THE AMERICANS, 4.3 – ‘Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow’
Is there any show as strong at narrative misdirection as The Americans? Four seasons in, the show’s strategy of slowly building tension over multiple episodes,...
VINYL, 1.7 – ‘The King and I’
Stop the clocks, because, for the second week in a row, I enjoyed an episode of Vinyl. “The King and I” was a tightly-scripted...
BETTER CALL SAUL, 2.7 – ‘Inflatable’
Certain things about Better Call Saul are fated to happen, as we know where Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) will end up in several year’s...
THE AMERICANS, 4.2 – ‘Pastor Tim’
Any fans of The Americans who, after last week’s season premiere, looked ahead to this week’s episode, had good reason to suspect that Pastor Tim...
VINYL, 1.6 – ‘Cyclone’
It’s only taken six weeks, but Vinyl finally produced an episode in which the good outweighed the bad. Yes, there were still problems—the Bowie...
BETTER CALL SAUL, 2.6 – ‘Bali Ha’i’
As we ease into the second half of Better Call Saul’s sophomore year, it’s becoming clear that Jimmy McGill’s (Bob Odenkirk) storyline isn’t a...
THE AMERICANS, 4.1 – ‘Glanders’
We return to The Americans in the middle of a nightmare, as Philip (Matthew Rhys) dreams about the time, as a child, he beat a bully...
VINYL, 1.5 – ‘He in Racist Fire’
Far too much of my time is spent wondering exactly why Vinyl doesn’t work for me. It looks wonderful, the pieces are in place,...
BETTER CALL SAUL, 2.5 – ‘Rebecca’
I love how Better Call Saul fleshes out its own narrative, with glimpses of the past that inform the future (which is also, slightly...
STAG (BBC, 2016)
There’s a long tradition of stories about groups of people being hunted and killed, one by one, by a mystery assailant (most owing a...
BETTER CALL SAUL, 2.4 – ‘Gloves Off’
My favourite episode of Better Call Saul’s first season was episode 6, “Five-O”, which could be seen as a problem because it had the...
VINYL, 1.4 – ‘The Racket’
Whisper it quietly but this week’s episode of Vinyl was a lot less portentous and a lot more fun. Admittedly, much of that fun...