Classes are back in session (well, a new school venture for me!) and with that, I’m rewatching all of Friends again to procrastinate. I’ve watched this show so many times over, and I love it just as much each time. I’m always finding something new to love and think about, so what better place to talk about it than here? Continue reading
When F is for Family was first added to Netflix I immediately sat down to give it a watch. It was vulgar, emotional, and real, so I was excited to see a second season show up on recently.
This time around, we start as Frank has been unemployed for three weeks and the family has to cope with depression, not enough money, and being at each other’s throats. Check out my full review below! Continue reading
Riverdale is the new CW show trying to give Archie and his gang a darker spin. Think Pretty Little Liars meets Dawson’s Creek, meets absolutely every other teen high-school drama ever. With a hell of a lot of soap.
Archie and Betty are best friends, she pines after him but he’s hot for teacher and the new girl who moved to town. Veronica is that new girl who becomes instant-friends with Betty, making her impending relationship with Archie very difficult. Oh, and a classmate was murdered on July 4th as well. There’s so much going on that could make this a really fun, dark high school drama but it still feels too light – like the writers don’t know how to lean into the dark-and-twisty of their show. Continue reading
Part 2 of season 1 is all about relationships. The brothers got over their feuds and have bonded again. It’s great getting to see Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson continue their long-lived on-screen friendship in this show, especially as Wilmer Valderrama joins the cast as an old friend for a few episodes. At least we know where he’s from in this show, too. Continue reading
I just recapped the whole second season of Scream, but MTV put out a very special 2 hour Scream Halloween Special this week which I just needed to talk about. Below is a spoiler-heavy review.
First, for an update on the characters… Kieran is given 10 life sentences, but is killed by a different (new? old?) masked villain at the start. Brooke and Stavo are cutesy-coupley, which is what I’ve wanted to see all season. Audrey even has a new girlfriend, Gina. Emma is… well, she’s Emma. Noah and Stavo have been writing graphic novels, and it was nice to see them bonded since the drama of the season. Continue reading
Season one ended after Piper was unmasked as the Scream killer, so who’s under the mask this time?
Emma Duval (Willa Fitzgerald) is back after a mental breakdown in school just after first season ended, but she’s pretty unstable at the start here too. Fitzgerald plays it well, but seems to be taking too dramatic of a turn. I enjoyed season one, partly because it didn’t take itself too seriously. This time, it feels like I can’t watch as lightheadedly. Continue reading
Cuckoo follows a British family of four, as their daughter brings home a new husband from Thailand. Originally a show on BBC 3, Netflix has also picked it up for a few more seasons.
First season featured Andy Samberg as Cuckoo, Rachel’s (Tamla Kari) new husband. Samberg is great at getting into a silly, hippy character like Cuckoo but unfortunately I never felt too connected to him. Perhaps it was the writing and a stronger focus on the reactions of the father figure, Ken (and wonderful British comedic actor, Greg Davies) to his new son-in-law.
Between first and second season, there were a few interesting and initially shocking changes. Most importantly, Andy Samberg was replaced by Taylor Lautner after his American show Brooklyn 9-9 got picked up. Although the title character was gone, second and third season weren’t hurt by the change but instead given a needed boost. Lautner’s character Dave, as Cuckoo’s son who just escaped a cult, is hilariously honest. His hi-jinks and slow discovery of British life seems more real than Samberg’s new-wave style, surprisingly making the latter seasons more enjoyable.
Another big change was the replacement of Rachel’s actor from Kari to Esther Smith. After an episode or two to get used to her, she fits in well for the family dynamic and manages better chemistry with Lautner’s Dave than Kari and Samberg ever had together in first season.
This series can be found on Netflix, and has been renewed for another two seasons. NBC has also commissioned a pilot for an American version of this show. As always, let’s not assume that version will be any good, especially since a big part of the British version is Cuckoo and Dave’s clash with their newfound proper English family.
Netflix recently added the new original series The Ranch to their line-up. The show follows the lives of a family of ranchers in Garrison, Colorado.
I really started watching it for the Kutcher-Masterson pairing. The brothers great when playing off each other, but the whole cast is what makes the show a success. Kutcher continues his lovable dumb guy routine from back in the day, but there’s an added maturity behind his character which I didn’t entirely expect, and Masterson keeps up the sarcastic banter that he’s known for.
Sam Elliot is fantastic as the stick-in-the-mud father, and balanced well with Oscar-nominated Debra Winger as the flighty and sometimes very wise mother. It was a nice surprise to see Elisha Cuthbert show up as Kutcher’s high school ex-girlfriend, and the episodes with the both of them were great.
As with many Netflix originals, it starts off slow. If you can push past the stilted, bad jokes of the first episode then you’ll find an endearing comedy with strong performances from everyone. Although the show can be quite predictable at times, overall it’s a really fun, enjoyable production.
3.5/5
Sometimes you just have to go back to the classics, and for me and my family Criminal Minds is just that.
When Making a Murderer came out, it got me itching for one of my favourite shows. Yes, they’re very different… but I couldn’t help ‘profiling’ Avery and wondering how my favourite FBI agents would handle the case.
This show started when I was relatively young, and I went through high school enjoying it with my parents. The writers seemed to master the season finale/opener cliffhangers, starting that at the end of 3rd season and keeping it up almost every season. Each character is allowed to develop so fully, getting their own story arcs and personal development, which makes it one of the best procedural shows on TV.
Criminal Minds is on American Netflix and is currently airing on Wednesday’s on CBS.
Aziz Ansari’s new show Master of None is more thought provoking than funny. It provides insight into many difficult concepts while generally remaining light enough to infuse some comedy.
It isn’t a laugh-out-loud type of comedy show. Instead, it’s a realistic look at life. Unfortunately, life is frequently quite mundane which leaves Ansari nothing to do but reflect that, which sometimes appears dull and brings stiff performances.
It could use a more nuanced hand, but overall the show is enjoyable. Master of None is a Netflix original, you can find it streaming online.
