babyned Reviews

Mister Winner: The Piano (2020) Season 1, Episode 1

Refreshingly quirky, gentle comedy with loveable performances

[9/10 · 5 April 2024]

Compared to many sitcoms getting commissioned these days, this pre-Covid offering is quite old-fashioned in it's set-up. The template is very much Laurel and Hardy, Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin, but set in modern day Britain.

A house-clearance man gets a gig as a restaurant pianist when he rescues a player-piano from being dumped. Anyone who's ever watched a sitcom will know that things aren't going to go as planned. But the comic performances of Spencer Jones and Lucy Pearman are subtle, silly and endearing enough to make the episode very enjoyable.

This is a refreshing antidote to the current trend of dark, bitter, naval-gazing dramadies that are replacing the traditional sitcom.

Poker Face: Dead Man's Hand (2023) Season 1, Episode 1

You had me at the Columbo font

[10/10 · 28 May 2023]

It's not often I get excited about a new tv show these days, but when I stumbled across Rian Johnson's new offering, I could tell something special was in store when the opening credits used the Columbo font.

As the story unfolded it became clear how deliberate that was, when Charlie's gravelly voice delivered lines very reminiscent of Peter Falk's legendary detective.

This is a cool, fresh take on the old 70s TV detective format. It felt very modern, and even though it adopted the Columbo pattern of showing the murder in all it's detail at the beginning, there were still plenty of surprises and twists in store.

There were plenty of little clues that viewers paying attention could detect ahead of the reveals, and there were plenty of movie and tv references, most notably the huge stuffed birds of prey behind the psychotic killer referencing Anthony Perkins in psycho

There are also great guest star appearances in each episode, and wonderful cinematography throughout. A strong series that I hope will continue!

Better Call Saul: Saul Gone (2022) Season 6, Episode 13

Bitter Call Saul

[10/10 · 17 August 2022]

This is hard to review because it was perfect on every artistic and intellectual level. It couldn't really have ended any other way, and yet I felt somewhat downhearted as the end credits rolled.

Perhaps this is just that sadness that comes with the ending of a show that's been enjoyed for so long. Having to say farewell to the characters you've fallen in love with.

But I felt as though a big trick was missed. Jimmy and Kim were hustlers. I was hoping for one last hustle. With us as the mark. A surprise ending rather then the logical one that unfolded. The characters had already paid their penance. Maybe here they could have had their happy ending. Maybe that could have been the shock twist. The thing nobody would have expected.

But to the credit of integrity and audacity the writers, we got the bitter-sweet ending that the series deserved.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part IV (2022) Season 1, Episode 4

The worse use of a favourite Star Wars vehicle I've ever seen.

[3/10 · 10 June 2022]

When you think of classic sci-fi tv serials from the past, you remember the pivotal moments, the twists, the climaxes etc. What you tend to forget is how many episodes involved people running around corridors.

All the shows were guilty of this - Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Babylon 5 etc.

It is understandable. Writers of these shows are always under pressure to quickly come up with enough material for many episodes, within limited TV budgets.

And so here we have the exact same thing happening on a premium subscription channel. 50 odd minutes of the main characters running, walking, sneaking or hiding in corridors. Most of the episode resembled gameplay footage from a modern PS4 game.

The only promise of excitement comes near the end when an action sequence unfolds, but the execution of it is so terrible it makes the space battle scenes in Star Crash seem like the climax of Rogue One. One scene in particular features a pair of familiar vehicles being tracked from behind, and it just looks laughable.

By the end of the episode, apart from one small plot detail lifted from ANH, we are in the exact same place we were before the end of the previous episode. The story hasn't moved on at all.

I love Star Wars, and I really hoped that this would provide a solid, credible story to bridge the prequels and original movies, but the only thing it's achieved is to make me question my subscription.

Star Trek: Picard: Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2 (2020) Season 1, Episode 10

If Synths can find humanity, maybe critics of this show can too.

[10/10 · 15 August 2020]

I deliberately avoided all reviews until watching, so I could enjoy it, and I'm glad I did. I feel like I've just been on a soulful and fulfilling pilgrimage. After so many flat attempts to follow up TNG, they finally made a Trek I can get behind!

