Witches, Pirates And Clickers

It's been a slightly slow couple of weeks with watching new stuff and here, I'll talk about the latest HBO juggernaut among other stuff.

I Hate Suzie Too: The second series of Billie Piper's ambitious and slightly autobiographical show might have taken a long time to come but even with three episodes spread out over the space of Christmas week, it was definitely worth the wait. Six months passed since the events of the first series, and Suzie tried to salvage her image with a dance competition that despite winning, still managed to bring her world crashing down around her. While the show went by too quickly, the episodes were gripping to watch (including an ill advised affair with a bisexual footballer) and Billie Piper delivered an exceptional tour de force. I'm hoping maybe just maybe we get a third helping of this chaotic series.

Mayfair Witches: Last year, we had seven weeks of Interview With The Vampire and AMC to their credit are determined to build out an Immortal universe. This second show, five episodes in has Alexandra Daddario having to come to terms with her witchy heritage, an overzealous supernatural creep named Lasher attaching himself to the women of her family and a rather murderous grandaunt in the form of Carlotta. On the other hand, she does have an ally in Ciprion and there's something rather entertaining in Courtland as a character. While this show hasn't been as gripping as it's vampiric parent show yet, it's still a good Gothic adventure so far.

Our Flag Means Death: Released on HBO Max nearly a year ago, it really did take BBC2 a long time to get this show. You've got the hapless Gentleman Pirate taking over a crew as they get into a variety of scrapes and with a little over half of the first season now, it's mostly a fun if slight series. There's good performances from the main cast, including an amusing turn from Taika Waititi as Blackbeard, whose scenes with Rhys Darby's Stede are enjoyable to watch.

The Last Of Us: HBO have been on fire for the last while and the adaptation of this apocalyptic game series has won over everyone alike in the space of three episodes. As someone who has never played the game, this show has done a good job at feeling accessible to the casual audience with excellent leading performances from both Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay as Joel and Ellie. The first two episodes did wonders setting up the world and showed the gruesomeness of the Clickers (poor Tess) while the third episode gave one of the most beautiful if not tragic of love stories with Bill and Frank (truly amazing performances from Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett) while still moving things along at a great pace. It's no wonder HBO quickly renewed this show for a second season.

• Kathy Bates will lead a female led  reboot of Matlack for CBS. The network are also planning a Watson & Moriarty series without Sherlock and will do another spin off of The Good Wife.
• Frasier reboot for Paramount+ has cast Nicholas Lyndhurst as an old friend of Frasier. Other cast members include Jack Cutmore-Scott, Anders Keith and Jess Salgueiro.
• A prequel series for Dexter is being considering while Showtime will be folded into Paramount+.
• CBS have renewed So Help Me Todd for a second season. 
• Nicole Maines has joined the cast of Yellowjackets second season, due to air on March 26th.
• The second season of House Of The Dragon will begin filming in the UK and Spain from March. 
• Phoebe Dynever will not be returning for the third season of Bridgerton.
• Wednesday was renewed for a second season by Netflix.
• All American is one of the few CW that will survive the folding into Nexstar. The fates of remaining shows have yet to be confirmed.
• HBO Max have cancelled Gossip Girl after two seasons.
• The third season of The Mandalorian will stream on Disney+ from March 1st.
• Mayfair Witches has been renewed for a second season by AMC.
• Annette Bening will star in Peacock limited series, Apples Never Fall.

He Gives The Worst Pep Talks

It's been a while and with another lockdown due for Ireland, here's a rundown of some shows I've been watching over the last few weeks.

911: Lone Star: I'm at the halfway point of the first season of this spin-off series and it's going pretty well. Now I don't love the show quite as much as it's parent series but the characters are coming along nicely enough, the cases are fun enough to watch in parts (that bachelorette party) and the show continues to make some great strides in diversity as well as we saw some insight into Paul's dating life and of course with TK and Carlos's relationship. Owen and Michelle's plots are solid enough but I don't see Owen actually dying and we already know that Michelle isn't coming back next season.

Derry Girls: With the last two episodes of Series 2, I have officially caught up and I'm ready to see what the show will bring for it's third series when it comes back next year quite likely. I loved the homage to Carrie as well as the girls ditching school to meet Clinton and of course, James finally being accepted as a member of the gang. I'll even go as far as to say that I think the second series was even stronger than the first one and the bar had been set pretty high there.

I Hate Suzie: And it's over. I don't know if this show will get a second series (it definitely feels like it needs one tbh), but I did see a lot of what the finale did coming a mile off. Suzie's marriage collapsed, her career is in a strange place and her friendship with Naomi has also become strained. This was a great vehicle for Billie Piper's talents as co-creator and lead actor and it definitely feels like it deserves some award love at some point. US viewers will be able to see the series on HBO Max pretty soon.

