So, I really liked the book A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. When my oldest nibling told me that the TV series was available to watch on BBC iPlayer, I was immediately interested in watching it…and I watched all six episodes in one night.
While I did have some mixed feelings about this series, I did like Pip in the series. My sister mentioned that she felt Pip’s autistic traits were more obvious in the TV series than in the books, and I’m inclined to agree…though Ry always felt that Pip was obviously autistic to them in the books.
It’s hard not to compare the series to the book, as it was obviously based on that. I will say that a lot of the actors portrayed the characters they played really well. I’m more used to seeing Matthew Baynton in comedy roles than serious ones, but I did think he did a particularly good job at portraying Elliot Ward.
While the book was always going to be better, I was kind of disappointed that so much was left out of the series. There was a lot of intrigue that wasn’t included…and I really didn’t like the fact that one of the main characters had her entire backstory completely changed (Nat Da Silva). One of the really good things about the book was just how many secrets Andie was revealed to have, showing that she wasn’t the ‘good’ girl everyone had assumed her to be. I can’t really say that there was subject matter the series didn’t want to touch on, either, as it didn’t shy away from showing what had happened to Becca.
I did like the flashbacks to Pip as a child and when she saw Andie for the last time, but I did kind of feel that that particular flashback was shown a lot more than was really necessary. While it was good to gradually know more about that situation (such as Pip telling Sal where Andie was), I didn’t think it needed to be shown as many times as it was.
I mentioned above that I was disappointed in one of the characters having her backstory changed…and I have to say that I didn’t like the way her brother, Daniel, was changed in the series. The series really didn’t need a charming potential love interest (it was a bit weird that Pip called him cute, since he was always angry, and older than her…not to mention married…in the book), especially as the series already had Ravi!
I did like Naomi and Cara and their relationship with each other, as well as their friendship with Pip. I thought that Yasmin Al-Khudhairi did a really good job of capturing Naomi’s personality, along with the guilt that clearly affected her after the car crash and everything that happened with Sal. And I really liked Cara’s interactions with Pip. I can’t really say the same for the rest of Pip’s friends, though. I didn’t feel any real connection to them, as I didn’t feel their characters were developed very much throughout the series…which is a shame, as there were a lot of good things about Pip’s interactions with them in the book.
I did enjoy Pip’s interactions with her father in this series…but I didn’t really like her relationship with her mother as much. Her mother seemed to be trying to parent sometimes, only to be distant and preoccupied later on in the series. Plus, unlike in the book, Pip showed very little sign of her project affecting her in a negative way. Yes, she went out to a party…but her parents seemed entirely on board with her doing that. In that respect, I’d say that the series dropped the ball a little.
I do think that the series stands well enough on its own, but it’s not a truly faithful adaptation to one of my favourite books. While I can understand having to change certain things when switching from one medium to another, there was too much changed in this series that actually took away from the story instead of adding to it, in my opinion.
If you watch the series on its own merits, you’ll probably enjoy it. But as an adaptation, I will say that I was a bit disappointed in many of the changes that were made from book to TV series.
Dead Boy Detectives was one of the series that came up while I had the Netflix home screen on. I didn’t realise at that point that it was set in the same universe as The Sandman, but I was definitely intrigued by the initial clip that I saw.
I definitely enjoyed the interactions between Charles and Edwin throughout this series. Right from the start, it was obvious they were close friends; and I particularly enjoyed the whole concept of two dead teenagers solving cases involving spirits and curses and the like.
The first episode was particularly engaging, with Edwin and Charles having taken on a case involving a ghost attached to a gas mask. I thought the episode worked really well as an introduction to the main characters and their abilities. I also got to see Death appear in the same incarnation as The Sandman…which was awesome, because I really like that version of Death.
This episode also worked as a good introduction to Crystal Palace, who quickly becomes an integral part of the Dead Boy Detective Agency. I was a little confused by the ghost of the little girl who claimed to be such good friends with Crystal…but disappeared for the rest of the series. I would have liked a bit more information about who she was and what her connection to Crystal was.
