CyricTheCynic Reviews

Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023)

Good background noise

[5/10 · 12 February 2024]

I knew what I was getting into here. Zac Synder is someone who I consider to be a pretty good director but a terrible writer, and this movie pretty much puts on full display his style when he has full creative control, which is: visuals first, story last. And visually, there are a lot of nice scenes and action (although Snyder reallllly needs to lay off the slow mo, he overuses it wayy too much).

The story is so simplistic that it feels like a video game from 20 years ago, so if you are a non-native English speaker and need an easy movie to practice, here you go. There was one laugh-out-loud scene for me I must admit (unintentionally so) regarding how a ship is taken down, but otherwise it's all pretty much generic sci-fi fantasy. If you took Firefly and Star Wars and put them in a blender, then dumbed down the story so that a 5 year old could understand it, you'd get this movie. If you've gotta do laundry or cleaning around the house then sure, put it on in the background. But if you are looking for a well-made sci-fi movie to actually get invested in, look elsewhere.

Pluto (2023)

The Gold Standard of Overrated

[5/10 · 13 November 2023]

In reviews I've seen, people keep hailing this as a storytelling masterpiece and an amazing Sci-Fi/Cyberpunk story. To that I'm like, really???? This show is NOWHERE NEAR as good as shows like cyberpunk edgerunners or Arcane or even Ghost in the shell. It is soooo slow paced and jumps from character to character quite often. The first episode we spend like 30 minutes with some old composer and his robot helper, who ends up being one of the "7 most advanced robots". I nearly fell asleep during the first episode because it was so drawn out and boring. But then, we get like literally ZERO backstory for this guy we just spent the majority of the first episode with, like, what? The robot killed in the very first few minutes of the show gets a fair bit of backstory in various flashbacks, but the guy who you spent the most time with in the first episode? Yeah, screw him. Also, why are there seven most advanced robots? Why is that something the detective immediately deduces? Like that's a really arbitrary number, is there some list widely published in like TIME magazine or something. Also, why do some robots look EXACTLY like people and other seem designed for battle? There is such a discrepancy between the level of technology presented. Like why the heck would you even make robots in the shape of a little boy/girl?? It would just limit their effectiveness by decreasing their mass. I understand that this is loosely based on Astro Boy, but that was a campy, silly show that knew what it was. Trying to take that concept and develop it into a serious drama is just bizarre.

I mean yeah, the show sort of explores themes of what it means to exist and whatnot, but it does so on a very surface level. Still, I suppose that's why so many people give this show high praise. So long as it makes an attempt at being deep, I guess that's enough for it to get rave reviews. But for my money, this show is an absolute mess. It is glacially paced, has too much and not enough backstory at the same time (too much for the characters from the war, not enough for the STATE OF THE ENTIRE WORLD), and portrays robots with very, VERY different levels of technology coexisting. There isn't nearly enough action for fans of shows like Edgerunners or Ghost in the Shell or Akira, or Altered Carbon, etc etc, but it also isn't nearly as smart as it thinks it is so I really don't understand the appeal to people who are looking for a more philosophical, cerebral show about AI.

Just because a show is slow paced and toys with high-concept ideas doesn't mean it is a good show, and this show is proof of that. The only reason I wouldn't rate this lower is because it has some good visuals, though that's if you can get through all the dialogue to get there. As someone who has seen a LOT of anime, particularly the dystopian kind, this show is not one I would recommend, and given the reviews I would say this is probably one of the most over-hyped shows I have ever seen. Downvote me all you like, but 10 years from, now, I'd wager people are still going to be talking about shows like Edgerunners and Arcane while this show fades into obscurity, as it should.

