TV Recaps

Let me be the one to say it. Given how long it has taken to bring Stranger Things Season 5 to life, and how much money has been spent on the endeavour, there is absolutely zero justification for Episode 6 looking as bad as it does.

The first volume of Stranger Things Season 5 ended in such a big, satisfying, and social media-savvy way that it was basically impossible that Episode 5, the premiere of Volume 2, was going to live up to it.

It might have taken until Episode 5 for Spartacus: House of Ashur to properly return to the sands of the arena, but "Goddess of Death" was worth the wait.

Palm Royale has already reached peak silliness in Season 2, and it doesn’t seem likely to slow down any time soon. Episode 7, “Maxine Plays...

It’s probably fitting that Fallout, of all shows, devotes some time to side quests. There’s an argument to be made that this isn’t the best way to structure a television series, and that Season 2 is already moving a little bit slower than it should be, but there’s a very valid counter-argument that Episode 2, “The Golden Rule”, is fun enough for it not to matter.

Pro Bono is getting a little better episode by episode. You can wonder if that’ll end up being enough – and, given the general predictability of the structure and the lack of a real stand-out original “wow” factor, it probably won’t be – but it’ll do in the meantime.

All credit to Robin Hood. It might have taken its time to get where it’s going, but Episode 9, “I Choose You”, feels like it has arrived at that destination.

Well, that's how you do a penultimate episode, isn't it? Mayor of Kingstown has always been at its best at the tail end of a season, and that seems to be holding true for Season 4, since "Teeth and Tissue" is riveting stuff.

I’ve realised what it is about Landman that I find so fascinating and peculiar. Originally, I mistook it for the show not really having a plot, but in Season 2, especially, that isn’t quite accurate.

Just like with Boston Blue, the midseason finale of Sheriff Country is one of its stronger episodes – and right on the back of an uncharacteristically weak one.

It took all season for Boston Blue to get good, only for it to reach its dramatic high point just in time for the midseason finale.

A lot has been made of Ashur's suitability as the protagonist of a Spartacus spin-off, but as of Episode 4 of Spartacus: House of Ashur, I'm starting to see the logic.

The more you think about Pluribus, the better it gets. This isn’t true of very many shows these days, since a lot of shows – even the enjoyable ones – are conceptually fraudulent rubbish.

Back in the Wasteland, heading to New Vegas, and it feels like there’s a lot on the line for Fallout Season 2.

For the first time in Palm Royale Season 2, the pacing begins to flag in Episode 6. Don’t get me wrong, “Maxine Finds Herself” – a double entendre title that’ll become clear – has its fair share of upsides, including a lot of slapstick-y physical comedy and a great drunk performance from Kristen Wiig.

Every time Sherlock Holmes has shown up in Watson Season 2, it has heralded bad news.

I Love LA ventures more into overt sitcom territory in Episode 7, “Divas Down”, but what initially seems like a shallower episode is really just another step on the journey of Maia’s self-defeating psychopathy.

I’d like to be wrong about this, but Pro Bono strikes me as the kind of weekend K-Drama that is perfectly fine and serviceable, but one that, for some hard-to-articulate reason, never really resonates with people.