Supernatural: Season 11 — a review

My best friend, from junior high school all the way through four years of undergraduate studies, was a great guy named Jim. He was wicked smart and off-the-wall in all the good best-friend ways. Our bond was always a strong one. He was the best man in my wedding (well, my first one, at any […]

Pennyworth: Season 1 — a review

I almost didn’t watch Pennyworth. You want reasons? Well . . . I knew it was developed by Bruno Heller, the British gentleman who also created the show Gotham for FOX. It’s not fair to let that sentence stand alone like that. It makes it sound like I didn’t like Gotham, which is not wholly […]

|||[Boldly Going]||| Star Trek: The Original Series—Season Two: Ep. 2.7 “Catspaw” – (Original air date: Friday, October 27, 1967)

Welcome to my rewatching of the original 79 episodes of the series that launched the franchise. Below are the bulletpointed notes I jotted down while watching “Catspaw.” On this date in history: Lulu’s “To Sir With Love” is still burning up the charts in the US, while the Bee Gees’ “Massachusetts” reigns in the UK. […]

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Episode 4.17 “Night Terrors”

I’m writing this review not because this was a spectacular episode of TNG (it’s not), nor because it’s a bad episode (it’s not that, either). On my personal 5-star rating system, in which 5 stars is apparently almost unattainable (I’m a tough grader) and 3 stars would be considered an “average” episode, one that […]

iZombie: Season 4 Premiere: “Are You Ready For Some Zombies?”

After seeing the title to this episode, I was certain it would have a football theme. I was disappointed that the fourth season of iZombie premiered so long after the NFL season was over, though. This would have been a great show to watch while we were getting ready to watch Tom Brady lose the […]

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Episode 4.10 “The Loss”

When I began the Boldly Going project, in which I will watch every minute of televised Star Trek produced to-date, my plan was to post reviews of each season and then of individual episodes that I thought stood out from the rest. I meant this in a positive way, and I’ve posted reviews of […]

Transparent: Season 4 – a review and a requiem

All things come to an end, and it looks like the fourth season of Transparent will be the last I watch of the show. I haven’t read anything about it recently, so I can’t say whether the series will continue without Jeffrey Tambour, who quit the show after being accused of sexual harassment by […]

Black Mirror: Season 4 — a review

I began watching Black Mirror last year, catching up on the three BBC series before watching the first Netflix-produced season. I just finished watching Season 4 on Netflix, and I have to say that the show hasn’t lost a step. In fact, it may even be getting better. Black Mirror is a Twilight Zone-esque anthology […]

Star Trek: TNG: Episodes 3.26 and 4.1 “Best of Both Worlds, Parts 1 and 2” – a review

“Best of Both Worlds” will always be a special TNG story for me. I know, it’s a two-parter that ended the series’ third season on a dramatic cliffhanger and started off the fourth with a bang, and multitudes of Trekkies hold these episodes in high regard. I’m not saying I’m special. But, “Both Worlds” […]

Star Trek: Voyager: Season 3 – a review

I’ve already said that of the shows I refer to as the NextGen Trek series—TNG, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise—Star Trek: Voyager ranks in last place as of the conclusion of the third seasons of all four shows. This sounds worse that it is, really. I ranked TNG in third place. All of the series […]

Gilmore Girls: Season 2 — a review

It bothers me when Gilmore Girls is referred to as a “chick series.” I am an older man (I shuddered a little when I wrote the word “older,” but I guess it’s true), middle-aged only if I live into my 100s, which looks doubtful. While my testosterone levels may be lower than when I was […]

Star Trek: Discovery: Episodes 1 & 2: a review and a celebration

A new television series set in the Star Trek universe is cause for celebration among those of us who consider ourselves Trekkies. As difficult as it is for me to fathom, the last Trek series, Star Trek: Enterprise, went off the air in 2005, twelve years ago as I write this. The gap between Star […]

