It’s “What have you been watching?”, your chance to recommend to fellow TMINE readers anything you’ve been watching this week
Not quite as complete a reviewing week as I’d hoped, as Impulse took up more time than I’d expected, as did work. But I did manage to squeeze out a look at Paramount (US)’s American Woman. I did, in the end, give AMC (US)’s Dietland a try but given there was a close-up of a woman using a razor to cut open her own breast in the first minute, I decided it might not be for me and gave up pretty speedily.
I’m not sure I can bring myself to watch anything on OWN – that’s the Oprah Winfrey Network to you – so Strange Angel might be all I’ve got up my sleeve in the next couple of days as far as new shows go. However, as season 2 of Marvel’s Luke Cage is on its way, I feel a bit of a boxset coming on.
That’s all to come, but after the jump, I’ll be looking at the latest episodes of the newly replenished TMINE viewing queue: Bron/Broen (The Bridge), Condor, Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger, Mystery Road, Succession and Westworld.
TV shows
TMINE recommends has all the TV shows TMINE has ever recommended and TV Reviews A-Z lists every TV show ever reviewed here
Shows I’m watching but not necessarily recommending
Condor (US: Audience)
1×2 – The Solution to all Problems
A far more exciting and less stupid affair than the first episode, with Mr Irons having to deal with implacable Terminator like adversaries in what’s still surprisingly authentic to the original movie. Weirdly, the show also introduced Angel Bonanni, only to pair him off with Gabrielle Joubert. Is it deliberate that they’ve stuck the two Israeli actors together? They’re both speaking English to one another, but perhaps it means something deeper…
I’m also getting the feeling that Condor is doing that relatively new thing of thrusting a marvellous cast in our faces for episode one, only to kill half of them off in episode two and replace them with cheaper actors, because the budget wasn’t big enough to keep them for longer. Still, Mira Sorvino’s here, too, even if she only got to have one scene.
Reviews: Initial review
Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger (US: Freeform: UK: Amazon)
1×3 – Stained Glass
Less interesting than the first two episodes in some regards, since just as with Mystery Road, a lot of the socio-economic analysis of earlier episodes has fallen by the wayside in favour of some somewhat tiresome explanatory backstory. But the addition of voodoo and more of a Southern feel to the show was certainly a plus.
Reviews: Initial review
Mystery Road (Australia: ABC)
1×4 – Silence
Far less interesting than when it started, thanks to a focus on simply solving the crime rather anything more socio-political, and all that family squabbling can get right out. Even the drone photography of magnificent Australian landscapes are starting to grate. But still plenty to like in the episode, particularly the last 10 minutes or so when we start to get a bit more of an Aboriginal feel to the whole thing. There was also at least some decent detecting going on.
A couple of episodes to go, though, and episode 4 of a six-part series is always the dullest, so here’s hoping for next week’s.
Reviews: Initial review
Succession (US: HBO; UK: Sky Atlantic)
1×3 – Lifeboats
I am not the world’s best businessman but even I can spot that Murdoch Jr is total shite at his job. Not as fun as previous episodes – less a comedy with a shade of business than business with a shade of comedy. Some good moments from the other Culkin, though.
Reviews: Initial review
Recommended shows
Bron/Broen (The Bridge) (Sweden: SVT1; Denmark: DR1; UK: BBC Two)
4×6
So everything’s linked to Tommy is it? That’s handy and season one ish.
Reviews: Initial review
Westworld (US: HBO; UK: Sky Atlantic)
2×9 – Vanishing Point
To be honest, I’m more interested in the Man in Black going bonkers and poor old Sela Ward and his daughter than I am in a lot of Westworld at the moment, so the “am I a replicant?” quality was a definite plus of the episode. But we’re back in Futureworld territory again for the most part, and while that was arguably more interesting and better plotted than the original Westworld, I don’t think I especially want that updated or extended into a TV series – was Beyond Westworld not warning enough? Still, at least James Marsden has been put of his misery, having had bugger all to do for a season. Maybe it was in his contract. Although people do have a marked tendency towards immortality in this show.
Episode reviews: Initial review, Verdict
