TV reviews

A complete archive of The Medium is Not Enough’s reviews of TV programmes since 2005

One Lane Bridge
Australian and New Zealand TV

Review: One Lane Bridge 1×1 (New Zealand: TVNZ)

27 April 2020 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

In New Zealand: Mondays, 8.30pm, TVNZ1
In the UK: Not yet acquired

New Zealand has a habit of making TV shows that look like they’re going to fit in one relatively mundane genre yet end up having a supernatural or sci-fi twist. The Almighty Johnsons would have been just a bunch of brothers behaving badly were it not for the fact they were also descended from Norse gods. Cast your mind back to period drama Children of Fire Mountain and you’ll recall the supernatural hallucinations that drove the narrative, while Children of the Dog Star seemed like a rural coming of age tale, right up until an alien space probe showed up in the nearby swamp.

And now we have One Lane Bridge, which at first seems like a perfectly ordinary “big city cop has a culture clash with a small town cop when the two have to investigate a mysterious death” show. You’ll have seen plenty of those before, but here, the big city cop is a Maori (Dominic Ona-Ariki) and when he starts to investigate the crime, he discovers he has ‘Matakite’ – the gift of second sight and he has visions of the dead.

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Rose Byrne and Tracey Ullman in Mrs America
Streaming TV

What have you been watching? Including #blackAF and Mrs America

22 April 2020 Rob Buckley 18 Comments

It’s “What have you been watching?”, your chance to recommend to fellow TMINE readers anything you’ve been watching this week

Previously on TMINE

It’s been another busy week for TMINE, but I have managed to eke out the time needed to review The Baker and the Beauty (US: ABC). Meanwhile, temporary new film review feature Covideodrome was inaugurated with Sliding Doors (1998).

Rashida Jones and Kenya Barris in Netflix’s #blackAF

Next on TMINE

Coming up after the jump, I’ll be reviewing Mrs America (US: Hulu; UK: BBC Two) and #blackAF (Netflix). But as usual, Covid-19 rules apply to the following new shows: I have every intention of watching all of them, but might not be able to, for one reason or another.

I’ve finally managed to track down The Secrets She Keeps (Australia: Ten; UK: BBC Four), which will be getting a review later in the week. Elsewhere down under, over in New Zealand, One Lane Bridge has just started, so I’ll be giving that a watch if possible.

On the streaming services, Season two of After Life will be arriving on Netflix on Friday, while Defending Jacob is Apple TV+’s new Friday show. I’ll probably watch at least a bit of them. Monday’s Never Have I Ever (Netflix) sounds a bit YA for me, but I might give it a try, too.

Lastly, in the US, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (US: Showtime) is arriving on Sunday, but despite the presence of Natalie Dormer in the cast, I’m not sure I can be bothered with this, given I wasn’t the greatest fan of Penny Dreadful.

But that looks like about it.

Sofia Helin Mystery Road
Sofia Helin and Aaron Pedersen in Mystery Road

The regulars

I haven’t watched any more Tales From The Loop, but other than that, it’s the usual regulars after the jump: For Life, Transplant, and Westworld, as well as the season/series finales of Devs and War of the Worlds.

But two previous regulars have returned this week, so I’ll also be covering What We Do In The Shadows (US: FX; UK: BBC Two) and Mystery Road (Australia: ABC; UK: BBC Four), too.

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US TV

Review: The Baker and the Beauty 1×1 (US: ABC)

17 April 2020 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

In the US: Mondays, 10/9c, ABC
In the UK: Not yet acquired

Does comedy translate? Does romance translate? The answers to those questions might seem obvious, but with The Baker and the Beauty, a US remake of one of Israel’s highest ever rated scripted shows, להיות איתה (Beauty and the Baker), it seems those answers are ‘a little but not really’.

Translation, after all, is an art and the biggest problems with The Baker and the Beauty aren’t so much with the original text as with the way it’s been translated.

The princess and the pauper

The basics of the plot of the first episode are more or less unchanged. On the night of his four-year anniversary with his girlfriend (Michelle Veintimilla), Daniel Garcia (Victor Rasuk) runs into Noa Hamilton (Nathalie Kelley), a famous model, shortly before his girlfriend Vanessa dumps him when he refuses her marriage proposal. Noa, claiming she feels bad for him, picks Daniel up and offers him “three wishes” for the night. Soon, they realise they’re both attracted to one another.