I really liked learning more about Charles’ past, even though it was traumatising and made me sad to learn how he’d ultimately died. I really thought that the interactions between him and Edwin in the past, before he actually died, were really moving and sad.
I loved Ruth Connell’s role as the Night Nurse in this series. She came across as a fairly typical antagonist, but after she was trapped inside the anglerfish, I felt she went through quite a bit of character development. However, I still didn’t like the whole purpose of her job. Effectively, she said that she needed to make sure dead children stayed where they were. Considering Edwin was dragged to Hell (and tortured) on a technicality, I thought that forcing the spirits to stay where they’d been placed was actually pretty cruel. But it meant that their insistence on staying together and not being separated made a lot of sense, given their afterlifes would probably be different.
I thought that the Dandelion Sprites who were possessing/attacking Niko were a pretty nice touch, although given that they were immortal beings, their choice of language was kind of…well, they were definitely foul-mouthed little immortal beings. But they were a lot of fun.
I also really liked Jenny as a character, though I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. She was cleary trying to be a good landlord, but ended up getting pulled into the whole supernatural…and unlike Niko, I really thought that her reaction towards the end of season one, where she finds out everything, was actually pretty realistic. Of course, Niko came across as being more open-minded in general, given her very calm reaction to Crystal telling her about her friends (Charles and Edwin). I did really like that Niko developed the ability to see them, but it did seem like an awful lot of people in the series had that ability.
Okay, so let’s talk about the cats. Anyone who knows me knows that I love cats. They’re pretty much my favourite animals (although dogs are a very close second). I loved that cats played a big part in the series…though I have to admit, I wasn’t that keen on the Cat King as a character at first. He gave off very trickster-like vibes, and I thought he was going to be a more evil character than he actually was. I definitely would have liked to see more interactions between the Cat King and Edwin.
Esther was an interesting antaganist, although she came across a little over the top. I found it a bit hard to take her seriously at times and while there was a bit more of her background explored in the final episode, it wasn’t really enough to make her one of the ‘good’ vilains (i.e., someone I can identify with/understand).
Another crossover character with the Sandman was Despair, who appeared briefly with her sibling, Desire, in the Sandman. I liked being able to see her in Hell…or at least a dimension that allowed her to see into Hell. I was intrigued by her interaction with Edwin, and would like to see a bit more of the two of them interacting with each other in the next season.
All told, I really did enjoy watching this series. I binge-watched it over a weekend and was completely drawn in. I loved Edwin and Charles as characters and I really liked most of the supporting characters. The mystery about Crystal’s missing memories was engaging, and I really liked the fact that her abilities didn’t just mean that the cases were easy to solve. They all still had to work on it…especially with the case involving the groundhog day style murders. That was traumatising to see as a viewer, let alone to actively be there watching it.
If you watched and enjoyed the Sandman, then I think you’ll enjoy watching this. And if you haven’t seen the Sandman, then you don’t really need to have in order to enjoy this series. I highly recommend it!
I watched The Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix a few years ago, and since The Hauting of Hill House was made by the same people, and had a lot of the same actors, I figured I’d watch this as well…and managed to do so in about two days.
I really liked the shifting between the past and the present, as it gave me a deeper insight into the background of the characters and their family history. It allowed me to understand why Luke had turned to taking heroin, given the trauma he’d gone through as a child. It was very obvious that all of the Crain children were deeply traumatised by what had happened to them in Hill House, though Luke and Nell were clearly the ones most affected by it.
I really did like both Luke and Nell. They were probably my favourite characters in this series, as I found their bond to be portrayed really well. I did now, however, particularly like Steven. Well, I didn’t like him much as an adult, at least. I enjoyed his interactions with his younger siblings when they were all children.
It was good to see the flashbacks between the past and the present. However, I felt that the present day was a little rushed. A very short amount of time passed between them finding out Nell was dead, and returning to the house…at least, that’s what it felt like to me. I did feel that there was a lot that was glossed over by the time they all reached Hill House, so I felt like the finale was somewhat rushed…which was a shame, considering the whole buildup through the series.
I particularly liked the way each of the Crain children had an episode devoted to them, as it enabled me to get to know each of them on a more personal level. I would have liked a bit more exploration of the ‘sensitivity’ that was mentioned by Olivia about her daughters. It seemed like all of the Crain children were sensitive to some extent, given how they reacted when Nell ‘went into the red room’.
Episode six, Two Storms, was a particular emotional rollercoaster. The dual storms, one in the past and one in the present, were both quite harrowing, although in very different ways. And although it was obvious that child Nell would eventually be found, or at least make a reappearance, it was still hard to watch the whole family searching for her. And the ending of the episode, where Nell’s unseen ghost was standing next to her casket, while child Nell’s voice echoes about how none of them could see or hear her, was extremely emotional and haunting.
I really liked seeing Olivia’s gradual descent into madness, as Hill House took its toll on her sanity. I still think she should have been able to resist what was happening, given that she told Theo about her abilities. She seemed to fall prey to what was in the house very quickly, in comparison to the others.
I did find it interesting to learn bits and pieces about the history and previous occupants of the house, and I would have liked to learn a bit more about them. For instance, there’s the spirit of a clock repair man who randomly appears, and it’s not clear just why he’s stuck in the house, as there’s nothing indicating how and when he might have died there.
I found the concept of the red room to be a really intriguing one, especially with the idea of it changing to suit what each member of the Crain family wanted. I was a bit confused about why Shirley and Nell were trying to get into the red room in one of the early episodes, as there was then no further attempt to get inside and it was only mentioned later by Hugh. Once they all had their specific rooms, it seemed like the whole idea of getting into the room was discarded until the plot called for it again (when Hugh said it was the only place the water could be coming from).
The horror parts of this series were actually a bit more subtle, even though the series did have its fair share of cheap jump scares. But I did really appreciate that there was more of an understanding of ‘less is more’ than I usually see in horror movies.
On the whole, I did really enjoy watching this series. I liked the characters, at least for the most part, and I really enjoyed the contrasts between the present and the past. While the series did come to a good ending, I think it would be good to see more of the characters, even if the genre isn’t necessarily a horror or supernatural one.
I watched the first special with David Tennant’s return as the Doctor. I didn’t watch the other two, but because I was with my family for Christmas Day, we ended up watching the Christmas special.
I always like the Doctor Who episodes that have a bit of mystery behind them, and that’s the impression I originally got at the start of this episode. A baby being left at a church, basically abandoned, trying to find her birth parents as an adult? I was hoping that mystery would be a big part of this episode.
Unfortunately, the special was more about goblins…which wasn’t that bad, although there was very little in the way of subtlety. It was immediately obvious that there was something nefarious about the bad luck that was plaguing Ruby, since there were little arms moving and little voices chattering away.
Speaking of Ruby…I felt like she was a cross between Rose and Clara. I liked her to an extent, but considering that the Doctor is once again played by a younger actor, I am worried that there’s going to be romance shoehorned into the new series…and honestly, it would be nice to have TV series that don’t have romance pushed in each time.
I did find it a bit hard to get behind this new version of the Doctor, as he didn’t have quite the same energy as I’m used to seeing from the Doctor. I kind of hope that the actor will settle a bit more into the role in later episodes.
I did like the goblin song…and I enjoyed hearing the Doctor joining in the song, even if it was a bit cringeworthy. I also particularly liked being able to see what would have happened to her mother and grandmother if Ruby had never actually existed.
I did enjoy this episode, although I don’t think it’s one I’ll rush to watch again. I’d be interested to see how the new Doctor and his compnion fare in the new series of Doctor Who.
I’ve watched bits and pieces of the new Doctor Who series. I watched all of Christopher Eccleston’s run…and most of David Tennant’s. I didn’t watch much of Matt Smith’s and only saw a few episodes with Peter Capaldi in. And I didn’t see any of Jodie Whittaker’s run. But since this special had the return of both David Tennant, along with Donna…who was a much better character than I initially thought she’d be…I decided I wanted to watch the new special.
It was a bit confusing to see the return of David Tennant as the Doctor, despite it being hinted at back in the anniversary special with a comment about revisiting ‘the old favourites’. I was really happy to see a reappearance of Donna, though. She was one of my favourite companions in the new Doctor Who series and had such a heartbreaking ending…so it was really awesome to see her make an appearance again, complete with her husband and daughter.
I loved the relationship between Donna and Rose, and her easy acceptance of her daughter. I also really liked the fact that Wilf was still alive in the universe, despite the actor having passed away. Given the relationship that formed between David Tennant’s Doctor and Donna’s grandfather, I thought it was really good that he was still around, albeit in more shared housing.
I thought it was really interesting to see that Donna forgetting everything also apparently included her being blind to everything going on…even though she knew she’d lost her memory, and her mother seemed to be doing her best to ‘help’ that forgetting along.
I do have to be honest that I didn’t trust the Meep from its very first appearance. I can’t deny that the alien was really very cute, though, even as I distrusted it.
Anyway, I really liked being able to see Donna and the Doctor meeting up again…and I especially liked seeing Donna’s family, with her husband and her daughter. There were a lot of emotions raised from watching this episode…and while I haven’t been watching the more recent series of Doctor Who, I’m interested in seeing how things go after the cliffhanger of this episode.
This TV series was one that immediately caught my attention when I saw it advertised. The whole premise was an intriguing one, with a dead body being found by four different detectives…in four different time periods. I’ve always been interested in fiction that’s a little bit out of the ordinary, so this immediately piqued my interest.
I did think that all four of the time periods were really well-developed. It was very unclear how the storyline all fit together, though, and at first my working theory was that the body had been dropped by aliens. Since the series was advertised as being science fiction, I figured that at least was an explanation that made sense…though I still didn’t know how the same naked body, with a bullet wound in his eye (and no bullet in his skull) had cropped up in four different places.
The series was set in four different time periods: 1890, 1941, 2023 and 2053. Despite the large gap between all four of the time periods, they each felt as ‘real’ as the others. While I was watching the series, I didn’t feel like all of this had already happened…even when Shahara finds the old case files that indicate the body’s appeared twice before. The switching between the four different timelines didn’t really feel confusing at all…and I was able to form an emotional connection with each of the main characters and what was going on in their personal lives, as well as dealing with the mystery of the body that had suddenly appeared.
Real representation is something that is sadly lacking in so many films, TV series, books, etc. When I first started watching Bodies, I wasn’t expecting to connect to the four main characters…and even a couple of the minor characters…on a deep and emotional level. However, the forbidden love story between Alfred Hillinghead (the detective from 1890) and Henry Ashe (a journalist from the same time period) was done so extremely well that I’m still thinking about it a few weeks after finishing the whole series. Given that in 1890, homosexuality was treated much worse than it is now (and society is still not perfect now), seeing these two come together and develop feelings for each other, in spite of everything going on…and against the backdrop of the rest of the plot…was really powerful. And there was a deep connection between Hillinghead and the main ‘villain’ of the series.
In the 2053 timeline, with Iris Maplewood as the detective who finds the body, it’s clear that something devastated the world back in 2023. There’s a news story where survivors of whatever happened talk about the effects of it…of the world going dark. And as Iris’ storyline develops, it’s obvious that she too feels the effects of whatever occurred back then. When she meets her brother, he’s in a wheelchair…and it transpires that Iris herself wouldn’t have the ability to walk if it wasn’t for a piece of technology called a SPINE.
Throughout all four of the timelines, there’s a mysterious shadowy organisation that seems to be behind a lot of what’s going on. Those involved in the organisation greet each other with the phrase, ‘Know you are loved,’ which is also used as a codephrase. This organisation is around even in 2053, with Iris being employed by them. But their whole purpose and reason for actually being around isn’t made clear until the last couple of episodes of the series.
Shahara Hasan, the detective from 2023, is a really big focal point of the series, something that doesn’t become obvious until towards the end. She was an easily relatable and likable character who clearly wanted to do right for the two young men who were caught up in everything that was going on. When she went under the table to talk to Elias, who was so clearly an abandoned, frightened person in need of someone who loved him, that was a really powerful scene.
On the whole, I did think this series was really well done. It was a ‘limited’ series (which in Netflix’s terms means a ‘short’ series), but I felt that I was able to get to know about and care about the characters. All four of the detectives had their own lives, families and problems going on outside of the dead body they’d found…which was actually only a small snapshot of what was actually going on in the series.
I watched all eight episodes of this series in one day…and I would definitely watch a series two, if one was made. If you’re a fan of science fiction, I’d say that this series is definitely worth watching. By the end, things do make sense and are connected together…and there’s a lot more going on than just a random dead body showing up in four different time periods.
So. I did watch the original Willow movie, though it was a number of years back, and I remember I really enjoyed it…though I don’t remember a whole lot about it, apart from the scene towards the end where Willow saves Elora.
I’ve not been too good at sitting down and watching movies, but after both my sister and my oldest nibling encouraged me to watch this, I went ahead and did so.
I do think you need to have a passing knowledge of the original movie, at least, to fully enjoy and understand this movie. I enjoyed the opportunity to see so much more of the world of Willow, as well as to learn more about the history of the world and more about the true threat, which wasn’t as simple as it had been in the movie.
The Characters
I’m going to start with my two favourite characters: Kit and Jade. During most of the series, it’s really obvious they both have feelings for each other…to the point that even some of the other characters comment on the tension between them. But even outside of their relationship and the inevitable resolution (I was so happy when they finally kissed), both of them were really strong people. Throughout the series, I felt they both had amazing character development and some really impressive scenes. I seriously loved the scene when they’re all fighting in the rain, although it was also a very tense and emotional scene towards the end.
So, yeah, Kit and Jade were not only my favourite characters of the series, but they were also the best part of the series as a whole…at least in my opinion. Compared to the other main romance, theirs was a whole lot more believable.
Honourable mention goes to Prince Graydon, who was still a likable character despite not being my top favourite. He’s the only one who none of the other characters have a personal relationship with and yet he still goes along with them on the quest and does his best to help them. He doesn’t hesitate or hold back and even accepts that there’s a point the others might need to take his life. Honestly, he’s got a lot of depth to him and I would have liked to see more of him through the series.
Okay, so I have to talk about my least favourite character…Elora, who just spent the entire series really irritating me. She felt like a flat character who was just written to be the Cinderella archetype. To be honest, Sorsha did her absolutely zero favours by keeping her as no more than a servant! Because when it came to it, she was absolutely useless…until the plot called for her to be otherwise and then she could suddenly perform magic without anything other than instincts. And why did they bother dyeing her hair? Red hair isn’t even that uncommon!
Honestly, it would have been better if Elora’s identity hadn’t been discovered at all. Unfortunately, once it was revealed, she just fell into the stereotypical chosen one personality. And I’ll be honest – someone with Kit’s personality would have been a much more interesting Elora. Or Jade could have been. She even had the red hair!
The Bone Reavers
Part of the wider world of Willow, the bone reavers came across as a really big enemy. It was really good to see them developed as more than just a faceless enemy. I would have liked to spend a bit more time exploring their people and culture in the series, but it was good to see some of them. Also, it showed that the people considered to be the good guys might not be so perfect after all.
Other Races
As I mentioned above, getting to see more of the wider world of Willow was also really good. This included the brownies and also the trolls…the latter of which were completely different to how I would have pictured them. Okay, they looked more like yetis than actual trolls; but the perfectly civil words the troll leader spoke definitely took me by surprise.
And I did especially like the brownies. It was interesting to see that they’d built their own little society under where the bone reavers were living and I especially liked their interactions with Willow.
Final Thoughts
On the whole, I did enjoy this series. There were characters I loved, but also characters I really didn’t like. The characters I loved were what kept me watching the series and focused throughout the eight episodes. I do think that Elora didn’t work as a main character and could have just been a mystery. She didn’t really add much to the series itself, apart from right at the very end, and there were a lot more interesting characters I wanted to see more of.
I’d be interested in watching the second series of this, when and if it comes out, because I’d like to see more of the world and the characters I did like seeing. Plus, even though Arik was a bit guillable (in Kit’s words), it would be good to see how he fits in with the rest of the group.
If you enjoyed the original movie, I think you’d proably like this as well. I would recommend it for people who enjoy fantasy and magic, too, as those are some of the strongest parts of this series.
Hi guys! Remember me? I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t, since it’s been…eight months since my last post? More than that, probably, if I’m honest. Sorry about that. I hope to be more active with my blog in 2023. In fact, it’s one of my New Year’s Resolutions.
2022 was a pretty tough year for me. Things were fine up until the end of March. Then I fell down two steps (literally) and broke my right leg in two places (tibia and fibula, if anyone’s interested). And, no, I wasn’t drunk.
Anyway, after the breakage, I went to hospital, where I stayed overnight and had to have a surgery in the morning. So now, I have a metal bar in my right leg. So I guess I’ll be setting off alarms at airport security from now on? Anyway, I was in hospital from the Wednesday until the Monday, which is when I was discharged and my dad came to take me to Nottingham, so I could stay with my parents and hopefully recuperate from the breaking of my leg. I had crutches and was managing pretty well…or so I thought.
Turns out it was a very good thing I was staying with family, because five days after getting out of hospital the first time? I was back in there. After having barely any appetite and noticing a painful spot under my left arm, I rapidly went downhill on the Friday and was admitted into hospital Saturday. I woke up on Monday morning in the ICU, having been brought in with DKA and sepsis. In other words, I very nearly died. (This isn’t an exaggeration. The doctors told my parents they would resuscitate me if it was necessary). Anyway, when I woke up, I had a brand new diagnosis of type 1 diabetes and was receiving insulin.
I did get out of hospital, but it took a little while to reach a point of full recovery. I also ended up having to move house at the same time as getting used to all of these medical issues, so I’m not kidding when I say there was a lot going on. Believe me when I say I haven’t just neglected this blog…I’ve also neglected my writing as well. That is going to change.
So here are my New Year’s Resolutions:
Return to writing reviews of movies, television shows, books and games here. Also try and write an update post every month or so.
Finish the projects I actually start. To help with that, I have a group on Facebook to share actual updates on my original fiction. If you’re interested in following along with my journey, you can find the group here.
So let’s go onto the review.
Alice in Borderland
This is the first thing I watched in 2023. Well, it’s the first thing I finished watching in 2023. I watched the first episode on New Year’s Eve, prior to starting work, and then watched the rest of it after work. It’s now after 1am on 2nd January in the UK and I’ve not long finished the series.
I’d say that this series has a very similar feel to Squid Game and Hunger Games. It is violent; it’s graphically violent, but not to the level of an 18 certificate movie or series in the UK.
The basic premise of this series is that three friends in Tokyo, Japan suddenly find themselves in a Tokyo that’s entirely devoid of human life. After some confusion and searching for other people, they find themselves needing to play various violent games in order to extend their ‘visas’. Once a visa runs out, the player dies. If they fail to win or ‘clear’ the game, they die. And if they try to leave the game before it’s over, they die.
The World
The first episode spends a bit of time introducing the characters and their lives prior to entering ‘Borderland’, so when they leave a toilet stall and abruptly find themselves in a deserted, normally bustling city, it feels all the more eerie to see the stark contrast to what came before.
The world that Arisu and his friends find themselves in is both familiar and strange. In the first episode, they spend time running to familiar locations and trying to find other people. Somehow, there’s no working technology, apart from what’s used by the Game Masters. As seen in the second picture above, there is some electricity, but it’s not available to the players.