Sure there's flaws: 2 dimensional baddies, space battles that look like PS3 cut-scenes etc, but the story kept me fully engaged (pardon the pun) until the very end. There were moments where this show just became sublime: The first Orchid reception, the "Activation" scenes, Picard and Data's conversations, Every scene with Alison Pill in it, etc.

By the end, I was in love with the new crew, and can't wait to see where they boldly go next.

Killing Eve: Are You from Pinner? (2020) Season 3, Episode 5

Witness Jodie Comer secure her BAFTA win.

[10/10 · 13 May 2020]

It baffles me that not everyone has given this 10/10. I think people might change their mind in time. It's an absolute monster of an episode and critics will look back and see this as a stand-out, pivotal chapter.

It plays out like a self-contained movie, with a gentle build up, set more in the genre of a character drama than a violent thriller.

Jodie is the force that drives this episode. And the devious writing toys with our perceptions of Eve's character based on all that we know of her so far. The result is that there are twists and surprises around every corner.

It's a massive achievement that in the limited running time of one episode, they introduce us to a whole new set of characters, each of who we get to know intimately by the end.

In addition, this episode leaves behind the comfort zone of Killing Eve's regular format to bring us something really brave and special. The acting is outstanding, Jodie's performance is at the very least a BAFTA grabbing one, and the finale is both shocking and utterly satisfying.

And just when you think the genius can't be topped, the final scene enters the realm of the sublime, and leaves you with goose-pimples prickling up your spine.

I hope the user reviewers reconsider their luke-warm reviews and give this another chance!

Dracula: The Dark Compass (2020) Season 1, Episode 3

Did the writers give up half way through?

[5/10 · 9 January 2020]

The big twist at the end of Ep2 sets things up nicely for this episode and, to be fair, it starts pretty well.

Claes Bang is given room to own the role, and shines in the first half. The home invasion / fridge contents segment is classic Gatis/Moffat with a bit of John Carpenter thrown in.

Secret organisations, re-incarnation and Sherlock-style humour offer intrigue and excitement. The production, music, cinematography, it's all good. There's a scene half-way through, where Dracula, silhouetted against blood-red lighting, eyes up a potential victim while she dances. As he grins fiendishly, you realise, Dracula is back and here to stay.

Then, it all just falls apart. It's as though the show-makers just ran out of time or energy or both. Like they couldn't decide where to take it. For the first time in the series, it becomes boring. Pointless. It morphs into some commentary on narcissism and you end up praying for it to end before it can get any worse.

You can almost see it in the actor's eyes, who despite their incredible talent, fail to make the awful writing seem good. When it's over, it is hard to imagine a second series is on the cards, and that's a real shame, because for two-and-a-half episodes, this was TV gold.

Years and Years: Episode 4 (2019) Season 1, Episode 4

Another fantastic episode, apart from one major plot flaw

[9/10 · 9 June 2019]

Russell T Davies has delivered another brilliant slice of contemporary SciFi, and this is his Game-Of-Thrones-Shock-Main-Character-Kill episode. It hit hard, was devastating and the build up was tense and terrifying.

However, after the shock wore off, I did think, why didn't Daniel just spend all that cash on hiring a decent, sea-worthy boat in the UK, and just go over and get Viktor? They could have arranged a pick up point via mobile phone. Sure, it would have been tough for Viktor to get to the coast line, but surely possible?

Game of Thrones: The Iron Throne (2019) Season 8, Episode 6

My score is for Peter Dinklage, Ramin Djawadi and Drogon.

[10/10 · 22 May 2019]

I get why people have rate-bombed this, but I choose to dwell on the positive points . Peter Dinklage deserves massive respect for his performance as Tyrion. He owned this episode. I don't think I've loved character in a fantasy tv show as much as I do Tyrion and I believe he ended on a high.

The unsung hero of this show is the composer, Ramin Djawadi, who has had to work twice as hard, in these last few seasons. The dialogue has been sparse. Poor Lena Heady had about five lines in this whole season, which is unforgivable.

