appear. When he does, Segura does not shy away from donning costumes, wigs, or making himself out to be the butt of the joke.

The short episodes also make the series an easy binge, with some sketches ending on cliffhangers as they lead into the next entry. One recurring sketch featuring The Sopranos actor Robert Iler as Evan progressively gets weirder and connects the six episodes. There are some inconsistencies in where each episode begins, as the framing device is not always used to the same effect in each entry. As I started watching Bad Thoughts, I was convinced that there was no way that Tom Segura could top a particular short, and then he managed to do so. These shorts could easily have stayed too long or played out the central joke, but Segura knows where something is at peak comedy and never overstays its welcome. It also helps that the shorts range from spoof film trailers to innocuous stories that are just funny to form longer stories that evoke genres like noir, French New Wave, and A24 productions.

Tom Segura is the director of some episodes, alongside Jeremy Konner and Rami Hachache. Segura also leads the writing staff, featuring Konner, Hachache, Craig Gerard, Conor Galvin, Greg Tuculescu, and Matthew Zinman. The series has several notable guest stars, including Dan Stevens in multiple roles and Daniella Pineda, Shea Whigham, Kirk Fox, Bobby Lee, and Rachel Bloom. The level that Segura goes to make these films funny will depend on the audience’s sense of humor, but if you like the comedian’s style, you will be guaranteed to love this series. The production values alone rival any other comedy series on the air and reminded me of where Jordan Peele and Louis C.K. started before broadening their cinematic muscles. Segura definitely has an appreciation for film, and it shines in these stories, which are brilliantly twisted.

I laughed from the opening short in the first episode and did not stop laughing through the sixth and final episode. My biggest complaint about the series is how short it is, with most episodes barely cracking the half-hour mark. Any sketch-format series is bound to have some duds or unfunny material, but Bad Thoughts is a winner throughout and has the potential to become a perennial hit for Netflix. Whether or not we get a second season, Tom Segura has proven his skills as a writer and filmmaker of cinematic caliber projects. He has a voice destined to deliver something on par with Jordan Peele’s transition from small screen to Oscar winner. Segura has the potential to be huge after this and once you see the episode involving giant penises, you will know what I mean.

Bad Thoughts is now streaming on Netflix.

Bad Thoughts

GREAT

8

The post Bad Thoughts TV Review: Tom Segura’s hilarious series combines Black Mirror with a sense of dark humor appeared first on JoBlo.

Review: When Lost debuted in 2004, it introduced audiences to several fresh faces, including Josh Holloway. Playing the smart-ass anti-hero Sawyer, Holloway became a sex symbol and seemed to have a big career ahead. Despite a small role in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, the short-lived series Intelligence and Colony, and a supporting turn on Yellowstone, Josh Holloway has been criminally underutilized in Hollywood. Lost co-creator J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan set out to create Duster as a showcase for Holloway, which evolved into a rip-roaring retro thriller blending 1970s vibes and mystery series and an intense modern sensibility. Giving Josh Holloway a starring role tailor-made for his good looks and swagger, Duster is a solid new series with an equally impressive turn by co-lead Rachel Hilson, making this a roller coaster ride of a summer series and your next new favorite show.

Duster is set in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1972, where Jim Ellis (Josh Holloway) works as a driver for criminal kingpin Ezra Saxton (Keith David). Having lost his brother two years earlier, Jim is a smooth operator who beds women as skillfully as he gets away from enemies of Saxton’s syndicate. A loyal employee, Jim’s allegiance is tested when Nina Hayes (Rachel Hilson) arrives in town. Fresh out of Quantico, Hayes is the first Black female FBI agent and has her sights set on taking down Saxton. The Phoenix office doesn’t want her there. Still, Nina partners with the equally overlooked Navajo agent Adan (Asivak Koostachin) to turn Jim Ellis into an informant with the promise of more information on the death of his brother. Jim must now contend with searching for the truth about his brother while working with Nina and against Saxton. The complex web of double and triple crosses is only the setup for a mystery chock-full of side quests and adventures that deepen a conspiracy you will not see coming.

There are a lot of elements coming together to give Duster a refreshing yet familiar feel. When Josh Holloway is behind the wheel of his Plymouth Duster, the series carries a Smokey and the Bandit feel coupled with the adrenaline rush of getaway classics ranging from Baby Driver to Bullitt. The FBI narrative itself would have made for a fun period series with Rachel Hilson doing a great job holding her own as a woman and a Black woman working in an organization dominated by white men. Hilson, who at thirty could pass for ten years younger, is diminutive but imaginative and intuitive, and her investigation skills are fascinating to watch. As she pursues Saxton through Ellis, she uncovers a larger conspiracy that draws the various characters together, including famous names ranging from Adrienne Barbeau to Elvis Presley, Richard Nixon, and even Howard Hughes. The blend of reality and fiction gives Duster an energy that is fun and does not venture too far into Forrest Gump territory with the historical accuracy and connections.

The key to what makes this series work is Josh Holloway, who brings every bit of his Southern charm to playing Jim Ellis. This fictional Phoenix is populated with countless bad guys ranging from Sunglasses (Patrick Warburton), an Elvis aficionado, to the corrupt cop Groomes (Donal Logue) to the unseen Xavier and Mad Raoul, who are set up to be potential antagonists in a second season. Holloway takes each episode in stride as the stakes get bigger, as Ellis must keep the truth close to the vest from his father, Wade (Corbin Bernsen), and Izzy (Camille Guaty), mother to Jim’s niece Luna (Adriana Aluna Martinez). Holloway is so damn charismatic when he tries to seduce women or takes Luna for joy rides in his car to convincing anyone he crosses paths with to help him with his mission at that time. Holloway does not play Jim as a detective or a hero but rather as a Vietnam veteran who knows when he is in over his head but manages to escape by the skin of his teeth while trying to make a better life for himself and those he loves.

Duster is J.J. Abrams’ first television series he has been credited as a writer on since 2010’s short-lived Undercovers and his first project as writer since Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. Abrams and LaToya Morgan (The Walking Dead, Into the Badlands, Turn: Washington’s Spies) share script credits on the first episodes of Duster, with the rest of the season crafted by Lucas Brown Eyes, Sue Chung, Michael Horowitz, Matt Lambert, and Kendall Lampkin. All eight hour-long episodes were directed by Steph Green and Darren Grant, who perfectly capture the desert landscape of the Southwest, ranging from Palm Springs to Phoenix. Along the way, the series gets a spark of retro energy from a pumping soundtrack of era-appropriate jams that enhance the excellent production values and costumes. I barely scratched the surface of the story’s complexity, but it never becomes a chore to watch. Abrams and Morgan have found a perfect showcase for Josh Holloway that is so bespoke it could not have starred anyone else.

Duster works well as an overall series with the finale setting things up for a bolder and potentially different second season. While I think that Rachel Hilson and Josh Holloway work well opposite one another, I believe Duster could have worked just as well with the focus entirely on Jim Ellis. Not looking a day older than he did when Lost premiered two decades ago, it is long overdue that Holloway gets a project as perfect for him as Duster. I liked the short, eight-episode season and the absolute fun that the series represents, which is captured perfectly in the opening credits that echo old Hot Wheels tracks. I think audiences will connect with Ellis and Hayes and readily overlook the story’s weaker elements that are wonderfully overshadowed by the violent action, exciting chase scenes, classy nudity, and Josh Holloway’s smirking charm.

Duster premieres on May 15th on Max.

Duster

GOOD

7

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Review: A series called Murderbot seems like it would be focused on buckets of blood and bodies strewn every which way, but it is a surprisingly balanced blend of comedy and drama based on the book series by Martha Wells. With Alexander Skarsgard in the title role as the humanoid machine who hates humans as much as he dislikes working when his favorite television series is on, Murderbot faithfully interprets the source material. With impressive production values courtesy of the deep pockets at Apple Studios, Murderbot is a distinct foray into science fiction that we have not seen much of on the small screen. Buoyed by a solid ensemble cast, this is one of the most fun series of the year and another winning performance from Skarsgard that deviates from the roles he is usually associated with. With short episodes and a propulsive first season, Murderbot is a contender for series of the summer.

Murderbot centers on the titular Security Unit (Alexander Skarsgard), who works for an intergalactic corporation backing a mission undertaken by the members of a party from the Preservation Alliance. This hippie-esque group believes in inclusion and fairness. The crew, led by Doctor Mensah (Noma Dumezweni), selects the cheaper, refurbished SecUnit, who they do not know has hacked his governor module and does not technically need to protect humans at any cost. Most crew accept the SecUnit while scientist Gurathin (David Dastmalchian) is wary of the odd robot’s quirky behavior. As they settle on the distant planet for their mission, it quickly becomes evident that others have their missions on the planet, and alien creatures threaten the team. While Murderbot does not want to reveal his hacked nature, his actions soon show the team that he is not quite who or what they think he is. This leads to forged friendships and more suspicion from Gurathin as Murderbot becomes a team member, albeit a begrudging one. Tackling subjects as varied as free will, panic attacks, throuples, and corporate espionage, there are some hefty moments in Murderbot balanced against downright funny ones.

While Skarsgard’s performance has drawn comparisons to people on the autism spectrum, he never comes across as condescending or mocking of real people. Playing robots has been a challenge on screen, with Skarsgard portraying his character as a physically ripped take on Brent Spiner’s Lt. Commander Data from Star Trek. Skarsgard’s interactions with his crewmates are awkward and rigid. At the same time, his internal monologue is rife with judgment and sarcasm, giving the series a unique dichotomy when Murderbot says one thing and then brushes it off in narration. But, the series also hinges on the ensemble around him and this cast all present a lot of personalities that butt up against the robotic protagonist. Many of these performances are funny, led by Noma Dumezweni and David Dastmalchian, who are highlights of the series. Both have experience with comedy in their past, but they make their characters intriguing, likeable, and above all, realistic. Sabrina Wu, Tattiawna Jones, Akshay Khanna, and Tamara Podemski round out a great and varied group who take elements of contemporary people we all have met who embrace 21st-century values and norms and, while playing some things for laughs, never push the material into satire or mockery.

For the most part, Murderbot plays for laughs organically within the personalities and situations of the characters. While there are some broadly funny elements baked into the main plot, a lot of humor is derived from the series within the series, The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon. This soap opera show features over-the-top characters portrayed by John Cho, Clark Gregg, DeWanda Wise, and Jack McBrayer. That series may be the silliest part of Murderbot, which takes its world-building fairly seriously. While there are glimpses into Murderbot’s past involving a massacre he may have perpetrated, much of the focus on the current storyline is a heartfelt story of his growing appreciation for humans as their fondness for him increases. The characters have some pairings that happen over the season. Still, the interactions between the ensemble’s seven primary members are often interchanged and give them all a balanced amount of screen time. I loved how the finale wraps up the arcs for many characters, notably Murderbot himself and David Dastmalchian’s Gurathin.

Each entry in Martha Wells’ The Murderbot Diaries, comprised of four novellas and three full-length novels, has connections to prior entries, with the first four serving as an overarching narrative. Showrunners Chris and Paul Weitz (American Pie, About a Boy) are very faithful to the source material, with the plot keeping almost entirely to the books with some adjustments for the visual medium. The Weitz’s have a good grasp of the CGI-heavy universe this story takes place in, with the siblings writing the entire ten-episode series and helming four episodes between them. The remaining chapters are directed by Roseanne Liang, Aurora Guerrero, and Toa Fraser, helming two apiece. The half-hour format keeps the pace moving, and the series never gets bogged down in side-quests or subplots as it moves briskly through the narrative. Having read the books, I found myself enjoying this adaptation far more, thanks to the performances of the cast who bring the silliness to life in a way that does not feel like a comedy but a drama with comedic elements. Nevertheless, Murderbot is very funny.

Murderbot initially felt like it would be a throwaway series with a fun but silly concept and no real depth. Knowing the novels could sometimes read as lightweight, I was very pleased to invest in this world and these characters. Alexander Skarsgard nails the challenge of giving an emotionless automaton enough feeling and layers that you care about what he does and where he ends up. With memorable turns from Noma Dumezweni and the always great David Dastmalchian, along with the entire ensemble cast, Murderbot may be the best science fiction project on Apple TV+, and that is saying something with their deep roster of genre programming. I had a lot of fun watching this and look forward to seeing Skarsgard continue exploring this character for seasons.

Murderbot premieres with two episodes on May 16th on Apple TV+.

Murderbot

GREAT

8

The post Murderbot TV Review: Alexander Skarsgård leads the Apple TV+ sci-fi series based on the best-selling novels appeared first on JoBlo.

Review: While Rian Johnson revived the whodunit on the big screen with Knives Out and the Netflix sequel Glass Onion, his charmingly retro small-screen series Poker Face has truly proven its worth in the tried-and-true genre. Echoing classic shows like Columbo and The Rockford Files, Poker Face‘s first season centered on Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne), who solved mysteries while on the run from gangsters looking to kill her. The overarching narrative of the first season was engaging, but the standalone mysteries boasting famous guest stars turned Poker Face into must-watch programming. After a two-year wait, Poker Face is back with another ten mysteries, with even more recognizable actors joining Natasha Lyonne and Rian Johnson for a fun excursion into entertaining murder yarns with a quirky sense of humor. While it may not be the marquee series that other platforms bank on, Poker Face is a blast from start to finish and gives us something fun and funny to sink into rather than wallowing in stark drama or brutal reality.

The formula of Poker Face remains the same as in the first season. Charlie Cale has the uncanny ability to detect whether someone is lying with her signature catchphrase “bullshit” ringing out whenever she senses an utterance of untruth. The overarching narrative connects each standalone episode from last season with Beatrix Hasp (Rhea Perlman) replacing Sterling Frost Sr (Ron Perlman, no relation) as the person hunting down Charlie. Over the first few episodes of the season, Charlie is on the run from goons sent by Hasp, who track her through the mysteries she gets involved in, but that thread transitions after a few episodes to a different arc for the protagonist. How and why this narrative shift occurs sets up where Poker Face could head in the third season and beyond, and connects to Charlie’s new sidekick, Alex, played by Patti Harrison, who cannot lie. The chemistry between Natasha Lyonne and Harrison is great for the series. It works to change the dynamic of having Charlie interact with all-new supporting players from episode to episode.

The series harkens back to a bygone era of television when standalone episodes were the standard rather than the serialized drama that has become a staple of prestige series like The Last of Us, Fallout, and beyond. The localized cast and script afford the creative talent to try different things without worrying too much about cost by containing each episode as a one-off story. Poker Face‘s cast this season is impressive with the guests including Cynthia Ervio, Kumail Nanjiani, Giancarlo Esposito, Richard Kind, John Mulaney, John Cho, Adrienne C. Moore, Alia Shawkat, Awkwafina, Ben Marshall, B.J. Novak, Carol Kane, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Corey Hawkins, David Alan Grier, David Krumholtz, Davionte “GaTa” Ganter, Ego Nwodim, Gaby Hoffmann, Geraldine Viswanathan, Haley Joel Osment, Jason Ritter, Justin Theroux, Kathrine Narducci, Katie Holmes, Kevin Corrigan, Lauren Tom, Lili Taylor, Margo Martindale, Melanie Lynskey, Natasha Leggero, Patti Harrison, Rhea Perlman, Sam Richardson, Sherry Cola, Simon Helberg, Simon Rex, Taylor Schilling, and Steve Buscemi as Charlie’s CB radio buddy. The pairings of these actors also give the dynamic a fun twist, with Cynthia Erivo playing multiple characters in one episode, with actors you would not otherwise see sharing the screen, like Giancarlo Esposito and Katie Holmes, offering fun scene partners.

If the season has any shortcomings, it may be that the formula does not always give the actors enough time to inhabit their roles. Some make great use of the limited screen time and have fun with their roles, but each chapter’s one-hour running time prevents us from getting too comfortable with them. It is interesting how the villain is not always the actor you expect it to be, with some of the more recognizable actors being the victim rather than the perpetrator. Poker Face is not always a whodunit, as we always know who the killer is in the first act of the episode, leaving the charm of the mystery as to how Charlie will solve it. Natasha Lyonne’s effortless charm and charisma make Charlie one of the most interesting characters on television, and this season gives the actress more freedom to be zany, wacky, and silly. The lighter approach this season may underwhelm some. Still, I liked that I did not have to wallow in sad and depressing storylines, but can have fun with the bright colors and varied destinations Charlie Cale gets to visit over these ten episodes.

While Rian Johnson returns to direct this season, he has handed over showrunner duties to Tony Tost. Tost is best known for writing the A&E series Longmire, USA’s Damnation, AMC’s The Terror, and the 2023 film Americana starring Sydney Sweeney. Tost oversees a much lighter second season, which retains the formula that Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne have partnered on, with the actress helming multiple episodes this season, including the finale. Writers this season include Laura Deeley, Alice Ju, Wyatt Cain, Kate Thulin, Taofik Kolade, Megan Amram, Tea Ho, Raphie Cantor, Andrew Sodroski, and Lyonne herself. The episodes are all unique bits of fun with twists on the formula, sometimes negating Charlie’s lie-detecting skills and forcing her to use other tactics to solve the mystery she is faced with. The charm of these complex deaths also gives the series sequences that serve as homages to everything from Michael Mann’s Heat to Johnson’s own Knives Out, and it still leaves me with hope that we may see Charlie team up with Benoit Blanc someday.

In a time when we need a series that is just fun, light, and enjoyable while still giving us excellent writing and acting, Poker Face is hard to top. Natasha Lyonne is once again a fantastic lead character that we can love to watch, and Rian Johnson proves that he was destined to relaunch the mystery genre for a new generation. While the shift in the overarching narrative may be jarring for some viewers who liked the momentum and cliffhanger ending we had at the end of season one, this sophomore run opens up the potential for Poker Face to keep itself fresh and explore more stories without the constraints of what started Charlie’s journey in the first place. These ten episodes are a fantastic and fun watch. I hope we don’t have to wait another two years for this great show’s next season.

