TV Review: X-Men '97 (2024)

X-Men '97 (2024) created by Beau DeMayo based on the 1990s series based on the Marvel Comics

This series, a continuation of a popular cartoon from the 1990s, starts with the X-Men in crisis. Professor Charles Xavier has died, leaving a leadership gap for the team. Cyclops/Scott Summers naturally thinks he has to step up as leader, though he is reluctant since his wife, Jean Grey, is pregnant and soon to give birth. He was hoping they could live a more normal family life. The problem gets worse when Magneto shows up at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters with Charles's will. Xavier has bequeathed the leadership of the school and the team to Magneto. None of the X-Men are happy about the situation (except maybe Rogue). Scott feels he has to stay to make sure Magneto behaves. The narrative plays out from there.

This ten-episode arc covers a lot of ground. Scott and Jean have their baby though the infant is kidnapped and infected with a cyber-disease and has to travel to the future with the time-traveling mutant Bishop to get cured. Storm loses her powers in a fight and winds up on a journey of self-discovery. Jean discovers that she is a clone of the actual Jean Grey created by Mister Sinister, leading to lots of complications. The island country Genosha, set up as a mutant refuge, is trying to join the United Nations but is under attack both politically and literally. The stories move at a breakneck pace. If I hadn't read some of these story arcs in the comics, I think I would have been a little lost (seeing the movies helps a bit too). The series leans on nostalgia and prior knowledge too much, with a lot of characters lacking any development or depth. 

The animation does a good job looking like something from thirty years ago without looking cheap or rushed. The action sequences are creative, hewing to the X-Men's random set of abilities and applying them as best they can in given situations. Rogue is an exception--she never using her absorbing power, she just flies around and punches a lot of stuff.

Mildly recommended--this needs a bit of context to be appreciated. Of course, the series ends on a cliffhanger implying another season to come.

TV Review: Reacher Season 3 (2025)

Reacher Season 3 (2025) adapted for television by Nick Santora based on the novel Persuader by Lee Child

Reacher (Alan Ritchson) gets involved in an attempted kidnapping in a small Maine town he's wandering through. Local teen Richard Beck (Johnny Berchtold) is almost snatched off the streets. Beck is the son of Zachary Beck (Anthony Michael Hall), who is a very rich rug merchant. His son was kidnapped once before for ransom, so it is plausible that Beck Senior wants to hire Reacher as security for his son, even though they live in a highly secured seaside estate. Viewers find out pretty quickly that Reacher is really trying to infiltrate the home because Beck is involved in blackmarket shipments, using his international rug trade as a front. DEA officer Susan Duffy (Sonia Cassidy) has recruited Reacher because she wants to bring down what she assumes is drug trade and to find a young woman, Teresa (Storm Steenson), who was an inside informant working at the estate. Reacher signs on because he sees a guy he thought he had killed in the past. Reacher wants to finish the job. As part of the new security, Reacher has an ongoing feud with the even larger security guy Paulie (Olivier Richters), who usually mans the front gate (which includes a very large, tri-pod-mounted machine gun). This situation gets more complicated and violent as the story plays out.

The story has an interesting, well-crafted plot that slowly builds up the tension and excitement. Reacher has something of a fatherly relationship with Richard, as much as Reacher ever could. Ritchson does a good job as Reacher. He has the physical menace and enough smarts to make a good action/thriller hero. The rest of the cast is good too, especially Cassidy as the DEA agent trying to keep her investigation going with all the chaos that Reacher introduces. Some moments are a bit preposterous, including the typical Reacher sex scene that takes a surprisingly long while to happen. But this season is not as preposterous as the previous season, which had too many over-the-top moments for my taste. This show isn't perfect but it is very entertaining.

Recommended, highly for Reacher fans.

As of this writing (September 2025), the show is only available streaming on Amazon Prime. 

TV Review: Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight (2025)

Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight (2025) created by Alain Chabat based on the comics by Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo

This CGI-animated short series (5 episodes that are 30-40 minutes each) tells the tale of another attempt by Caesar's Romans to take over the last independent village in Gaul. The Romans haven't conquered it because the village druid, Panoramix, has invented a potion that temporarily gives the villagers superhuman strength. One villager, Obelix, fell into a pot of potion as a child and permanently has super-strength. He's a menhir merchant, selling large stones (like the ones at Stonehenge). The villagers are tough and regularly beat any legion that comes to conquer.

The Roman plan is two-fold. First, they kidnap Panoramix so the villagers won't have the potion. Second, they get one of the other Gaulish chiefs to challenge village chief Vitalstatistix. The Gauls have an ancient law that one chief can challenge another to combat and whoever is victorious becomes chief of both villages (the titular Big Fight). Without the potion, Vitalstatistix (a chubby little fellow) is sure to lose. Caesar himself comes from Rome to witness the ultimate triumph of the Romans.

