Star Wars Visions: T0-B1

1/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

In the days after the Jedi Purge a droid dreams on a distant world of one day becoming a Jedi Knight.

This along with Tatooine Rhapsody are the worst episodes of Star Wars Visions for sure, this is mainly due to the fact they don’t seem to understand the tone of the show, and instead try and pitch a small children alternative. I am not saying Star Wars isn’t for kids but a lot of the franchise’s content has a certain grit to it, think of The Mandalorian or the live action films, this just doesn’t translate into fare for toddlers which is what this episode goes for.

This is furthered by the art style which again doesn’t fit the aesthetic of the series, of the first six episodes this is easily the worst as everything just looks too clean. Of all the art styles across the episodes I have seen so far this was the hardest one to adjust to.

The story itself aims for heart, but there is nothing of substance here that you have not seen before, and done better. I didn’t really care about any of the characters and found myself questioning just skipping the episode several times over whilst watching.

Overall, poorly judged and certainly a lack of understanding of what Star Wars is.

Pros.

It is watchable

Cons.

None of the characters are memorable

The plot feels been there and done that

The art style is jarring

It doesn’t fit

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Star Wars Visions: The Ninth Jedi

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A Jedi ruler summons a group of force wielders to his planet in hopes of rebuilding the Jedi Order.

I thought this episode had a lot of promise, it could explore the ideas around what it meant to be a Jedi, as well as the pros and the cons of the order itself. Moreover, when the twist of the episode happened and a lot of the force wielders turned out to be dark-side plants there was a lot that could have been done with it: who is this order hunting down Jedis? Are they working for the Empire and or The New Order? However, the episode chooses not to explore any of these themes or ideas and instead just leaves them as they appear at face value which is unsatisfying.

There are some strong moments of tension in the episode but even these are undercut by a sense of unbelievability. Lah Kara, voiced by Chinatsu Akasaki, is supposed to have never swung a lightsaber before yet during the final fight sequence she is easily holding her own against more skilled opponents, this is an issue as it takes away from the peril in these scenes as we know she will survive as she evidently has strong plot armour.

Overall, an episode with promise and good aspects primed for further exploration, but taken as a standalone episode one that is underserved.

Pros.

Interesting questions raised

Strong animation

A few strong action sequences

Cons.

A lack of tension

Underdeveloped ideas/characters

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Only Murders In The Building: Series Overview

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Three residents in an apartment building, played by Martin Short, Steve Martin and Selena Gomez, start a true crime podcast in the hopes of solving a murder in their building

This will act as a review of the series as a whole rather than as a review of a single episode.

For the most part I thought this series was delightful, the characters were warm and likeable, the series really managed to nail the emotional side of their personalities as well helping them to feel like well-rounded characters.

Moreover, the central whodunit mystery is explored well and kept interesting. The answer to who the killer is is unexpected and sets up further questions for the second season to explore. My only issue in this regard is that there are a few too many red herrings and storylines that lead to nowhere during the investigation that start to feel increasingly like the writers trying to fill time, as such the narrative could have feel done with being cut down and maybe even being one or two episodes less.

I think Steve Martin and Martin Short are on good form here as you would expect them to be, it is nice to see Martin in something again as it has been a while and he and Short have terrific on screen chemistry together. Though both men are outdone by Gomez. Selena Gomez is underused if anything in the series but when she does get screentime she often steals the show, there is so much going on underneath with her character and we as an audience get the feeling the show hasn’t even really scratched the surface, she is easily the breakout star of the series.

Overall, a fun murder mystery series that if anything is too ambitious and as such suffers in a few places.

Pros.

The mystery

The characters

The ending

The return of Steve Martin

Cons.

A few too many subplots

A lot of needless characters

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Chucky: Give Me Something Good To Eat

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Chucky, voiced by Brad Dourif, continues his relationship with Jake, played by Zachary Arthur, and further tempts him over to the dark side, encouraging him to kill.

