TV Reviews

The Israeli Prime Minister rests the fate of his nation and Walter’s grand plan on a race between his grandchildren… so please, Swim, Shmuley, Swim!

Aquarius gets bloody with a Christmas cop-killer on the loose, one targeting police officers who patrol in black-white pairs. ‘Why?’ indeed.

Hannibal balances literary canon with its own quirks, capturing Dr. Lecter with style.“Digestivo” is a perfectly wonderful balance of weird, referential, and arty–jam-packed with plot, references, and bizarreness.

Mike goes head to head with Robert Zane and Louis Litt finally makes sense.

Walter Larson’s bladder could explode before the Middle East and only Alex Talbot can deliver relief, while Zeke considers the duality of Bruce Wayne/Batman as a cure for his love life.

A healthy dose of a muched missed component was injected into the final season of Falling Skies last night: genuine human drama amongst character we actually care about.

This may be the turning point for the show. If things continue to be stepped up at this level in the remaining four episodes, the ride may be deemed worth its slow start in the end.

When we last left Jonathan Strange And Mr Norrell, they had split ways and Norrell had sworn to do everything in his power to destroy Jonathan and protect English Magic. Strange on the other hand had decided to retire to the country with his wife and give up doing magic, but Napoleon and the army intervened.

We’re 8 hours into Wayward Pines and it’s lost all of its steam. I’m not sure about you, but I’m at the point where I don’t give a shit what happens anymore. Like a lot of things Shyamalan touches as of late, it’s all show, not a lot of substance, and a big let down in the end.

Love was in the air, or maybe I should say in the ooze, on this episode of Under The Dome, though not with those you would have expected it from before the start of this season. Barbie and Julia are still on the outs, Barbie having chosen his love from the alternate reality Eva over the pretty ginger (who, let’s remember, he has known for a whopping three weeks).

In this week’s Aquarius, Hodiak digs for clues into a missing woman while Ken digs up the past to destroy any evidence she even existed.

Hannibal has saved all of its action for one or two episodes and “Dolce” is the first that brings the painstaking set-up to a head. After some mildly interesting discussions, Hannibal is captured. Ta-da.

Harvey Specter’s panic attacks came back this week on Suits and I’m glad they did. In a world where so many writers drop the ball on their previous storylines it was nice to see this one continue on and show that the problem still isn’t solved and comes back at the worst times.

We find ourselves in the aftermath of Lady Pole’s assassination attempt in this week’s Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. As things come to a head, the rift between Strange and Norrell grows farther and farther apart.

For the first time, and in its final season at that, we are seeing hero Tom Mason stray from his moral code. And even more surprisingly you may be finding yourself sympathizing with the very race trying to enslave and conquer the human race.

After an uneven and scattered feeling first two episodes, “Maybe Tomorrow,” the third episode in the season, tells a more coherent story and transitions from character to character more organically. That’s not to say that it has returned to the greatness of the first season. But, it’s an improvement.

The Brink explores loyalty, punishment and a painfully infested penis in Baghdad My Ass and Alex Talbot holds the fate of two countries in his opportunistic hands.

The biggest intrigue from this week, what’s with the guy that killed Novo? Was it just for the fancy ring, or is there more going on there?

With “Contorno,” Hannibal stops reflecting on its past traumas and gives us a bit of forward momentum. It’s counter-productive to call this episode weird, but I was so enjoying all the psychological interludes that plot business begins to feel strange simply by its lack of Hannibal‘s patented weirdness.

This week’s episode of Under The Dome was TWICE as good as the 2 hour premiere because it was HALF as long. If we can just get this show to stop existing, it’ll be at the top of its game.

We are now seven episodes in, and Wayward Pines is beginning to feel a little tired, and a little lazy. The plotlines of this episode are so extremely choreographed, that all of the power the final scene was supposed to relay to me was lost.

In true Suits fashion the rivalry between Harvey Specter and Louis Litt has only increased since Donna became Louis’ secretary. In a typical ‘Louis Litt’ move, Louis tries to prove his loyalty to Harvey by setting up a situation in front of the board then defending Harvey. Of course, it backfires.

All in all, the questions the premiere puts forth are interesting enough to make me hopeful for a solidly entertaining if not Earth-shattering (get it?) final run.

As predicted, if you weren’t into the show last week, there’s not much more for you to cling to here. This episode was a slower crawl than the premiere, and again had the only actual plot development happen in the episode’s final moments.

“Half-Cocked” is just an expression, but it brings another nation to The Brink. “Half Cocked” and “No Shit” are taken literally in another hilarious episode of this extraordinary show. Thank God we live in a country where we can write, produce, and cast this kind of television.

American Odyssey ends its first season on a high note. Glen threatens Ballard, and her family, in Barcelona, but she crushes him like the treacherous bug that he is. Alex Baker and Glen both get what they deserve, but Aslam is all alone in the real world.

Last week a rivalry was born between Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and this week it takes a turn for the paranoid as Jonathan is in Portugal helping the English Army, and Mr. Norrell is at home trying to consolidate his power over English Magic.

Last night was the “special” two hour premiere of the CBS drama Under the Dome based off the Stephen King novel of the same name. Although at this point basically the only similarity between the two intellectual properties are some character names and the Dome itself.

There is nothing overly clever about the crimes on this show, no need for a specially gifted genius or technology driven teams to solve cases. The crimes, and the difficulties solving them, are rooted in social ills.

I’m sure you all heard my cries of despair from wherever you were when Hannibal was cancelled earlier this week. What cancellation means for us in the now is that we just must savor the rest of this season all the more and pray to the God of Streaming Service revivals.