The story is based on one of the original comics by Goscinny and Uderzo, but this version throws in a lot of other stuff. The flashback story of Obelix's accident is shown. The big fight at the end has the Romans building an arena and fun fair for the event, enabling them to make fun of sports commentators and Disneyland. The creators of the show throw in some new characters with punny names, like Tenmillionclix (whose name gets changed to Tenmillionviyus to be more Roman), Annabarbera, and Fastanefurius. The usual puns and comic interactions work really well with the animated style. This series captures the fun and entertaining spirit of the original comics.

The series was made in French and I watched with subtitles but there is an English-dubbed version. As I write (June 2025), this is only available streaming on Netflix.

Recommended, highly for Asterix fans.

TV Review: Severance Season 1 (2022)

Severance Season 1 (2022) created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller

Mark S. (Adam Scott) leads a team of Macrodata Refiners at Lumon Industries. He works in a sub-basement with three other employees in a room too large for their four connected cubicles. They have all undergone the Severance treatment, separating their work and home lives by surgically implanting a device in their heads. Mark comes to work as his "outie," who removes any identifying possessions and heads down an elevator. At one point on the elevator ride, his perspective shifts and he is his "innie," a worker who knows nothing of his outside life or even anything about the outside world. The innie-version has no memories of sleeping or eating or family or possessions. The team works at a seemingly mindless job of sorting sets of numbers on old-fashioned (at least to viewers' eyes) computers. Mark has just become the leader of the group after Peter has left. New employee Helly R. (Britt Lower) arrives to fill out the team. She has a hard time accepting the whole situation and is highly resistant to practically everything. Mark is uneasy about the situation and starts to explore more of the floor, finding other employees with similarly baffling tasks.

Mark Scout (the outie-version) has recently lost his wife and took the job at Lumon as a way to deal with the grief. It has not worked well and he's become curious about what actually happens in the company. Severed employees arrive at different times so they don't run into each other at work. Lumon is a very large, high-tech firm that has a lot of control of their employees and even in the town where they all live. The town is called Kier after Lumon's founder Kier Eagan (Marc Geller), an enigmatic genius of the Steve Jobs variety. Kier lived a hundred years ago but left a lot of information and guidance for the company, including founding principles that are incorporated into the work life. Mark's outie-world is rather odd too, with a pregnant sister whose husband is a self-help guru who is more like Jack Handey from Saturday Night Live than Steven Covey from Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Mark's Lumon manager (Patricia Arquette) is also (unknown to him) his next door neighbor. She has a different name and initially it is unclear whether she has had the Severance treatment or not.

The set-up of the series is very intriguing and introduces a lot of interesting questions about what is going on at Lumon. The Severance situation seems like an ideal solution for leaving work stress at work, though it does not play out that way as the series progresses. The innies are, for the most part, very unsatisfied with their lives that are only work. They don't even discuss sports or movies or tv shows or weather or any normal topics. Occasionally they speculate about their outie lives but they have no real consolations other than corporate swag and occasional treats. If they misbehave, there's a punishment room that seeks to correct their attitudes and behavior. In the town, many people protest Lumon in general and Severance in particular as a violation of human rights.

I really enjoyed the first half of this season. The situation is fascinating and figuring out what is going on is satisfying even when inconclusive. The last episode stumbles a bit with plot twists, revelations, and actions that just aren't plausible even within the world of the show. The actors do a great job with their characters and I did care for them but I have the impression that the overall story has not been thought out in detail. It reminds me of Lost, which was really great in the first few seasons but started falling apart under the weight of its own premise. 

Also, I wonder if the pseudo-profound brother-in-law character is in the show to make the rest of it seem more profound. The morality of the Severance procedure and the relationship between the innies and outies is fascinating and well worth working out. Do they constitute two separate persons? Is the innie a slave and the outie a master? Can they really develop different personalities? Those ideas and issues are more interesting to me than surprise twists about the other characters' outies.

Not really recommended. I am tempted to watch the second season to see if they work things out but I borrowed this season on DVD from the library and don't think it is worth subscribing to Apple+ for just one series that may be unsatisfactory. By the time season 2 comes out on DVD, I may have forgotten too much detail from season 1 to appreciate it fully.

TV Review: Il commissario Montalbano (1999-2021)

Il commissario Montalbano (1999-2021) directed by Alberto Sironi based on the novels by Andrea Camilleri

Inspector Salvo Montalbano (Luca Zingaretti) is the head of police in Vigata, a fictional town on Sicily. His life would seem to be idyllic with his seaside home where he goes for a swim every morning. But people being people, plenty of crimes occur even in an idyllic seaside town. His station has a lot of other officers who help him investigate, from the lowly (and comic relief) Catarella (Angelo Russo), who answers the phones and does computer work (a rarer skill in the early 2000s) to Augello (Cesare Bocci) and Fazio (Peppino Mazzotta), the main subordinates who do a lot of the leg work. Montalbano occasionally deals with his supervisor, a police chief with political ambitions from a nearby town. The cast also includes Montalbano's long-distance girlfriend Livia (Katharina Bohm) who comes to visit often and is just as often put off by Montalbano because of his duties. So she's long-distance and long-suffering. An assortment of other characters recur, like his cook and some other friends.

