Almost Human 1.03 Review: No One Wants to Die

Anyone that has yet to watch last night’s episode of Almost Human, titled ‘Are You Receiving?’, now would be a good time to go and do that. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed at your own discretion.

Well, that was a jam-packed hour of entertainment (okay, so really between 40 and 45 minutes, discounting commercials). Only three episodes in and I’m already loving this series. It may even be the best new series of this season, even ahead of The Blacklist… But don’t quote me on that, because it’s still pretty early on.

This week’s episode was about a hostage situation that turned out to be a decoy for a precious metal heist. All of the characters really worked well in this high-pressure situation, and we got a lot of nice moments between Kennex and Dorian. These two work really well together. The mix of tension and new partner type reliability on each other is done astoundingly well.

There were a lot of wonderful moments to this episode. Dorian smiling after Kennex tells the one hostage he has on the phone that everything will okay. Also, Kennex chewing the used gum so he can fix Dorian. Kennex wearing the face disrupter and then saving Dorian’s life. And, obviously, the Benny and the Jets song, which Dorian sang along to. These were all just a few of my favourite moments of this episode. Also, the fact that they basically only included Kennex and Dorian goes to show just how much I love these two partners.

All in all, this series is really shaping up to be something special. The special effects are fantastic, I almost feel like I’m actually watching a basic cop show in the year 2048. The acting is also great, something rather abundant in our two leading males. And this episode just fit well into the last episode’s timeline, while the pilot may not have worked as well as this series is working after it. Suffice to say, if you’re not watching this show, you really should be.

My rating: 8 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“There’s- I can’t- Do you- Christmas.” – John pretends his call is breaking up with the Captain so he can ignore her order. Also, nice to know someone other than myself that uses the word Christmas randomly to get someone’s attention.

“Hello, I’m Detective John Kennex. I’m an automated police officer with a very difficult personality.” – Dorian mocks John by using his voice to answer a 911 call.

“There’s fifty shades of purple in there.” – John exasperates to Dorian, after he touches the wrong tendon in the AI’s wound.

Okay, I’m off to watch Sleepy Hollow now, and The Blacklist right after that. Check back soon.

Almost Human 1.02 Review: The Importance of Being Remembered

For all those that have yet to watch last night’s episode of Almost Human, entitled ‘Skin’, I suggest that you go do that before proceeding ahead. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

This series is kind of brilliant. While the pilot episode was a little tedious in that it had to set this world up for us, this episode kind of made me fall in love with this series. Just the way it began, that opening was perfectly wonderful for a futuristic cop drama that shows us more about people through the eyes of one synthetic (read: robot) than some people are able to express it today’s world.

Really, I kind of loved this episode. No, it didn’t share as much continuity with the previous episode as I like for my television, but I’m kind of okay with that because this episode was much better than the pilot. After watching this, I see more of a mix of many different series, blended together quite professionally. This is the kind of cop drama I can get into.

Can I just comment on the CGI work and special effects? They’re amazing! I mean, for someone who has watched Once Upon A Time for three years now, this sci-fi series blows their special effects out of the water. For a TV budget, I can find hardly anything remiss, and I tend to have an eye for seeking out terrible special effects. I feel like I stepped into a movie budget on television. That being said, that could worry me if this series doesn’t reach a high amount of viewership, more so than normal, it could mean unreasonable cancellation based on its likely high budget. I certainly hope that isn’t the case.

Karl Urban was much more interesting tonight as Detective John Kennex. The man has this strange kind of humour to him that I just find adorable. While I can see them eventually pairing him up with Minka Kelly’s Detective Stahl, I would like to see a bit more chemistry between them and scenes shared before that develops further. They could have something interesting, but at the moment it seems more one-sided in her awe for him, despite how he explained his ideal woman is basically her in a nutshell.

For me, Michael Ealy’s rendition of Dorian that was the star of the episode. The very subtle way in which he is able to play his emotions into what is basically a robot is simply phenomenal. Every time his face shows up on screen, I can’t help but watch the minute nuances that display emotional in the slightly stilted synthetic way. This is the man to watch in this series.