Poker Face season two premieres with three episodes on May 8th on Peacock.

Poker Face

AMAZING

9

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Review: If Alan Alda’s 1981 feature directorial debut, The Four Seasons, escapes your memory, you are not the only one. Despite positive reviews, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture, and ranking as one of the ten highest-grossing films of the year, The Four Seasons is remembered more for using the classic Vivaldi concertos than its unique format. Following a trio of couples across a series of vacations tied to the title, quarterly weather changes, the film co-starred Alan Alda and Carol Burnett. It looked at how marriage can impact different relationships in different ways. Tina Fey’s reimagining of the film, which was previously remade as a mini-series in 1984, updates the dynamic of the various couples for modern sensibilities while still capturing the heart of relationships and how they differ. With a great cast including Steve Carell, Will Forte, and Colman Domingo, The Four Seasons is a delightful update that treats the material respectfully while still being very funny.

Just as in the 1981 film, The Four Seasons follows couples Jack and Kate (Will Forte and Tina Fey), Danny and Claude (Colman Domingo and Marco Calvani), and Nick and Anne (Steve Carell and Kerri Kenney-Silver). While their jobs have changed and Claude replaces the original film’s Claudia to give a modernized shift to the couples, the primary focus of these long-time friends meeting up every few months for a vacation remains the same. Each vacation is set over two half-hour episodes, all occurring in a single calendar year. Starting with Spring, the couples meet at Nick and Anne’s lake house for a much-needed vacation. At first, everything is idyllic until it is revealed that one couple is on the brink of divorce, which forces the rest of the friends to try to reconcile the news within their relationships. If you have seen the original film, you likely already know which couple is ending, and that puts the rest of the story in motion. Each season progresses with the friends heading to an eco-friendly resort, followed by a weekend at their old college, and ending with a ski trip on New Year’s Eve.

While faithful to the overall narrative structure of the film, Tina Fey and her co-creators, Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield, can expand the movie’s 107-minute running time by more than double, giving each character more development. While initially the most balanced couple, Tina Fey and Will Forte’s Kate and Jack come to grips with the lull in their romance. Both Fey and Forte have worked together on Saturday Night Live, and this series represents the most mature work either has done in their career so far. Will Forte is perfect in his most restrained performance, while Fey gets to bring her trademark snarkiness, which amplifies the rest of the ensemble. Equally good are Colman Domingo and Marco Calvani as a couple in an open marriage who must contend with boundaries and health issues that threaten their deep love for one another. Both actors are exceptional talents and have a lot of fun with these characters without ever turning them into cliches. Calvani is impressive here and is an excellent counter-balance to Domingo’s strong presence.

The third couple, Nick and Anne, get to do some of the most challenging work in the series. Steve Carell has repeatedly proven his ability to handle subtle drama and broad comedy, but this is a new challenge for Kerri Kenney-Silver. While best known for her work on Reno 911!, Kenney-Silver is good here, taking some heavy material in stride with some genuinely hilarious moments. Erika Henningsen balances the cast as Ginny, the younger girlfriend of a member of the divorced couple, which throws an increasingly more awkward wrench into the dynamic of the three primary couples as one fractures and transforms one pair into two new ones. Each vacation becomes increasingly divisive, with some friendships coming to a head while others are on the brink of irreparable damage. The story builds with each two-episode arc leading into the next, with the eighth and final episode leaving room for another season if Netflix wanted to continue the story.

Vivaldi’s titular orchestral works provide a perfect score to the series, making The Four Seasons Tina Fey‘s most mature project yet. Fey’s co-creators include Lang Fisher, who co-created Netflix’s Never Have I Ever and worked with Fey on 30 Rock, as well as Tracey Wigfield, another 30 Rock veteran who served as showrunner on the revival of Saved by the Bell. The three writers lead a great team of scribes and five directors, including American Splendor helmers Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, and Oz Rodriguez and Lang Fisher, each of whom directs two episodes each. Jeff Richmond helmed one episode, and co-star Colman Domingo directed a chapter. Everyone uses the shooting locations, which offer a nice, shifting backdrop to the main story. But The Four Seasons thrives on the talented ensemble. Every actor feels likeable and relatable despite all being very wealthy and successful in their fields of work. It can sometimes be challenging to relate to hedge fund managers and designers, but the cast makes every effort to bring their characters to a realistic and believable place.

With a well-placed cameo from Alan Alda, The Four Seasons is a respectful update of the original that gives the entire cast great material to dig into that will bring you to tears as much as it makes you laugh. This funny series works as a one-off limited project or could develop into a recurring series playing on the themes of change and growth. Tina Fey has co-created a mature successor to Mean Girls that does for middle age what that classic film did for high school. I appreciate this series more now that I am in my forties than I would when I was younger, and I think the target audience will feel the same way. I never thought I would connect with a Will Forte performance like I did here, but he is one of six solid performances in The Four Seasons. It may not be a game-changer for the genre, but this is a strong series that is a very satisfying watch.

The Four Seasons premieres on May 1st on Netflix.

The Four Seasons

GOOD

7

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Review: The Netflix series You has been a consistent hit for the streaming platform after it acquired the series from Lifetime after the network aired the first season in 2018. Based on the novel by Caroline Kepnes, You follows bookstore manager Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley), who falls in love with the beautiful Guinivere Beck (Elizabeth Lail), only to be revealed as a serial killer. The twist on conventional romance with a murderous thriller element made for unique storytelling. The subsequent seasons raised the bar on twisted love stories and buckets of blood, with each new chapter getting progressively more complex and bordering on humorous. For the fourth season, You shifted its setting to Europe and adopted more of a mystery tone with Joe as something of an anti-hero. For the fifth and final season, Joe returns to his old killing grounds of New York City for a mix of over-the-top plotlines that connect everything back to the first season to bring closure for audiences. The result is an uneven but entertaining blend of narratives that brings back references across the entire series with a powerful ending that works far better than I anticipated.

Joe Goldberg is a monster. He is undoubtedly a bad guy, despite the voice-over narration that gives the audience a glimpse inside his twisted logic for his actions. Joe easily falls in love multiple times across the five seasons of You, but his marriage to Kate Galvin-Lockwood (Charlotte Ritchie) at the end of the fourth season finally seemed to put a balance in place that removed his need to kill. The beginning of the fifth season finds Joe and Kate living the perfect life in NYC as a power couple. Kate is CEO of her family company, and Joe, her adoring husband, appears on magazine covers and lives life amongst the upper one percent. Kate’s family is full of challenging personalities, including CFO Raegan, PR rep Maddie (played by Anna Camp), and her half-brother Teddy (Griffin Matthews). Joe can feed his inner demons when a challenge arises that could risk their life and security. At first, the final season of You feels like Succession crossed with Dexter, but it is just the beginning of what is in store.

While Joe’s idyllic life is undergoing some challenges, he returns periodically to the shuttered bookstore, Mooney’s, where the series began. There, Joe runs into Bronte (Madeline Brewer) with whom he shares an immediate spark and connection. I immediately felt “here we go again” as Joe’s hopeless romantic tendencies kick back into gear, and You balances Joe’s rich lifestyle with Kate alongside a burgeoning dynamic with Bronte. Over the ten-episode season, both relationships converge unexpectedly, bringing back Joe’s past victims from all four prior seasons into a showdown that could mean the end of Joe’s secret world. Madeline Brewer is fantastic as Bronte, and she gets a presence that no other character has gotten on You before, which makes her the strongest partner Joe has yet shared the screen with. That contrasts with Charlotte Ritchie’s balance with Joe and gives the series a triangle similar to the one Joe shared with Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti) and Marienne Bellamy (Tati Gabrielle) in the third season.

You has long relied on audiences loving Joe Goldberg, or at least hating that they love him. Penn Badgley effortlessly becomes Joe and transforms from season to season as the need for shifts arises. This season has a solid ensemble, especially thanks to Anna Camp and Madeline Brewer, who bring some much-needed energy to the series. This season is darkly funnier than ever, but sometimes I am unsure if the series is working as a satire or if it is pure pulpy fun. Either way, Badgley brings back moments from throughout the series that combine for one hell of a final episode. What happens to Joe and how it happens will divide audiences, but few series have stuck the landing, and the final fifteen minutes of the series finale manage to. That being said, a lot is thrown into this run of story that sometimes feels overstuffed and jammed with everything the writing team felt needed to be said and could have benefited from streamlining some elements or adding another episode in the middle.

While series co-creator Sera Gamble left after the fourth season, there was concern that this final run would feel out of sync with the rest of the series. Thankfully, showrunners Michael Foley and Justin W. Lo do justice by giving You a proper send-off that works as fan service for commitment to the first four seasons while incorporating a solid original narrative that brings everything full circle. There are a lot of connections and cameos I will not spoil here, but fans of You will be very happy with them. The writing team, led by Foley and Lo, includes Hillary Benefiel, Kelli Breslin, Neil Reynolds, Maren Caldwell, Kara Lee Corthron, Dylan Cohen, Amanda Johnson-Zetterstrom, Mairin Reed, AB Chao, and Leo Richardson. Directors include Marcos Siega, Pete Chatmon, So Yong Kim, Maggie Carey, Gaby Dellal, Erica Dunton, Charyl Dunye, and Lee Toland Krieger. This crew does a solid job of returning You to New York City and delivering a full circle season connected back to how it all started.

You has always been a twisted sibling to Dexter, another series with a dedicated fanbase that never quite worked for me like it did for general audiences. The constant narration sometimes grates, but I appreciated how Penn Badgley approached his commentary through the years. The final season of You tends to shift tone and approach multiple times through the ten-episode run, which means lots of twists and cliffhangers leading to the story’s conclusion. Some of them work better than others, but while the journey may be uneven, the final episode is one of the better series finales I have seen in a while. Fans will have their own take on whether they like how You closes out, but I appreciate the commitment to telling this story in a way that is bold and unexpected.

The final season of You premieres on April 24th on Netflix.

You

GOOD

7

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Review: I tend to be very excited every time a new Star Wars series is released. Forgive me, but as a child of the 1980s, I survived with just three movies for most of my life until the release of The Phantom Menace. Even though that film holds a special place in my heart, we live in a wonderland of Star Wars since the Disney acquisition, which has led to countless projects we would never have dreamed of thirty years ago. That being said, my enthusiasm for the series has waned once each season has wrapped, as the promise of Star Wars has sometimes felt underwhelming or diluted in the various Disney+ series bearing the franchise name. Andor debuted three years ago and, while good, did not engage me fully until the finale aired. The epic twelve episode first season of Andor delivered a Star Wars series with a grittier and more mature tone that lived up to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The second season of Andor improves on the first in every way, mainly because it is built as four mini-seasons that play like a quartet of Star Wars films rather than another television series. Not only is the second season of Andor the best Star Wars project since 1980, but it will very likely go down as one of the most impressive television seasons ever.

The first season of Andor occurred five years before the Battle of Yavin, the iconic closing sequence from the original 1977 Star Wars. For season two, showrunner and series creator Tony Gilroy has assembled three-episode arcs, each of which takes place one year closer to the Battle of Yavin and chronicles Cassian Andor’s (Diego Luna) evolution from reluctant spy to Rebel hero. It also gives us glimpses at the growing uprising against the Empire from a Jedi-free perspective. With a finite timeline leading to the events of Rogue One, Gilroy’s challenge was how to satisfactorily give Cassian Andor his due, along with the cast of characters introduced in the first season, while giving the series a reason for existing. Each narrative arc connects to serve the overall trajectory of Andor towards Rogue One, but the limited episode count means some characters get more focus than others. Interestingly, the characters you think would gain prominence may not be who you expected. With the title of the series bearing the name Andor, Diego Luna does take center stage, but there is still a great deal of time spent with the rest of the ensemble while giving substantial universe-building to the Star Wars canon.

Without divulging any spoilers, I can say that anything that the first season did that differentiated it from the rest of the Star Wars franchise, season two does more of. Andor was the first Star Wars series to feature a sex scene, albeit the prelude to one off-screen, but season two features attempted rape, drug use, and more mature material that makes the series more mature than it’s predecessor. Nothing in Andor‘s second season goes beyond the equivalent of a PG-13 rating, but it is far and away the most grown-up Star Wars has ever been. The new season does address every plot thread introduced in the first season, but does not tie everything up in a neat bow. Yes, the series dovetails directly into the start of Rogue One, much as Rogue One ended immediately where A New Hope began. But, where Rogue One killed off the entire main cast to explain their lack of appearance in Star Wars and any sequels, Andor is not nearly as brutal. You will likely be disappointed if you expect the series to neatly put everything together for you. But, if you like the potential for universe-building, Andor has plenty of opportunity to build on this new angle of the saga in future projects. How? You will have to watch and find out.

As each mini-arc will premiere on Disney+ weekly, viewers will experience the whole story from beginning to end without delay. Each three-episode arc does leave things open going into the next, but it works well as a standalone experience. The tangible nature of Andor continues to be a major asset for the series, with minimal sequences looking like CGI creations. The format does eliminate some of the “mission of the week” chapters we saw in the first season, but this is also a credit to experiencing each arc as a slice of Cassian Andor’s life. Diego Luna evolves over the second season into the man we met in Rogue One, while we get a deeper glimpse into how Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) went from rebel collaborator to leader of the Alliance. Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) and Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) also play heavily into the season with the payoff for where they ended up in the first season finale. Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgard) gets a lot of attention, but his assistant Kleya Marki (Elizabeth Dulau) is an unexpected highlight of the season. Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay) gets a nice boost this season, while Adria Arjona’s Bix Caleen gets more screen time than in season one with a devastating and surprising arc.

Tony Gilroy could easily have expanded each of these arcs into individual seasons. Still, the condensed running time keeps the pacing brisk and the narrative focused, something the first season of Andor squandered. The lean approach to storytelling means some plot elements are truncated so others can be given focus. Still, it does not mean we lose out on seeing the promised return of Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic, Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera, and Alan Tudyk as K-2SO. There are some additional surprises in store for fans who will learn new angles on Star Wars mythology, but they are subtle and not blatant cameos or fan service. Andor gives us some deep cuts that some may miss on their first watch. Gilroy’s reverence for the saga and attachment, having co-written Rogue One, are paramount to why this season works as well as it does. Gilroy wrote the first arc, which was directed by Ariel Kleiman, while Beau Willimon (House of Cards) wrote the second arc, which Kleiman also directed. The third arc is written by Tony Gilroy and directed by Janus Metz, with the final three episodes scripted by Tom Bissell and directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios. All four arcs represent a stirring and unique experience in both Star Wars and long-form storytelling.

Expectations are incredibly high for season two of Andor, and fans will not be disappointed. There was a moment in the first two episodes where I wondered if this season could live up to the hype, and then I experienced a payoff that helped cement the brilliant approach Dan Gilroy brought to this story. Andor is a top-notch espionage series and a powerful drama that rivals many non-genre shows on the air, but manages to deliver the best Star Wars story in decades without needing a single lightsaber or Force-sensitive character. Andor‘s first season may have worked even better had it been approached in the format of this season, which will easily rank as one of the best Star Wars projects of all time and an equally impressive work of television. Diego Luna has done his character service in ways Solo and Obi-Wan Kenobi tried but failed to do. This is a fantastic season that never panders through fan service but is absolutely worth watching for Star Wars fans and non-fans alike. Andor‘s second season is amazing and only disappointing because it is the last season in this series.

Andor season two premieres with three episodes on April 22nd on Disney+.

Andor

PERFECTO-MUNDO

10

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Plot: The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a savagely beautiful five-part series charting the life of Dorrigo Evans, through his passionate love affair with Amy Mulvaney, his time held captive in a POW camp, and his later years spent as a revered surgeon and reluctant war hero. An intimate character study of a complex man, a compelling portrayal of the courage and cruelty of war, and an unforgettable love story that sustains one through the darkest of times.

Review: War is hell, and I do not think a film or television series has ever deviated from that sentiment. While the horrors of battle and conflict have been central to screen productions for a century, some filmmakers still manage to find new ways to give us a glimpse of what it is like for the enlisted who have served throughout history. Based on the Booker Prize-winning novel by Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a beautiful adaptation of the book by Shaun Grant. Comprising five episodes, the limited series hails from director Justin Kurzel who directs a predominantly Australian cast that include Jacob Elordi, Odessa Young, Olivia DeJonge, and Simon Baker along with Ciaran Hinds and Heather Mitchell in a sprawling story that crosses five decades and blends multiple narratives into one of the most emotionally devastating World War II stories ever put on screen. It also boasts a career-defining role for Jacob Elordi, who has barely scratched the surface of his ability as an actor.

Set mainly in the 1940s during World War II through the late 1980s, The Narrow Road to the Deep North follows the life of Dorrigo Evans, played by Jacob Elordi in his youth and Ciaran Hinds later in life. At the start of the series, Dorrigo Evans is a medic deployed in the Pacific, leading a group of soldiers fighting for their very lives. When they are captured by the Japanese, Dorrigo and his men become prisoners of war forced to build a railroad. During this time, they are subjected to brutal torture that saps almost every drop of courage and perseverance they have in them. It is these trials that haunt Dorrigo for the rest of his life. Decades later, Ciaran Hinds portrays Dorrigo as a successful surgeon who is also the subject of a book about his heroic experience as a POW, something he is reluctant to discuss. As much as he is tormented by the deaths of his friends and comrades, Dorrigo is also torn by memories of his romance with Amy Mulvany (Odessa Young), his Uncle Keith’s (Simon Baker) second and much younger wife.

