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Doctor Who: Can You Hear Me? (2020)
Tried to shove too much into 60 minutes.
It seems like the writers have finally realized that character development is more important than exposition, but they took it a little too far: in this episode, the character development takes more time than the actual plot.
Plenty of time is spent on the companions' respective backstories and what they "fear." So much so, that there was barely any time for the show to explain why all these flashbacks were occurring.
We get dropped in on 1380 Syria for some reason, jump to the present to show the creepy god guy who appears and disappears in the TARDIS for some reason, and whose fingers come off and suck nightmares out of people. Then we're suddenly in the future in some random spot in space, where we get a shadow-puppet expositional story about why these gods are doing what they're doing, before the Doctor somehow force-summons her screwdriver from her out-of-reach pocket to free herself and save the Earth.
There's just too much going on. The idea is good, but this should have been at least 2 episodes to properly fit in both the character development and the plot development. As it is, this episode is a frustratingly confusing mess.
The Stranger (2020)
The ending is a bit messy
The show itself is good overall, but it feels like they ran out of episodes before they could properly conclude the main plot and the different sub-plots.
The whole incident with the alpaca head and who did what when was never really wrapped up. The mother potentially poisoning her daughter got about 10 minutes of screen-time and no resolution. Even the conclusion for the main plot felt rushed and lost in exposition.
It's not like 8 episodes is pushing the limits of how long a season can be. Maybe they ran over-budget?
Glitch (2015)
It's worth a watch
This isn't some super-amazing show, but it's still got a good premise, interesting characters, and an entertaining plot.
A lot of people are complaining about season 3, and I have to agree I didn't like it too much. It seemed like it veered away from the original direction of the show into some weird fantasy/sci-fi hybrid. However, it was still entertaining, even if there were quite a few plotholes even I noticed on my only watch-through.
If you've found this show, I think it's worth watching it. It won't exactly blow your mind, but it's engaging and consistent enough to stay interesting.
Love, Death & Robots (2019)
I must be missing something
I've watched a bunch of episodes, and I'm just not seeing what these high reviews are seeing. The stories range from boring to mildly interesting, and a lot are just plain confusing. They feel like B-roll Pixar shorts.
Then there's the cursing and nudity. It would be interesting to see a show that doesn't go out of its way to avoid curses and full nudity, but this show takes it a step further, by just shoving the f-word and breasts everywhere it possibly can. It's almost like the animators were trying to distract from the lack of writing.
The Order (2019)
Don't watch it because of the trailer
Netflix seems to be doing this a lot, but the trailer doesn't represent this show at all. It makes it seem like it's a completely different genre of show, and attracts the wrong audience.
The show itself isn't bad. There's overacting, weird plot developments, and all that stuff, but it is at least engaging, if you like things like the current Supernatural episodes. The trailer just completely misrepresented what it is.
The Flash: Cause and XS (2019)
What was the point?
This episode could have been removed from the lineup with absolutely no effect.
Even as a standalone, it got boring after the first 15 minutes. Why didn't Nora just tell everyone right away instead of acting weird for 35 minutes?
Then they finally "defeat" Cicada, only for him to fly away with absolutely no plot development?
It feels like this episode just exists to extend the lineup.
The Blacklist (2013)
It's still good, even after Season 2
I've seen a few complaints that The Blacklist loses its focus after Season 2. Those complaints are valid. Season 3 moves from mostly self-contained crime-a-week episodes to focusing much more on the characters themselves and how they're related. That doesn't mean it isn't still good, though.
It is a pretty big jump, and they probably could have made it more gradual, but even with a different focus, it's still engaging and fun to watch. Reddington is still a crazy, goofy and smart criminal character and he still gives cases to solve. The plots just have more emotional drama now.
The Orville: Krill (2017)
Too Awkward
I know cringe comedy is pretty popular, but I can't stand it. It's fine when it's balanced with a good plot, but there's just too much of it in this episode.
