Another Life Season 1 Netflix Series Review

Another Life (2019-)
Season 1 - 10 episodes (2019 July 25)

Watch Another Life on Netflix
Created by: Aaron Martin
Starring: Stars Katee Sackhoff, Selma Blair, Tyler Hoechlin, Justin Chatwin, Samuel Anderson, and Elizabeth Faith Ludlow.
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer & More Info

Plot
Astronaut Niko Breckenridge (Katee Sackhoff) leads a crew on a mission to explore the genesis of an alien artifact. She and her crew face unimaginable danger on what may be a one-way mission.

Verdict
The most fun I've had with this series is trying to guess all of the references. This takes tropes and ideas from other sci-fi properties liberally. That's not bad by itself, but that's all that's going on in the show. The science is dubious, the characters are flat, and there just isn't a unique draw. I watched the entire series, but that's because I'll watch even bad sci-fi.
Skip it.

Review
Aliens land on Earth, and a crew is formed to explore the origins of these mysterious beings. The crew is a bunch of socially inept astronauts. They don't get along. It's manufactured drama so something happens in the show and even if it isn't realistic, I'd think the characters would care more about the mission than hooking up. There's just a lot of stupid in this show. The plot resorts to romantic relationships instead of actually development.

Katee Sackhoff plays Niko.

The premise has to be inspired by Arrival. There's a little bit of 2001, Aliens, Interstellar, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and much more. Some of the references are very apparent.
Surprisingly there doesn't seem to be any Battlestar Galactica. That's what I think of when I see Katee Sackhoff. It's terrible comparison for this show because Galactica had great character development and a plot.

While the crew runs into a disaster seemingly every episode, there are scientist back on Earth studying the object too. That plot line seems like filler until the last couple of episodes. 

This series is a conglomeration of sci-fi movies I've seen before and would rather watch instead.

Stranger Things Season 3 Netflix Series Review

Stranger Things (2016-)
Season 3 - 8 episodes (2019)

Watch Stranger Things Season 3 on Netflix
Created by: Matt Duffer , Ross Duffer
Starring:  Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhar, Millie Bobby Brown
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer 

Plot
Season one was set in 1983 where a mother tries to find her son after he disappears mysteriously in the small town of Hawkins.
Season 2 was set one year later, where a new monster emerges from the upside down to wreak havoc in Hawkins.
In season 3, the protagonists discover the gate has been reopened.

Verdict
This season improves over season two. Both the kids and the show are growing up. While it doesn't top season one, this season focuses on characters - at least a few of them. The monster(s) are great even if their reason for being present is a bit flimsy. The show is still an ode to the '80s, and that definitely adds charm. While the first two episodes set the stage, the remaining six never felt like filler. This season kicks into gear in season three and just doesn't stop. The plot really pushes this season.
Watch it.

Review
I'll start with an overall spoiler free review, with a more in depth review after that. Spoilers are tagged so don't worry.

Season two was good. I'd recommend it, but it just wasn't as good as season one. It felt like it had been stretched a little thin, but it was also a different kind of show. Was season three going to expose more deficiencies in a story that felt like one season was enough? I wanted the show to be an anthology, and the first season ended perfectly. I still wonder if this was intended to be an anthology, even the name is vague enough for it. Did season one propel them into elongating the story? Season two seems like it.
The Duffer brother did state before season three that the story will end after season four.

Season three is great. It's not quite season one, but nothing can be. This season corrects the problems with seasons three. It does a great job of developing a few of characters while also providing a credible threat. Some of the characters don't get as much screen time and don't get any development.
I was thankful Will isn't spending another season on the sideline, but he doesn't have a lot to do either.

This season, like the second, adds even more characters. It's clear the show can't quite handle this many. Will and Lucas seem superfluous. Lucas's sister is here just have an adult talking like a kid.

Of course being a show heavily influenced and acting as a tribute to the '80s, it's the Russians that are causing trouble and trying to open the rift. There isn't a reason, we're left to assume it's for science.

The Starcourt Mall is a big feature this season. There is a lot of '80s pandering. The show points out how the mall closed down small town businesses and there's a healthy does of '80s sexism but the show gets commentary out of the way in the first couple of episodes. These episodes are a lot of fun though. The kids are growing up. They're teens, and as they've grown this show is pushing the artificial boundary it set with season one from a content standpoint. I don't think the audience is necessarily getting older, but maybe that's just my limited perspective.

The Day of the Dead movie makes a quick cameo which ties into the plot. The Mind Flayer is the villain this season and he's making zombies of people.

The production design of this show has always been great. The design frequently uses vintage items from the '80s, though a few times the show became an ad for Coca-Cola. It's most noticeable towards the end when Lucas makes an impassioned speech that is nothing more than advertisement.

Episode three is when the plot fully unfolds, and it doesn't slow down until the end. While I was skeptical of this season, once I got to the third episode this season starting rolling.
There's a question of whether people really are themselves due to the plot, but the show didn't take advantage of that too much. None of the main characters ever doubted if they were looking at a double or not.

The show splits up the group which helps the pacing. There is Scoops Troop which consists of Dustin, Steve, new character to this season Robin, and Lucas's sister Erica. Dustin and Steve were a great team in the second season, and they're great this time around too.
There's Team Bald Eagle which are the adults. There's also the Griswalds which is the rest of the kids.

