Television Review: Perry Mason 2

The biggest problem about finding a TV show that moves quickly and really draws you in is that you burn through it so fast you’re left stuck having to find another show to watch. Denisa and I enjoyed the first season of Perry Mason back when it came out, and I heard good things about the second. Not enough that I wanted to watch it week by week, but once the show was fully released, we gave it a shot.

It’s always a good sign when you decide at night that you won’t actually be that tired if you finish the season instead of going to bed. With Perry, we kept finding ourselves watching two episodes a night instead of just one, and last night we ended up watching three.

It was engrossing from start to finish, with a very strong noir vibe. This season tracks the case of a rich man gunned down at night. A couple of Mexican immigrants are pinned for the murder. Naturally, Perry steps in to defend them.

The plot is well done, the characters well drawn, the show well executed. There are a few ties back to the last season, but not in a way that you really need to have watched it to have this season make sense. As a long time Perry Mason fan growing up, I like how they’ve involved all the core characters from the show in a way that feels like it fits in (with my vague memories of what those characters were like). Yes, they still HBOized the show, though with a noir vibe like this show has, that doesn’t feel too off.

If you’re looking for a good mystery, this is a solid series to watch. 8.5/10

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, as well as PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.

If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking this DON’T GO TO SLEEP Amazon link. It will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.

Television Review: Mandalorian Season Three

Daniela and I finished the third season of the Mandalorian last night, and I wanted to do a brief write up about it. Overall, we both had a blast with the show. Almost without exception, each episode kept itself rocketing along, full of visual spectacle, a great soundtrack, and some very nice action pieces, both on land and in space. The characters were fun, and it was a good time from start to finish.

(Well, almost. There was a random half episode focused on a character I really didn’t care about: a “recovering Imperial.” While it was interesting to see how they were treating people who used to work for the Empire, it was far from riveting, and ultimately didn’t do much for the show at all.)

Were there plot holes? Yes. Plenty of them. Did all of the characters’ decisions make sense? Nope, not really. Did I care? Again, not really. I mean, if you want to start dissecting a show like this, there’s really no stopping. It’s a culture based around people never taking off their helmets, and yet they somehow decide to have a big feast to celebrate something. I’m trying to picture how, exactly, that feast plays out. A bunch of people staring at food, with no one eating it? Everyone grabbing their food and then going off to eat by themselves in a very non-festive manner?

You can’t ask those questions. It would be like trying to analyze a roller coaster ride. The point isn’t to have it all make sense. (“Why am I on this ride? I get off where I got on. I go nowhere. I do nothing.”) The point is to have a fun time, and the Mandalorian does a super job of that.

This season continues the arc of Grogu and the Mandalorian, and it adds in a whole bunch of other Mandalorians for good measure, showing how they’re struggling to re-establish themselves in the universe. No need to give more of a description than that. If you’ve liked the first two seasons, you’ll like this.

If nothing else, this somehow proved (yet again) how big of a letdown Obi Wan and The Book of Boba Fett both were. The action sequences in those were often underwhelming, the plots felt padded to the extreme (so much so that Boba had to insert Mandalorian 2.5 into the middle of the show to make it reach its episode count), and they ultimately failed to deliver on the promises of what they could have been.

My biggest regret is that the show’s hampered by its budget, so it can’t really give us the planet-wide battles that are implied. Instead of a real army of Mandalorians, we see something like fifty. People keep attacking planets, but those planets are really nothing more than “a single city on that planet.” It would be like someone invading Earth, but really just focusing on Schenectady. (It’s also funny how many times they go to a planet to find someone, and find them . . . in the same city everyone’s always in. Maybe Schenectady’s a happening place?)

But there I go, thinking too much about it again. Don’t do that. Turn it on. Sit back. Enjoy. 8/10.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, as well as PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.

If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking this DON’T GO TO SLEEP Amazon link. It will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.

Television Review: Physical 100

Okay, I’ll admit it. Back in the day, I was a big fan of American Gladiator. Sure, some of it was that I liked seeing people dodge tennis balls, but I also just liked seeing people go one on one in different, unusual competitions. So perhaps it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that when Physical 100 came across my Netflix suggestion queue, I was at least intrigued. It’s a South Korean show that looks kind of like a non-lethal version of Squid Game. They assembled 100 super strong/athletic people from across the country, and then they pit them against each other in a series of five different challenges.

I had to at least watch the first few minutes. It’s in my contract, somewhere.

For the first while, it seemed like it wasn’t really going to go anywhere. They spent a good amount of time introducing the competitors, and I knew none of them. They all knew each other, though. Watching their responses when another competitor came into the game was entertaining, and all the contestants were super enthusiastic and respectful to each other, which kept me hanging around. I had to at least watch the first competition to see how it played out.

And here we are now, with me firmly hooked on the show. Is it complex or life altering? Nope. But it’s surprising just how much drama and suspense can arise from simple premises. Establish the rules of the game, and then see how people match up to the rules. (This is also seen in many of the games on Survivor. Even simple ones like “stand on this log for as long as you can” turn into games that I really enjoy watching.) It’s also fun to be surprised along with the contestants as you find out what each new challenge will be.

