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Icelander67
Reviews
Survivor: Bull in a China Shop (2022)
So now at tribal all (and only!) the black ones get a vote and... and...?
...and _nothing_?! Not one peep of righteous indignation, from any of them?? I smell a hefty dose of editing manipulation in post here, because this little 'coincidence' was just too glaring for it to be remotely believable that none of them even noticed. Someone at the network clearly did not want a repeat of the lowest rated episode ever last season, eh? Just goes to show how real this sort of "reality" show actually is.
Then, of course, for some reason the brave amputee got lauded for _not_ completing a task (with a "heartfelt" little speech from Jeff and whatnot), while the _other_ player who got stuck at that exact spot, got nothing!? - Ugh!
P.s. Oh, and I can't be the only one who wishes Jeff would just shut the hell up already during those challenges. His constant "analysis" of what's going on - right in front of everyone, and literally for the benefit of none but himself - it gets very annoying, very fast.
Survivor: LIVIN (2022)
Ok, now I just want a full-on "Survivor Handicaps" season! ;)
I mean, they keep making these insultingly transparent stunt-casting of 'disadvantaged' players (deaf, Tourette, amputee...) to sell their ridiculous 'Anyone has a chance to be on Survivor, yayh!' pitch, and meanwhile I'm sitting there in my wheelchair going: "Really?!"
So I say, if they want someone like me to swallow that illusion (or truly 'represent every faction of society'), they better take the step full-on and cast _all_ of the players with proper disadvantages like mine. Then we'll talk! ;)
Oh, and as for opinions of this season in particular, "remarkably unremarkable" pretty much sums it up for me so far. Which actually is an improvement over some of the more recent ones, but there ya go.
Daredevil (2015)
How can you root for a guy when you don't know WHY he wants to do what he does?
Three episodes in, and still not one word about the _motivations_ of the protagonist, are you kidding me?! It's like in their eagerness to "go dark", the storymakers completely have overlooked the importance of providing this very vital detail to any story about a "hero".
Yes, admittedly in those three episodes alone, we already do see lots of (very crunching!) beatings in gloomy places, "great choreography" of the fight scenes, lots of bleeding wounds in closeup details, knives into eyes and whatnot - all supposedly very "gritty" for sure, but none of all that window dressing compensates for failing to provide the audience with anything in terms of character motivation, from the START!
I'll probably give the show a fair chance of few more episodes to come up with something on this, since I have the whole first season already, but so far it's not exactly gripping me. It may be the comic fan's wet dream, for all the things listed in my second paragraph, but I'm personally not impressed by any of it.
If you can't understand what drives the character, you simply cannot root for them.
Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled (2014)
It's basically just Qi without the questions, wit, or the cleverness!
Of the episodes I've seen so far, most of the participants have already been with Alan on the much superior (in all senses of the term) Qi show, even recounting several of the same stories, particularly Alan himself.
So do yourselves a favour and just watch Qi instead of this highly disorganised pub-like chitchat that calls itself a TV show. At least then you might actually learn something!
Supergirl: Phantom Menaces (2021)
LENIAC - Now, there's a shipping to root for!
Lena and Brainiac, now there's a pairing that actually MAKES SENSE, whereas that badly written/acted, ridiculous Dreamer character makes for just the opposite - and as any sensible person of the _real_ world knows, the whole "Opposites attract" is a cliched myth!
Right, back to my only remaining reason for still be watching this show: To see these most cerebral intellectuals of the lot getting some tough lessons in (and learning the value of) what's now being called "Emotional intelligence" was easily the absolute highlight of this episode, and then some. And both the actors really seemed to really relish in finally getting something meaty to chew on, with top notch performances on both parts.
As for the rest, then well... I've already forgotten anything else from this episode...
Lethal Weapon: One Day More (2018)
There's a right way to drop a character and a wrong way - they went the wrong way.
Seriously, the least damaging way a tv show can drop an essential character (which we all knew was coming) is by making it happen story wise in as UPBEAT way as possible. Whereas the worst way is... well, the worst way is pretty much to go do it precisely the way they did it: Make us _think_ he's leaving on a high note, right until the very last seconds where they take it all away from you and end on the most DOWNBEAT note possible!! That's not plain stupid business planning, that's downright cruel.
All this is going to do is make the viewers miss him MORE, make them be LESS accepting of his departure and consequently less likely to carry on watching than they were already. Just how stupid can a TV network get that they fail so miserably to grasp this simple thing?!
Furthermore, the ending, within the context of the events of the rest of the episode, made no sense whatsoever. It made absolutely no sense that it would be that person who would somehow magically turn up at that place out of nowhere to finish "him" off for no discernible reasons at all. Nor did it make any sense that "he" would just stand there like the easiest target practice cardboard imaginable, without even trying to neither flee nor put up any sorts of defence. This whole debacle of an ending reeks of nothing but a very desperate "Need to make absolutely sure no one thinks he's coming back", as if anyone who's been seriously following this show didn't already know.
They didn't even try make transition easier on us, so I see no reason why I should give their future seasons anything either.
My two star rating go to the actor who got dumped, for still managing to resist phoning it in on his last appearance, and still do a stellar performance throughout, which I'm sure can't have been easy. A true pro in my book right there, regardless of what the tabloids may want us to believe.
Oh, and I feel almost sorry for the poor sucker that's going to step in next season, he's going to be so hated by the _former_ fans of this show - I hate him already!
Supergirl: Both Sides Now (2018)
Another "Take your PMS to work" day for Alex?! C'mon writers, she deserves better!
It always infuriates me how extremely _unprofessional_ everyone at that Government Intelligence Agency (!!) is on this show, taking their personal life to work on daily basis like they do. Can you imagine if anyone actually behaved like these people at the _real_ CIA/FBI or the likes? They'd be sent on sick leave in a heartbeat, if not fired o the spot!
Ok, so this time it was Alex's turn to go full-on PMS in front of a suspect, seemingly out of nowhere, and seriously overacted to boot, which certainly didn't help. Watching my favourite supporting character get this sloppy treatment from the writers (you could see the "I got it all wrong" coming eons before it did) was an agony to watch. Fortunately, the other side of that confrontation was the saving grace to that entire scene, for the manipulative aspect of our newest baddie made a very interesting impact to this latest addition. But unfortunately, as was way over-advertised much too early, this latest addition is sadly going to be dealt with far too simplistically for what the potential is worth ("We need to save them"), so that's an investment we know already will not pay off. More bad writing, showing the cards too soon - and much too clearly, just to be sure even the dumb viewers get it.
Same goes for that convenient 'marriage-going-sour' subplot, another out of nowhere scenario that this far had been absolutely no signs for. It's obvious that someone has been conducting a testgroup poll and hastily calculating the demand for a very predictable rekindle between Kara and Mon-El (*puke*) in order to keep the viewers happy.
Speaking of subplot - and now for the better parts of this episode - The teaser for the Legion's ulterior motives, now there's (hopefully!) something worth the wait till the show picks up again. Another thing still to look forward to is the third baddie in this season's main set, we have yet to see any of the potential there and that at least has me still a bit curious. But these two elements, along with the stellar performance of main baddie #2 and a surprisingly adequate FX and action (though Martian Manhunter remains a missed potential as always), is pretty much the only positive things I could say about this one.
Here's hoping the final 3rd act will make up for this very uneven season.