This season is a lot more violent and gory, but it also mixes a lot of action and drama. We'll get scenes of monster fighting that precede scenes of the characters having a moment.
From season one to eight, this season covers a lot of ground. There's no filler, it's driving to the monster face off and that journey doesn't disappoint. I did think there would be more to defeating the monster.

Spoilers! Spoilers!
 

The monster is consuming, duplicating, and using humans in the town of Hawkins. These people act as the monster's eyes and ears. The monster can also consume the people and this is why the monster is ginormous in the final episode. It's consumed half the town of Hawkins. I did think the fact that people are doubles would be a bigger factor, but apparently the monster isn't about stealth strategy.

Stranger Things isn't a show I question. A shape shifting monster, telekinesis, and parallel world I can accept, but a Russian lab under the mall does seem a bit crazy. It's a reach. This is an '80s show so let's throw some Cold War Russians in the mix. It doesn't help nearly all of them are flat except for one scientist used as comic relief.

Episode seven is when the monster attacks El. It's a great moment as the monster is pulling her by the leg while her friends try to hold on to her. The bond the core group has, exemplified in this scene, just doesn't play as a big of a factor this season and I do miss that.

There's a Russian assassin that's working to get rid of loose ends. I don't buy he just can walk through a fair unnoticed with a gun. He provides a catalyst to the action, but he's a very flat character. He's basically Terminator.

This seasons sacrifices a couple of characters, Billy and Hopper. I wonder if that will be undone in season four, but I hope not. Billy was a villain even in season two, and he felt just a bit too demented. In this season he's great, but it makes me think he was introduced last season just for this purpose.

The season ends with Will and his family moving away, seemingly adopting El. It's a nice way to end the season, but a mid-credits scene shows that the Russians have a Demi-gorgon implying they aren't done exploring the rift.
While this season felt like a make or break season on whether I'd keep watching, I definitely will watch season 4. While separating El in season 2 was a risk, this season plays it much safer and I'm glad it does.

When They See Us Netflix Series Review

When They See Us (2019)
Mini-series - 4 episodes

Watch When They See Us on Netflix
Created by: Ava DuVernay
Starring:  Jharrel Jerome, Jovan Adepo, Michael K. Williams, Logan Marshall-Green, Joshua Jackson, Blair Underwood, Vera Farmiga, John Leguizamo, Felicity Huffman, Niecy Nash, Aunjanue Ellis, and Kylie Bunbury
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer & More info

Plot
This series spans from 1989 to 2014 focusing on the Central Park jogger case where five juveniles were convicted of assault and rape. They were convicted twice before their sentences were vacated in 2002 when the real perpetrator confessed to the crimes.

Verdict
From the first episode this draws you in. This chronicles the injustice of the justice system. What happened to these kids is brutal, and it's all the worse because it's true. This isn't the only time cops have coerced a confession or made the confession fit what they want to have happened.
While the justice system  doesn't always fail, a failure like this is especially egregious when it fails at every step of the way, from the cops to the DA to the trial. It's a tragedy.
The series also depicts life after incarceration and it's bleak. When you can't get a job it's tempting to turn to crime.
Watch it.

Review
The first episode is very good. Five kids are accused of crimes and coerced into confessing. They're pushed to name each other as committing the crime even though they don't know each other. The confessions are a mess yet somehow these kids were convicted.
The kids finally meet in a jail cell. One of the kids went to the jail to support his friend and ends up getting charged.

The press doesn't call them alleged attackers. They've already been declared guilty, and you can't help but notice the racial undertones. White guys accused of crimes get better treatment.
The kids' lawyers are discounted, but most of them do a pretty good job. That's the other part of the justice system. If you can't afford a lawyer you're starting in the hole.
The DA realizes the case has huge holes but presses forward. The lead investigator tries to bend the truth.

There's a great moment in the trial when the DNA analyst concludes none of the boys were at the crime scene. The audience cheers, but we know where this goes. How do five kids get convicted when there is nothing that links them to the crime other than confessions that are admittedly a mess?

This show is very good, but depressing. We skip ahead to the future and see that even after jail life doesn't return to normal. A felon can't just go out and get a job. Where do you turn from there? It's easy to consider doing something illegal when you have no other options and just want to live your life. Yeah, they were convicted, but they are innocent.

Episode four may be the roughest episode. Korey Wise went to adult prison. He's a kid in an adult prison and he's basically set up to die. Korey's story is heart wrenching. What happened to all of these kids is, but seeing what happens to Korey is especially tough.

The justice system has a responsibility and it failed in this case. This isn't the only time, but what's crazy is that this went to trial and they were still convicted. These kids never had a fair chance.

While their charges were eventually vacated, there is no way to reverse what happened. Years of their lives were stolen.

Black Mirror Season 5 Review

Black Mirror (2011-)
Season 5 - 3 episodes (2019)

Watch Black Mirror Season 5 on Netflix
Created by: Charlie Brooker
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Nicole Beharie, Pom Klementieff, Andrew Scott, Topher Grace, Miley Cyrus
Black Mirror Main Page


Plot
Each unconnected episode examines the pitfalls when technology and society intersect. What happens when technology goes off the rails, creating a horrifying situation? Does technology make us happier, is being connected at all times beneficial, and does it do more harm than good? The stories are known for their harrowing nature and depressing conclusions.

