tv review
Reviewing insightful and thought provoking science fiction TV and technology.
Review of 'The Man in the High Castle' 3.2-3
The Man in the High Castle episodes 3.2-3 go full bore into alternate realities, including: Dr. Mengele in New York schooling a shocked Smith about them, with Smith even remarking that this sounds like something out of "Frederic Brown"—a real science fiction writer in our reality, known mostly for his humorous science fiction stories, but author of the 1949 What Mad Universe, a novel with plenty of humor but also alternate universes. (The mention of Brown continues the weaving of elements from our reality into the alternate history of the Nazis and Japanese winning the Second World War that is the central story of The Man in the High Castle, with elements of our reality seeping through.) Smith, later watching one of the movie clips, sees his son Thomas alive and well, giving him a far deeper than professional stake in getting into or to the bottom of these alternate realities. Out West in Japanese California, the access to alternate realities is more mystical than scientific, as they are in the Nazi East Coast of America. This mysticism, by the way, is more consistent with Philip K. Dick's approach, but I like the way it's expanded to laboratory science in this third season of the story. Julianna's sister Trudy—the one who wasn't killed in her reality, but was in ours, now back in our reality alive and with Julianna—is discovered by Kido, the Japanese inspector who happened to kill her. This creates an unacceptable situation. Although Tagomi gets her and Juliania freed, they need to do something about Trudy, given Kido's understandable desire now to find out what's going on. Fortunately, I Ching is just thing to send Trudy back to her reality in a flash.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'The Man in the High Castle' 3.1
With the kick-in-the-gut news of the all-but-certain confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U. S. Supreme Court yesterday, I only managed to see the first episode of the third season of the brilliant Man in the High Castle on Amazon Prime last night. Its alternate history of the Nazis and Japanese winning the Second World War was much more enjoyable than the real news in our reality. Herewith a review of that first episode, with more to come as I see the rest over the weekend.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Manifest 1.1'
I reviewed the 9 and 1/2 minute sneak peek of Manifest in August, and said it had some outstanding possibilities as a time-travel drama. I therefore watched the full first-hour debut last night with great expectation. And it was good. But...
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'The First'
Tina and I binged The First on Hulu the last couple of nights -- the first being the first mission with people onboard to Mars. We enjoyed it immensely. I'd say it's the best of any-mission-to-anyplace-in-space narrative on screen, and that includes some masterful motion pictures like Apollo 13 and The Right Stuff.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Manifest' Sneak Peak 9-and-1/2 Minutes
Having flown back a few days ago from The Mars Society Convention in Pasadena, and time-travel being my all-time favorite genre, how could I resist watching the nine-and-a-half minute sneak preview of Manifest, a series about a plane that travels instantly through time from 2013 to 2018, to debut on NBC at the end of September?
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
'The Prisoner' - Volume 2 Review
The first volume of Nicholas Briggs' remake of the classic ITC series The Prisoner was a risky move for Big Finish. After all, a remake in 2009 had failed to take off, and since then, rebooting the franchise had seemed a risky prospect. I suspect that even Big Finish didn't expect the first volume to take off as much as it did. And, just as that first volume was one of the best releases of 2016, this second set of four stories is one of the best releases of the year as well. All four stories are amazingly put together, with fantastic scripts, amazing acting and peerless soundscapes, and two of the four episodes I'd argue stand as two of the best hours of material that Big Finish have ever put out, in its near 20 year history.
By Joseph A. Morrison8 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Humans' Season 3 Final Three Episodes
I decided to review the final three episodes of Humans, Season 3, as a single piece, since they're even more closely connected than episodes usually are in this fine series. The upshot of these episodes, and a great foundation for a fourth season, is that it's possible to have a true synch-human hybrid—true, that is, and assuming I'm understanding this correctly, on the genetic level.
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism
Review of '12 Monkeys' Finale
Well, I'm a sucker for happy endings, and I would never have forgiven 12 Monkeys if ended with Cole and Cassie apart, or dead—which indeed is the worst kind of apart—and I'm very glad I don't have to. That is, forgive 12 Monkeys. Because ... [spoilers ahead]
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Humans' 3.5
On the eve of the Fourth of July in America earlier this week, it was good to see the synths in Humans 4.5 making progress towards independence, even though the show has been moved from 10 PM to the less desirable 11 PM hour by AMC, thank you.
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism
Review of '12 Monkeys' 4-7.9
I've been saying for years—well, since 1995, when Terry Gilliam's movie, starring Bruce Willis and Madeleine Stowe first came out—that 12 Monkeys (based on the 1962 short, La Jetée) is the best time-travel movie ever made. This gave the television series, which came out in 2015 and I've been reviewing ever since, a lot to live up to. Up until tonight's penultimate three episodes (4.7-9), the best it did was sidestep the movie, and tell us other time-travel stories. Especially in this final season, some of these stories were as good, in their own ways, as the movie.
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism
