Episode Two Archives - Shea Hates Everything

Quickie Reviews #42

Shea Castle — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 23:02:34 +0000

In this edition, we’re taking a look at The Punisher, Mindhunter, Black Mirror, and Life is Strange: Before the Storm.

Punisher – Season One

Marvel’s Netflix shows have been all over the map for me. I loved Daredevil, hated Jessica Jones, and found Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Defenders to be different levels of mediocre. After the first few episodes of The Punisher, I was afraid that this would be yet another disappointing entry, but then the top blew off and things got freaking insane.

Season one starts where Frank’s appearance in Daredevil season two left off, with him still tracking down the people responsible for killing his wife and kids. There isn’t a ton of mystery here at first, and the show starts with Frank being a brutal monster murdering bad dudes with no remorse. The action stuff is great, but the show falls into the trap of replaying Frank’s memories ad nauseum in an effort to build sympathy. It just isn’t necessary, and frankly made me care less about his plight because I was getting bored. We get it, your family is dead. I know that sounds harsh, but this is a fictional television show we’re talking about here.

A few episodes in, a new frenemy for Frank is introduced, and his character saved the show for me. David Lieberman is another guy on the run from corrupt government agents. He’s presumed dead, and is using his tech powers to spy on his wife and kids. This is a mild spoiler, but there are some truly amazing moments between Frank and Lieberman’s wife. It’s clear that she wants to move on but is afraid to, and Frank clearly has feelings but doesn’t want to betray the memory of his wife or of his new “friend.” For a show that’s so focused on over the top violence, I was never bored in those smaller moments.

But don’t get me wrong, there’s some very over the top violence in The Punisher. Most of the action sequences here are incredibly intense. Things feel very personal, with Jon Bernthal selling the emotion and exhaustion of his actions. I go back and forth on liking and hating his twitchy, stuttery method of acting, but I think it works for this character. He nails the intensity of every scene.

I also appreciate the variety in action, especially when it comes to direction and cinematography. There’s a fight in the forest that’s partially shot via helmet cam and partially through a flying drone. There’s a gunfight that takes place in the Middle East where you don’t often see the gore, just splatters of blood from offscreen as Frank kills everything in sight. There’s a standoff in a warehouse between two groups where it really felt like I was there. There’s also a car chase, and while I didn’t think that one is executed all that well, I appreciated the effort.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Dinah Madani, the Homeland Security agent trying to track down Frank while also researching the death of a former friend. The character just wasn’t all that interesting, and I never felt like the actress, Amber Rose Revah, properly conveyed the internal conflict she was supposedly struggling with. Ben Barnes’ Billy Russo was awesome, though. I wanted to hate him, but he was just too damn charming.

There’s a twist near the end where one character betrays another, and I thought it was incredibly contrived. I didn’t think the character motivation was there, but it was one of those things where you just have to accept it and move on. From there, at least, I liked how everything played out. On the other hand, there’s a B story established early on that ends up amounting to basically nothing. It’s a character I never had a reason to care about, and the time you spend with him is meaningless because the resolution to his story has no impact. Honestly, I thought the writers were playing the long game in developing this character as a villain for season two, but nope. It’s just a poorly written B story.

After a somewhat slow start with too much focus on Frank feeling sorry for himself, The Punisher really picks up in the second half. It offers up plenty of the crazy fight and action sequences you’d expect, but also has smaller character moments that you might not. Other than Daredevil, this is my favorite ongoing Marvel/Netflix show. For me, that might not be saying a whole lot, but it’s something.

8.7/10

Black Mirror – Season Four

If you read my ranking of the Black Mirror episodes and review where season four’s episodes landed, you can get a pretty good sense for how I feel about Black Mirror season four as a whole. Honestly, it’s the same way I felt about season three. There are a few episodes in there that I really enjoy, a few that I think are okay, and a few that I actively dislike. That’s kind of the nature of the beast with a show like this.

The standout episode is definitely “Hang the DJ,” which focuses on dating in a modern world where relationships are built by technology. It’s also the only true “feel good” episode of the season, which is always a rarity on the show. “USS Callister” is a riff on Star Trek, sci-fi, and video games, and it’s a fun — if not particularly memorable — episode. Jesse Plemons does a great job nailing the real-life dork and fictional Captain Kirk-type characters.

