Television reviews – Page 27

“Jack Ryan”– New Version of “Homeland”

Written by diana on September 28, 2018. Posted in Television reviews.

This new undertaking (by Amazon Prime) of Tom Clancy’s blockbuster Jack Ryan series pays off big-time. John Krasinski as a boyish Jack Ryan adds unexpected dimension to this eight-episode series focused on a terrorist plot in Syria. If this is your genre, you will inevitably make a comparison with Clancy’s books and the older...

Mr. Mercedes — “Bates Motel” meets “Mr. Robot”

Written by diana on September 11, 2018. Posted in Television reviews.

Mr. Mercedes, an Audience (DirecTV) mystery-thriller original series, is based on the Stephen King trilogy “Mr. Mercedes”, “Finders Keepers” and “End of Watch”. The macabre master again conjures alarming boundary-breaking drama, this time in economically depressed Bridgton, Ohio. The opening scene is...

The Tunnel–Seasons 2 and 3

Written by diana on August 14, 2018. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews. 1 Comment on The Tunnel–Seasons 2 and 3

The Tunnel Seasons 2 and 3 continue the tension from the first season, with a British and French detective partnership (Karl Roebuck and Elise Wasserman respectively) again working to solve a heinous series of crimes. (See my August 7, 2016 review of season 1: “The Tunnel–Turf War or Building Bridges”.) Both season 2 and...

Babylon Berlin–The Fragility of Democracy

Written by diana on July 16, 2018. Posted in Television reviews. 2 Comments on Babylon Berlin–The Fragility of Democracy

Adapted from the best-selling detective novels by the German author Volker Kutscher, the highly praised Babylon Berlin begins less than ten years after the Treaty of Versailles. Germany is in turmoil. (Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party would come to power in 1933.) Set in the golden ’20s (1926-1929), Berlin is not so golden for everyone....

Marcella –Battling Inner Demons

Written by diana on July 10, 2018. Posted in Television reviews. 1 Comment on Marcella –Battling Inner Demons

Promoted as a Scandinavian noir detective series on the streets of Britain, Marcella is written and directed and produced by Swedish screenwriter Hans Rosenfeldt, creator of The Bridge. Two seasons on Netflix, Marcella delves into the psychology of a deeply troubled London detective. In Season One Marcella Backland (Anna Friel)...

“Unforgotten”–The Power to Recall

Written by diana on June 11, 2018. Posted in Television reviews. 4 Comments on “Unforgotten”–The Power to Recall

This British crime drama (PBS Masterpiece Mystery), comprised of three episodes in two seasons, focuses on one stone-cold case per season. Each involves a murder at least three decades old. The detective team– Cassie Stuart (the wonderful Nicola Walker of “Last Tango in Halifax” and Sunny Khan (the perfectly cast...