The police work is more like a cozy mystery, with a lot of interviews and figuring out what happened based on evidence and testimony. Each show has some action sequences, typically a group of officers searching a building or area for a suspect or a vital clue. Sometimes there is a car chase, though Italian driving being what it is, a lot of the times I was nervous watching how aggressively they drove in the tight streets of the town even when they weren't chasing someone. They mysteries are satisfying, usually having two or three different crimes that tie together by the end of the episode.

The first ten episodes represent the first four seasons of the show (from 1999 to 2002). The episodes range from an hour and a half to two hours, so basically each one is a feature-length movie. The entire series is 37 episodes spanning over twenty years, with most years having two or four episodes and some years skipped. I've enjoyed them immensely (the one where he adopts a dog who was the seeing-eye dog of a murdered blind man was my favorite) and will keep watching.

The show would probably be rated TV-MA in America, because a lot of topless women show up, sometimes in sexual situations that are brief but striking. They have appeared in almost every episode I have watched so far. Is all Italian TV like that? The characters use salty language sometimes too. The violence is fairly minimal, like on Columbo or Murder, She Wrote. It's there but it is not particularly gory and is usually off-screen.

Recommended--highly for adults.

This series is available streaming on Kanopy, available from local libraries.

TV Review: Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft Season 1 (2024)

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft Season 1 (2024) produced by Tasha Huo based on the Tomb Raider video games by Crystal Dynamics

Lara Croft (voiced by Hayley Atwell) has a short and checkered past in archeology. She found an ancient box in Peru but in the process an ally died. Three years later, she's ready to give up her father's archeological legacy, selling everything at Croft Manor. During the auction, a mysterious assailant steals the Peruvian box, not so much to have the box as to have what's in it. Inside is one of the four stones crafted by ancient Chinese divinities to curb the chaos humans experience. Lara finds new purpose in hunting down the stones before the assailant, Charles Deveraux (voiced by Richard Armitage), can get them all for his own evil purposes.

The story is a familiar action set-up--find the set of items before the bad guy does, because he will use them either to conquer or to destroy the world (maybe both?). Lara initially wants to be a loner though she needs help from her various friends, including traveling/action companion Jonah (voiced by Earl Baylon) and tech support Zip (Allen Maldonado). The show is fun to watch with over-the-top action sequences only possible in an animated format. Lara's growth in trusting her friends is a nice theme to give some pathos and freshness to the overused set-up. The ending suggests more to come and a second season has been greenlit by Netflix (as of April 2025).

I have not played the videos games but have watched Angelina Jolie's first film and the Alicia Vikander reboot. This is closer in tone to the Vikander film, with a younger Lara slowly becoming the action star of the original game.

Mildly recommended--I feel like this is more for fans of the character--I am only mildly a fan, so my enjoyment was less than it could have been.

As of this writing (April 2025), the show is only available on Netflix.

TV Review: Skull Island (2023)

Skull Island (2023) created by Brian Duffield based on the King Kong franchise

Charlie and Mike are the sons of two sea explorers who are looking for cryptids, specifically a legendary island that is supposed to have a lot of them (obviously Skull Island, home of King Kong). Their boat picks up a teenage girl whose escaped another ship and is a bit of a wild child. They don't have long to talk to her when they are attacked by some men from the other ship. Those men don't have long to attack when a giant sea creature shows up and kills most of the crew and the baddies too. Charlie, Mike, and the girl (named Annie) wash up on a mysterious island full of giant, mutant animals. It's a hostile island with dangerous natives. The survivors of that other ship are there and want the girl back.

This animated series promises some King Kong action though the big ape does not show up till halfway through the eight-episode arc. The humans' adventures are the typical fight against a variety of giant, mutated animals. The action is fun if a bit gory (the show is rated TV-14). The creators want to appeal to a broader audience than the typical youthful cartoon watcher. Hints at a larger story are left unfulfilled as the show clearly sets up a second season which does not seem to be in production two years later. The story is enjoyable enough on its own if you are a Monsterverse fan, which I certainly am.

Mildly recommended--this is more for fans of the Universal Studios Monsterverse like me.

As I write (March 2025), this is only streaming on Netflix.

TV Review: The Diplomat Season One (2023)

The Diplomat Season One (2023) created by Debora Cahn

Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) is a mid-level officer in America's diplomatic service who looks forward to serving in the Middle East where her on-the-ground skills will be put to good use. She is sidelined into becoming the ambassador to Great Britain, a role that is supposed to be mostly ceremonial, with lots of parties and photo-ops (not a place for on-the-ground skills). The only problem is a British warship in the Persian Gulf has just been hit by an enemy. The initial assessment points the finger at Iran but a much more complicated situation arises as various assets provide intel on the incident. One asset is Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell), husband of Kate and a former ambassador who is now relegated to "wife-in-tow" status. He is much more politically savvy and uses it to his own advantage (not necessarily for the good of his country or his marriage). This on-going behavior of his has brought the couple to the brink of divorce. Now that the United Kingdom is on the brink of war (both the Prime Minister (Rory Kinnear) and the US President (Michael McKean) are looking to improve their domestic standings), she has to use all her skills to get to the bottom of the situation and stop war from breaking out.