The series shifts between the brutal time Dorrigo spent as a prisoner in the Pacific and the time leading up to his capture when he romanced Ella (Olivia DeJonge) and subsequently married her while carrying on an affair with Amy. Both women represent very different sides of Dorrigo. Coming from a rich and established Australian family, Ella is vastly different from the poetry-loving Amy. Both relationships come with consequences that Dorrigo must reconcile while he is oppressed by his Japanese captors, including Major Nakamura (Show Kasamatsu). Amy and Ella sense things about the other, a rift that widens the longer Dorrigo is gone. In the present, Dorrigo is still married to Ella (Heather Mitchell), but is facing other challenges, including a malpractice complaint and a closeness with Rick Maison (Dan Wyllie) and his wife, Lynette (Essie Davis). The repercussions of Dorrigo’s past substantially impact his present and pull all three arcs together for a balanced look at Dorrigo as a man and as the result of the atrocities that war can wrought.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North has some fantastic performances, especially from Odessa Young and Ciaran Hinds, highlighting the beauty of love, the tragedy of loss, and the perils and brutality of war. Some truly difficult moments in this series rival Saving Private Ryan and even Schindler’s List, but for very different reasons. Jacob Elordi, who has seemingly topped every stellar performance with another masterful one, is as brilliant as ever, giving one of the most stirring and ranged characters ever put on screen. Seen as a sex symbol by many and evoking similarities to Robert Pattinson and Austin Butler, Elordi gives his performances as Dorrigo Evans a visceral humanity that shifts between quiet contemplation and a stoic nature that is on the verge of exploding on screen. The series’ early episodes have Elordi staying fairly even-keeled in his delivery while maintaining a debonair charisma when wooing Ella and Amy. Fans of Elordi will also appreciate the actor’s level of nudity in this project. However, the final chapter has at least six moments of top-notch acting that rank as Jacob Elordi’s best work.

Writer Shaun Grant, who worked with Justin Kurzel on Snowtown, True History of the Kelly Gang, and Nitram as well as David Fincher’s Mindhunter, does a fantastic job of shifting The Narrow Road to the Deep North through various time periods while keeping the audience along for the ride in understanding how the complex love triangle develops between Dorrigo, Amy, and Ella. It is so layered and well-written, while redefining what Richard Flanagan’s novel already conveyed so well. The true magic of this series is how director Justin Kurzel pulls it all together to create such a lush and beautiful picture set amidst the backdrop of so much horribleness. Kurzel, coming off the fantastic The Order, which featured Odessa Young, has done great work with projects set in period eras, notably Macbeth and True History of the Kelly Gang. The Narrow Road to the Deep North is his first television project, which allowed him to explore various eras and narrative combinations over three times the length he usually gets to work with. Kurzel is an impeccably talented filmmaker and elicits amazing performances from his full cast, whom I hope he works with again in the future.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North has already succeeded in Australia, where the novel and the cast are already very popular. Still, I hope audiences connect with it on a wider platform on Prime Video. Jacob Elordi may be the reason why many people check out the series, and his fans will not be disappointed, but this is an absolutely fantastic drama about war, love, and moving on. Ciaran Hinds is one of the most underrated actors working today, and he is exceptional here with Odessa Young and Olivia DeJonge coming in to balance out this ensemble. Jacob Elordi has raised the bar on his career yet again with a performance that people will be discussing for a long time. The Narrow Road to the Deep North is an intricate drama that is sexy, disturbing, captivating, and hard to watch for all the best reasons. Do yourself a favor and watch it; you will not be disappointed.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North premieres on April 18th on Prime Video.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North

AMAZING

9

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Plot: A surrealist family comedy set in 1969 San Fernando Valley that tells the story of the Chambers, a quirky family pursuing lofty and seemingly impossible dreams, beautifully unfettered by the realities of the world. When Hampton Chambers is released from prison, his long-awaited family reunion doesn’t go quite as he’d planned. During his absence, Hampton’s wife, Astoria, and sons, Einstein and Harrison, have formed an unconventional family unit, and Hampton’s return spins their world into chaos.

Review: The aesthetics of filmmakers like Wes Anderson and Joel and Ethan Coen are unique, original, and ultimately divisive for audiences. Love or hate them, you cannot deny that Anderson and The Coen Brothers offer something few filmmakers can replicate. The new Apple TV+ series Government Cheese offers an attempt to tell a family-oriented comedy-drama set in the late 1960s with the quirky feel of a Wes Anderson film if The Coen Brothers had directed it. Blending a dreamlike atmosphere with a deliberately off-kilter production design, Government Cheese works thanks to the stellar leading performance from David Oyelowo, who once again proves he is one of the most underrated actors working today. Supported by an ensemble that includes Simone Missick, Jeremy Bobb, and Bokeem Woodbine, Government Cheese is an appealing and mature series that is as offbeat as it is unique.

Government Cheese opens with Hampton Chambers (David Oyelowo), a convict serving time for check fraud who finds faith while incarcerated. While working in prison, he comes up with a brilliant idea for an electric drill that is capable of sharpening itself. Once paroled after a bizarre prison riot that claims the life of his cellmate, Hampton surprises his family upon his return. His estranged wife, Astoria (Simone Missick), is not excited for her spouse to be back home. At the same time, Hampton’s genius son Einstein (Evan Alexander Ellison) is a bit happier than his troubled younger son Harrison (Jahi Winston). Hampton aims to restore his family to where they deserve to be by selling his invention to local mega-company RocketCorp. Still, he must first contend with a debt owed to a local criminal syndicate, The Prevost Brothers. Over the ten episodes of the first season of Government Cheese, Hampton’s schemes have become increasingly complex as his future becomes less and less certain.

Most of the ten episodes of Government Cheese clock in close to the half-hour mark, giving the series a quick pace that keeps the material lively and does not allow it to fall into the pitfalls of becoming too serious. At the same time, the series plays with the comedy throughout in a way that never turns, making the humor overshadow the drama. For the first few episodes, the series keeps the surreal elements of the plot under control. Still, by the third chapter, Hampton’s interaction with a character played by Sunita Mani takes the series format in a different direction. Louis Cancelmi, who plays one of the Prevost Brothers, represents another thread in the narrative that reminded me of quite a few moments from The Royal Tenenbaums and Raising Arizona. At the same time, a subplot involving Bokeem Woodbine’s character Bootsy and a robbery of a synagogue was hilariously dark and reminiscent of The Ladykillers.

While set in the late 1960s with elements of intolerance and free-spirited hippie culture, Government Cheese never spends too much time addressing racism or civil rights matters. Instead, Hampton and Astoria are solid community members, and skin color is rarely addressed. Gender dynamics and religion factor heavily into the plot, but both work because they are handled organically within the plot rather than superficially. David Oyelowo plays Hampton Chambers as a charming and smooth-talking guy who wants to succeed while hiding all his bad deeds and mistakes. Simone Missick is a stellar complement to Hampton and never takes him at his word, knowing his true motivations and character underneath. Both actors have great chemistry on screen despite a massive wedge in their marriage. The dynamic between Oyelowo and Missick works with the actors portraying their kids, with Evan Ellison and Jahi Di’Allo Winston holding their own opposite the veterans.

Co-created by Aeysha Carr (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Woke), who serves as showrunner alongside Paul Hunter, Government Cheese also features writing from Wes Brown, Katherine Kearns, Hugh Moore, Migizi Pensoneau, and Cece Burke. Paul Hunter directed multiple episodes and brings his experience helming music videos to give the series a crisp, technicolor look that combines retro designs that are era-appropriate to the 1960s with a whimsical and kinetic tone. Other directors include Sylvain White, as the series keeps things moving at an energetic pace, even when episodes seem to take detours along the way. Consistently clocking in closer to the half-hour mark, each episode serves the overall narrative, which comes together nicely by the finale. My only complaint is that the series, which is designed as the first in an ongoing tale, offers little closure and feels somewhat anticlimactic in the end.

Full of great music and fantastic performances from David Oyelowo and Simone Missick, Government Cheese never overuses the visual strangeness of the series to overshadow character development or plot. The story is intriguing, and by the tenth episode, some plot threads that were opened in the premiere are addressed, but not in a way that ends the story. Government Cheese very much feels like the first part of a larger tale but one that we are left wondering why we should invest in when the credits roll on the last episode. I would love to watch more of this story to see David Oyelowo and Simone Missick in their impeccably cool, retro costumes, but there must be a compelling reason to return. Government Cheese is not a mystery or action-oriented but a slice of life from the past full of intriguing characters, but maybe not enough of a story to earn a second season.

Government Cheese premieres on April 16th on Apple TV+.

Government Cheese

GOOD

7

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Plot: Five years after the events of the first season, Joel and Ellie are drawn into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind. 

Review: The first season of The Last of Us raised the bar for video game adaptations. Led by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, the long-awaited take on the acclaimed video game of the same name managed to balance shot-for-shot recreations from the game while adding new scenes, characters, and developments exclusive to the live-action series. The first season wrapped at the same point as the first game, with the two-year wait for the sophomore year, allowing Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin to plumb the epic second game to its fullest potential while setting the stage for the HBO show to go beyond where the 2020 game left off. Those who have played Part II know that audiences with only the show to go by are in for an emotional rollercoaster that the first episode sets the table for. With expectations at a height few series could reach, The Last of Us opens up its second season with a solid entry that brings viewers up to speed over what the characters have experienced over the last five years while driving an atmosphere of dread that even the most oblivious person will not be able to avoid.

The premiere opens with the fallout of Joel (Pedro Pascal) rescuing Ellie (Bella Ramsey) from the Firefly facility in Salt Lake City. The few survivors of Joel’s rampage discuss where they will go with Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), vowing revenge on Joel for killing the people she cared about. The series then shifts five years later, with Joel and Ellie experiencing a rift in their relationship. Ellie is working with Jesse (Young Mazino) and Dina (Isabela Merced) to defend the commune they call home. Run by Maria (Rutina Wesley) and Joel’s brother, Tommy (Gabriel Luna), the town is an idyllic growing community. The community is thriving, covered in snow, and surrounded by a defensive wall. Joel uses his construction experience to lead the building crew in town while still suffering from guilt around his actions at the end of the first season. Joel meets with a therapist, Gail (Catherine O’Hara), while struggling to keep his relationship with Ellie from falling apart. For her part, Ellie is trying to break free from Joel’s parental control while also seeking companionship with her friend, Dina. This leads to a lot of tension throughout the episode as the reason for the rift between Joel and Ellie is never explicitly addressed.

The first episode of The Last of Us has a lot of setting up to do. Still, it does incorporate a fair amount of action and horror as the infected begin to show different behavior than anyone has seen before. Those familiar with video games know the different types of infected players, but seeing them in live-action remains a chilling visual experience. The special effects work is outstanding, and this season’s premiere already offers disturbing evolutions for those infected with cordyceps. But The Last of Us works well thanks to the human drama, notably in the dynamic between Joel and Ellie. The distance between the characters in this opening episode allows us to see the other characters who populate this season, especially Dina. Isabel Merced has proven herself to be a strong actor in recent projects, including Alien: Romulus, and she makes Dina a very interesting partner for Ellie. Bella Ramsey explored Ellie’s sexuality in a powerful episode in the first season. Still, the more overt coupling of the characters takes their development out of teenage lust and turns it into something much more tangible. For his part, Pedro Pascal spends most of the episode brooding with his shared scene with Catherine O’Hara, which is a highlight of the episode.

Most of the new cast, including Jeffrey Wright’s Isaac, Joe Pantoliano’s Eugene, and Alanna Ubach’s Hanrahan, are not seen in the premiere, focusing more on Joel and Ellie’s new life since the end of the first season. The most prominent tease of what we are in store for comes from Kaitlyn Dever’s outstanding introduction as Abby. A major character in the game whose role in this season’s narrative should not be spoiled for anyone unfamiliar with The Last of Us Part II is a testament to how good of an actor Dever is. Once considered for the role of Ellie, I cannot imagine Kaitlyn Dever as anyone other than Abby now. Her brief scenes at the beginning and end of this premiere episode set the table for what we can expect this season. There is also a tease regarding the cordyceps itself and how it may infect the community that wraps this first episode so much tension that it will be nearly impossible for audiences to maintain control as they wait each week for new episodes to drop.

Consisting of seven episodes, season two of The Last of Us opens with Craig Mazin serving as writer and director on the opening episode. Succession‘s Mark Mylod, Peter Hoar, Loki‘s Kate Herron, and Stephen Williams direct episodes two through five, all of which Mazin wrote. Game creator Neil Druckmann co-wrote the final two episodes alongside Mazin and Halley Gross, with Druckmann and Nina Lopez-Corrado helming an episode each. This first episode balances a couple of action-oriented scenes involving the infected, which will please the horror-loving viewers. But, like The Walking Dead, The Last of Us focuses more on the human-centric toll of living in a post-apocalyptic world. The factions at play between the commune and the threats coming their way will make for a very different season compared to the road trip journey in the first season. Many characters are introduced early, with some only getting brief teases for what will become more substantial roles as the season progresses. I thought Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann might expand and stretch the storyline from the second game across multiple seasons. Still, based on where the premiere episode ends, audiences will be blowing up the internet with reactions come April 20th.

The season two premiere of The Last of Us proved that the first season was not a fluke. Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have what it takes to turn the most excruciating emotional experiences into powerful television. Bella Ramsey is a force to be reckoned with, and Pedro Pascal is once again at the peak of his acting talents. The Last of Us has expanded its ensemble with some of the best performers working today. I have no doubt that Kaitlyn Dever’s performance this season will go down as one of the best in small-screen history. The Last of Us does not open with the same epic apocalypse that the first season did, but this is a quieter and more devastatingly subdued introduction to what will come next. The Last of Us reclaims its much-deserved crown of being one of the best television shows, with this premiere only the tip of the iceberg. Fans of the games will be very pleased with how faithful this premiere is to the source material while expanding beyond what they already know. Newcomers: do not read spoilers; get ready to let your jaws drop.

The Last of Us premieres on April 13th on HBO.

The Last Of Us

AMAZING

9

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Plot: Charlie Brooker’s dark, satirical anthology series will return in 2025 with six brand new episodes, including a sequel to the sci-fi adventure USS Callister.

Review: Since Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror moved from the UK’s Channel 4 to Netflix in 2016, we have been lucky to get four seasons and the interactive movie Bandersnatch. The last foray into the surreal anthology was in 2023, which offered a mix of almost feature-length tales that felt a bit underwhelming compared to the legacy the series had built for itself. The seventh volume of Black Mirror debuts on Netflix today and is a return to the powerful storytelling we saw in the early years of the series. Bringing back spin-offs and continuations of beloved entries, this may be the most diverse mix of story tones and themes, all tied to the ongoing theme of technological horror that is just slightly askew from what could really happen. With a fantastic ensemble of actors, the seventh season of Black Mirror is excellent.

Consisting of six episodes, the seventh season of Black Mirror is the longest entry since 2017, the banner season that included the episode “USS Callister.” This season, two episodes clock in at a feature-length running time, and all see the return of directors and writers from previous years. The opening episode, “Common People,” stars Chris O’Dowd and Rashida Jones as Amanda and Mike, a couple struggling after the discovery that Amanda has an inoperable brain tumor. When they are approached by a representative (Tracee Ellis Ross) from a biotech company with a way to save her, they sign up but do not realize the subscription cost is beyond their reach. Satirizing streaming services as well as online social media payment platforms, “Common People” is a sad and disturbing tale that blends elements from the season six episode “Joan is Awful”, also directed by Ally Pankiw, and themes from the infamous series opener “The National Anthem”. Chris O’Dowd is great in a dramatic turn, making you frustrated and shocked along the way.

“Bete Noire” and “Plaything” are the episodes North American fans will have the least familiarity with, cast-wise. “Bete Noire” follows Maria (Siena Kelly), a food scientist at a large British candy company. A successful creator of unique flavors and brands, Maria runs into a former friend from her student days, Verity (Rosy McEwen), who was a bit of an outcast. When Verity joins her company, Maria begins to experience bizarre shifts in her reality that lead her to question if it is the Mandela Effect or something more sinister. “Bete Noire” is an intriguing premise that did not quite stick the landing for me. On the other hand, “Plaything” is a chilling story led by Peter Capaldi as Cameron Walker, a man accused of murder. In flashback, Cameron’s story connects directly to the events of Bandersnatch and features Will Poulter reprising his role as Colin Ritman from the film. Beyond that connection, this is a fully distinct tale about artificial intelligence and the dangers it could contain. Another chilling episode with an ambiguous ending will leave audiences divided. David Slade returned to direct “Plaything” after helming Bandersnatch, while Toby Haynes directed “Bete Noire.”

“Hotel Reverie” and “Eulogy” are my two favorite episodes of the season and for very different reasons. “Hotel Reverie” follows Kimmy (Awkwafina) who works for a tech company that has devised a tool to insert living actors into old films. Actress Brandy (Issa Rae) joins the lead role of the title film in which she co-stars with Dorothy (Emma Corrin). While she tries to stick to the script, the artificial intelligence behind Dorothy becomes aware and the romance they share becomes real. It is a beautifully created love story that is the least scary episode of Black Mirror but one still dripping with the dangers of what technology could be. Shot mostly in black and white, the episode is both an ode to love as it is to classic films. “Eulogy” is another heartbreaker that follows Phillip (Paul Giamatti), who learns the love of his life has passed away. Using a new technology to remember their times together, Phillip and the A.I. Guide (Patsy Ferran) go back through his relationship and where it fell apart. The majority of the episode is centered on Giamatti who has to perform on his own from most of the story. It is a fantastic performance from one of our best actors and one that has twists and turns that likely will have people shedding tears throughout. Chris Barrett and Luke Taylor helmed “Eulogy” while “Hotel Reverie” was direxted by Haolu Wang.

The final episode of the season is “USS Callister: Into Infinity”, a direct sequel to the 2017 episode that audiences went crazy for. Cristin Milioti returns as Nanette Cole along with Jimmi Simpson as James Walton, Billy Magnussen as Karl Plowman, Osy Ikhile as Nate Packer, Milanka Brooks as Elena Tulaska, and Paul G. Raymond as Kabir Dudani. Toby Haynes helmed the episode, followiing his work from the original. While the twist in the original “USS Callister” cannot be replicated here, there is a lot in store that will have viewers talking for weeks to come. The episode runs eighty minutes and feels more like a movie than an episode and is a really great continuation of the first episode. Both work as self-contained narratives with this episode working better if you saw the previous episode but does not require it. Milioti is riding high after her work on The Penguin but gives a very different performance here. “USS Callister: Into Infinity” is an entertaining story but I would have rather gotten another new glimpse through the Black Mirror than revisiting this world again.