Tokyo Vice (2022– )

Absolutely Baffling Premise

[6/10 · 8 November 2023]

If you don't know a lot about Japan beyond anime/manga/video games, you'll probably enjoy this show. It has a lot of good ol yakuza action and tension. But as someone who does know a lot about Japan, my enjoyment was a bit lessened. First off, the entire premise of Ansel Elgort's character wanting to work for a Japanese newspaper company because he wants to bring more knowledge to the world or expose things is dumb beyond belief. Japan has consistently been rated the LOWEST among developed countries for press freedom due to societal pressure to confirm and not "stir the pot". Also, traditional Japanese companies are notorious for their power-harassment from superiors and insane working hours. Not to mention in the 90's he would have been making WAY more working as an English teacher and been working far fewer hours (though that is unfortunately no longer the case).

So am I to believe that this kid, who has EXTENSIVELY studied Japanese language and presumably culture as well, didn't know this? The fact he was surprised his attempts to report on his own were shot down SHOULDN'T BE A SURPRISE to anyone who knows that much about Japanese culture. Imagine if someone spent 3 years studying Arabic and Islamic culture to go work in Saudi Arabia and then got upset when they couldn't buy alcohol at the supermarket, because that analogy pretty much sums up this whole flawed premise. The whole premise seems like just an excuse to have a fish-out-of-water dynamic in the Japanese underworld. Which, can be fun, but it's such an unbelievable setup. It would have made far more sense to have him working in some newly-formed English-language section of a Japanese newspaper while he slowly learns more about Japanese culture so then his frustrations would be more understandable. Just a shame, the show is otherwise pretty good but they could have done an infinitely better job setting it up.

The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)

Enjoyable but devoid of any real horror

[6/10 · 24 October 2023]

The latest from the people who helmed shows like haunting of hill house/bly manor, midnight mass, and midnight club, and, in my opinion, by far the least scary of all of them. That's not to say it's a bad show, it is probably the most gruesome of all the previously mentioned shows and still an entertaining watch. But I wouldn't even really classify this show as horror. It doesn't even manage to evoke a subtly unsettling atmosphere, despite all the references to Edgar Allen Poe. It's about a bunch of rich jerks getting their comeuppance (with one exception). It's more Schadenfreude than Horror. Not only that, but the main "antagonist" isn't even scary in the slightest because everything she does and says makes her more relatable than scary and there is no real mystery and to her reasons. You know what's going to happen pretty much from episode one so there's no real mystery.

I just find it odd that a show based on the works of a master of atmospheric horror is by far one of the least scary or unsettling "horror" shows I've ever seen. The way it is framed as an interview also works to remove a lot of the potential tension because we already know what happened/is going to happen.

Bottom line is, if you want to watch a show about a bunch of on-the-nose rich jerks getting punished, you'll probably enjoy this show. If you want something that is actually horror, watch literally any of the other shows that came before this one. Heck, even Midnight Club was scarier than this.

Mask Girl (2023– )

Strong start that fizzles out

[7/10 · 1 October 2023]

The first 3 episodes of this series are pretty damn good, the cinematography is fun and interesting, the story moves at a brisk pace and is engaging and darkly comedic. It was honestly a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of Korean dramas. Unfortunately, the later half of the show is not so engaging and ends up falling into many of the same cliche and tropey traps that other kdramas find themselves in. Seriously, the show does the "main character knocks out the bad guy but then leaves them alone without checking if they are out" THREE TIMES. Even with that, it's still a step above most Kdramas. I would rate the first 3 episodes 8.5 out of ten and the last 4 episodes a 6 out of ten. Still worth your time, just wish it finished as strong as it started.

Burning Body (2023)

Confusing Crime

[5/10 · 14 September 2023]

This show is framed as a sort of who-done-it regarding the murder, but the culprit is more or less revealed by the second episode. You may wonder, how can an 8 episode series be compelling when you already know who the killer is early into it? Well, it can't. By the last few episodes when they finally show flashbacks of the actual crime, it's like "uh yeah, we already know who did it". There are no twists, nor anything to even remotely justify why the killer did what they did. I know this was based on a true story/crime, but if so, it must have been an incredibly stupid crime because the killer literally has no justification and/or motivation whatsoever. I don't know if that is consistent with the actual crime, but it makes for very confusing TV. It's a shame, Tokyo (Ursala) is a good actress and the other actors do a decent job but the whole premise and story are just so non-sensical the only emotion it left me with was "huh?".