While the show sounds like a political thriller, which to a large extent it is, there is a lot of comedy and interpersonal romantic drama (i.e. soap opera). I was a bit confused if they really wanted to be taken seriously, especially with a bunch of over-the-top plot twists and Kate's no-nonsense attitude constantly being undercut by her survival instinct, making her do things she otherwise would never do. For example, she does a cover story with British Vogue on what it's like to be a woman in a powerful position, a move that keeps her from getting fired from the position that she does not want. She also doesn't like dresses or being prim and proper. She does her best to fix or improve the political situation as it spirals into a more convoluted pretzel of unlikely interconnections. She constantly waffles on her desire for divorce from the completely manipulative Hal for no other reason than it makes the drama more dramatic. The show is very hard to take seriously even though it seems like it wants to be taken seriously.

Russell gives a fun performance, though Sewell's weaselly performance steals some of the scenes. The rest of the cast is good in their more or less plausible roles. The show looks like a star vehicle for Russell, after her great turn in The Americans. Even so, the tone is so uneven that I was not sure what the creators were really going for.

Just barely recommended--I was entertained and confused in equal measures.

As I write this (March 2025), the show is only available streaming on Netflix. 

TV Review: Kleo Season 2 (2024)

Kleo Season 2 (2024) created by Hanno Hackford, Bob Konrad, and Richard Kropf

See my review of the first season here.

Kleo (Jella Haase) is back in action pursuing a red case that has valuable documents in it. With German reunification imminent, a lot of the old-line communists in Germany and the Soviet Union want the deal to fail, something the contents of the case can facilitate. Kleo teams up again with the somewhat bumbling Sven Petzold (Dimitrij Schaad), a West German cop who is too focused on grand conspiracies and is a bit smitten with Kleo. Kleo's crazy roommate Thilo (Julius Feldmeier) has discovered his space princess (he thinks he was born on another planet), a relationship that somewhat mirrors Kleo's relationship with other characters while also going off on bizarre, drug-addled tangents. So the show still has a mix of revenge drama and oddball comedy, especially with the introduction of some ambitious, if not entirely competent, Russians and Americans.

The show is still entertaining. The plot is enjoyable yet implausible, but in a good way. The actors keep things fun and engaging even with some off-the-wall shenanigans. The ending definitely hints at more to come and I am willing to follow along for another season.

Recommended.

As I write (February 2025), this is only available streaming on Netflix.

TV Review: Terminator Zero (2014)

Terminator Zero (2024) written and developed by Mattson Tomlin based on the movies by James Cameron

Japanese scientist Malcolm Lee is racing to complete an artificial intelligence in 1997. He needs it to go online by August 29 so that it can prevent Skynet from wiping out most of humanity. The only problem is he is unsure if the AI, which he names Kokoro, will be on the side of humanity when it connects to the internet. If that is not enough problems, in 2025 both Skynet and the human resistance send back individuals to 1997 Japan. Skynet's Terminator is programmed to stop Kokoro from going online; Eiko, a human female, will defend Malcolm and his three children, who could easily be used to blackmail Malcolm into shutting down his project. The drama plays out in typical Terminator fashion.

This anime series follows the typical story beats of a Terminator tale and throws in the occasional line from the original movies. Children are in peril but also help in the fight. Even benign technology can pose a threat. The main characters slowly get more and more injured but still keep going. Police get completely overwhelmed by a threat they underestimate. A lot of familiar material comes up in the eight episodes.

At one point, a character waxes philosophical about the many people who constitute a resistance that Skynet would have to come back and terminate to secure their victory. Of course, if Skynet succeeded that would generate a paradox, a complication that this series tries to deal with. Before Eiko goes to 1997, she has a conversation with "The Prophet," a leader of the human resistance. The Prophet explains that every time someone goes back in time, the trip generates a new timeline in which events can turn out differently. Eiko immediately asks the obvious question, why bother going back if it can't save the people who sent her back since they are stuck on the original timeline? The Prophet says that Eiko should be able to figure out the obvious answer for herself. Readers of my blog are probably aware that poorly executed time travel stories are a pet peeve of mine. This theory falls into that category, because I immediately thought that if you send two beings to the past, don't they each generate different timelines and not wind up in same place as intended? The writers are caught in a quandary, because they can't really change the past without vitiating the reason to send someone into the past. So the alternate timeline theory has to cover that. But then you aren't helping the people you intended to help, making a hash out of your story. Ugh.

Mildly recommended--this has the typical R-rated violence throughout (not something that hasn't been in anime or Terminator stories before) and another storyline in the Terminator universe that is interesting enough until you think about it. Too bad you can't avoid thinking about it because the characters discuss it explicitly.

As of publishing this (November 2024), the show is only available on Netflix.

TV Review: Ted Lasso Season 3 (2023)

Ted Lasso Season 3 (2023) created by Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, and Bill Lawrence

See my review of season one here and season two here!

