“I think they picked me. They’re talking to me. I want to hear them.”
(SPOILER WARNING!)
It was a much more character-driven, intrigue filled episode of Alien: Earth this week, with barely a terrifying beastie in sight most of the time. That’s definitely a good thing, as (besides advancing the plot) a breather in the action allows us to get to know these characters, and the world they inhabit, rather better.
Continue reading “Alien: Earth Season 1, Episode 4 – Observation”“Trillions of dollars of research and development just landed in our laps!”
(SPOILER WARNING!)
Looks like my initial impression of what Alien: Earth was going to be was wrong. I’d assumed, based on the first two episodes, that what we were going to get was one of those stories that takes place over a short timeline, entirely set around the “search and rescue” operation of the crashed spaceship and the apartment block it had crashed into. Instead, it became clear this week that the story is wider and more ambitious than that, moving to new settings and later days.
Continue reading “Alien: Earth Season 1, Episode 3 – Metamorphosis”“You used to be food, you know. Humanity. Your lives were short. Then your brains grew. You built tools and used them to conquer nature. Built impossible machines. Went to space. You stopped being food. Or, I should say, you told yourself you weren’t food anymore.”
(SPOILER WARNING!)
It was inevitable, really. Once Disney got its hands on the Alien franchise, it was only a matter of time before we got a TV show from it. That’s how Disney work with successful film franchises – they milk them to death by overproducing content, both film and TV until nobody wants to watch them anymore. They’ve done it with Star Wars, they’ve done it with Marvel – is this the first step to doing it with Alien?
Continue reading “Alien: Earth Season 1, Episode 1 – Neverland / Episode 2 – Mr October”“Mr Smith is gone. I am the Doctor!”
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Well, that’s it for another season – and, it’s looking like, another era of Doctor Who. If you’re one of those unhappy at what has become known as the RTD2 era, there was really no need to be. In many ways, what we got here was a typical Russell T Davies season finale, with all the strengths and weaknesses he’s shown in writing the show since 2005 – great characterisation and dialogue, with plenty of spectacle, undermined by gaping plot holes that were seemingly papered over by fast-paced set pieces.
Continue reading “Doctor Who: Season 2/15/41, Episode 8 – The Reality War”“It was easy. I just kept hurting her and hurting her.”
(SPOILER WARNING!)
This week’s episode was an inevitably downbeat season finale for The Last of Us, a show that has never exactly traded in optimism. It also, at first, seemed surprisingly low-key for most of the time, retreading similar ground to earlier eps this season – I was expecting something more, well, not spectacular (the show rarely is), but dramatic. But in hindsight, I think there was a lot more going on in this ep than was immediately evident.
Continue reading “The Last of Us: Season 2, Episode 7 – Convergence”“Doubt is such a beautiful thing. If you question hard enough, then doubt can crack open the world!”
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“Is any of this making sense?”
Well… if I’m honest, not much, no. To be fair to Russell T Davies, this is the first half of a two-part story, so perhaps everything will click into place next week. For now, though, what we had here seemed like a bit of a jumble; there were some brilliant ideas, and some striking images, but it didn’t seem to cohere into any kind of logical story. Not yet, anyway.
Continue reading “Doctor Who: Season 2/15/41, Episode 7 – Wish World”“If you love someone, you can always see their face.”
(SPOILER WARNING!)
This week’s The Last of Us was one of the show’s occasional flashback episodes, filling us in on some vital backstory that, until now, has only been alluded to. I’ve said from the beginning of the season that we were bound to get one of these, as so much was made of Joel’s killing of Gail’s husband Eugene, a character we hadn’t even seen. I must admit, I was also too curious to avoid the spoiler that cult character actor Joe Pantoliano had been cast as Eugene, so it was just a question of time until he made his appearance.
Continue reading “The Last of Us: Season 2, Episode 6 – The Price”“Look, that’s a hundred thousand people, frozen and suspended in space. To reach them, and catch them, and revive every single one of them – you’d need to be some sort of insane genius.”
(SPOILER WARNING!)
It has been noted many times that one of the most significant groups among Doctor Who fans is gay men. It has also been noted many times that one of the most significant groups among Eurovision Song Contest fans is gay men. It was perhaps almost inevitable that at some point, we’d see a crossover between the two things – especially with renowned gay writer Russell T Davies, creator of Queer as Folk and lover of all things pop culture, running the show.
Continue reading “Doctor Who: Season 2/15/41, Episode 6 – The Interstellar Song Contest”“Would it have made a difference if my family had hurt his people first? No. No. And if I hadn’t killed him, if he had gotten away, I promise you I would have hunted him down forever.”
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Feel Her Love, eh? Fnarr, fnarr 😊
Actually, though, the ep title really is a double entendre, albeit not in a smutty, Carry On film kind of way. Yes, there’s the literal motto of the Seraphites (or “scars”, as the WLF disparagingly refer to them). But it’s also, presumably, a reference to the burgeoning love affair between Ellie and Dina; which, having been properly established last week, is already in jeopardy with the unexpected return of old flame (and father to her baby) Jesse.
“Every day, one of your Wolves comes to see the truth, and takes Her into their heart. Every day, every day, a Wolf leaves you to take the holy mortification to become a Seraphite. And none of us ever leave to become a Wolf.”
(SPOILER WARNING!)
After an incredibly busy week enmeshed in the toils of Spanish bureaucracy (I needed to exchange my UK driving licence, a Herculean task of procedure), I’m now a week behind on The Last of Us – in fact, I’ve only just seen this fourth episode. With another one waiting in the wings, here’s some brief thoughts on episode 4 – Day One.
Continue reading “The Last of Us: Season 2, Episode 4 – Day One”
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