scottemigh Reviews

In the Tall Grass (2019)

Flawed but fun

[8/10 · 13 October 2023]

In the Tall Grass may not be the instant classic that so many of Stephen King's works have been, but it is a very well-made and enjoyable movie, even if the plot may lose the average viewer. It's eerie from the very beginning in the spirit of Children of the Corn, and also vaguely reminiscent of M. Night Shyamalan's Old. I rather wish the film was a bit longer with more time spent developing the characters. It was hard to care much about them, especially since their deaths were meaningless. I would have liked to spend more time exploring the mythos of the grass and the obelisk as well. It all felt very chaotic and not fully fleshed out. The ending also seemed incongruous with the established mythos in the plot. Regardless of the flaws, I still very much enjoyed the movie and you don't pick up on the problems so much until you think about it after the fact. The fast pacing of the film disguises the thinness of it and allows you to lose yourself in what happens next.

Pokémon: The Scuffle of Legends (2004) Season 8, Episode 6

Finally a plot

[7/10 · 27 November 2022]

We finally get a decent plot and they still try their best to ruin it. After endless Team Rocket "steal pikachu" plans, the writers finally decide to actually try and craft a compelling storyline. But alas, it's so bogged down in over-the-top ridiculous voice acting and atrocious dialogue that you can barely enjoy it. Why is it so hard to write something that can be enjoyed by all ages? Dragon Ball, Yu-Gi-Oh, Legend of Kora, and many other shows have pulled this off, but Pokemon remains terrible outside of the movies. At least they're trying to do more than Team Rocket Plot of the Week. Maybe it'll get better eventually.

Friends: The Reunion (2021 TV Special)

Imperfect but wonderful

[9/10 · 28 May 2021]

This was a great reunion. I enjoyed it far more than the Fresh Prince reunion, but it also lacked in some areas. I wish they had spent more time talking about the actors themselves and their off-screen experience. I particularly wanted to hear more about Matthew Perry's struggles and his experience but it often felt like they steered away from it anytime he started to open up. I could have used less celebrity drop ins too. With all due respect to Lady Gaga and company, that's not what we're here for. Same with all the video testimonials from random people. That's great that Friends touched your life, but it touched all of our lives, that's why we tuned in. I'm not hating. I LOVED the reunion. I just hate feeling like I missed out on even a minute of cast time. I also wish Paul Rudd and some of the other minor leads had been there.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Good movie, missed opportunities

[9/10 · 5 January 2021]

The MCU continues to pump out great individual installments that all hurt the potential of the franchise as a whole. This was a good movie. Very enjoyable. Not as epic, fun, or funny as its predecessor but still a great ride. But it was filled with missed opportunities. Phil Coulson should have been reintroduced aboard the helicarrier, which would have freed future writers to include him in the movies and would have reinvigorated fans of Agents of SHIELD. They also could have brought in Quake to destroy Sokovia in the air, but I'll grant that might have been a little too deus ex machina. At the very least, I would have loved to see the entire Agents of SHIELD cast cameo in their quinjet. It wouldn't detract from the film. People who haven't seen the show would just take them as random anonymous SHIELD agents. It would be an easy Easter egg to pull off. Quicksilver absolutely shouldn't have been killed off. We never had enough time to know and love him, meaning his death was without emotional impact. And furthermore, it was done late in the show and the scene didn't even capitalize on it. At the very least they should have made it more climactic. Why was Rhodey randomly back to his War Machine suit after Iron Man 3 made a big deal about rebranding him as Iron Patriot? Why was the Iron Legion suddenly back at full strength after Tony made such a big deal about destroying it? Minor continuity errors aside, it was a good movie. It just could have been better.

The 100: A Sort of Homecoming (2020) Season 7, Episode 14

Sean Crouch is horrible

[4/10 · 4 December 2020]

What a horrible opening scene. The dialogue is atrocious for every single character, but Gaia in particular is nonsensical. Sean Crouch should be blacklisted for this episode. "He would not stop talking while we fought?" Really? Bad guys give interstellar physics lessons to the people they're actively trying to kill now? And what's with the horrible LOTR homage? I don't buy for an instant that everyone is A-okay with Clark killing Bellamy. He was only "off" for a day or two. They never even tried to save him. Echo was NEVER friends with Clark, she was in love with Bellamy, and now she's hugging her and consoling her? Even the fight choreography is terrible. When Indra is fighting Sheidheda, he has his back to her and is unguarded, and instead of stabbing him she kicks him to the ground. This episode is so unbelievably bad in every way.

