Television Reviews

The Irrational – Formal Ties

  • Title: The Irrational – Formal Ties
  • IMDb: link

The Irrational - Formal Ties

“Formal Ties” takes Alec (Jesse L. Martin), Marisa (Maahra Hill), and Owen (Arash DeMaxi) to the Italian embassy for the marriage of a the daughter of a political refugee (Nikolai Tsankov) who someone at the heavily-guarded event wants dead. Putting the life of another guest in jeopardy, the killer uses the opportunity to sneak a second assassin on to the premises leaving our trio to work with the embassy security and find both men, without alerting the guests. Getting these three to the embassy and the eventual motive both feel a bit shaky, but the investigation itself works well. 

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Jurassic World: Chaos Theory – The Marooned Five

  • Title: Jurassic World: Chaos Theory – The Marooned Five
  • wiki: link

Jurassic World: Chaos Theory - The Marooned Five

The second episode of the season gets the group back on to dry land (which they will later learn is in Senegal). Heading inland the group discovers dinosaurs and a few locals, one of whom will play a major role over the rest of the season. Misjudging the situation, and attempting to help, the group almost gets Zayna (Anaiya Asomugha) and her mother Aminata (Cherise Boothe) killed by not understanding the symbiotic relationship the pair have made with the Stegosaurus who just appeared in their fields one day. By taking care of them, the dinosaurs in turn protect their farm far the far more vicious dangers of the jungle. The pair offer the weary travels some sanctuary, but for answers to their question,  Ben (Sean Giambrone), Kenji (Darren Barnet), Darius (Paul-Mikél Williams), Yaz (Kausar Mohammed), and Sammy (Raini Rodriguez) will have to journey up river.

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Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft – Living Midnight

  • Title: Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft – Living Midnight
  • IMDb: link

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft - Living Midnight

“Living Midnight” features others getting the best of Lara Croft (Hayley Atwell) at pretty much every turn. She loses both the ruby box and Jonah (Earl Baylon), gets outplayed again by Charles Devereaux (Richard Armitage) who offers her a bit of backstory, and tracks down the ruby stone only to lose it to Deveraux and Jonah who apparently is now his zombie minion. The highlight of the episode is Lara’s theft of the stone, and how bloodthirsty she becomes after it is in her possession, but even after overcoming its influence she still ends up losing the stone to the rival hunter who gets more powerful with each stone he collects. It’s another so-so episode for a series that needs Lara getting some more wins and a few more standout moments.

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The Old Man – XIV & XV

  • Title: The Old Man – XIV & XV
  • IMDb: link | link

The Old Man - XIV & XV

The final two episodes of The Old Man‘s Second Season shake things up again. Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) attempts to make a deal with Suleyman Pavlovich (Rade Serbedzija) agreeing to take responsibility for the Russian’s actions for a cure and cash to disappear. However, when that fails, it falls on Harold (John Lithgow) convincing his ex-wife to step-in and then it falls on Julian (Gbenga Akinnagbe) and Zoe (Amy Brenneman) to finish the job. The season ends with Pavlovich dead and the mine back in control of the locals and Dan and Zoe enjoying a moment of peace which, it turns out will be short-lived.

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Murder in a Small Town – A Touch of Panic

  • Title: Murder in a Small Town – A Touch of Panic
  • IMDb: link

Murder in a Small Town - A Touch of Panic

Marking the first episode of the series not to include a murder, “A Touch of Panic” does offer more obstacles for the burgeoning romance between Karl (Rossif Sutherland) and Cassandra (Kristin Kreuk), but not in the awkwardness between Cassandra and Karl’s daughter Holly (Dakota Guppy) but in a much more dangerous face from Karl’s past. Devon Sawa guest-stars as a dying man recently released from prison who blames Karl for everything wrong with his life leading him to target the sheriff’s loved ones. Subverting expectations, showing us someone following Holly and her friend (Alisha Newton) earlier in the episode, it turns out Cassandra was an easier mark leading to her kidnapping.

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