Loki: Lamentis

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I enjoyed this episode more than the last. I think it suffers from being a little too compact and could have done with another ten to twenty minutes to better flush out a few ideas, but that aside almost everything else is a homerun.

Firstly, the chemistry between Hiddleston’s Loki and Di Martino’s Sylvie is fantastic, and though this episode suffers a lack of Owen Wilson it does not suffer for it: as the back and forth between Hiddleston and Di Martino is easily as good if not better.

Secondly, this episode has huge ramifications not just for the wider series but for the MCU as a whole. There is a line in this episode, that I won’t say for spoilers sake, that will fundamentally alter how you see the TVA and that also recontextualises the whole series so far.

Thirdly, there are plenty of really good character moments here that remind you why you love these characters and this universe. My personal favourite of the episode was probably Loki’s drunken singing, but the dagger metaphor is strong to. There is a lot of excellent character work going on here that helps the series to be instantly memorable and likeable in a way that shows like TFTWS struggled with.

Overall, a very important episode that both put a smile on my face and changed my entire view of the show.

Pros.

The character moments

Loki and Sylvie’s back and forth

The line that changes everything

The ending

Cons.

The episode is too short and needed another ten minutes

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Bad Batch: Battle Scars

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

So this episode gets straight into tying up the mysteries of the previous cliff-hanger, and we now know that the sisters were talking to our old friend Captain Rex- who comes in an immediately makes things better. These last two episodes have been the best in the Bad Batch so far, though that is not saying much.

I enjoyed the further exploration of Wrecker’s mind as he loses control to the inhibitor chip and its programming and becomes evil, for a few minutes. I think its interesting to see this evil side of a character that is often the most loveable. Furthermore, I liked that the show is continuing to explore the effects of the inhibitor chips on the clones. However, I think the greatest short coming in this department is the continued lack of and almost deliberate ignoring of Crosshair; you would think that now the Bad Batch know about the chips they would plan to remove Crosshair’s and save their friend- evidently they don’t care that much.

I think something needs to happen with Omega soon as she is quickly becoming the worst part of the show, she is not likeable and is often annoying: the gimmick of her being naïve is starting to wear thin. Moreover, the relationship between Hunter and Omega just isn’t coming along and more often than not feels forced in, it is a million miles away from the relationship between Din and Grogu.

Overall, this series is getting better, but it still has quite a few issues to overcome.

Pros.

The continuing of the inhibitor chip storyline

Wreckers turn to the dark side

Everything to do with Rex

Cons.

Omega

Ignoring Crosshair

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iCarly: iStart Over

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I don’t know if I’ll be covering this series regularly, but I wanted to review the first episode for old times sake. iCarly and Drake and Josh were a huge part of my childhood growing up, I watched the hell out of each time and time again, so when I heard that iCarly was coming back for a revival series I knew I had to check it out.

I truly do think that the adult orientated approach to this series is a stroke of genius, the audience has grown up with Carly and we like her have very different trails and tribulations then we did when we first watched the series. Though the series has a bit more adult humour I would still say it was child friendly as there is nothing that unsuitable there.

Moreover, I think the knowing self-aware aspects to the series really help to enhance it and add to that link between those on screen and us watching. There were no actual forth wall breaks, at least not in this first episode, but there were a number of winks to the camera so to speak and each time it made me smile.

Miranda Cosgrove anchors the series masterfully, and it is nice to see her back centre stage again. Likewise Jerry Trainor as Spencer is also still excellent and has a nice back and forth with Cosgrove and the rest of the cast. Though Jennette McCurdy’s absence is felt, Cosgrove and the rest of the cast do such a good job that it makes up for it.

Overall, so far a good and well done revival series.

Pros.

Cosgrove

Trainor

The self-awareness

The adult tone

Cons.

The studio audience canned laughter is distracting

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Loki: The Variant

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

So, the second episode of Loki is good, there is no doubting that, however it does slump a bit when compared to last weeks mostly stellar opener. Mainly this is due to what I would argue is a rushed story decision on the part of the episode’s ending, but I can see why with a limited six episode run they chose to do it this way.

I am of course talking about Loki’s decision to chase after his evil variant and effectively leave the TVA. Like I said plot wise it makes sense, but I would have liked more time with the Loki and Mobius buddy cop dynamic, Owen Wilson and Tom Hiddleston have great chemistry together- hopefully they will still get to share a lot of scenes together.

