Amph What was the last tv episode you watched?

Not Tomorrow Yet - The Walking Dead - Season 6

 

Steps into Shadow - Star Wars: Rebels - Season 3

 

The Same Boat - The Walking Dead - Season 6

 

i finished the recent season of america's got talent over the weekend. i had watched a few episodes of the show here and there in the past but never a whole season. it was really fun actually and i thought grace vanderwaal was kind of a genius and i'm glad she won. this has been a message from your aunt on facebook.

 

Twice as Far - The Walking Dead - Season 6

 

Star Wars Rebels - Season 3 Episode 1

 

TNG Season 3 Hollow Pursuits.

 

East - The Walking Dead - Season 6

 

Pitch - Season 1, Episode 1 - 7 out of 10 stars

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The Big Bang Theory - Season 10 Episodes 1 and 2

 

The Simpsons episode 1 Season 28

 

Star Trek: S2, Ep. 4 "Mirror, Mirror" (1967) - Plot; A transporter accident sends Kirk, McCoy, Scotty and Uhura into a parallel universe where the Federation are a cutthroat empire bent on conquest.

One of the more iconic episodes from the original series, and for good reason. For one, bad science and shaky logic aside, it's just a great premise. One that really uses all of the main cast in a meaningful way. It's probably not a coincidence then that it's the secondary players who truly shine here, all clearly relishing having more to do than push buttons and parrot orders.

My quibbles are minor in the grand scheme. The tyrannical doppelgangers who switch places with our heroes get only short shrift, feeling more like an afterthought than an organic part of the story. I almost wish they had chosen to cut back and forth between the two. Though that split focus would've had its drawbacks, if done properly, I think it would've gotten the most out of this premise. I also think they could've eked out a bit more tension had Scotty's search for a way back been a part of their dilemma rather than the "simple solution, difficult execution" approach they took instead.

But on the whole this is one of the tightest and most entertaining episodes from TOS. - 8.5/10

 

Last Day on Earth - The Walking Dead - Season 6

 

Designated Survivor Episode 2.

 

Babylon 5 - Season 3 - Episode 2: Convictions

 

The Flash: S2, Ep. 1 "The Man Who Saved Central City" (2015) - Plot; Six months after helping save Central City, Barry still carries the weight of a friend's death on his shoulders. As a result, he pushes the rest his friends away and tries to protect the city alone.

S1 of The Flash ended on a major cliffhanger... which we see resolved in an unusual way. Fast forwarding (see what I did there) six months, we eventually learn the details in flashback (see what I did there). I suppose it's a matter of having your cake and eating it too, as we move forward (allowing the episode to feel like a launching point for S2) and still see what happened. And it's not a cheat or cop out. There's no deus ex machina. A somewhat major character dies, and that shadow looms over the entire episode.

The Metahuman of the week, as is often the case w/The Flash, almost feels like an afterthought to the drama. It's not until a late reveal that we learn there was more to him than meets the eye.

The Man Who Saved Central City trades in familiar tropes, ironic given that the theme of the episode is "Kadima" or "Forward". There are some steps taken here, but for the most part they're of the well trodden variety, and in the case of The Flash, that's okay. - 7.5/10

 

Amanda Knox on Netflix. Westworld on HBO. Lord have mercy, it's going to be a busy weekend.

 

Stranger Things: S1, Ep. 1 "The Vanishing of Will Byers" (2016) - Plot; In a small Indiana town, a young boy's disappearance and the mysterious events at a nearby laboratory set in motion two very different kinds of searches.

The almost deafening buzz surrounding this mid summer Netflix original series had sent my expectations soaring. So much so that I decided to let things cool off before starting it. Set in the 80s (1983 in fact) and looking for all the world like a hybrid of Steven Spielberg and Stephen King, it was as much in my wheelhouse as you could get. But did it live up to that insanely rabid hype? Against the odds it did. Mostly.

The line between inspired homage and cheap swindle is often razor thin, and Stranger Things never once dances close to the edge. Sure it evokes a sense of nostalgia in those, like my self, who were kids of the 80s, but it never ever feels like it's overtly mugging for the audience. There are nods and Easter eggs (like the four principles playing AD&D at the start ala E.T.--the movie the pilot episode most evokes), but it feels organic.

The adult actors, lead by a resurgent Wynona Ryder and a potential star making turn by David Harbour, are wonderful, but it's the young cast who truly shine. Never once feeling like anything but authentic kids and not adults in kids bodies parroting too-polished dialog, it's on their small shoulders that Stranger Things rests and they are more than up to the task.

I was aching for this to be as good as the hype, and I'm thrilled to say that for the most part, it is. - 8.5/10

 

First two episodes of Luke Cage. I'm a huge fan of the Marvel TV universe so i've been hanging out for this one for a little while, especially as a fan of Jessica Jones. Honestly, it's my least favourite of the three for now. By far the slowest moving with minimal characters and settings with a tone that is unique to the show. While these things certainly aren't bad, so far the show plays more like a political crime drama rather than a vigilante drama or a noir thriller. I'd personally recommend watching the first two episodes back to back to serve as a "pilot" rather than just starting off with the first episode as a lot of the events of the first episode aren't really paid off until the second. Then, the ending of the second episode truly sets the series up while the first episode leads you wondering how a full thirteen episodes are going to be fleshed out.

Luke Cage is definitely its own beast so there's little point in comparing it to the other two Marvel shows. The only thing I will say is that there are attempts to bring elements of those shows which don't have quite the same impact. Mahershala Ali's character, Cornell, feels like a more laid back and suaver version of Fisk. Specifically, there's a scene where he viciously beats up one of his henchmen. That scene plays like a low rent version of the scene where Wilson Fisk decapitates one of his henchmen with a car door. Meanwhile, the story is more personal in terms of the protagonists motivations. For instance, Murdock was driven by his frustration with the corruption of the legal system, while Jessica Jones was driven by the torment of a former abusive relationship. In a way, Luke Cage plays closer to the latter.

Overall, a solid start to the series but it's definitely slow burning and hasn't quite won me over as Daredevil or Jessica Jones.

 

Even if your review is somewhat positive, don't judge the hype on just one episode. The series, more than any other in my humble opinion, feels like one giant movie, and as it goes on, it really grows on you. After watching episode one I thought "ok, interesting enough, I'll keep watching". And then it just keeps getting better and better and by the end you feel sad its over. Besides Game of Thrones, its the only series I would actually watch over and over, its that good.

 

Yoda's_Roomate I absolutely enjoyed the first episode, and like a lot of pilot/first episodes, I could tell this was just the first step into a larger world. The jog before the sprint. That's particularly true in a serialized show with a continuing storyline (as you mentioned, you felt it played like a movie). I realize the hype is more for the series as a whole, so I don't feel in any way that it's unjustified based on my small sample size.

Gonna watch ep2 before bed here and I'm very much looking forward to it.

 

The Good Place - 104 Jason Mendoza

Show is still good, not great. I'll give it another four episodes and see how I feel. Even though there aren't a lot of laughs, I kind of want to know what the mystery is so that part has me hooked. Sadly, the characters need a lot of work.

If you're interested, NBC is running a marathon of the first 4 episodes this Saturday from 8 PM to 10 PM EST.

 

So I was wondering, was Star Trek's "Mirror Mirror" episode the first time that a sci-fi/fantasy series had a story in which we saw familiar characters in an alternative dimension/reality (often where we saw evil versions)? I must have seen this in everything from Buffy to Stargate (and of course every other Trek series did it too).

 

TNG Season 3 The Most Toys

 

This week's episode was intense. The depiction of mental illness is amazing.