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Reviews
The Expanse: Winnipesaukee (2021)
Peaches and Bad action
Most these reviews aren't wrong that the show has taken a downturn at the midpoint of this season, but I think the first half is a little overrated. The Naomi stuff is getting more hate than it deserves and she has been one of my least favorite characters of the main cast based on incredibly flawed logic. Now it is catching up to her (protomolicule primarily). However Amos and Peaches story is actually not bad until it becomes so obvious how dumb Peaches behavior is both from an observational perspective as well as her character. Like the writers got lazy and and had a fee action hero lines they wanted and the best way was bad character writing. The whole "changed heart" wouldn't be bad if it had been developed on screen (kind of a Danerys S7/8 problem). I was yelling at my TV what was going to happen bc it was that bad. Guessing the show will pick back up and I'm still invested but man that took me out of it.
Ghosts (2021)
7.5/10 - Awful start but it finds its way
I DETEST the first two episodes of this show. They were everything wrong with network TV in so many ways. They were retelling already decent jokes in a wholly unfunny way. The original jokes were fantastically worse too. The third and fourth episodes are wildly better, but still average to slightly better. It's after this though that the show takes its own direction and uses the same framework as the brittish version but tells more original stories and alters the characteristics of the characters. The chemistry starts working, the jokes land and have depth. I still prefer the darkness and larger story of the brittish version. After the first two episodes though (A GENUINE WASTE OF TIME AND AIR USED TO MAKE THEM) this show is worth watching.
Ghosts: Pilot (2021)
Written by ChatGPT or votes held by fifty 20 year olds?
I came to this because I finished the Brittish version and wanted to see what the American one was like. I figured it would be a slow start for the first episode but wow, this was genuinely bad television. I'm 25 and every character felt like it was the mustache twirling cartoon version of the stereotypical trope an early-20s writer would imagine in their head. The entire episode was as formulaic as it comes and felt like a committee decided what jokes would be in it. I kept feeling like if I rolled my eyes any harder they might just keep going (and as bad as that joke is its better than any in the episode, sadly). Other reviews of the show have said it finds its footing and voice later so I'll continue watching. I'm not even going to compare it to the brittish one either, this was thr epitome of network televisions shortcomings.
The Pacific (2010)
A Disservice to the Source Material.
I have to preface my title by saying I have only read in full With the Old Breed. That being said I am disappointed by this shows failure to do its source material justice. It wants to be brutal but pulls punches in the most visceral spots that would paint the Americans negatively. The characters from Sledge book come off as shadows of themselves in the show and are forgettable compared to their literature counterparts. I have a huge problem though with how the story was told. I think Leckie and Basilone have important stories to be told, but what we got was a convoluted hodge podge mixing everything together and watering it all down. The romance in the first half of the series (in Melbourne) is such a drag and waste of time that doesn't give the viewer anything of value? It's really a bland soap opera. I think the first 6 episodes should have been compressed into 2 and more time should have been given to the brutality of the war. The final episode is done very well and as a whole episode was my favorite for its performances and story telling. I think the show would have benefited from telling the stories separately rather than at once, having fewer episodes and focus on sledge and really following that one group (Band of Brothers style), or telling sledge story from the start and integrating elements of what happened to Basilone and Leckie through fictional characters in Sledge story, similar to how Chernobyl did (although that also would upset some people I know).
The Pacific: Melbourne (2010)
A Bad Romance
Loge stories in war films are fine, a-la Doc and the Nurse in Bastogne. But this does it all wrong. For starters the acting and dialogue are more like a high school theater. Second, the "climax" of some of these are are so much closer to soap opera than a story of turbulent love. If there had been more time on the islands and we could really feel the fatigue in the characters (soldiers) it might make more sense as a relief episode. But even still the romance is beyond boring.
The soldiers come off like drunk idiots, which they probably were. But the actors as old as they are don't look like a bunch of dumb 18 to 22 year olds and so it feels almost like a reenactment than a retelling.
Generally this episode either needed to come later and water down the bad romance, be a much shorter episode, or just not have happened.
Stranger Things: Chapter Four: Dear Billy (2022)
One of the first times I felt nervous in a chase scene in a long time
Fantastic acting and action and the chase had my heart pounding and I thought we were going to have the carpet pulled from under us. Excellent editing and acting.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: The Gang Gets Romantic (2019)
Obviously from the beginning
Dennis is clearly psychotic in the last couple seasons but now he's acting normalish? Part of what makes the show great is its unpredictability and characters unwillingness to develope in a good way and this episode demonstrates a loss of understanding that fact.
Through My Father's Eyes (2019)
Lost potential
The content is interesting and it's cool to hear stories from the horses mouth. But this came out in 2019 and looks/sounds like a home movie from 2012. The editing was disappointing and the interviewer was overly involved rather than narrating and guiding us through the story.
A.P. Bio (2018)
Good, overhyped
Don't get me wrong, this show is funny and there are absolutely threads and characters that are great. Glenn Howerton, Patton Oswalt, Allisyn Ashley Arm (the best), and Paula Pell are clear standouts. However, a significant number of the "high schoolers" look older than the teachers and it takes me out of the show.
Part of my problem may be I had people tell me this is one of the best shows of recent. Which might be true, but with streaming options, quality isn't limited to relative to other shows being made now. This show doesn't feel like anything I haven't seen before. It's a soft anti-hero who uses his high school students to solve his problems. This isn't bad, but most of it feels done better elsewhere. Community, the Bad Place, Parks and Rec, It's Always Sunny, etc.
Again, the show is really funny at points with good writing and character interplay. It also has very low brow humor (fine, but really drags this show down from being great imo. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy it or laugh at it, but I'm gonna be an honest critic if I leave a review) as seen in a Malissa Mccarthy movie.