I found this episode to be slightly weaker than the first. This is mainly due to the fact that it is lacking in logic, why would Chucky risk being found simply to kill the housekeeper it makes no sense? Maybe he doesn’t care if he is caught and just wants to kill, which seems to be the implied answer, but even then this would lead to him being destroyed, which means no more killing, so you would think he would be smarter about it.

I am enjoying seeing Jake slowly starting to consider what Chucky is saying, becoming a killer, I think it is a nice fresh angle for the series to explore. I thought the teens were especially loathsome this week when they mocked Jake’s fathers death during a Halloween party, maybe Chucky is right, maybe he is actually trying to help Jake.

I thought the slow building of tension here was done well as obviously these killings can’t keep happening around Jake before he will get held with suspicion, so clearly something is going to happen and I am excited to see what.

Overall, a weaker episode because the logic doesn’t quite line up but it is still a good and interesting watch.

Pros.

The Chucky/ Jake relationship

Building the tension

Questioning Chucky’s intentions

Cons.

The gaps in logic

We need more time per episode

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Chucky: Death By Misadventure

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Chucky, Brad Dourif, finds another child, played by Zackary Arthur, to befriend, however things are different to how they were with Andy, played by Alex Vincent, all those years ago.

A lot of people are upset with the LGBTQ+ themes on display here and say that it feels more like a show about homophobia and less about Chucky. To them I say, where have you been this entire franchise? Issues around sexuality have always been central to the Child’s Play universe and this feels like a natural progression of that. Moreover, it allows us to reframe Chucky himself, as traditionally he was just evil, but here he is shown to be sticking up for Arthur’s character as he is being victimised at school- adding further nuance to the character.

I think that is why this first episode worked for me so much and why I am eager to see where the series goes next as this is a very different relationship between child and Chucky than we have seen before. Usually Chucky makes it his mission to either possess or kill the central child/ adult in these films however here he seems to be trying to befriend him, maybe even turning him into a possible apprentice?

Another thing I am thankful for with this series is that they got right to it and had the lead find out about Chucky in the first episode rather than have it drag out into the second or the third episode. I feel that by doing this it allows for the series to move at a better pace.

Overall, a very promising start to the series.

Pros.

The relationship between the lead and Chucky

A new side to Chucky

The kills

Tackling important issues head on

Cons.

The new Chucky redesign takes some getting used to

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What If: The Watcher Broke His Oath?

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Uatu, voice by Jeffery Wright, assembles the Guardians of the Multiverse to fight back against Ultron.

This was a good episode, but it wasn’t as good as the previous week’s episode and that is the crux of why I feel disappointed.

There was infinite possibilities for what they could have done here, but the no new characters rule again hamstrings the series. Instead of new characters and abilities we get the same old same old, Thor, voiced by Chris Hemsworth, using his hammer, Gamora, voiced by Cynthia McWilliams, using a sword, etc- we have seen that before. The only interesting part of the battle was seeing the various monstrosities that evil Dr Strange, voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch, could summon out of him.

I thought the ending had promise, though was also a little bit sloppy. The ending sees the evil Dr Strange holding the warring factions in a pocket dimension never to be allowed out, they will obviously escape. I just think they could have done so much more with it, with Zola and Ultron and maybe a combination of the two, but no.

I liked that this episode brought back a lot of characters from most of the episodes of the show and helped it feel connected together, rather than just a series of one-offs.

Overall, a strong ending but not as good as the penultimate episode.

Pros.

Assembling a new team

The animation

The promise of what the ending brings

Cons.

The ending feels a bit too easy

It would have been nice to see some new characters feature

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Star Wars Visions: The Village Bride

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Shortly after the Great Purge a fallen jedi is called to a world threatened by bandits wherein she rediscovers her connection to the Force.

I found this episode to be mixed, whilst there were some interesting things set up and explored for the most part this episode feels incredibly slow and dull. Things start to heat up as the action goes down later in the episode but until that point it feels like a slow meditation over man’s relationship with the world around him which is not what I am watching for.