Charlie Brooker wrote all six episodes of this season along with Ella Road, Bisha K. Ali, William Bridges, and Bekka Bowling. The quality this season is the best it has been in years with a lot of the episodes reminiscent of the weight and depth of the first seasons of the series. I found myself the least impressed by the “USS Callister” follow-up but still enjoying it quite a bit. Charlie Brooker has tapped into something powerful with Black Mirror that we have not had on television since Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone. While I wish we would get a season of Black Mirror every year, waiting longer to get a small batch of episodes as good as these is more than worth the wait. This series continues to prove that there is little divide between big screen and small screen storytelling and elevates the anthology format beyond what any other show has done. Black Mirror is once again going to be a hot topic of conversation and I look forward to hearing what people think.

Black Mirror debuts all six episodes of season seven on April 10th on Netflix.

Black Mirror

GREAT

8

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Plot: After being fired in disgrace, a hedge fund manager still grappling with his recent divorce, resorts to stealing from his neighbors’ homes in the exceedingly affluent Westmont Village, only to discover that the secrets and affairs hidden behind those wealthy facades might be more dangerous than he ever imagined.

Review: Apple knew it had something on its hands when it renewed Your Friends and Neighbors before the first season premiered. When you land a star vehicle led by Jon Hamm and created by the showrunner of Banshee, Warrior, and See, you don’t take any risks. As the trend of stories focused on rich people behaving badly continues to ride on the success of Yellowstone and Succession, Your Friends and Neighbors brings a different angle to the formula. With Jon Hamm portraying an ultra-wealthy guy who has fallen on hard times and resorts to petty larceny from those who live near him, Your Friends and Neighbors takes a deeply dark look at what it means to be financially stable versus having so much you do not even know what you own. With a great supporting ensemble including Amanda Peet, Olivia Munn, Hoon Lee, Aimee Carrero, and more, Your Friends and Neighbors is a great addition to Apple’s growing catalog of marquee dramas.

Jon Hamm plays Andrew “Coop” Cooper, who opens the series awaking from a head wound next to a dead body, wondering how he got there. With a noir-esque voice-over from Hamm, the series flashes back to how the hedge fund manager got married, had kids, divorced, and found himself where he is now. Not long after we see the successful world Coop lives and works in, his boss, Jack Bailey (Corbin Bernsen), fires him, leaving Coop with few alternatives for employment. His business manager and friend Barney Choi (Hoon Lee) stresses he needs to find a new job to support the alimony he owes his ex-wife Mel (Amanda Peet) and child support for his Princeton-bound daughter Tori (Isabel Gravitt), son Hunter (Donovan Colan), and mentally ill sister Ali (Lena Hall). Despite a quiet relationship with fellow divorcee Sam (Olivia Munn), Coop struggles to make ends meet. That is when he stumbles upon a way to take from his obnoxious neighbors and so-called friends right under their noses.

Having seen seven chapters of the nine-episode first season, Your Friends and Neighbors manages to dig deep into many subjects with a level of nuance that we should expect from a Jonathan Tropper project. While the crimes that Coop perpetrates across the season are important to the show’s overall plot, the series also allows us to see another side of the story through the eyes of Elena Benavides (Aimee Carrero). Elena represents the unseen workers who support the grandiose lifestyles of the rich people in this story and partners with Coop to help him commit his crimes relatively unseen. Coop and Elena are characters who connect in the middle of these two disparate social classes and offer the story the opportunity to look at this divide in a very different way than we would see on Downton Abbey or similar “upstairs-downstairs” shows. The series also incorporates the cops, led by Rebecca Lin (Sandrine Holt), who are investigating the thefts and begin to suspect Coop may have something to do with the rash of crimes.

It would be easy to write Your Friends and Neighbors off as a Mad Men clone updated to 2025 since it does boast Hamm wearing impeccable suits with his hair perfectly coiffed as he downs whiskey after whiskey, but this is a much different drama than the AMC period drama. Hamm has an intensity that turns every line of dialogue into a masterclass of a monologue and every dick punch into a hilariously perfect moment. Hamm is also complimented by Amanda Peet and Olivia Munn, who play his ex-wife and current lover. Both actresses improve with age and get to portray women in middle age who are fully aware of what a superficial world they abide in and question whether they are living the lifestyle they truly want or truly deserve. So many characters in this series are woefully unhappy, but they put on masks to hide that insecurity so no one can judge them. That layer gives Your Friends and Neighbors a self-actualized element missing from soapier melodramas on other channels.

While Your Friends and Neighbors may not seem like the series you would expect from the creator and showrunner of Banshee, Warrior, and See, Jonathan Tropper’s novels and early output are far closer to the tone and style of this series. Tropper’s This is Where I Leave You is a prime example of how he looks at the levels of family dynamics and relationships to mine unique dramatic story elements. This is accentuated by the direction on the first two episodes by Craig Gillespie, known for I, Tonya, Cruella, Dumb Money, and the upcoming Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. Gillespie has found a penchant for taking the ordinary in stories and giving it a twist, which comes through beautifully in setting the tone of this series. I love how Tropper and Gillespie echo the mystery of who these neighbors are and give us a portrait of Andrew Cooper as a broken guy trying to put himself back together.

Your Friends and Neighbors is a solid series about rich people being assholes and one of their own taking them to task without them even realizing it. This series is a showcase of what Jon Hamm does best. Still, it also offers a fantastic ensemble that looks at everyone from friends to family and those tenuous relationships that often define who people think they are. Jonathan Tropper has taken his excellent ability to create layered characters and put them into a show that is sad, funny, intriguing, and impossible to dislike. He does so without needing battle sequences, gunfights, or post-apocalyptic warriors. He does include a fair amount of sex, something that Your Friends and Neighbors use to great effect. Even if you don’t like this series as much as I did, I have a feeling you will learn something about the retail prices of luxury goods in a way you would never expect.

Your Friends & Neighbors premieres on April 11th on Apple TV+.

Your Friends & Neighbors

GREAT

8

The post Your Friends and Neighbors TV Review: Jon Hamm plays the anti-Don Draper in the new Apple TV+ drama series appeared first on JoBlo.

Plot: Murdered bounty hunter Hub Halloran is resurrected by the Devil to trap and send back demons that have escaped from the prison of Hell. By chasing down those demons with the help and hindrance of his estranged family, Hub learns how his own sins got his soul condemned — which pushes him to seek a second chance at life, love, and country music.

Review: There have been a lot of series over the years that have tried to combine horror and comedy. When you throw in the idea of a protagonist being enlisted to hunt down demons and send them back to Hell, you can count the 1998 FOX series Brimstone and the 2007 CW show Reaper amongst similar concepts. Even Ash vs. Evil Dead had a good balance of the genres, though it did lean more towards comedy, unlike the grim Brimstone. Striking the right amount of levity and chills can be the difference between a fun work of escapism and a waste of time. Thankfully, Prime Video’s new series The Bondsman has found just the right dynamic between being scary and heartwarming by enlisting Kevin Bacon for the lead role of Hub Halloran. With a quick eight-episode first season, The Bondsman introduces a twist on the expected genre trappings and adds to it by throwing in some country music flair to keep things lively, making it one of the more fun new shows of the year.

Without wasting a moment, The Bondsman kicks off with the titular character, Hub Halloran (Kevin Bacon), tracking down a couple of bail-jumpers using an unconventional tool to smoke them out of their motel room. Almost immediately, they get the drop on Hub and kill him, sending his soul to Hell. When he surprisingly awakens, Hub must figure out why he is not dead. That is when his caseworker, Midge (Donnie Darko‘s Jolene Purdy), explains he has been returned to Earth to hunt demons for the Devil. Hub and his mother, Kitty (Beth Grant), begin receiving faxes with which particular demonic entity they need to track down, which they do while trying to see if a loophole exists to return Hub to the living. Hub also must deal with his ex-wife’s new boyfriend, Lucky (Damon Herriman), who may have had a role in Hub’s untimely demise. While Hub’s son Cade (Maxwell Jenkins) and former spouse Maryanne (Jennifer Nettles) try to keep things diplomatic between Hub and Lucky, the threat of monsters coming to their small Georgia town becomes increasingly dangerous.

The eight episodes of The Bondsman‘s first season fly by, with each chapter clocking in at just about thirty minutes. It is unusual for a genre project to get a shorter run time, but the brisk pace keeps the story moving and wastes no time in building the mythology of the demons and their unique methods of possessing the living. The series still manages to throw in backstory for various characters while teasing the reason Hub went to Hell when he died. All of it is in service to the over-arching narrative of the series, which cleverly builds towards a final scene with viewers clamoring for a season two. It also helps that there are plenty of opportunities for laughs mixed in with the over-the-top gore teased in the trailer for the series. Some visuals, like the demonic eyes of the possessed, that only Hub can see are creepy without necessarily being scary. Sure, there is enough going on that audiences will feel jump scares occasionally, but the series is more reliant on atmosphere than trying to give viewers the creeps.

Kevin Bacon is fantastic as Hub, providing him with a raspy Southern drawl and an energy that makes him look twenty years younger than his actual age. Beth Grant and Jolene Purdy, reuniting two decades after they appeared in Donnie Darko, are fantastic. Grant is always a great addition to any project; here, she gets to be directly involved in the action. Purdy also gets a solid role here with a flashback of Midge’s involvement with the Devil. I would not be disappointed if this series took off and Midge got a bigger role as Jolene Purdy has so much presence on screen. Damon Herriman, a stalwart character actor in everything from Once Upon A Time in Hollywood to Justified and Mindhunter, puts on a Boston accent and serves as a great antagonist opposite Kevin Bacon. Jennifer Nettles, a scene-stealer in a limited role on The Righteous Gemstones, is also great here and uses her musical talents throughout the series. An accompanying album of songs for The Bondsman has been released featuring Nettles and Bacon singing and performing together, adding a depth of original songs that deepens this series even more.

Based on a story by Grainger David, Carnival Row and Daredevil season three showrunner Eric Oleson has crafted a unique story that fits right into the expanding library of Blumhouse projects that push past just being horror into more dynamic cross-genre opportunities. Oleson has smartly partnered with writers Satinder Kaur and Nina Kim as well as directors Thor Freudenthal (The Expanse), Sanaa Hamri (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power), Catriona McKenzie (The Boys), and Lauren Wolkstein (Dead Ringers) to deliver a series dripping with Southern charm and pulsating with a musical core. The series also smartly sets up a finale that will make it very hard for Amazon to pass on a second season. I love the various monsters’ looks and designs and unique abilities. Still, I even appreciate how this series uses the idea of family to bring Hub together with his estranged circle to battle the most heinous and awful entities you could imagine.

The Bondsman is escapist entertainment in the best ways possible. Kevin Bacon looks to be having more fun in this role than he has in years, with the balance of genres and tones working throughout the series. With an over-arching narrative blended with a monster-of-the-week approach to the cases Hub must take on each episode, The Bondsman wastes no time from the first to the last. Compared to other genre offerings I mentioned at the start of this review, The Bondsman never gets too focused on taking itself seriously, which allows the audience to have fun watching Kevin Bacon dispatch monsters in creative ways. Every character is enjoyable to watch, with the music good enough to get toes tapping, even for those who are not country music fans. The Bondsman could easily turn into a long-running series, and I hope it comes back for multiple seasons. I have not had as much pure fun with a horror series in a long time.

The Bondsman premieres on April 3rd on Prime Video.

The Bondsman

GREAT

8

The post The Bondsman TV Review: Kevin Bacon hunts demons in this fun horror series appeared first on JoBlo.

Plot: Power is up for grabs as the Harrigans and Stevensons, two warring London crime families, clash in a kill-or-be-killed battle that threatens to topple empires and ruin lives. Caught in the crossfire is Harry Da Souza, the street-smart ‘fixer’ as dangerous as he is handsome, who knows too well where loyalties lie when opposing forces collide. As kingdom goes up against kingdom, lines will be crossed – and the only saving grace is a bet-your-life guarantee: family above everything.

Review: The Showtime series Ray Donovan ran for a solid seven seasons, with a feature film capping the story of the titular fixer and his familiar and professional connections. As the series concluded, a prequel was announced, evolving into the standalone series MobLand. Led by Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen Mirren, MobLand shares some of the hallmark elements that made Ray Donovan so popular as it continues to follow a fixer who works for a criminal syndicate rather than celebrities behaving badly. With direction from Guy Ritchie, MobLand is a solid gangster drama chock full of British slang and pop culture references that has the potential to become an intriguing alternate take on the formula made famous by series ranging from The Sopranos to Ritchie’s Netflix series The Gentlemen, boosted by the massive star power of the three leads.

MobLand follows a similar dynamic as Ray Donovan, with Tom Hardy leading the cast as Harry Da Souza, the fixer for the Harrigan family. Led by Conrad Harrigan (Pierce Brosnan) and his wife Maeve (Helen Mirren), the Harrigans control an empire from their family estate in the Cotswolds. When issues arise, ranging from dead bodies to covering up criminal acts, the Harrigans rely on Harry to work his magic and keep the family reputation sparklingly clean. As the series begins, Harry is brought in to deal with a stabbing perpetrated by Conrad’s grandson Eddie (Anson Boon) which involves a competing crime family led by Richie Stevenson (Geoff Bell). As the stakes are raised and a potential gang war on the verge of erupting between the Harrigans and the Stevensons, Harry finds himself divided between his loyalty to the Harrigans and his own wife, Jan (Joanne Froggat), and daughter, Gina.

Having only seen the first two episodes of MobLand, I can already see similarities between this series and the work of Taylor Sheridan. Like Yellowstone, MobLand sets up an upper-class family built from working-class roots with a criminal network underneath their above-board enterprises. None of the Harrigans seem to be new to murder and illegal activities despite Conrad and Maeve’s children having explored other careers. Eldest Harrigan son Brendan (Daniel Betts) struggles to be successful in his family business. In contrast, youngest son Kevin (Paddy Considine) seems to be the heir apparent and a close friend to Harry. Conrad’s daughter, Seraphina (Mandeep Dhillon), is from another marriage, but all of the children are loyal to their parents. As far as the parents go, Conrad hopes to broaden his business dealings and relies on his wife’s counsel, but Maeve may have her own motivations beyond her husband’s best interest. The series also explores plots involving Kevin’s wife, Bella (Lara Pulver), family attorney O’Hara (Lisa Dwan), and Harry’s colleague Zosia (Jasmine Jobson). Janet McTeer does not appear in the opening episodes, but I am sure her character will be key.

I had anticipated that Tom Hardy, Helen Mirren, and Pierce Brosnan would have had smaller roles in the series, but all three are primary characters in MobLand. Hardy appears in almost every scene of the first two episodes, and Brosnan and Mirren do not fall far behind. The episodes I have seen boast a lot of violence, including a brutal bar fight involving Tom Hardy that bodes well for the rest of the season. Each episode follows the characters around London and the Cotswolds as they operate their daily dealings along with Harry’s clean-up duties. There is also time spent with the police as they investigate the crimes from their side, fully invested in taking the Harrigans down once they have enough evidence. MobLand focuses more on the crimes than on the police but delivers a fair amount of intensity despite not giving away too much too early. Hardy is excellent but keeps his performance very even-keeled, whether it is at home with his wife being attacked with a hammer or having a gun pointed at him. Both Mirren and Brosnan are more dynamic, both sporting Irish accents.

Created by Ronan Bennett (The Day of the Jackal) and scripted alongside Jez Butterworth (Edge of Tomorrow), the first two episodes of MobLand were directed by Guy Ritchie. Ritchie is known for his dynamic approach to British gangster films and series and brought his own spin to The Gentlemen last year on Netflix. Here, Ritchie takes a subtler approach to the visuals, with the series presenting a more straightforward crime narrative. Watching the first chapters, I realized MobLand could have been Guy Ritchie helming a Taylor Sheridan series. I did find myself enjoying watching these characters, as despicable as many of them are, with the British setting a refreshing change of pace from Montana or Oklahoma. There is not as much of a barrier to following this series as you may expect with the action set in the U.K. However, it evokes the same tone and style of Sheridan’s various Paramount+ productions.

MobLand is not all that different from any other gangster or crime-based series on television. Still, it rises above the formula thanks to the fixer plot structure inherited from Ray Donovan and the great cast led by Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen Mirren. MobLand is violent and intense, with the right amount of humor to brighten the story. I have seen only a fifth of the full season. Still, I am already intrigued by the character dynamics between the Harrigan family, their friends, and their enemies, along with teases of rifts between spouses, siblings, and parents. Guy Ritchie’s direction may be subdued, but that does not water down the content of this story. I really enjoyed seeing Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren play villains, with Tom Hardy easily stepping into the role of the even-keeled Harry, who can intimidate even the most dangerous adversary. I hope the rest of the first season of MobLand lives up to these first episodes.

MobLand premieres on March 30th on Paramount+.

MobLand

GREAT

8

The post MobLand TV Review: Tom Hardy is the fixer for Brosnan and Mirren in the Guy Ritchie-directed crime series appeared first on JoBlo.

Plot: After receiving a diagnosis of Stage IV cancer, Molly leaves her husband Steve and begins to explore the full breadth and complexity of her sexual desires for the first time in her life. Her best friend Nikki is by her side throughout the journey, on hand for medical appointments, vibrator emergencies, topping lessons and oh so many laughs..

Review: It would be an incredible understatement to say that every dying person’s journey is powerful, but the impact lingers even longer for those close to the person who passes. After experiencing her best friend succumbing to a terminal illness, Nikki Boyer chronicled the ups and downs of Molly Kochan’s final year in the beautiful podcast Dying for Sex. Full of hilarious moments in equal measure with heartbreakingly sad ones, the story of Molly’s exploration of herself has become the eight-episode limited series of the same name. With Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate playing Molly and Nikki, Dying for Sex is a hilariously blunt look at one woman facing her own mortality while embracing her sexuality, her past trauma, and the mystery of what comes next. At the same time, her best friend accompanies her until the very end. It is a wonderfully funny story that will have every viewer in tears when they reach the final episode.

