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Crime Time: Harry Bosch, Renee Ballard, and Levon Cade

Bosch Legacy Season 3 (2025) Read More Bosch Legacy The show re-launched in a spin-off called Bosch Legacy in 2022, which still takes place in the Connelly’s detective universe - but its focus is on Harry’s daughter, Maddie Bosch, and Honey Chandler. …

Bosch Legacy: The Final Season
amazon.com

I’ve been watching Bosch since the pilot in Feb 2014. I have pretty much enjoyed all the Bosch shows, including its conclusion with Season 7 in 2021.

The show evolved to Bosch Legacy in 2022, which I have mentioned that I did not like how Harry Bosch isn’t really the main character anymore (instead focusing on Maddie Bosch and Honey Chandler).

I’m still enjoying all the Bosch Legacy seasons so far. I do find that Madison Lintz (who plays Maddie) is just so distracting beautiful. How can some look so good be a cop? She should be a model or actress.

Anyway, Season 3, which started airing March 27, 2025, on Amazon’s Freevee service or on Prime Video, will be the last season for Bosch Legacy. The last season is based on the 24th book, Desert Star by Michael Connelly.

At first, at least in the first four episodes, I had trouble understanding what the story is about. The plot seems to be all over the place.

I’ll break down the various plots: (1) Bosch under investigation for the murder of Kurt Dockweiler (he was Maddie’s kidnapper last season) by Det. Santiago “Jimmy” Robertson and Perry Lopez, (2) Bosch is trying to find out what happened to the Gallagher’s family, (3) Maddie is trying to catch some jewel thieves, and (4) Honey “Money” Chandler is running for Los Angeles District Attorney.

There’s a lot going on, but I’m sure the writers will tie it all up in the end.

We’re only six episodes in, and I’m itching to find out the assassination of a certain character. In this case, I’m glad I haven’t read the book. The death was a total surprise to me.

Also, leaked photos tell us that Maggie Q will debut as Homicide Detective Renée Ballard this season. Again, I haven’t read the books, but all the fans are excited about this main character, who will have her own spinoff series in the Fall of this year. I believe Bosch will still appear in Ballard’s series. I am excited to see more of Ballard.

Bosch Legacy’s finale to air on April 17, 2025.

A Working Man (2025) Read More Sylvester Stallone When I asked for “Judge Dredd”, it gave me only the Sylvester Stallone film (which I did not want), and nothing else. So, the best way to get what I want is to just to type in a search bar. …

A Working Man
mgm.com

The #1 movie last week was A Working Man, starring Jason Statham, based on Chuck Dixon’s Levon's Trade (the first book starring Levon Cade).

Originally Sylvester Stallone wanted to star in the film, but he might have aged out as an action star, so giving it to Statham was the smart move, in my opinion.

This is the second film to star Statham with director David Ayer. The two previously produced The Beekeeper, which I thought was a pretty good action film. The Beekeeper was sometime dumb and over-the-top (especially with those Beekeeper assassins), but it had a lot of good action, which made up for the story.

With A Working Man, it is also a bit dumb, but again, the action is pretty good that you don’t mind the bad story. The story starts off with Levon as a construction worker. He’s friends with the family who owns the construction business and decides to help the family when their daughter Jenny was kidnapped by Russian traffickers.

Levon, using his special skills as a former Royal Marine Commando, tracks down the leads and basically kills very cartoonish characters to save the daughter.

A Working Man is playing in theaters now.

Read more Television and Crime Time.

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Crime Time: Born Again and Persuader

Daredevil: Born Again (2025) Read More Punisher I did enjoy The Punisher quite a bit, which was a win, considering that I thought Iron Fist and The Defenders were lackluster. Ever since The Punisher appeared on Daredevil …

Daredevil: Born Again
disneyplus.com

It’s been so long since the third season of Netflix’s Daredevil series, that I had absolutely no idea what was happening at the beginning of Disney’s Daredevil: Born Again series.

To start off, I don’t actually remember watching the final Netflix series, but apparently Bullseye at the beginning of Daredevil: Born Again was trying to finish his job from Season 3. It was so confusing that I’m actually going back to watch and finish Season 3 now.

So far, we only have two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again, which is a bit of a slow start, in my opinion. There’s a lot of court room drama, and while that is fine when you’re binging the show, right now, there’s not a lot of things happening.

The cool thing is that we’re introduced to White Tiger, the first Puerto Rican super hero, co-created by George Perez (who is Puerto Rican in heritage). Unfortunately, the actor Kamar de los Reyes, who plays Hector Ayala / White Tiger, passed away in 2023… so I feel like we’re not getting more of White Tiger in the future… unless Marvel writes that he passes the mystical amulet to his daughter or something.

The other cool thing is that we’re probably going to see Jon Bernthal returns as The Punisher, which I’m really excited to his story continues.

P.S. Although the show is called “Born Again”, it is actually not based on Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s famous Daredevil run. The two was also responsible for one of Batman’s greatest story ever: Batman: Year One.

