tv review

Reviewing insightful and thought provoking science fiction TV and technology.

Review of 'Amazing Stories (2020)' 1.2: The Heat
Life after death stories -- the departed coming back to help, haunt, or otherwise interact with the living -- are a dime a dozen. Amazing Stories' (2020) second episode, "The Heat," manages to visit this well-trodden path with a story that is at least somewhat original, even if that originality relies upon yet another very well-worn gambit in fiction.
By Paul Levinson5 years ago in Futurism
Netflix’s ‘Away’ shows a mission to Mars. It may be closer to reality than you think
In the second episode of Netflix’s space drama “Away,” two astronauts head outside into space to make some emergency repairs.
By Sandeep Verma5 years ago in Futurism
review of 'Away'
My wife and I just finished binge-watching Away, a 10-episode series, on Netflix. I can't recall a better movie or television series about missions to Mars or early human settlements on Mars, and that includes contenders like The Martian, The Martian Chronicles, and Total Recall.
By Paul Levinson5 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Raised by Wolves' 1.2-3
I just watched Raised by Wolves 1.2 and 1.3, on HBO Max. It's all that is available there now (along with the first episode that I saw and reviewed here the other night), but the three are more than enough to convince that this will be a major science fiction series, with a complex, multi-level, intriguing narrative.
By Paul Levinson5 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Amazing Stories (2020)' 1.1: "The Cellar"
I finally had a chance to take a bite out of Apple TV+'s reboot of Amazing Stories (it's so quiet when I write, you can sometimes hear a pun drop), and I thought I'd tell you what I thought of it.
By Paul Levinson5 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Raised by Wolves' 1.1
I saw Raised by Wolves 1.1 last night, courtesy of HBO Max, where the series is set to debut tomorrow, September 3. In a sentence, it's a big concept, altogether excellent combination of fast action and deep philosophy, as befits Executive Producer Ridley Scott, and especially well-suited to our pandemic ridden time, when the very fate of humanity could well be at stake if things get much worse.
By Paul Levinson5 years ago in Futurism
Top 10 Mind-Bending Sci-Fi Shows and Movies You Can Stream Right Now. Top Story - August 2020.
10. Upload The age-old question of “what happens after we die” is at the heart of Amazon’s “Upload,” a show about a man who dies and his consciousness is resurrected in a digital afterlife. He can still talk with his living friends and family, something that might provide a lot of comfort to many people who lose a loved one suddenly. There’s a catch, of course: The dead person’s afterlife only exists so long as their storage space on a gigantic server is paid up. People can opt in to this afterlife party if they want, and if they have the resources to support it, and the idea of death shifts greatly for those who make this purchase. They’re literally buying extra time, but they can’t physically touch or hold or interact with people, and technology doesn’t exist to download their minds into another body.
By What If5 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Twice Upon A Time'
Just binged Twice Upon A Time on Netflix. It's of course a time-travel story -- in this case, a four-part mini-series in French, with English subtitles. It was surprisingly excellent. In fact, downright memorable.
By Paul Levinson5 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Star Trek: Picard'
Just finished binging Star Trek: Picard on CBS All Access. It's the best Star Trek since Star Trek: The Next Generation, which is where Jean-Luc Picard was introduced. And unlike TNG which was episodic, this first season of Picard was serial, which is a big plus in my book.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Altered Carbon' 2
I really enjoyed the first season of Altered Carbon. I enjoyed the second season even more. It was sharper, tighter, more effective in narrative in just about every way.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Emergence' 1.8
To be blunt: I thought Emergence 1.8 was, well, a weak episode. Here's why: I think the series is spinning its wheels, or choose your metaphor for a series that started out ok, got considerably better, and now seems to be going nowhere. This in part is because there have been too many deaths of villains or conflicted characters — Kindred and then Wilkis. And to make up for this, we keep getting new villains emerging on Emergence. Unfortunate, since that presumably is not why the series was so named.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Emergence' 1.7
A fast-moving episode 1.7 of Emergence. I hope the rest of the season continues at this pace. We learn a lot. Emily is Kindred's daughter. She created Piper — or, rather, got Wilkis to create her — to satisfy Emily's need to have someone who really loved her. But, for reasons we still don't completely know or understand, the AI that is Piper wound up with a mind of her own.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Futurism