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THE AMERICANS, 4.13 – ‘Persona Non Grata’
Given that The Americans, in its understated way, has never been beholden to the usual expectations of how a serialised drama should play out, it makes sense that the most explosive moments in season four’s finale come not at the end but at the beginning. “Persona Non Grata” begins where last week’s episode ended, with…
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BANSHEE – Season Four
Expectation weighs heavily on TV shows once they reach their final season, and tying up the threads of any serialised drama is no easy task. Banshee had a more difficult job than most, though, as it had to stay true to its uneasy foundation of secrets and lies whilst resolving numerous conflicts developed over three…
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PREACHER, 1.2 – ‘See’
At this early stage of AMC’s adaptation of Preacher, it’s all about trying to get a handle on what the show’s about. Even as a reader of the comic books, this is clearly doing something different with the material, so it’s not easy to predict what’s going to happen—or even if the comic’s concerns and…
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OUTLANDER, 2.9 – ‘Je Suis Prest’
The past is never very forgiving in Outlander. “Je Suis Prest”, translated as ‘I am ready’ from the Clan Fraser’s motto, is an ironic title for this week’s episode. If anything, given the unfit state of Jamie’s (Sam Heughan) ragtag army, Claire’s (Caitriona Balfe) painful memories of World War II and the clash between Jamie…
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GAME OF THRONES, 6.7 – ‘The Broken Man’
This week on Game of Thrones, another old favourite made his belated return, the Stark siblings tried to build their army, Jaime arrived in the Riverlands to deal with the Blackfish, and Arya booked passage back home… In the North This week, it was all about trying to amass enough men to create an effective Stark-led army against the…
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11.22.63 (Hulu, 2016)
Science fiction is my favourite genre, and time travel stories fire my imagination the most. This is partly because theoretical science supports the idea that travelling through time is really possible, so fiction hangs in that sweet spot between imagination and predestination. It’s also just incredibly fun to ponder what you’d do as a time-traveller,…
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THE AMERICANS, 4.12 – ‘A Roy Rogers in Franconia’
“A Roy Rogers in Franconia” begins right where last week’s episode left off, with Paige (Holly Taylor) having seen her mom take care of two potential muggers with sudden and bloody efficiency. As Paige and Elizabeth (Keri Russell) return to the house, it’s like a bomb has gone off in the Jennings household, as Philip…
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WARCRAFT (2016)
My interest in video games waned with the Playstation 2, so forgive me for not being au fait with Warcraft; the video games and tie-in novels that Duncan Jones’ $160 million fantasy epic is based upon. The franchise may have began in 1994, but it only seemed to take hold with geeks this century, thanks…
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THE NICE GUYS (2016)
Shane Black’s The Nice Guys harks back to the buddy movies of yesteryear, and is sure to remind audiences of his tremendous 2005 directorial debut Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. This is a skilfully delivered action comedy escapade, where Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling have enormous fun with two characters who get in way over their…
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GAME OF THRONES, 6.6 – ‘Blood of My Blood’
This week on Game of Thrones, midseason arrived with “Blood of My Blood”, which saw the return of an old “favourite”, we put a face to a famous name, and met an entirely new family at Horn Hill in the dysfunctional Tarly’s… Beyond the Wall After last week’s tragic loss of Hodor, holding the door…
