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TommySClark
Reviews
The Last of Us: Left Behind (2023)
A tense episode for serious watchers
I don't get the negative reviews for this episode, I feel like they were watching something else or weren't paying enough attention to the story. This episode is a crucial part of Ellie's development, where we get to see why she is so important, the moment she referred to in episode 3, how she became infected. We know that someone died when that happened, and now we get to meet that person.
The whole episode had me on the edge of my seat. The way it was shot and edited, kept lingering uncomfortably, waiting for the inevitable, frightful moment. It kept getting delayed, building up the tension. The empty shopping mall added to the eerieness, and is also a nice reference to Dawn of the Dead. To then find out that she was bitten in the moment she first fell in love, tells us a lot about her hard character. She truly has experienced loss, more than Joel realises. Although we don't see how that happens yet, perhaps reserved for a future episode, possibly the finale (purely a guess). I suspect it is something to do with Ellie's first experience of killing someone, referred to when they arrived in Kansas City.
Tense, beautiful, intimate, human and tragic, this episode is as high quality as any of the others. Either the negative reviews have come from those not paying attention, or maybe triggered by the lesbian aspect of Ellie's character. This show is consistently amazing.
Better Call Saul: Plan and Execution (2022)
Genius tier television
It's a word that they say is overused but definitely not in this case. This episode earns it on every level. I'm just going to dedicate this review to the one and only Lalo, even though the episode clearly belongs to Howard.
We start with him crawling out from the middle of the earth like a subterranean demon via a manhole straight into Alberquerque. Then when he gets back in, he marches through the tunnel with his torch, lighting it up like an impending Balrog. The scene ends with him staking out Gus's new venture from under a storm drain in the middle of the night, like something straight out of a Stephen King horror.
Perhaps the most impressive understated aspect of the way his character is portrayed, are the banal moments, like asking for a token to use a shower, or being put through to Hector on the phone, in the same straightforward, chirpy tone as his last line of dialogue, "let's talk". It's this disconnect which signifies the true terror of his character, that of a bonafide human psychopath. These are the real monsters that exist in this world.
The exact moment the candle poeticly blows the second time, that precursor of impending doom that seems so familiar like a gust of wind that precedes a storm, every person watching this show got goosebumps. That's not an accident. That everything we knew about these characters led to this moment. The good natured guy betrayed by two rightly accused sociopaths, standing next to the devil. And for it to happen as Jimmy and Kim were watching late night movies, was like Lalo stepping out of the screen into your own living room. This scene was so shocking it was hard to believe, like a nightmare.
I've experienced a similar feeling in real life. Someone I knew committed murder, and I received a phone call about it shortly after. The shock I went through at the time was so surreal, it was hard to believe. I know that's real life and this is only entertainment, but to convey that impression accurately after so much screen violence having a desensitizing effect, is an incredible observation of human behaviour and psychology. Every single person on this show knocked it out of the park. Truly genius tier TV, and one of the greatest screen villains of all time. I dread the final half of the season and can't wait at the same time.
The Witcher: Dear Friend... (2021)
Hot garbage
Visually good, fun choreography, awful writing and terrible character development. The visual storytelling is an afterthought to the action scenes and production design. What a waste of resources if you can't even tell a story. I've liked Cavill's performance so far, Yennefer is ok, but the rest are unmemorable - I blame the writing not the actors. It should be widely known by now in the visual entertainment business that it is a cardinal sin to tell the story through exposition in dialogue - "show, don't tell" is basic knowledge! I haven't read the books, and I'll give it until the end of the season to see if the story makes any more sense, but I'll probably be done with it then. The writer needs a change of career.
Beast (2017)
Had to give up after half an hour...
I nearly always watch films all the way through before I judge them but it got too annoying to continue. It's just a poorly told story. I could tell from the writing and direction that little thought was put into any kind of realism, so it became impossible to suspend my disbelief. It's clear that I was watching something that was carelessly imagined rather than it showing me something about the human condition, no matter how wild. When a storyteller seems out of touch with reality, it never ends well, so I saved myself the frustration. You probably should too. Nicely shot though, and there was probably some talent working on it, hence the stars.
Caprica (2009)
Another high quality North American TV series...
As a huge fan of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica (BSG) series I was cautious in approaching Caprica, fearing something weaker and shallower. I needn't have worried.
Moving with a slightly less action-filled slower pace with hints of action to come, but no less entertaining for it, this is still the thought-provoking, exceptionally well made and acted, high quality, well-written science fiction I'd come to expect from the BSG creators. It seamlessly combines issues surrounding subjects such as religion and technology of the modern and near future real world, packages it visually in a way to rival any Hollywood feature film - superb near-future tech in flawless CGI, with a great Bear McCreary soundtrack, and sets it in the completely believable world of Caprica of the Twelve Colonies, with enough references to excite any BSG fan while requiring no pre-knowledge to attract new ones.
If the series holds up to the promise of the pilot and builds on it the way BSG did, this will be yet another exceptionally high quality TV series from North America after recent successes such as Battletar Galactica, The Wire, Dexter and Six Feet Under to name but a few. What excites me most of all is that as a sci-fi fan it's great to see the genre finally begin to fulfil its potential yet give a taste of how much more can be done with it. Hollywood and the feature film industry seems behind in this respect and can learn a thing or two (not to mention TV and film in the UK), but I'm beginning to prefer the longer format of a television series, especially for sci-fi. Now I just have to wait until 2010...