I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (2019– )

Get your dose of secondhand cringe and/or awkwardness

[5/10 · 24 August 2023]

I went into this show expecting a sketch-show, similar to Kids in the Hall or MadTV except with a more Tim and Eric esque edge to it. And, I suppose it more or less delivered on that. The problem is, it's not funny. It's awkward, and weird, and over-the-top, but I don't think I laughed once throughout the entire first/second seasons. And I'm supposed to be the target demographic (supposedly) of this show. Maybe it isn't intended to be funny, which, fair point. But the other problem I have with this show is that Tim Robinson always plays the SAME EXACT CHARACTER in every sketch he is in, that of a petty, socially inept man-child, and it just gets old. I have a feeling a show like this only got popular because of the current landscape of memes and anti-humor that exist. If you loved Tim and Eric I would say give it a go, but even then no guarantees you will like it.

Heart of Stone (I) (2023)

Hacking is Magic!

[3/10 · 22 August 2023]

This movie, overall, is a fairly standard action movie where Gal Gadot's character has to retrieve the macguffin that is a quantum supercomputer. All in all, it is a decent mindless action movie that can keep you entertained for a few hours.

However, the movie's depiction of how hacking works is almost criminally stupid. At one point, the main bad guy hacks an elevator and makes it drop. I'm sorry, what? First off, most elevators are not "smart" and connected to networks to allow remote access. Secondly, even if they were, why the heck would that function even exist in the first place. And Finally, even if an elevator did have a "drop" function, there are mechanical safeguards that would trigger automatically to slow or stop its descent. Then later in the movie, the bad guy hacks a bunker door and ventilation system. And this bunker looks like it's at least 30-40 years old, so A. Why would it's systems be electronic and B. Why would Gal Gadot's organization go ANYWHERE that could be hacked in the first place? Honestly it feels like the writers don't understand how hacking or even computers work on a fundamental level, this is the kind of brain-dead writing you would expect to see back in 80's and 90's movies when nobody understood how computers worked (even then, the 1995 movie Hackers has a more accurate depiction than this movie).

It's just so incredibly stupid and lazy. I mean, there are so, so many possibilities with hacking. You could hack a car and make it crash, hack a smart home and turn on the gas, hack a fire suppression system, heck even just hack a predator drone out of the sky. And yet they chose the dumbest and least plausible scenario of hacking an elevator. And frankly, it's morally irresponsible, because rather than portray the actual potential dangers of hacking (of which there are many), instead some kids are gonna be terrified the next time they go on an elevator because this stupid movie chose to misrepresent the actual dangers of hacking to such a ridiculous degree. Then again, I suppose our corporate overlords would not approve of depicting cars and/or smart homes being hacked when Tesla and Amazon have so much invested in such technologies. Whatever the case, it was a massive wasted opportunity to raise awareness of the dangers of hacking, but instead it become nonsensical fear mongering.

Maid (2021)

An admirable attempt at portraying the struggles of poverty in the US

[7/10 · 4 August 2023]

This show brings to light a problem which has been persisting in the US for years, where being poor makes everything more difficult and basically traps you in a cycle of poverty. It portrays the bureaucratic nightmare of applying to aid programs, many of which are nearly impossible to get. Her being a maid honestly doesn't really factor into the show that much, it is moreso about her relationships with her abusive boyfriend and estranged relatives.

