The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Series Premiere Review

9 Sep

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Stephen’s back, and it’s a wonderful sight to behold. What I love most about this first episode is the fact that we get to see a genuinely excited Stephen Colbert, a guy who finally gets to be himself after years and years of playing “a narcissistic conservative pundit”. Now he’s “just a narcissist”, and we can see in every movement just how happy he is to be here. This is someone who’s building a late night show around pure talent and personality, not around the generic celebrity gushing that seems to dominate much of the country’s cultural conversation. This version of The Late Show is a blend of old and new, and it’s exactly what the format needs as we move forward.

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Veronica Mars Season 2, Episodes 3-5 Review

7 Sep

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EPISODE 3: “CHEATTY CHEATTY BANG BANG”

Attempting to juggle too many plot points can come back to bite a show, but as of right now, it’s pretty entertaining watching Veronica Mars break from its season one structure to try something new. We’re getting cliffhangers left and right, Aaron Echolls is being brought back into the fold through Curly Moran, and cases of the week are being interwoven with multiple overarching plots. Aside from a karaoke scene that goes on for way too long, this episode is really great, especially when it focuses on Cassidy’s relationship with his family or the tensions between Duncan, Logan, and Veronica (with some Kendall stuff now thrown in). On the Duncan-Logan note, it’s easy to see where exactly this conflict is coming from based on what we know about the characters, and we can probably draw a line connecting their relationship around the Jake Kane accusation period to accusations leveled at Logan recently. Logan prides loyalty, but he feels like he’s not getting any from Duncan.

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Veronica Mars “Normal is the Watchword”/ “Driver Ed” Review (2×01/2×02)

7 Sep

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EPISODE 1: “Normal is the Watchword”

Damn, talk about a cliffhanger.

The bus crash is a thrilling end to the episode and an exciting kick off to season two, but it’s too bad that the preceding 40 minutes are fairly average. Yes, it’s difficult to follow up a masterpiece like “Leave It to Beaver”, but “Normal is the Watchword” feels like a two hour premiere that had to be cut in half. It’s chaotic, and not in a good way; the writers accomplish their goal of rushing through exposition and throwing us back into the action, but as a result, the fallout over last season’s resolution fails to make as big of an impact as it could have. In addition, the flashback overload is nifty at first, but it brings diminishing returns as the episode progresses, and that plus a bland case of the week makes for a subpar Veronica Mars premiere.

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Mr. Robot “eps1.9_zer0-day.avi” Review (1×10)

3 Sep

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“We live in a kingdom of bullshit!”

Mr. Robot’s big monologue near the end of the episode is essentially this show in a nutshell. Throughout these ten episodes, Sam Esmail and co. explore the idea of reality in both an individual and societal context, using unique visual cues to convey Elliot’s mindset as he navigates the world around him. It’s certainly an interesting ride, one filled with burning questions about who’s “real” and who isn’t, about who might just be a part of our main character’s mind. In the end, though, the finale monologue hits the nail on the head when it comes to reality in this show. “Is any of it real?” Mr. Robot asks. “I mean, look at this. Look at it! A world built on fantasy.”

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Veronica Mars “Leave It to Beaver” Review (1×22)

1 Sep

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“Don’t forget about me, Veronica.”

“I could never.”

Season one of Veronica Mars is nearly flawless because of flaws. It’s charming and funny and entertaining, but it also doesn’t shy away from complexity, from the bad decisions and the ugly conflicts that develop at various times in peoples’ lives. Its characters are flawed and human, and the way the show handles them is similar to the idea behind the Lilly Kane memorial video at the beginning of the season: at first, you may expect the saccharine, but you realize that the most moving memories are created because we see them for who they are.

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Show Me a Hero “Parts 5 & 6” Review

30 Aug

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“You can’t confuse votes with love.”

Over the first four episodes of the miniseries, Mayor Nick Wasicsko’s storyline has been the main interest-grabber, the anchor in a show populated by its fair share of scattered plots. In these final two episodes, things switch up a bit, the previously disjointed residents’ storylines coming together beautifully as Nick fades into the background. And it’s not that there’s less time devoted to the former mayor; it’s just that Yonkers is moving on from him, fading “the face of this ugly mess” out. He without a doubt did some good in this city, but it ultimately ends up being the cruel beast of politics that pushes him downward.

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Hannibal “The Wrath of the Lamb” Review (3×13)

29 Aug

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“This is all I ever wanted for you, Will. For both of us.”

For three seasons and thirty nine episodes, Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter have crafted an incredibly twisted, violent, and beautiful love story. They’ve followed a more unique version of the Base System, however, with making out/feeling each other up/having hot sex being replaced with fun actions such as cannibalism, bloody hugging, and brutal murders. This is the only show on television where someone getting stabbed can potentially make you go “Oh, that’s adorable!”, and I love Bryan Fuller and co. all the more for it. In “The Wrath of the Lamb”, he writes the show out in style, both giving us closure to the central relationship and leaving us with a sense of ambiguity. It’s a fittingly poetic masterpiece of a series finale, and I’m glad I got to experience it.

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Fear the Walking Dead “Pilot” Review (1×01)

28 Aug

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Written by: Maria Leia

AMC’s wildly successful zombie drama The Walking Dead turned into a cultural phenomenon after it was popularized as a cult comic series. Now, creator Robert Kirkman and AMC have launched a companion show, Fear The Walking Dead, set in the same universe. While the two shows necessarily have a lot in common, there are plenty aspects to differentiate them that should make the new show a worthwhile experience for fans of the original.

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Battlestar Galactica Season 4, Episodes 16-19 Review

25 Aug

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EPISODE 16: “Deadlock”

I’m kind of disappointed there isn’t more mutiny fallout in recent episodes. I see what this one is trying to accomplish with its love triangle, but the hour is so full of melodrama and forced motivations that the message gets lost in the shuffle. Although the actors involved elevate a weak script, the complex questions at the center of the show are reduced to bullet points and Ellen Tigh regresses to her usual insufferable self. Of course, that’s the point the episode wants to make about change and identity, but coming after a character shift seen in “No Exit”, it’s a very disappointing move by the writers. However, I do like the way Liam’s death can be seen as Six’s action in the miniseries coming full circle.

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Show Me a Hero “Parts 3 & 4” Review

23 Aug

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“People just want a home, right? It’s the same for everybody.”

As Wasicsko makes clear during part 3, politics is about popularity. You’re trying to get as many people to like you as possible, but you’re also playing a game that’s every man for himself, that’s “personal” when all is said and done. “For the first time in my life, I feel like I am on the right side of something,” he tells Nay as they stand in front of a house he wants to buy. “And I am alone.” He goes a Nixon-esque route and tries to appeal to a “silent majority”, but it’s the “loud minority”–evidently the majority in this election–that ends up pushing him out of office in the end. And guess what? Progress still moves at a glacially slow pace. For all of Spallone’s talk, his inability to back up that talk is causing unrest among the Yonkers residents. This is a city whose politicians and inhabitants are both driven by fear, and that fear is clouding their desires to change or compromise.

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