Category: TV Show

It’s been three months since the beginning of the fall TV season…and unfortunately the one Sci-Fi show I was excited about did not quite live up to the hype (I’m looking at you, Timeless).  With overwhelmingly high number of reboots and “reuinion” TV shows, the number of new shows in my queue quickly dwindled down to…one.

Three-second premise: It’s Jurassic Park with robots.

Thirty-second premise:

Westworld is a themepark in the future, where people pay a fortune to be a Guest. Androids, or Hosts, “live” in Westworld. Guests can do whatever their hearts desire to the Hosts (often resulting in Hosts needing to be repaired). Guests can shoot/kill Hosts. Hosts can’t shoot/kill Guests.  Everyone was happily living in their bubble, until someone messed with the Hosts’ codes and they started to mulfunction…

So for those of you who have been fighting the hype because you’re too cool, don’t know someone with HBO Go account, or too busy trying to find the center of the maze, here’s the spoiler-free explanation of why this show is awesome and you should watch it.

1. It’s Sci-Fi, doh
2. BAD ROBOT!!!!! 
3. Sir. Anthony. Hopkins. (aka scariest boss ever)
4. Puzzles. Lots and lots of puzzles.
5. BAD ROBOT!!!!!!!!!!
6. Androids are so cool
7. Comedy hour brought to you by Felix (aka the worst human ever, according to Maeve)
8. Speaking of Maeve, she’s kind of badass
9. It’s like LOST, minus all of the annoying stuff like smoke monster, polar bear, Kate, and THE BUTTON
10. BAAAADDD ROOOOBOOOOOOTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you watch the first episode and wondered why you’re watching Groundhog Day: Wild Wild West?

You have to put up with that episode, and in episode 2, you get just enough information to feel like you’re not so confused anymore, but still confused enough to want to watch episode 3.

Westworld follows two androids – Delores and Maeve – and they are “special.” We find out more about what makes them special, and in doing so, poses some questions about the nature of Westworld.  Are mulfunctioning androids really “broken”?  Do humans get to “own” androids?  Who are the bad guys? (psst humans…it’s always humans…)

Westworld is based on the 70’s Sci-Fi film of the same name.  If you got excited about the TV series, you might want to brace yourself before hitting the play button for Westworld-the-movie.  The movie is not good…  I saw it quite some time ago, and it was of WTF quality. TV series took the concept from the movie, and turned the mystery-solving dial all the way to the right.  While they were at it, they swapped the main android characters from male to female.  Notice the absence of female actor on the poster?  Fast forward 40 years and Evan Rachel Wood and Thandie Newton are the top two actors in the opening credit.  This is what progress looks like: in the form of good Sci-Fi show with women.

In a good way, you probably will miss a lot of bread crumb clues the first time you watch this show.  I only found out some of the clues because I obsessively read and analyze all sorts of fan theories (I know almost all Game of Thrones fan theories out there…including the crazy ones).  Even then, I was pleasantly surprised at key episodes.  Now that Season 1 is over, I get to rewatch all of the episodes and see what I missed.  You know you’re watching a good show when you discover something new when you watch it the second time.  At first, some things doesn’t look like anything to me.  Then you see things you didn’t see before.

See you at the center of the maze…

With the fall TV season starting, I will be reviewing some of the currently airing TV shows that I watch.  There are quite a few promising TV shows this season.

First one up: Blindspot, or Jane’s no good very bad day++ (get it?)

No good very bad stuff #1:

When you crawl out of a duffel bag sans pants (and a shirt) in the middle of Times Square, you’re not having a good day.  Really?  Whoever’s behind this went through all those trouble and couldn’t throw in some tee shirt and yoga pants?  Uncool.

No good very bad stuff #2: Having FBI case files tatooed on you

If you complained about TSA body scanner at the airport before, now is a good time to put things in perspective.  Every tatoo is a piece of a puzzle to some FBI case…and there are a whole lot of tatoos.  At least whoever designed it had better sense to turn those cases into a cool tatoo pattern.  Why the FBI is not interviewing every tatoo artist is beyond me.

No good very bad stuff #3:  Memory loss

At which point the viewers are cued in that Jane can’t. remember. anything.  Except for all those foreign language skills, hand-to-hand combat skills, marksmanship skills, and general badassery skillz.  Those skills are enough for her to be employed(ish) by the FBI, with housing benefits (sort of).  Don’t worry, she still gets shot at every so often to remind us that someone really doesn’t like her.

No good very bad stuff #4: Office drama / conspiracy / shadiness

These FBI special task force people have zero life outside of work, so they hang out together a lot, which inevitably results in some drama.  Of course, almost everyone has some kind of baggage or shady past (or present, for that matter).