My gripe with the show, however, is that the ways money and jobs are portrayed don't really make much sense. At first I thought maybe the writer was from another country, but apparently she was born in the US, so I have to assume she has just never really experienced any hardships herself and perhaps has lived a relatively privileged life. The show lists prices in the top right sometimes and they are wildly inconsistent. In the gas station, she's buying snacks and cleaning supplies for less than a buck each, which, yeah no. Then a parking ticket costs 200+ dollars? And a ferry ticket costs 20 dollars just to go across a lake? I'm sorry what? Also, Sean works as a bartender in what appears to be a super fancy restaurant yet they have no money, whereas in real life he'd be making bank from tips. And sure, he drinks alot but he clearly is just buying cheap can beer so it's not like that would drain his money too much. Then Alex says she only has 9 bucks extra a week working 25-29 hours at 12 bucks an hour, which again, makes no sense. 25 hours a week that's roughly 225 bucks after taxes, she's using food stamps for groceries and has subsidized housing AND daycare, how does she only have 9 bucks extra a week? And the most unrealistic part of it all is when her mother goes to the hospital and they don't even stress about the medical costs. Because for a poor person with no health insurance going to the hospital with a serious injury is TERRIFYING and could put that person in debt for years if not decades.

It's just odd that with all the research about US aid programs they couldn't have researched typical prices, incomes, and expenditures of people living in or near poverty. It was still an entertaining show, but maybe next time the writer wants to tackle the issue of poverty in the US, maybe get some input from actual people living on minimum wage first.

The Witcher (2019– )

Season 4 not looking promising...

[7/10 · 29 July 2023]

As someone's who been a fan of the witcher universe since long before the Wild Hunt popularized it, I have to say this show really seems to be in a slow decline. The first season was a confusing mess of time skips that people unfamiliar with the material had trouble understanding, but the characterization was overall fairly good. The second season was probably the best so far, dealing with Ciri's training and introducing the other witchers at Kaer Morhen. But the third season, well, lots of cracks are starting to show. For one thing, the characterization and relationship of Radovid has been completely changed from the book (so now he's not only gay BUT the king's brother rather than son?). The loss of Henry Cavil is obviously also going to be a huge blow to next season. Also, the actress who plays Milva (Meng'er Zhang) is TERRIBLE. She acts like she's in a completely different TV show, like she thinks she's in a teen drama or something and it's so jarring. And the fact that she is being set up to be one of the main characters next season does not bode well.

Another potential issue that many have voiced concerns with and I also am curious about is regarding the diversity casting. Making Radovid gay or Mistle black doesn't really have any consequences now, but it makes you wonder how closely the show is going to follow the book since both of those characters have rather dark aspects to them that come up later. I mean if the show actually follows the source material regardless I would commend it, so it remains to be seen.

I could be wrong, but I have a feeling this series will not be able to see the full story to completion. Honestly, they really should have tried to just do small narratives each season rather than trying to tackle the entirety of Ciri's storyline, because all the small changes they keep making are just going to end up compounding more and more as the series progresses. Time will tell how this series will be remembered.

Stay Close (2021)

Brilliant Satire or just Dumb?

[6/10 · 19 July 2023]

Not really sure what to make of this show; if you told me this was like a very low-key parody of a serious drama, I would believe you. I would also believe that this was a sincere attempt at making a serious drama with really dumb and weird choices. But to some degree, I have to believe that the showrunners have at least some self-awareness. I mean, when the main antagonists are a creepy christian couple with a chastity vow who sing showtunes and are considered the best "assassins" money can buy despite being terrible at it, I don't think that decision could have been made with a straight face. Also, the whole premise of the main woman running away from her old life by STAYING IN THE SAME EXACT TOWN is just so incredibly dumb that it comes off as intentional. Whatever the case, intentionally dumb or not, the show was at least fairly entertaining in a perplexing sort of way.

The Glory (2022– )

Just another Korean Drama

[5/10 · 24 May 2023]

I really don't know what I keep missing here with Kdramas. I've seen 3 in total that I enjoyed, and this is not one of them. The whole premise is cathartic, a bullied girl getting revenge on her attackers. But the same issues I've encountered with other Kdramas hold here: firstly, WAYY too drawn out. 16 1 hour episodes is wayyy too excessive for something that could have been told as a two-hour movie. The main antagonist girl is a ridiculous overactor (she'd be at home in Jdramas) and the main character tells sooooo many people about her revenge plot it just becomes absurd. I mean it's not the worst Kdrama I have seen but it is still meh, I wouldn't recommend it.

