Television Reviews

Rutherford Falls – Pilot

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Rutherford Falls – Pilot
  • IMDb: link

Rutherford Falls - Pilot television review

The “Pilot” episode of Rutherford Falls introduces us to the sleepy town of Rutherford Falls which won’t remain sleepy for much longer. Our two main characters are Nathan Rutherford (Ed Helms), descendant of the town’s founder and proud owner of its museum, and Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding), a member of the Minishonka Nation, Nathan’s best-friend, and a woman struggling to get the funding to see her people’s heritage get honored and celebrated in the community. The event that shakes up things in the town is the Mayor’s (Dana L. Wilson) decision to move the statue of the town’s founder which sends Nathan over the edge (leading to a complete meltdown in front of the town). The episode is a fine sitcom pilot, successfully introducing the main characters, teasing Nathan having to reconsider long-held beliefs and compromise, and Reagan becoming more self-assured, while the town’s drama begins to be noticed by the larger world.

…

Rutherford Falls – PilotRead More »

Rutherford Falls – Pilot Read More »

What If…? – Episode Two

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: What If…? – Episode Two
  • IMDb: link

What If...? - Episode Two television review

The second episode of What If…? follows much the same formula as the first in swapping out one character for another and observing the changes to the world (or in this case, the galaxy). This time the change involves T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) who is abducted by the Ravagers instead of Peter Quill and grows up to be a far more formidable Star Lord. It’s an odd set-up whose ripples don’t always make sense. Do we really believe T’Challa would be able to convince Thanos not to seek the Infinity Stones? While celebrating Boseman and his beloved character, it also shits pretty hard on the MCU version of Peter Quill who is hard to see as anything more than a total joke by comparison. But it does offer a very different kind of cosmic adventure for the character who apparently is going to get several episodes this season.

…

What If…? – Episode TwoRead More »

What If…? – Episode Two Read More »

Rick and Morty – Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Rick and Morty – Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort
  • wiki: link

Rick and Morty - Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort TV review

With the rest of the family off on their own vacation, Rick‘s (Justin Roiland) attention turns back to one of the series’ lingering plot threads as he attempts to save the life of his former best-friend Birdperson (Dan Harmon). After removing the cybernetics, Rick enters Birdperson’s mind and attempts to convince his suicidal friend that there is something worth living for. In order to save Birdperson, Rick is forced into asking for help from a younger version of himself as remembered by his friend (who turns out to be far less cynical than the current version of Rick).

…

Rick and Morty – Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless MortRead More »

Rick and Morty – Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort Read More »

Invincible – It’s About Time

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Invincible – It’s About Time
  • wiki: link

Invincible - It's About Time television review

The first episode of Invincible, adapted from the comic series of the same name, introduces us to teenager Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun). The son of the world’s most powerful hero, Mark finally gets his own powers as “It’s About Time” works as an origin story for the hero who would come to be known as Invincible. It’s not until the end of the episode that the darker themes of the comic are touched on as Mark’s father Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons) lures the world’s greatest heroes into one location and murders them setting up a mystery and eventual confession which will lead Mark to find his own place in the world.

…

Invincible – It’s About TimeRead More »

Invincible – It’s About Time Read More »

Cleopatra in Space – Do-Over

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Cleopatra in Space – Do-Over
  • wiki: link

Cleopatra in Space - Do-Over

Cleopatra (Lilimar) gets stuck in a shortening time loop in “Do-Over” as she attempts to get events of a stressful day right (and fail miserably each time). There are episodes of the series where Cleopatra embraces her new future home and those where the homesick girl attempts to run from it, “Do-Over” is the latter as her attempts to return home using a time machine still being built lead her to reliving the same day over and over (and struggling to make any meaningful changes). The final time through, Cleo does break the loop and seems to learn some lessons about the trouble she causes her friends (although we’ll see if those stick around longer than a single episode).

…

Cleopatra in Space – Do-OverRead More »

Cleopatra in Space – Do-Over Read More »