Television Reviews

The Endgame – Happily Ever After

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Endgame – Happily Ever After
  • IMDb: link

The Endgame concludes its ten-episode season with the culmination of Elena Federova’s (Morena Baccarin) plan, Owen Turner (Kamal Angelo Bolden) being returned to his wife, and Val (Ryan Michelle Bathe) being beaten by her new friend. Then things take a late swerve in a desperate attempt for the show to earn a second season teasing the possibility of Elena and Val working together to save Elena’s daughter who is kidnapped by the true boogeymen of the series. The structure of this season was all about a battle of wits while hiding what Elena was really after. It worked at times, and failed nearly as often, but, despite my love for Baccarin, I don’t know that I have the energy for another go-round.

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Moon Knight – Gods and Monsters

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Moon Knight – Gods and Monsters
  • wiki: link

Given the time Moon Knight has taken meandering its way to a final conflict, perhaps it was inevitable that the finale would be rushed. Still, “Gods and Monsters” succeeds in what’s needed by returning Marc Spector (Oscar Isaac) and, somewhat surprisingly, Steven Grant back to the land of the living to take on Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) and Ammit (Saba Mubarak). Layla (May Calamawy) gets a power upgrade as well by becoming the (temporary?) avatar of Taweret (Antonia Salib) although the god doesn’t show up herself to help Khonshu (F. Murray Abraham), and her help would have been appreciated. While their god isn’t done with Marc and Steven, given how much Layla enjoyed being an Egyptian super-hero it’s unclear whether or not she could decide to continue on as an avatar.

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Tokyo Vice – The Test

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Tokyo Vice – The Test
  • IMDb: link

There is no murder in Japan. Based on the real experiences of American journalist Jake Adelstein (Ansel Elgort) working in Tokyo (although earning scrutiny for the liberties it takes with the source material), the first episode of Tokyo Vice introduces us to Jake who earns his way as the first foreign reporter for a conservative Japanese newspaper. Covering the crime beat, Jake struggles with how crime is reported in Japan where the press print the official police statement of a crime which almost never entertains the possibility of murder (even for a man stabbed multiple times and left for dead).

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The Blacklist – Laszlo Jankowics

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Blacklist – Laszlo Jankowics
  • wiki: link

In an episode where the task force looks to take down an insane dealer in psychedelic drugs, The Blacklist continues to tease the possible return of Mr. Kaplan. While the cliffhanger seems to suggest Kaplan is still alive, it seems also quite possible someone is gaslighting Reddington (James Spader) and taking on the identity of his old associate for their own reasons (possibly with inside help?). Whether or not it is Kaplan, or some new threat, it’s obvious the threat of this new player is quite real and whoever it might be they seem to have far too much knowledge of Raymond’s organization.

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Mystery Incorporated – Welcome to Coolsville

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Mystery Incorporated – Welcome to Coolsville
  • IMDb: link

There are several issues when attempting a live-action adaptation of Scooby-Doo. When taking the characters out of a half-hour cartoon and placing them in a feature film or ongoing hour-long drama, you have to think about why this unusual collection of meddling kids (none of whom look high-school age) are actually hanging out together. The solution for the Mystery Incorporated series is to kill off a couple of parents and bring together the group to solve the mystery. That means for most of this first episode the characters are left on their own various, not all that interesting, subplots that almost all revolve around some kind of bullying at the school.

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