House of the Dragon: Season 1

Hi guys!
I’m still trying to catch up on my backlog of shows that I didn’t get to last year. House of the Dragon is definitely among the shows I was very excited about, so it’s high time we talk about it!

The Plot (according to Rotten Tomatoes):

The reign of House Targaryen begins with this prequel to popular HBO series “Game of Thrones.” Based on George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood,” “House of the Dragon” is set nearly 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones,” telling the story of the Targaryen civil war with King Viserys I Targaryen’s children battling for control of the Iron Throne.

House of the Dragon on RT

The Rating:

This was an interesting show. I had always enjoyed Game of Thrones up until that point where Benioff and Weiss had to ruin everything, and devoured the books. Since there’s still no hope in sight for the next novel actually coming out, I was content to check out this new show.

First of all, the story is well written. You can tell the plot was crafted intricately, it’s not just randomly slapped together. From what I understand, there is a novel this is based on, but I haven’t read it yet. I wonder how much of the story was just copy-pasted from there. With Game of Thrones, the best bits in the show, every great quote, came directly from the novels and the moment we ran out of source material is when things went to hell. So, I am curious to find out if, for House of The Dragon, the show also sticks very closely to the book.

While I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that this is a faithful adaptation in some regards, I certainly was surprised by the timeline. In Game of Thrones, things were moving at an almost glacial pace. Consider how many seasons/books there are and how much is covered. House of the Dragon moves on a much more accelerated timeline than that. The show spans across a good amount of years even thou we are only one season in so far. I don’t know why, but I just hadn’t expected that and had assumed it’d be more similar to GOT. From what I understand, there is only one novel so far called Fire & Blood (about 700 pages according to Goodreads) and that’s what HOTD is based on thus far. Which means, George RR Martin actually is covering a lot more ground when writing than I’m used to from him. Well, there is supposed to be another book (Blood & Fire) but hell knows when that is gonna come out. Probably when we’re already 10 seasons deep into the show. Maybe never. We shall see.

One reason I’m really looking forward to reading the book is to finally properly learn all the same. It’s the same struggle I had with GOT. There are just so many characters. And in HOTD they all have very similar names which can be rather confusing. On top of that we have a time jump of several years where new actors take on the roles, so now you can’t even go by faces you might remember. This is not really a criticism, it’s definitely not the show’s fault that there is so much happening. It’s more a heads-up to really focus and concentrate when watching the show or you’ll end up very confused.

Letterkenny: Season 11

Hey guys!
Today we need to talk about the latest season of what is usually one of my favorite shows. For 10 seasons Letterkenny didn’t disappoint, not even once. Let’s see if the same can be said for season 11!

The Plot (according to Rotten Tomatoes):

This comedy series showcases the antics of the residents of Letterkenny, a small rural community in Canada. Siblings Wayne and Katy run a small farm and produce stand, with Wayne’s friends Daryl and “Squirrely” Dan helping out. Many of the town’s inhabitants fall into one of several groups, which include the farmers, or “hicks,” the out-of-towners on the local hockey team, the local drug addicts and the “natives,” who are members of the local First Nation. “Letterkenny” began its life as a YouTube series called “Letterkenny Problems.”

Letterkenny on RT

The Rating:

Well, this season confused me. So far, I loved pretty much every single episode and every season of Letterkenny but I’m not entirely sure what to do with this one.

Mainly, my issue is that the episodes felt extremely random. There was no overarching story, no actual red thread for this season. Essentially it felt like a collection of episodes they just didn’t know where to put, so we got this season. In the past, this was not the case. The seasons are always short, but they usually managed to give us some nice arc for those couple of episodes.

Things started off with the first episode which was just a discussion about chips flavors and nothing else. Not only did this not contribute anything to a bigger story for this season, but it also has nothing at all to do with the past seasons. For example, in the season finale of season 10, Shoresy moves away. This never gets addressed, heck, he actually shows up in an episode in this season as if he had never been gone. I think you can tell by now why this entire season felt so very random!

The Crown: Season 5

Hi everybody!
Today we’re going to talk about the most recent season of Netflix’s The Crown. We’re now 5 seasons deep into the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, which means we’ve now made it to the 90s.

The Plot (according to Rotten Tomatoes):

Based on an award-winning play (“The Audience”) by showrunner Peter Morgan, this lavish, Netflix-original drama chronicles the life of Queen Elizabeth II from the 1940s to modern times. The series begins with an inside look at the early reign of the queen, who ascended the throne at age 25 after the death of her father, King George VI. As the decades pass, personal intrigues, romances, and political rivalries are revealed that played a big role in events that shaped the later years of the 20th century.

The Crown on RT

The Rating:

What a season. The Crown is certainly always a big spectacle and the latest installment isn’t a letdown in that regard. While the show has previously covered a lot of important events, I was especially curious to see how the whole Charles and Diana thing gets tackled as this is among the most prominent things that have happened within the royal family. I feel like that was especially the case because the media was all over it. Sure, there was reporting on the royal family before, but was there ever as much going on – especially focused on the private life of individuals within the family – as at that time? Plus, while I am too young to remember any of it, there is a large chunk of the audience who will have memories of Diana, of her marriage with Charles, and the reporting thereof. Hence, I was simply intrigued to see how that would translate to the screen.