Taken in a positive light, “Black Museum” is a bit like Black Mirror breaking the fourth wall and establishing that at least some of its stories exist in the same world. From a more negative perspective, it comes across a bit like a melding of three stories that couldn’t carry full episodes of their own. “Metalhead” is shot entirely in black and white, which helps sell its aesthetic. I kind of got a Mad Max with robots vibe, and I liked that. All in all, though, it’s one of the less ambitious or unique episodes in recent memory.

“Arkangel” and “Crocodile” are my two least favorite episodes from season four, and that mostly comes down the concepts. Where “Metalhead” feels a bit derivative, at least it’s executed well. Arkangel doesn’t have a particularly unique set up, with its focus on technology that allows parents to censor things for their children. But its characters are also boring, and the eventual climax feels completely unjustified. “Crocodile” is more a victim of just being a bit dumb. The acting from Andrea Riseborough is the strongest part, but the story doesn’t do her any favors. In a show about how technology will eventually kill us all in creative ways, it’s saying something for me to say that I didn’t buy the plot of “Crocodile” whatsoever.

Black Mirror is inherently a show that takes risks. It’s a collection of often disparate episodes with different concepts, writers, directors, actors, themes, and stories. That’s part of what makes it a special show to watch. But while I always appreciate what each episode sets out to do, the quality of execution varies wildly. And I feel like this becomes more true with each season.

Still, I can’t imagine a time where I’ll be sick of watching new episodes. While they may disappoint as often as they delight, there’s always something cool to take away and talk about.

7.8/10

Mindhunter – Season One

I wanted to like Mindhunter more than I did. The concept is interesting — it’s the early days of psychoanalysis for the FBI, and a small team goes around interviewing serial killers to learn more about how they think. And that part of the show really is fascinating, due in no small part to the strong performances by the jailed killers.

Unfortunately, because this is a tv show, an inordinate amount of time is spent developing our main character — and to put it frankly, he’s boring as hell. I don’t think this comes down to the writing or the way the character was developed, but rather the performance by Jonathan Groff. I don’t have anything against the guy — in fact, his Tony Award-nominated performance in Spring Awakening was phenomenal, but something doesn’t translate here. His acting choices are too small, and he constantly has this slightly bemused, slightly bored look on his face, no matter what is happening.

This problem is compounded whenever his character, Holden, is with his girlfriend. She’s also painfully uninteresting to watch, and when the two of them are on screen together, it’s like a black hole of boring. I just didn’t care about their relationship whatsoever, and the show kept shoving it down my throat. They’re together, they fight, they break up, they get back together, and I didn’t care for a second.

Thankfully, the rest of the cast is much better. Holt McCallany saves the whole thing as Holden’s partner, Bill Tench. He has this gruff voice and doesn’t fully believe in what they’re doing — or Holden’s methods. He’s also struggling at home with his son, and that story was something I’d like to see more developed in the inevitable season two.

Honestly, I liked Mindhunter in spite of itself. It’s a perfect example of being more than the sum of its parts. The first season also builds this mystery in its cold opens about a guy that seems to be a new serial killer, but there’s no resolution to that tease. Even the way the finale ends feels like it was episode 10 in a 12 episode season. There’s no sense of finality or even a true climax. The final scenes do offer some great character moments for Holden, and that’s where Groff’s best acting comes to bear. Hopefully we get more of that in season two because, at this point, I’m kind of hoping for a recasting of the lead.

7.5/10

Life is Strange: Before the Storm – Episode Two

I get frustrated when I think about Life is Strange: Before the Storm. The game truly has so much potential in its character moments and scene development, but it drops the ball in too many ways to ignore.

At the end of the day, most of the writing still feels like it’s coming from a bunch of old white dudes trying to write for angsty teens. In the proper Life is Strange season one, I could look past this because the characters were still interesting and the game’s hook was strong enough to carry me through to the end. But with Before the Storm, the main character is mostly annoying and there isn’t that greater mystery that I’m looking to see resolved.