It doesn't add anything to the characters or plot, and it's just annoying and frustrating how obviously fake Ed and Gordon are when they go undercover. It's less "oh no, that was a bad slip" and more "oh my god, how are these Krill only slightly suspicious of their religious beliefs?" and it happens throughout the entire episode
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018)
Good acting, good idea, meh result
As usual with Black Mirror, the actors and acting are all amazingly done. It's obvious that a lot of work was put into the direction. And again, as usual, the idea behind the story is also very interesting.
I think its biggest problem is the interactive part. This could've been another great Black Mirror episode on its own, without the "choices." The issue I have is that the choices don't actually do anything. You pick the option the screenwriter didn't want, and you're sent back.
I know the way the choices are structured is supposed to produce a sort of meta effect and all, where the character doesn't have free will and you don't either, but honestly, it's just kind of tedious and gets in the way of the story. I was tempted to just find someone who did a run-through with all the correct choices and recorded it; I feel it would have been more interesting.
In the end, it's still very well made. I just don't think the meta idea of lack of free will worked out so well.
Doctor Who: Kerblam! (2018)
Better than before
This season started out *rough*. The plots were kind of boring, and character development, when there was any, felt unnatural and like it was just shoved into the episode. Each episode was also targeted at some social issue, and the plots were a bit too on-the-nose and literal to really be enjoyable.
I think this episode actually got it right though. Yeah, there was the same social issue theme that this whole season has had, but this time it was actually worked into the plot like it has been in previous seasons. Instead of The Doctor swooping in to save the day and teach us a moral lesson, The Doctor swooped in to save the day and taught a character a moral lesson instead.
I've seen complaints about this season being "preachy" with its (or BBC's) values, and I have seen some of that. But with this episode, Chibnall managed to work the moral lesson into the plot in a way that wasn't directly aimed at the viewer, and it felt much more natural.
It also finally got back to the Doctor Who that I've enjoyed. We're not going back to the past to save some important historical figure, we're not fighting weird and unexplained villains. Instead, we get the classic Doctor-gets-interrupted-mid-flight scene, an actual mystery to solve, and proper plots twists.
I hope it continues to be like this.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)
Meh
As a lot of other people have said, there's really not much plot. There's a ton of action, but it doesn't really seem to be for anything but to show off the effects (which are amazing: lots of attention to detail and the physics are done well). I feel like this movie could've been the first 10 minutes of the next one.
Watch it for the effects, not for the story.
Doctor Who: Demons of the Punjab (2018)
Meh
The writing was better in this episode compared to the previous ones in this season, but overall, it's just not impressive.
This episode is all about exploring Yaz's family history, and it takes place during the partition of India in 1947. It also highlights some important issues of the time. However, I feel like it has a lot of the same missteps as the Rosa episode.
Doctor Who is supposed to the a sci-fi show, with exciting adventures and new aliens, languages and cultures discovered. However this episode felt more like a history lesson than sci-fi thriller. There was a total of maybe 10 minutes out of 40+ where the aliens were part of the plot. And in the end, we find out these aliens aren't even the "bad guys," and that the "bad guys" are the intolerant Hindu mob that ends up killing Yaz's would-be grandfather.
Don't get me wrong, this could be an interesting episode... on a different show. Remove the sci-fi and you have a good story arc and characters. But this is Doctor Who, the show all about aliens and danger and excitement.
So far, Season 11 feels a lot more like a Soap Opera with random sci-fi elements thrown in, just so it can continue to use that genre.
It's not bad, but it's not Doctor Who.
Doctor Who (2005)
It took a year for this?
I get that the team working on Doctor Who is relatively small, so the time between seasons can be pretty long, but at least in past seasons that gap was justified with good writing and engaging plots. Season 11 just seems... meh. I can almost never understand what's going on, and when the plot *does* make sense, it's pointless and boring.
These characters are interesting, and I like Jodie's take on the Doctor, but I feel like the good parts are being severely undermined by the boring and non-sequitur writing.