Television Reviews

Debris – Pilot

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  • Title: Debris – Pilot
  • IMDb: link

Debris - Pilot television review

The “Pilot” episode of Debris introduces us to MI6 agent Finola Jones (Riann Steele) and CIA agent Bryan Beneventi (Jonathan Tucker) who work together to deal with alien spacecraft debris which has unusual properties after hitting the Earth. Similar to The X-Files and Fringe, the show sets the stage for bizarre occurrences which will need to investigated. Unlike those shows, however, we know what is causing the odd incidents (although not what kind of chaos the various debris may unleash as they have very different properties). There’s not much wrong with the first episode, although it feels like yet another of “those shows” which despite a solid set-up and weird stuff to investigate every week doesn’t quite do enough to sell me on coming back week after week. Will I watch another episode? Probably. Is it must-see? Hardly.

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MacGyver – Every Time She Smiles

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  • Title: MacGyver (1985) – Every Time She Smiles
  • wiki: link

MacGyver - Every Time She Smiles television review

Throwback Tuesday takes us back to the original improvisational MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) armed only with genius-level intellect, a Swiss Army knife, and whatever he can cobble together to solve the problems of the week. After completing a simple handoff, MacGyver runs into trouble making it out of Bulgaria with microfilm when he runs into Penny Parker (Teri Hatcher) at the airport. Attempting to run off from her inattentive boyfriend (Kai Wulff) who turns out to be the son of the nephew of the Bulgarian Secret Police. While worried about the revolutionists and the microfilm, Stephan and his father are also concerned with recovering the jewelry in Penny’s possession which turns out to be priceless giving the state police two reasons to hunt the pair down (and also mistake Penny for a revolutionary).

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MacGyver – Diamond + Quake + Carbon + Comms + Tower

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  • Title: MacGyver (2016) – Diamond + Quake + Carbon + Comms + Tower
  • wiki: link

MacGyver - Diamond + Quake + Carbon + Comms + Tower television review

The identity crisis that has plagued MacGyver’s Fifth Season continues here as Codex appears again as a major threat and then is completely dismantled (again) off-camera. In-between we get MacGyver (Lucas Till), Desi, and Riley (Tristin Mays) in Mexico City searching for a Codex headquarters where they become unsuspecting pawns of Murdoc (David Dastmalchian) and Andrews (Joe Pantoliano) who create a man-made earthquake in an attempted power play to grab control of the disorganized Codex. The earthquake sequences provide some pretty good special effects for the show providing one of the better aspects of the episode as does the reveal of Andrews’ real plan of attempting to earn a role as Codex’s new leader by eliminating MacGyver and his friends (even if the events following it are anti-climactic).

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The Blacklist – The Cyranoid

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  • Title: The Blacklist – The Cyranoid
  • wiki: link

The Blacklist - The Cyranoid television review

It’s been a couple of years since I sat down and watched and episode of The Blacklist. Honestly, I was a bit surprised it was still on. Built on deceptions, secrets, swerves, the battle of wills, and half-truths, the show long ago outlived the original plotline and has attempt to continue to morph in able to keep things going while struggling to still keep its storyline at least marginally plausible. “The Cyranoid” is good example at how ridiculous things have gotten. Mara Davi guest-stars as a stand-in for Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone who doesn’t appear on camera), an agent with a camera and microphone following Keen’s instructions which include proposing a partnership with Neville Townsend (Reg Rogers) and committing murder in the black site of the FBI. While primarily focused on the search for Keen, the episode also features an ongoing storyline about Raymond Reddington‘s (James Spader) fear the FBI is closing in on an asset who still has an important role to play in his larger byzantine schemes.

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Prodigal Son – Face Value

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  • Title: Prodigal Son – Head Case
  • IMDb: link

Prodigal Son - Face Value television review

Since it’s premiere, Prodigal Son has balanced how far over the edge to take it’s characters. In “Face Values” the show goes a bit too far over the line as Malcom (Tom Payne) is distracted from his latest case involving a doctor Botoxed to death by what turns out to be his sister Ainsley (Halston Sage) screwing with him after discovering what he has kept from her. While this means Ainsley isn’t a serial killer, it does mean she’s perhaps even less mentally stable than the show has explored so far as she is incapable of realizing just how far she has taken things to try and teach her brother (who risked his job and prison to protect her).

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