larry-mcfarlane Reviews

Foundation (2021– )

I Have Not Read the Books

[7/10 · 26 August 2023]

I give it a 7 because of the money and quality that is put it into it. I have not read the books but I feel the pain of the folks who have because I'm experiencing the same thing with The Wheel of Time. I have always felt that if you want to change the IP to a point where it doesn't match the content of the original book, just create a new series with a different name and negotiate the IP price because of the difference. I may have created some future millionaires there because of that simple formula...

Don't destroy the original. On it's own, I would give it a higher rating, but I really don't like shows that make you have to work for it to understand what's going on. After reading a little about the book series and now know that it's spans generations, I understand the dilemma. Ambitious undertaking, but if you can't make it work (and it's not working according to the feedback from discerning readers of the book) just unfold the dimensions and make it more simple. I got that from an episode of the show :). Thank you for reading.

1923 (2022–2023)

Started Out Great...

[7/10 · 14 February 2023]

It slows down starting with episode five. It really cracks me up that they had a mid-season finale for episode four and the season only has eight episodes. In fact, Paramount is silly crazy doing that with Yellowstone so much I lost interest in that show.

The first four episodes were moving right along and then BAM! They make you wait a month. They have just aired episodes 5/6 and it really seems like they're dragging it out until the actual season finale. For those who have watched it so far can probably already tell you what will happen in the season finale which is just a repeat of episode four.

They will make us wait until season 2 for what we were expecting in episode five. Sorry for being so vague, just avoiding spoilers and making sure I meet my character quota.

Some reviewers are saying there's just bad acting and it's totally boring. I disagree. It's definitely worth watching. Despite my complaints, I still give it a 7 and will even upgrade it if they defy my expectations.

Evil (2019–2024)

I Personally Love the Children

[10/10 · 1 December 2022]

Bear with me because I feel I have to counter all of the children naysayers ...

When my daughter was very young (about 5-6 years old), my wife broke her knee and had to call to me from our bedroom a lot. At times, my daughter helped her by calling me by my name along with her. Eventually, my daughter called me by my first name. We thought it was cute and adorable. Occasionally, we'd have friends who sometimes, almost indignantly, asked why we would let our daughter call me by my first name. I think the people who are annoyed by the children on this show are the same type of people who were offended by my daughter calling me by my first name.

That being said, this is a very good show. It's very unique and stands apart. I love the contrast between high moral values and simple horror. The show has been evolving since season 1 and is still evolving. It has underlying plots that stretch the entire season and is constantly moving forward. Oh I hate that mother of hers!

By evolving, I hope they make the evil more corporeal which could actually push this show another 2 seasons. Don't get rid of the children just because some people complain because that, my friends, is unbridled creativity that you have never seen in any other show.

Bonus: Great actors!

Resident Alien (2021– )

1st Season Yes 2nd Season No

[6/10 · 13 November 2022]

Well, the first season was great but the 2nd season has so many useless side dramas that are obviously used to increase the episode length of the season but does nothing to further the overall story. If you take out all of the side stories, the whole season could be compressed to 6 episodes easily. I don't usually watch comedy and am strictly hard core sci-fi, but I rather enjoyed the Santa Clarita Diet on Netflix because it was funny and kept moving forward each episode. Season 2 of Resident Alien languishes 2-3 episodes at a time. Harry and the kids are funny, but if you're going to have side stories, make them relate to the overall arc of the show to keep it going. Please.

See (2019–2022)

I Like

[9/10 · 1 September 2022]

This is a post apocalyptic world where most everyone has lost their sight due to a pandemic that almost wiped out the human race. However, because of this, they've learned to hone their other senses which allows them to survive in the world. Kind of like a world full of Matt Murdock's Daredevil without the superhero bit.

I was just about to totally give up on Disney/Disney+ until I watched this show. The premise is unique and has solid storytelling. The acting crew is diverse and talented. For those of you who are always pointing out wokeness, I would like to tell you that it has some woke, but that would be a misnomer because the definition of woke (to me) is relationships being forced upon the viewer with an agenda. The relationships in this show are believable and have substance. Not like Netflix/CW and other shows on the D network.

The fight/battle scenes are almost epic, though. It looks very expensive to make and I hope they don't cancel it because it has a lot of story potential. I'm a little worried because it's now being aired on Friday nights which historically used to be the death slot for television series. I hope the perception of that demographic has changed because of streaming.

My only complaint is that it could use a little more humor which would round it up to a 10 for me.

If you want a creative, unsanitized Game of Thrones show that is NOT Game of Thrones, I would recommend this series for you.

Jericho (2006–2008)

Outstanding

[10/10 · 31 July 2022]

The show has continuous momentum that keeps you wanting to watch the next episode. That's why I watch it every now and then. Most shows today don't know how to do that; even with a measly 6 - 8 episodes. Jericho did it with 22 episodes! Frankly, I think if you have a boring 6-8 episode show then you are hiring incompetent and/or lazy writers/directors. There's simply no excuse for that. Especially for "filler" episodes.

That being said and for those who don't know, the show was cancelled after the first season. However, the network (CBS) allowed 7 more episodes for a 2nd season because a good portion of the fans sent 40,000 pounds of nuts to CBS and other networks. You'll have to watch the season finale of season 1 to understand why. The second season was kind of rushed, though, as they wanted to ensure some closure to the series.