As for the who the internet have dubbed prematurely Lady Loki, who is more likely Enchantress, it is far to early to cast any kind of judgement on her: though I will say it was a neat development to have it be her that truly begins the destruction of the Sacred Timeline it makes her vital to the narrative going forward.

Overall, a solid episode though one that is slightly in the shadow of its better predecessor.

Pros.

Loki and Mobius

A few very funny scenes

The destruction of the timeline

The things it sets up

Cons.

The plot feels a little rushed

It underwhelms after a strong first episode

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Loki Episode 1 : Glorious Purpose

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Though I enjoyed Wandavison’s first episode more so than most, I think this is easily the best first episode of a Marvel Disney + series to date; the reason I did not mention, Falcon And The Winter Soldiers first episode is because it wasn’t very good and proved no real competition to this.

This episode had everything you would want out of a Loki series and then more on top. It has humour, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Owen Wilson’s Mobius have great on screen chemistry together and provide us with quite a few strong comedic scenes. It has heart and depth, such as when variant Loki, who had never seen the events of Thor The Dark World, saw his adoptive mother die for the first time. It also has a promising mystery, and pits Loki against himself.

I thought one of the best things about this episode was the introduction to the Time Variants Authority and the widening of the MCU as this fills in some blanks and also changes how we see the events of the MCU as a whole. The one thing I didn’t like in this respect is that they basically confirm that Agents Of Shield is non-cannon: there is a moment where one additional line of dialogue would have confirmed the shows place in universe, but we never get that conformation.

Finally, outside of Loki and Mobius the rest of the characters are sparse and only really seem to exist to facilitate one purpose and are quite one dimensional: hopefully this will be fixed later in the show and these characters might get to see more exploration.

Overall, a very promising first episode.

Pros.

Widening the MCU

Owen Wilson

Tom Hiddleston, particularly during the more emotion scenes.

Cons.

A few annoying side characters

Even more signs pointing to AOS being non-cannon

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The Bad Batch: Decommissioned

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Baring the first episode of The Bad Batch this may be the best yet. Though Decommissioned doesn’t live up to some of the best episodes of Rebels or Clone Wars it does start to show the promise of this show and lay some much needed ground work; I am hoping from here on out the series can begin to turn around.

The episode is helped by not feeling villain of the week style self-contained and by progressing things from previous adventures. I thought it was nice to see the group get a base beyond the ship, and also presenting them as basically mercenaries or bounty hunters makes for some nice questions around what a soldiers purpose is.

Furthermore, I enjoyed that the show is starting to show the effects of Order 66 on the rest of the Bad Batch, with Wrecker almost giving into the conditioning after being hit on the head. I think the show desperately needs to go back to the Crosshair storyline and address it, as the group seems to have moved on from him and basically left him behind, which makes viewing them as heroes harder.

Moreover, Omega continues to be an issue with this series and one that is not seemingly getting better. The show clearly wants to mimic the parent-child style bond of the Mandalorian yet comes off as lacking and disingenuous. Nothing so far in this series has made me warm to Omega, and whenever an episode cuts to whatever she is up to, you know it is going to slow down to a boring degree.
Finally the ending tease is fine if a little obvious and baity. We don’t need constant cliff hangers to keep coming back.

Overall, better than the last few episodes, but the series still needs a lot of improvements

Pros.

Wrecker

More stability

The wider world

Cons.

Omega

The ending

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The Bad Batch: Rampage

2/5

This episode was yet another example of how this show is starting to lose me: the drama and stakes of the first episode have seemingly been ignored and now it is just week after week of pointless villain of the week sort of episodes with the wider mysteries that the series teased out just sort of existing in the either.

Likewise the character development has seemingly stalled, with neither the Bad Batch nor Echo receiving anything even close to development. It is the same beats and ideas over and over again; I also think it is odd how the band have seemingly just forgotten about Crosshair, other than a slight mention here they have not mentioned any thought to saving or rescuing their friend. An oversight of the writing perhaps.

The only real pro I can give this episode is that they build on the Fennec Shand stuff from the last episode. Proving that perhaps the character wasn’t just forced in and that maybe the series does have bigger plans for her.

Overall, I am starting to lose faith in this show.