Ramin's score has spoken the words that weren't written. You could turn the dialogue off and watch the last few episodes as a silent movie, his score is an incredible achievement, and down-voting these episodes just because you didn't get what you wanted is frankly disrespectful.

Drogon's big scene in this episode was more powerful and overwhelmingly emotional than anything I've seen in the movies featuring a fantasy beast. It was undeniably awesome. You gotta give credit where credit is due.

The OA: Overview (2019) Season 2, Episode 8

Did the freshest, cleverest show on Netflix just cop out?

[6/10 · 8 May 2019]

Firstly, I am a fan, I LOVE this show and all Brit Marling related stuff, and I really enjoyed this season just as much as the first.

It went in very interesting directions and they sustained the sense of mystery and intrigue all the way through. I've voted 9s and 10s for previous episodes.

It all seemed like plot threads were finally set to converge in a wonderful season final climax.

So I was filled with dread in the final moments where it seemed like they were going to employ the lazy writer's most over-used tool. The "Oh, it was all just a dream" tool. The plot device everyone uses when they can't think of a way to end something.

Ok, so in this case, it's not a dream, it's a movie set, and the characters are just actors, much like Dorothy's family in Wizard Of Oz. And perhaps all the events of the whole show just took place inside Nina's unconscious mind after her head injury.

I'm guessing they've left it ambiguous in case season 3 is green-lit, but if this is the last ever episode, then it looks very much like Nina/Prairie is just an actress who fell out the round window, knocked herself out and dreamed the events of the series. If that's the case, it's a massive disappointment.

Game of Thrones: The Last of the Starks (2019) Season 8, Episode 4

Ignore The Haters, It's Not That Bad

[10/10 · 7 May 2019]

Not The Show's finest hour, but nowhere near as bad as people are saying on here. Clearly there is an organised campaign to vote this episode down because things aren't playing out the way they wanted it to. It's The Last Jedi scenario all over.

Yes, there are flaws. There have been flaws in previous seasons, even going back to season 1. But this episode had merits. The banter between Tyrion and other characters was on top form. I still love Tyrion as much as I did since season 1.

One crucial and subtle thing people have missed is how Jon Snow has proved he is truly Ned Stark's son, not biologically, but in his determination to be honourable. He still insists on telling the truth, despite how dangerous it is, and how that attitude is what got Ned killed.

Other highlights were, The Hound and Arya back together, Tormund drunk, Jamie and Brienne and the shocking events at sea. Honestly, it really doesn't deserve the low score. BUT - the legacy of this show now does rest on the last two episodes. They both need to be 10/10

Star Trek: Discovery: Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2 (2019) Season 2, Episode 14

Not Enough Thrust To Escape Franchise Baggage

[6/10 · 24 April 2019]

I am a Star Trek fan and an optimist, which is why I stayed the whole of this series to the end, but sadly, I was left disappointed and frustrated.

Did they really just make an entire season about data storage? At least season one was divided up into several story threads. This whole series was built upon a mystery that started off being intriguing, but just ended up as one of the crew wearing a time-suit trying to manage data. Time as a plot-device has officially worn thin now, and is just a lazy-writing tool.

There are good points. Saru is likeable, but underused. Sylvia Tilly is endearing and funny, the robot girl was cool but they killed her off, Enterprise's Number One is super-cool and I wanted to see more of her. Jet Reno brings a nice slice of dry humour, and Georgiou has been my favourite character of the series. It was a shame they couldn't get "Our Universe" Lorca somehow into the story.

But the bad points. One dimensional characters. The usual over-reliance on Trek Science-babble. Overlong, contrived scenes that are meant to be emotional but leave you cold. None of this criticism is aimed at the actors, They all do the best they can with the appalling writing. But it's not entirely the writer's fault either.

TV Trek has suffered from Franchise baggage since Next Gen. JJ Abrams showed that you could ditch the baggage and let Trek fly freely, but like a giant worm-hole, the franchise has been sucked back into the fan-pleasing, formulaic cycle. We need another Nero reset.