With her breast cancer in remission and struggling with her marriage, Molly (Michelle Williams) learns that her cancer has returned and is no longer treatable. With her husband Steve (Jay Duplass) unwilling to have sex with her, Molly leaves him and asks her best friend Nikki (Jenny Slate) to take care of her through the final months and years of her life. Nikki, an actress and a bit of a flake, takes on the momentous challenge of doctor’s appointments, bills, treatments, and more while also trying to keep her relationship with Noah (Kelvin Yu) going. Molly, meanwhile, decides she wants to experience sex in ways she was never bold enough to do before, which fills the series with subcultures and fetishes that have not often been shown on television in such a frank and honest manner. From domination and submission to role-play, sex toys, and some casual urination, Dying for Sex is at once blatantly funny about the subject at hand but also honest and respectful.

The series explores those in Molly’s orbit, including a counselor and friend, Sonya (Esco Jouley), who helps Molly recognize what she can still be as a sexual being even as her life is coming to an end. Her old-school doctor, Jerry Pankowitz (David Rasche), serves as the logical and scientific voice of Molly’s pat,h even if he does not always understand how she is exploring her options. Sissy Spacek plays Gail, Molly’s mother, who has a distant relationship with her daughter caused by a trauma they share from Molly’s youth. There is also Molly’s neighbor, played by Rob Delaney, who becomes one of the closest people in her quest to achieve orgasm despite initially seeming like he may be an antagonist rather than a partner. The series also features Molly’s many sexual partners as well as friends she makes along the way, each of whom factors into her blossoming self. It is a wonderful and touching ensemble that hits the perfect balance of funny and sad while making every new discovery one that compounds the inevitable end of Molly’s life.

The core of Dying for Sex is Molly, with Michelle Williams turning in another astounding performance. While Williams is no stranger to powerful roles, playing Molly may be one of her career’s best. Embracing the pain of cancer invading Molly to give strength to the numerous orgasms she experiences, Williams delivers an unvarnished and nakedly honest portrayal of a human being favoring the opportunity of living rather than allowing the fear of death to drive her. There is depression, sadness, pain, heartache, and anger throughout the series, but they are always overshadowed by the joy, love, happiness, and positivity that Molly brings to the world. As good as Michelle Williams is, I was blown away by Jenny Slate as Nikki Boyer. Slate has consistently been an underrated talent in comedies as much as her dramatic work in films like Obvious Child. In Dying for Sex, Slate is hilariously funny but also embodies the deepest love and friendship Nikki shared with Molly, something that goes beyond acting to something more tangible. Williams and Slate achieve chemistry in their performances that surpass any sexual partnerships seen in the series.

Nikki Boyer’s podcast is wonderfully adapted by showrunner Elizabeth Meriweather (New Girl, The Dropout), who co-created Dying for Sex with Kim Rosenstock. The pair are joined by writers Sheila Callaghan, Keisha Zollar, Madeleine George, Harris Danow, Sasha Stewart, and Sabrina Wu, who find a way to fill a lot of story into eight half-hour chapters without any episodes feeling wasted. Six of the eight episodes were directed by Shannon Murphy (Babyteeth), with Chris Teague on the remaining two. Dying for Sex is never shy about sexual content, with multiple sequences featuring full male nudity in addition to sex acts showing just enough without turning the series into something more exploitative. A quirky sensibility pervades the series, allowing the surreal and strange to share space with the deeper subject matter. The visual approach to showing Molly’s final days is handled respectfully while still allowing comedy to lighten things without becoming disrespectful.

Having experienced the final moments of a loved one’s life, Dying for Sex hit me harder than I anticipated. The series filled me with as much joy and happiness as laughter, something you would not think would work as well as it does with such heavy subject matter. Nikki Boyer’s podcast has become a wonderful narrative journey that showcases two of the year’s best performances. Dying for Sex will break down even the most stoic and emotionally distant person watching it as it builds up wave after wave of feelings that come crashing ashore in the final chapter of Molly’s tale. I was left devastated in the best way possible, and I am sure countless viewers will feel the same way. This is a standout series, with everyone involved doing some of the best work of their careers. Dying for Sex boasts stellar leading performances amongst a fantastic ensemble. Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate are as close to perfect as you can get.

Dying for Sex premieres April 4th on FX.

Dying for Sex

AMAZING

9

The post Dying for Sex TV Review: Michelle Williams leads a profound and funny comedy-drama about sexuality and mortality appeared first on JoBlo.

Plot: Told from multiple points of view, as a means to explore issues of perspective, bias, and trauma, this compelling drama is inspired by the disturbing stories surrounding a Midwestern couple who adopts a girl with a rare form of dwarfism. But as they begin to raise her alongside their three biological children, mystery emerges around her age and background, and they slowly start to suspect she may not be who she says she is. As they defend their family from the daughter they’ve grown to believe is a threat, she fights her own battle to confront her past and what her future holds, in a showdown that ultimately plays out in the tabloids and the courtroom. 

Review: The idea that there are two sides to every story has never been truer than in the bizarre saga of Natalia Grace. Adopted at the age of seven, Natalia Grace’s story became national news when it was discovered that she was abandoned by her parents, who claimed she was actually a twenty-two-year-old posing as a child. The subsequent court case and DNA testing revealed the truth, but there is still a divide between Natalia Grace’s claims about herself and those of her adoptive mother, Kristine Barnett. While a Max documentary series centered on Natalia Grace’s story, the new Hulu dramatized series Good American Family tackles multiple points of view, including those of the Barnetts. Led by Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass, Good American Family is a pulpy and overwrought melodrama straight out of the classic primetime made-for-television fare of the Eighties and Nineties.

Good American Family follows Kristine Barnett (Ellen Pompeo), a devoted advocate for children with special needs who is opening a center for disabled kids in honor of her autistic son, Jacob (Aias Dalman). Having recently lost out on adopting a daughter, Kristine and her husband, Michael (Mark Duplass), are experiencing a rift in their marriage. When the sudden opportunity arises to adopt a young girl in desperate need of a foster family, Kristine and Mark jump at the chance and bring Natalia Grace (Imogen Faith Reid) into their home. Knowing she suffers from a form of dwarfism, the Barnetts are caught off guard by Natalia’s bizarre behavior, including tantrums, outbursts, and physical threats. While Michael is still enamored with having a daughter, Kristine begins to think that Natalia is actually an adult posing as a child to con them, something seemingly inspired by the film Orphan.

The early episodes of Good American Family show Natalia’s bizarre behavior and the growing suspicion held by Kristine, which she convinces her family and friends to believe. As the behaviors get worse, Kristine and Michael legally get Natalia’s birth date changed from 2003 to 1989 before renting her an apartment and abandoning her. Natalia is forced to fend for herself to survive before she is taken in by Cynthia (Christina Hendricks) and Antwon Mans (Jerod Haynes). The Mans family believe Natalia’s story and assist her in taking legal action against the Barnetts. This fight takes the series through the 2022 legal proceedings against Kristine and Michael. Showing us the events as they occurred and flashbacks to different perspectives through the years illustrates the story in a way that does not draw any concrete conclusions but delivers a more balanced story than I anticipated.

While the intensity and shocking elements of Natalia Grace’s story are enough on their own to build a dramatic series around, Good American Family leans heavily into the melodramatic and pulpy side of the narrative. At times, Mark Duplass and Ellen Pompeo seem to be acting in an overwrought series that borders on comedy. There are more nuanced performances from Dule Hill as Detective Brandon Drysdale and Sarayi Blue as Kristine’s friend Val, but the most impressive turn is from Imogen Faith Reid. Reid, a 27-year-old actress, plays Natalia Grace from age seven through sixteen, convincingly acting progressively more mature as the timeline advances. In the early episodes, some of her mannerisms and outbursts play on the horror movie paranoia experienced by Kristine Barnett. Still, it does not go so far over the top that it defies believability. The same cannot be said about Pompeo and Duplass, who often feel like caricatures of the real Barnetts. Pompeo, who has spent almost twenty years starring on Grey’s Anatomy, often wavers between Joan Crawford in Mommy Dearest and a more balanced portrayal of who Kristine Barnett actually is. Because of the nature of the real events, Good American Family does not take sides but convincingly leaves the interpretation open to the audience as to who is telling the truth.

Created by Katie Robbins (Sunny, The Affair), who serves as co-showrunner alongside Sarah Sutherland (Nine Perfect Strangers), Good American Family was also written by Eoghan O’Donnell, Jaquen Tee Castellanos, and Samantha Levenshus. Directing duties fell to Liz Garbus (Yellowjackets), Stacie Passon, Seith Mann, Eva Vives, and Iain MacDonald. Each of the eight episodes takes the story in near-sequential order through the adoption of Natalia Grace through the results of the much-publicized trial. Suppose you are unfamiliar with how things have turned out for Natalia and the Barnetts. In that case, the series outlines the events pretty well while also laying enough theories and alternative ideas that you may question who is telling the truth. The hard facts are closely aligned with what the media has revealed, but that does not stop the series from posing some wrinkles in the story that elevate the drama for entertainment purposes.

Remembering that this series is inspired by the truth rather than a true story is a good disclaimer going into things. Whatever you believe about what happened to Natalia Grace, Good American Family offers a balanced portrait of who was responsible for which acts. At the end of the day, whether Natalia or Kristine, and Michael Barnett were to blame for what took place during their familial bond, no one looks good by the end. In fact, a closing note at the end of the finale reveals another shocking fact that came to light during the production of the series, making Good American Family even more tragic. As intriguing as the story is, Good American Family too often embraces performances and storytelling that feel inauthentic and silly, undermining the sadness of this story. Anything involving children being harmed is hard to watch, but how callously this production treats it sometimes makes it feel inappropriate and borderline disrespectful.

Good American Family is now streaming on Hulu.

Mark Duplass

BELOW AVERAGE

5

The post Good American Family TV Review: The shocking true story becomes a bland drama series appeared first on JoBlo.

Plot: A crime drama filmed in an ambitious real-time, one-shot. It tells the story of how a family’s world is turned upside down when 13-year-old Jamie Miller is arrested with the murder of a teenage girl who goes to his school.

Review: Being a parent is an incredibly hard job. When you add the complexity of shepherding impressionable minds in our fully integrated and constantly online culture, things that were difficult decades ago become infinitely more so today. The four-episode limited series Adolescence is a chilling portrait of what could happen to even the most caring and attentive parents. Co-created by star Stephen Graham, Adolescence is a masterpiece of acting and writing that also serves as a technical achievement, with each episode filmed as a single, long take. There are so many fantastic stories on television, but Adolescence is easily one of the best productions ever created for the small screen. You will be unable to pull yourself away from this series and will be left emotionally scarred once you finish it.

Adolescence opens with Detective Inspector Luke Bascombe (Ashley Walters) and Detective Sergeant Misha Frank (Faye Marsay) leading a raid on the home of Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper), the 13-year-old son of Eddie (Stephen Graham) and Manda (Christine Tremarco). Accused of the brutal murder of a female classmate, Jamie is taken into custody, where he elects his father to serve as his “appropriate adult” during the interrogation. Eddie, Manda, and their daughter, Lisa (Amelie Pease), are shocked at the accusations and are thrust into the whirlwind of activity involving evidence collection, meeting with a public defender, and learning the shocking facts of the case against Jamie. Over the sixty-five-minute opening episode, we see the emotional toll on the Millers and the investigators. By the end of the hour, the truth begins to come into focus, setting up the episodes that follow.

Episode two is set a few days later at Jamie’s school. Bascombe and Frank question Jamie’s friends and those close to the victim, giving the audience a look into a school focused on troubled teens and how their online-heavy culture impacts the case against Jamie. The third episode shifts seven months ahead and centers on Jamie’s interactions with psychologist Briony Ariston (Erin Doherty), who delves into the teenager’s thoughts that led to his current circumstances. The final episode shifts another six months as Jamie’s trial is set to begin. It shows the ongoing ramifications and impact of the crime on the Miller family, notably Eddie, as he approaches his birthday. With each episode set over a single hour, we are given much information to digest through the characters’ performances on screen. Some episodes boast large casts, notably the second entry, while the third is almost entirely focused on just Jamie and Briony.

There is a lot to unpack in Adolescence. The emotionally devastating story is one that no parent can watch without a strong reaction. Wanting to believe in the goodness of your children is something every parent feels the moment they have a kid, but learning that your offspring may not be the person you thought they were is a chilling and terrifying prospect. Stephen Graham and Christine Tremarco are exemplary as they try to navigate the emotions any parent would endure in a situation like this. Graham, who came up with the idea for Adolescence after an uptick in violent crime against girls by male youths in England, is heart-wrenchingly good as Eddie comes to terms with who Jamie is and how he got that way. As the police initially suspect Eddie could be to blame for Jamie becoming a criminal, the horrifying concept of the “Manosphere” and internet subculture surrounding incels becomes monstrously real.

The series also showcases amazing performances across the entire cast. Graham is sensational, which he has repeatedly proven in his recent series A Thousand Blows. However, Adolescence also has a great turn from Ashley Walters as the investigating officer with a son close to Jamie’s age. Erin Doherty, Graham’s co-star in A Thousand Blows, is also brilliant as the psychologist who gets close to Jamie but begins to see the dual nature hidden beneath his teenage facade. As good as everyone is, Adolescence is a showcase for Owen Cooper. Making his acting debut in this series, Cooper is chillingly layered as he plays Jamie’s shifting emotions that will have you feeling sympathy, empathy, and revulsion, sometimes within the same scene. The third episode is anchored by an extended back-and-forth between Cooper and Doherty that may be one of the best two-character sequences in any television series this year, possibly this decade.

Writer Jack Thorne reunited with Stephen Graham to write all four episodes of Adolescence. Thorne and Graham previously worked on the three This Is England mini-series and The Virtues. The duo delivers a masterclass in scripting dialogue and creating realistic interactions between police, parents, children, and more. Every single scene feels authentic and never dips into feeling like melodrama. It can be hard to watch the series sometimes, but none of the violence occurs on screen. All of the intensity comes in the form of emotionally resonant performances from every cast member. The direction from actor-turned-filmmaker Philip Barantini is also impressive, with each episode structured as a single take. Barantini, who directed Graham in the 2019 film Boiling Point and is slated to helm Enola Holmes 3, blends the workmanlike approach to small-screen direction with the technical prowess of other long-take efforts. The lack of edits or breaks in the story keeps each episode’s momentum churning towards a heartbreaking conclusion, none more so than the final chapter.

The timely subject matter of Adolescence is striking, raw, and utterly unforgettable. This series is a powerful and shocking look at what has been hinted at through the news for years and is presented in a way that will have you wondering if something this devastating could hit closer to home. Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne have crafted a series that had me broken by the end of the fourth and final episode. Adolescence is hard to watch but is very important to experience. I know I have not been this affected as a parent by a narrative work since Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men. Adolescence is easily one of the best television productions of the year, the decade, and possibly of all time.

Adolescence is now streaming on Netflix.

Adolescence

PERFECTO-MUNDO

10

The post Adolescence TV Review: Stephen Graham leads a stunning and shocking limited series appeared first on JoBlo.

Plot: After defeating Ishamael, one of the most powerful of the Forsaken, at the end of Season Two, Rand reunites with his friends in the city of Falme and is declared the Dragon Reborn. But in Season Three, the threats against the Light are multiplying: the White Tower stands divided, the Black Ajah run free, old enemies return to the Two Rivers, and the remaining Forsaken are in hot pursuit of the Dragon… including Lanfear, whose relationship with Rand will mark a crucial choice between Light and Dark for them both. As the ties to his past begin to unravel, and his corrupted power grows stronger, Rand becomes increasingly unrecognizable to his closest allies, Moiraine and Egwene. These powerful women, who started the series as teacher and student, must now work together to prevent the Dragon from turning to the Dark…no matter the cost.

Review: Prime Video has undertaken massive projects in recent years, including the big-budget Lord of the Rings prequel series The Rings of Power. While that series has often gotten bigger exposure due to name recognition, Prime Video’s other epic fantasy adaptation is returning for a third season. The Wheel of Time, based on the beloved best-selling series by the late Robert Jordan, debuted in 2021. While I was not impressed by the heavy-handed first season, audiences connected with entering the vast fictional world. With the first two seasons covering the first three novels in Jordan’s series, the narrative set-up is complete, and The Wheel of Time can explore what makes the books such an important part of fantasy literature. The third season of The Wheel of Time visits new areas of the world, introduces new characters, and dives deeper into the backstories of others while setting the stage for some of the series’ biggest action. Fans of the books and those who enjoyed the first two seasons will surely be excited that The Wheel of Time is back and finally delivering on its potential.

While the first season of The Wheel of Time introduced us to all of the potential candidates to be named The Dragon Reborn, it was not until the finale of the second season that Rand (Josha Stradowski) was bestowed with the mantle of being the Chosen One. With the season concluding with a massive battle and the revelation from the villainous Lanfear (Natasha O’Keeffe) that all of the Forsaken had been released, the third season opens with a feeling of hope as the band of heroic characters begin their quest to save the world. At the same time, Rand tries to come to terms with what his new title means for himself and those he loves. This season divides the fellowship of heroes as they explore new corners of the world, including realms fans of the novels will be familiar with, including Tanchico and the Aiel Wast,e while also going further into the realm of Andor and more as the factions of good and evil all contend with the coming of the Dragon Reborn, which some view as righteous and others will do anything to prevent.