I want to start with Elizabeth Debicki who portrayed Diana in this season. God, what a truly outstanding performance that was. She really nailed it. Not just the look but so many of the little mannerisms, the way she speaks. Just amazing. I hope Debicki wins all the awards for this, she’d deserve it. Out of the entire cast, I believe her performance was the strongest – and that says something considering that this season also featured Imelda Staunton and Jonathan Pryce.

Rings of Power: Season 1

Hey guys!
Today we need to talk about Rings of Power. I love the LOTR movies, so obviously I had to watch the Amazon prequel show. Let’s see how it holds up!

The Plot (according to Rotten Tomatoes):

Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness. Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.

Rings of Power on RT

The Rating:

I’ve read a lot of conflicting opinions on Rings of Power so far. I didn’t start watching the show until all episodes were out, so you can guess I saw a lot of posts about it on Twitter.

The show does start off fairly slowly. The first episode especially has to do a lot of exposure, of worldbuilding, of explaining, of setting the state for the entire season. So, it definitely was dragging on a bit but just because it was trying to do so many things at once. Literally, the info they give you in that first episode would have been enough to make its own season off, or heck, you could have made an entire show. I do think that after that the show picks up some speed and gets better.

One of the main selling points is obviously how stunningly beautiful everything is. You can tell what an insane amount of money amazon must have pumped into this show. Everything looks so expensive and so pretty, it can sometimes dazzle you, definitely hiding small bumps in the plot.

I’m not familiar enough with the whole Middle-Earth universe Tolkien created to say whether this season made sense in the grand scheme of things. Sure, I watched Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit movies, I read the books but that was years ago, and I was never too deeply invested in all the lore. So, while I enjoyed the show – and the story this season tells, somebody who is much more familiar with this whole topic might spot inaccuracies and dislike the show based on that.

The Sandman: Season 1

Hey guys!
Today I’m back with one of last year’s most impressive new shows. It took me a moment to find the time to binge this, and I wish I had done so earlier!

The Plot (according to Rotten Tomatoes):

When the Sandman, aka Dream, the cosmic being who controls all dreams, is captured and held prisoner for more than a century, he must journey across different worlds and timelines to fix the chaos his absence has caused.

The Sandman on RT

The Rating:

The mind of Neil Gaiman must be a wondrous place to live in. By now I’ve read multiple of his books and watched many of the adaptations and I never cease to be amazed. The sheer power of imagination that Gaiman has, the worlds he creates, the characters! I will forever be in awe of his talent.

I’ve loved pretty much every adaptation of his work that I’ve watched so far and this is no exception. Sandman blew me away from the first episode on. The show is intense, smart, dark and gloomy, but at the same time beautiful. The show has a lot of rather dark moments but just as many that will warm your heart.

There are just so many cool characters in this. I want to know more about each and every one of them. I’m sure they all have intriguing backstories and I honestly cannot wait for more seasons to explore on that front. The acting performances are amazing but it’s the costume design as well as – obviously – the writing that makes all of these characters so intriguing. I feel like the stars really aligned for this show.

I guess this counts as spoilers but I saw people on Twitter talk/complain about it. The show did an interesting thing by giving us a twist on John Constantine. This has always been a character that I enjoyed, be it in the Hellblazer comics, the movie, or the TV show. Here we get a gender-bent version and John is now Joanna. Not gonna lie, I usually don’t care much for Jenna Coleman but her story arc was amazing and heartbreaking, and devastating, and just all the feelings. I didn’t mind this change at all, it was an interesting surprise.

The Handmaid’s Tale: Season 5

Hi everybody!
Today we need to talk about season 5 of The Handmaid’s Tale. The latest season dropped last year but I didn’t have any more capacity for misery in my life, so it took me a while to start watching…

The Plot (according to Rotten Tomatoes):

Based on the best-selling novel by Margaret Atwood, this series is set in Gilead, a totalitarian society in what used to be part of the United States. Gilead is ruled by a fundamentalist regime that treats women as property of the state, and is faced with environmental disasters and a plummeting birth rate. In a desperate attempt to repopulate a devastated world, the few remaining fertile women are forced into sexual servitude. One of these women, Offred, is determined to survive the terrifying world she lives in, and find the daughter that was taken from her.

The Handmaid’s Tale on RT

The Rating:

Damn, what a season.
Before I delve into all the things I liked about this season, let’s address some issues. Mainly, we need to tackle some stuff that I already brought up in my reviews for past seasons. Could we please put June in therapy or something? I fully understand that she went through a lot and doesn’t really know how to deal with how she feels now. But – this was already the case during the last season – there are moments where June seems less like an actual character but just like a ball of rage that is meant to move the plot along. Granted, they’re doing a better job with it this season than during the last one, but we’re still not quite there. To be honest, I feel like some of the mediocre writing in those scenes is saved by Elizabeth Moss. She’s such an outstanding actress, her performance can’t easily tide you over some imperfections.

Because June keeps returning to this kind of behavior the show/the season sometimes is going in circles. Yes, there are a lot of things going on, there is plot that gets moved along significantly, but June as a character feels somewhat stagnant and that’s why we’re not really getting anywhere. It doesn’t help that parts of the plot feel all over the place and somewhat disconnected. Tying everything together could just be a little bit better to make everything feel more cohesive and whole.

I was quite impressed with Yvonne Strahovski this season. I remember clearly that during the first season (and also in other stuff I had seen her in up to that point) I disliked her quite a lot because she couldn’t act or convey emotion to save her life. Well, somewhere between then and now she must have learned because she delivered some outstanding performances this season.

*If you haven’t seen the season yet, I’m gonna address some details now, so beware of spoilers!*