The biggest advantage that the writers of Humans have in going into their second series is the sheer ambiguity of language and meaning. As the show expands its scope (among other things, by offering glimpses of the global impact of the Synths), it also seeks to expand its line of philosophical questioning. There’s an awful lot to pack in and it helps that so much of it can be done through the subtle layering of meaning and intent....
There’s a real sense of convergence in Humans series three. This show’s always been good at keeping everyone busy, but not necessarily at keeping everyone busy in the same direction. George and Odi, Toby and Reenie, Laura and the secret of her brother’s death (remember that?)… the previous series were scattered with discrete plots that ran alongside the main intrigue. Series three’s various offshoots spur from one central stem: can Synths ever gain acceptance from Humans?...
1.1 Mort Hunter’s not the kind of operative to let an assassination attempt stop her though. After a year’s recoup in a remote Scottish cottage (mostly spent running up hills in different hats and eating tinned pork) she’s back on the job, and looking for answers. From the stylised Bond-style silhouetted opening credits to the preview of next week’s action, Sam Hunter is positioned as TV’s answer to Jason Bourne, a multi-lingual, neck-snapping, globe-trotting spook who’s been royally done over by her own people....
2.1 La Couchette Following Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith’s first run of disturbing tales, absorbing plots and carefully sprung surprises, series two opened with a belter, La Couchette. Starting with a deceptively simple set up, the episode quickly established where we’d be for the next half-hour, with an exterior shot of a train at night andd a brief walk through its interior to the door of Couchette number 9. Inside, curtains were swiftly shut on the outside world, trapping us within a cramped compartment of six stacked bunk beds along with an uptight-looking fellow in pyjamas (Shearsmith), settling down to sleep....
This Iron Fist review contains spoilers. Frankly, if you didn’t enjoy the scenes of Danny, Colleen, Davos, and Joy trying to hold a civil dinner party, I don’t know what to say to you. This is what genre TV does best: use its own mythology to turn a relatable situation – like an awkward dinner party – into a metaphorical life-or-death affair. And even on its own terms I enjoyed seeing Danny and Davos interact....
When Frank is called on to rescue the company he founded, the animal side of Frank we’ve become so used to, goes away, but only temporarily. In the business world, Frank is referred to as “The Warthog” for his no nonsense, Drill Sargent approach to running an office. He’s ruthless, cunning and unethical and he’s revered for it. Frank takes Charlie as his right-hand man and makes exuberant charges on the company credit card, including remodeling his office with the theme of the “1980’s glory days....
iZombie Season 2, Episode 11 The zombie conspiracy is getting more treacherous for those involved on iZombie.For the first time in show’s history, Blaine was backed into a corner. Luckily (for him — not so much for the larger Seattle population), he has the not-unformidable assistant district attorney Peyton on his side. Guys, this is why Team Liv needs to have check-ins. Since the beginning of narrative, writers have been using miscommunication as a way to complicate plot and create drama....
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit takes Ryan’s back history from the books and alters it to speed up his journey to the CIA, updating him into an economics student studying in London who immediately heads home to enlist after the September 11th attacks. Once in Afghanistan, he is badly injured in a helicopter crash and sent Stateside again, where his heroic actions and some unfinished school homework (or something like that) catch the eye of the film’s obligatory Wise Mentor (Kevin Costner)....
Since they struck box office gold with The Matrix in 1999, the Wachowskis have turned out a string of bold films with varying success, from the bewilderingly hectic (Speed Racer) to the bravely intricate (their 2012 adaptation of Cloud Atlas, with co-director Tom Tykwer). Jupiter Ascending emerges as a manic compendium of most of their films to date: it has the dark conspiracies of The Matrix trilogy, the high-octane action sequences of Speed Racer, which whiz past your eyes in a blur of pixels, and the labyrinthine plotting of Cloud Atlas....
1.4 Friends Let Us Down The first three episodes of Kiss Me First were admirably restrained in their storytelling, letting characters discover things about themselves, each other and the overarching mystery at a pace slower than has become the norm on television. A lot of subtle work has been done by the writing and the actors, but I’m sad to say that episode four was the trade-off. We’re nearing the end of this first series, and Leila must become an active player if we are to arrive at a satisfying conclusion....