The Wheel of Time has never shied away from delivering epic scale, and this season is no different, with the premiere episode opening with a shocking and impressively action-packed sequence involving the Aes Sedai. The struggle for power amongst the Aes Sedai involves Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) and her mentor/friend Siuan Sanche (Sophie Okonedo), as well as challengers like Liandrin Guirale (Kate Fleetwood) and Elaida a’Roihan (Shohreh Aghdashloo) which draws parallels to Star Wars factions like the Jedi. The battle between good and evil is further complicated by the rising strength of the Forsaken, embodied by Lanfear and Moghedien (Laia Costa). The visualization of the Forsaken and their powers takes a decidedly dark turn this season, with plot elements bordering on horror. The Wheel of Time has a mature rating, and the first two seasons kept the sexual and violent content from the books, but this season amps up the stakes even more with some truly frightening visuals and a fair amount of bloodshed. Without divulging any spoilers, there are a lot of moments this season that fans of the books have been waiting to see, while those watching the series without any background on what is to come are in for some shocks.

This season sees the main cast all returning along with newcomers including Shohreh Aghdashloo, Olivia Williams as Morgase Trakand, Luke Fetherston as Gawyn Trakand, Callum Kerr as Galad Trakand, and Nuno Lopes as Lord Gaebril. The expansion of the world of The Wheel of Time to new settings gives the series a broader scale that is sometimes challenged by budgetary constraints. Having seen the entire third season, the physical shooting locations and production design elevate the material,l but some of the computer effects look cheap compared to other series on Prime Video. It is a nitpick, but it is worth calling out, seeing as both The Rings of Power and Fallout delivered quality special effects alongside top-notch production values. The Wheel of Time remains committed to giving this fantasy world a tangible feel, which sometimes struggles with the challenging dialogue and countless complex naming conventions newcomers must try to keep straight.

Showrunner Rafe Judkins oversees the adaptation of the fourth novel in the series, The Shadow Rising, with writers Justine Juel Gillmer, Kate McKenna, Beverly Okhio, Aje Ibrionke, Dave Hill, and Rammy Park working alongside him to tell this season’s adaptation. Ciaran Donnelly directed four episodes, with Thomas Napper and Marta Cunningham helming two episodes each. Donnelly previously helmed episodes in the first season while Napper directed chapters of the second. Their experience with this ensemble and the scope of the source material helps this season feel expansive and not derivative of other genre projects despite similarities between them. This season is by far the darkest and yet most fun of the three to date, which is largely due to the series’ ability to shift between characters and plot focus without causing whiplash in the audience.

Part Game of Thrones and part Dune, the third season of The Wheel of Time spreads the story further than ever before while building interest in new and existing characters that make every consequence of their narratives resonate. While the special effects remain the weakest part of this series, the talented cast redeems the project, making this season’s most entertaining entry in The Wheel of Time. Rosamund Pike continues to anchor the cast of relative newcomers who all own their roles more than ever. With familiar actors joining in supporting roles, the depth and breadth of The Wheel of Time is finally starting to deliver on what fans have known for decades about Robert Jordan’s mythical tales. This series will still not hit the same mainstream popularity as Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, but this is the first season that shows it has the potential to join their ranks.

The third season of The Wheel of Time premieres on March 13th on Prime Video.

The Wheel of Time

GOOD

7

The post The Wheel of Time Season 3 TV Review: The Rising Shadow leads to the most epic season yet appeared first on JoBlo.

Plot: Happy Face is an incarcerated serial killer who is also Melissa Reed’s once-beloved father. After decades of no contact, Keith finds a way to force himself back into his daughter’s life. In a race against the clock, Melissa must find out if an innocent man is going to be put to death for a crime her father committed. Throughout, she discovers the impact her father had on his victims’ families and must face a reckoning of her own identity.

Review: The most common subjects for new drama series are podcasts or true crime stories. When a producer gets their hands on a podcast about true crime, you can guarantee a streaming service will give it a full series order. While big names like Jeffrey Dahmer or the Menendez Brothers get the most media exposure due to their lasting scars on the news cycle, there have been equally horrific monsters whose stories are not nearly as recognizable. The Happy Face Killer, Keith Jesperson, was active in the early 1990s and claims to have killed over a hundred people despite only eight having been corroborated. The fact that Jesperson was married with children made the heinous nature of his crimes all the more disturbing. Still, it was the memories and interviews with his daughter, Melissa Moore, that provided a different insight into the mindset and crimes he perpetrated. Inspired by Moore’s book and podcast, Happy Face is rooted in the true story of what coming to terms with the monster that was your father can lead to, combined with elements of fictional mystery/procedural dramas. An entertaining series, Happy Face has some great turns from Annaleigh Ashford and Dennis Quaid but struggles with being a true crime story or just another crime procedural.

The eight-episode first season of Happy Face opens with Melissa Moore (Annaleigh Ashford) working as a make-up artist for the daytime talk show hosted by Dr. Greg (David Harewood). Living a happy suburban life with her husband, Ben (James Wolk), and children Hazel (Khiyla Aynne) and Max (Benjamin Mackey), Melissa’s boss receives a call from her father, Keith (Dennis Quaid), claiming he will reveal the details around his ninth victim but only to Melissa. Partnering with producer Ivy (Tamera Tomakili), Melissa visits her father in prison, believing his claims to be a way to get media attention and time with his estranged daughter. But, as Melissa and Ivy look into Keith’s evidence, details line up that may support his identity as the killer. This also stirs additional trauma for Melissa, who has successfully come to terms with her father, or so she wants to believe. As Melissa reopens her past, she also discovers more about her knowledge of her father’s crimes than she originally thought.

Annaleigh Ashford, a veteran of Broadway productions, has proven herself very adept at comedy and drama. She has exceptional turns in Masters of Sex, The Assassination of Gianni Versace, and Welcome to Chippendales. Ashford holds her own opposite Dennis Quaid, who continues his streak of transformative performances over the last few years, including Reagan and The Substance. Quaid plays Keith Jesperson as a bizarrely confident and cocky everyman who is a stereotypical dad with an evil streak lurking just under the surface. When Ashford and Quaid share the screen, Happy Face works brilliantly as it looks at how father and daughter view shared moments from their past in radically different ways. The dynamic feels similar to the one shared between Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling, but it is all the more chilling that these two people actually existed. As Melissa tries to reconcile the mystery she is working on, she must deal with whether it further distances her from Keith Jesperson or draws them closer together.

When Ashford and Quaid are not sharing the screen, Happy Face is not nearly as strong. Melissa’s home life is complicated by her husband becoming concerned as he sees how having her father back in her life impacts their family, especially eldest daughter Hazel, who is dealing with personal issues herself. While James Wolk is a solid actor, his scenes as Ben feel like filler and set-up material for future subplots rather than relevant to the main narrative. Equally, Melissa’s coworker Ivy is a great supporting character, but the investigation the two work on begins to lose steam halfway through the season. With each successive chapter of Happy Face, I became less interested in the series’ focus the more it pulled away from Keith Jesperson’s crimes and Melissa’s recollections of them. The balance of the Happy Face Killer with the new crime being investigated could have been better maintained, but it shows where this series could have stood to tighten things up a bit.

Showrunner Jennifer Cacicio wrote the opening and closing chapters of Happy Face alongside a writing staff that includes Andrew Gettens, Lauren Mackenzie, Adam Toltzis, Sal Calleros, Sarah Beckett, Erica Saleh, Inda Craig-Galvain, Bam Johnson, Tiffany Ezuma, and Brandi Nicole Payne. Michael Showalter, best known for his directing credits on The Eyes of Tammy Faye and The Big Sick, was not such an unusual choice to helm Happy Face. While he is known as a writer/actor in comedies, Showalter has directed recent true crime projects, including The Shrink Next Door and The Dropout. He is accompanied by helmers Ramaa Mosley, Darren Grant, and more, who balance the prison-set sequences following Jesperson with the investigation Melissa takes as she investigates her case. With a solid structure balancing flashbacks and narrative twists, there is nothing inherently distinct about the look or feel of Happy Face, which allows the unique approach of the story to shine.

Happy Face deals with the idea of duality and secrets but struggles with its identity as a series. Every true crime adaptation must take creative license with the material to increase the dramatic tension and entertainment value. Still, Happy Face sometimes feels like it is padding out the story that inspired the title with a plot taken from any conventional network procedural. It is far more interesting to see the connections and trauma shared between Keith Jesperson and Melissa Moore than watching Moore play amateur sleuth to solve a mystery. By the end of the series, the idea that this could be an ongoing drama about a podcasting detective who happens to be the daughter of a serial killer undermines the true story that it set out to tell. As good as Annaleigh Ashford and Dennis Quaid are in their respective roles, Happy Face would have worked better had it stuck to the true story and not this fictional and sensationalized one.

Happy Face premieres on March 20th on Paramount+.

Happy Face

AVERAGE

6

The post Happy Face TV Review: Dennis Quaid and Annaleigh Ashford deliver a twist on true crime series appeared first on JoBlo.

PLOT: A studio exec (Seth Rogen) who finds himself promoted to the top slot at the studio has to juggle his wish to make great films with the pressures of his new job.

REVIEW: What professions are most often depicted in movies and TV? Certainly, doctors, lawyers, cops (and criminals). To that, I’d add the Hollywood exec. Pretty much ever since they started making movies, Hollywood has been doing films about their business, with many of them classic tales, like the first two versions of A Star is Born (the latter two took on the even sexier music industry instead), Singing in the Rain, The Last Tycoon, The Player, Swimming With Sharks, and – on the small screen – the too quickly cancelled Action, and Entourage among others. 

Yet, it can’t be denied that those earlier versions, even if they were at times scathingly critical, also adhered to the romance of the business. All involved aimed to make great movies (well, not on Action – and maybe that’s why it was cancelled). In Seth Rogen’s The Studio, which he created with his long-time collaborator Evan Goldberg, no one cares about making good movies. They want to make A LOT money and protect their jobs.

It might be that Rogen and Goldberg, having spent their fair amount of time in the Hollywood trenches, have a particularly jaundiced view of the town. Seth Rogen’s Matt Remick says he wants to make great movies, but within moments, he’s selling out all of his scruples to secure his role at the top of the chain. In The Studio, or at least its early episodes, no one cares about making anything good, with much of the first episode centring around Matt’s attempt to make Kool-Aid the movie at the behest of his new boss, Bryan Cranston’s studio CEO. 

The show is packed to the gills with cameos, with Martin Scorsese having a significant role playing himself, as he tries to launch a Jonestown film (a project he actually flirted with in real life), plus there’s Charlize Theron, Paul Dano, Steve Buscemi, and many more. Clearly, Rogen has a deep bench of people from which to pull.

However, The Studio could wind up being a little too venal for its own good, as, at least in the early episodes, there’s no one you root for at least a little – something which is a tried and true format on British TV but is less proven in the U.S (with Veep being a notable – long-running – exception). Sure, Succession, The Sopranos, and many others centered around bad people, but you still cared about them. At least early on, Rogen’s Matt is such a bottom-feeder that you’ll be rooting for his downfall within moments of meeting him.

That said, The Studio is funny, especially if you know the business a little bit. Scorsese pokes fun at his massive running times and budgets, while Nicholas Stoller shows up as himself to pitch an animated version of Kool-Aid that, God Forbid, sounds like the kind of tepid fare that would actually get made. Ike Barinholtz is a blast as Matt’s coked-up best friend/ adversary at the studio, while Katherine Hahn is at her best as the studio’s foul-mouthed chief marketer. Catherine O’Hara also enters late in the pilot as the studio exec thrown over by Matt to make it to the top.

My only caveat is that The Studio, as funny as it is, is also quite depressing as with it, Rogen really does seem to be saying that Hollywood, as it once was, is over and that if good movies do get made anymore, it’s a bit of a miracle. Given his place in the industry, he would know. God help us, loyal film fans. 

Seth Rogen

GOOD

7

The post The Studio (SXSW) Review: Seth Rogen’s Inside Hollywood Satire Has Promise appeared first on JoBlo.

Plot: Based on Dennis Tafoya’s book of the same name, “Dope Thief” follows long-time Philly friends and delinquents who pose as DEA agents to rob an unknown house in the countryside, only to have their small-time grift become a life-and-death enterprise, as they unwittingly reveal and unravel the biggest hidden narcotics corridor on the Eastern seaboard. 

Review: The definition of what constitutes a “crime drama” has evolved over the years as more nuanced takes on the subject matter have given us fantastic projects ranging from The Wire on the small screen to The Town on the big screen. Peter Craig, the co-writer of Ben Affleck’s The Town and The Batman, Gladiator II, Bad Boys For Life, and Top Gun: Maverick, knows a little about delivering portraits of criminals who are more than the crimes they perpetrate. Adapting Dennis Tafoya’s 2009 novel, Dope Thief takes a unique series of crimes and amplifies them by showcasing the brotherhood shared between the main characters and their deep-seated connection to their loved ones. With absolutely stunning performances from Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura and a powerful supporting turn from Marin Ireland, Dope Thief is unlike any other crime drama I can think of.

Dope Thief opens with best friends Ray (Brian Tyree Henry) and Manny (Wagner Moura) on a stakeout of a dope house. At first, their commentary and interaction feel like two DEA agents preparing for a raid. Still, as they execute their operation, it becomes evident that these two are criminals working a ruse to steal from other criminals. All of this is based on Ray’s idea, and the pair manages to make a solid living by stealing this way and getting away with it without hurting anyone. Ray does so to support his surrogate mother, Theresa (Kate Mulgrew), while ignoring his career criminal father, Bart (Ving Rhames). Manny uses his money to provide for his girlfriend, Sherry (Liz Caribel). Ray and Manny operate under the guidance of local criminal Son Pham (Dustin Nguyen), but when a former acquaintance gives them a tip about a target outside of Philadelphia, Ray and Manny decide it could be worth the risk. But, when the robbery goes south, the duo are on the radar of a mysterious kingpin who threatens to hunt them and their families down. As they race to protect themselves, Ray and Manny realize the vastness of the trouble they have gotten themselves into.

While much of Dope Thief‘s eight episodes focus on Ray and Manny, the full ensemble of this series is magnificent. Kate Mulgrew and Ving Rhames are great as very different parents to Ray, one of whom he closely admires and the other he blames for leading his life to where it has ended up. While Ray loves Theresa as a mother, his closeness to his brother, Manny, means everything to him, and as Ray struggles to find a solution to their predicament, he does so to protect those around him. With a young, aspirational attorney named Michelle (Nesta Cooper) on his side, Ray must also contend with the real DEA agents involved with the botched crime, namely undercover operative Mina (Marin Ireland) and her boss Mark Nader (Amir Arison). As we see both the investigation of Ray and Manny intensifying, Mina’s journey to recover from injuries sustained during the heist provides Marin Ireland with one of the most challenging roles of her career and a high point in her acting abilities. From communicating non-verbally through her standout performance in the finale, Marin Ireland should be recognized come awards season for this performance.

While Kate Mulgrew, Ving Rhames, Nesta Cooper, and 21 Jump Street veteran Dustin Nguyen perform fantastically, the work shared between Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura is exemplary, especially considering both actors have been knocking out roles for years. Henry, who has been in everything from big-budget Marvel, Transformers, and Godzilla projects to his Oscar-nominated turn in Causeway, has never been better as he exudes charisma and emotional layers as Ray struggles with his identity as a man, son, and brother. Wagner Moura, fantastic in Civil War and Netflix’s Narcos, balances out Ray’s impetuous nature while also struggling with his own addiction. It is even more impressive because Moura came in at the last minute after Michael Mando left the project early in production. A key scene in the middle of the series involving Henry and Moura in a pick-up truck may be one of the year’s best performances and a beautiful portrait of love between best friends I have seen on screen.

Executive producer Ridley Scott lent his skills as director on the first episode, with creator Peter Craig helming the finale. Jonathan Van Tulleken, Tanya Hamilton, and Marcela Said helmed the other six chapters of Dope Thief, with Craig serving as the sole writer for the entire series. Adapting the story from a novel meant the structure was already in place. Craig and Scott set up the first episode with a gritty and realistic tone, making me wonder if this series could have been inspired by a real event rather than a work of fiction. The gritty look of the Philadelphia setting lends a sense of realism to the story that elevates it from being a show or a cinematic creation to something more resonant. All five directors present a cohesive visual feel to Dope Thief that is elevated by a great soundtrack, with some songs factoring directly into the plot. The episodic nature of Dope Thief helps build the story across eight chapters toward a devastating finale that will hit you right in the gut.

Dope Thief works as well as it does because the strength of Peter Craig’s writing turns what could have been a more rote crime drama into something more emotional. While many actors could have taken on the challenge of this project, the chemistry between Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura cements the connection between Ray and Manny, elevating their tale to something more than I was anticipating. With Kate Mulgrew and Marin Ireland delivering fantastic supporting performances along with Nesta Cooper and Ving Rhames, Dope Thief is a powerful portrait that feels like an adaptation of a true story, thanks to the layered investment made in each character. Henry and Moura are superb as Apple TV+ brings yet another outstanding limited series to their platform.

Dope Thief premieres on March 14th on Apple TV+.

Dope Thief

AMAZING

9

The post Dope Thief TV Review: Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura lead a unique crime thriller from producer Ridley Scott appeared first on JoBlo.

Plot: The fourth and final season tells the story of a world-famous televangelist family with a long tradition of deviance, greed, and charitable work. Despite constant bickering, Gemstone family ties run deep, and this season, the family’s codependence is tested as they attempt to move forward without letting go of their storied past.

Review: Danny McBride has had a fantastic run on HBO. From Eastbound & Down to Vice Principals, McBride has partnered with Jody Hill and David Gordon Green to tell bizarrely American stories centered on professional sports and the education system. The Righteous Gemstones, the first of the series to be solely created by McBride, is also the longest-running but is ending with the fourth season. Chronicling the behind-the-scenes antics of a family of televangelists and the enemies they have amassed over the decades, The Righteous Gemstones spent its first three seasons putting the wealthy clan in the crosshairs for blackmail, extortion, and various other crimes. Through each season, the adult children of Dr. Eli Gemstone (John Goodman) acted like idiots before luckily redeeming themselves at the last minute. A twisted variation on the same formula as Succession, The Righteous Gemstones takes the family on one last crazy journey together, but one that is much different than the first three. What remains the same is this is one of the funniest series on television.

