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Reviews
Leverage: Redemption (2021)
Laughably bad
I have no idea how this has received such good reviews! Storylines are predictable, acting is incredibly lame....feels like the kind of program that would come on after Monk on daytime TV. Avoid if you like any kind of remotely intellectual simulation and/or entertainment.
Debris: Do You Know Icarus? (2021)
Shades of Memento
For those that have accused Debris of not progressing the plot enough, well episode 9 answered the critics. The most enthralling instalment so far and glad I stuck with some of the slightly dry earlier episodes.
Lost: The Constant (2008)
11 years since Lost finished...
....we've had three lockdowns, years of on-demand TV, countless binge-watching evenings, days, weekends....and still, nothing compares to Lost, and The Constant is by some distance the most emotive, spine-chilling, dramatic hour of cinematic genius ever produced for mainstream TV.
I won't spoil it for the viewers yet to be consumed by this masterpiece, but it feels like every moment before this episode was preparing us for it- not the first time Lost has done this, nor will it be the last if you're watching for the first time, but if you keep the tears down for more than a few minutes, you've got more determination than me. My kids have seen me cry three times - once at their births, and twice watching Lost :D and this was quite possibly the most powerful!!
McDonald & Dodds (2020)
If Adrian Monk crunched carrots...
Nice easy viewing in the same way Monk was. Quirky but shy West Country born-and-bred Detective Dodds (Jason Watkins), who puts butter on his chips but has an uncanny knack of solving obtuse whodunnits, pairs with ambitious, gritty DCI Mcdonald (Tala Gouveia), and the chemistry really makes the show as she spends half her time looking at him like he's, well, putting butter on his chips, and the rest justifying his job to her macho bench pressing superior (James Murray), who successfully manages to film every episode in a wetsuit.
The plots don't even attempt to be unpredictable - you pretty much know who the culprit is, but there are a few twists to keep you mildly amused.
It ain't quite The Wire, but with little else on telly, it beats watching rubbish like Sam Fairs Mummy Diaries and Bianca Jackson having a meltdown.
Lost (2004)
The greatest, most under-appreciated TV Show of all time
2020 has been a bloody awful year let's face it. One of the few highlights has been that the perfect storm of a dearth of new TV and a lockdown that has driven us towards binge TV more than ever before reigniting interest in shows like The Wire, Breaking Bad and Lost. The latter is for me unequivocally the greatest series of all time.
Lindelof and Abrams have never and will never hit the heights of Lost because where do you go from there? On its first airing, despite a cult following, the long wait between episodes and absence of easily accessible discussion groups (although lostpedia was around back then IIRC) meant much of the symbolism and underlying themes were somewhat diluted. Were it rated today, it would receive far higher than the paltry 8.3/10- the character developments and acting, especially from Henry Ian Cusick, Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn - the highlight of their careers - brought some unforgettable episodes, not least 'The Constant', deservedly regarded as the finest episode of any TV show this century. This during a season where many viewers felt the show had lost it's way, moving into full on science fiction and covering themes regarded unrealistic and implausible, but aren't quite as far fetched as many would believe.
I watched the show with my three daughters and as I bawled my eyes out through the last episode as I had much of the last season, my middle daughter summed it up perfectly with the line 'Nothing will ever beat Lost' - I'm pretty sure she's right; Counterpart, Mindhunter, True Detective, Westworld, Mad Men, The Sopranos, The Wire and La Casa de Papel are fine series', in fact there are many great shows, but none captivate like Lost, and were it reviewed all over again today, the partisan variance would be far less apparent.
If you watch one show in your life - make it Lost, and don't watch it with your phone in your hand, give it the attention it deserves.
Lost: The End: Part 1 (2010)
Blubbed through the whole two episodes
Probably the most emotive bit of television of all time, and way ahead of its time. I've seen some really disappointing series endings - Dexter in particular springs to mind - but Lost is not one of them.
Season 6 seems a little haphazard at times, but the loop is closed by the end and the majority of the questions answered. Nowadays TV is made for the semi conscious generation who wouldn't spot the intricacies and the symbolism that Lost wonderfully portrays. By the end of the final episode it's difficult not to feel emotionally exhausted. It's not the best episode - that's without question The Constant - but it's a fitting finale.
I read the actor that plays Desmond is up for another series, and I think it could be possible, but equally it's beautiful as it is.
Lost: LaFleur (2009)
Foreseeable, but beautiful
I could watch this episode a hundred times and still fight back the tears at the end. An absolute masterpiece that is criminally underrated
The Crown: Moondust (2019)
A jewel in an average season
Season 3 has been pretty uneventful but this episode was outstanding from start to finish - impeccably portrayed and so poignant that I turned to my girlfriend at the end and said - that's why I feel the way I feel - and I'm sure I wasn't alone.
Instant Family (2018)
Comedy?! Tear jerker from start to finish
After spending the first half of the film cursing Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne for fostering for all the wrong reasons, I cried my eyes out for the whole film. And then watched episode 14 of season 2 of the good doctor and cried even more! A beautiful film that you don't need to be a foster parent to appreciate.
Westworld: Kiksuya (2018)
The best episode of any series of all time
Enthralling and emotive to the extreme. Westworld is incredible but having now watched all of season 2 I can't see how this episode will ever be surpassed.
Westworld: The Passenger (2018)
Incredible
Not the best episode of the season - that was Kiksuya, by some margin, but it wrapped up the season as expected. Westworld is enthralling, beautiful and emotive and this finale was no exception. I was so immersed I spent most of the episode stood up. Ignore the haters, this is pure cinematic genius