spiderwing

I have to admit, this one is growing on me, but it didn't start off too well.

Very fast paced and action driven. Each episode is dominated by big guns, explosions, and one 'femme fatal' who takes the term literally. (Seriously, the female 'badass' character is a walking sex-death bomb, while the male characters are equally competent, but only occasionally sexualized).

The story takes place in a crapsack world, and it's hard to have sympathy for anyone. I'm giving it a shot, but don't know how long It'll keep my interest.

First episode review, I plan to come back and edit after a few more episodes have come out.

The pilot is ambiguous and intriguing. The state of the protagonists mental health is precarious at best, and it's very unclear (and perhaps central to the storyline) how much of what he's experiencing is real and how much imagined.

This could be very good, or it could crash and burn spectacularly. It's very interesting that it has already (apparently) been renewed on the date of it's premier.

Mid season review.

It starts off fairly well. The protagonist is very prickly, but her background (history and profession) justifies it, a softer character might actually be harder to relate to all considered.

The show does a fairly decent job in the first couple of episodes of avoiding the 'stupid skeptic' character, but by the third episode is still saying 'I don't believe in this junk', rather than 'OK, but how would that work...?' or 'If this is true we should find evidence of it here...' or in any way acting like a scientist. True, she's a doctor, not a scientist (and yes, they are very different things) but she should be trying to think like one.

Characters are interesting, and might even grow and devlop (or not, it's still early days).

Starting with the first episode review, later content added afterwards.

The opening of the show is very much like a classic RPG scenario. The characters wake up in the middle of a crisis with no idea of who they are and what they are doing there. As the pilot continues they gradually begin to recall skills and abilities, and to express their personalities, but not their personal histories.

The characters start very much as archetypes. One character instinctively took command, another is a jerkass, a third is a little bit scary/crazy, a fourth is a stoic.

As the series progresses, and the characters learn more of their backgrounds, and actually regain a few memories, their behavior subtly changes as well. It's as though we can see them regaining their personalities. Some of them soften up, some become harder, but in every case they seem to gain more depth as characters.

The show is dark, but not necessarily grim. The characters are intriguing, but not necessarily likable. I hope there is a second season, because I am very curious to see where this is going to go. If you like character driven stories with a lot of classic SF elements then this is the show for you.

There is a huge cast here, eight main characters, each with his or her own storyline and supporting cast, so that's a lot to keep track of. Then there's the psychic stuff, and the flashbacks, it takes a long time to figure out what's going on. I love the 'hive mind' conceit, and this show handles it reasonably well.

One of the main things I look for in an SF show is world building. In Sense8 it's good, but not great. The show is internally consistent but there are some real 'it makes a better story' aspects to it. The antagonists put a huge amount of time, energy and money into something which makes no sense at all if Mr. Exposition is right, and other things make no sense at all if Mr. Exposition is wrong.

On the one hand, the creator's intention is to produce something 'spiritual' rather than rational which leaves me a bit leery of the whole thing. On the other hand, it has Freema Agyeman in it, and I'd put up with a lot of 'teh stupid' to see her rocking out that American accent!

Excellent portrayal of gay and transgender characters here.

As others have noted, there's a lot of sex and nudity. It's not the worst as far as extraneous sex is concerned, but there's some full frontal nudity which would never make it to network TV. Honestly, the violence bothered me more, and there's way less of that than on 'mainstream' shows.

Those of you who are complaining about the other reviewers - one reviewer said they weren't watching because the gay sex bothered them. It's hardly a torch and pitchfork brigade.

This show is heavily character driven, but the major off screen players act in a manner which is arbitrary and nonsensical.

Is it a natural phenomenon as it seems to be? Then sending the boy back inside the quarantine makes no sense. Isolate him (and the guards he came into contact with) and study him. For that matter, there are P4 anticontamination suits the adults could have worn rather than masks.

Is it the result of some sort of horriffic experiment? At least send in food supplies so that you can study the progression of the disease without the complication of starvation. Airdrops solve the contamination problem.

But it's not about world building, it's about characters suffering and dying horribly. There might be some sort of 'message' in there, but honestly it's not worth the effort of wading through to it.

I have mixed feelings about this one.

The cast is very good, and I am thrilled to see a show which focuses on older actresses.

Having said that, it's just not my genre. The comedy hinges on humiliation and crude humor. There are plenty of genuine and caring character moments, some splashes of humor which do appeal to me and it's a joy to watch all of these people working, but I just find myself disliking the script too much to want to invest.

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. The CGI, though not particularly good, didn't get in the way.

The show is produced as a series of guided tours with natives of the various cities. They have a range of experience and knowledge with the sites without being subject matter experts, and their presence adds a little bit of perspective to the show. It's fun.

I'm having a hard time figuring out who this show is aimed at. I haven't tracked down the earlier seasons, but the current one seems to be heavily invested in demonstrating how Biblical literalism and scientific understanding can be reconciled.

I find it mildly entertaining, but suspect that people of faith might take justifiable offense.

I have to admit that everyone shares the same voice in this show, but given the use of color and amazing sets it serves to create a really four color space in which fantastic things can serve as the backdrop to life.

Given that it's a comic book world, there is a lot of character building and dynamic relationships. Oh, and fantastic knitwear (as well as the fact that one of the main characters knits a lot...) Add to that a touch of supernatural and built in UST and you have a really fun and amazing show.