tv review
Reviewing insightful and thought provoking science fiction TV and technology.
Review of 'Manifest 1.1'
I reviewed the 9 and 1/2 minute sneak peek of Manifest in August, and said it had some outstanding possibilities as a time-travel drama. I therefore watched the full first-hour debut last night with great expectation. And it was good. But...
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'The First'
Tina and I binged The First on Hulu the last couple of nights -- the first being the first mission with people onboard to Mars. We enjoyed it immensely. I'd say it's the best of any-mission-to-anyplace-in-space narrative on screen, and that includes some masterful motion pictures like Apollo 13 and The Right Stuff.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Manifest' Sneak Peak 9-and-1/2 Minutes
Having flown back a few days ago from The Mars Society Convention in Pasadena, and time-travel being my all-time favorite genre, how could I resist watching the nine-and-a-half minute sneak preview of Manifest, a series about a plane that travels instantly through time from 2013 to 2018, to debut on NBC at the end of September?
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
'The Prisoner' - Volume 2 Review
The first volume of Nicholas Briggs' remake of the classic ITC series The Prisoner was a risky move for Big Finish. After all, a remake in 2009 had failed to take off, and since then, rebooting the franchise had seemed a risky prospect. I suspect that even Big Finish didn't expect the first volume to take off as much as it did. And, just as that first volume was one of the best releases of 2016, this second set of four stories is one of the best releases of the year as well. All four stories are amazingly put together, with fantastic scripts, amazing acting and peerless soundscapes, and two of the four episodes I'd argue stand as two of the best hours of material that Big Finish have ever put out, in its near 20 year history.
By Joseph A. Morrison7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Humans' Season 3 Final Three Episodes
I decided to review the final three episodes of Humans, Season 3, as a single piece, since they're even more closely connected than episodes usually are in this fine series. The upshot of these episodes, and a great foundation for a fourth season, is that it's possible to have a true synch-human hybrid—true, that is, and assuming I'm understanding this correctly, on the genetic level.
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism
Review of '12 Monkeys' Finale
Well, I'm a sucker for happy endings, and I would never have forgiven 12 Monkeys if ended with Cole and Cassie apart, or dead—which indeed is the worst kind of apart—and I'm very glad I don't have to. That is, forgive 12 Monkeys. Because ... [spoilers ahead]
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Humans' 3.5
On the eve of the Fourth of July in America earlier this week, it was good to see the synths in Humans 4.5 making progress towards independence, even though the show has been moved from 10 PM to the less desirable 11 PM hour by AMC, thank you.
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism
Review of '12 Monkeys' 4-7.9
I've been saying for years—well, since 1995, when Terry Gilliam's movie, starring Bruce Willis and Madeleine Stowe first came out—that 12 Monkeys (based on the 1962 short, La Jetée) is the best time-travel movie ever made. This gave the television series, which came out in 2015 and I've been reviewing ever since, a lot to live up to. Up until tonight's penultimate three episodes (4.7-9), the best it did was sidestep the movie, and tell us other time-travel stories. Especially in this final season, some of these stories were as good, in their own ways, as the movie.
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism
Review of '12 Monkeys' 4.4-6
12 Monkeys 4.4-6, which I saw last night, was so good on so many levels that I wanted to let it simmer, at least overnight, before posting a review. At this point, and on the basis of both these three and the first episodes of this final season, 12 Monkeys is well on the way to cementing itself as the best—most thoughtful and at the same time entertaining and exciting—time-travel series ever on television.
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Humans' 3.3
Humans, the excellent British series about sentient androids a.k.a synths struggling to be treated like human beings in a racist society—i.e., a society that puts the human race above other sentient beings—has an important, especially disturbing relevance to the treatment of people seeking refugee status at our southern border. The subject matter of Humans would always make it disturbing, but it's never been less escapist and more relevant to what we see on television news these days, in which Trump and his minions have severely damaged the American ideal like no other President in my lifetime, exceeding by a long way any runner-up, which I guess would be Nixon and Watergate.
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism
