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cynthia_ewers
Reviews
The Letter for the King (2020)
The acting!!?!
I love a bit of fantasy but this show is a lesson in what happens when you hire younger actors the wrong way! Feels like we're going back to the bad old days of Harry Potter child acting complete with monotone lines and over the top physical acting.
The young people all seem overly posh and had landed the role because daddy was a producer or part funded the series.
The group chemistry left much to be desired and at points some of the actors appeared to struggle to deliver the emotion needed in the scene it was boardering on embarrassing. The so called comic relief was dreadful and so never have been attempted because it wasn't funny.
The premise of actual series is fine but the scripting, overall story pacing and CGI were all noticeably poor.
Obviously a poor mans Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones which apparently was not very true to the books.
Not very good don't waste your time, watch Sex Education or End of the F***ing World if you want to see the best of British acting! Even The Subtle Knife was better than this!
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
A bit of a mess and not as good as it thinks it is
I say this with a large pinch of salt as TNG seasons 1 and 2 were bad. DS9 season 5 limped through and TOS season mid season 2 and three were really questionable. and Enterprise season 4 was a disgrace. Voyager is next on my watch list. I wanted to rate this after the first season had finished in the hope it would improve....
This show has the money the actors and the CGI behind it and yet the overall story arc was not that interesting. Sure the ship looked nice, but one of the best elements about Star Trek is the management of a large ensemble cast, getting to know a variety of characters and how their stories feed into each other. We get none of that with STD it circles around 4 main characters who are very basic at best and barely likeable. Apart from, Saru he is cool!
I understand the need to move away from the 'monster each week' formula and the tone of the show being darker is also fine (watch DS9 to see how it can be executed well) but, you have to make the long story arc engaging and it just wasn't, it was OK. It left me feeling that the show was a mess.
I want to know more about the crew and who they are and where they're from. Who is the robot person? I want to know more about his/her race...
Why are 90% of the bridge crew under the age of 30? You can bet Jean Luc wouldn't had half of those flimflam type officers on his bridge!
The interaction between Michael and Vok/Ash was rushed and felt forced, it would have been more believable if they had remained friends and grown closer over TIME. The kiss on the last ep would have meant more.
Over the course of the series I don't think I really know or care about any of the crew (apart from Saru and the science chap...a bit) which is something no Star Trek series has done before. So if that was their mission - job well done! if not - I hope they will improve over the next season.
Last thing
The After Trek show is weird. I've watched 2 and I love Mat Mira as the host but he seems limited in what he can and cannot say. The structure of the show is very strange as most of those reaction type shows have a mixture of people on such as celeb fans, cast members. The fans can actually debate about their own character and plot predictions, cast members can't for obvious reasons. So just having the cast and the same producers banging on about how great the show is and how XYZ scene was moving is odd, really cringe worthy and again not that interesting.
Star Trek: Discovery: Will You Take My Hand? (2018)
A bitterly disappointing season finale to an overly hyped television series
Well that wasn't very good! Yes I am a Trekker and I'm happy to watch and forgive STD's overall short comings. But, the problem is when the shortcomings grow bigger and bigger you're just left with annoyance, boredom and lots of sighing throughout.
Before I rant the good points were:
- The Enterprise looks cool
- The Orions embassy and those scenes were good
- The monologue Michael made about her parents was good. However, this should have been included in earlier episodes. We as an audience would have identified with her relationship with Ash with more clarity.
Within this season's story arc this episode was OK. but, once again the ending was poorly constructed, written, executed. I'm sure there are countless alternative story lines that could have been written and that would have offered the viewer actual jeopardy and tension. Here are two alternative endings!!!!
Scenario 1: Discovery actually disobeys Star Fleet orders and start a mutiny. Star Fleet then send another ship to stop them on the Klingon home world...obviously The Discovery wins but to have Star Fleet officers fighting each other is actually interesting and creates tension. Especially given Burham's history of mutiny.
Scenario 2: Similar to the first but the female Klingon L'Rell actually blows up parts of Qo'noS and The Discovery crew help her. We've been told repeatedly how The Klingons are a warrior race and only respond to force, Klingons who yield power have several houses following them. L'Rell only has a bomb - Why would House Heads suddenly believe and follow her, I know i wouldn't? Surely that can't be enough!
The speech Michael makes at the end was really self indulgent and poorly written. It's as bad as the Riker speech in TNG Angel One episode which is routinely mocked.
Finally, I sigh because I want STD to be so much than it is. We are in the golden age of TV with fantastic actors and CGI and yet STD seems content on producing lacklustre scripting, un-inventive story-lines, ABC story arcs. I'm sure it will improve and I have to remember that the first two seasons of TNG were terrible so, fingers crossed for a bigger and better season next time.