Cavy TV

  Rating: ★★★★½ Netflix's BEEF is an exceptional genre piece on two midlife adults from opposite sides of the social class facing and duelling out their own demons against each other for an entire season. The show functions on dramedy underpinnings, but it thrives so much more on its comedy beats in comparison to the drama angles which can sometimes be a bit negligent. Another drawback is the ending, and why does every show these days need to have a "psychedelic" episode? It has become so common that it has replaced the "it was all a dream" episode in TV canon as a plot device to wrap certain plot points up.  Nevertheless, BEEF is a strong edition to TV in the 2020s, so much so that it is the best original only behind Severance to come out so far this decade in my opinion. Further positive points are the many colourful characters around Ali Wong and Steven Yeun who both put in equally excellent lead performances. It is also nice to see the cast and creators st...

  Rating: ★★★  So Rian Johnson seems to be rolling in the big bucks and good books of Hollywood again after the much appreciated success of my 2019 film of the year Knives Out . As long as we forget about the very disappointing sequel that came out late last year, Johnson seems to be going all in on the crime-mystery genre with the addition of this TV series Poker Face , which most critics seem to love, but me not so much. Poker Face stars Orange Is the New Black 's standout starlet Natasha Lyonne. The first episode even features fellow Orange Is the New Black standout Dascha Polanco, and it's quite unfortunate she didn't go on to feature for the rest of the season (as so many other features, but we'll get to that in a bit). The first episode was impressive and I thought I was in for a good series, but by the third episode, I fully knew what this show's plot device was gonna be all about - introduce a whole set of new characters each episode, with a crime, and Nata...

  Rating: ★★★★½ So after really enjoying the spectacle of season 1 but ultimately finding the overall commentary on the themes of white privilege and class status inconclusive, HBO's The White Lotus , returns for a second season with similar themes, a similar setting at a fancy hotel (albeit this time in gorgeous Sicily, Italy) but with different characters and storylines.  The lack in messaging I found in season 1 became more clear to me in this season's execution on all technical levels. Ultimately - I think - creator/showrunner Mike White is not so concerned about delivering satire for satire's sake or social justice, more so than just showing the raunchiness at the core of humanity and the system we find ourselves in. He isn't necessarily worried so much about pointing fingers, as much as just exploring the inner psychology (manipulation, deception, and lots and lots of sexuality) of the characters in such a scenario - and I can appreciate that, and thus can finally...

  Rating: ★★★★★  So after somewhat heavily criticising season 3, whether rightfully or mistakenly so, FX's Atlanta gave me a beautiful surprise for season 4 - the show's best season, in my opinion. It's completely strong throughout, producing some of the show's most captivating, stimulating and emotional episodes. It's an amalgamation of all of the good aspects of the show in one entire season - and I couldn't be happier for Donald Glover and his team on this. It will definitely go down as one of the most refreshing and ambitious shows of the 2010s in its entirety just because of its nature and execution. Personally, I still would not put it in my tier 1 of excellent TV shows, mainly just so out of personal taste which caters towards more conventional procedural dramas. Still, I would say the rewatch factor on this show is big, because going forward you can just put on a random episode and completely enjoy it. It was definitely an incredible trip into this absu...

    Rating: ★★★★    House of the Dragon , a prequel to the worldwide sensation Game of Thrones , revolves around the story of heirdom of House Targaryen about 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen, one half of the two central figures of Game of Thrones .    I was impressed by House of the Dragon right from the first episode as it immediately captured all of the aspects that made Game of Thrones so good for its first four seasons. The storytelling was detailed and efficient, perhaps even more so than the beginning of Game of Thrones , because here not so many characters and houses gets thrown at us from the get-go. This level of storytelling is maintained and heightened up until episode 5, and then after that, *slight spoiler alert* the show takes a huge time jump, and along with that, actor changes for some of the characters, including the two main female characters that will end up fighting for the throne - Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Highto...

  Rating: ★★★★★  Easily one of the best television shows of all-time. In no particular order it's up there in elite company with The Sopranos , The Wire , Mad Men and Succession . It's incredibly difficult to constantly produce and put out 5-star quality content from start to finish, season to season, especially the longer a television series goes on, and that's what the above mentioned shows do, and probably to a stronger degree only The Sopranos , Mad Men and Better Call Saul . I was one of the earliest proponents to throw out Better Call Saul >>> Breaking Bad claims, and I'm glad to see it's becoming a more popular belief amongst the general culture. For those of you who might not get this comparison, these two shows are related in the same fictional universe, and showrunner-writers Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould are behind both of them. Don't get me wrong Breaking Bad , despite its overrated awards-darling status, was still a great show, and a l...