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Homecoming (2018)
Season One
"Colin, you sound a little hysterical."
Homecoming season one is the third Sam Esmail project I have seen, and of course, Mr. Robot is above and beyond his best, I did like this a lot more than his film Comet. Homecoming kind of feels like an experiment with Sam Esmail's production company, ESMAILCORP, which, very soon, can be very successful. Homecoming cast is led by Julia Roberts, Stephan James, and Bobby Cannavale. Jeremy Allen White also gives a great performance, for his brief time in the show. I know mostly from the television show Shameless, so it was interesting to see him in something else. Although he gave a great performance, it was hard to imagine him not as Phillip Gallagher of shameless, in just an alternate universe where he's a former US Soldier. But, it is hard to not be overshadowed by a big role. Julia Roberts gave a... Julia Roberts performance. Great as usual. I did not care for her character that much, even though she was the main focus. Stephan James played Walter Cruz, who was by far my favorite character. He was interesting, you felt bad for him, and wanted to root for him. Bobby Cannavale gave a great performance, and wasn't overshadowed by his Mr. Robot role as Irving. The story took some time to pick up. After the first two episodes, I was ready to drop other than how visually stunning it looked. But I stuck with it. Episode three, titled Optics, is probably my favorite episode by far. It wasn't particularly special, but it was the most memorable and interesting. The story is there for a very intriguing story. But the writing execution, could've been better. Whatever the podcast it was based on I'm sure was very interesting. The camerawork for the show, even though it isn't Mr. Robot level, it is stellar for being a television show. And the way Sam Esmail directed faces in a this show was incredible. But, the story peaked my interest in episode 3, and never went up. Despite more interesting things happening. And that's alright. It was still enjoyable, and good. Just nothing too special. I definitely have no interest in watching season two, especially with Sam Esmail not involved in it. But, I am very excited for what Esmail does in the future.
Cobra Kai (2018)
Very fun show, can be better though
Cobra Kai was a really fun show that I probably needed after watching so many dark shows. I was originally going to watch the show when season one came out on YouTube, but I ended up not, forgot about it and then became uninterested by the time it came on Netflix. But, I decided to rewatch the karate kid movies and then give Cobra Kai a chance. I was pleasantly surprised with Cobra Kai. I didn't expect season one to show the perspective of Johnny Lawrence, who was the antagonist of the first Karate Kid movie. I also didn't expect for me to end up rooting for him. There is no iconic Mr. Miyagi of course, since he was already pretty old in the trilogy. Season one is pretty much the karate kid film with more room for development, and the perspective of the opposite. The final fight in the finale was a little underwhelming, but it was still fun. Season two of Cobra Kai I felt was a considerable improvement.
We got to see Johnny vs. Daniel and their karate kids. Season two brought up despite it just being a fun show, morality. What morality is for other people. For the original films, it was always black and white. Not so much anymore. It was also pretty interesting, and this calls back to season one, that Johnny's son was for the miyagi dojo. The finale also had something that I did not see coming, in a school fight in the finale Miguel broke his spine. I didn't expect anything like that to happen, and really made the finale a lot better. Season three is by far my favorite season. Which has a lot to do with the different perspectives. It has Johnny helping Miguel recover, which I loved them being together since they are my two favorite characters, it had John Kreese leading cobra Kai while Johnny had to build his back up, and Daniel not wanting to open up miyagi dojo. This was all the result of season two, and I love those type of seasons of shows. The final fight was very awesome, despite a lot of the fight choreography being lackluster.
I briefly touched on the characters, but I really love how they wrote Johnny Lawrence for this show. It showed that he wasn't so bad after all, and Daniel knew that. He keeps trying to get in touch with his son, but it never seems to work. His progression in season one was really cool, but he gets really interesting in season two, when John Kreese returns, his old dojo master. Who manipulated him into thinking violence is always the answer. We also see in Season three that Kreese was manipulated at one point too, in the military. It's all a cycle. Miguel, who is basically a son to Johnny, I would say is the "Daniel" of this show compared to the films. From season one to season three, he has really fantastic development, from thinking karate is just cool, to realizing or getting close to realizing what karate really is.
This is a really fun show. It was lighthearted, I love a lot of the characters, but I do have a few problems. All the teenage actors in the show do actually seem their exact age, as I was hoping they would be because their acting is uh pretty bad. Most of them do good enough. But some, it makes the show distracting sometimes. Like the actress for Daniels daughter, her acting is laughably bad. The adult actors are all fantastic, especially William Zabka for Johnny and Martin Kove for Creese. The fight choreography is also pretty bad amongst the children of the show. And, I can't help but wonder the potential this show has. A big problem in season 3(in the story not a technical issue) was the kids fighting with straight up violence. Which was fine. It was going to get resolved, right? Well, not so much. Lawrence and LaRusso decided to work together but they still best Cobra Kai very violently. So this problem didn't get resolved and I hope they explore into this in season 4, which would be a great way to end the show.
Invincible: Where I Really Come From (2021)
9/10 season, 10/10 finale
Invincible is another superhero tv show, which I was sure I was tired of. It just seemed like everyone was copying The Boys. And ironically enough, this was a prime original just like the boys. The show came on my radar when I heard it was an hour long animated television series. But that also came with being worried. But, the show hooked me from the start. The ending of the pilot is probably one of the most shocking endings to a pilot I've seen, so I was in for the show. Invincible isn't just another dark superhero content. It's just an animated superhero drama. Usually, animated shows just get straight to the point, rushing to the action. But, invincible had room to breathe. The dialogue and characters are engaging enough where the 45 minute long episodes do not feel like they are forever. Omni-Man, could be viewed as just another "evil" superman. Which, I'm not a superhero fan or anything, but can admit is getting old. And I was worried for a lot of the season, he was just another evil superman. But, the finale convinced me he's not just a generic villain.