Season four of The Righteous Gemstones finds Eli retired from running his megachurch empire, leaving it to Jesse (Danny McBride), Judy (Edi Patterson), and Kelvin (Adam DeVine). With help from Baby Billy (Walton Goggins), the Gemstone kids are experiencing varying degrees of success. Kelvin leads the pack with his new modernized program, PRISM, which he runs with Keefe (Tony Cavalero). As the family prepares for the annual fundraiser that honors their late mother, Aimee-Leigh (Jennifer Nettles), they bring Eli back along with Aimee-Leigh’s best friend, Lori Milsap (Megan Mullally). When the kids feel threatened by Lori’s closeness to their family, they do what they always do and overcomplicate matters. What follows is a season full of jetpacks, monkeys, stripper poles, skateboards, golden bibles, and alligators. You know, typical Gemstones fare. There is more to the story, which becomes clear as the season pushes towards the series finale.

Like Succession, The Righteous Gemstones is about the filthy rich acting like spoiled brats. Danny McBride’s series takes away any sense of professionalism or culture and shows us the unabashed vanity and stupidity that the Gemstone children embody. That is part of what makes this series so fun to watch as we root for Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin to rip each other apart while also wanting them to persevere against those who try to tear them down. This season does away with an overarching nemesis that anchored the first three seasons, instead giving us a glimpse at how the Gemstones operate without Eli running the show and whether they can help each other or block themselves from ever being truly content. There is deeper material for Judy and Kelvin this season, with Jesse taking a bit of a backseat compared to his siblings. We also get more time with Jesse’s sons Gideon (Skyler Gisondo) and Pontius (Kelton DuMont), as well as Judy’s husband, BJ (Tim Baltz). Baby Billy’s subplot is not as consequential as in past seasons but still gives us some great quotable moments that will live on long after the series wraps.

The season boasts the same formula that worked to date for The Righteous Gemstones, including a great soundtrack, some surprise guest stars, a mid-season flashback episode when Aimee-Leigh was still alive, and a satisfying conclusion that pulls together the whole story. The heavy mystery elements in the first two seasons led the series to endings that felt like they owed the audience a big payoff twist. This season does not need to rely on big reveals as the story peppers them throughout the season, letting the series finale work as a calmer wrap to the thirty-five episodes that came before it. There is a feeling throughout this final season that there could be more stories to tell involving the Gemstone family. Until the final episode, it never feels like this is the end of the series, but after watching the entire run, I love how Danny McBride and his creative team bring this story to a close.

Danny McBride co-wrote the final nine episodes of The Righteous Gemstones alongside John Carcieri, Jeff Fradley, Edi Patterson, Kevin Barnett, and Chris Pappas. Danny McBride directed three episodes, including the premiere and series finale, with Jody Hill, David Gordon Green, and Jonathan Watson on the other six episodes. It would be unfair to divulge any of the surprises in store for audiences as they experience this season. Still, I will say that the premiere episode may be one of the best single episodes of television that Danny McBride has created. There are so many funny moments throughout this season, coupled with heartfelt ones, that continue to show us why we love to hate the Gemstones as much as we love to love them. The writing is so good you would imagine there was more improvisation involved than there is, but it is very funny performers delivering hilariously crafted lines.

With just these final nine episodes left, The Righteous Gemstones has cemented itself as Danny McBride’s best series. While Eastbound & Down is considered classic, it was the roughest and loosest project McBride co-created, with Vice Principals taking things down a more structured route. The Righteous Gemstones blends the comedic craft of both series with an indie sensibility boosted by HBO’s deep pockets to give us a hilarious story that is timely and timeless, satirical and sacrilegious, and altogether entertaining in ways few shows can be consistently season after season. Any series that can offer multiple instances of full-frontal male nudity and not seem shocking while still managing to be funny in ways no other show on the air can deserves to be recognized. Praise be to The Righteous Gemstones, may their legacy live forever. Amen.

The final season of The Righteous Gemstones premieres on March 9th on HBO.

The Righteous Gemstones

AMAZING

9

The post The Righteous Gemstones Season 4 TV Review: Danny McBride leads the comedy into a great final season appeared first on JoBlo.

Plot: Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer with heightened abilities is fighting for justice through his bustling law firm, while former mob boss Wilson Fisk pursues his own political endeavors in New York. When their past identities begin to emerge, both men find themselves on an inevitable collision course. 

Review: Just under ten years ago, Marvel brought its first street-level hero to Netflix with Daredevil. While the series would be followed by Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and a crossover event in Defenders, the Charlie Cox-led Daredevil was the best series of the bunch. After three seasons, Daredevil ended its Netflix run, and the cast said goodbye to the denizens of Hell’s Kitchen. But, when Marvel Studios reacquired the full rights to the characters, we saw Cox show up in Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk: Attorney At Law while Vincent D’Onofrio returned as Wilson Fisk in the Disney+ series Hawkeye and Echo. With the long-awaited new season of Daredevil debuting on Disney+, fans are likely wondering if this is truly a reboot or a true continuation of the three-season run on Netflix. The answer is a little bit of both. What is clear is that Daredevil: Born Again is a welcome return for this version of the characters in a grittier and more brutal take on the Marvel Cinematic Universe than we have ever seen before.

Premiering with two episodes before shifting to a weekly rollout, different than the binge-release format the original series had on Netflix, Daredevil: Born Again comprises nine episodes, all of which were made available for this review. The series picks up an indeterminate time after the conclusion of the original Daredevil as Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) celebrate the retirement of their cop friend Cherry (Clark Johnson) at the local pub, Josie’s. When Ben Poindexter (Wilson Bethel) arrives and mayhem ensues, Murdock crosses a line where he redefines his identity. Fast-forwarding a year later, Matt works as an attorney but no longer operates as a vigilante. With a new partner at his firm, Kirsten McDuffie (Nikki M. James), and a new love interest in Dr. Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva), Matt still struggles with the demons from his past, especially when he confronts Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) who is running for Mayor of New York City.

The premiere chapter of the series serves as a bridge between Daredevil and Born Again. It limits the connections between the series without mentioning the other Defenders or Elektra. Matt Murdock’s new focus involves taking cases that matter, including the defense of Hector Ayala (the late Kamar de los Reyes), also known as the vigilante White Tiger. Across the series, Murdock takes a handful of cases that tangentially connect to Wilson Fisk and which also draw in some other familiar MCU supporting characters like Hawkeye‘s Jack Duquense (Tony Dalton) and Ms. Marvel’s Yusuf Khan (Mohan Kapur). But Daredevil Born Again tries to keep the focus on the tenuous state of New York under the leadership of Fisk. Vincent D’Onofrio’s character has slimmed down a bit but is just as formidable as ever, countering the lighter touch in Hawkeye and Echo. Here, Fisk’s rise to power is balanced by his efforts to strengthen his marriage to Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer), who handled his criminal empire during his absence. The series spends almost an equal amount of time with Matt Murdock as with Wilson Fisk, showing both men trying to leave their past behind them only for it to come back with a vengeance.

For most of Daredevil: Born Again‘s first season, neither Matt Murdock nor Wilson Fisk embodies their alter ego. At first, I wondered if the series would repeat how Matt abandoned his hero persona in the first three seasons only to come to terms with it again. But, there is a deliberate reason this series approaches both characters the way they do. With the second season already announced, fans should anticipate that this nine-episode run feels more like the first half of the story rather than a self-contained season. There are a lot of characters, notably those played by Genneya Walton, Michael Gandolfini, and Arty Froushan, who factor heavily into the story being set up to lead into the second season. The presence of Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle and the mysterious visage of the serial killer Muse add to the scale of this season compared to the Netflix series. These elements work to varying degrees, with some feeling wasted and others paying off by the season finale. There is little I can divulge without spoiling what fans are in store for, but the series as a whole works once you finish the entire nine-episode arc. While Daredevil season three adapted the comic book storyline known as “Born Again,” the subtitle perfectly fits how this series revisits and resets the rivalry between the hero and villain.

The fact that Daredevil: Born Again was revamped during production to shy away from the legal procedural and episodic angle does not show in the finished product. This feels like a cohesive story that pays homage to the first three seasons while softly resetting for what comes next. Showrunner Dario Scardapane (The Punisher), who took over head writing duties from Christopher Ord and Matthew Corman, brought in Moon Knight and Loki directors Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson to lead the revamped directing staff that also includes Michael Cuesta, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, and David Boyd. The creative team has embraced the freedom of making this as brutal and dark of a series as we have seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the violence and profanity making anything on the Netflix series look like child’s play. The violence is brutal but not gratuitous, and the gritty and bloody storyline fits the stakes the characters are facing. I questioned how the events in this version of New York could have happened without Spider-Man or Captain America getting involved. Still, I am glad that Daredevil Born Again does not force-feed us cameos or connections to the rest of the MCU. As compared to the other Marvel Studios series on Disney+, Daredevil Born Again is the most well-balanced, with the run working from start to finish, for the most part.

Once you have all finished the first season of Daredevil: Born Again, I have no doubt that you will be anxious to see where the story goes next. A mid-credit scene at the end of the season finale will give you a taste, but I think you will also enjoy it more than I have. Binging the nine episodes did not leave much room to enjoy the week-to-week tension that will build for you as you learn about the twists and turns the story will take, but it may also magnify some of the season’s shortcomings. Whether they be subplots that build up but do not quite pay off or the way the series transitions from the prior seasons to Born Again, there will be some contentious conversations from legacy Daredevil fans and newcomers. Personally, I enjoyed seeing Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio back and as good as they have ever been. Just be prepared that this series does not pull any punches and may have some of the most violent deaths outside of Deadpool & Wolverine. The Man Without Fear is back, and I cannot wait for season two.

Daredevil Born Again premieres with two episodes on March 4 at 9 pm EST on Disney+.

Daredevil: Born Again

GREAT

8

The post Daredevil: Born Again TV Review: The series returns grittier and bloodier than before appeared first on JoBlo.

Plot: This new chapter of Surface follows Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Sophie to London to unravel the secrets of her past. Having suffered an injury that robbed her of her memories, Sophie follows the few clues she has, using her vast stolen resources to embed herself in elite British society, and discovering a possible connection to a beautiful heiress. But everything changes when a journalist contacts her out of the blue, and Sophie realizes they were working together to expose a shocking scandal about the dangerous people she’s now become close to…

Review: While the first season of Surface boasted a fantastic lead turn from Gugu Mbatha-Raw, the Apple TV+ series was an underwhelming attempt to tell a story about memory, identity, and relationships. The series ended with a cliffhanger, leading to a vastly different second season. With two years between the finale of the first season and the debut of season two, showrunner Veronica West has given Surface a soft reboot that continues the story from where it left off while shifting the narrative from Sophie’s life in San Francisco to exploring the root of how she became who she is by exploring her youth and the trauma she experienced in London. This shift allowed for the elimination of some characters while introducing others and delivering a story worth investing in, and putting the unique amnesia plot device used to start the story to excellent use. Surface‘s second season is better than the first in every way.

Season two of Surface opens sometime after Sophie (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) leaves San Francisco and her husband, James (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). In the first season, Sophie was suffering from amnesia after a failed suicide attempt. As she pieced together her memory, she realized that James may not be trustworthy. Now, using the name Tess Caldwell, she reunites with her childhood friend Eliza Huntley (Millie Brady). Continuing to piece together her past, she ingratiates herself again with the Huntley family, an aristocratic clan headed by Henry (Robert Graves) and Olivia (Joely Richardson). Eliza’s brother, Quinn (Phil Dunster), is engaged to Grace (Freida Pinto), and they all welcome Tess back, but hesitantly after not seeing her for years. All the while, Tess communicates with Callum Walsh (Gavin Drea), a reporter investigating accusations against the Huntleys.

As the season unfolds, we realize that the trauma Sophie/Tess has been dealing with going back to season one is far deeper than her relationship with James. With her childhood spent with the Huntleys, something terrible happened that involved Sophie and her mother. While Eliza is quicker to accept her close friend, Quinn is more reluctant and may be hiding his own things. As the secrets from her life come to the forefront, Sophie must also contend with James, who has found her and is now in England trying to locate her to bring closure to where they left things in San Francisco. The eight-episode second season keeps the mystery churning with many secrets and lies floating to the surface. There is also a lot to focus on as Sophie/Tess must face her past, present, and future all at once before the season finale.

The first season of Surface struggled with a creative concept and the tropes of amnesia storylines. The mystery took a back seat and barely maintained a cohesiveness rescued by Guga Mbatha-Raw’s exceptional performance anchoring the series. For this season, the disconnect from what happened in the first helps the series as the new focus on Sophie’s past is much more interesting than we saw before. Most of the season one cast is gone except for Oliver Jackson-Cohen, who gets to play James as less of a stereotypical villain from a chick-lit novel and more of a nuanced character. Millie Brady is as great as Eliza and balances Mbatha-Raw’s performance. Both Freida Pinto and Phil Dunster dig into the complex relationship between Quinn and Grace, while Gavin Drea makes a case to land many more substantial roles after his great turn as Callum Walsh.

Taking advantage of the soft reboot, virtually the entire creative team is different outside of showrunner Veronica West. This season features directors Ed Lilly, Jon East, Lynsey Miller, and Alrick Riley, while the writing staff boasts West alongside Lillian Yu, Peter Calloway, Dan Lee West, and Cortney Norris. Everyone involved has taken the cue from Veronica West’s overall vision but imbued this season with a better mystery, better twists, and more interesting characters. The London setting automatically gives Surface a distinct look and feel from season one while not ignoring the set-up and structure that season provided for Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Oliver Jackson-Cohen’s characters. Nevertheless, I appreciate that this season works as a standalone for new viewers, even if they did not see the first season. That may benefit them, as this run makes so much more sense.

Surface debuted and underwhelmed despite a capable cast and a unique premise. While few series are lucky enough to garner a second chance to do things right, Surface‘s second season is a substantial improvement over the first and manages to deliver satisfying closure to part of the story while leaving the door open for what comes next if a third season comes to fruition. Regardless of how you feel about this series, Gugu Mbatha-Raw has more than capably proven her talents as a lead actress, and whatever shortcomings this series has ever had, they do not come from her. Watching her perform is enough reason to check out the new season of Surface, but I feel everyone will feel much more positive about this story after checking out this new chapter.

Surface season two premieres on February 21 on Apple TV+.

Surface

GOOD

7

The post Surface Season 2 TV Review: Gugu Mbatha-Raw leads an intense and improved new chapter in the Apple TV+ thriller appeared first on JoBlo.

Plot: In the second season of 1923, a cruel winter brings new challenges and unfinished business to Jacob and Cara back at Dutton ranch. With harsh conditions and adversaries threatening to end the Dutton legacy, Spencer embarks on an arduous journey home, racing against time to save his family in Montana. Meanwhile, Alexandra sets off on her own harrowing trans-Atlantic journey to find Spencer and reclaim their love.

Review: While Yellowstone finished its run just a couple of months ago, Taylor Sheridan’s second prequel series still has a few more stories about the origin of the Dutton Ranch in Montana. Following the acclaimed ten-episode run of 1883, Sheridan jumped into the twentieth century with the Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren-led 1923. Envisioned as a two-season epic, 1923′s first season was a massive success as it blended a sprawling period epic across multiple continents and chronicled the early days of the Duttons and their ranch on the border of Yellowstone National Park. While we know Yellowstone has a couple of spin-offs in the works, the second and final season of 1923 will wrap the story of Jacob and Cara Dutton and set the table for the already announced series 1944, which will pick up with the generation immediately preceding the birth of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton. As far as final seasons go, 1923 is exceptional as it continues the first season with some impressive early chapters that lend more to the legendary clan of Taylor Sheridan’s dynastic franchise.

When 1923 originally debuted, we were only given a single episode to review. However, it was still a strong enough premiere chapter that we knew Taylor Sheridan had another hit on his hands. 1923 introduced the successors to 1883 characters James Dutton (Tim McGraw) and his wife Margaret (Faith Hill) after they arrived in Bozeman, Montana. Picking up with Jacob Dutton (Harrison Ford) and his wife Cara (Helen Mirren), 1923 followed their fight to secure their homestead from tycoon Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton) and rival Banner Creighton (Jerome Flynn). The series split time with the Montana Duttons and Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar) as he traversed Europe after fighting in World War I. At the end of the first season, Jacob and Cara faced an ultimatum as Whitfield paid their property taxes and was on the verge of claiming their land. At the same time, Spencer was separated from his new wife, Alexandra (Julia Schlaepfer), aboard a ship. Season two opens with the story split across continents and focal points as the various Duttons begin defending their home.

In the first three episodes of 1923‘s second second, Jacob and Cara are struggling through a brutal Montana winter. With mountain lions and wolves desperate for warmth and food, the Dutton ranch is crawling with predators. At the same time, they must also contend with a pending trial for foreman Zane Davis (Brian Geraghty), who is married to an Asian woman who violated the law at the time. As Jacob tries to free Zane, Cara must protect the fort from the encroaching wildlife. Across the Atlantic, Spencer is working on a ship to try to reunite with Alexandra and get home to help his family defend the ranch from Whitfield. Alexandra is also trying to find a way to Spencer and has decided to travel to America. Unprepared for the plight of Ellis Island and being a single woman travelling halfway across the world, these three narratives have a lot going on. This does not even scratch the surface of what 1923 has in store in these early episodes, as Whitfield’s scheming with Banner Creighton echoes what the Duttons would face a century later at the hands of corrupt developers and rivals for the priceless acreage.

The brutal elements of Montana in the winter were barely a factor in Yellowstone, but the sparse resources in the early twentieth century made for some thrilling television. A sequence involving Harrison Ford trying to protect people in a blizzard echoes his scenes on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back. But, aside from the Duttons, 1923 also returns to following the escape of Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves) as she tries to stay one step ahead of Father Renaud (Sebastian Roche) and Marshal Kent (Jamie McShane) along with her father Runs His Horse (Michael Spears) and Pete Plenty Clouds (the late Cole Brings Plenty). Without divulging too much about the various directions everyone is taking, the story is set in Montana, Texas, Oklahoma, New York City, and Italy, giving the vastness of the distances traveled an epic scope that seems challenging to conclude in just five remaining episodes. Nevertheless, 1923 is as engaging and enthralling as ever, especially with Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren continuing to give their all in their performances.