AFC Richmond is in a struggle to stay in the Premier League. To bolster the team (and to stick it to rival West Ham, where assistant coach Nate (Nick Mohammed) has gone to work for Richmond owner Rebecca's (Hannah Waddingham) ex, Rupert (Anthony Head)), they hire Italian superstar Zava (Maximillian Osinski). Zava is a prima donna and a mystic, providing a strange vibe for the team that mostly adores him (except for Jaime Tartt (Phil Dunster)). Former journalistic nemesis Trent (James Lance) has retired from his newspaper and wants to write a book about AFC Richmond, so he joins in the backroom situations. The way forward is quite precarious both on and off the football pitch for everyone involved.

A problem I have noticed with a lot of television series is the eventual lapse into soap-operatics. Once the initial brilliant idea is played out, the writers resort to romantic entanglements for the characters to provide the drama or the comedy. That happens in this season. The team's challenges shifts away from interesting interpersonal challenges to predictable and unpredictable dating and hook-ups. The show still has its core drama, Lasso's (Jason Sudeikis) strained relationship with home, and lots of funny moments, but it is a lot less satisfying than the previous two seasons. The episodes, especially toward the end, feel padded out but the finale is a satisfying finish for the story. I still laughed a lot, just not as much as previous seasons.

Mildly recommended. 

TV Review: A Man on the Inside (2024)

A Man on the Inside (2024) created by Michael Shur based on the Chilean documentary The Mole Agent

Charles (Ted Danson) is an elderly gentleman who lives alone since his wife died a year ago. He had taught engineering at college, so he lives a regimented and orderly life. His daughter Emily (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) is concerned for him since he has no social life. She encourages him to get a hobby. In his the daily paper he sees an ad from a detective agency that wants someone from 75- to 85-years old for a job. Private investigator Julie (Lilah Richcreek Estrada) has a client whose elderly mother has lost a valuable necklace in a retirement home. The client thinks it was stolen and wants the theft investigated, but stealth is required since the client does not want the mother or the home's staff to know what is going on. Charles is one of many candidates for the position but he's the only old guy who can actually work his cell phone to take pictures and video, so he gets the job. He is excited to be a spy and becomes more socially engaged with the retirement community, which includes making friends, enemies, and unrequited loves. He also does his spy routine.

The show's premise is fun and a bit off-the-wall. It is base on an actual incident in South America that got its own documentary. Danson is very charming in the role and works well with the other actors. Some episodes have a couple of scenes at Emily's home dealing with her good-guy husband (Eugene Cordero) and layabout trio of sons. The bits with them are funny but seem like padding to fill out the episodes.

The writers do a good job creating conflicts and comedic situations, throwing suspicion around and pointing out the foibles of everyone in the story. The blend of comedy and drama works very well here, with a lot of honesty about people's situations and how they deal with their problems, those caused by others and those that are self-inflicted. People resolve their problems in more realistic ways than you would expect. I was really charmed by the end of the show and am looking forward to a second season.

Highly recommended--it's both entertaining and has heart.

As I write (January 2025), this is only available streaming on Netflix.

TV Review: Ted Lasso Season 2 (2021)

Ted Lasso Season 2 (2021) created by Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, and Bill Lawrence

See my review of season one here!

AFC Richmond is having a rebuilding year since they fell out of the Premiere League at the end of last season. Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) is still coach and continues with his positive attitude. A lot of unexpected changes improve the team's fortunes. Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) returns through an awkward and embarrassing path. Roy Kent's (Brett Goldstein) return is likewise unlikely though more inevitable since he is dating the club's PR woman Keeley (Juno Temple), ex-girlfriend of Tartt. The team also hires a psychologist (Sarah Niles) who is not immediately accepted by a lot of people though she does have a lasting impact on just about everyone. The behind-the-scenes human drama and comedy are at the forefront (just like in the amazing first season), with the occasional football match interrupting to provide its own comedy and drama.

This season is not as good as the first season, but the first season is so incredible. A few missteps are less believable and some moments drag on longer than they should. Even so, the cast does a great job, their characters are still fascinating, and their predicaments are engaging. The human drama works very well and every episode is laugh-out-loud funny. A lot changes by the end, promising an interesting third season.

Recommended.

TV Review: Violet Evergarden: The Series (2018)

Violet Evergarden (2018) directed by Haruka Fujita and Taichi Ishidate

With the end of the war, ex-soldier Violet Evergarden decides she was to become an Auto Memory Doll. The Dolls write letters for others, crafting the words to communicate honestly and vividly. Violet is very withdrawn and emotionless, making viewers wonder if she is a robot. She does have mechanical hands, which let her type at high speeds, a plus for the job. But her frank honesty is not a good fit. She goes to a school for Auto Memory Dolls that refines her skills. Her real interest is discovering the meaning of the words "I love you" which she heard from a dear friend just before she was injured. The job proves helpful as she travels the country, writing letters for others, exploring their problems and longings, and learning more about herself.

The story is very charming with enough mystery to keep viewers engaged. The series is based on a Japanese light novel that was very popular. The fictional world has some steampunk elements, though that is not the focus. The plot follows Violet as she experiences a great variety of people and viewers see more of her back story. The thirteen-episode length gives her plenty of time to explore the world and her place in it. 