Verdict
This season doesn't feel like Black Mirror. The episodes focus more on interpersonal relationships than technology. While technology is involved, none of these episodes had the impact of previous seasons. The episodes aren't bad, but Black Mirror has set a precedence of greatness that isn't reached this season. I like the concept of each episode, but I'm not afraid of the future of technology after each episode like I usually am.
It depends.

Review
Prior to this season, I couldn't binge Black Mirror episodes. I need to contemplate and recover from what I had seen. I never got that feeling this season. The episodes didn't seem as ambitious or as deep, and Rachel, Jack & Ashley Too was comedic even. It's a completely different tone.
The harm in all three episodes is aided by technology, but it's people at the root that would have found a way to further their plot regardless of technology. In previous seasons technology made something unique possible. Has Black Mirror peaked? It's easy to argue seasons one and two are the peak. With fewer episodes too, I expected this season to come closer to the peaks of the first two seasons.

The concepts this season are great, but the execution leaves me wanting more. Black Mirror has set the bar so high, that I expect a well developed world that turns my presumptions on it's head and leaves me devastated. I want to see the dark side of technology and these episodes aren't as bleak.

Striking Vipers
I really like the concept of this episode. This sets up with two old college buddies, Karl and Danny, starting to play virtual reality video games together. Danny is a middle class dad envious of his music exec friend Karl, but you get the feeling Karl is envious of Danny. They live opposite lives but seem to want what the other has.

They play a fighting game, Striking Vipers. It's a game they played in college and now it's back as virtual reality. The episode does a great job of capturing video game fighting in live action. Karl always plays as a female character. That's weird in this video game world that seems real. The video game characters kiss, but how much of that is real?
Is Danny just attracted to the female character? What's going on with Karl? It seems Karl may have a fantasy he's trying to fulfill. Their gaming sessions don't involve fighting and it's affecting real life.
It isn't a real relationship. It's sensation and fantasy. They don't even talk. Danny is embracing a female character. We see this from Danny's point of view. We don't know what's going on with Karl. Is it a Danny thing or just a male thing?

It's living a double life as they are different people in the game. The root question is are they attracted to the character, the forbidden nature of their deed, or the person behind the character. It's also an escape. Everything physical, which is the root of this attraction is a fictional character.

Danny blocks Karl from his life, but then has to know is it a game thing or an us thing. In real life they don't have that spark. Those feelings are manufactured, a by product of the game. Like Karl said, it's different in the game. Ultimately the game seems to be porn for them.

Pacing the episode with birthdays is a nice touch. The ending is a trip, but it doesn't have the punch of typical Black Mirror episodes. The broad questions is intriguing. As we approach hyper realistic VR, where is the line? What feelings are an emotional connection and which are just primal desire?
The pull of the game is the escape, the sensation.

Smithereens
This certainly seemed poised to be my least favorite episode of the season.

A ride share driver is hunting outside Smithereens social media company employees to give them rides. Soon we discover he wants to talk to the founder.

The bulk of the episode is a hostage situation when the driver kidnaps an employee. The coolest aspect of the episode is that the social media company runs though this guys personal information and has a better handle on the situation than the cops. They use the app on the phone to listen to the guy. The crazy thing is they can do that because I'm sure the guy signed everything away upon joining. This episode is about the potential. A company like Facebook could do this if the need arose.

People watching the standoff under mean the cops by posting images and what they hear cops say.

Social media is made to be addictive and has the ability to be incredibly intrusive. It's a great starting point but this episode doesn't do enough. I did like the parallel of a mother held hostage by not being able to get into her deceased daughter's social media account, but then why does she need to? What would she see?

Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too
Rachel is using pop star Ashley as an escape. That's media in general is used. Rachel is at a new school, embarrsed by dad, and trying to combat those feelings. She envies Ashley

In an early scene, and reoccurring is a Nine Inch Nails song that's remixed to sound more pop. Apparently Trent Reznor is a big fan of the show.

We see that Ashley's pop star image is a front. She's on medication, but we don't know what it does.
Rachel being the Ashley fan she is has to have the Ashley doll. How smart is this doll? The doll helps Rachel be more ambitious by entering a talent show, but I couldn't help thinking that it's also setting her up for failure. The doll is also making her complacent and comfortable without friends. I thought this was going to be the crux of the episode, but it's not.

Rachel's entry into the talent show takes a dive when she stumbles, but the dance wasn't that good before. She lacked confidence, but I can't tell if the crowd liked it or just liked her effort. They didn't laugh, so I guess they approved.

Rachel's older sister takes the doll, and I thought at first Jack wanted to engage or befriend the doll. Jack is hiding it because Rachel is obsessed and relying on the doll. Their dad seems ill equipped to handle two fighting teen girls.

It turns out Ashley's aunt feels she deserve's Ashely's earnings for taking her on when Ashley's parent's died.
The aunt has a cash cow and isn't letting go. It's the old I put a roof over your head, you owe me. I get the aunt didn't necessarily choose this, but she had options. Ashley has allowed the aunt to live quite a charmed life. I think the debt has more than been repaid. I wish the aunt was detailed better to make her more than just a money hungry villain.

