Stranger Things: Season 4 Review

Murray: Your children, bless their mischievous souls -- they like to get involved. This way, what? They play too much Nintendo, eat too much junk food, smoke some ganja, pound some beers, experiment sexually. What's the worst that can happen?

Season 4 of Stranger Things has some good and some not so good. We get information that explains how much of this came to pass. Alas, we also get filler and some tired storylines.

The Pitt: 11:00 A. M.

“If the system doesn’t work for you, you work the system.”

Well, that was a very mean cliffhanger to leave us on! What the heck, The Pitt!

Wednesday: Season Two, Part One

“I cause chaos. I don’t succumb to it.”

Uneven, convoluted but ultimately a lot of fun, this first half of season two does deliver on the promise of the first but the execution leaves a little to be desired.

This review contains full spoilers for the first four episodes of season two.

The Pitt: 10:00 A. M.

“Sounds like ‘first week in July’ syndrome."

No, there is no evidence that patient mortality rates increase in early July when residencies first begin. That’s just an urban legend.

Fallout: The Golden Rule

“Civilization. It hasn’t worked out so far. But, if at first you don’t succeed… Try, try again.”

Between the opening nuclear bomb detonation and the closing duel to the death, there was a lot to see in this episode.

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett (Discworld 28)

“If you don't turn your life into a story, you just become a part of someone else's story.”

The twenty-eighth book of Discworld is all about a sapient cat who runs a pied piper racket with a tribe of intelligent rats and a young flutist named Keith. They do well with this racket until they run into some trouble in Uberwald at a town called Bad Blintz.

The Night Manager: Season Two Review

“What if you could own a country in a different way?”

The return of The Night Manager, ten years after the first season aired, was a surprise, if only because I’m not sure anyone had been desperately rooting for another batch of episodes. That first season, after all, was perfectly done, in the sense of being very good but also in the sense of being thoroughly completed.

This review spoils the entire season.

Heated Rivalry: Hunter

"The banana makes a big difference, I think."

And now for something completely different. Well, not completely. There's still gay hockey players. Just not the two that we've grown to love.

This Week: At Least We'll Always Have David Tennant

What are you all watching?

I have to say that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is not working out for me. I keep doing that painful yawning where tears come into your eyes. I was so thrilled when they cast Holly Hunter as the lead, but what are they doing to her?

Evil: 2 Fathers

"Is he talking about his seed again?"

Sometimes the title of an episode is an interesting metaphor. Or an obfuscation of what the episode is really about. Or an underpinning message that will only make sense in hindsight once you've seen the episode and reflect.

And sometimes an episode about two different fathers is called '2 Fathers' and you just get on with things.

The Pitt: 9:00 A.M.

"Two most important things: that they know we're here and we'll never stop offering."

This is an excellent thesis statement for the show as a whole. Even when the world sucks, and it can definitely suck, there are always people who will offer help.

Fallout: The Innovator

“The world may end, but progress marches on.”

Right, let’s get back to it. After all, we should be used to seeing America for the tainted, withered, comically grotesque husk that it is by now.