Echoing the behind-the-scenes work done in season one, the first three episodes of 1923 season two hail from Taylor Sheridan as writer and Ben Richardson as director. Having found their groove as a creative unit, this season is reminiscent of the best parts of Yellowstone‘s first season and the propulsive period drama of 1883. With appearances in the early episodes from Robert Patrick as Sherrif William McDowell and new characters played by Jennifer Carpenter and C. Thomas Howell, 1923 blends the Western genre with a look at milestone historical moments, including Prohibition and the Rise of Mussolini, while incorporating a first look at pizza to Americans. It also gives us a bleak look at what entering the United States through Ellis Island was like in one of the most disturbing sequences in any Taylor Sheridan series. The massive budget reportedly given to 1923 is evident on screen as the impeccable production values elevate the story in a way that feels even more genuine than the contemporary-set Yellowstone.

While these characters would not exist without Taylor Sheridan’s original Yellowstone, I feel that these prequels are far more consistent and well-developed than the original series. Maybe it is the condensed episode count or the finite length of the overall series. Still, with 1883 delivering a strong single season of ten episodes and Yellowstone wavering in quality across five, 1923 may represent the single best overall series that Taylor Sheridan has created to date. With exceptional performances from the entire cast led by Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren as good as they have ever been, 1923′s second and final season is already shaping to be a powerful chapter in Yellowstone mythology. With 1944 picking up a couple of decades later, it is possible we could see Brandon Sklenar, Jilia Schlaepfer, Michelle Randolph, and Darren Mann, amongst others, in the next saga of the Dutton family. Still, for now, fans are in for a fantastic run of television that rivals every other entry in the Yellowstone universe.

Season two of 1923 premieres on February 23rd on Paramount+.

1923

AMAZING

9

The post 1923 Season 2 TV Review: The Yellowstone prequel returns for a satisfying final season appeared first on JoBlo.

Plot: Respected former U.S. President George Mullen, who, as head of the Zero Day Commission, is charged with finding the perpetrators of a devastating cyber attack that has caused chaos, and thousands of fatalities, across the country.  As disinformation runs rampant and the personal ambition of power brokers in technology, Wall Street, and government collide, Mullen’s unwavering search for the truth forces him to confront his own dark secrets while risking all he holds dear.

Review: Throughout his sixty-year career, Robert De Niro has made dramas, comedies, documentaries, period films, and virtually every genre you can think of. He has played heroes, soldiers, politicians, villains, and everything in between, but Zero Day represents two substantial firsts for the iconic actor. For the first time, Robert De Niro is starring in a television series, and for the first time, he is portraying the President of the United States. Accompanied by a critically acclaimed cast that included Angela Bassett, Joan Allen, Jesse Plemons, Matthew Modine, Dan Stevens, Lizzy Caplan, Connie Britton, Clark Gregg, and more, Zero Day is a fascinating concept for a long-form series that combines the intrigue of Netflix’s House of Cards with a timely tale of cyberterrorism. With a fantastic leading turn by Robert De Niro, Zero Day is good but had the potential to be so much better.

Zero Day refers to a catastrophic cyber-attack on the United States that happens early in the series’ first episode. As the clock begins ticking from that point forward, former President George Mullen (Robert De Niro) is nominated by sitting President Evelyn Mitchell to lead a Commission with sweeping power that circumvents the law and the Constitution as they try to figure out who attacked the United States and bring them to justice. Reluctantly, Mullen runs the Zero Day Commission with the support of his wife, Sheila (Joan Allen), and his chief aide, Roger Carlson (Jesse Plemons). Mullen’s daughter Alex (Lizzy Caplan), a congresswoman, is opposed to the commission and is asked by Speaker of the House Richard Dreyer (Matthew Modine) to serve on the oversight board above the Zero Day Commission. A very balanced and respected leader, Mullen begins the investigation by connecting to some of his former sources to gather intel, revealing that the former President’s state of mind may not be as sound as everyone believes.

Told across six episodes, Zero Day begins with a very intriguing concept and the idea of a beloved former President overseeing the most powerful agency in the country’s history. Despite his unbridled power, Mullen follows the letter of the law but struggles with whether his mental state is clouding his own judgment. There are also the competing interests of those around him including CIA director Lasch (Bill Camp), the Speaker of the House, and wealthy private investor Robert Lyndon (Clark Gregg), who has his own motives for wanting the blame to fall a certain way, tech CEO Monica Kidder (Gaby Hoffmann) who seeks to partner with Mullen, and blowhard extreme news personality Evan Green (Dan Stevens) who stokes conspiracy theories that fire up the already paranoid American public. Add in Mullen balancing the perspectives brought by his wife and daughter as well as guilt lingering from the death of his son while he was in office. Zero Day has plenty of material to dig into for any television series.

The sheer amount of material presented through Zero Day also poses the biggest challenge for the show. With only six hour-long chapters to take the series from the opening attack through a satisfying conclusion, it is not nearly enough time. There are multiple storylines and subplots in Zero Day that could have either been excised completely or would have needed additional seasons to dig into. Some actors in the cast are relegated to just a few scenes, and others are built up as substantial parts of the plot, only to disappear in subsequent episodes. Some actors, namely Jesse Plemons, Lizzy Caplan, and Connie Britton get the bulk of the screen time alongside Robert De Niro and make great use of their roles, but they are stuck in a story that is bigger than it has room to tell. This is a shame, as this is one of Robert De Niro’s best performances in years. The eighty-one-year-old icon carries himself as a decade or more younger than he actually is and affords himself as a brilliant politician and an everyman who I would have voted for to be President of the United States. That being said, his character has so much to do in so little time that by the end of the final episode, I was left wondering if maybe another episode was coming or a potential second season, but there isn’t. This is it.

Lesli Linka Glatter directed all six episodes of Zero Day. Glatter is best known for her work on Mad Men and Showtime’s Homeland, with that latter series providing structural and visual inspiration for this series. Created by Eric Newman (Narcos) and Noah Oppenheim (Jackie) alongside journalist Michael S. Schmidt, Zero Day feels like it could be based on a true story. There are plenty of references to September 11, COVID-19, and the rise of political extremism that add to the eerie feel that this story is a Black Mirror-esque nightmare of what could happen someday. But, much of that is squandered as the series enters the final two episodes, with many questions not yet answered before trying to wrap everything up neatly. This leaves Zero Day feeling rushed as if a multi-season plan was condensed down to a single, short, limited run of six episodes.

Zero Day has all the hallmarks of what should and could have been a great ongoing series or even an intriguing feature film. Instead, Robert De Niro’s excellent turn as one of the best fictional Presidents is squandered by a series that fails to take advantage of the medium by doing too much and not paying it off in the end. You are not alone if you watch Zero Day and are confused about where several supporting characters end up by the final episode. This could have been a really great project and Netflix’s worthy successor to House of Cards. Instead, we are left with a project that wastes one of the best ensemble casts in recent memory with a story bogged down by red herrings and misdirections while still managing to be somewhat entertaining. I wish I had liked Zero Day more than I did because it should have been great.

Zero Day premieres on February 20th on Netflix.

Zero Day

AVERAGE

6

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Plot: Follows the intertwined stories of eight different characters as they each prepare for their big championship softball game. The series reveals what it actually feels like to be in the shoes of each character—the insecure kids, their helicopter parents, even a lovesick umpire—with incredibly funny, very emotional and uniquely animated perspectives.

Review: Since the debut of Disney+, Pixar Animation has produced ten series ranging from shorts like Forky Asks A Question and Dug Days to the long-form film spin-offs Monsters At Work and Dream Productions. With these shows achieving various amounts of success, it is notable that none of them are original creations but extensions of existing franchises. For the first time, Pixar is debuting its first original series for Disney+ in the long-awaited Win or Lose. Originally announced in 2020, Win or Lose chronicles the lead-up to a kid’s softball team championship game. Following the various players, coaches, families, and friends surrounding the game, Win or Lose tells eight individual stories that all connect to the main narrative of the series. It is a bold approach to storytelling that blends Pixar’s long-running short film output with the epic scale we have come to expect from the animation studio. With an ensemble cast full of recognizable voices and a visual style unlike anything we have seen from Pixar to date, Win or Lose is a home run.

Win or Lose centers on the Pickles, a team of middle-school kids who are on their way to the championship thanks to the stellar play from pitcher Yuwen (Izaac Wang), catcher Rochelle (Milan Ray), and all-star Kai (Chanel Stewart). The first episode, led by Coach Dan (Will Forte), focuses on Laurie (Rosie Foss), Coach Dan’s daughter, who feels the only reason she is on the team is because her dad is the manager. Focusing on Laurie’s feelings, we see her anxiety and the weight of her emotional struggles in physical form as a purplish blob. The half-hour episode flies by as Laurie interacts with her friends and teammates while trying to understand her feelings. Pixar is an expert at anthropomorphizing thoughts, emotions, and intangible concepts. Win or Lose is another example that is easy for kids to understand while still relatable for all ages. Laurie’s struggle with talking to her dad about how she feels is a universal experience, and as the episode follows the week leading up to the championship, we see that Laurie is just one person amongst many going through their own challenges.

While I have only seen the first four episodes of Win or Lose, they provide a pretty substantial picture of what this series aims to be. In each episode, the focus shifts to a different protagonist, and we view what they are going through. The second episode follows Frank (Josh Thomson), the umpire for the softball league and teacher for many of the students on the Pickles. His episode deals with a more mature subject matter involving dating and personal defenses. As shown in the trailers, Frank’s defensiveness is seen as a suit of armor. The idea of adults dating and even exploring online apps to meet new people will likely go over the heads of most younger viewers, but it will prompt conversations worth having between parents and kids. What happens during Frank’s episode directly connects to the third episode, which is focused on Rochelle, who sees her struggling with her mother’s lack of attention as Rochelle tries to act more like an adult than she should have. It is a somewhat sad entry but a reality for many who will be watching.

The fourth episode shifts back to an adult perspective. It follows Rochelle’s mother, Vanessa (Rosa Salazar), a single mother who uses social media as a sole connection to the outside world. Seeing Rochelle’s experiences in the third episode through the perspective of her mother makes the two episodes an interesting conversation starter. It is also cool to see callbacks to prior episodes incorporated into the new chapters while laying hints for what will come in subsequent entries. There are so many characters in the series, and many of them, including some voiced by Lil Rel Howery, Rhea Seehorn, Flula Borg, Kyliegh Curran, Melissa Villasenor, and more, are just briefly seen and heard with their roles likely more substantial in the back half of the season. Viewing Win or Lose in sequential order definitely adds to the connected experience of the overall narrative, but Pixar has built these to work well as standalone stories, too.

All eight episodes of Win or Lose are written and directed by Carrie Hobson and Michael Yates. Their animation style reminded me somewhat of what we saw in Luca and Turning Red but with a distinct feel that sets it apart. This story is episodic in nature and does not work in the same way a feature film would despite drawing inspiration from the perspective-shifting classic Rashomon. Hobson and Yates have developed a true long-form series that uses the episodic structure to connect these short stories into an overall project. From the episodes I have seen, some stories will be more engaging than others, but rather than picking one thematic way into the minds of this wide range of ages, ethnicities, genders, and life experiences, Hobson and Yates have been able to tackle eight. Whether this is an approach they can take for future seasons that follow completely different characters remains to be seen, but it works well for this story.

Win or Lose is another example of how skillfully Pixar employs talent who tackle weighty and difficult subject matter in a way that promotes conversation rather than preaching one particular answer or way of thinking. This approach will not work for everyone, and the diverse mix of subject matter may have parents considering which episodes they want their kids to watch. Still, this series is a worthwhile watch for general audiences that blends solid animation, good writing, and a talented cast of newcomers and veterans. Win or Lose is a winner and one that earns a spot amongst Pixar’s better efforts over the last decade. It also shows that Pixar does not need to rely on sequels or spin-offs to still deliver a high-quality production that rivals many live-action shows.

Pixar’s Win or Lose premieres with two episodes on February 19th on Disney+.

Win or Lose

GOOD

7

The post Pixar’s Win or Lose TV Review: Will Forte leads the heartfelt and fun Disney+ animated series appeared first on JoBlo.

Plot: Based on Lee Child’s novel Persuader, in the third season of the action-packed series, Reacher hurtles into the dark heart of a vast criminal enterprise when trying to rescue an undercover DEA informant whose time is running out. There he finds a world of secrecy and violence—and confronts some unfinished business from his own past.

Review: The success of Prime Video’s Reacher has hinged on the charisma of star Alan Ritchson. While Tom Cruise’s appeal helped make the two feature films based on Lee Child’s long-running series modest hits at the box office, Ritchson’s physical presence and embodiment of Jack Reacher made it an instant hit when the first season premiered back in 2022. While the initial run of Reacher, based on the first novel Killing Floor, did not blow me away, I found the series hit its stride with the second season in 2023. Based on the eleventh novel, Bad Luck and Trouble, it was already revealed that a third season was in production. Based on Lee Child’s seventh novel, Persuader, the third season of Reacher continues to bring faithful adaptations of the source material to screens while taking advantage of fan response to supporting characters like Maria Sten’s Francis Neagly. With a distinct plot compared to the first two seasons and a physical nemesis that finally gives Jack Reacher a worthy adversary, the series is again improving on what came before it for a solid addition to the franchise.

Like the two previous seasons, this new story picks up an indeterminate amount of time since we last saw Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson). This season, Reacher becomes involved with a wealthy oriental rug importer, Zachary Beck (Anthony Michael Hall), and his son, Richard (Johnny Berchtold). Unbeknownst to the Becks, Reacher is working undercover as part of a DEA operation by Susan Duffy (Sonya Cassidy). At the same time, Reacher is also searching for Francis Xavier Quinn (Brian Tee), a man from his past with whom Reacher has unfinished business. As Reacher ingratiates himself further with the Becks, it becomes apparent that he may have gotten himself involved in something far bigger than he initially anticipated. This means Reacher must use discretion and his various physical and mental skills while calling in familiar faces as backup. What unfolds over the season draws Reacher into a clash of his personal journey with the need to help those in his path. Basically, it is exactly what Reacher fans have been looking forward to after similar narratives in the first two seasons. The biggest difference this season is Reacher may have met a worthy opponent.

While I have seen the entirety of the third season of Reacher, I have been asked not to divulge any spoilers that limit pretty much any specifics. Those who have read the source novel, Persuader, already know the core plot of the season, as this eight-episode run sticks pretty close to the overall narrative. Some characters are removed entirely while new characters are introduced, including the return of Francis Neagly, whose appearance across the first three seasons deviates from where she came into the chronology of the novels. Brian Tee is a phenomenal foil for Alan Ritchson’s Reacher as their past conflict represents a key moment that led to Jack Reacher becoming the man he is today. Anthony Michael Hall is also quite good as the devious Zachary Beck, with some elements of his performance echoing characters the former child star has played frequently in recent years. The biggest surprise is Olivier Richters as Beck’s bodyguard, Paulie. Towering over Reacher, Richters is the first character in the three seasons of this series that presents a challenge to the title character’s physicality. Over the season, the two go toe-to-toe in various ways that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats through the end of the season finale.

Alan Ritchson continues to mine Reacher’s stoic presence and a seemingly endless library of skills this season. Whether it be guns, hand-to-hand combat, military tactics, or witty one-liners, Ritchson has perfected his portrayal of Lee Child’s character in a way that Tom Cruise never did. While Neagly’s return is always welcome, Ritchson interacts greatly with Sonya Cassidy’s Susan Duffy. As a DEA agent with a mission of her own, Cassidy gives Duffy enough bite to hold her own with Reacher while planning the overall operation at the center of the season. With Roberto Montesinos and Daniel David Stewart also, along with Duffy’s DEA colleagues Guillermo Villanueva and Steven Elliot, the early episodes of this season pave the way for progressively more intense chapters leading up to the eighth and possibly most action-packed episode of the season. I am unsure how the fourth season will deviate from this season’s format, but again, it falls on Alan Ritchson’s charisma to carry this series. For a man of few words, Ritchson still maintains a hold over every scene he is in.

While series showrunner Nick Santora does not boast a credit on any of the third season of Reacher, season two veteran scribe Scott Sullivan is back to anchor this run with three episodes to his name. He is joined by Penny Cox, Lillian Wang, Michael J. Guttierez, and Cait Duffy. Directing duties fall to Sam Hill, Stephen Surjik, Gary Fleder, and more. The overall scale of this season is limited in terms of setting compared to the prior seasons, but the overall journey that Reacher takes us on this season is as dynamic and engaging as ever. I would think only die-hard fans of Lee Child’s novels will even notice deviations from the novel as the story does not rely on the events from the first two seasons, nor does it lay many hints at the already rumored spin-off starring Maria Sten. Newcomers can enjoy season three of Reacher without seeing the first or second. Limited callbacks and references echo the similar structure of the Reacher novels, which can be ready in any order.

While I was underwhelmed by the first season of Reacher, I still appreciated the approach that Nick Santora and Alan Ritchson brought to the adaptation. By the second season, I was hooked by the fun the series could reach as it was no longer bogged down by origin stories or setting up the characters’ universe. The second season benefited from giving Jack Reacher a team of colleagues that made for a cool unit that no bad guy would want to go against. This season returns to Reacher being on his own but builds on the fun side of the story in equal measure with the intense stakes that make this series feel like no one is safe at any given time. I am curious to see if Reacher can find a way to keep topping itself as seasons two and three each built on what came before them. Fans of the books and of this show are in for a great season that may be the best Reacher adaptation yet.

Reacher‘s third season premieres February 20th on Prime Video.

Reacher

GREAT

8

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