An interesting thing that’s learned through the series as it progresses is that, not only are there other players involved, but some of them have been there for only a day or so, while others have been there for months. And Tokyo has been overrun by nature. Plants are growing unchecked at various points in the city. And in season two, there’s one very beautiful scene where some huge elephants are bathing in a hot spring. And other wild animals make an appearance, such as a panther and a tiger. The rest of the world isn’t shown, only Tokyo, but it’s likely that the rest of Earth is in the same kind of condition.
The Games
As mentioned above, the players who enter the Borderland need to play games in order to survive and continue living through this new, savage world. With one exception, though, the players have the choice of whether to enter the game arena or not. But once they do enter it, they have to win the game in order to be able to leave.
There are four types of games, each correlating to a suit in a deck of cards. Clubs are games that require teamwork; spades require strength, dexterity…basically physical ability like strength and endurance; diamons are games of logic and rational thinking; and hearts are games that are more psychological in nature-they ‘play with your hearts’. The difficulty of the game is shown by the number on the card. A two of clubs would be a fairly easy game, while a ten would be very difficult. And the face cards are the worst of all.
Throughout the series, there are a number of different games that the players have to take part in. In a similar manner to Squid Game, some of the games are ones that started out as a children’s games; such as hide and seek, or tag, or even chess. Unlike Squid Game, however, there are some games that no one has to die…however, the actions of the characters are sometimes enough to ensure the deaths of some players.
The Characters
I’m going to start with my two favourite characters here: Kuina (on the left) and Chishiya (on the right). Their first appearance, they don’t seem that different to the rest of the characters. Chishiya is the mysterious, intelligent, charismatic guy you’re not entirely sure is good or bad or somewhere in between. Kuina proves herself to be a total badass as the series goes on and I had various moments when I was literally cheering her on. She truly had some of the most epic moments throughout the series.
Chishiya isn’t really a fighter or a warrior, but his intellect more than makes up for his more limited physical strength. As is mentioned by some of the other characters, I’d hate for him to be my enemy. And in keeping with his more mysterious personality, his past prior to entering Borderland isn’t revealed until much later into season two.
Arisu and Usagi are the two characters who you’re meant to spend the series rooting for…and I did. They might not have been my favourites, but they were definitely a close second contender. Arisu definitely went through the most character development through the whole series, going from a slacker who played video games all day to a hero willing to risk his life for everyone around him. The most interesting thing about his character is his ability to use his experience playing video games to think like the game masters and notice the pattern in games.
Usagi is a fairly typical tough woman, but she’s definitely really good at it. Her past as a mountain climber with her dad gives her a huge amount of dexterity and there are some truly amazing scenes where she’s climbing, or swinging, either away from a threat or towards one. But also, she and Arisu working together make for some truly amazing scenes, like one in season two that I had to watch three times over because the plan and its execution and follow through was just so awesome.
I probably can’t really mention my favourite characters without talking about my least favourite, or most hated, character.
Niragi is a villain with no redeeming qualities. It’s a huge shame, because the rest of the antagonists in the series had, if not redeeming qualities, at least moments that made them seem more human. A good villain is always one that doesn’t truly believe they’re evil and who has moments of humanity that show through. I think the show did try to make him less of a hugely evil guy, but unfortunately, a tragic past just doesn’t excuse his actions in the series.
The Ending
I’m not going to go into any details about the ending, but I will say that it fit extremely well with the rest of the series and it was good to see an actual end that didn’t really have a cliffhanger, even though it took until season two for that to happen. Fortunately, the two seasons in their entirety are on Netflix, at least in the UK, so there’s no reason to wait between seasons.
So. I very rarely binge-watch series now, as I struggle with paying attention throughout. But when I was looking for something to watch and saw this advertised, I was immediately intrigued. And the first episode grabbed my attention. The second onwards held my focus and just didn’t let go.