A bonus episode was made about an opera singer hiring Violet to write a love letter. The story fits between episodes 4 and 5, though the series does not spoil anything about this particular episode. Viewers should splice it into their watching of the series, but it won't hurt to watch it after the series either.

I enjoyed this anime series available on Netflix.

Recommended.

Ghosts Series Five (2023)

Ghosts Series Five (2023) written, created by, and starring Matthew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard, and Ben Willbond

See my reviews of series one, series two, series three, and series four!

The new money-making scheme for Alison and Mike (the guest house burned down at the end of the last series, so no more rentals) is selling some land to real estate developers to make a golf course. A lot of complications ensue with the ghosts and with the neighbors, especially the annoyingly snooty Barclay Beg-Chetwynde. The other big change is Alison getting pregnant, which draws a lot of different reactions from everybody (even snooty Barclay).

The show has a lot of the same fun as in previous series. They are starting to run out of ideas, something they acknowledge with the final episode, which is another Christmas episode. I still enjoyed this outing with the big cast in their haunted house.

Recommended.

TV Review: Ted Lasso Season 1 (2020)

Ted Lasso Season 1 (2020) created by Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, and Bill Lawrence

Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) is hired from a Kansas college football team to be the head coach of AFC Richmond, a Premier League (European) football team in England. Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) had acquired the team through a divorce with her cheating husband Rupert (Anthony Head). He loved the team so she is trying to tank the team in revenge. Lasso knows nothing about soccer or England. His main strengths are his folksy optimism and genuine concern for other people, though most everyone (the owner, the players, the press, the fans, etc.) think he is an idiot and will be nothing but a problem. His positive attitude starts to win over people but the process is slow and a lot of schemes have already been in the works to ruin things before people get on his side. He brushes aside the negativity, persevering through many hard situations and seemingly fruitless gestures.

While the premise sounds very hokey, the show is surprisingly effective. The writing is very sharp with well-rounded characters and complicated relationships that constantly evolve. One player, Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), is a veteran who is getting past his prime. He's the captain of the team but has a lot of anger issues and a generally bad attitude. He is especially upset with young star player Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster), who knows how good he is and so egotistical that it hurts the rest of the team. His girlfriend Keeley (Juno Temple) becomes the source of a lot of complications, both romantic and personal. Everyone has an interesting blend of strengths and weaknesses--including Lasso, which is probably the key to the success of the series. While he comes off like a Pollyanna and a lot of his ideas work out in the end, not everything does and he has some deeper problems that come to the surface that make him a very human character. The cast is uniformly excellent and believable in their roles.

The show is a comedy but has lots of drama built into it. Viewers easily laugh at the simple wisdom and unassuming style of Lasso. As I wrote, he does initially seem like a moron but he is in fact very smart and knows how to manipulate people for their own good, which is sometimes also his own good and sometimes not. He takes the strategy he had for the college team, making the players the best men they can be on and off the field, and applies it to the professional league players, who are more set in their ways and more focused on victory than self-development (or even self-awareness). The drama is touching and the comedy is hilarious. The show works on so many levels, it is well worth watching.

Highly recommended.

This season was discussed on A Good Story is Hard to Find Podcast #288.

TV Review: Crash Landing on You (2019)

Crash Landing on You (2019) directed by Kim Hee-won and Lee Jung-hyo

Se-ri (Son Ye-jin) has her own fashion products company apart from her family's larger company in South Korea. With two brothers, she does not seem to be the first choice to take over the family's business though she is more competent than her brothers. She does not care and is a no-nonsense leader who does her own thing. One of her own things is testing out products. She tries out a para-gliding contraption during a storm. The storm causes a tornado which scoops Se-ri up and deposits her North Korea. She doesn't know what to do when a military unit comes along led by Jeong-hyeok (Hyun Bin) a handsome captain. Naturally, she is suspected of being a spy and wants to get back to South Korea. Through some machinations about as credible as the storm, she winds up at his house in a poor border village. He realizes she is no security threat though there will be a lot of trouble if the government gets involved. They have a bunch of schemes to get her back south but a lot of things are working against her, including family members who do not want her to come back and a growing romantic relationship between them making her less motivated to leave. The plot blossoms out to involve a lot of characters, mostly North Koreans, in dramatic and comedic situations that are quite endearing.

The show is considered the quintessential K-Drama, with a good blend of comedy, drama, romance, and action. One of Jeong-hyeok's soldiers watches k-dramas (which is illegal since they live in the north), providing plenty of commentary and jokes about how the plot unfolds in interesting and sometimes ridiculous ways. The cast is so charming and the writing is so appealing, it is hard not to like everyone (except for the villains who are less three-dimensional for the most part) and root for the main couple to get together. A lot of circumstances keep them apart and keep the story moving forward. The secondary characters also have interesting things to do and provide a broad picture of life in both North Korea and South Korea. The show is so much fun, even if you do not know much about k-drama. 

Highly recommended.