It was crazy that the aunt uses technology to create albums and music from a comatose Ashley. The mood of the song can be changed with a dial. This has to be an Autotune dig.

There's a twist with how much the doll is like Ashley, but what follows is hokey. The conclusion of this episode is even more hokey. Black Mirror isn't supposed to do happy endings. I liked where this episode could have gone, but it fumbles at the end. It's a weak conclusion.

Dead to Me Season 1 Netflix Series Review

Dead to Me (2019-)
Season 1 - 10 episodes (2019)

Watch Dead to Me on Netflix
Created by: Liz Feldman
Directed by: Alex Kurtzman
Starring: Christina Applegate, Linda Cardellini, James Marsden
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer & more information

Plot
A powerful friendship blossoms between a tightly wound widow and a free spirit with a shocking secret. Christina Applegate plays Jen, struggling to keep it together after her husband was killed in a hit and run. Linda Cardellini plays the free spirit Judy.

Verdict
While the draw is Cardellini and Applegate on a show together, their characters are fully developed through grief and humor as they play off each other. They're very different characters, and I also wondered if secrets would be revealed. The show slowly provides more information for both characters, and at times this part mystery show as Applegate's character is determined to discover the truth. In the case of this show, the truth could do more harm than good.
Nearing the end this seemed poised to wrap everything up, but the final episode takes a turn which ensures there is plenty of story for another season.
Watch it.

Review
Two women are grieving, and we explore how that grief manifests differently in both of them. The twist in the first episode is the hook of the show. Judy (Linda Cardellilni) knows more than she reveals about what happened to Jen's (Christina Applegate) husband. I like that the twist is in the first episode.

Whether Jen discovers that revelation is teased throughout the season, and it's something that is very difficult for Judy as she attempts to make up for it. Judy's secret grows throughout the season as we learn the circumstances.

Jen can be negative, wanting to shut the world out. You can't blame her with what she's been through, but she can't shut down as she still has a family and job that can't be ignored. Judy is dealing with her own tragedy while splitting from her fiance. She's a positive force, but often her attempts to better a situation have unintended consequences.

This show really has some moments with the characters. While it's dealing with various forms of grief, it also develops these characters well through touch and humorous moments.

How Jen feels about her husband's death changes throughout the season, and how Judy feels about her role in Jen's life also changes. If all the information the audience knows is revealed, it could have a devastating effect on their relationship.

Love, Death & Robots Season 1 Netflix Series Review

Love, Death & Robots (2019-)
Season 1 - 18 episodes (2019)

Watch Love, Death & Robots Season 1 on Netflix
Created by: Tim Miller
Starring: Scott Whyte, Nolan North, Matthew Yang King
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer & more info

Plot
In this animated anthology series for adults, the shorts span the genres of science fiction and fantasy to horror and comedy while presenting a variety of animation formats from traditional 2D to photo-real 3D CGI. Each segment is about ten minutes long, created by different teams of filmmakers from around the world.

Verdict
This is a fun watch. Each ten minute episode provides a quick idea, some only half an idea, but I loved every bit of it. Even the episodes I didn't like as much, are over soon enough. Some of the CGI is just crazy good. There are a lot of episodes that are really neat. Even if you aren't a fan of sci-fi, this isn't always heavy on the science. I like that this isn't a show that asks me to remember a lot or watch a dozen episodes for a conclusion. It's easy, fun, and I want more. This contains eighteen unique ideas, and some of these worlds are ripe to be revisited. I hope this gets a second set of stories.
Watch it.

Review
I was excited about the premise, a sci-fi anthology, and this delivered. I prefer live action over animation, but in sci-fi it gives creators the ability to stray farther from reality. From the trailers, you realize this show is aimed at adults. There is plenty of casual, and not so casual, nudity. Also, lots of blood, though that's not present in every episode.

Episode five, Three Robots, became a fast favorite. It's a fantastic ten minute jam whether or not you like sci fi or animation. It's a change of pace that's a lot more glib. I also really liked episode eight, Suits, it tells a story we've seen before but does it so well. Episode sixteen, Zima Blue, was a stunner. It delves deep into finding meaning. It stands above the other episodes.

Episode 1 - Beyond the Aquila Rift

The CGI in the first episode, Beyond the Aquila Rift is uncanny. It's very realistic. The animation is great, the story and dialog is lacking. It's a good hook to pull in people that may not be keen on animation as this looks more live action. The ending completely makes this episode. With all of these episodes, the short nature gives it a lot of punch and the ability to enact a quick twist. The length definitely helps.

Episode 5 - Three Robots

Some episodes feel too short, while some are less sci-fi and more just a fun story. Episode five, Three Robots, follows three robots after the world ended. The episode is really funny and the writing is quite a bit better than some of the other episodes. I'm also glad not all episodes are blood, guts, and nudity. Episode five soon became one of my favorites. It's a look at the world from a perspective that is once removed.

Episode six, Ice Age, included a live action portion with Topher Grace playing a character that has a tiny civilization in his freezer. It's a more fun episode as he gets to watch a civilization advance from the Ice Age.