Lovecraft Country: I mentioned in my previous review that this show could be so confusing to watch and the last three episodes definitely felt the most confusing. This show has definitely been an experience to watch and I quite liked Atticus and Letitia as protagonists but it might hep next season if the plotline was a little clearer to follow though.

Schitt's Creek: I know, I'm probably the last person to actually watch this show but E4 got the rights to it and are airing at least the first season in double bills. My first thoughts: I don't love it yet but I definitely like it and I can see why Moira Rose especially has made such an impression on people as the Rose family have lost their fortune and seem to be stuck in the worst town in the US with the worst televised Mayor seen in quite a while. It might take a few more episodes for me to really get into it though.

The Boys: I decided to wait until the first two season finished up to actually watch the first season and now, I've watched four episodes in the last week. This somewhat cynical take on the superhero genre definitely gets very meta and extremely violent in parts with Homelander proving to be far scarier than most comic book villain. Still though, I'm not sure that Billy Butcher is much better but fortunately there are sympathetic enough characters with Hughie, Starlight, Frenchie, Mother's Milk and Queen Maeve to balance things out a tiny bit and the superhero costumes do look pretty good. 

• Raffi Barsoumian has been cast in the role of Bishop, a sadistic scientist for the sixth season of Legends Of Tomorrow.
• The Flight Attendant will stream on HBO Max from November 26th.
• Paddy Considine has been cast in a lead role for House Of The Dragon, the prequel spin-off for Game Of Thrones. The show will debut in 2022.
• Dexter will return for a ten episode limited series on Showtime for Fall 2021.
• Euphoria will return for two special episodes ahead of it's upcoming second season. The first one will air on December 6th.
• Star Trek: Discovery has been renewed for a fourth season. Meanwhile UK viewers can currently watch the third season weekly on Netflix.
• Kristen Bell will star in The Woman In The House, which has been ordered to series to Netflix.
• Steven Krueger has joined the cast of Roswell: New Mexico for it's upcoming third season.
• Disney+ have ordered a series of Willow with Warwick Davis set to reprise his role from the original movie.
• Amazon will also be tackling a series based on I Know What You Did Last Summer.

It Can Get Worse Elsewhere

It's been a few weeks but here's a round up of things I've been catching up over the last few weeks.

911: It might have taken SkyLiving a little longer, but the third season has finally finished up and it was a rather satisfying way to end the current season. The return of Abby in the final two episodes seemed to offer needed closure between her and Buck while Chimney and Maddie will be parents in the next season and Michael has gotten the all clear. I've really enjoyed this third season a lot and the show continues to impress with the stunts they've pulled off this season. It's also a good thing that while filming for the next season is underway, I've got the spin-off to catch up with. Speaking of which ....

911: Lone Star: Moving the action from California to Texas for a spin-off that probably wasn't really needed but certainly doesn't hurt either. I'm wondering if FOX are trying to build a franchise here (if another spin-off happens, then the answer will be a resounding yes). The first two episodes of this show weren't as strong as the parent series but did the job to keep me interested. Rob Lowe is decent lead as Owen Strand (who may or may not die as this series progresses) while Liv Tyler's Michelle is an okay secondary protagonist. I'm quite taken with the slow burning love story between TK and Carlos and the show's diversity is great to see. I don't know if I'll love this show as much as 911 but it's off to a decent start so far.

Derry Girls: It's a good job that when it comes to their own homegrown comedy that E4 will repeat these shows a lot because now I can finally see the second series of this brilliant show and the first four episodes were fantastic. Between the girls meeting lads from another school, a very unprofessional English teacher, a disastrous journey to see Take That and the antics at a neighbour's wake, this show has hit every funny bone. Looking forward to what the last two episodes have in store.

I Hate Suzie: It's interesting to see how much this series seems to have mirrored or lifted certain elements from Billie Piper's own career trajectory and personal life. It's also further proof of how much of a truly underrated actor she really is as the last few episodes have introduced us to Suzie's extended family, seen her career opportunities go up and down in equal measures as well as her relationships with her agent and family spiral big time. With the ads being initially underwhelming, the show itself has turned out to be quite gripping. I just hope the finale can stick the landing though.

Lovecraft Country: Every week I watch this show both in fascination and with absolutely no idea what's going on. I don't think I'm the only person who view this series this way. It's a genuinely interesting show but it's also massively veered from what it originally seemed to be about, hasn't it? The last few episodes focus on characters such as Ruby, Ji' Ah and Hippolyta while Letitia and Atticus have been more in the background has been a mixed bag but at the same time, at least it's not boring. Just more of a fascinating but messy series. 