The “insult” minigame from episode one returns, and it still sucks. I don’t even know what else to say about that mechanic anymore other than it’s lame and honestly often feels shoehorned into situations where it isn’t appropriate. It’s like the developers needed more gameplay to be present and this is the best they could come up with.

Still, I find myself wanting to see this thing through to the end. I’m certainly more excited to play episode three now than I was after finishing the first episode. The Chloe/Rachel relationship is just so strong, and Rachel really brings out the best in Chloe. She’s still a hipster asshole, but you can tell that at least part of that is an act.

There’s a phenomenal scene built around Rachel acting in their school’s version of The Tempest, and that moment stands up against the best stuff from Life is Strange season one. If the finale can deliver more of those moments, my time with Before the Storm will have been well spent. It’s just a shame that the writing so often falls flat, because this unneeded sequel could have been something surprisingly special.

7.8/10

Be sure to check out my other Quickie Reviews!

The post Quickie Reviews #42 appeared first on Shea Hates Everything.

Shea Reviews – Game of Thrones S06E02 – Home

Shea Castle — Tue, 21 Jun 2016 21:42:05 +0000

WARNING: This review contains spoilers for Game of Thrones.

Man, that episode was so much better than last week’s premiere. The episode still served up a lot of set up for the season, this time focusing on some characters we missed in the premiere, but overall it felt less exposition heavy. And of course there was the huge moment at the end that surprised no one, but we’ll get to that in a minute. First, let’s walk through the big happenings from “Home.”

There was a lot of death in this episode, huh? Roose Bolton, Balon Greyjoy, some Knight’s Watch dudes, and that poor sap that got walled by Frankenstein’s Mountain. For real, those kills by The Mountain and the giant at Castle Black were brutal. I’d love to see those two go toe to toe.

I have to say that I’m very relieved we’re getting the Greyjoy story from the books. It was something that I was very interested in seeing on screen, but after the timeline of season five, I was afraid the show was going to skip it completely. In the books, Balon Greyjoy falls to his death and then there’s a Kingmoot to decide the next ruler of the Iron Islands. So far in the show, it looks to be between Yara and Euron Greyjoy, Balon’s younger brother. There are some other characters that play into it in the books, but I won’t spoil that here in case they do end up on the show in some capacity. Regardless, there are a lot of fascinating characters and politics in the Iron Islands, and it’s a place we know far too little about in the world of the show. Hopefully the writers are setting up Yara to be a major player as she was in the books. She definitely can be ruthless, but she seems as just a person as you can find amongst the Greyjoys. On the other hand, Euron doesn’t look how I imagined from the books. He’s described as being highly battle-worn, and I pictured him as older, with an eye patch. This Euron is definitely a different look, but he seems to have the same brutal nature. I’m guessing the show is setting him up as the new bad guy.

Roose Bolton’s death is going to have huge repercussions on the rest of the season, if my theory is correct. I said last week that Sansa would end up heading to The Wall, and it seems like that’s the plan. It just so happens that Ramsay Bolton has been wanting to head up north to take out Jon Snow, obviously not knowing that he was already dead. If Jon was alive, there would always be someone for the northerners to rally behind against the Boltons, and Ramsay just could not deal with that. Now that Jon is alive again, could we see Sansa reunite with her brother, only to be attacked by Ramsay’s army? That seems like something this show would do. I am a little sad that Roose is dead, to be honest. He obviously deserved his comeuppance for his part in the Red Wedding, but he was a great leash for Ramsay. Roose was the only person that could keep his son in line. Without that moral compass (however broken), we get the kind of Ramsay that feeds his step-mother and half brother to the dogs. Yikes.

I also want to point out another quick little moment that may end up being important. Last week, I was speculating on when we might see Rickon Stark and Osha again, if ever. They were heading to The Last Hearth, otherwise known as the house of the Umbers. It was easy to miss, but Ramsay actually referenced the Umbers in this week’s episode. Roose was arguing that by killing Jon Snow, they’d make enemies out of most of the north. Ramsay replied that they didn’t need all of the northerners to be allies, as house Karstark, house Umber, and another house (sorry, it’s escaping me right now) held larger armies than the other houses combined. Before Osha and Rickon left him, Bran told them that house Umber would always be loyal to house Stark, and that’s why they should head there. It could all end up being nothing, but maybe, just maybe, Ramsay will end up being taken out by the Umbers at some point, under the leadership of young Rickon. It’s a long shot, but something worth thinking about.