The series is violent and there’s a lot of death in it, but the characters are seriously engaging and easy to care about. I’d quite happily rewatch this series in the future…and if a new season comes out, I might even be watching the first episode on launch date.
It’s really no secret that Loki is my favourite Marvel character. As my nibling pointed out, for me, it goes: Loki, Thor, Captain America. My top three, in order of preference.
I was obviously very unhappy about what happened in Infinity War, so for Loki to get his own series made me really happy.
To be honest, this series really wasn’t what I was expecting. The TVA was intriguing, but the storyline running through the episodes wasn’t really all that gripping. Tom Hiddleston as Loki was definitely the strongest part of the series, in my opinion. And I really liked Mobius and the relationship he formed with Loki.
While I thought the idea of the Variants was really interesting, the fact that some of those were so vastly different was really confusing. Considering there was only supposed to be one sacred timeline, some of the Variants really shouldn’t have existed. Like where did the alligator come from?
Miss Minutes was a…strange character, to say the least. At first, I assumed that she was just an AI. But as the series progressed, I grew to dislike her even more.
I had some very mixed feelings about Sylvie. She was an intriguing character, the more I learned about her, but I couldn’t really see her as being a true Variant of Loki. They were very different. And I don’t just mean genderwise. Equally, I really wish there hadn’t been the romance sideplot. I think more focus on the world around them, what was going on at the TVA and Loki’s relationships with the agents, should have been explored more than a romance.
I did like seeing Loki’s progression through the series and how he sort of became a voice of reason towards the end. I would have liked to see more details about all the Variants, not just Loki’s. Basically, more worldbuilding would have made the series better.
As for the ending of season one, I felt there was a lot of buildup for very little payoff. The reveal was somewhat disappointing. And while the final scene did catch my attention and set it up well for season two, it was a bit disappointing.
Still, Loki, Sylvie and Mobius were fairly strong characters who I’d like to see more of. So even though I didn’t find the first season as good as I was hoping, I’m still planning to watch season two.
The first thing I should say about this series is that it’s the first in a long time I actually binge-watched. Only ten episodes, but I was engaged right from the start.
At first glance, this series shares a lot of similarities with another series called Dollhouse. Of course, the idea of living forever by transplanting a person’s mind into another’s body isn’t a really unique idea.
I did think there were a lot of moral and ethical problems that weren’t explored to the extent they could have been. While Kovacs was an interesting character to see and learn about, I found it very hard to reconcile the person he was in the flashbacks to who he was in the present. I actually preferred the version of him portrayed in his ‘original’ body.
It was good to see glimpses of the divide between the rich and the poor and one scene in particular involving a little girl who’d been transplanted into an adult body was absolutely heartbreaking.
I did feel that the show kept breaking its own rules, in particular when it came to the clones and being controlled by one mind.
Poe was by far my favourite character of the series and I found the idea of the AIs absolutely fascinating. Ortega was a close second favourite, but while there were glimpses and hints of her being a strong character, towards the end of the series, it felt like she was becoming a damsel in distress.
I was a bit less taken with Lizzie, as I felt there wasn’t much detail about how broken her psyche truly was and how Poe was actually helping her. By the end of the series, it was very hard to suspend my disbelief when it came to her; and there was virtually no foreshadowing of what was revealed.
I almost felt that the parallel storylines could have been separate series, as even though the flashbacks allowed me to learn more about Kovacs’ background, there was still a lot tht didn’t make sense.
I thought the idea was executed in a unique way and even though I felt there was a lot more depth that could have been shown, there was a lot about this series I found engaging and it had characters I really cared about.
The series itself is incredibly dark, bloody and violent. I wouldn’t say it’s on the same level of something like Game of Thrones, but it’s definitely something to steer clear of if you don’t like strong bloody violence.
Even though I did find there were problems in the series and things I felt could have been done better, the storyline was engaging enough to keep me watching throughout. And even though I don’t intend to rush to buy it on DVD as soon as it comes out, I will be watching the second season if and when it comes to Netflix.
Ink of Blood 