TV Review: A Ghost Story For Christmas (2013-2022)

A Ghost Story For Christmas (2013-2022) directed by Mark Gatiss

These BBC show are five separate spooky stories by the guy who plays Sherlock's smarter brother in the Sherlock series, Mark Gatiss. The second one is an original tale by Gatiss, the others are adaptations of stories by the classic British ghost story writer M. R. James. They were broadcast on Christmas Eve on the BBC following a tradition dating back to the 1970s. Here's the episode by episode breakdown...

The Tractate Middoth--A librarian has an episode when he looks up a book requested by a strange patron. He goes on a short holiday to get some air and a change of scenery. His bed and breakfast is the home of a mother and daughter who have a problem related to a book. The mother's uncle was a wicked and manipulative man who had a nephew and a niece. Originally his estate was to be divided equally, but just before he died he wrote a will giving everything to the nephew. He told his niece that he made a will giving everything to her but it was hidden in a book. He gave her some clues which she passes on to the librarian. He goes back to his library only to discover the volume in question is the very volume the strange patron wanted. The story has a lot of atmosphere and thrives more on that than on a suspenseful plot. I enjoyed it but it felt very familiar.

The Dead Room--An aging voice actor (Simon Cowell) is recording a horror story in the original studio where he started narrating tales for "The Dead Room." It's a radio show he has been doing for decades. His return brings up some old ghosts (or are they just memories?) that makes the recording a difficult process. He's a bit condescending to the young producer (Anjli Mohindra), describing all the classical elements of a creepy story. Unfortunately, the rest of the story follows that exact same pattern, making the experience feel more mechanical than unnerving. There's some special effects with lighting, camera angles, and make up that are more serviceable than scary. This show depends entirely on style and there isn't enough to overcome the self-awareness.

Martin's Close--A member of the 17th century gentry is accused of killing a simple-minded woman with whom he had been having an affair. The story is told through both a modern-day gentry relating the strange case from a transcript he had bought and also through the period courtroom drama, where the story is mostly told through the prosecutor's words (the prosecutor being played by Peter Capaldi). The case is strange because the woman appeared after her death a few times according to the testimony of witnesses. The tale is a bit creepy but the double levels of narrative take the viewer a little too far away from the action to be truly effective horror.

The Mezzotint--A university museum art dealer (Rory Kinnear) is offered a mezzotint, a black and white print. This particular mezzotint is of an English countryside house. The merchant wants a lot more than its seeming worth but the dealer takes it anyway. The label on the back is torn, leaving insufficient evidence to identify the house easily. The dealer is also doing research on his family history. Things become unsettling as the picture changes from day to day, with a sinister figure coming out of the woods and entering the house. Of course it is impossible. His small group of university friends also see the changes which tell an unsettling story. The whole show is unsettling, with a minimalist style that builds a lot more tension than seems possible. I was genuinely unnerved by it, especially the ending.

Count Magnus--Englishman Mister Wraxhall (Jason Watkins) travels to Scandinavia to research a family's history. The family's founder, Count Magnus, built a great estate and was a merciless lord to the locals. He was so bad, he went on a "black pilgrimage" to the Holy Land, coming back with something or someone unsavory. Local legends are vague and pessimistic. Wraxhall's investigations lead to even more unpleasant discoveries. This is another good chiller like the previous story. Both were based on M. R. James stories and make for some fine half-hours of horror. 

The series is available to stream on Kanopy as this is published (October 2024), though it is just called "Ghost Stories." "The Mezzotint" was easily my favorite of the bunch.

TV Review: The Day of the Triffids (1981)

The Day of the Triffids (1981) produced by David Maloney and directed by Ken Hannam based on the novel by John Wyndham

Triffid farmer Bill (John Duttine) has had his head bandaged for several days. Triffids are from a rare botanical species that provides an oil that makes fuels more efficient. They also have stingers that can kill someone. Bill was stung as a child and survived. He had an accident on the farm that effected his eyes. The show starts on the day the bandages come off. The night before, an amazing, world-wide meteor storm enraptured the world. Pretty much everyone went outside to see it. This morning, most people are blind. No one shows up to take Bill's bandages off, so he does the job himself. As he wanders the streets, he discovers that only a few people, like Jo (Emma Relph), missed the show for one reason or another (she was passed out) and can still see like he can. If 95 percent of the population being blind isn't bad enough, the triffids are moving around (they have weird locomotive roots) and killing people. Bill and Jo find each other and start wandering through the apocalyptic landscape, hoping to find safety.

The show focuses more on the survival horror and various possible new societies than on monster mayhem (the focus of 1960s movie version). Considering the early 1980s BBC special effects, the choice is good to have fewer triffid scenes. The plants don't look terrible except when they are moving. Their drumming with their roots is a bit unnerving--several characters believe that is how the plants communicate with each other. Bill insists that they have no brains and yet their behavior has a sort of intelligence behind it. The real focus is on Bill seeing various communities and trying to reunite with Jo after they get separated. They had a plan to go to a house with its own electric generation and plenty of land to farm but they were swept up in an urban social group that was very militant about what people were to do. Bill's journey is very reminiscent of 28 Days Later, which has borrowed heavily from this. I found the exploration of other possible societies interesting though the show rushes through with little commentary on the value of those solutions (many of them get wiped out by the triffids or by a mysterious disease that adds more problems to the situation). In the last few episodes (the show is six half-hour programs), the characters acknowledge that the only future for humanity is to rebuild communities, an idea Bill reluctantly comes to agree with. Choosing the right community is the big trick in such situations.