The 100: Blood Giant (2020) Season 7, Episode 13

Illogical motivations

[6/10 · 4 December 2020]

Killing Bellamy made no sense. I'm fine with killing beloved primary characters, but it has to be done right. There has to be a point, and their death has to have an impact. The point of shooting Bellamy was to get the book. She shot him then left the book, making his death meaningless. Furthermore, she shot him and jumped in the wormhole, and the episode ended 20 seconds later. There was zero time for an emotional response. There was no impact. The music didn't set an emotional tone, there were no witnesses to react to it, it just happened for no reason.

2 Broke Girls (2011–2017)

2 Great Girls, 1 Mediocre Show

[6/10 · 1 December 2020]

This show succeeds for one reason - the chemistry between the two very likable lead actresses. The humor is crass and juvenile. The plot is stupid. The supporting cast is horribly written and horribly cast with horrible actors. It's really not a good show, and I'm being overly generous with my rating.

Two and a Half Men (2003–2015)

Not great, not bad

[8/10 · 1 December 2020]

Two and a Half Men was never a great show. Not even with Charlie Sheen. It was usually funny, but not always. But it also never had any of the cringeworthy annoying characters/jokes that plague a lot of other sitcoms, so it was always enjoyable to watch even if it wasn't actually making you laugh. Even after Sheen's departure, it continued to be funny even if it was filled with narrative flaws.

Most of the show's issues arose in the Ashton Kutcher era, but none were his fault. I don't understand the digs that many people are making against his acting, nor the disdain they suddenly have for the sexual jokes that were just as much of a mainstay on the original seasons as the latter episodes. The problems came primarily with the lack of consistent supporting characters. First they lost Sheen, then Jake, Judith, and Evelyn's appearances became rare. Then there's an endless parade of love interests for Ashton. Any one of them could have been a good recurring character but the writers were unwilling to commit. His mother and ex wife go from regular characters to nonexistent. Rose goes from a major character to an afterthought. He has multiple girlfriends that vanish for silly reasons. Amber Tamblyn was a wonderful character, but despite living in the same house as them, she frequently is missing from episodes without explanation, then becomes a total afterthought once she moves out. They adopt a kid who is conveniently missing all the time. Kutcher randomly takes a strange computer nerd under his wing for a season, then he vanished without a trace. They were supposed to launch a new tech empire together, but I guess that never happened. The writers just constantly toss new ideas at a wall and none of them stick for long, leaving a tangled mess of loose ends that are never resolved. The series finale wasn't great but they made the most they could of it by repeatedly breaking the fourth wall and acknowledging the mess they made.

Two and a Half Men was never going to be a GREAT sitcom because it wasn't smart like Seinfeld or emotionally-driven like Friends or HIMYM. The characters were likable but not lovable. Their situations were humorous but not hilarious or memorable. It was never going to be great. It probably could have been a lot better than it was had Sheen not had a meltdown. They did okay in the latter seasons, all things considered. It's not a must-watch series by any means, but it will rightfully live on for another twenty years in syndication and remains perfectly re-watchable.

The 100: Watch the Thrones (2016) Season 3, Episode 4

So much good, derailed by poor characterization

[7/10 · 16 November 2020]

The vast majority of this episode is exciting, enthralling, and well written. But the misuse of Bellamy is criminal. First they took Finn, an honest man, and turned him into a genocidal psycho. Now they're doing the exact same thing with Bellamy. But Bellamy started out as a pseudo-anarchist wannabe warlord, they spent two seasons developing him into a decent person, and now they're undoing all of that. They could have written the exact same plot, with Bellamy on the right side of things, and it would have been am excellent episode.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 10: The Passenger (2020) Season 2, Episode 2

Eh

[7/10 · 9 November 2020]

Another visually impressive, mildly entertaining episode in this greatly overrated show. It's a fine show. I enjoy most episodes. But it's overwhelmingly episodic with zero plot progression. Every week introduces more throwaway characters and pointless storylines that get us nowhere. It's not building towards anything. It's really not even doing a good job of universe building. It just is.

