Tag: TV

TV Shows

The Terminal List

Not A Walking Tree

It’s been awhile, folks. Of course, a military show with propaganda smelled a mile off would certainly get me back. Chris Pratt as Navy Seal Operator James Reece, with “why are you spending good money on him” Taylor Kitsch as his buddy Ben Edwards, and Constance Wu as the tough but determined reporter seeking the truth. Add a mix of “oh hey, I recognize him/her/them” and a bit of well-executed action sequences with a focus on reloading – oh my!

Naturally, I attempted to view it all in one sitting. It was a fun ride and I’m left with some plot related questions towards the end, but I enjoyed it all. It definitely is a love it or hate it type deal. No overseas baddies here. Nothing but homegrown, domestic greed. A show about a trained weapon shaking up the tree, searching for the snakes that fall out. At first, it feels like a very cookie-cutter generic American military thriller that’s been coming out recently on Amazon Video. Then the hook arrives near the end of the first episode, and I’m all for the murder in the name of revenge. Reminded me of Punisher with Thomas Jane, similar storyline; that is, a man with nothing left to lose and nothing left to live for but revenge.

In a rare twist for me, I enjoyed Jai Courtney’s performance as the pompous rich guy that gets his due comeuppance. Precisely because of that delivered justice. It was worth having to see him act in a movie for once. There’s a dude that I recognized from Banshee (great show, still working on that one), some dude playing an FBI agent I recognized from somewhere. And an actress from older movies I haven’t seen in some time, and older viewers would definitely recognize.

Overall, I liked it. The somewhat strong religious overtones outlined in the opening episode made it go off to a great start. I could also see why the devout Chris Pratt would be drawn to the role, and why nepotism would get one of the actors in the movie a role (brother in law). Thankfully, just a minor role. And the world wouldn’t run without it. Nice callouts plot wise to the plight of veterans, and how easily they could theoretically turn to taking action against elements of the government. And with the recent events of the pandemic in the world, having a plot element of testing medication to an unknown mass of individuals… Well, ain’t that just dandy!

TV Shows

Midnight Mass

Not A Walking Tree

Mike Flanagan strikes again with an excellent and well told horror story. Everything he’s put out so far, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the experience. He is a master at creating suspense and keeping tension through the entirety of the season. Midnight Mass is seven episodes long varying in length, usually an hour for the most part. Each one is masterful in developing characters and has just the right amount of calm before the storm. Each episode’s final 10 or 15 minutes accelerates the horror plot in unexpected ways; that is, until you catch onto what is happening then it becomes a sense of wonder.

I can’t say the references it has, or the pop culture ones either because to say would be spoiling the plot, and this is one show I really don’t want to do that. It is best to go in blind and be left at the mercy of what will unfold. The acting is superb by everyone involved, and I especially liked the Sheriff (Rahul Kohli) and Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford). The cinematography was excellent and helped add those feelings of isolation with the wide sweeping views of the lonely island. The music elevated the tension and suspense further, and I’m really glad that it didn’t give away if a mild jump scare was to happen. Speaking of those, they are far and few and the ones that do happen, are to be expected.

The imagery and religious symbolism within the show was used to great effect, and really made you think how well the subject matter of the Bible tied into the idea presented in the show. I’m not Catholic, so a lot of the Bible might have gone over my head, but the few passages I did understand, I really enjoyed the idea presented. In fact, one of the passages about Jesus, I always thought since I was a child, that it could be used for such an idea as this show. I read other reviews that didn’t enjoy the long monologues by many of the characters but I felt that they were needed because this show is filled with preaching and lots of sermons so the monologues fit into that idea of preaching.

Overall, I highly recommend the show. It’s a standout on Netflix, and one of their few really good original series. For fans of horror, it’s a must see.

TV Shows

Lucifer Season 6

Not A Walking Tree

Spoilers ahead, hard not to talk about them regarding this season.

I love the show as a whole but this last season is, to put it mildly, utter disappointment. You had 5 seasons of character development, of doing the procedural genre, and the fifth ended on an excellent note and a clear path forwards. Yet, the writers in their infinite wisdom, decided to forgo the path laid out and take three giant steps backwards, and only one forwards. This season should have explored the idea of redemption, and what it meant to have Lucifer be God himself. Instead, they took the cowardly option, reneged on that idea, and went back to the Devil being nothing but a devil. All the character progression thrown out the window.