The Society (2019)

An absolute slog to get through

[4/10 · 13 February 2023]

I've seen reviews that say the show picks up after episodes 3/4 or whatnot, but when you have a show that was specifically made for Netflix, there is absolutely NO REASON to make it this long and dragged out. Seriously, why does each episode need to be an hour long and contain a bunch of pointless scenes? The show had an interesting premise but after that it's just slow as heck. For one thing, the show focuses on way too many characters so it's always jumping around and honestly it's hard to remember all of their names and relationships (I legit couldn't tell if Harry and Kelly were brother and sister or boyfriend girlfriend at first). Also, while I like the actress of the older sister (she was in legion as well), the actress who plays the younger sister is constantly overacting while the guy who plays Will looks bored in almost every scene, and it's a shame the show focuses more on them when the other actors do a better job.

Maybe the show gets better after episode 4, but if a show needs to waste 4 hours of my life before it even gets mildly interesting then I'm more than happy to write it off and find something better.

Lisey's Story (2021)

King trying (and failing) at adapting his own work

[4/10 · 31 January 2023]

There have been a lottt of adaptation of Stephen King novels and stories, some great (Shining, Dead Zone, Misery) some terrible (Cell, Langoliers), but the good ones have always had the same thing in common, you had someone who was familiar with the medium of film/tv and was able to adapt and change the story into something more suitable for the big screen. Stephen King is a talented novelist, no doubt, but he clearly does not know how to write for visual media, and this show demonstrates that.

To start, this show is dripping with pretension, there are constant hanging shots and flashbacks and dreams and fantasy scenes. This in and of itself wouldn't be such a problem if the characters were engaging, but despite the stellar cast, the characters all feel so wooden, like they were generated by some AI. The dialogue is also terrible and does no favors at building chemistry between any of them (especially the sisters, like how Lisey is yelling at the phone for a full minute after her sister clearly hung up, lol what?)

The overall effects and cinematography are alright, but taken as a whole this show just feels like a frustrating, meandering mess that is full of itself. King needs to stick to writing novels and leave TV/Movies to those who understand the differences between the two.

Jung_E (2023)

Feels like starting a series from the middle

[5/10 · 30 January 2023]

In some cases, I feel like meandering shows could have been better served as movies. In this case, however, this really, really should have been a show because they try to cram WAY too much into an hour-and-a-half movie. The movie deals with themes of humanity vs AI, hero worship, privacy and corporitization, and also there's apparently been some civil war raging on for the better part of 40 years that we know pretty much NOTHING about. The premise is also really dumb; sea levels have risen because of climate change so people decided to move to space. Lol what? Because I'm sure building MASSIVE SPACE STATIONS is much easier than just building floating cities and boats. Also also, at the end of the movie we see a massive, untouched expanse of land right next to the monorail, so why the heck didn't they just move their city there?

It's a shame because clearly a lot of thought was put into this sci-fi world and it would have been interesting to see it developed a bit more fully (and logically) in a series similar to the expanse, but as it stands the movie just leaves you feeling like you missed the first one.

Wednesday (2022– )

Not the YA trash I was expecting

[8/10 · 25 January 2023]

I went into this with pretty low expectations, with Tim Burton's name prominently featured and the premise ripe for YA nonsense. But you have to give create where credit is due, Jenny Ortega pretty much single-handedly elevated what would have otherwise been another fate-winx saga and/or cursed or other esc. Show into something better. I mean the writing isn't really much better than those sort of shows but the acting is what makes it enjoyable, esp the main character. Worth a watch if you are into mild horror/goth stuff. Hope netflix makes a note of this when casting and/or making future shows.

The Mosquito Coast (2021–2023)

A Family of Idiots

[5/10 · 1 December 2022]

The premise of this show is one that you've seen before, father with a mysterious past is in hiding with his family from the government. It's a similar premise to the movie Hannah, the difference being that in this case the father is horribly prepared and seems to have done a poor job preparing his kids for the day they are found.