Pros.

Building Fennec Shand

The end of the episode teases better stories to come

Cons.

Villain of the week

Forgetting Crosshair

The character arcs are trapped in a status

Written by Luke Barnes

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Friends Reunion: A Desperate Attempt To Save HBO Max

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

It is a sad state of affairs when a show has to tarnish what would otherwise be a rather solid reputation, for a desperate attempt at regaining relevancy and propping up a hard hit streaming service- yet here we are. The writing was on the wall, for this being nothing more than a blatant, vain attempt to milk nostalgia to get a few more sign ups for HBO Max, the second they announced the guest stars.

Said guest stars mostly have nothing to do with the show, a few of them are old faces coming back: they are pleasing. The rest, however, are whoever a group of clearly aging studio executives think ‘the youths’ like- insert BTS. To me I found this grating, and as I was actually looking forward to this reunion I found it to be disappointing as well.

Moreover, and perhaps worst of all, this flips into somewhat of a quasi-interview/audience interaction thing midway through, and who do they get to host it? Why every writers least favourite person James Corden. I understand the Americans have yet to find out what an insufferable person Corden is, so they have to put him in everything, but it is just frustrating.

Despite my negativity thus far, there are still some nice moments and interesting behind the scenes titbits thrown in, and that is why this show does not get a lower score.

Overall, I think it is sad that the creatives and the actors would allow their show, the thing that made a lot of them famous, to be brought back as a means to hollowly push a struggling streaming service and further the constant attention of those deemed trendy by fifty year old white men in boardrooms and focus groups.

Pros.

A few funny moments

The behind the scenes stuff is fascinating

Cons.

James Corden

The celebrity guest stars

The asides to ‘regular people’ talking about how much Friends means to them

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Real Rob: Netflix Is Just Giving Money Away These Days, Stop Giving The Sand-Pack Money

0.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

So you might know Rob Schneider as one of Adam Sandler’s lesser entourage members, or as a vocal anti-vax figure. Regardless he was given his own Netflix series and rather unsurprisingly it is bad.

I won’t get into all the ways it is troubling, the vague racism, the rather overt sexism and slut shaming, the ableist comments- the list is long and dripping in bad taste. However, I will say that the character or version of himself that Schneider is playing is deeply unlikable, and only serves to lose him any potential fans the series would have won him. There are moments in this series when it genuinely seems like Schneider actively wants people not to like him.

The jokes don’t land, and as this is a comedy series that is a pretty big issue. Not only do they not land they rely on the same old, used and often incorrect cliches and stereotypes that mare the Sand-Pack’s work.

The one bright spot of the series is Schneider’s wife Patricia who actually manages to be funny a few times over the series run, which for this series is nothing short of a miracle. Patricia easily manages to out-do her husband at nearly every opportunity, but sadly the show side-lines her either using her as the butt of the joke or as something to ogle.

Overall, Netflix needs to be more choosey in who they give a series to.

Pros.

Patricia Schneider

Cons.

Rob Schneider

The jokes don’t land

It feels lazy, and is overly reliant on his Hollywood friends and outdated cliches

A lot of the episodes go nowhere and send you to sleep

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Space Force: The War For The Moon Has Already Begun

Written by Luke Barnes

3/5

There is definitely shades of The Office here: American not British.

I think if anything this show is a testament to the likeability and the warmth of Steve Carell, the other characters in this show are quite underdeveloped, yet luckily the entire focus is on Carell and he sells it and makes the series as good as it is.

The major issue with this series is that it will/has age horribly. There are a lot of references to then current American politics, which feel dated and stilted even now, and it has only been a year. Also a perhaps more importantly I didn’t find this series funny, charming yes, but funny no: most of the jokes didn’t land for me.

Though the characters were underdeveloped, I still ended up caring for them by the end of the series and am excited to see where next season takes them.

As far as the series ideas go, I think the premise has a lot of potential and the actual execution is also quite strong, I enjoyed the one-ups Manship between the US and Chinese Space Forces and thought it was well built during the series.

Overall, though the characters are a little thin you still end up caring about them, with a strong lead performance and an interesting idea that helps this series to get at least part of the way to the moon.

Pros.

Carell

You end up caring about the characters

The US Vs China storyline

Cons.

Dated references

The jokes don’t land