Tuesday 31 May 2016

Review: An old adversary hinders an ultimately solid 'Person of Interest'


I'll have a much longer, more thought-out review of both last night's and tonight's (100th episode) of Person of Interest up on SpoilerTV later in the week, but before then, here are a few quick thoughts on "Sotto Voce."

Tuesday 24 May 2016

Review: Did 'Banshee' need more than its fourth season to conclude?


Banshee wrapped its eight-episode fourth and final season this past Friday, and after an intense and superb run in season three, the swansong season paled in comparison to both its direct predecessor and the reputation of the show as a whole*. Most of that came from the unnecessary introduction of a serial killer who added almost nothing to the show, stealing valuable screentime from the already established arcs and characters. Perhaps more importantly, it gave Banshee a procedural element that it struggled to know what to do with.

*Obviously, that third season added immensely to the show's overall status, but focusing solely on the first twenty episodes still suggests a level of quality only glimpsed at this year. Season four, no matter what it did, was going to have a near-impossible job of topping last year's output, but that it barely scratched the surface is mind-boggling.

Wednesday 18 May 2016

Review: On 'The Flash,' Barry isn't "Invincible" as Zoom takes control

Last night's penultimate hour of The Flash's second season was quite the episode, setting the stage for a massive finale and yet finding a way to be mostly self-contained and deal with a "metapocalypse" as Zoom attempted to take control of Central City.

Many have had frustrations over this season's underwhelming attempts to emulate the critical success attained by the first season by providing a near-carbon-copy of the Reverse Flash story, but in "Invincible," The Flash took hold of the season and tried to do something differently. Yet, much of the hour instead used elements from Arrow's sophomore season to propel itself forward, and while that's not a bad thing, the frequent similarities aren't ideal, much as they may have worked for each show in the previous two years.

Sunday 8 May 2016

2015-16 bubble shows: What's left on the chopping block?

It's that time of the television season once again as Upfronts are set to begin for the broadcast networks in a week's time. Perhaps it's the fact that this morning's Timehop presented me with tweets from the year ago day when a whole bunch of renewals and cancellations were announced, but it doesn't feel like a whole year has passed since the last Upfronts. In amidst all the chaos of learning about your favourite show's fate along with each network's new shows and fall schedules, it's a great time of year for those very reasons. Once a sad week - though it still can be, particularly if you lose shows you're not ready to say goodbye to - as it signalled the end of the TV season, with a plethora of channels broadcasting hundreds of shows each year, the summer palette is no longer as bare as it used to be.

The thoughts of a TV rambler

TV is a medium purposefully created to entertain those who choose to watch. In the age of technology, people are able to get their opinions about that which they love out into the world at the click of a button. That is precisely what this blog will do.