Television Reviews

Only Murders in the Building – Sparring Partners / I Know Who Did It

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Only Murders in the Building – Sparring Partners / I Know Who Did It
  • wiki: link / link

The final two episodes of the Second Season of Only Murders in the Building allow for Charles (Steve Martin) and Oliver (Martin Short) to deal with their own personal discoveries while Mabel (Selena Gomez) makes the pivotal connections to solve the case connecting Detective Kreps (Michael Rapaport) to the All Is Not OK in Oklahoma podcast. While our intrepid trio initially suspect Cinda Canning (Tina Fey) of being the mastermind behind the murder in order to create a more popular podcast, for the true brains behind the crime they need to look no further than her assistant Poppy (Adina Verson) who has her own twisted tale to tell.

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Remington Steele – Steele Away with Me

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Remington Steele – Steele Away with Me: Part 1 & Part 2
  • IMDb: link / link

Wayback Wednesday takes us back to a con man pretending to be the world’s greatest detective in Remington Steele. Returning for its Second Season, the show saw some major shakeup to it supporting characters with the off-screen departures of both Murphy Michaels (James Read) and Bernice Fox (Janet DeMay). Rather than recast both characters individually, Michael Gleason decided to create a new character to fill both roles offering us the introduction of Mildred Krebs (Doris Roberts), an agent of the IRS on the scent of tax evasion who will follow Remington Steele (Pierce Brosnan) to Acapulco but ultimately end up on his side in a mystery involving diamond smuggling and murder. While I miss the mostly underutilized Janet DeMay, Read’s character had outlived his usefulness at this point, and Roberts makes a great addition to the cast adding a completely different kind of energy to the show.

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Almost Paradise – A Fisherfolk Tale

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Almost Paradise – A Fisherfolk Tale
  • IMDb: link

“A Fisherfolk Tale” pulls Alex (Christian Kane) into a feud between two local fishing families. Introducing Alex’s latest purchase, a rundown boat that will likely do nothing to keep his stress levels low, we’re also introduced to his friend Ramon (Race Matias) who gets attacked by the rival family who discover his Romeo and Juliet love affair with a member of their family (Gabby Padilla). When Julia’s father is murdered, all evidence points to Ramon. Inserting himself into the investigation, Alex works to clear Ramon from the charges (which, of course, would also get him out of jail to get back to work on the broken boat). The humor of the boat, and tying Ramon to it being fixed, adds a nice layer on the classic storyline which eventually leads to uncovering the real motive of the murder just in time to prevent the two families from going to war.

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Special Ops: Lioness – Sacrificial Soldiers

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Special Ops: Lioness – Sacrificial Soldiers
  • IMDb: link

Half of the first episode of Special Ops: Lioness offers insight into the life of an agent of the CIA (Zoe Saldana) on one of her worst days in the field and the immediate aftermath. The various aspect of the story hints at spy craft and the need to route out terrorist cells overseas but really is about the human toll on Joe following the events. The rest of the episode is devoted to Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) who leaves an unhealthy relationship to join the Marines and eventually get tasked into Joe’s program. It’s this half of the episode where Special Ops: Lioness leans its overtly patriotic messaging and imagery to such a degree it feels more like an Armed Forces recruitment film than drama. By the end of the episode the two women are working together, hopefully removing some of the fractured narrative found here, but the less stylish, but no less simplistic, Michael Bay-ish view of world politics is a tad concerning.

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Justified: City Primeval – The Oklahoma Wildman

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  • Title: Justified: City Primeval – The Oklahoma Wildman
  • IMDb: link

Justified: City Primeval doesn’t wait to bring Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) and Clement Mansell (Boyd Holbrook) together while using Carolyn Wilder (Aunjanue Ellis), who apparently is the only lawyer in Detroit, to tie the two separate storylines from the first episode together. While the first meeting between the pair isn’t memorable, the second leaves an impression as Givens beats Mansell up after finding him with his daughter. My guess would be Wilder would return with a legal angle to keep Givens, and th local cops, away from her client, but I’m also guessing egos on either side won’t allow that to last. The episode also sneaks in Maureen (Adelaide Clemens) doing a little thinking for herself and likely Sweetie (Vondie Curtis-Hall) working on an educated guess potentially providing one or both leverage against Mansell later in the series.

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