It’s “What did you watch this week?, my chance to tell you what I movies and TV I’ve watched this week that I haven’t already reviewed and your chance to recommend things to everyone else (and me) in case I’ve missed them.
The usual “TMINE recommends” page features links to reviews of all the shows I’ve ever recommended, although I haven’t had time to add Satisfaction to the mix, yet. I’ll hold off adding The Bridge (US) to the mix as well, since although the original was recommended and this sticks pretty close to the original’s plot, there’s always a chance it’ll go off target.
Still in my viewing queue: Being Mary Jane, which I never did get around to watching this week; Room 9, The Africa Channel’s Torchwood-esque (it’s even got a Captain Harkness in it) import from South Africa; Count Arthur Strong, BBC2’s adaptation of the Radio 4 comedy about an old music hall comedian; and Orange is the New Black, Netflix’s new comedy-drama from Weeds‘ creator, set in a women’s prison.
I did manage to try NBC’s Camp, a comedy-drama starring Rachel Griffiths that’s set in a summer camp for teenagers:
While there were a few laughs to be had, although not many, in the first 10 minutes or so, as well as a certain fascination in trying to see if Rachel Griffiths’ Australian accent would slip out in conversations with fellow Aussies (the whole show was filmed in Australia), by about the 15 minute mark it became obvious that a large portion of screen time was going to be filled with teenagers in bikini and that it was therefore utterly inappropriate for me to be watching it. So I switched off.
Here’s what I thought of this week’s regulars:
The Almighty Johnsons (TV3/SyFy UK/Space)
Quite a dramatic episode in some regards since we saw the (probable) departure of a long-running and integral character. It was quite an artful way to write them out, given how important they are, and handled very impressively. That said, with no strong series A-plot, outside of this manoeuvring, we were left with various couples trying to establish or maintain relationships. This major plot development now out of the way, this does leave the show’s ducks lined up for next week to forge forward, fingers crossed. Some fine acting by Keisha Castle-Hughes, incidentally.
Continuum (Showcase/SyFy)
After playing around with a bunch of other plots for a few weeks, Continuum returned to its main plot: Theseus, Alec, Liber8 and how much of the future is pre-determined. Interestingly, this episode saw Keira become more of a baddie, more in keeping with the evil future cop she should be in some senses, which was a fun twist in what was actually quite a dark and in some ways uncomfortable episode. More, please.
Perception (TNT/Watch)
A slightly inferior episode, with a very dodgy plot hammered onto a somewhat interesting psychological ‘trick’, familiar to anyone who’s ever seen videos like this. The eventual reveal is ridiculous, but no much more so than in any other procedural.
Ray Donovan (Showtime/Sky Atlantic)
A marked improvement over the first episode, thanks to the slower pace and fewer elements being thrown in the maelstrom of the plot. Donovan’s ‘fixing’, however, has stopped being clever and has instead turned into simple gangsterism, making that less interesting, although his treatment of the trans prostitute was a sympathetic character note. There was also more comedy, making it a slightly easier viewing experience. But it’s still not pleasant or that enjoyable.
Under the Dome (CBS/Channel 5)
More of the same. I’m really just watching for Rachelle Lefevre’s hair now.
“What did you watch this week?” is your chance to recommend to friends and fellow blog readers the TV and films that they might be missing or should avoid – and for me to do mini-reviews of everything I’ve watched. Since we live in the fabulous world of Internet catch-up services like the iPlayer and Hulu, why not tell your fellow readers what you’ve seen so they can see the good stuff they might have missed?
