2021 TV & Movies Retrospective

2021-12-31

I do a post each year on books, but this year I also started reviewing movies and TV shows! I have absolutely no idea how much value people get out of this (and I’d love to hear from you), but I enjoy doing it, so I’m not going to stop any time soon. :D In any case, it’s been a good year for movies and TV! Overall, I watched: 55 movies

The Wheel of Time: Season 1 The Wheel of Time (TV) #1 The Wheel of Time *

2021-12-23

The Wheel of Time turns, and ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of time.

Hawkeye Marvel Cinematic Universe #26.1 MCU Phase 4 #3.1 MCU TV #5

2021-12-22

I really enjoyed Hawkeye.

It’s just fun, which compared to Wandvision and Loki and really even What If… is a worthwhile goal and really does a lot to show off the more human scale of superheroes. It’s never really made much sense that Hawkeye and Black Widow were Avengers… and it still doesn’t. But they do it anyways. Because what Heroes do.

It’s nice to see them building up the new ‘Young Avengers’ and branching out as much as they are. I think Hailee Steinfeld did a great job, especially when acting against Florence Pugh's Yelena .

Onward!

Mr. Robot: Season 3 Mr. Robot #3

2021-12-20

Oh boy. This one really dug into the darker parts of character growth. Elliot finds new ways to be even crazier, Angela is… off the rails entirely, Moustache Guy (Bobby Cannavale/Irvin) is awesome, and the entire plot of Darlene, Dominque, and the FBI was fascinating to watch.

I keep being pleasantly surprised with where this show keeps going. I wouldn’t have expected them to make it past the first season plotwise… yet here we are. I’m looking forward to where we can go from here!

Mr. Robot: Season 2 Mr. Robot #2

2021-11-18

After Season 1 wrapped up, where do you even go from there? They finished their big goal. Dealing with the fallout is the obvious answer… or ramping things up even further. We get a bit of both in Season 2, mostly with even more big twists from Elliot’s entirely confusing mind but also a plot that is both deeper and more terrifying than I would have thought at first.

It’s not quite as solid as Season 1, in most part because it’s not quite as new and fresh. But it’s still very good and well worth the watch. Whatever shall we learn in Season 3?!

Mr. Robot: Season 1 Mr. Robot #1

2021-10-31

Well that’s a heck of a show. Given that I’m do computer security for a living (albeit with a bit less of the black hat revolutionary mindset) and have my own problems figuring out how brains–mine and others–work (albeit not nearly to that extent…) I feel like the perfect audience for this show. I’m honestly impressed with how well they got the hacking in this show. It’s not 100%–that would be boring–but it’s miles closer than two-hackers-typing-on-a-keyboard-is-faster.

Squid Game

2021-10-21

I don’t actually do much social media (other than a relatively limited set of subreddits), so I didn’t actually notice what was apparently a fairly large storm of people watching Squid Game, but when it came up on Honest Trailers it seemed pretty interesting. 9 episodes and I just finished Stargate Universe, so I figured, let’s give it a spin! Let’s say… that’s at once exactly what I expected, but even then had a few interesting twists and turns.

The Sopranos: Season 6 The Sopranos #6

2021-10-19

Well that’s a lot. In order to finish all of the stories they wanted to tell–but also not to have to negotiate another season’s worth of contracts with the actors, season 6 is really two seasons in one. The first is slightly shorter than the other seasons at 12 (instead of 13), while the second half is only 9. So one big season? Two small? Doesn’t matter that much when you’re streaming them back to back.

Stargate Universe: Season 2 Stargate #20 Stargate Universe #2

2021-10-17

Each time I rewatch Stargate (and with 17 seasons and a handful of movies, that’s something of a time commitment), I forgot just how much better Stargate Universe season 2 is than season 1. And I already liked Season 1. But 2 is where things really get on their own. The crew trapped on Destiny is really learning how to use the ship and making it their own, finding new (huge) mysteries, and actually getting a few big bads on a scale with the Goa’uld/Ori/Wraith.

What If...? Marvel Cinematic Universe #24.1 MCU Phase 4 #1.1 MCU TV #4

2021-10-07

What if…? It’s a wacky title, but it sums up the series pretty well. Take what the MCU has spent a decade building on top of half a century of comics before that1. The comics have done all manner of continuity resets and what-ifs, so it’s not unusual to see the stories as they could have been–if only one thing changed. But this is a first for the MCU. I fully expect with the coming Phase 4, we’ll see a bit more of this though.