Legends of Tomorrow Season 2, Episode 3 Legends of Tomorrowis quickly becoming one of the most consistently fun shows on TV. It is really learning how to play to its strengths in season two, with “Shogun” starting off like an episode of Fireflyand quickly morphing into an episode of your favorite 90s family adventure show (think Xena: Warrior Princess). “Shogun” introduced some major plot points, doled out a serious consequence for the Waverider gang, and was filled with laugh-out-loud moments throughout....
Legends of Tomorrow Season 2 Episode 9 And that’s how we got Jar Jar. The way they get around that is through chemistry. Or at least that’s how they got around it in the first season. The actors played off of each other well, and the writers kept finding ways to mix up screen teams so they all could work off of someone different in different episodes. That chemistry has been kind of lacking this season, and I didn’t realize it until this episode, when right from the start of the episode everyone is so easy and natural and comfortable interacting that I couldn’t help but be happy that Legends is back....
Set in the perpetually snowy mountain town of Los Alamos, New Mexico, in the early 1980’s, Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a candy-loving boy on the cusp of adolescence. He lives with his mother in a tiny, crappy apartment, his parents are in the process of divorcing, and he’s constantly picked on at school. His only friends are sugar and videogames, in that order, until a new girl moves into the apartment complex....
‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ goes the adage. ‘Agreed’ says the first episode of Line Of Duty’s second series, ‘though it never hurts to give them a bit more of the good stuff’. Jed Mercurio’s 2012 crime drama, which probed the systems of modern policing while unspooling a sensational (and sensationally acted, thanks to Lennie James) cop thriller, was far from broke. Perhaps the best recommendation to give its second series then, is that it’s just like the first, only with more of the good stuff....
Line Of Duty series three is proving as tricky to pin down as AC-12’s interviewees. Three episodes in and do we even know who the lead character is? Danny Waldron first looked set to take the role before that rug was pulled away from under us. Then it seemed as though Rod, Jane and Freddie (I think those are their names?) were our focus. Not so. Craig Parkinson’s furrowed brow was the star of this week’s instalment....
What it is is a homecoming—but not for who you might expect. Nadine grew up on the South Island and under the gaze of Roy (Robert Wisdom), the island’s aging patriarch. For the sake of this movie, he might as well be Nadine’s parental figure; while her father is mentioned briefly, Roy is the one to gift her his own spear so she can go fishing underwater, to check in with how she’s coping with an unspeakable loss....
Lost in Space Episode 2 The premiere of Lost in Space lived up to Netflix’s “10-hour movie” mantra with picture perfect pacing throughout the adventure, stunning CG, and a major cliffhanger to lead us into episode two. Completing a 10-hour movie on a TV budget is a really freaking hard mission, though. With few exceptions, the shows that Netflix attempts to do on this scale (looking at you, Marvel) tend to exhaust their goodwill towards the middle of the season....
It didn’t take a genius to know that this week’s episode of Lost wasn’t going to remotely live up to last week’s. It almost goes without saying. However, as someone who hasn’t ever found a Sun/Jin episode particularly entertaining, the question wasn’t so much whether it would be any good, but rather, could it manage to make me interested in Sun and Jin. In fact, as far as the episode goes, it felt more like it was treading water than any other episode this season....
With Luther returning to our screens so confidently last week, it could have been easy for the second episode to fail to build on the successes of the first. It’s great then, to see that the promise of the series opener was really developed in this week’s episode. The story behind the fetish killings turns out to be eerily fascinating. Ned Dennehy proves genuinely unsettling as William Carney, an elderly murderer living out his days in a care home....
7.3 Field Trip Indeed, it’s increasingly clear that being cut loose from SC&P affected Don more than even he realised. His job was, quite literally, his identity. Without it, he’s adrift. Invited mid-meeting to cheat on Megan, Don barely countenances the idea. Instead, with an offer from SC&P’s rivals in his hand, he realises what it is he really wants, and goes to see his “other” mistress to see if she’ll take him back....