Let's talk about Justin Theroux's character first, the father. To start with, it almost seems like he thought he was signing on for a comedy series, he tries to be all carefree and smarmy and it clashes with the serious tone of the show. Also, his character in the show screws everyone over almost immediately by leaving a note at the place he robs in the first episode, leading to them being followed and people being killed.

Now let's talk about the kids. The daughter is constantly running off by herself in dangerous places, calling people she shouldn't, and generally doing things that tip off the authorities. The son, likewise, is also often running off in unknown areas, decides to get drunk and high for the first time while being pursued by the cartel, and apparently would rather go back and get shot than swim for 2 meters. Neither of them apparently know to check for being followed, and their father is pretty bad at that himself. Also, only the daughter and father can speak a little Spanish, you would think with their escape plan being where it is that in all those 10 years they would have thought to become fluent in Spanish.

Honestly it kind of is almost a deconstruction of the trope of the over-prepared family in hiding, except what-if they are all incompetent and the father is a pacifist. I mean it could be a fun parody if it wasn't played so sincerely and seriously. Oh well, missed opportunity. As it stands, it's just a generic story you've seen time and time again just with frustrating characters.

1899 (2022)

Great setpieces but disappointing mystery

[6/10 · 25 November 2022]

I like weird, what the heck is going on type shows for the most part. And this show certainly got my attention when I first saw the trailer. I was a bit disappointing, then, that I was able to correctly guess the "twist" an episode and half in, I was really hoping there was something more/different to it or that I was wrong. Once you figure out what the twist is, it raises a lot of questions about how exactly things function. So watching the last episode was kinda like "yeah, it's exactly what I thought it was, eh..."

Another thing that bugs me about the show is the fact that everyone in the show is speaking a different language. Some Dutch person is giving a sob-story to French woman and neither knows what the other is saying and it just comes across as realllly awkward. Like, I really don't understand what the point of putting so many different language in the show was. I get trying to show diversity, but I feel like it just undermines so many of the emotional moments when you realize nobody else can understand what is being said. They could have done something clever with it, where they each have a piece of a puzzle and have to try and solve it together despite the language barrier. But they didn't, so it just ends up making dramatic scenes unintentionally comedic.

All in all the show had a great atmosphere and set design but the awkward cross-linguistic exchanges and uninspired twist mean it doesn't pull you in as much as it could have.

The Midnight Club (2022)

Not the kind of horror I was expecting

[6/10 · 10 November 2022]

As others have pointed out, this is definitely not Mike Flanagan's finest work. Heck, I would hesitate to even call this a horror show. It has some horror elements but the real "horror" comes from the existential dread of terminally ill teenagers coping with their own mortality. It's less scary than just depressing. The gimmick of the kids telling scary stories is kind of interesting, and you have the creepy backstory of the house and cult as well, but nothing really blends together very well. The show also seems to be setting up a second season, which means there's almost no closure in the final episode which is very frustrating especially when every other show by Flanagan has been a nice, self-contained one-and-done show you could just watch and enjoy and move on from. There are so many things left unexplained or things that just never pay off. I mean, I'm sure he has enough clout by now as a director to ensure a second season actually gets made, I just don't know why they just didn't make it a one-season show.

Manifest (2018–2023)

From pretty good to uhg

[5/10 · 9 November 2022]

Manifest starts out as an above-average drama, with overall enjoyable and interesting characters and a central mystery that the show slowly works toward unraveling (Keyword slowwwly). It sometimes feel like it drags a bit but I still enjoyed seasons 1-2 for the most part. Then season 3 came, and I started to get a bit bored with it. And by the time I watched season 4, I was just like "Yeah, I'm out". The sheer amount of stupidity the characters display in season 4 is just ridiculous. With all the time between season 3 and 4, you would have thought the writers would have had time to flesh out a well-crafted, character-driven story. But not, things just happen "BECAUSE DRAMA!".