We got to see why he was doing what he was doing. Why he betrayed Mark and all of earth, really. It might go more in depth later, but he has seemed to be manipulated by the people of his native planet, and now thinks he must destroy the weak. But he seems to still have humanity in him. Or grew that humanity. Most evil supermans have no sake of being evil. Even homelander, is just there to be evil. Which is the point so I don't have a problem with it. The main character, Mark from everything at surface level about him seems to be as generic as you get for superheroes. His suit is dull, Invincible as a name... Most superheroes are invincible. Throughout the first season, Mark goes through a lot. I thought it was funny how Mark kept getting beaten up, seemed like almost every season. His relationship with his father is the most compelling so far, and I'm excited to see it develop in future seasons.
I did have a few problems with the season, even though it was very few. Mark developed a romantic relationship with Amber. She could've been interesting, but I just found her as being generic. I found the relationship with Eve, which could be developed into romance in later seasons, more interesting. They both are superheroes, but also she understood Mark more than Amber did. For a while, it was hard for Amber to understand Mark, but even when she eventually did, she just came off as not sympathetic. There are also fights that take up a lot of screentime that don't have much relevancey, especially episode six. Which isn't a big problem, they were still fun. Mark also could've been a more interesting character, as I mentioned, but him not knowing the truth about his father blocked lots of the season, so in season two, I think he will become a very good character.
Breaking Bad: Ozymandias (2013)
Episodes don't get better than this. Literally
In my opinion, there has never been a better tv episode than Breaking Bad's ozymandias. Directed by Rian Johnson, who also directed another masterpiece, the episode Fly. From start to finish you are on the edge of your seat. Wondering what will happen next. Everything that happened in breaking bad leads to this episode. In the previous episode, Tohajilee, Jesse finally gets Walt. After all the manipulation, torture, poisoning basically his son, letting his love of his life die, blackmailing, he finally tricked the mastermind Walt. And it all didn't seem to matter. As tohajillee ends, the neo nazis and Hank Schrader and Steve Gomez go through a shootout. I couldn't imagine what it would be like for the viewers at home watching back in 2013. They had to wait to see what would happen in next. The greatest 48 minutes in television history starts not the way you would expect it to. With a flashback. All the way when Jesse and Walt were cooking the crystal blue for the first time. Walt gets on the phone with Skyler, discussing the name of their baby. Holly. When you first watch the scene it seems like a pretty pointless flashback. But as you watch the episode it makes sense. Holly is the main center of the downfall of the family. After the flashback we go back to one of the most depressing scenes of the show, and in television history. Hank's death. You know what's going to happen. No way he lives. Walt doesn't understand. In the most hank way possible, hank dies in the middle of talking. You see walt's face. Bryan Cranston's incredible acting. He goes into a state of shock. You might guess he realized he did all this. But as you see this is just the start. He saw this as jesse's fault. The whole reason the neo nazis are there is Walt wants Jesse dead. Walt finds Jesse. Hiding under the car. And Walt finally confesses that he watched Jane die. Which, he almost said in the episode Fly. But didn't. Todd mentions that they can torture Jesse for information, and Walt doesn't even hesitate. The man that he considered his son many times and he doesn't care. The next part of the episode is the only "dead" part of the episode. Walt takes his money. One barrel. While the hank killers take the other 6 barrels. Walt thinks he can still save all this. His car ends up breaking down. He gets a truck with his money. And here comes my favorite scene of the show. And episode. Walt drives to the house. Now, in a earlier scene in the episode, skyler tells Flynn everything. That his father is a drug dealer. He obviously doesn't believe it, but then they come home as Walt is hurrying trying to pack everything. Skyler and Flynn are confused as they thought hank arrested Walt. They show foreshadowing. Of the knife. All leading up. Then Skyler puts her arm in front of Flynn. Grabs the kitchen knife. This is where you know. Walt sabotaged everything. Skyler tells Walt to get out. He refuses. She then charges at him with the knife. All the rage over the years. And they go to a fight. Ending up wrestling on the ground. This is very heartbreaking as flynn has to break it up. And he calls the Cops saying his dad is a killer. Walt hurries and grabs Hollie. Getting in his truck. Skyler rushes out there. Skyler's car was behind the truck, and Walt rams the car and drives off. And you see Skyler. With blood all over her. Kneeling down. In tears. This is where I cry every time I watch this episode. I've seen it over 10 times. There's 15 minutes left still at this point. But I think I got my point across. Maybe someday an episode will surpass ozymandias. Probably will someday. But so far, all the shows I've seen, not one episode has been as good.
Supernatural: Destiny's Child (2020)
This show is not the same as it once was.
Ever since the show was brought back after the perfect series finale, Swan Song, this show has gone more and more downhill. Season 6 had its moments. Good episodes. But after that, not many redeeming qualities with this show. I did love season 11's Don't call me shurley. But other than that, this show is a broken record. The quality of the show has been absorbed by the horrible tv network, CW. Production wise, writing wise, acting wise, directing wise. It's kinda their thing to ruin shows. I just want this to end. Hopefully it can be satisfying but i honestly doubt it.
Supernatural: Changing Channels (2009)
One of the best satire episodes of all time
Supernatural is pretty experimental with their ways as it deals with the supernatural. But this episode is very different. Every episode with the trickster/Gabriel is a must watch. And this one is the best. If not the best supernatural episode. It plays a parody of guilty pleasure shows, specifically Grey's Anatomy. Which is ironic, as once supernatural gets bought by the cw, it became the show that it poked fun of. But every single second of this show is some of the funniest comedy I have ever seen.