Transparent: Season 2: a review

I can love a character without liking a character. While watching the second season of Transparent, it occurred to me that I didn’t really like any of the characters on this show. Maybe that’s a little harsh. I like Raquel the Rabbi, who is pregnant with Josh Pfefferman’s child during this season. And, I kinda […]

The Orville Revisited: Episode 1.2 “Command Performance”

After reading dozens of reviews of “Old Wounds,” the pilot episode of Fox’s The Orville, I revisited my own review. I had been afraid that I had been too harsh. Compared to many that I read, my review was a glowing one. I hope that MacFarlane and his cast don’t read the reviews. Nothing breeds […]

Star Trek:Enterprise: Season 2: a review

Enterprise gets a bad rap sometimes. It was the only post-TOS series (so far) to make it less than seven seasons. Here, at the end of the second season, I’m already more than halfway through the series’ entire 98 episodes. Here’s the thing, though. It’s not a bad show. So far, I’ve enjoyed the special […]

Preacher: Season 2: a review

As the first season of AMC’s Preacher ended, it seemed that the show’s trinity—Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy—were leaving a prologue and driving straight into the road-trip world of the Garth Ennis/Steve Dillon source material comic book. Season One managed to work in many important events from the comic, but it did so in a […]

Star Trek: Voyager: Season 2: a review

Neelix and Kes are my least favorite characters on Voyager. I just wanted to put that out there right at the beginning of this review of the second season. I’ll admit that this is a purely subjective thing, but any time that either of these characters spends too much time on-screen, my enjoyment of this […]

Deep Space Nine: Season 2: a review

A little over 4 months ago–on May 7, to be exact– I posted my review of the first seasons of all the Star Trek series following the original (and the animated series). The second season of DS9 had 26 episodes, and my plan was to watch one episode per week, so it seems I […]

Marvel’s The Defenders

I just finished watching Marvel’s The Defenders. Should I add “Season 1” to this, as if it’s a foregone conclusion that there will be more? Yeah, maybe I should. The Defenders are a timeworn staple in the Marvel Universe, and it’s doubtful that we won’t see a second season, at least. The Defenders are the […]

Sherlock: Series 4: a review

Have I ever mentioned that I am a fan of the BBC show Sherlock? Yes, I have. Because I am. And that fandom carries over into Series 4 of the program, which I just finished watching. This is great television. If you haven’t watched it yet, then why the hell not? Go ahead and watch […]

iZombie: Season 2: a review

The second season of iZombie was a lot of fun to watch. This post is full of SPOILERS. You have been warned. The season opens with the fallout from the freshman season. Liv’s mother and brother are both upset with her because she wouldn’t donate her Type O-Negative blood to save her brother after the […]

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 2 — a review

My second viewing of Season One of Star Trek: The Next Generation was an eye-opening experience. Simply put: it was crap. Hey, I’m as big a TNG apologist as anyone, and, while I accept that there were many events in the first season that remain important to the mythos of TNG, such as Tasha Yar’s […]

Sons of Anarchy: Season 7: a review

Season 7 of Sons of Anarchy was the final season of the series. And, it was a doozy. As always, this review contains massive SPOILERS, so don’t let me ruin anything for you if you ever plan to watch this series. Which, by the way, I recommend that you do watch. Just don’t get into […]

Sherlock: Series 3: a review

Netflix would have me believe that there were four episodes in Series 3 of the wonderful BBC program Sherlock. IMDb lists “The Abominable Bride” as episode zero of the fourth series, while Netflix says it’s the fourth episode of the third. The truth is that “Bride” was broadcast two years after the episodes of Series […]

Sons of Anarchy: Season 5: a review

I originally stopped watching Sons of Anarchy early in the fourth season. I’m not really sure why. I always liked the show. I do know that I wasn’t over-the-moon about the third season and all the stuff about Jax’s kid getting kidnapped by the IRA, but there was still plenty of stuff that I liked […]

firewatersite

Read. Play. Watch. Listen .

tv show review