But! The writers and producers created a comic that illustrated and told the tale of season 3 and 4. Unfortunately, the comic doesn't last and there is still a cliffhanger at the end of season 4 so I guess you can tell they were gunning for a 5 season run.

Last I checked, you can still get the comic on Amazon.

Big Love (2006–2011)

Very Unique Series

[7/10 · 22 July 2022]

I just watched this older series. Boy, did it start out strong. Such controversial issues. Such strong characters. You won't see this nowadays where everything is sanitized. Unfortunately, in seasons 4 and 5, I felt I was spammed with micro-dramas where the characters' personalities dramatically changed to something else. I still give it a strong score, though.

For season 4 & 5, It was kind of like The Walking Dead. You know, everything bad that can happen HAPPENS when you're running from a zombie just to provide additional suspense which gets old after awhile. Same thing happens with these seasons. Except you can replace walker with drama.

I really really REALLY did not like Nikki. That means Chloë Sevigny did an outstanding job portraying her character. I hope she received an Emmy nomination back then.

God bless Bill Paxton.

Resident Evil (2022)

Not for RE Fans

[5/10 · 15 July 2022]

At first, I gave it a 1 in the first 30 minutes because of the perfect hair, perfect makeup of the protagonist. Then there's that silly Disney version of a sandworm from Dune. Ultimately, I ended up giving it a 5 because it just ended up being another very average series by Netflix with a not so believable post-apocalyptic setting. It did have some funny scenes, an interesting relationship between sisters (which kind of reminded me of Arcane), and maybe a surprise or two moments, as well. Average at best CGI. Surprise bonus: It has Colonel Broyles (Lance Reddick) from Fringe!

I think the acting staff and crew did an exceptional job with what they had to work with.

Let me clarify the term review bombing, though. Review bombing is when a large group of individuals band together as a collective to give a very high/low rating for a specific motive. It's not review bombing when a large amount of people INDIVIDUALLY give a negative review. I just see too many voters using that term, loosely. I do, however, think the more negative reviews are deserving and it's Netflix's fault for slapping the Resident Evil name on a series that doesn't remotely resemble the game. If they would have named it something else, this series would have been rated higher IMHO.

Tenet (2020)

Fringe Fans Will Love This Show

[10/10 · 10 March 2022]

This is not your mom's 'Back to the Future' time travel show. Instead of just magically interacting with your past or future by popping into that time, making changes, and popping back, it explores more of a physics concept which I've never seen before. Some people don't like to think too much when they watch a movie and is what I think contributes to some of the negative reviews. The visual representation of Nolan's concept of time travel will blow your mind if you're into that kind of sci-fi genre. Especially if you loved Fringe. That's all I can say without throwing out some spoilers.

Power (2014–2020)

Started Out With a Bang

[5/10 · 8 March 2022]

Power falls victim to the same old 'starts big but ends small' routine. It seems to me that once a show is guaranteed to be renewed for a certain amount of seasons, they pull their 1st string writers for something else while leaving the 2nd and 3rd string writers to write the remaining seasons. I'd say it's worth watching for 4 1/2 seasons. Dialog is intelligent and characters command a presence at first, but they end up being just plain silly in the end. Oh, and there are way too many gratuitous sex scenes for my taste.

Arcane (2021– )

Absolute Creativity

[10/10 · 5 December 2021]

Just watched the animation. It's outrageous! Rurouni Kenshin has always been my favorite, but this show drew me in and I'm glad it did. I hope the French do more of these because they have the right idea.

Earth 2 (1994–1995)

Hello E2 Fans!

[10/10 · 12 February 2007]

E2 was the very first TV Series I watched religiously that was cancelled so soon. Words could not express how I felt when I read it was no longer going to be produced.

Oddly enough, one of my favorite memories of E2 was not any particular episode, but of a memorable drive to kwik shop back then. I was listening to some radio talk show (Rush Limbaugh I think) and when they introduced the next caller, the caller shouted "Save Earth 2!!! Don't cancel the series!". The caller hung up and I screamed YEEEEEAAAAAAA Baaaaaaaby!

The only other series that equaled or came close to E2 for me (In this order) were:

1. Firefly (Cancelled first season) and it's movie sequel, Serenity 2. Farscape - Went against the politically correct Sci-Fi norm that the newer Treks defined. 3. Star Trek DS9 - Even though it's Trek, I loved the fact the show went against the grain (After G. Roddenberry died) and placed the federation at war which made for an exciting last 2 years of the series. 4. Babylon5 - Almost cancelled, but the ending was reworked to keep this from happening. This kind of flubbed up the ending of the series (Kinda like X-Files). However, it was another great Sci-Fi series that went against the politically correct Sci-Fi norm of the time. They actually had to send out fighter ships to grapple floating vessels vs. pushing a button and using a tractor beam to put the things in a shuttle bay.

BTW, for those who don't know...You can get Earth 2, the complete series (Including 2 final episodes that were never aired), at Netflix. Just remember the studio messed up and placed the episodes out of order on the DVD set. You have to watch discs 1-6, 8, and 7 to view the episodes in their proper order. You also see the series on Ebay every now and then.

Battle on folks!!!!!