Television Reviews

Shōgun – Crimson Sky / A Dream of a Dream

  • Title: Shōgun – Crimson Sky / A Dream of a Dream
  • IMDb: link | link

Shōgun - Crimson Sky / A Dream of a Dream

The final two episodes of Shōgun focus on the choices of Mariko (Anna Sawai) and their aftermath. Having journeyed to Osaka, Mariko informs Ishido (Takehiro Hira) of her plans to return to  Lord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) the next day and take his vassals, and infant son, back with her. Putting Ishido in a no-win situation of either giving up his hostages or confirming that they are indeed hostages and unable to leave, he refuses her request having his men cut down her soldiers at the gate and advance on to Marko. This, of course, is exactly what Mariko was expecting and gives her the opportunity to commit seppuku for failing to meet her lord’s demands and achieve her long goal of joining her family in death.

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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – The Crooked Man

  • Title: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – The Crooked Man
  • wiki: link

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - The Crooked Man

Sherlock Saturday takes us back to 221 B Baker Street and the Granada Television’s faithful adaptations of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. “The Crooked Man” is an interesting episode for a couple of reasons. The entire episode, except for the epilogue, take place outside of Baker Street. Also, it becomes a case in search of murder that reveals that no murder actually occurred. Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett) and Watson (David Burke) are hired to look into the death of Colonel James Barclay (Denys Hawthorne) whose body was discovered along with that of his uncurious wife Nancy (Lisa Daniely) in a locked room after an argument.

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NCIS: Hawai’i – Into Thin Air

  • Title: NCIS: Hawai’i – Into Thin Air
  • wiki: link

NCIS: Hawai'i - Into Thin Air

In a storyline that pretty heavily suggest there will be a major twist, a Marine’s wife (Nikiva Dionne) is kidnapped and held for a ransom that can’t possibly be paid (except for that $3 million in illegal money he and his best friend helped smuggle from Iraq). The plot attempts to first point to the husband (Brandon Fobbs) as the perpetrator, but there’s really nothing to back that up given his genuine concern for his missing wife. The death of his compatriot and the missing money only makes things more murky for the investigation until Carla (Seana Kofoed) finds some sloppy evidence that points to an obvious suspect no one has been looking at.

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Alex Rider – Revenge

  • Title: Alex Rider – Revenge
  • IMDb: link

Alex Rider - Revenge

Spending as much time with Alex (Otto Farrant) as with The Department, “Revenge” begins to reveal secrets of the season. Having been shaken by recent events, Home Secretary Laura Kellner (Shelley Conn) wants to give in, but the government also want The Department to stall for as long as possible which makes SCORPIA‘s 3-day deadline before another demonstration of Invisible Sword problematic. Despite being ordered to stand down, The Department keeps investigating what exactly killed the first Invisible Sword victims. Mrs. Jones (Vicky McClure) and Smithers (Nyasha Hatendi) find traces of gold in their blood, and a dispersal device is discovered in the locker room leading to an understanding of how SCOPRIA managed their first show of force but not how to stop them from using the technology again in the future.

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Star Wars: The Bad Batch – Into the Breach

  • Title: Star Wars: The Bad Batch – Into the Breach
  • wiki: link

Star Wars: The Bad Batch - Into the Breach

The oldest Star Wars trope there is, Rebels sneaking into an Imperial base and making it out completely unscathed with exactly what they came for, comes into play in “Into the Breach” with the Batch using Vice-Admiral Edmon Rampart (Noshir Dalal) to get the coordinates of Tantiss from Imperial Station 003. One of the things I liked about Star Wars Rebels was it showed the Imperials weren’t completely incompetent 100% of the time and some, like Thrawn, actually were a threat. It’s hard to take the Galactic Empire seriously when they are bumbling around at every turn like the Three Stooges. Meanwhile, on Tantiss, Omega (Michelle Ang) meets the other kids and has already planned her next escape completely under the notice of constant supervision from the Imperial scientists. 

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