Episode seven, The Witness, is only half an idea, but I'm glad stuff like this has an outlet. I enjoyed the half idea. A lot of these episodes lead me to wanting a full series, but that length would rob a lot of these of what makes them good. It's hard to overstay the welcome here.

Episode 8 - Suits

Episode eight, Suits, has mecha equipped farmers. It's more a traditional style of animation, and while it has some predictable parts in the story, I didn't care I knew where it was going, because the episode made it such a good moment. This was near the top, and the twist on the ending made it even more fun.

On the title alone, When the Yogurt Took Over, I eagerly anticipated episode nine. It's a lot of exposition and an interesting concept that feels kind of flat. But with the length, you might as well watch it anyway.

Episode 13 - Helping Hand

Despite the short run time, episode twelve, Shape-Shifters, packed a lot into the episode. It's more fantasy than sci-fi but it delves into discrimination in an intriguing way. Episode thirteen, Helping Hand, was a wild ride that got dark.

Episode fourteen, Fish Night, was kind of shallow, but the animation in episode fifteen, Lucky 13, made me wonder if there was some live action overlay. You get a pilot that bonds with her ship and it leads to the question, was the ship sentient. We want it to be, but want doesn't equate to fact.

Episode 16 - Zima Blue

Episode sixteen, Zima Blue, might be the best. It's a search for meaning that really throws you for a loop. The art style is more stylized, and this episode easily has the most depth, asking difficult questions. It's a great story. Absolutely fantastic.

Episode seventeen, Blindspot, was a Fast & Furious style heist. Simple and to the point.

Episode 18 - Alternate Histories

Episode eighteen, Alternate Histories, was a fun history altering attempt. You can't change the past. You can't kill Hitler.

I loved this series. It was a blast to watch and easy to binge. It's a series I've come back to watch again if only for background noise. Even then, some episodes pull you back in.

The Umbrella Academy Season 1 Review

The Umbrella Academy (2019-)
Season 1 - 10 episodes (2019 February 15)

Watch The Umbrella Academy on Netflix

Created by: Jeremy Slater
Starring: Ellen Page, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, Mary J. Blige, Cameron Britton, Adam Godley, Colm Feore
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer & more information

Plot
A disbanded and dysfunctional family of superheroes reunite after their adoptive father, who trained them to save the world, dies.

Verdict
This show has a great vibe. It's the end of the world, but the siblings are busy arguing with each other. That's the tone of this show, comedy against a dire backdrop. The story is engrossing with mysteries and reveals in equal measure. Be forewarned, this does end on a big cliff hanger. Most of the characters are well developed. The stylized production is really well done and the soundtrack is simply amazing. I rarely binge a show, but I couldn't stop watching this.
Watch it.

Review
This has a great introduction. Forty three women became immediately pregnant and gave birth. Sir Reginald Hargreeves managed to adopt seven of these children who had special powers.
At first we don't know what their powers are, but learn them as the show progresses. I wondered what happened to the other thirty-six babies, but this season doesn't answer that.

Hargreeves trained the kids to be super heroes in his Umbrella Academy, robbing them of a childhood. He referred to them by number, not name. This show takes a lot of common super hero tropes and looks at them from a worst case scenario. None of the children continued being super heroes into adulthood and their upbringing alienated them from their father and each other. Upon Hargreeve's death, the children return to pay their respects.

The Academy was composed of Sir Reginald Hargreeves who adopted, Luther aka Spaceboy, Diego, Allison aka The Rumor, Klaus, Number Five, Ben, and Vanya.

There's also a robot mother, Pogo a primate associate of Hargreeves, and two assassins in the mix.

Number five had been missing for years. He can teleport, but became lost when he decided to transport himself not only in space, but in time. He's back, albeit in a child's body due to a miscalculation to stop the apocalypse. His arc unfolds each episode, at first seeming contradictory. I had a lot of questions about Five and what happened, wondering if his claims were true at all, but everything will be revealed. Five is one of the better characters with the actor absolutely owning the part.

 

Klaus is the comic relief, while also an addict. He's really funny and over the top, but his story is also tragic. We eventually realize he's an addict to dull his ability of seeing dead people. His brother Ben, who died in an unknown accident, acts as Klaus's conscience.

We realize soon that Hargreeves was a taskmaster. There are quite a few questions about Hargreeves the show hasn't answered. He has to be a Professor X send-up, but the depths of how training super heroes rather than raising stunted the group gets worse each episode. These characters all have a tragic streak and that's because they were trained to be super.

He may have treated Vanya worst of all. Vanya was one of the mysterious children, but doesn't seem to have powers. She was always treated as lesser than by everyone. We quickly get a few clues, that there is more to that story than we realize.

There are a lot of moving parts to the story that seem separate but they all come together eventually. This is certainly entertaining, There are a lot of questions, and these questions compel you to watch another episodes while allowing you to develop your own theories. The show never makes you wait too long for answers, at least for the broad story arcs.

Hargreeves death and the impending apocalypse all link together. By a certain point you'll know the root cause of the apocalypse, but that doesn't hamper the show. I knew the what, but I wanted to know the how. We find out the how, but this ends on a big cliffhanger. I hope this show gets another season, but with how good it is I would be shocked if it didn't.