• Not only has The Boys been renewed for a third season but Amazon are also planning a spin-off focusing on a younger group of characters. 
• Ryan Murphy will be tackling a miniseries based on Jeffrey Dahmer for Netflix. The show will be titled, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
• Adam Tsekhman has been promoted to a regular for the sixth season of Legends Of Tomorrow, having recurred in the previous three seasons.
• Russell T. Davies upcoming LGBT themed series has been retitled It's A Sin and will air on Channel 4 and HBO Max from 2021.
• Cobra Kai's third season will be released on Netflix from January 8th 2021 and the show has been renewed for a fourth season.
• Alex Morf, Leah Gibson and Nathan Owens have joined the cast for the second season of Batwoman, playing Victor Zsasz, the Whisper and Ocean respectively.
• Iman Vellani has been cast as Ms. Marvel for the upcoming Disney+ series. A show focusing on Nick Fury is also in development.
• The Walking Dead will end with an eleventh season, consisting of 24 episodes to be aired over the next two years. A spin-off focusing on Carol and Darryl will also happen.
• Pennyworth's second season will begin airing from December.
• Family Guy has been renewed for a 20th season while it's 19th season has started airing on FOX.

All Kinds Of New And Exciting Adventures

It's been a while since my last TV Jumble blog and with autumn now with us, here's a look at some shows I've been catching up with in the last while.

911: I'm near the end of the third season of this show with only the two part finale left to watch and again, things have been interesting to watch. The last few episodes dealt with a hostage situation, delved into Eddie's early days of fatherhood while at the same time continuing with the theme of disconnect that Buck seems to have along with Hen potentially making a career change next season. Two episode left to go, I am looking forward to a certain character coming back as well.

I Hate Suzie: It's been a while since we've had Billie Piper on our screens and now's she back in the eight episode miniseries co-created by herself and Lucy Prebble. It's an interesting take on an actress in her thirties, struggling to deal with compromising pics of her being leaked, appealing to her fanbase, losing a Disney Princess gig and of course, trying to get her marriage back on track. Three episodes in so far and Piper gives a fantastic performance, the show is genuinely funny and uncomfortable and there's a great support with Leila Farzad's Naomi. Easily one of SkyAtlantic's best homegrown offerings.

Lovecraft Country: It seems that in the last while HBO has had it's bigger successes with delving into the sci-fi/fantasy/horror genre and three episodes in with this innovative, 1950s based show, they've struck more gold. That's especially true with a career defining performance from Jurnee Smollett as Letitia Lewis while Jonathan Majors has made for a charismatic protagonist in Atticus Freeman. Both actors bring their A game and have natural chemistry while the racial themes are handled perfectly along with the monsters of the week and strange goings on per episode. 

Stargirl: It's taken me a bit longer to get to this show than I would've liked but six episodes in, I'm both impressed and hoping that it's move to the CW for it's next season won't see a change in tone for the series. I like the small town setting, Brec Bassinger is fantastic in the title role as is Luke Wilson as STRIPE. The nice build towards a new generation of JSA along with the ISA coming out of the woodwork and a fantastic performance from Neil Jackson as Icicle. This might be DC Universe's last live action but it's as impressive as the other they've had. 

The Politician: And I've completed the second season. I really don't know how I truly feel about this show to be honest. I enjoy it but I have to admit, there's no-one really to root for here. The final three episodes did delve into the voters (this time between a lesbian mother and her daughter) while also cementing Payton's victory and his future which seems to be tied into Dede's growing ambitions. It's probably a good thing that the next season, which will likely be a while off will be it's last. 

The Umbrella Academy: When I heard rumours that the finale was for this season was going to be a polarising game change, I was a bit nervous but having watched the finale, all it's done has made me want the next season all the more. The first season was enjoyable but this second season was so much better and far more layered. A better examination of the main seven characters, fantastic new characters like Lila, Sissy, Ray and the Swedish assassins, the Handler being delightfully menacing and camp to the hilt, the excellent music choices, fight sequences. This season has been an absolute joy to watch. 

• UK/Irish viewers will be able to see 911 spin-off, 911: Lone Star on SkyLiving later this month.
• American Horror Story's tenth season will start filming next month and will air in 2021.
• Shameless will begin production on it's eleventh and final season this month.
• Anna Faris has quit Mom ahead of it's eighth season.
• Star Trek: Discovery have cast Blu del Barrio and Ian Alexander as the show's first non binary and trans characters.
• Sony plan to do a live action TV series, focusing on the Marvel hero, Silk. 
• Sarah Paulson has revealed there is a plan to take upcoming Netflix series Ratched to four seasons.
• The X Files is getting an animated comedy spin-off. No, I have no idea why either.
• Viewers can see Buffy spin-off Angel again on E4 after the parent show finishes up it's current late night run.
• Alan Ritchson will star in the upcoming Jack Reacher show for Amazon.