Also, I’m very much enjoying the partner relationship between Kennex and Dorian. They do seem to be coming along as a great team, and I am quite intrigued to watch this develop over the course of this series. I’m sure there will still be many obstacles to overcome, despite how they seem to have clicked more as partners since Sunday’s pilot episode. They are definitely a pair I can see watching over the long run.

All in all, I really love this series. While it is still soon to say if I will watch this series as long as it runs, especially being that I can find cop procedurals eventually tedious, as long as they keep an interesting and fresh take for my television to record each week, I will come back. There are definitely some mysteries to be solved, and some relationships to be watched over the course of this show. I’m just a little weary that there is something a little off with this show that I can’t put my finger on. Still, I am intrigued by the promos for the next episodes.

My rating: 8 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Maybe the cats are allergic to you. Did you ever think of that?” – Dorian relates to Kennex.

“Add him to the list of kids and cats.” – Kennex tells Dorian, regarding the list of those that don’t like Kennex.

“Who is going to remember me?” – Dorian asks Kennex, in an emotionally charged statement.

“Don’t scan my testicles. Ever again.” – Kennex says to Dorian.

All right, ladies and gents, I’m off to watch Sleepy Hollow now. Stay tuned.

Best Performances of the Week: Revenge's Charlotte and Once Upon A Time's Peter Pan

Welcome to the fourth edition of Best Male and Female Performances of the Week. This is a weekly update that will occur, for the most part, on Thursday’s – or shortly thereafter – once I’ve finished watching and reviewing the past week’s worth of episodes, where I will single out one male and one female performance that I believe merits special attention for the week. This, like my reviews, will be based solely on my opinion of the shows I watch in a week, and if you don’t like who I’ve picked, well that’s just too bad for you.

This week my choices came out of a pot of nineteen series’ (and if you don’t know which, go check out my reviews from the last week). For any not caught up in Revenge and Once Upon A Time, please feel free to exit promptly from this blog. I am not a spoiler free source for shows. THIS BLOG MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed at your own discretion.

Best Female Performance of the Week:

Christa B. Allen as Charlotte Grayson in this week’s second episode of the third season of Revenge. While there are many remarkable performances in a week, Allen managed to outperform all the other females this week on Revenge.

This season the actress has been doing outstandingly well on the series. Not only has her character become less annoying, she’s also managed to make her feel like she stands for something. Charlotte this year is sticking to her guns, she’s become a stronger person, and has grown to have a better style this year. It’s easy to see the character has become an adult that is starting to find her place in this world.

While my only other knowledge of Ms. Allen is from the performance she made in the Jennifer Garner film 13 Going On 30, by way of Revenge I can see her acting talent developing before my very eyes. Although I can’t be certain how greatly she will develop as an actress, I look forward to seeing her on this series as well as any other roles she may take on in the future.

Best Male Performance of the Week:

Robbie Kay as Peter Pan in this week’s second episode of the third season of Once Upon A Time. Despite how dreadfully terrible the writing is on this series at any given time, Kay was able to play a rather villainous character more adeptly than any I’ve seen on the series in a great long time.

In a sea of adults this young man was able convincingly portray his character more realistically than any of the other actors on this series. While I have a soft spot for the likes of Emma, Hook, and Neal, it was Robbie Kay’s portrayal of Peter Pan this week that sat more strongly with me. Perhaps it is the devious attitude he appears to have, or just that evil is a more fun character to play and thus he enriches it, but either way the young man plays his character beyond fantastically.

Like many newer actors to the scene, I cannot recall ever seeing Robbie Kay in anything else. As the young man is a British born actor, moving to American television was quite the illustrious decision. I hope to see this man in future projects, as he seems to be one that could develop a renowned career.