F, voiced by Asami Seto, is an intriguing hero. We are left to speculate how they survived the Purge and who trained them, I think by not giving us a definitive answer it really helps to boost the mystery of the character as it leaves a lot open to our interpretation and imagination. Sadly, the non-F characters don’t fare as well, with most of them being bland and devoid of anything barely resembling a personality.

The animation/art style here lends itself quite well to the Star Wars world, with it really shining during the later battle sequences, probably my second favourite of the series so far after that of the first episode.

Overall, a slow start weakens the episode but a good climax becomes a new hope for it.

Pros.

The final battle

Leaving things vague about F’s origins

The animation/art style

Cons.

A very slow start

Weak side characters

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American Horror Story: Take Me To Your Leader

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A group of teens have a run in with aliens and find themselves pregnant as a result.

I very much believe that this season of AHS has been designed to kill the show, as those responsible for it want to move on to better things. Do you remember the time when AHS was actually scary? I do but seemingly those writing the show now don’t. The ending of the episode where all the teens find themselves pregnant is not scary in anyway, it is hilarious at how dumb and contrived it is; worse yet the show seems to want you to laugh.

So far this half of the season feels like the discounted one as a lot of the top name talent of the show doesn’t return and we are left with less than stellar actors filling out the cast. Now that is not to say there is no talent here as Neil McDonough is always a treat, but sadly even he can’t save this episode.

AHS fans have been clamouring for aliens to return since the era of Asylum, and the show has teased them out for so long, yet this is what we get? It goes beyond anti-climactic.

Overall, please let this season end.

Pros.

McDonough

The opening scene is strong

It is hilarious entirely unintentionally

Con.

It is not even trying to be scary anymore

It feels like a joke

They manage to ruin aliens

Ryan Murphy’s influence is slowly killing the show

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American Horror Story: Winter Kills

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The vampire like monsters finally meet their comeuppance and the black pills go nationwide.

Why? Why do you kill off your most interesting characters, Belle, Frances Conroy, and Austin, Evan Peters, within the first half of the episode without even giving them one strong final scene? Moreover, why do you keep the boring and unlikable characters alive? It makes no sense. If it was not for Leslie Grossman I would have just turned this episode off.

This program doesn’t even feel like AHS anymore, it feels like a poor imitation. Where once the show had strong writing that all fit together nicely and worked to enrich the whole now we are given plot holes and throw away characters just for the sake of it.

It becomes strikingly apparent during the second half of the episode that other than Grossman none of the actors playing the characters left alive can really act and their wooden performances become all the more glaring thanks to extra screen time. In that vein, the child actor playing Alma is shockingly bad in her performance and becomes almost cartoonishly evil by the end of the episode in a scene that is more than a little bit dumb.

Overall, this first half of the season was a train wreck that has forever tarnished AHS.

Pros.

Grossman

A few interesting scenes

Cons.

The performances aren’t good

The child actor

The ending

It taints the legacy of the show

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What If: Ultron Won?

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Ultron, voiced by Ross Marquand, is not defeated and has achieved his aim in removing life from the universe, now he has his sights set on the multiverse.

This was what I wanted from What If right from the beginning. Finally, after almost the entire season the show gets me to stand up and take notice. Why? Well for two important reasons. Firstly, this episode fixed one of my biggest issues with the show as a whole namely that Uatu, voiced by Jeffery Wright, is barely a character and has no purpose beyond reading out exposition. Here he had a central role, and we explored his character further. Secondly, this episode also bucks the trend of keeping things self-contained and brings in characters from other episodes.

I am very excited to see where the show can go from here because with it now becoming a whole narrative rather than separate individual tales it means we could see a new team arise in the final episode, a defenders of the multiverse perhaps; that will of course carry over to live action.

Furthermore, I think this episode does justice to Ultron. The threat is very present here and Ultron becomes a rival to Uatu himself which highlights just how powerful and intriguing the character can be when Joss Whedon is not writing him.

Overall, a stellar episode and one which has me excited for what is to come next week.

Pros.

Getting Ultron right

Having characters crossover

The ending

Giving Uatu focus and exploration

A strong sense of threat

Cons.

The human story was less interesting and felt like a distraction

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