Mildly recommended--it's an interesting exploration of apocalyptic survival for an individual and for communities.

TV Review: Red Iron Road (2022)

Red Iron Road An Animated Horror Anthology (2022) created by Aljosha Klimov and Iouri Stepanov

This anthology of animated horror shorts is based on several short stories by European authors.

VRDLK: Family of Vurdulak--Based on a story by Tolstoy, a wealthy and arrogant traveler in 1777 Serbia decides not to wait out a snowstorm when some monks beg him to seek shelter in their monastery for the night. He continues on through the forest until he comes to a cabin in the woods. That family also begs him to stay and he is initially reluctant. Then he sees the father's sister, a very attractive woman. But the family is barring the house for the night since their grandfather has not returned from his trip to the mountain. He gave specific instructions not to be allowed in if he doesn't come before the monastery bells chime eight. They do chime eight and then Grandpa shows up at the door demanding entry. Of course the traveler thinks they are superstitious nutcases but the father is very serious about defending the family from what has become of their patriarch. The show does a fine job representing the modern skepticism of the traveler, who turns out to be wrong many times but does not learn from his mistakes.

The Forest King--Based on a poem by Zuhkovsky, the tale is set in a not-too-distant future where virtual reality games are all kids want to play. A man's son is stuck in one called "The Forest King," which is really malware designed to take the consciousness of users and upload them to use as NPCs. The dad is desperate to detach the VR visor and headset but the dystopian society requires credits for everything. He's a non-conformist and resists becoming another cog in the socialist machine. That means he cannot easily use the system to his advantage or his son's safety. The story is a bit depressing but interesting. 

The Ratcatcher's Daughter--Based on a story by Alexander Grin, 1920s Petrograd is a dangerous place. In addition to the revolutionaries in the area, the city has an infestation of rats. The rat-catcher's daughter is wandering the streets at dusk and runs into one of the revolutionaries, a charming young man. He spouts his rhetoric at and shares his cigarette with her. The local police show up, trying to force everyone off the streets. When they start beating a small child, she throws her bag of books at the brute. The daughter and the revolutionary flee to an abandoned building. The police follow, forcing them to go into the basement where they discover a rat cult that is planning to massacre her father. She naturally wants to warn him. The revolutionary, who does not have much fortitude, is reluctant but he soldiers on. The story is a bit gory (gorier than the previous) and follows the narrative beats of the VRDLK at little too much.

The Undertaker--Based on a story by A. S. Pushkin, the tale is narrated by a very sarcastic and foul-mouthed individual who claims to have passed the story on to a famous writer. An undertaker starts his career as a grave digger in a small town. He falls in love with the local undertaker's daughter. He becomes an apprentice and marries the girl, which the undertaker is happy for since he just wants to retire. It seems like a happy life is in store, but the undertaker dies immediately, forcing his son-in-law to take over the business. His wife has twins and then dies. The twins grow up learning the family business and they move to a fashionable Moscow district where they don't really fit in. The story moves very quickly. The sarcastic humor suits the cliche of Russian bleakness and did make me laugh a few times. Otherwise, this is just mildly amusing.

Lord--Based on a story by Dmitry Tikhonov, a near-future landscape has been ravaged by global disease, conflict, and pestilence. People are living the "Mad Max" lifestyle, especially a group of men who have captured a "witch" whom they are taking back to their base. The driver of one vehicle is more sympathetic to the woman, thereby drawing the wrath of the "Lord" of the group. After subduing the rebel, the Lord decides to take a short cut through an impassible tunnel which proves to be very difficult. The story goes by very quickly and gets to an odd and unsatisfying ending.

No.8 Reporting--Based on a story by Dmitry Bykov, a future city is surrounded by a security wall. The government only allows special trains to leave the city. Getting tickets is not easy. Some journalists, including a news show personality and a college newspaper reporter, go on the trip to discover the truth about life outside of the walls. The reality turns out to be more horrible than they could imagine, which isn't too surprising given the overall premise of the series. It's another bleak look at what big government can and can't control and how it deals with both.

The series is clearly a Russian production, with authors centered around the former Soviet Union and locations in eastern Europe. The styles are all different. The VR story is a combination of hand-drawn animation and computer-animated narrative; The Undertaker uses fabric cut-outs for visuals. The variety suits the level of grimness in the tales. A lot of them are very grim and gory. My favorites were The Undertaker (a nice sense of cynical whimsy) and VRDLK (a classic-style horror tale). Overall, I was entertained if not amazed by the series.

Mildly recommended--this is probably of more interest to horror fans or Russian fiction fans.