Altered Carbon Season 1 Netflix Series Review

Altered Carbon (2018-)
Season 1 - 10 episodes (2018)

Watch Altered Carbon Season 1 on Netflix
Created by: Laeta Kalogridis
Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Martha Higareda, James Purefoy, Kristin Lehman
Rated: R
Watch the trailer 

Plot
In a world where the human consciousness can be digitized and transferred, Takeshi Kovacs is put into a cop’s body as he’s hired to investigate a suicide purported to be a murder. Laurens Bancroft apparently committed suicide, destroying the stack that contains his consciousness, but with a 48 hour back up, he buys a new body and hires Kovacs to figure out what happened in those two days.

Verdict
The concepts and ideas anchor this show. The writing isn't as nuanced as it should be and the conclusion falters as the novel is altered so that a single thread can unify story lines and characters. While I really enjoyed the series, many changes to the novel come at the expense of the story.
It's definitely a fun world that borrows a Blade Runner aesthetic and it's made to be binged. Each episode's conclusion leaves you wanting more as Kovacs puts together the pieces of this case.
The idea is great, the execution is only adequate, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't watch.
Watch it.

Review
The series looks amazing. The production values are great and the show likes it's big shoot outs. At its core it's a murder mystery, introducing themes that explore capitalism, the class divide, and immortality. I've read the book many years ago, but the show compelled me to look a few things up as it didn't track with my memory of the book.

Flying cars, because of course.

This starts with Takeshi Kovacs in a new sleeve. All bodies are sleeves for the cortical stack that houses a person's consciousness. He's been in prison storage for 250 years. It's mentioned more than a few times but apparently nothing has changed in that time span as he has no culture shock. It could be a detail just as easily deleted as it doesn't matter. In this world, when your stack is stored your body is leased out to the highest bidder. The first episode is a lot of setup, but it's a promising story with solid world building. I did everything a pilot should.

Kovacs prison sentence isn't up. Bancroft, an extremely wealthy Meth (short for the biblical character Methuselah who lived a very long time) pays to lease Kovacs to solve his murder case. In this society the rules don't apply to the wealthy. With a little, or a lot of money they can do whatever they please. Bancroft likes that Kovacs was part of the rebel group, the Envoy. He's trained to adapt to new sleeves and the sleeve he's in has combat and reflex augmentation which make him particularly effective in combat.

The streets where the poor live.

The skies house the rich.

We get backstory and the central mystery, but the voice over is unnecessary. The series should show us details instead of constantly telling us. Narration works fine in a book, but video is a different medium that isn't conducive. Part of the show's problem is apparent with Kovac's cigarette smoking. We see him frequently smoke, but only later does he say his sleeve has a nicotine addiction. It could have shown us trembling or calloused fingers. Kovacs could desperately search for a cigarette, but none of that happens. He blatantly tells us.
If Kovacs solves the case he gets a full pardon. While it appears to be suicide, Bancroft doesn't believe it. A man like himself wouldn't commit suicide. He's rich after all. Bancroft is part of the elite that lives high above the clouds, can duplicate his body, and even create backups of his stack. This process would cost a lifetime's worth of money for the average person. That's the pilot and it will draw you in.

Kovac's old body.

You can always spot a budget sleeve.

At times this feels like a solid sci-fi story with soap opera stylings. There's frequent nudity, and while I don't have a problem with that if it serves the story, showing how bodies are a commodity, it's used to show characters deliberating in the shower. It wouldn't be hard to link nudity with the value of life, but the show doesn't present taht as such. The ending unnecessarily tries to thread the plot to tie every single character and it doesn't need to. It's drama for the sake of it. Not everything needs to connect.
There's a large chunk of backstory in one episode, and it completely alters the pacing. It's not a bad episode, but that information isn't even needed and at worse should have been included throughout the season. The big mistake is that Kovacs doesn't have to be tied to the origins of the rebellion.
There are already flashbacks in each episode that reveal parts of Kovac's method of operation. His training tells us why he's making friends to solve the case, though the show is frequently afraid we won't make the connection. We get one big info dump during episode seven in another attempt to stitch everything together. It's a divergence we didn't need.

Kovacs and his sister Rei.

The series relies on Kovac's rebel training to inform all his decisions and I would have liked to see him in more sleeves, though that might be a budget issue. There are more than a couple settings though we do revisit them. We do see him in a few different sleeves, but the series seems to dip back to the same week of his life when he joined the rebels. There also could have at least been some kind of mannerism that tied Kovacs and his sleeves together.

Head in the Clouds floating entertainment.

How much money is too much? The series looks at the obscenely rich and the society formed under extreme wealth disparity. The conclusion is that wealth combined with living for so long leads the rich to see new and extreme experiences. This touches on guilt, but that is more of a footnote.

The series feels the need to create a single villain. This changes a cultural dynamic of how this society works into an orchestrated plot to get Kovacs. It rings hollow, because such an elaborate scheme isn't necessary.

The Raven Hotel.

Kovacs is a contradictory character, but he isn't as well defined as he should be. We're told from the beginning that he must fit in an establish a expendable support base to complete an objective. His base is The Raven hotel, an A.I. hotel that people don't use for some reason but proves incredibly effective for Kovacs.
We realize he has a degree of morality, but even that isn't played well when he decides to save the poor from the rich into the run up to the finale.
The series has plenty of problems, but I enjoyed it while watching. This completely rides on the strength of the concept. The concept is so good that the shortcomings don't completely derail this. It's only after thinking about the series to review it that the shortcomings really to start to show.