Schitt's Creek (2015–2020)

Good not great

[7/10 · 5 November 2020]

Schitt's Creek brands itself a sitcom, but it's not funny enough to be great in that department. It's at its best when it gets serious, but those scenes are few and far between. One of my biggest criticisms is that there's not a whole lot of character growth for Moira. She's a very over-the-top, thinly-written character. I loved all the other characters, though. Rarely did this show slay me. It's not funny enough for me to ever stop and watch a rerun in syndication. There's so much range episode to episode. Some are boring, unfunny, and immediately forgettable. But others are really funny and, especially in the later seasons, there is some real beauty to it. Where the show excels is in the characters, not the jokes. The vast majority of my laughs weren't from punchlines, but from the quirky little habits of the actors. The way they use their hands, and their facial expressions, and the way they feed off each other. The best part of the show is its representation of LGBTQ characters, and the normalcy with which it paints them. It's never preachy, or political. It presents queer characters like perfectly normal people, who live and love and form beautiful relationships. It almost exists in a future world, where we're past the issues of today. It's so refreshing to see gay characters given room to grow without persecution and hatred.

Ozark: Fire Pink (2020) Season 3, Episode 9

Ben is great

[10/10 · 29 October 2020]

Tom Pelphrey and the Ozark writers do a brilliant job of conveying mental illness, the way it affects the families who deal with it, and the humanity of the ill. Ben has been a great addition to the season overall.

The Walking Dead: The Calm Before (2019) Season 9, Episode 15

First time TWD has pissed me off

[1/10 · 29 October 2020]

First things first, I'm fine with killing main characters. But you have you have to give them a good death. This was garbage. They killed SEVERAL primary characters and didn't even have the decency to give them an on-screen death.

TWD has done a lot of things wrong over the years, but I've never lost faith in it till now. This was bad. It was going for pure shock factor, trying to get people talking like it did with Glenn's death. Any attempt at emotional impact was negated by the fact that we didn't even see them die. If they had gone down in an emotional blaze of glory, I would have been fine with their deaths. But the flash-back sequence was ruined because I was still angry.

The writers of this show clearly have no respect for the characters who made it great. Rick disappears and we have to wait for movies to find out what happened (movies I'm doubting will ever be made). Maggie vanishes with no reason given. Now they ice Henry, Enid, and Tara. This is getting ridiculous. Kill them right. Give them purpose.

Also, somebody get Samantha Morton some voice lessons. Her southern accent is ridiculously over the top. It's like she only studied antebellum aristocracy and never actually spoke to a true southerner.

Designated Survivor: #identity/crisis (2019) Season 3, Episode 7

Eh

[7/10 · 18 October 2020]

I have a hard time caring about this season at all. The language is gratuitous. The villains are cheesy. Not only is there very little character development, but they're practically de-developing the characters. They don't even feel like the same people. Now they kill off a primary character in a way that feels cheap and unnecessary, and fail to even deliver on emotional impact. Aaron has been one of the few characters whose story is still interesting, and his speech was inspired, but the rest of the episode was just disappointing. I do like the transgender subplot because it's an important topic for Americans to address, but I hate that Kirkman's sister in law wasn't introduced till this season.

The Walking Dead: The Day Will Come When You Won't Be (2016) Season 7, Episode 1

Mixed

[9/10 · 18 October 2020]

The first half of the episode was a let down. It fails to deliver emotionally and wastes a ton of potential. It feels like the writers were trying to sucker us and lead us on, and it all just feels disjointed and incoherent. I've never given a Walking Dead episode below an 8/10 before, but I was leaning towards a 7/10 up until the scene with Carl. That was pure, unadulterated horror.

