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Reviews
Doctor Who: Orphan 55 (2020)
Mostly entertaining with a few stupid moments
This feels like RTD era Doctor Who, but with a few moments where it was like "Oh, that was dumb." Luckily those moments aren't too frequent. Overall I was very entertained, and while I usually like a little more complexity simply being entertained is an upgrade from being bored in Series 11 or angry and confused in Series 6-9.
Also, the whole "preachy, climate change propaganda" is the last >2 minutes of the episode. So every complaining about it like it's so detrimental to the episode obviously have some kind of other problem. If you stop the episode as soon as they get back to the TARDIS after the adventure is over, you'd never know they attempted an environmental message.
Upload (2020)
Full of potential, but ultimately disappointing
While an hour long format may help differentiate the show from another afterlife-based comedy created by an Office alum, it simply is too lengthy for the approach. The show spends far too much of its focus on impressing the audience with everything they came up with for their world rather than have anything interesting really happen in it. While its clear they spent a fair amount of time trying to flesh out this world behind the scenes, the rush to explain it to the audience ends up feeling heavy-handed.
There is far too much commentary being thrown at the viewer for the show to be considered "stupid but fun," like 'Eureka', but also far too many unpolished or downright insultingly dumb moments for it to be considered "smart but fun," like 'The Good Place.' I hope future episodes prove me wrong, otherwise this interesting concept will have not been done justice.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine: He Said, She Said (2019)
Upsettingly hamfisted
Okay, so I support the message and love this show, but this episode is so poorly done. The B Plot with Captain Holt and The Disco Strangler is fun and funny, but the A Plot about the sexual assault takrs up the majority of the episode and is so obviously trying to send a message. Entertaining is on the backburner here. While I wholeheartedly believe that stories like this are important and should be told to raise awareness of these types of issues, the execution is lacking in the least.
B99 has tackled serious issues before and better. The first example that comes to mind is "Moo Moo," which tackles racial discrimination in the police force. That episode was legitimately funny and the events felt natural within the context of the show. The characters within this episode, however, have no redeeming qualities and are upsettingly one-dimensional. The sexual assault victim is impossible to relate to and hard to empathize with if not for the events she is put through. So much of the dialogue is stiff and unnatural, serving more as a tool with which to speak to the audience instead of a tool for characters in universe to communicate.
This is the only B99 episode I skip on rewatch. I want so desperately to like this episode, but it is clear that the writers prioritized their message over quality. Everything they say is heartbreakingly real, but I will not use that as a reason to sing its praises. I hope to see more episodes like this in the future with more care put into the execution.
Jack and Dean of All Trades (2016)
I live this show so much and I'm not ashamed to say it
Jack and Dean have always been funny on YouTube. This show gives them an excuse to be in unique situations every episode while also movie along with a overarching plot. Plus the shorter episodes allow them to pace everything quite rapidly, which aligns nicely with their style of comedy. My only complaint is that there aren't more episodes.
Doctor Who: The Tsuranga Conundrum (2018)
I don't understand the hate for this episode
While not great, especially compared to some older episodes, this is my new favorite episode out of the new series. It was previously 'Rosa' until I realized the subject matter of that episode made it impossible to rewatch without cringing. We get some solid Doctor moments and not an overwhelming amount of companion silliness. At this point, people might just be hating it to hate it.
House M.D.: One Day, One Room (2007)
Never thought an episode of House would be so full of itself
This episode is just bad. My two issues with it are a) it's mind- numbingly boring and b) it's insanely full of itself. In an effort to give House a little more characterization, the writers elected to throw out the medicine and any hint of subtly, going instead for the "If we talk about big issues we'll make them sound really deep" approach. Additionally, because they felt the need to cram as much 'characterization' as possible into one episode, it's super boring. Basically, imagine the first Lord of the Rings movie, except without the magical lands and the likable characters and the promise of any future conflict whatsoever. Now all you have is a load of expository information that instead of being handed to you gently is just beaten over your head until you convince yourself that it must mean something, because a show as smart as House would never force you to sit through such dribble for forty minutes. The worst part is you can tell that the writers are so proud of themselves for tackling these subjects and attempting to develop their characters that they don't notice how pretentious the whole thing comes out to be.
I can appreciate dedicated character development, and I'm not opposed to plots that solely evolve around character study. But this episode is just bad.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015)
Amazing! A must watch!
Wonderful! Absolutely hilarious! The pilot is kind of lacking compared to the other episodes, but once you get two or three episodes in, it hits a stride that doesn't end until the season finale.
With a tone similar to 30 Rock, I can see this lasting nearly as long, or longer. The comedy is very similar, relying on quirky characters in unusual situations. And, if nothing else, the characters are incredibly well flushed out, and an incredibly compelling reason to continue watching the show.
I highly recommend, and with only a dozen or so episodes in season one, at only twenty minutes each, it's a quick watch that provides endless laughs.