Arman Mohazzabfar

star excerptSeason 1, Episode 12 – The season finale makes a strong case for Jahil being the actual protagonist of the series and Star, Simone and Alex being nothing more than a means to his story. Also a lot of death and arrests in this episode. Really, a lot.

star excerptSeason 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.

star excerptSeason 1, Episode 10 – This week’s episode of Star is all about the misdirection. Since the pilot I’ve been begging for an episode about the music, and when I finally thought we were getting it – I was thrown off by the craziest last act to date. There are a lot of changes in this week’s episode, but it’s hard to say if any of it is meaningful or if we’re just on a road to nowhere.

star excerptSeason 1, Episode 9 – Star delivers an episode better than most, but still falls into the same trappings. Instead of having an episode that deals with the fallout between Star and new group member Eva, we instead focus on police, homicide detectives and CPS storming the salon and holding Carlotta and Simone for the murder of Otis.

star excerptSeason 1, Episode 8 – Star delivers it’s best episode yet and it’s worst transition/musical number of yet as well. In a frustrating mix, Star managed to both realize its mistakes, call them out, and then commit all new sins. What you can expect from this episode is a very interesting mix of plot, theme, character development and appropriate tone.

star excerptSeason 1, Episode 7 – Star delivers it’s worst episode yet, believing itself to be equipped to talk about BLM. The problem with this show is that it doesn’t allow itself to ever address the original conceit and it often takes on topics that are not in its tone. This is not a show about a girl group. This is a show about nothing with singing. Star should apologize to Black Lives Matter for this one.

star excerptSeason 1, Episode 6 – Star delivers one of its more interesting episodes of the season yet. If this episode was a sandwich, it would have horrible bread. Because the middle of the episode delivered, and for the first time since the pilot we were able to focus on the dynamics within the girl group and each character as an individual. Unfortunately, the plot takes this goodwill to a dark place.

star excerptSeason 1, Episode 5 – Star delivers ones of its worst episodes yet, that also manages to sum it the entire season to this point. There is a complete lack of reality between the real world and the world of Star and it’s causing some serious problems. When Simone finds a VHS tape of their mother singing, Miss Carlotta flips out for no apparent reason. Meanwhile Alex thinks they should use the song and play it off as one of their own, while Star is against this idea, but for the wrong reasons.

star excerptSeason 1, Episode 4 – Star thinks it’s Enough in this week’s episode, but it honestly hasn’t earned that level. Otis, Simone’s foster father has come back unexpectedly early, and he’s ready to cause problems. No one’s sure how he gets there or how’s he’s so good at tracking foster kid’s down, but here he is. Star, Simone, Miss Carlotta, Cotton and Jahil, all agree that Otis must die. Hopefully he doesn’t come back a third time.

star excerptSeason 1, Episode 3 – After a meeting with her angelic mother, Simone has to choose whether she wants to depart this world, or stay in it with her sister. As for Star, Alex and everyone else, they’re dealing with more worldly problems, hoping to get their music off the ground and dealing with their self-imposed “mother” Carlotta.

star excerptSeason 1, Episode 2 – Star takes the major step backward that I a lot of people thought it started with during the first episode. Alexandra comes face to face with her parents, Star tries to have sex with Alexandra’s father and Simone continues taking pills.

star excerptSeason 1, Episode 1 – Star is not what you think it is. For all the camp and skimp the show delivers some truly dark moments that are played very real. Star follows Star’s journey to find her sister, team up with a girl she met on Instagram and create the best girl group the world has ever seen.

Empire-ExcerptSeason 3, Episode 9 – Empire’s midseason finale delivers one of the best episodes yet. When Cookie begins helping Angelo with his campaign, Diana is surprised to find her connecting so well to the people – and the polls are up. Jamal is determined to perform at the “Captain’s Ball,” now deemed, “People’s Ball.”

Empire-ExcerptSeason 3, Episode 8 – Empire struggles to deal with a mix of business and family drama. Andre feels like he has to reconcile with his mom, but that doesn’t mean he can’t also help Nessa further her career. Lucious is determined to take down Tariq, but can he trust his mother to do the same?

Empire-Excerpt Season 3, Episode 7 – Empire delivers one of its campiest episodes yet. After rekindling their relationship, Cookie has to impress Angelo’s mother and throw a big dinner with family. But the Lyons boys are a mess. Andre is swooned by Nessa, Jamal is struggling with his drug addiction and Hakeem is… Hakeem.

Empire-ExcerptSeason 3, Episode 6 – Empire delivers one of the best episodes of the season. When the entire Empire gets brought down from a twisted hacker, the Lyon family struggle to figure out what to do. Lucious is determined to find the hacker and deliver some street justice, but Cookie is too concerned in the growing threats this hacking could cause on Angelo’s mayoral campaign.

Empire-ExcerptSeason 3, Episode 5 – This week’s episode of Empire focuses on the relationship within the Lyon family. Lucious views himself as the patriarch, but is he taking this role too far? It’s looking like the brothers are all about to fight, and Cookie is having a hard time adjusting to life with such a straight edge boyfriend like Angelo. And then there’s that whole “war” with Shyne Johnson.

Empire-ExcerptSeason 3, Episode 4 – Empire delivers one of it’s craziest episodes yet. But no matter how crazy, after every week I have the same not: it’s great to see a show have so much fun with itself. Featuring a healthy dose of Shyne Johnson, Andre and Lucious’ plot twists.

Vice Principals ExerptVice Principals is coming off of its best week yet. For the first time the show was OK showing vulnerability in many different ways. Whether it be Neal Gamby dropping his guard around Amanda Snodgrass or Lee Russell getting caught in the act by Belinda Brown, the vulnerability was much needed. But this week’s episode might’ve just taken it a step too far.

Casual ExcerptI have been very critical of Casual. When I feel it’s bad, I’ve called it out and stated my reasons. But I don’t have a vendetta or a grudge against the show, so that means that when it’s good, I also have to call it out. And this week’s episode was really good.

Casual ExcerptAfter a surprisingly great episode last week, Casual delivers probably its worst episode yet. Laura is the only character that shows any progression, both moral and emotional, and yet it’s relegated to such a sideline that it barely makes anything of an impact on the episode as a whole.

Vice Principals ExerptThe series thus far has portrayed Dr. Belinda Brown as the villain, and Neal Gamby as the arrogantly incompetent vice principal. We’re supposed to root for Gamby even if he isn’t the most likable person. But Vice Principals decided to flip the script for today’s episode, and it looks like it’s for the best.