TV Reviews

The American Gods pilot premiere and following Q&A showed today the series is poised to be not only one of the biggest television events of the year, but will also turn out to be one of the most thematically relevant and powerful television series as well.

Season 1, Episode 18 – MacGyver teams up with Hawaii Five-0 in “Flashlight.” With an interesting new plot angle, the show starts off strong, but quickly dives into a typical MacGyver twist, with all the show flaws that brings as well.

Season 1, Episode 6 – Tommy is put in the spotlight this week on Training Day as a childhood friend is taken into custody, with a gang and a corrupt government agency gunning for him alike. Bill Paxton shines on.

Season 1, Episode 7 – Riverdale dives deep into Jughead’s psyche in “Chapter Seven: In a Lonely Place.” With new developments in Polly’s fate and Bughead, the show edges closer to answers about who killed Jason.

Season 1, Episode 3 – Ike Turner brings his band to Sun Records to make a record exactly when Sam is desperate for a hit, but he tries a different label when Joe Bihari stops returning his calls. Johnny Cash sings at Oktoberfest while stationed in Germany and begins writing about his prison. Elvis follows his love for the music that moves him.

Season 1, Episode 5 – Again Powerless falls flat. Though with one or two solid laughs, the episode puts Danny Pudi’s Teddy in the spotlight, but doesn’t do his proven comedic chops justice.

Season 2, Episode 8 – Everybody comes back for Mee-maw’s funeral, and the power of sibling relationships takes center stage. Chip and Dale deal with Cody and Logan’s strife in an unnecessary detour, while Christine struggles to see eye-to-eye with her brother Jim in a more poignant plot. And then there’s whiskey salad. Mmmm.

Season 2, Episode 1 – In the season two debut of Underground, the remaining members of the Macon 7 adjust to life in the North. Rosalee, John, and abolitionists fight to stop Noah from being executed. Down in Georgia, Ernestine is haunted by the past.

Season 1, Episode 17 – Riggs and Murtaugh face a rogue Lethal Weapon who targets a young woman and her baby. Agent Palmer goes missing when she gets involved with the case and discovers new information about Miranda’s death that could devastate her relationship with Riggs. Trish gets an incredible job offer from a former client billionaire.

Season 1, Episode 11 – The second half of season one kicks off into high gear as the recipient of the assassin gunshot is revealed, which becomes the catalyst to the chaotic events that follow.

Season 1, Episode 8 – An action packed first half is followed by a quiet, sad ending to the first season of History’s Six, setting things up nicely for its forthcoming second season.

Season 3, Episode 17 – Black-ish takes on the issues of representation and colorism in an inspiring, funny episode. Bow decides to protest the fact that a store doesn’t carry a wide array of black dolls, while Dre faces his own biases while working on an ad campaign.

Season 1, Episode 5 – “Chapter 5” of Legion tries to undermine reality and just undermines itself. Showing a lack of both character development and the series’ usual style, the plot ties itself in knots that ultimately unravel by story’s end. Though the episode itself does not gel, it lays groundwork for the rest of the season to build on.

Season 2, Episode 7 – The Expanse shows off its political and social strengths in “The Seventh Man,” tying together threads of revolution, mutually assured destruction, and exploitation in a rich, evocative package. The episode sets the stage for the season’s second half story arc by both revisiting old beats and introducing some new ones.

Season 2, Episode 7 – There is one thing both Julia and the kingdom of Fillory need to deal with their problems on The Magicians, and that’s gold. The only way they can get enough of it is to rob a bank, and magicians guard the vaults of banks. Will they be able to pull of the heist and save themselves?

Season 1, Episode 11 – Star delivers its penultimate episode and although it lacks overall themes, it does a good job focusing on individual plots and characters. We do so plenty of the same trappings though, and it’s hard to say if Star will ever fully resolve a conflict or simply continue replacing it with a different conflict.

Season 4, Episode 17 – The Goldbergs takes on the swear jar in “Deadheads.” With a few funny bits, but mostly just censored swearing, the show loses some of the humorous sheen it had polished up in the last few episodes.

Season 1, Episode 17 – It’s Dylan’s birthday, which means Maya is ready to surprise her with a huge party. Meanwhile Ray loses J.J. out in public, and Jimmy and Kenneth fight about barbecue. Like other weak Speechless episodes, this one jumps through a few too many hoops.

Season 2, Episode 8 – Sarah’s character takes a dark turn as she’s forced to compromise her morals to get money for the movement, while Cal questions his faith and Eddie reassesses his on an intense episode of The Path.

Season 5, Episode 1 – The Americans return with a new mission that requires a new son, meanwhile Paige still causes concern as she pursues her relationship with Matthew Beeman. Oleg returns to the Soviet Union and begins his new job and Philip’s estranged son goes on the run. Someone makes a deadly mistake while digging up William Crandall’s corpse.

Season 1, Episode 5 – The Thurmentum continues, with Imposters besting itself every week thanks to a thrillingly creepy performance by Uma Thurman and the collision of the show’s multiple plotlines. That’s right, our trio of exes finally found Maddie.

Season 1, Episode 16 – Another week, another predictable episode. The supposedly shocking reveals don’t hold much weight when the viewer knows that the real culprit will be whoever seems the most innocent at the beginning.

Season 2, Episode 13 – This week of Legends of Tomorrow lands our crew in a double whammy. When Rip escapes from his prison and attacks the ship, the Legends are forced to conquer two seemingly impossible missions: find a way to bring back the old Rip Hunter and find a way to escape the Cretaceous period.

Season 1, Episode 17 – This Is Us goes back to its familiar formula of Randall shining and everyone else falling slightly flat of that.

Season 3, Episode 16 – An embarrassing game night leads Louis to become a “Gabby Goose” on this week’s Fresh Off the Boat. While Louis and Jessica try to maintain damage control, The Notorious B.I.G.’s death sends Eddie in a depressional funk and it’s up to Emery and Evan to cheer him up.

Season 3, Episode 15 – As Wally suffers visions of Savitar, the entire team feels the knife twist as “The Wrath of Savitar” comes down full force on the The Flash this week. In a series best episode, Savitar puts the entire team through the ringer as lies and betrayals come to light.

Season 2, Episode 7 – There’s much change and tension in the air as G’win appears to have survived turning the tables on the Kinnah, while Li’l Foster’s fate appears sealed – in solitary, in a prison in another state. Wade tries to alter this fact as Ledda and her comrades stage an intervention in the town’s Coal Day celebrations.

Season 1, Episode 18 – Katie threatens the family that without her, they would all be lost. I wanted her to go down in flames for that assertion, but she’s right. Her family is hopeless without her. This is yet another win for this American Housewife.

Season 5, Episode 11 – Mindy takes a backseat as the rest of the cast shines in another hilarious episode. Jeremy and Jody both pursue Anna, who’s gone from a nonentity to a stellar part of the show’s dynamic.

Season 1, Episode 2 – Taken does NOT improve in its second episode, and in fact gets even worse than its first, with watered down action sequences and characters you’ll struggle to truly invest yourself in.