Warning, book spoilers below!

Quell Falconer, rebel leader.

The cop that doesn't like him.

Kovac's team by the end of the season.

In the book Karahawa was NOT Kovacs's sister but someone with a controlling interesting in brothels and letting the rich kill them. Karahawa employed only neo-c people (new catholics who refused to be reseleeved after death, even if to solve a crime) so truth would stay buried.
Karahawa was against legislation to allow neo-cs to be spun up. His plan was to leverage Bancroft to fight the legislation, and he also framed Ryker.
Another scene I remember from the book was the interrogation of Dimi, that patch work man. While I couldn't find a reference to this, the series included a patch work man kids book.
Changing the show's motive to Rei just wanting her brother back complicates things needlessly. She's rich. Why does she need the theatrics and shadow play?
In the book, Kovacs did kill Karahawa using the virus.

Black Mirror Season 4 Netflix Series Review

Black Mirror (2011-)
Season 4  - 6 episodes (2017)

Watch Black Mirror Season 4 on Netflix
Created by: Charlie Brooker
Starring:  Jesse Plemons, Cristin Milioti, Jimmi Simpson, Rosemarie Dewitt, Andrea Riseborough, Kiran Sonia Sawar,  Georgina Campbell, Joe Cole, Maxine Peake, Douglas Hodge, Letitia Wright
Watch the trailer
Black Mirror Main Page


Plot 
Each unconnected episode examines the pitfalls when technology and society intersect. What happens when technology goes off the rails, creating a horrifying situation? Does technology make us happier, is being connected at all times beneficial, and does it do more harm than good? The stories are known for their harrowing nature and depressing conclusions.

Verdict
This is a solid season, though none of the episodes are going to land on my best of Black Mirror list. The series is still just as deep and thought provoking. None of them are bad or anywhere in the land of skipping. Some of the themes are in the same range as previous episodes, but the stories are unique. This delivered the mind bending episodes I expect from the show. I appreciate the level of detail the explores and idea, and technology is still scary. This season won't disappoint.
Watch it.

Review
This review is free of specific spoilers, though I will talk about concepts and themes in the episode. I did review each episode individually, delving into spoilers and theories. Check that out:

• USS Callister
• Arkangel
• Crocodile
• Hang the DJ
• Metalhead
• Black Museum

The show is just as complex, but some of the technology ventures close to concepts we've seen before. Maybe that's inevitable with a rising episode count, but this season thankfully didn't recreate stories. It further mined the idea of a trapped consciousness. It's a concept we saw in White Christmas, and it returns in two episodes this season. Episodes explore how technology can transform even mundane life, virtual reality, a dating app, and we even get an episode in the future.

I love that Black Mirror always does a good job of answering my questions, eventually or immediately. Small details are not just hand waved away. In episode two a character pulls a tablet from storage and my first thought was that there would be no charge. Most shows would ignore that, but this show has the character pull out a charger for the tablet next.

I've been anticipating this season since season three aired, and I was definitely satisfied. My only complaint is that either I'm getting used to the show or the episodes weren't quite as soul crushing as I've come to expect, though every episode pushed me to consider how we use technology and the caveats hidden in 'advancements.'

My ranking for this seasons from my favorite to the least is Metalhead, Black Museum, USS Callister, Arkangel, Hang the DJ, and Crocodile.

I love the style of Metalhead. It's a departure from the five minutes in the future setting, delving into what appears to be a post apocalypse of sorts. It's black and white which only reinforces how bleak it is. It's a simple plot focusing on escape. The action is often intercut with music creating the feeling of an incredibly violent music video. We know very little about this world, and it isn't explained. The world isn't the point. This is a game of survival between human and robot. This has the best conclusion of any episode this season. I didn't think this episode could get any more bleak, and it manages to go even further. It's my favorite episode this season, not least of which because it leaves me wondering what happened in the world and who did it.

Black Museum felt very Black Mirror, with three vignettes that fold into the larger story, similar to White Christmas.. We get medical breakthroughs that develop disastrous consequences. The museum in this episode is full of easter eggs, from this season and the past. This episode explores a disregard for humanity, a character harming himself, a husband ignoring his wife, and the world at large enjoying the torture of a digital facsimile. The rights of a digital consciousness is something Black Mirror has explored before. If a being thinks it's real, does that make it real? When they feel pain, solitude, and emotion just as strongly, where do you draw the line?

USS Callister opens with an eye roll inducing scene before deftly revealing what's really happening. It's a big caution to virtual reality and how that can cause people to act out dark fantasies. What we see isn't reality, and that trips us up a few times. This is the most twisting episode, reinforcing that idea with a main character that illicits sympathy before that becomes revulsion. Virtual reality is a platform that allows sociopaths to feed their twisted side.

Arkangel explores the desire of parents to keep their kids safe. In the need for security a mother ends up severing the relationship with her daughter. This has some great moments when we get the child's point of view. Regardless of how much control you have over your kids, if you don't trust them you will push them away. It's a concept that transcends technology, and it results in a heartbreaking conclusion. It's a bleak ending, though not the bleakest ending of the season.