All right now ladies and gentlemen, sorry for the lateness of this, but I’m Canadian and this weekend was Thanksgiving, so there’s that. I’m now going to go catch up on Friday’s episode of Haven, and then watch tonight’s Once Upon A Time and Revenge… I’m just honestly surprised I haven’t given up on these by now, I guess I’m growing up and actually wanting to improve myself.

Supernatural 9.01 Review: There's a Lot of Work To Do

All those that have yet to watch the ninth season premiere of Supernatural, entitled ‘I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here’, feel free to leave now. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

A brief recap of where we left off last season. Sam didn’t go through with the last trial to close the gates to hell, but he still ended up losing consciousness. Dean pledged that they both look out for each other, for real this time. Castiel thought he was going through trials to close Heaven, but in actuality it was a spell to clip the angels’ wings. Angels fell from Heaven. That’s about all.

Not a bad opening to the season, gets us caught up on where things ended last season, while teasing us with new things to come this season. There’s just one thing I’m confused about. By completing the three trials, Sam would have died, but the gates of hell would be closed. But Dean stops Sam before he can finish the third trial. Now, where I get confused is, why would that still lead him down the path towards death, if he never finished the trials? He should be weak, certainly, but not close to death, otherwise how could he have finished the trials in the first place.

This series has grown far too consumed with the traipsing’s of angels and demons. I didn’t use to mind the demons so much, but the fact that this series is so heavily buried in mythology, that’s almost all there is. I miss the monsters, the different foes that needed to be discovered and fought. The good old days of Supernatural where it actually was about the supernaturals. Now it’s just all about two groups of supernatural beings, and that’s really getting on my last nerve. I love Sam and Dean, though they’re not the brothers they used to be, but it’s getting to the point where I’m about ready to call it quits. Honestly, if this season doesn’t get really good, back to Kripke territory, that’s it for me. This is my last season, I can’t do a tenth. They’re running these people, these characters I’ve grown to love, into the ground. And please Sammie, cut your damned hair.

One thing I did like about this episode was the dreamlike overtone they covered Sam’s dreams with. It gave a kind of foggy overlook to it that I enjoyed. Made it easy to understand it was a dream. Especially since the first scene in the car I was rather confused with. I thought maybe Dean was in Sam’s head, or one of them was dreaming, seems logical for it to be Sam after watching it. I don’t think that was great use of Bobby Singer. I love the character and all, but it’s time to let him go. At least being dead, he can’t continually be run into the ground like this series.

While I loved Tahmoh Penikett in Dollhouse, he always seems to have that same tone to his voice. He looks great all rugged and downtrodden, but as soon as that “angelic” voice emitted from his mouth, I had to try and step back and remember ‘oh, yeah, he’s supposed to be an angel’. Not particularly great, though I was looking forward to him. I do think Jared Padalecki did an almost spot on imitation of the man. But seriously, cut your hair.

Again, while Grace Phipps was great in The Nine Lives of Chloe King, as a super peppy, wealthy teenager, I haven’t liked her in her roles in this series, or The Vampire Diaries, she isn’t much of a convincing actress. I’ve genuinely tried to like her, but she needs to work on her skills because she’s not all that great.

Overall, like I said, not a bad episode. But then, not good compared to the great episodes this series has created. Please bring me back to the days of the first three seasons, with Skinwalkers, Wendigos, hex bags, and other such fascinating items. That’s all I ask, for great, original writing, that’s not heavy with the mythology. Oh, and for Sam to cut his hair. Have I mentioned that already?

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“I have no idea what you just said, but continue.” – Dream Dean tells Sam.

“I would fly, but I have no wings.” – Fallen Angel Cas, sounding like a crazy person, or, with a different tone, like someone sarcastic.

“Well that just got damn uncomfortable.” – Dream Bobby, popping up in the front seat between Sam and Dream Dean.

“Let a few Japanese tourists take some pictures. Nobody got handsy.” – Dean explains the time away to freshly awoken from a coma Sam.

I’m off to watch Revolution now, so stay tuned for that. Then I’m going to try to muster through American Horror Story: Coven, but don’t expect a review for that tonight, that’ll be out tomorrow. I have to work in ten hours.