In itself, it’s a classic ‘different worlds collide and find love’ story, which has worked thousands of times over hundreds of years. That’s not the problem.

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Streaming TV

What have you been watching? Including Run, Brews Brothers and Home Before Dark

15 April 2020 Rob Buckley 7 Comments

It’s “What have you been watching?”, your chance to recommend to fellow TMINE readers anything you’ve been watching this week

Previously on TMINE

With the double bank holiday weekend of Easter just passed, it’s not 100% surprising that TMINE didn’t manage to review anything at all since the previous WHYBW. But I did at least watch a whole bunch of tele, which I’ll talk about in a mo, and hopefully, I’ll be doing better this week…

Brews Brothers

Next on TMINE

I’m still no further along than episode 8 of the latest season of Babylon Berlin (Germany: Sky; UK: Sky Atlantic) and I never managed to find a way to view The Secrets She Keeps (Australia: Ten; UK: BBC Four). But they appear to be the only logjams in the TMINE viewing queue, since I’ve made great progress elsewhere. Yep, my quarantine-induced lack of focus, time and inclination to watch things appears to be dying down as I adjust to the new normal.

After the jump, I’ll be talking about a whole bunch of new shows: Home Before Dark (Apple TV+), Brews Brothers (Netflix) and Run (US: HBO; UK: Sky Comedy). Tomorrow, I plan to review an actual movie in a temporary replacement for Orange Thursday called Covideodrome: Sliding Doors (1998). Yes, I’ve been sitting on that name for a while.

Meanwhile, coming up over the next week are new shows Mrs America (US: Hulu; UK: BBC Two) and #blackAF (Netflix), with season two of Mystery Road (Australia: ABC; UK: BBC Four) arriving on Sunday. I will try to watch and even review as much of them as possible, as well as anything else I’ve overlooked – including The Baker and the Beauty (US: ABC).

Bloom

The regulars

I haven’t had time to watch For Life yet, but other than that, it’s the usual regulars after the jump: Devs, Transplant, War of the Worlds and Westworld. Joining them, however, is newbie Tales From The Loop and we have the return of Bloom as well. See you in a mo.

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Tales from the Loop
Streaming TV

What have you been watching? Including Tales from the Loop

9 April 2020 Rob Buckley 8 Comments

It’s “What have you been watching?”, your chance to recommend to fellow TMINE readers anything you’ve been watching this week

Previously on TMINE

Quarantine schedule continues at TMINE, but just like fresh fish in prison, we’re getting the hang of lockdown. That means I actually reviewed a new TV show this week: Broke (US: CBS).

Boxsets, movies et al still remain a tiny, dreamt of aspiration, and I suspect having a four-day Bank Holiday weekend to enjoy this week won’t change that, but to quote the great Ben Kingsley in the equally great Perpetual Grace LTD, “Get it. Get the rhythm, get the rhythm, there we go, there we f*cking go” – and it seems I’m getting it.

Next on TMINE

I’ve finished rewatching season one of Iron Fist, you’ll be relieved to hear (still great, particularly its juxtaposition of eastern philosophies with western plotting), which means I have actually started a few new shows, although I’m still no further with season 3 of Babylon Berlin.

After the jump, we can talk about the first episode of anthology show Tales From The Loop (Amazon). I also made a start on Home Before Dark (Apple TV+) this morning, so I might have something to say about it by next week.

We’ve some new and returning Australian shows coming up this week: season two of Bloom is due to hit Stan tomorrow, while I’ve just discovered The Secrets She Keeps (Australia: Ten; UK: BBC Four) is apparently already out, ahead of schedule – thanks, coronavirus! – so I’ll give them both a whirl, if I can.

Netflix is giving us Brews Brothers tomorrow, while Run (US: HBO; UK: Sky Comedy) is starting on Sunday. Monday will give us The Baker and the Beauty (US: ABC). Again, I’ll try to watch them, but it’s a Bank Holiday Monday, so let’s see how well I do on Tuesday work-wise before I promise anything.

Stateless

The regulars

It’s the usual regulars after the jump: Devs, For Life, Transplant, War of the Worlds and Westworld, as well as the season/series finale of Stateless. As per last week, I’ve not had time to watch last night’s episodes of Devs and Transplant. Catch you on the other side.

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