Category Archives: TV Show Reviews

TV Show Reviews

Matador (The Naked and the Dead, Idol Worship, Code Red Card, Enter the Worm)

Leave a comment

matador 3

matador 4

MatadorCast.TCA

El Rey Network

Episode Air Date: July 22nd, 29th, August 5th, 12th 2014

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Matador (The Naked and the Dead, Idol Worship, Code Red Card, Enter the Worm)

Starring: Gabriel Luna, Nicky Whelan, Neil Hopkins, Alfred Molina, Tanc Sade, Yvette Monreal, Elizabeth Pena, Isabella Gomez, Eve Torres, Christina Ochoa

Welcome back to this week’s review of the series Matador on El Rey Network, one of the most recent networks to order scripted series. A lot can happen in 4 weeks- good guys can become bad guys and vice versa, romances can heat up or break down, and new characters can be introduced, or new storylines added. In the case of this new show, which does not rely on viewers’ ratings as it has already been renewed for season 2; there are tons that have occur, including a betrayal, a team initiation, a intense kidnapping and blackmail situation, and brutal killings. But let’s first recap what happened in the pilot first, shall we?

Continue reading Matador (The Naked and the Dead, Idol Worship, Code Red Card, Enter the Worm) →

TV Show Reviews

Legends (Pilot)

Leave a comment

legends

TNT

Premiere Date: August 13th 2014

Reviewed by: Jonathan Andre

Legends (Pilot)

Starring: Sean Bean, Ali Larter, Morris Chestnut, Tina Majorino, Steve Harris, Mason Cook, Amber Valletta, Rob Mayes

MTV debuted a clever TV show back in July, titled Finding Carter, which spoke about identity, where the titular main character found out that the mum she grew up with was in fact her kidnapper and that she had a whole new family that was waiting for her. The rest of the show explores identity, and how Carter tries to find out who she is in light of this revelation. TNT releases another new show this week about a similar theme. Though not about kidnapping, identity is nevertheless equally discussed in Legends, a covert-ops spy drama starring Sean Bean, of Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones fame. One of the most smartly produced summer series I’ve seen on TNT since Perception a few years ago, Legends, rather than being a story about fairytales, fables and legends as the title of the show suggests, instead gives us a story uniquely similar to the new MTV drama. Centring on Martin Odum (Sean Bean) and his quest to find out who he is amidst revelations of the contrary, we see a story unravel full of twists and turns, and a glimpse inside the FBI Deep Covers Operative Division (a fictional division, the FBI doesn’t have this section in real life).

Continue reading Legends (Pilot) →

TV Show Reviews

Rush (Don’t Ask Me Why, Learning To Fly, We Are Family)

Leave a comment

rush-sarah-habel-tom-ellis

USA Network

Episode Air Date: July 24th, 31st, August 7th 2014

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Rush (Don’t Ask Me Why, Learning To Fly, We Are Family)

Starring: Tom Ellis, Larenz Tate, Sarah Habel, Rick Gonzalez, Erica Cerra, Harry Hamlin, Rachel Nichols

USA Network has taken a risk with it’s new show Rush, presenting us with Hawk Lawson from Royal Pains, but essentially making the titular character of Dr William Rush (Tom Ellis) a bit more rough around the edges, more ethically immoral (maybe ethically apathetic in certain situations), and certainly only invested when there are big bucks and large sums of money involved. Though the show hasn’t received the high ratings that we’ve come to expect from USA Network (and we have seen the high viewers in shows like Royal Pains, Suits and shows that have ended like Psych, Burn Notice and White Collar), and this ratings dip is probably due to Rushand Satisfaction having virtually no lead in- no established show to lead into the two new dramas; these past few episodes since I reviewed the pilot, have garnered my interest slightly. Although the show is flawed, as there are many plot points that are cliché and at which I roll my eyes, there are also developments that are interesting, of which I will lay out below.