But, enough about the Boltons, those assholes. Let’s quickly get through the other happenings in this episode. Poor Cersei didn’t get to go to her daughter’s funeral. She’s really having a rough go of it, isn’t she? I was talking about this with my wife, and I’m really curious to see what happens with Cersei. Is there a hidden storm brewing under that pixie haircut, or is it possible that she really has changed her ways? She’s been very non-confrontational so far this season. Maybe that walk of shame really did change her. I kind of doubt it, but it would be really interesting to see her become a more sympathetic character. Remember how much you hated Theon a few seasons ago? And now tell me you weren’t a little sad when he decided not to stick with Sansa. This show is amazing at turning hated characters into heroes, and it might be happening with Cersei.

Arya is still blind, but at least now she’s getting some love from Jaqen. She’s such a huge badass, and it seems like she really is turning her back on Arya Stark and becoming “no one.” She’s gonna murder some faces, I promise you that. We also got to see Bran this episode! I was disappointed that he didn’t show up in the premiere, but I was satisfied with his screen time to start this episode. Magic in the Game of Thrones universe is something that is always referenced, but rarely seen. That’s what makes Bran’s story so exciting. Yer a wizard, Bran.

Quickly (or not so quickly), I have another potential spoiler / theory based on stuff from this episode. If you remember back to the first season six trailer, there was a quick scene of a man in armor stabbing another man. Neither character was one we’ve seen, but the guy doing the stabbing was wearing armor with the Targaryen crest on it. This was big news because Dany is the only living Targaryen, and we’ve never seen anyone wear Targaryen armor. So, this could either have been a scene from later in the season, maybe when Dany gets an army or something. OR, what is the more popular theory, and the one I get behind, is that this scene was a flashback. I think this is a flashback to a well-known story in the Game of Thrones universe. It’s from the day that Lyanna Stark died. Stick with me on this, shit gets complicated.

So, Rhaegar Targaryen was the prince of Westeros, and next in line to be king after his father, King Aerys, known on the show as the Mad King. Rhaegar was also the eldest brother of Dany, and her late brother Viserys. The whole Targaryen dynasty went to shit when Robert Baratheon started a rebellion and Jaime Lannister stabbed the Mad King in the back. The entire Targaryen line was wiped out, except for Dany, Viserys, and Aemon (who had become a maester and joined the Night’s Watch). This scene that I’m taking about is what started the war and put everything into motion.

You see, Robert Baratheon was promised in marriage to Lyanna Stark, Ned’s sister. Rhaegar Targaryen was married to Elia Martell, of Dorne (Prince Oberyn and Prince Doran’s sister). Are you starting to see where all of these important family pieces come together? Anyway, rumor was that Rhaegar didn’t love Elia Martell, and instead had eyes for someone else: Lyanna Stark. As the history books tell it, Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna, brought her to Dorne, and raped her. After this happened, Lyanna’s brother Brandon and father Rickard were both murdered by King Aerys after they demanded Lyanna be freed and Rhaegar be punished. Ned Stark then rode south to rescue Lyanna with the help of Howland Reed (father to Meera and Jojen Reed) and some other knights. When they arrived, Lyanna had already been killed. Robert then killed Rhaegar in single combat, before taking the throne for himself.

If that all sounds confusing, remember that this is only how the history books remember it. The truth may be something else entirely. My theory (which is shared by some) is that Ned didn’t find his sister raped and murdered by Rhaegar. Instead, she had gone with Rhaegar willingly and ended up having his bastard son. This son was given to Ned to protect when Lyanna died, and Ned took him in as his own. He came up with a story of his infidelity to cover the truth, and named his pretend bastard son Jon Snow. MIC DROP. Jon Snow is actually half Targaryen, half Stark, and as such, has a valid claim to the Iron Throne. Boom.