Designated Survivor: #makehistory (2019) Season 3, Episode 4

Trying too hard

[7/10 · 12 October 2020]

Look, I'm fine with gay characters. I'm fine with gay men kissing on screen. But a random scene of two minor unimportant characters having sex that in no way advances the plot or offers any character development? It's just bad writing. Even if it were straight sex, that scene was wildly unnecessary. The language is also unnecessary. Language doesn't offend me. Lack of continuity offends me. The characters on this show didn't curse for two seasons, now all of a sudden they do? It's just bad writing. The character motivations all seem off as well. They're not the same people they used to be.

The Legend of Korra (2012–2014)

Great show for all ages

[8/10 · 27 August 2020]

The Legend of Korra continues Avatar's tradition of tackling serious world issues, but does it without all the childish humor of its predecessor. The characters are more complex. Almost every episode advances the plot, with very little filler. The writers are very imaginative and continue to grow the mythology and Avatar universe. Very enjoyable show for all ages.

Supernatural: Mint Condition (2018) Season 14, Episode 4

Average

[8/10 · 6 August 2020]

An average episode of Supernatural is still better than a good episode of most other shows. A lot of fans miss the "monster of the week" format, but I don't. I enjoy the episodes, but I prefer to see the overall story move forward. I found it a tad silly that the writers reverted to the played out PTSD storyline for Dean's brief three-week stent as Michael's meatsuit. The man was tortured in hell for 40 years and has seen more horror than anyone could ever imagine, but somehow the Michael experience was the worst thing ever? Michael didn't even do anything particularly awful, he just experimented on monsters.

Supernatural: Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox (2016) Season 12, Episode 6

It's a good episode

[8/10 · 29 July 2020]

Episodes like "Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox" annoy me. It's like the late-season writers haven't even seen the entire show and have glaring gaps in their knowledge of the in-show mythology. We know that anti-possession tattoos are a thing. We know they work. Sam and Dean have them. Several other characters have them. So why, in a house full of hunters, does nobody have a tattoo? Why is a demon able to hop from host to host with ease? It seems like a pretty fundamental warding that every hunter should have. Still a good episode, if you approach it with some cognitive dissonance.

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (2010–2014)

Don't waste your time unless you're a big Gundam fan

[3/10 · 22 July 2020]

Gundam Unicorn is a hot mess. The dialogue is all pseudo-intellectual nonsense that's utterly unbelievable. The show constantly tries to universe-build through endless history lectures in what should be casual conversation. The score doesn't match the scenes at all, and tries to evoke emotion during unbelievably boring conversations. There are zero real character-building moments, just bizarre overly emotional outbursts that don't fit. There are also far too many characters who are so poorly developed and so uninteresting that it's hard to keep them all straight, let alone to care about them. The action sequences are the lone bright spot.

Supernatural: Bloodlines (2014) Season 9, Episode 20

Bring on the spinoff

[8/10 · 20 July 2020]

I'm honestly shocked at how much hate this episode has received. At the time I watched it, I immediately though "hey they should spin this off into its own show" before I knew that was the plan. Yes it was light on Winchester appearances, but so were the fairly popular Ghostfacer episodes, which in my opinion were far worse. The acting wasn't bad at all. The only problem is how unlikely it would be that all those gangs could run Chicago without the hunters finding out.

Community: Modern Espionage (2015) Season 6, Episode 11

Best Episode of the season so far

[9/10 · 4 November 2019]

For the most part, this was another great installment in the paintball sub-series. The underground nature of the tournament and spy-take was exciting, but the ending was a bit of a letdown.

Survivor: Suck It Up Buttercup (2019) Season 39, Episode 6

Race baiting nonsense

[6/10 · 3 November 2019]

Wish the producers would focus on the game rather than giving a voice to snowflakes who are offended by the word do-rag. Newsflash baby, white people wear do-rags too.

Community: Introduction to Teaching (2014) Season 5, Episode 2

Hilarious

[9/10 · 2 November 2019]

Abed's Nicolas Cage meltdown was one of the funniest scenes in the entire show.

Community: Repilot (2014) Season 5, Episode 1

What the hell?

[6/10 · 2 November 2019]

This episode wasn't funny. It wasn't emotionally engrossing. It was just dark. And not in a meta darkest timeline sort of way. Just in an uncharacteristically uncomfortable way. No happy resolutions or anything. Just bizarre.