I haven’t finished it yet, and usually I wait until I’m done with a show to review it, but in this case, I don’t see the point. It’s got a formula down, and that formula works wonderfully. My bet is most of you out there wouldn’t think about giving the show a second glance. If that’s the case, I think you should reconsider. So far all the bouts have been surprisingly respectful, with some of them even bordering on heartwarming, if you can believe it. It’s good clean fun from start to finish, and it’s pretty incredible what some of the contestants are able to pull off. (True, when it starts off, it focuses on each contestant’s body more than it needs to, but I suppose it’s just trying to prove to you how fit these people really are. It helps that there’s such a variety. There are men and women. Baseball players, gymnasts, strong men, dancers, and more. With some of them, you wonder how in the world they’ll ever make it past the first round. And then you’re shocked when they do.)

If you’re looking for some very watchable, easy on the brain television, look no farther. 8/10.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, as well as PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.

If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking this DON’T GO TO SLEEP Amazon link. It will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.

TV Review: 1923

I watched and thoroughly enjoyed 1883 a few weeks ago, so it felt only natural to move from that right on to 1923. It’s basically the second season of the show, although it jumps ahead forty years. Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren star as the latest Dutton family members, now trying to shepherd the family through turbulent times as their now-successful ranch faces pressure from new threats. It’s not nearly as much as a western, though it still has strong western tropes. (Just mixed with more of a 1920s vibe.)

Did it hold up to the earlier show?

Well, in some ways yes, and in some ways no.

At its heart, it’s a strong show. The conflicts are really solid, and the characters are well executed. If it weren’t for one (big) plot line, I’d be recommending it right next to 1883. But in this case, the show dips into areas that are just too unsavory for me to give a thumbs up.

This might not be a hang up for some people, but it’s a pet peeve of mine for sure. Specifically, Timothy Dalton plays the role of an evil banker. A man wholly focused on himself. He doesn’t care what he has to do to other people to get his way. Fine. Every show needs a big bad guy. But in an effort to show us just how much of a big bad guy he is, the writers show us (repeatedly) that’s he’s a sexual sadist. Casually depicting violence on women just for the sake of establishing that someone’s a nasty person is something I think we can just do without. (Game of Thrones did the same thing with Joffrey. We get it. He was awful. We don’t need to see him killing women for sport for us to get that point.) It’s not like those scenes have anything else to do with the show.

So I can’t really recommend it to anyone in good faith. If I give a show a thumbs up, I have to be able to stand by the recommendation. If this trope sounds like something you’d be fine with (or you want to just skip the scenes each time they come up (it’s very easy to see them coming), then the show would probably be dandy. But as is, if you enjoyed 1883, I’d be hesitant to jump into 1923 without knowing what you’re getting into first.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, as well as PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.

If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking this DON’T GO TO SLEEP Amazon link. It will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.

Television Review: 1883

I’d heard a lot about Yellowstone. “Soap opera for cowboys,” is the description that came up most often, with some people really loving it, and some people not being fans at all. This intrigued me (I am, after all, a big Downton Abbey fan, and I’m under no illusions that it’s anything but a soap opera for history buffs), but I was still hesitant to commit to the show. However, there was a miniseries that takes place 150 years before Yellowstone: 1883. Not only was it very well reviewed by just about everyone, but it’s a western, and as we all know, I’m a sucker for westerns.

Denisa and I finished it a few days ago, and we both really enjoyed it.

Mind you, this is not a show to watch if you want to feel good about life. Basically, it’s “all the awful things that might happen to a pioneer wagon train, and then a few more.” It centers around a group of German and Slavic immigrants who dream of making it to Oregon. The only problem? They went the complete wrong way about it. They know nothing of the journey. They’re starting late, and from the wrong part of the country. They’re clueless when it comes to survival.

Any guesses how it’s going to turn out for them?

The one good decision they make is hiring a leader who knows what he’s about. Sam Elliott does a tremendous job of portraying Captain Shea Brennan, an old veteran of just about anything you could think of. He in turn hires on the Daggett family (ancestors of the folks on Yellowstone, or so I’m led to believe), played by real life couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Honestly, I was skeptical they’d hired two country music stars to play leading roles, but they really hit above their weight class in the show, as well.

Overall, it’s a riveting look at how things might have been back then. There’s none of the polish and idealism that you’d get in earlier westerns. It feels like the prairie is just filled with a slew of cutthroats and thieves, and the only want to get anything done is to shoot people. Sometimes twice. (As I’m currently writing a western, it was very interesting to see them go over some of the same obstacles I’ve thrown at my protagonist. I’m not certain how accurate 1883 is, but it certainly gives the feel of being accurate, if that makes any sense.)

It’s only 10 episodes long, and it packs a lot into those ten episodes. It’s rated TVMA for a whole ton of violence. These pioneers didn’t go easy, and the show doesn’t go easy on portraying those deaths. It didn’t really roll around in the violence, though, if that makes any sense. (Though I could have done without the amputation scene . . .)

All in all, I gave it a 9/10. If you like westerns or history from that time period, it’s definitely worth your time, and even if you don’t, I’d still give it a shot. I liked it enough that we went straight into 1923, starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren. If the series keep being as strong as these, I’m almost definitely going to end up giving Yellowstone a try, as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like what you’ve read? Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Thanks to all my Patrons who support me! It only takes a minute or two, and then it’s automatic from there on out. I’ve posted the entirety of my book ICHABOD in installments, as well as PAWN OF THE DEAD, another of my unreleased books. Where else are you going to get the undead and muppets all in the same YA package? Check it out.

If you’d rather not sign up for Patreon, you can also support the site by clicking this DON’T GO TO SLEEP Amazon link. It will take you to Amazon, where you can buy my books or anything else. During that visit, a portion of your purchase will go to me. It won’t cost you anything extra.