As an upshot, this calls for some character development, so we’re not watchig the same one-dimensional character solving crimes every week.  My favorite aside fron Jane has got to be Patterson – the resident geek.  There’s definitely a hint of Kirk-Scotty thing going on with Weller (the really broody dude heading the task force thing) and Patterson that makes you chuckle every week.  (I got a geek bias, though)

No good very bad stuff #5: Jane has no clue who’s on her side

Everyone has some agenda.  If you’re Jane, you’re never quite sure who’s telling the truth (unless your name is Kurt Weller, aka worst lier on Earth).  It’s like you’re stuck in a real-life CLUE, where the players are allowed to give you BS information all the time.  Paging Dr. Lightman…

And that’s just first few episodes.  The beginning of first season may feel like it’s dragging on at times with “tatoo of the week” and not much advancing of the plot.  Just hang in there and you’ll be rewarded with a whole lot of crazy towards the end of the first season.

Blindspot is currently on its second season, and if anything, this show is getting better and better.  If you like puzzles and drama that makes you think, this is for you.  With every question that is answered, you get a few new questions to be answered.

Bonus supergeek feature: Each episode title is an anagram, and all episode titles in a season makes up a secret message.  Of course, someone on internet has already decoded them, but if you don’t want to spoiler yourself, stay clear from Wikipedia and try to crack the code yourself.

Hey, I said supergeek.

Stay tuned for the next review…

*All images are taken from Blindspot Wiki

For my first Sci-Fi TV show review, I’m choosing the show that inspired my (work in progress) book the most: Almost Human.

*** This review is rated SF for Spoiler-Free ***

So here’s what happens.

In year 2048, the rapid advance in technology has caused crime rates to skyrocket.  The police force is overloaded and in need of more manpower…fast.  Someone comes up with the brilliant (!?) idea of pairing every police officer with an android, who’s essentially a butt-kicking super computer with high-bandwidth Wi-Fi hotspot (good connection to “the database” is a must).

Enter Det. McCoy John Kennex.  He’s not a fan of androids, crazy ex-girlfriends, and cats.  He “accidentally” dropped his android partner on the freeway, and now in need of a new partner.  *shrug*

Alright, so what do you do when your best detective hates androids?  Captain Maldonado has an awesome idea – give Kennex the “crazy one,” the DRN’s.

DRN-0167, or Dorian, is full of useful life skills.  When you really really watch to catch someone who’s running away in a van, trust me when I say you want Dorian on your team.  What makes the DRN model unique is that they are programmed with a “synthetic soul” – emotions.  All of the other androids in this show are shown to be lacking emotional range, creating contrast with Dorian.  If I had to pick one humanoid robot buddy, it’s going to be Dorian.  Since other options are T-X’s and Cylons, I’d say with Dorian, my chances of getting robot-murdered is smaller in comparison.

Kennex and Dorian goes on to solve the “case of the week” as well as some overarching mystery that’s…never solved because a certain network canceled the show after 13 episodes.  WHY!?!?!?!?!? 😭

Okay…here’s my take on why.

1. It should be a widespread knowledge that Sci-Fi show is cool.  Unfortunately, the general trend is still that Sci-Fi shows don’t get as much viewership straight off, which puts it on a one-way trip to the chopping block.  *sigh*
2. It took until episode 9 for the series-level mystery/arc to be introduced.  It had potential, but it may have lost some viewers.  *sigh^2*
3. It had awesome effects.  Awesome effects means $$$.  $$$ means first to get cut off when there are not enough viewers. *sigh^3*

And now why you should watch this:

1. The tech!  The gadgets!  The androids!  (Translation: Lots of cool stuff)
2. The writing and acting are both pretty good, especially the Kennex-Dorian banters.  So many one-liners that I want to write here…but I can’t since that would spoil your LOL-moments.
3. The supporting characters are also very well written, especially RUDY!  (aka that pirate who kept losing his fake eyeball in Pirates of the Caribbean, aka that jealous-warg-wildling guy who really hated Jon Snow in Game of Thrones)

While I love this show, there were some things I wish were done differently

1. The “young” female cop character who’s (obviously) a love interest for Kennex ends up just being an eye candy.  I love Captain Maldonado as a strong female character, but because Capt. Maldonado was so well-written, the lack of substance of the other female character just stood out. A LOT.
2. So. Many. Questions.  Would’ve been nice to be given clues now and then on the “syndicate” or “the Wall” (which doesn’t seem to an effective one).
3. Full. Season. Pickup.

LLAP🖖