Ben has completely lost his mind by season 4 (he was already acting a bit erratic before then). The show establishes that he has spent the past 2 years nonstop searching for his daughter, and when he finally finds her he goes to get her BY HIMSELF and purposely sends his friends who volunteered to help him to the wrong address, WHAT THE HECK? Do you expect me to believe that a man that desperately searching for his daughter would just refuse help from trusted friends to get her? A man who has been show that he is willing to do anything to get her back? I'm sorry show, what? Then one character makes a bomb for no reason, the daughter hates her dad now despite only a few days early smiling at a picture that said daddy, Cal decides to call the psychotic girl again, etc etc. It really does feel like the writers have completely lost it for season 4. Maybe part 2 will redeem it, but I'm not hopeful.

Seasons 1-2 I would rate a solid 7/8 out of ten, season 3 6/10, season 4 (so far) 4/10.

Slasher (2016–2023)

Review Whiplash

[2/10 · 19 October 2022]

I'm honestly confused by all the reviews raving about this show to the point where it feels like I must have seen a different show. The dialogue and acting in this show is soooo bad it's honestly cringeworthy at times. The dialogue is so on the nose and over the top that it comes across like a really bad attempt at parody/satire. Which, I mean could work for a movie, if you just played up how none of the characters have any personality and are just like "he's the racist one, she's the nympho, he's the party guy" etc. Again, that kind of premise could work for a movie, but dragging out a bunch of one-dimensional characters for an entire season of a show is just painful.

As someone who has seen a lottttt of slasher movies (Scream, Cherry Falls, Urban Legends to name a few), this show is an insult to the genre. Even the campy 90's slashers had better characters than this show. The gore and kills were alright, that's about the only positive thing I can say about this show.

Foundation (2021– )

Less Sci-Fi than Fantasy

[5/10 · 27 September 2022]

I'm not familiar with the original novels, so I don't know how much of the issues I have with the show stem from how it was adapted into a visual medium or based on the original story (though I suspect it was the first). My biggest issue is just how inconsistent the world-building is, and in a show focusing on science/math that is a problem. Like, the level of technology on display is just confusing; the galactic empire has nano-bot technology that can instantly heal people, warp-drive technology that can traverse galaxies in hours, the ability to genetically engineer people, but they haven't been able to conquer aging? The whole premise of the genetic dynasty is kind of absurd, where they just keep continually making clones cause they apparently can't just prolong one's lifespan (and also the story focuses wayyy too much on the emperors). Also, an imperial ship gets destroyed in a single shot even though we have clearly seen advanced shield technology both for cities and people, so why the heck didn't the ship have shields as well? It's established than people of Synnax hate science and technology (but not why, of course) but Gaal casually mentions how they overmined the volcanic vents and I'm like "wait wait wait, so these people do UNDERWATER VOLCANIC MINING and they hate technology? I'm sorry what? Do they just swim down there with pickaxes, lol?"

Also, one thing that really bothered me was the math of the "slow ships". Hari says it will take about 5 years to travel 50,000 light years, which means the "slow ship" would need to be traveling at 10,000 TIMES the speed of light, lol wut? And it's not like the ship has an older jump drive like Invictus (which clearly ripped-off Event Horizon), it just has standard propulsion engines.

I get that these are kind of nit-picking, but if you are going to make a "Sci-Fi" show based around the premise of science/math/statistics then I would expect the showrunners to put a bit more effort into the actual science/math/etc of the show itself.

There plenty more poorly thought-out scenes I could mention, like how Phara wants to recruit people from Terminus but only says that AFTER she sends troops in to start killing people, like you could have already killed the people you needed what the heck were you thinking? I just wish they had put as much time and energy into fleshing out a more consistent world and more focused story as they did the budget and CGI. If you just like watching Sci-Fi for the spectacle and aren't too bothered by inconsistencies you might like this show, but if you are the type you watches something and starts to think "wait a minute, but why would...", then I wouldn't recommend this show.