The first three episodes were 40 minutes of filler, going down yet again with the procedural route, and leaving only the last 15 minutes or so to progress the plot in a meaningful way. There was a bit of intrigue and mystery which was quickly squashed with yet another familial arc to play through. And to top it off, they added time travel and time loops. One of the worst arcs to add to any show, it reeks of lazy writing. By adding a time loop, you insert paradoxes into the equation, and considering season 5 was all about the idea of free will, a time loop explicitly implies there is no such thing as free will. For you have to go about the exact same way as to what caused the loop to begin with.

The only redeeming factors, aside from the excellent acting from the cast, is that Daniel had a good conclusion to his character arc, that Maze and Eve got their happily ever after and that Ella finally learned of the existence of Celestials plus her own happy ending. The inclusion of SJW elements and “woke” elements was downright pandering, possibly to Netflix. The speech by the drag queen in episode two served no point than to please the LBQT+ crowd. The idea of Adam as toxic masculinity was again pointless, and did nothing and added nothing to the plot. Including cancel culture into it was meaningless, and felt like the writers were going down the checklist of what to add to please their Netflix overlords. Oh and because institutionalized racism is rearing its ugly head (always has been), they decided to include the plight of trying to change the police force from within… SWAT anyone?

This season starts off essentially in the gutter, makes a marked improvement as it reached the middle and then declines harshly in the final two episodes. That last episode, the last 20 minutes play out like a fever dream of fantasy. Everyone gets good things happening to them. Until the last 9 minutes, which are depressing when you think about it. Chloe lives 40, maybe 60, or even more years alone without Lucifer, finally dies, and joins him in Hell to help with psychiatry for people dealing with their own guilt. Great ad for psychiatry, but why did you have to ruin the show for that? Like Game of Thrones fans will feel regarding their last season, I feel the same way. Lucifer ended on season 5 and this trash season doesn’t exist. Similar to how they never made a fourth Indiana Jones movie, or never made an Avatar: The Last Airbender movie.

Anyways, these are just my opinions, and maybe other Lucifer fans will enjoy it. I certainly didn’t and therefore I couldn’t recommend it. But you do you.

TV Shows

SWAT (all 4 seasons)

Not A Walking Tree

I started watching this show because I was a fan of the movie with Colin Farrell, and I am a fan of Shemar Moore. And the more I got into it, eventually blazing through all four seasons, I have my ups with it and I got problems with it. First and foremost, the level of social programming at play and the PR publicity for cops is immense. Yet, it does manage to call awareness to societal issues that plague current and past times. Almost, nay, every episode is hammering home some sort of social justice which, over time, starts to pile up and become another mindless topic in the background. The fourth season is the only one that I enjoyed because it brought better awareness to the futility and failings of the American justice system. And to the racial politics at play, on both ends, cops and civilians.

That aside, it’s like watching trashy reality TV. You know it’s not great, kind of bad really, but you wanna keep watching to see what happens next. For my case, I had grown attached to the family structure at play between the characters. Between Hondo, Street, Luca, Tan, Deacon, and Chris. And then those outside that family, the Commander, Hicks, extra SWAT members – Rocker, Stevens and Mumford. I really enjoyed the dynamics between all of them, and that sense of camaraderie that follows. This for me was the bread and butter that kept me going. I wanted to see where each character would progress in terms of personal growth. I enjoyed Street’s arc the best, going from a hotshot to a dedicated member of the team. Hondo is the one I had the most issue with. He’s a straight up killer. And the show doesn’t acknowledge that. I’ve lost track of how many people he’s killed, upwards of 50 easily.

I find it ironic his character is trying to fight for what’s right for the black community and for the racial tensions between police and the community. He’s trying to stop the racial profiling at hand, yet if you’re a gangbanger with a gun, you’ll be shot dead. But if you’re a member of society who happened to pick up a gun for some misguided attempt at justice, you’ll be flash-banged and peacefully, albeit painfully, restrained. The show tries to make claims about rehabilitation, but with all the death, it’s clear that they’re trying to say only some lives matter and others don’t. 80% of actual swat calls are for narcotics, more often than not for someone OD’ing. Yet that show would have you thinking they’re used for investigative work (they don’t do that).

As for the acting, camerawork, and music: everything is quite well done. I really enjoy watching the shootouts, as mindless as they are. They give that fix of action in bite size format instead of watching a movie for it. I particularly enjoyed several driving sequences, they were inventive at times. And the camerawork takes some creative liberties that result in fun sequences. Music gets the blood pumping during the action, and pensive when it needs to be.

Overall, if you can get past the social engineering at work then you’ll have a fun time. If you can’t, you’ll not last a whole season. I’m excited for the fifth season, I’d love to see them explore Chris and Street’s burgeoning relationship further. If there was one coupling I was looking forward to the most, it was theirs.