tv review

Reviewing insightful and thought provoking science fiction TV and technology.

Review of Outlander 3.7
A rip-roaring, excellent episode 3.7 of Outlander last night, in which Jamie reveals a secret — to us, the audience, at this point, and not yet Claire — and his life as A. Malcolm the printer goes literally up in flames.
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism
Review of Outlander 3.6
Well, some things are worth waiting for. And that would be an apt description of this past Sunday's Outlander 3.6, in which Claire and Jamie finally get back together.
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism
Review of Outlander 3.5
Outlander 3.5 finally got Claire and Jamie back together — 20 years after they last were together, in the 1700s, with Jamie now in Edinburgh. There were lots of nice touches, including Jamie being located by a literary device — literally — I first noticed in Isaac Asimov's The End of Eternity (still my all-time favorite time travel story) back in the 1950s. The person in the past wanting to let someone in the future know where to find him or her puts an ad in a newspaper with some reference to some event that hasn't happened yet (Asimov's method) or a poem from the future (Jamie's method) as a marker for the future to see. It's a nice, soft touch, and usually does the trick.
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism
Review of Outlander 3.4
A surprisingly tender and altogether superb episode 3.4 of Outlander on Sunday night — in fact, the best of this season and among the best of all three seasons so far, I'd say.
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism
Rewatching... 'Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen' - Episode One
Saturday 30 September 1967 Something nasty attacks a small expedition camping in a snowy mountainous region. Another expedition! Last week it was archaeologists, I don't know what these chaps are looking for. Perhaps they're just climbers. It's not going well for them though and looks as though it might be a Tent Under Siege story...
By Nick Brown8 years ago in Futurism
Review of Outlander 3.3
A powerful and powerfully sad episode 3.3 of Outlander last night, with both Claire and Jamie gaining freedom from each of their own prisons, separated by some 200 years in time.
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism
Why Is There No Love for 'The Orville?'
The suns has made several rotations since the third episode, "About a Girl" was released, and the reviews I have been reading have been less than favorable. With a 20% score on Rotten Tomatoes and only a slight improvement 36% on Metacritic, it seems everyone has a bone to pick. IMDB has given it a 7.5.
By Spencer Barrett8 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Salvation'
Salvation was shown on CBS this summer — finale just this past week — but binge-junkie that I am, I binge-watched the whole 13-episode run over the past few days on Amazon Prime. And this series is binge-watchable and excellent indeed.
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism
Review of Somewhere Between Finale
Well, Somewhere Between concluded last night with a photograph. I'm tempted to hum Ringo's song "Photograph" — I've heard it a few times in the past few weeks on the Beatles Channel, and it sounded good, but no, it wasn't that kind of photograph at the end of Somewhere Between. It was a snapshot of a happy family at a wedding, and I won't say anything more, because no point in trafficking in spoilers.
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism
Review of Outlander 3.2
Outlander 3.2 put on a good show last night, with Claire and Frank making love in the late 1940s, and Jaime doing the same (mostly off camera) back in those 1750s...
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism
Rewatching... Doctor Who: Tomb of the Cybermen – Episode 2
"I think perhaps your logic is wearing a little thin." Saturday 9 September 1967 I knew there was something odd about that Cyberman: it was a dummy! The dummy didn't even do the shooting — it was a target for a hidden weapon.
By Nick Brown8 years ago in Futurism
Review of Somewhere Between 1.9
And in this next-to-last episode of the season (series? who knows) of Somewhere Between -- 1.9, to be precise -- we get lots of important developments, including [spoilers abound below]
By Paul Levinson8 years ago in Futurism