TV Show Reviews

The X-Files (1993-?)

X-Files

The X-Files (1993-?)

Network:

Fox

Creator:

Chris Carter

Starring:

David Duchovny

Gillian Anderson

Mitch Pileggi

Plot:

Two FBI agents, Fox Mulder the believer and Dana Scully the skeptic, investigate the strange and unexplained while hidden forces work to impede their efforts.

Review:

I wouldn’t call myself a big X-Files fan. I liked it, of course, and I’ve seen all the episodes, but it’s not something I’ve ever re-watched. I keep meaning to, but never get around to it. One day.

Anyway, I don’t remember everything that happened at the end of the last run or really what even happened in the movies, but so far that hasn’t caused any problems.

The first episode was able to get me pumped up and excited for what’s to come. Considering I had to watch it on Fox’s app and deal with commercial breaks that only showed one commercial four to three times in a row, I think that’s saying something. Even after the slow torture of the Empire season premier trailer playing over and over to the point my daughter quoted it, I was eager to watch the next episode.

There was a lot of set up and I seriously hope they don’t resolve it all by the end of this six episode run. It would be too much to pack into such a limited number of episodes and it wouldn’t be what people love about the X-Files. I’m hoping it does well and leads to more seasons. We’ll see what happens.

4.5/5

Lucifer (2016-?)

Lucifer

Lucifer (2016-?)

Network:

Fox

Starring:

Tom Ellis

Lauren German

Lesley-Ann Brandt

Plot:

Satan takes up residence in Los Angeles.

Review:

It’s an immortal helping the police solve crimes. I feel like I just watched this, only it was called Forever and the main character wasn’t evil. It’s interesting and the pilot wasn’t horrible, but I’m not sure if I’ll keep this in my rotation.

Characters were fine and the Lucifer aspect was interesting, but I don’t know if that will be enough to keep me. I’m going to at least watch a couple more episodes.

3/5

Mysteries of Laura (2014-?)

THE MYSTERIES OF LAURA -- "The Mystery of the Biker Bar" Episode 103 -- Pictured: (l-r) Charlie Reina as Nicholas Diamond, Debra Messing as Laura Diamond, Vincent Reina as Harrison Diamond -- (Photo by: Will Hart/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

Mysteries of Laura (2014-?)

Network:

NBC

Starring:

Debra Messing

Laz Alonso

Josh Lucas

Janina Gavankar

Max Jenkins

Plot:

A single mom NYPD homicide detective cracks case after case while raising wild twin boys and locking horns with her less than helpful police detective ex-husband.

Review:

This is weird, but I’ve been looking forward to watching this show. Ever since I found out it was from the same production company as Arrow and Flash, etc… I wanted to try it out. Months ago one of those Netflix lists that says what’s coming and going said that it was going to be added, but it never showed up. It wasn’t until this month that during one of my random searches it appeared. I devoured the first season and wanted to watch the second, but could only find the last five episodes online. No idea what’s going on with this show and it’s lack DVD/Bluray or streaming ability, but I really enjoyed it.

Laura, Debra Messing, is a working mom and I feel like she captures everything wonderfully. She’s very capable and smart and has a lot of common sense. Those qualities work great in a detective so she’s awesome at her job. She’s also disorganized and raising twin boys, so her life is a mess.

The show is almost wish fulfillment in that all those women out there that like to watch detective shows and think “I could do that” get to see it done every week. Laura’s life is far from perfect though so it’s not a total “I want that life” sort of thing.

Good side characters, like the case per week formula, love the insights into her home life, and really like the boyfriend.

4/5

Shannara Chronicles (2016-?)

Shannara-Chronicles

Shannara Chronicles (2016-?)

Network:

MTV

Starring:

Austin Butler

Poppy Drayton

Ivana Baquero

Manu Bennett

Plot:

Series of adventures, war, and evil that occur throughout the history of the Four Lands.

Review:

I don’t watch MTV so I managed to see no marketing for this. It wasn’t until I was reading a thread about upcoming TV shows that I even found out about it. On a whim I set my DVR to record and apart from the fact that it recorded a horrible SD quality version I was really impressed.

Most of the reviews I’ve read have been pretty negative, so naturally that meant I liked the show. I hate when that happens, it’s Tomorrowland all over again. Oh well, the fan reception (what I’ve read at least) has been pretty positive.

I haven’t read the source material, in fact I’m not sure if I’ve read anything by Terry Brooks, but I don’t think that made the show and less enjoyable. Which is not always the case, so that was nice.

I loved the fact that there are two kick ass female leads and of course Manu Bennett was awesome. There’s a lot going on in the pilot and at times it was difficult to watch because my cable was messing up, but I’m really excited to see what happens next.

That ending, man, I’m already looking to see if I can watch the next episodes on MTVs app.

4/5

My 2015 Favorites

Movies:

2015 was not a good year for movies, for me at least. Of course, I’ve yet to see Star Wars so that could certainly change. I gave only two movies 5 stars, Tomorrowland and Mockingjay. I had several 4 stars that I remember very fondly though. Anyway, the following is a list of the movies I enjoyed the most, star ranking be damned.

    1. Tomorrowland– I was not expecting to love this movie as much as I did and I’m so thankful that I rented it. Literally the day after I watched it I went out, bought it, and watched it again. I have it downloaded on all of my devices and will just randomly watch parts of it. I love it and I could easily see this movie becoming one of my all-time favorites
    2. Jurassic World– This movie is another one that I bought, but I haven’t actually watched it yet. Thinking back to the theater I really loved it and I’m excited for more in the franchise like this. Also, Chris Pratt is awesome.
    3. Kingsman: The Secret Service– I think this movie was so great because I wasn’t expecting it. I went in with very little expectations and was pleasantly surprised.
    4. Parallels– I hesitate listing this because, while I liked it, it doesn’t feel complete. I really hope there’s more to come because the world created was very interesting.This was the year of books. I read over 100 books and so many of them were good. I did of course read a couple I absolutely loathed (I’m looking at you Fable: Edge of the World and Murder is Binding) but the majority of what I read I really enjoyed.

Books:

 

    1. Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond– I gave this as a Christmas present, that should really tell you how much I enjoyed it. I can easily see this being the first book in a series I absolutely adore.
    2. Justice Calling by Annie Bellet– This is the first book in the Twenty-Sided Sorceress series and one of my favorite discoveries of the year. Great series and I’m looking forward to reading the most recent installment.
    3. Anything by Jenn McKinlay- I read several McKinlay books this year and I loved almost all of them and the one I didn’t love I still liked. If you’re looking for a cozy mystery I highly recommend anything she’s done. She writes great characters and her stories are light and fairly believable.
    4. Clariel by Garth Nix- Even after all this time Nix stayed true to the world and showed us a great character.
    5. Magic Breaks & Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews- It’s Ilona Andrews, of course these books were amazing.
    6. Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs- Just like Ilona Andrews, Briggs never fails to give me a book I love.
    7. Cinder by Marissa Meyer- Really liked the unique take on fairy tales this series has brought. I haven’t yet read the final installment, but I’m looking forward to it.

TV:

 

I don’t write as many TV blog posts as I should, probably because I watch too much damn TV, but here’s a list of my favorites for the year.

    1. Sense 8 on Netflix– This show suffered some pacing issues, but it didn’t affect how much I loved it. Season 2 can’t come out fast enough.
    2. Marvel’s Agent Carter on ABC– Loved this show. Really loved this show. I want to be Agent Carter when/if I grow up. She’s such a great character and I’m really looking forward to season 2 which starts in January.
    3. Jane the Virgin on CW– When I’m watching this show I’m in freakin love. When I’m not watching this show I can’t really understand why I liked it so much because it sounds so crazy. Every episode delivers and it has continued into the second season, there has been no dip in quality. Highly recommend, more people should be watching this.
    4. Daredevil on Netflix– Episode two has one of the best fight scenes of the year from movies or TV, it was that good.
    5. Jessica Jones on Netflix– I didn’t think it was possible, but this was darker than Daredevil. Not really a huge fan of dark, but they did this very well. I thought Jessica Jones was a realistic portrayal of an abuse victim that happens to have some superpowers. She was rarely likable, but I never hated her, you could always understand why she acted the way she did. Actors were spot on as well, it was freaky seeing Tennant be so evil.
    6. Dark Matter on SyFy– I found this show on Netflix and was pleasantly surprised. It takes a couple episodes to gather steam but when it does it becomes an interesting Sci-Fi tv show. Nice female lead and an interesting story.

 

This has been my 2015 year in review. What did you enjoy most this year?