TV CRITIC

STARTED: 12th November 2022

FINISHED: 21st January 2023

✅ 01 - Choose five different TV shows to watch over a four week period. The shows should span different genres, and not all be shows which you would normally choose.

1. Cabinet of Curiosities (Horror)

2. 1899 (Mystery)

3. Wednesday (Supernatural)

4. Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan (Action)

5. Upload (Sci-fi Comedy)

✅ 02 - Write reviews of each show. What did you like about it? What didn't you like about it? What did you learn? Did you discover something of interest which surprised you?

Cabinet of Curiosities

A couple of people at work recommended this programme, so I thought I'd give it a go. I just watched the first episode today - 'Lot 36'. From the off, this series feels like it's going to be 'Are You Afraid Of The Dark?' but for adults, and as I enjoyed those programmes as a child, I think I will enjoy this series.

'Lot 36' is set in a storage unit. The manager sells off the units, contents included to the highest bidder if the owners abandon them. The main character, Nick, already owns one lot in the unit and then wins lot 36. He opens it up to find a lot of stuff he considers junk, as well as an old table, some books, and a wreath made out of human hair, which he takes to a woman who would be interested in these curiosities. The table, he discovers used to be used for seances, and the books are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, but he can only find three books when there should be four. Along with an antiques expert, Nick returns to his lot, and they look for the book. As they search, they discover a secret door leading to something unexpected, dangerous, and scary.

It wasn't as scary as I'd hoped, but it was certainly dark and disturbing. And the acting in this episode wasn't great, but the story was good enough for that not to be an issue. I'm looking forward to the next episode. The one thing that did surprise me with this is seeing Guillermo del Toro. I didn't know what he looked like, and he didn't look anything like I imagined!

1899

I thought I'd have a look on Netflix to see if I could find a TV programme that I wouldn't normally watch. I tend to watch most things, so I wasn't sure what to go for. I don't tend to watch or read anything historical. I don't know why, because history is an immensely fascinating subject. But I think because there's so much history, I don't always have a point of reference I can relate to.

I didn't think I'd be captured by this programme, but it has me hooked. A ship, the Kerberos, is travelling from London to New York, carrying passengers from all walks of life; rich, poor, different nationalities. The Kerberos began to receive strange messages from another ship, which they believed to be the Prometheus, which had been lost at sea. When the Prometheus was sighted in the distance, the captain of the Kerberos, some members of the crew, a priest, and a female doctor (who was allowed to learn about medicine at that time, but not practise), sailed to the other ship ad boarded. However, they were quick to discover that the ship was abandoned and derelict, with the ship's telegraph machine destroyed, so there was no way this boat could have sent the messages.

Although this is set in 1899, the 'thriller' aspect overrides the historical aspect, so seems like something I would actually enjoy. We have seen snippets of the main characters' lives and know that there is some mystery shrouding each one. Enough was given away for the viewer to be curious, which has certainly led to me wanting to watch more. You can already feel that there's so much more going on that what we see on the surface. Who are these people? Why are they going to America? Where did the message come front? What happened to the passengers of the Prometheus? And what's going to happen next?

Wednesday

I'm always dubious of 'remakes', especially when it's something that enjoyed in the original. Although I didn't see The Addams Family TV show when it first came out in the 1960s (I wasn't alive!), I own the DVDs and really enjoy it. And one of my favourite films is Addams Family Values - I can pretty much recite the script word for word.

So I wasn't 100% sure when I saw that Netflix was making Wednesday; I didn't know what to expect. However, the fact that Tim Burton had a hand in this, with trusty musician Danny Elfman, it was sure to be good. And Christina Ricci has a part in the show too.

In the first episode, 'Wednesday's Child is Full of Woe', Wednesday finds her brother, Pugsley, tied up in his school locker. She discovers that a group of 'jocks' did this, so takes her revenge by putting piranha fish in the pool where these jocks are swimming. She is then sent to a boarding school as punishment, and it is here where we see just how strange and unusual Wednesday is. 

The humour is dark, the cast is great. It definitely has the Tim Burton stamp on it. I can't say that I'm enamoured by Wednesday. She seems a bit too evil, compared to her previous counterparts. She also has some sort of supernatural power which allows her to see things that have happened as well as things that are about to happen. 

The first episode has done exactly what first episodes should do, and left the viewer with many unanswered questions which draw you in to watch the next episodes. I like it. It's familiar but also new. I'm going to keep watching.

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan

Trying to find TV shows that I wouldn't normally watch is difficult as I do watch most things, or at least give them a go. However, I rarely enjoy action based things, or politics or spies or war or guns. So Jack Ryan isn't something I would choose to watch. And after watching the first episode, I don't think I'll watch more.

It's not that it wasn't good; it just wasn't for me. Plus, I struggle to see John Krasinski as anyone other than Jim Halpert. Especially as Jack Ryan is just as awkward and nerdy as Jim. Perhaps the character develops as the show goes on. I also haven't read the books; again because this type of stuff doesn't appeal to me.

Jack works as a financial analyst for the CIA. When he discovers that an Islamic extremist has been making a lot of suspicious monetary transfers, he's taken from his 'boring' desk job to Yemin to find out what's going on. There are a lot of guns and a lot of spying and a lot of violence, and I just know I won't want to watch more. I just don't understand American politics, what the CIA does, and their obsession with shooting people.

The music was good, as was the acting. And there were explosions, which I know are necessary for things like this. But at least I gave it a go!

Upload

I noticed this when scrolling through Amazon, and noticed that it was made by Greg Daniels, who made The Office and Parks & Rec. As they're both brilliant shows, I thought I'd give this a go. Well ... this is very different from the other two, which are work-place documentaries. Upload is set in a future where your consciousness can be uploaded to a virtual afterlife just before you die. Nathan dies in a car crash, and his girlfriend encourages Nathan to upload to an expensive afterlife. His girlfriend ultimately has control over him because she's paid for him to be there. While trying to find his feet, Nathan spends a lot of time talking to Nora, who works for an organisation who helps people in the afterlife and they form an unusual friendship.

Although this is a comedy, it's quite deep and dark. I'm really enjoying it because it is so different. It's funny and clever and there's a bit of mystery and intrigue because Nathan's death may be more sinister than just an accident. We watched 3 episodes and we will be watching them all before our free month of Amazon Prime runs out!

✅ 03 - Find a written review of one of the shows. Look at Twitter - what are most people saying about the show? Do you agree with these other opinions?

Upload

Having never heard of this programme until a month or so ago, I'd not seen anything online about it (or if I had, I hadn't paid any attention to it!). So I had to google a review, and the first one that came up was from The Guardian. 

Immediately I knew I wouldn't agree with this review, as it only gives Upload a rating of two stars out of five. I would give it a strong four and a half stars.

The review compares this show to The Good Place, but having not seen it, I can't comment. However, after reading this review I now want to watch this show! The author of this review comes across as bored and unimpressed with the whole premise of Upload, as though it represents real life rather than it being a sci-fi comedy, with a bit of social commentary thrown in. I really enjoyed the two series. It was stupid and far-fetched, but it was fun.

The Twitter reviews agree with me! It ended abruptly, on a cliffhanger. It has left us wanting more. There are so many unanswered questions.

✅ 04 - Agree to watch a show with a friend, family member or fellow Rebel, either in person or at the same time. Discuss the show afterwards. What did you like? What didn't you? How did it make you feel?

Alice In Borderland (season 2)

After the excitement of Squid Game early in 2021, we found Alice in Borderland, which is like a more violent and brutal Hunger Games. Set in Japan, people are just going about their day to day lives when suddenly they find themselves in the same place but everything is different. People have disappeared, and now they must compete in sadistic games in order to stay alive. The games are given a difficulty level, based on cards from a pack of playing cards. The higher the number, the more difficult the game. And then the face cards (King, Queen, Jack) are the most difficult.

Ultimately, some people die, but some people become strong and learn how to fight through a world that they weren't prepared for. There were a few main characters, and we found ourselves really rooting for them. We were emotionally invested in their survival, and ultimately felt shocked and sad when different people died. There were some very heartwarming moments when certain characters (the good guys) were eliminated and the other characters had to grieve quickly so that they could carry on with trying to stay alive.

There were so many twists and turns, and points where were were holding our breath because we couldn't believe what was happening. When the first series ended, we were left with an emptiness that the second series satiated. And then when the second series ended, we felt at a loss because it raised as many questions as it answered. Ultimately, we both became extremely emotionally invested in the characters, and often found ourselves shouting at the screen, telling the characters what to do and where to go in order to stay safe. Of course, they didn't listen to us!!

One of our favourite characters was Shuntarō Chishiya, who, despite fighting for his life in scary life-threatening games, is totally cool and doesn't appear to be worried about what's happening. He takes it all in his stride, and plays each game methodically.

There's not much that we didn't like, if anything at all. We're hoping that there will be a series three!

✅ 05 - Choose a TV drama series with at least three parts. Watch it all, then take a step back and analyse the show. Who were the most impactful characters? What were their character arcs? What were the key messages of the show?

The Teacher

The Teacher is a 4 part drama, originally on Channel 5 (I think), but I found it on Netflix.

Sheridan Smith plays Jenna Garvey, a teacher at a high school, who is accused of sexually assaulting one of her students, Kyle, in a nightclub toilet. This is quite an intense show. It's going to take me a little while to process everything that's gone on! So many twists and turns. Too many times I thought I'd worked it out, and then there's another red herring!

When Jenna's not at work, she likes to drink and she likes to go to a nightclub in town. One morning when she gets to school, the headmaster tells her that an accusation of sexually assaulting a minor at the nightclub has been brought to his attention and he asks her to leave. In the car park, she's arrested and taken to the police station. She doesn't remember anything, especially committing the crime, as she often has blackouts.

Regardless of her behaviour, I did not believe she had committed the crime. And ultimately she didn't believe she did it. Because she thought it was a set-up, there were a lot of characters on the periphery who could have been involved. And every time I thought I knew what was going on, or I thought I could trust a character, everything changed and my whole thought process was messed up. But I liked it, because it kept me on my toes and kept me watching.

The main character of Jenna was obviously the most impactful, as we were following her story and seeing her up close and personal when she was at her most vulnerable. But Jenna's colleague Pauline was another character who stood out because I was led into a false sense of security with her from the off, and I shouldn't have been so quick to trust her. I also trusted Jenna's other colleague, Jack, when I shouldn't. We saw Pauline and Jack as Jenna's confidants, as people she could trust and rely on. But ultimately she should have just trusted herself.

I guess the key messages of the show are - you can't trust everyone, so be careful who you confide in, be careful where you leave your phone, make sure it's got a password so people can't download apps without your knowledge, and make sure you cover your back, don't do anything stupid that could put you in jeopardy.