Westworld (2016–2022)

Thought season 3 was bad? You ain't seen nothing yet

[3/10 · 19 September 2022]

I've never seen a show go from such a promising start to becoming a parody of itself in such spectacular fashion as Westworld. I really don't know what happened; maybe the showrunners just got lucky with season 1, maybe the writing staff changed, whatever the case it seemed like the show had a lot of cool ideas and things it wanted to develop but instead we got... this. I'm just going to get right into spoilers for season 4 cause it would be kind of hard to talk about with it, so yeah.

The entire premise of season 4 is that Hale has developed a parasite transmitted to humans by flies that allow people to be completely mind controlled by low-frequency sounds. Which, in and of itself is dumb enough, especially in a show set in the future where they could have just had people get implanted cyber-tech and taken them over that way instead. So the show is mostly set in "The City", some unnamed location where hosts can control the humans. There are resistance fighters in the desert who rescue "outliers" who are not affected by the parasite. And herein lies the problem with this absurd premise, the show does nothing to clearly communicate the scope of what has happened. The resistance have to hide in the desert so it's implied Hale has control of humans everywhere, but we only ever see her in "The City". Are there other hosts controlling other cities around the globe? Did they build other towers and sound resonators in other countries? Who knows, the show certainly doesn't.

Also, Tessa Thompson is hamming it up like a cartoon villain most of this season and doesn't start properly acting till she gets shot in the head. Maeve is found buried in the desert and called a "weapon" and made to be someone super important but all she does it shoot a few guys and then gets shot in the back of the head. Both Bernard and Dolores say that humans and hosts are headed for an inevitable extinction but the show does NOTHING to suggest that is the case. We know they were fighting each other in "The City" but, yet again, we don't know the scope of the tower's control. There's no climate disaster or nuclear fallout so why couldn't the survivors just rebuild?

It's kind of ridiculous how dumb this show became and also how it managed to continue to get such a high budget despite the declining interest. I really hope they just let this show die, it's suffered enough from terrible writing.

Devil in Ohio (2022)

Just so bland...

[4/10 · 13 September 2022]

It seems other reviewers have cited how cliche the show is along with stupid character decisions, but honestly for me that didn't bother me as much as how boring and flat the show was. I never felt any sense of tension or fear for the characters, which in a show about a DEVIL WORSHIPING CULT is a problem. The cult just came off as campy and underwhelming, and the main leader of the cult had about as much charisma as a piece of white bread. So yeah, really bad choice of casting there. The show also throws wayyy too many characters at us for an 8 episode limited series, and obviously is not able to develop any of them nearly enough (like the poor little sister who gets maybe 10 min of total screentime, why was she even written into the show?). So yeah, if you want to watch a good netflix show about a cult, watch Midnight Mass, not this.

For All Mankind (2019– )

Know your audience

[7/10 · 7 September 2022]

This show has a cool premise, that being what if the space race never ended. It's a sort-of alternate reality and it does a good job of weaving in actual historical events with where the timeline diverged. The main problem is that I feel like the show is being pulled in two directions. In one direction, there is the tension of the space race, engineers scrambling to be the first on the moon/mars and dealing with all manner of technical issues in a realistic-ish way. That part of the show I enjoy. Then, for some reason, the show also throws in a bunch of trite interpersonal drama and stupidity. Like inter-marital affairs, people leaking NASA secrets to the soviets, and a CLEARLY unstable drug-addicted astronaut being given solo control of a super important mission. It's like the showrunners thought the show couldn't stand on it's own without dumb drama, as if there couldn't organically be issues and drama in the context of Frigging SPACE. The first season does this better, but by the 2nd/3rd seasons most of the issues come not from unforeseen difficulties of life on the moon/mars but idiots. It really makes me wonder if they just aren't sure who their audience are. The people who like the technical stuff are not going to like the artificial drama, and vise-versa. Pick a lane, show, and stick with it.