Soooo, long story made long, that scene we saw in the season six trailer is that scene, where Ned rides south to rescue Lyanna and learns the real truth. And I think we’ll get that scene through Bran’s visions of the past, which were introduced in this episode. You know who else we saw in a flashback this episode? A young Lyanna Stark. If you don’t have goosebumps about how brilliant I am, you’re even more dead than Jon Snow was last week.

And yeah, Jon Snow got brought back to life because of course he did. I don’t think anyone out there thought he was really dead, or at least that he’d remain that way for long. I am super curious to see how he responds to his recent un-deadness. Is he glad to be back? Is he changed in any way? What’s he gonna do about Sir Allister and those other brothers that betrayed him? Will he take back over as Lord Commander, or will he decide to leave the Night’s Watch behind? The vows may be for life, but he’s technically on his second one, now. Find out next time on Game of Thrones.

9.1/10

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Shea Reviews – Game of Thrones S05E02 – The House of Black and White

Shea Castle — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 00:29:00 +0000

NOTE: This review contains spoilers for the episode and light references to the books.

The pacing in this episode felt awkward all around. The show is struggling with all of the new situations for characters, and lacks some focus without the centralized villains Joffrey, Tywin, and Mance Rayder.

We did get to spend some time with Arya (hooray!), but that also felt “off.” We got some great establishing shots of Braavos, but her actual action was very minimal. She sat around reciting her now shortened “death wish” list, and then was finally accepted into the House of Black and White just before having the opportunity to mess with some hooligans. So frustrating! But it’s good to have Jaqen H’ghar back, and I’m curious to see how Arya’s plotline will differ from the books going forward.

Jon’s ascension to Lord Commander felt completely rushed as well. In the books, there were several chapters of Sam strategizing and convincing different Night’s Watch leaders to support Jon. In this episode, it pared down to a five minute scene that was over before you could even be nervous about the outcome. I’m sure the dynamic between Jon and Thorne/Slynt will be interesting going forwards though, especially with Stannis obviously supporting Jon. I liked the idea of Jon choosing between the Night’s Watch and being Jon Stark, Lord of Winterfell, but again, the writers seemed so intent on pushing the story forward that Jon seemed to have made up his mind before the question was even asked.

We also got our first glimpse of Dorne this episode (or at least the Water Gardens), in another awkwardly paced scene. It mostly focused on Ellaria Sand (Oberyn’s paramour from last season) trying to convince Doran (Oberyn’s older brother and current ruler of Dorne) to go to war against the Lannisters over Oberyn’s death, or at least to send Cersei’s daughter Myrcella back to King’s Landing piece by piece. I’m sure all of this will have big implications later on, but for this episode, it was just a lackluster introduction to a very cool place.

The coolest things to come from the episode were also large deviations from the books. Jaime is now headed to Dorne to rescue Myrcella, and he’s bringing along his old sparring buddy, Bronn. My feelings towards Bronn are complicated after seeing him completely abandon Tyrion last season, but he’s a fun character so I’m glad he’s sticking around, at least for now.

The most frustrating thing about the relative lack of Arya, Dorne, and Jon was that Dany’s story is still going nowhere interesting. She continues to listen to the wrong people at the wrong time, this time leading to one of her advisers being executed for something that she should have done in the first place. She’s really missing Ser Jorah’s pragmatic council right about now. I did like the scene with Drogon, especially after Viserion and Rhaegal completely rejected her last episode.

Another scene that felt pointless was Shireen Baratheon teaching Gilly to read. Maybe they’re setting up Shireen or Selyse for something in the future (they’re both absent at this point of the books), but for now it just took away from more important story lines.

Some other highlights of the episode were Tyrion and Varys being bros in a box, and Brienne’s meet-up with Sansa and Littlefinger. Brienne is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters on the show; she’s just such a complete and total badass. And now, not only has she failed to protect Renly Baratheon and Catelyn Stark, but Arya and Sansa have rejected her service. Not a great track record.

This season is off to a weird start. Some plot lines like Jon’s and Arya’s are feeling rushed, while others like Dany’s feel stagnant. And we’re starting to see the effects of the show over-inundating us with death. Mance and Mossador’s executions just didn’t carry much weight because we had spent such a short amount of time with them. And here’s hoping for more ninja Arya and the Sand Snakes of Dorne next episode.

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