Continue reading Rush (Don’t Ask Me Why, Learning To Fly, We Are Family) →

TV Show Reviews

Finding Carter (Drive, Now You See Me, The Heat, The Fugitive)

Leave a comment

finding carter 1

MTV

Episode Air Date: July 15th, 22nd, 29th, August 5th 2014

Reviewed by: Jonathan Andre

Finding Carter (Drive, Now You See Me, The Heat, The Fugitive)

Starring: Kathryn Prescott, Cynthia Watros, Anna Jacoby-Heron, Alexis Denisof, Zac Pullam, Milena Govich

It’s been 3 weeks since I last wrote a review on Finding Carter, and in that time, a lot has happened. Since watching the pilot of what I reckon is one of the most enjoyable series I’ve watched since shows like The Fosters, Orphan Black and The Blacklist in 2013; Finding Carter has delved into the issues head-on, as what I reckon any show should do if they have a premise like this MTV drama. Presenting a show where the main plotline comes from the revelation that the main titular character’s ‘mother’ that she has known her whole life is in fact her kidnapper can in fact seem hard to pull off, yet Finding Carter manages to balance the comedy and drama in the show pretty well.

Continue reading Finding Carter (Drive, Now You See Me, The Heat, The Fugitive) →

TV Show Reviews

The Lottery (Pilot)

Leave a comment

the lottery

Lifetime

Premiere Date: July 20th 2014

Reviewed by: Jonathan Andre

The Lottery (Pilot)

Starring: Marley Shelton, Michael Graziadei, David Alpay, Anthena Karkanis, Yul Vazquez, Shelly Conn, Martin Donovan

Imagine a world without children. A world where women, for some reason or another, cannot be pregnant. A world where hospitals, schools, little league teams, and just the presence of young people; are all a thing of the past. Where the hope for any future rests on a few scientists trying to find a cure for an ailment that really didn’t have a certain cause. I’ll give you a moment to think… can’t imagine a future with children not in it, can you? Neither can I. A world like that shouldn’t happen, and the more I think about it, the thought of no children in the future could plausibly occur (especially with China’s ‘One Child Policy’).

Continue reading The Lottery (Pilot) →

TV Show Reviews

Rush (Pilot)

1 Comment

rush

Rush - Season 1

USA Network

Premiere Date: July 17th 2014

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Rush (Pilot)

Starring: Tom Ellis, Larenz Tate, Sarah Habel, Rick Gonzalez, Odette Annable, Brian Markinson, Erica Cerra, Rolando Molina, Angell Conwell, Gino Anthony Pesi

What do you get if you mix a skilful and knowledge concierge doctor with a wad of cash, no questions asked? What do you get with a doctor with an attitude like’…we don’t scream, we don’t discriminate, we don’t judge, I’m not a shrink, not a lawyer, not a priest, not a cop, we treat people who pay…’? That’d be my question when asking about the new medical drama show Rush. Well the answer lies partially in the pilot episode, and hopefully fully in the following episodes, in the 9pm slot on USA Network on Thursdays.

Continue reading Rush (Pilot) →

TV Show Reviews

Matador (Quid Go Pro)

1 Comment

matador 2

matador1

matador

El Rey Network

Premiere Date: July 15th 2014

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Matador (Quid Go Pro)

Starring: Gabriel Luna, Nicky Whelan, Neil Hopkins, Alfred Molina, Tanc Sade, Yvette Monreal, Elizabeth Pena, Isabella Gomez, Eve Torres, Christopher Cousins

Hands up who likes soccer? Who likes watching soccer on TV, or watching soccer themed TV series or films? Considering that the 2014 soccer World Cup just finished this week, and there was buzz about many games, especially those involving Germany, who won (if you weren’t aware); it’s fitting and strategic for Robert Rodriguez, who created the El Rey Network in December 2013, to launch the soccer/spy centred drama Matadorthis summer, and to grab people’s attention while soccer is still on their minds.

Continue reading Matador (Quid Go Pro) →

TV Show Reviews

Finding Carter (Pilot, The Birds)

1 Comment

finding carter

MTV

Premiere Date: July 8th 2014

Reviewed by: Jonathan Andre

Finding Carter (Pilot, The Birds)

Starring: Kathryn Prescott, Cynthia Watros, Anna Jacoby-Heron, Alexis Denisof, Zac Pullam, Milena Govich

Where do you fit in if everything you knew, and everything you thought was true of your life wasn’t? If all of a sudden in a whim of a moment, you were told that the person who you thought was your mother, was in fact your kidnapper, and that you had another family, a real one, desperately waiting, worrying, agonising, and anticipating your return after 13 years of not knowing whether you were dead or alive?

Continue reading Finding Carter (Pilot, The Birds) →