The Originals 1.02 Review: A Home is Worthless Without Family

This is your only warning. If you haven’t watched tonight’s episode of The Originals, titled ‘House of the Rising Son’, then now would be a good time to do so. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

Not a bad episode, not great television, but for the CW network, it’s not a bad series. The actors are pretty, and some of the acting is good, plus it’s set in a beautiful location, so no complaints there. It’s just not as thrilling as it could be, and the writing isn’t tight enough for it to be great television. There is certainly potential for greatness, but with the writers it’s got, it’s highly unlikely that it will capture it.  Plus, there’s a lot of recycled material from other, better series (*cough*Angel*cough*), that it’s really just like the second kid to say a joke because everyone laughed at it when the first kid said it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still tune in from week to week, but my standards won’t be set too high.

We got a bit of a backstory to Marcel this week, and for the most part it was good. I don’t like it that he was the one to betray his desires for Rebecca, and then goes and acts like she was the problem now, but I’m sure we’ll get more to that later. I do like the actor they’ve picked for the role, but he does seem to come across a little too arrogant. And also, what is his deal with Cami (he does like his blondes)? He seems to be fixated on her a little too much. She’s barely been around, but it’s like the King wants a Queen. It’s quite unrealistic; they don’t even know each other well enough. That’s the problem with some of these series’, they set up young kids with unrealistic expectations of love, it’s not natural for someone to be in love (the end all kind) with someone in a matter of days. But I relent.

While I liked the flashbacks scenes that had to do with Marcel, particularly the ones with Rebecca in them as well, I wasn’t too fond of the beginning flashback, with Rebecca’s voiceover. Flashbacks really don’t need voiceovers; they’re unnecessary and rather annoying. But like I said, I enjoyed the ones with Marcel and Rebecca, and I’d definitely liked to see them together a lot more. Though, they need to work a bit on their chemistry. There’s a spark there, but it doesn’t completely feel like flames to me. That feeling they imply they have for each other, about still wanting each other, it almost feels a bit one sided. But I suppose time does change people when you live as long as they can.

Okay, thought here. So Marcel’s asked Davina to find a way to kill an Original. Basically, he could use it against Klaus if he wanted, but that would kill him, because he stems from Klaus’s line. Does he know that? Is he going to get Davina to work some way around that? Because Bonnie couldn’t even do that without putting Klaus in someone else’s body, so it would be unfair if she could. Bonnie is supposed to be the strongest witch, straight from Salem. So what is with this Davina chick? Don’t get me wrong, she’s intriguing, and the father-daughter thing she’s got going on with Marcel compels me to believe he raised her, but there’s no way she’s simply a witch. I’m ridiculously curious to know what it is about her.

Two final notes about the episode, before I sign off for a time. One, I can really see that background of friendship between Phoebe Tonkin, who plays Hayley, and Claire Holt, who plays Rebecca. The two actresses worked together in their homeland of Australia, and it’s easy to read the friendship they have with each other in their characters scenes. It’s a little too easy for the characters, but I understand where it’s coming from.

The other note I have about the episode was the end song. While this series hasn’t bestowed us with the most amazing music, mostly stuff I can’t remember, but I rather liked the closing song for this episode. Sacrilege by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Immediately after I heard it, I went and downloaded. That’s the stuff I want to hear in this series, not nameless garbage.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“You narcissistic, backstabbing wanker.” – Rebecca yells, calling out for Klaus.

“I’d have greater chance of draining the Mississippi with a straw.” – Klaus yells after Marcel, regarding controlling his sister.

“I’ll have someone see to the air conditioning.” – Klaus tells Hayley, lightening up a deep conversational mood.

“Our home is worthless without family.” – Rebecca apprises Klaus rather poignantly.

Okay, I’m off to go colour my hair, then I think I’ll watch New Girl while it sets. After that it’s Trophy Wife, Supernatural, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.