Finally, whether or not you like the crew and stories of Discovery, it seemed a little unfair to omit them completely from the last ten minutes of the series finale. Perhaps this is the show-runner's attempt at ditching the baggage to allow Discovery to have her own adventures. A starfleet ship lost in another part of the universe having self-contained episodes each week. Sounds familiar?

Game of Thrones: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2019) Season 8, Episode 2

Good Knight

[10/10 · 23 April 2019]

There were a couple of huge moments, but they were underplayed to keep the tone of this whole episode consistent. A tone of quiet meditation and reflection in the face of coming terrors.

It was the quietest and softest moments that were the highlights of this episode and perhaps even the whole series. The scene where our heroes gather around the fire being my personal favourite, especially the moments between Brianne and Jamie, which made my eyes very wet.

It's a shame to see 0/10 scores and bad reviews from people who just want PS4 cut-scenes and nothing else. Game Of Thrones has always been as much about the quiet, intimate conversations between characters as it has been about the big battles. People forget that Season 1 didn't even have an on-screen battle, but it was upon the strength of that season that we got 7 more!

I'm sure epsiode 3 will be riveting, but this episode encapsulates the soul of GOT and without that, the show is nothing.

Game of Thrones: Winterfell (2019) Season 8, Episode 1

Calm Before The Storm

[9/10 · 16 April 2019]

A satisfying, if slightly event-lite episode. It was rewarding to catch up with all the characters, and wonderful to have them all gathering at Winterfell. The Sam Tarly scenes were my personal highlight.

It was clever how they explained why Euron Greyjoy hadn't cut out Yara's tongue on a ship full of mutes, and I'm glad he hadn't!

The zombie-boy-limb-explosion was super-chilling and a perfect reminder that we are still in Game-Of-Thrones Country.

And Jamie arriving at the end, face to face with Bran was a perfect Cliff-hanger to end on!

My only concern was this: Would Cercei really go to bed with a herpes-ridden scum-bag when she could have any man she wanted? Especially as he had failed to deliver her elephants? Massively unbelievable.

True Detective: Now Am Found (2019) Season 3, Episode 8

Brave, Interesting, clever but not completely satisfying

[7/10 · 26 February 2019]

Did anyone ever play that game at school where you write a paragraph of a story on some paper, and then fold it over covering it all but the last few words. Then the next person has to continue writing the story having only seen the end of the previous paragraph?

This felt just like that. Seven brilliant, intriguing episodes that build up to what you think will be an exciting showdown where all the story threads clash together in an explosive finale.

But the explosion didn't come. The entire mystery was revealed in one painfully long dump of exposition which, on one hand was clever because it totally avoided the cliche of "cops-uncover-conspiracy-involving-powerful-people-that-ends-in-a-shoot-out", but sadly also felt a bit like an anti-climax.

I enjoyed it overall, but I can't help feeling that there were loose-ends left dangling and that there is an ending that we didn't get to see.

Still, don't trust my opinion because I still think season two was brilliant.

The Walking Dead: The Bridge (2018) Season 9, Episode 2

The New World

[9/10 · 16 October 2018]

The masterstroke behind this season's premise is that, for the first time since the show began, there is a glimmer of hope for the human survivors.

And that raises the stakes even higher than ever, and makes you care. Now, it really feels like there is more to lose, and it's interesting to see how the original team are tested by the responsibilities of managing this new world.

The DNA of the earlier seasons is clearly still present, and if it can stick to this path, then we could be in for some kick-ass telly! For the first time in two years, I genuinely can't wait to find out what happens next!

Wanderlust (2018)

You're (not) Terrible, Muriel

[8/10 · 17 September 2018]

This seems to have already struck a raw nerve with the Haters, but don't be put off, this is not anywhere near as bad as some people are saying.

Obviously, if you're looking for BBC Period templates like Downton Abbey, this is not for you, but if you want an intriguing and honest exploration of sexual desire, taboos and relationships in the modern age, then this ticks those boxes. Plus it's got Toni Colette and Zawe Ashton in it, what more could you want?

And the soundtrack is awesome too.

