tv review
Reviewing insightful and thought provoking science fiction TV and technology.
Review of 'The Rook' Season 1 Finale
The Rook Season 1 finale, just on last night, was an excellent, brilliant episode on all kinds of levels, including Gestalt in unified attack action again, and Myfanwy getting the better of the Russian guy who looked like Putin.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'The Rook' 1.7
A great, almost-all explained penultimate-of-the-season episode 1.7 of The Rook last night, in which we learn how Myfanwy knew she was going to lose her memory, and in turn why she wrote that note and left other information for her future amnesiac self, and how specifically she got into that position with no memory on the bridge, surrounded by a bunch of dead guys.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
She-Ra Is the Best New 'Star Wars'
For whatever reason, Netflix has consistently put out quality cartoon reboots of 80s properties; Voltron, Castlevania, Carmen Sandiego. But the one that I am constantly surprised by just how genuinely good it is, is She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. This show is not only a great science-fantasy show, but it’s giving me the fix I need that I should be getting from Disney’s Star Wars sequels.
By Danny Duff7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'The Rook' 1.6
Myfanwy meets her sister in The Rook 1.6 -- assuming she is her sister, real family. This in contrast to Checquy, who act as if they're her family. Checquy is certainly as dysfunctional as many families, we'll give them that. (I like how each of the Checquy pronounces their name slightly differently, you notice that?)
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'The Rook' 1.5
The Home Secretary came into focus in The Rook 1.5 this past Sunday. No figurehead, she, but a crucial player, who's been having an affair with Conrad, and wants to be Prime Minister. And she's well played by Gina McKee, whom I first noticed in The Borgias.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Years and Years' 1.5
Episode 1.5 of Years and Years couldn't be more tragically relevant to our lives right now in the United States, off-screen. It was about the treatment of immigrants, their placement in concentration camps, and what that really means.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'The Rook' 1.4
The best episode of The Rook—1.4—was on last night, in which we find out lots of stuff about Myfanwy. First and foremost: she knew that Bristol had something important to do with her forgotten past. She thought it was the city (and it's a nice city, one of my favorites in England, after London), but it turns out to have been the name of her shrink. And as soon as they meet in this episode, in the present, it's crystal clear (to the audience, if not yet to Myfanwy) that they were having an affair. Her earlier self has left her a note, in Bristol's possession (which he gives to her now) that tells her to run if she's in Bristol's presence.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Years and Years' 1.1-1.4
My wife and I just watched the first four episodes of the British Years and Years on HBO. It's about as powerful and caustic a depiction of the rise of fascism in our time—that is, so far in the short series (six episodes), 2019-2027—as you'll find. Which is, searing and gut-wrenching indeed.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'The Rook' 1.3
The most compelling thing(s) about The Rook 1.3 on Starz earlier this evening was the Gestalts and the short but effective explanation we got about them. They make a nice piece of science fiction, especially for the television screen, and work well in that Philip K. Dickian tradition.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'The Rook' 1.1
The Rook on Starz starts off with a bunch of familiar premises—someone (in this case, a young woman) wakes up in a dangerous situation with no knowledge of who she is. She gradually learns about her past and situation from a series of helpful messages from her younger self, who knows she's in danger of having her memory wiped. We and she learn that she (Myfanwy is her name) is part of an MI6-type British secret service group. And soon another very different, but also very familiar, trope is revealed: Myfanwy has some kind of super powers—the ability to inflict physical damage on people via her mind—and the MI6 group (Checguy) is somehow all about this.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