Hang the DJ is going to generate San Junipero comparisons. It's not as good, and surprisingly it ventures into fairy tale territory in way the show has never done. Character relegate themselves to unhappiness because a dating app tells them to. This episode, as all the episodes do, tackles a lot. It's has the kind of ending I want, turning the entire episode on it's head, but it also makes me think everything I saw isn't real.

I don't want to call Crocodile the worst episode of the season, but it was the most disappointing.
It has a lot of promise, but the technology aspect took a backseat. It had the most promise to really bend my mind, but it didn't capitalize. The ending holds a surprise, but not in the bleak and eye opening way an episode of this show should end.
I love the subtlety of this world, the roving pizza vendor, the memory machine used by insurance adjusters, and the digital identification.  It's part Minority Report on a much smaller scale.
This starts by examining how two lives have fractured. This is the emotional foundation, but the memory box seemed secondary. I like how we see the street scene in the beginning without knowing how it fits and we circle back to that. It's clever how an episode about memories pushes you to remember scenes early on that seemed innocuous only to come back in full force. I did think the episode would exploit the fallacy of memory more. It's probably the best concept of the season.
This episode has some absolute killer scenes, but overall it felt weak. It didn't take the idea far enough. I wanted to see more about how this device changes society instead of a character that goes from zero to crazy in no time.

With Black Mirror it's difficult to pin down a best episode. Every episode provides numerous points for an argument. This is basically a list of the episodes I liked the most.

Black Mirror Season 4 Episode 6 - Black Museum

Black Mirror (2011-)
Season 4 - 6 episodes (2017)

Watch Black Mirror Season 4 on Netflix
Created by: Charlie Brooker
Starring: Douglas Hodge, Letitia Wright
Watch the trailer
Black Mirror Main Page


Plot 
Each unconnected episode examines the pitfalls when technology and society intersect. What happens when technology goes off the rails, creating a horrifying situation? Does technology make us happier, is being connected at all times beneficial, and does it do more harm than good? The stories are known for their harrowing nature and depressing conclusions.

The sixth episode of season four is Black Museum, where a woman on the way to visit her father visits a strange museum of various oddities involved in crimes.

Verdict
This episode felt very Black Mirror, with three vignettes that fold into the larger story, this hearkens back to the Christmas special, White Christmas.. We get medical break throughs that develop disastrous consequences. This episode is full of easter eggs, and the individual stories funnel into the overarching narrative.
Watch it.

Review
 Nish, driving a classic car that is passed off as futuristic, seemingly stumbles across a museum of curiosities involved in crimes.

 

The curator Rolo Haynes begins to tell her the story about a headset on display. A doctor could feel the pain of others through the headset and interface screwed into his skull. He becomes a great doctor, but when he experiences death by proxy, he develops an addiction to feeling others' pain. It just so happens that the biomedical engineer that sold the doctor the headset was Rolo, at least that's the story he tells. As with most addictions, the doctor's appetite can't be satisfied. He loses his job and resorts to harming himself. The doctor's need for pain leads to one of the goriest and disturbing clips in Black Mirror. When we see the state the doctor's in, how he's managed to maximize the amount of pain extracted from his body but still be alive, it's horrid.
I figured the show would have him jump straight to killing people, but it doesn't. It teases the dark hole the doctor is descending. What we see is worse than if he did just kill people.

We see quite a few exhibits that contain items from other Black Mirror episodes. The assimilation device from episode one, the tablet from episode two, and the bath tub from episode three appear among others from previous seasons.

 

The next story is about a woman's consciousness trapped in a teddy bear. She was in a terrible accident resulting in a coma. Through the advent of modern medicine, and again through the aid of Rolo Haynes so we're told, her consciousness can be transferred to her husband. He has his wife back inside his head, but someone watching everything you do soon becomes tiresome. At first he is able to silence her by "pausing" her. It's not long before the husband wants rid of her. He transfers her to a teddy bear, giving it to their son, but kids soon tire of toys. Rolo claims transferring the consciousness got him fired, but he also couldn't delete the consciousness. Now she's relegated to this museum.

These stories lead up to Rolo's main attraction, a digital copy of a convicted killer Clayton Leigh. Rolo persuaded Leigh to sign over his consciousness before Leigh went to the electric chair for killing a reporter. The reporter slaying was heard in the background during the story of Rolo's first exhibit about the doctor.
Leigh became Rolo's main attraction with visitors able to pull the switch and kill an already dead killer through a self aware facsimile that experiences the event. It's unsettling that people would want to do that, but Black Mirror posited how sadistic people can be to convicts in season two's White Bear. That same idea was revisited in White Christmas. As a bonus visitors get a key chain with Leigh's consciousness in eternal agony. Years of abuse have left Leigh a non-responsive shell of a human.

The pieces begin to click into place. Nish is visiting her father on his birthday, he lives in the desolate area. Nish is out for revenge and her father is Clayton Leigh. Nish crafted a trap and puts Rolo in her father's place. Nish uses Rolo's tricks to trap him in a key chain of eternal agony.

Nish leaves the museum with key chain and teddy bear in tow, and we get an even bigger twist, her mom is in her head, just like the teddy bear story.