The Larry Sanders Show (1992–1998)

You don't need an American version of The Office - Just get into Larry Sanders!

[2 June 2005]

The award winning Larry Sanders show is subtle genius. Brilliantly written, superbly acted and hilarious, it took the documentary style comedy of Spinal Tap and re-tuned it to define a new sitcom style that inspired many other shows including Brit comedy The Office.

It ran alongside Sienfeld during the 90s but seems to have been overlooked by the mainstream and is in danger of slipping into obscurity.

The series follows the days in the lives of everybody involved in the production of a popular late night American talk show. The action centers around the three main characters, Larry Sanders the star and host of the show, Rip Torn's hilarious producer, Artie and the wonderful Hank Kingsley, Larry's sidekick.

The action is split into two styles, the behind the scenes docu-drama and the actual broadcast talk show. The two formats cleverly cut to tell the story of the characters. I don't know how they do it but the show is subtle and understated but at the same time fast moving and in your face.

I haven't seen the American version of The Office yet, but I strongly suggest that you don't even bother with it - just watch this instead. There are at least 7 or 8 series of it and you have to watch them in sequence too, because the stories cleverly develop and come to almost apocalyptic climaxes.

Do it!

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Flawed, But Star Wars found it's soul again

[8/10 · 20 May 2005]

Like everyone else I was both excited and nervous about this film.

But as the camera sank down toward a giant war ship to the sound of John William's ominous battle drums, a mood was set that did not leave until a few hours after the film's end.

The first 45 minutes of this film is Star Wars at its best. Seamless action and enjoyable dialog (yes, I said enjoyable!) had me uttering the words "oh wow" and "cool" out loud in a cinema for the first time in years.

After the epic battle the film shifts down a gear and focuses on Anakin's story. And this is what I was nervous about. I haven't watched Episode II without fast forwarding the Anakin scenes - but to my pleasant surprise, I found that I actually LIKED Anakin in this film.

Yes, the dialog is cheesy, but the aroma of that cheese pleasantly resembles that of the original trilogy. Hayden Christentensensensen is clearly more comfortable with the role and for once you can almost understand why Padme actually likes him.

Anakin's meetings with Palpatine are bursting with suppressed darkness as the twisted future Emperor slowly corrupts Anakin's mind like a serial killer confessing his perversions to a small child.

The middle portion of this film is a let down for me. Imagine if the Hoth battle scene from Empire had been cut down to 30 seconds long and you will understand why. WHERE WERE THE WOOKIES? After all that hype I was really expecting some serious Chewbacca action, but I warn you. Blink and miss it you will.

Blink again and you will miss the over hyped Grevious as he is easily dispatched despite the fact that he can do windmills with light sabers.

Blink again and you will miss poor old C3P0 talking.

Blink and you'll miss Darth Vader talking! A tantalizingly short scene.

But the biggest and most crucial thing missing from this film and now from the whole series is this. Why does Anakin Skywalker become Darth Vader? Anakin's fall to the dark side is rushed to say the least. One minute he is about to arrest the Sith Chancellor - and the next he is on his knees pledging his loyalty to evil.

Even worse - one minute he is desperate to learn how to save lives - the next he is casually slicing down Jedi children! It just doesn't hold up. Either he has regard for life or he doesn't. Still, perhaps this was Lucas' intention - to demonstrate how slippery the slope to evil is. Slippery as a well oiled vertical cliff.

Another scene I felt very uncomfortable with was Ben Kenobi leaving Anakin to burn to death. OK he had turned to the Dark Side, but only for a few days. And it was all out in the open now. They had their fight. Ben had his say and won, and Anakin was harmless (and legless). Couldn't Ben have just taken him home and made him better? Isn't it against the Jedi code to watch somebody die slowly in agony? And why did Padme have to die in child birth? Couldn't she just have died later (Leia says she remembers her) - were they just cheap tricks by Lucas to get that tearjerker money shot? Well, it certainly worked. I cried genuine tears. And all I want to do now is watch A New Hope. Like putty in Lucas' hands! A slippery slope indeed.