Reacher: Season 3 (2025) Read More Reacher Hobo muscleman Jack Reacher is back. Where we last left Reacher, he continues his life as a nomadic bum, helping people where he can. In some small town …

Reacher: Season 3
amazon.com

Amazon Prime’s Reacher is currently on the third season… and it’s very good! The new season is based on Lee Child’s novel Persuader. I have enjoyed all the Reacher series so far… although on retrospect, I felt Season 2 focused too much on Reacher’s old MP squad.

With Season 3, it’s all about Reacher, but this time he has a new team to work with: East Coast accent DEA Agent Susan Duffy, rookie Steven Eliot and retiring old man Guillermo Villanueva. Reacher finds himself infiltrating a criminal rug king and he’s basically killing everybody in the criminal organization. It’s pretty brutal, and it’s so weird that Reacher is just so cold blooded!

I think my biggest complaint about the new season so far is that the rug king is played by Anthony Michael Hall, who doesn’t really give off a murderous, ruthless killer. I’ve watched him for years on The Dead Zone television show, and I think he makes for a good leading man, but not as a criminal. To be fair, you do find out that there is a mysterious mastermind pulling the strings, so perhaps the reason why I don’t find him believable… is because he’s probably good guy, just trying to protect his family. Who knows… the season has about three episodes left, and I have no idea where it is heading! So good, so far!

Read more Television.

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Crime Time: The Horror Edition

Read More American Horror Story I recently bought American Horror Story Season 1 and 2 on Bluray (my favorite season is still the third season Coven), and was listening to the Ryan Murphy's audio commentary for the pilot and noticed this brief Morrissey appearance. ....

Grotesquerie
fxnetworks.com

I have been enjoying Grotesquerie on FX (via Hulu).

The show is about Detective Lois Tryon trying to solve a series of gruesome murders. She unexpectedly teams up with a Catholic nun and journalist, Sister Megan. I like that they’re from very different worlds, but it’s the difference between church and state that can catch the serial killer.

The first few episodes are like something taken from the film Seven, because it’s some of the vilest and grossest murder you’ll ever see or heard described.

Although the show tells us that Tryon is an excellent detective, it’s kind of hard to believe because her character is so unprofessional and her personal life is often in her way of doing her job. She’s an alcoholic, her husband is in a coma, and she’s often in trouble with her boss. She’s not a likeable character, but it doesn’t matter, because she solves all her cases - and that’s what counts.

The first half of the series is very good, because it’s mostly about the murders and trying to catch the killer. Then it started turning to the supernatural or it seemed like a weird dream… That’s when the show started losing me.

If you stick to show and keep watching, the final episode will explain it all and it’ll suddenly make sense. Oh, that’s why she’s a terrible cop, oh that’s why the weird fire is following them, oh that’s why that thing was so fantastical… etc. All your questions will be answered and it’s a good twist of an ending.

The show was created by Ryan Murphy, who you may remember is the same guy who created American Horror Story series. I am a fan of those AHS shows, but sometime I feel like they have one good idea and the show struggles to maintain that idea for a whole eight or nine episodes. I think that’s why Murphy re-named the series to American Horror Stories, with each season contain several horror stories and ideas.

Anyway, if you like AHS or Seven, I think you’ll want to check out Grotesquerie.

Read More Silence of the Lambs Anyway, the Clarice show is based on the characters from the popular movie (and book) The Silence of the Lambs. We’re following the further development of FBI agent Clarice Starling. …

Longlegs
neonrated.com

There’s a serial killer loose. He’s murdering multiple families throughout Oregon… but how is he doing it without leaving any trace of being at the actual crime scene. These murders are horrific, and they only happen every twenty years or something weird like that.

FBI agent Lee Harker was asked to work on the case with agent William Carter, because of she demonstrated some psychic abilities. Through Harker’s skills, we find out that all the murdered families have one thing in common, that they all had a nine-year-old daughter born on the 14th day of the month. And it goes crazier and crazier as the film goes on.

For example, when Longlegs shows up in the movie, he looks like a crazy old man. What a weirdo. How is this the mastermind behind all the murders?

To me, the film works better as a cop chasing serial killer … and that’s when I am really enjoying the film. It’s the weird supernatural stuff that are introduced in the film that takes me out of the movie.

I think where it goes wrong is when it started introducing more supernatural elements into the film. It might work better if writer/director Osgood Perkins didn’t really have to explain the murders. Maybe it’s just better leaving it up to the viewer’s imagination.

The film came out in July 2024 and is Neon film’s highest grossing film (the highest-grossing independent film of the year) and it came out on Bluray and UHD on ‎ September 24, 2024.

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Crime Time: True Detective and Reacher

True Detective: Night Country Read More True Detective I saw The Handsome Family last year, little did I know that this band will become really popular because of HBO's True Detective series. Having seen the pilot, it's hard to ignore that wonderful song …

True Detective: Night Country
hbo.com

It’s been ten years since the original True Detective aired. Out of nowhere, HBO dropped the pilot episode to True Detective: Night Country on Sunday.

The new mystery involves eight men who disappeared at a remote research station in Alaska. Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) are the two detectives on the case.

Based on what I’ve seen so far, there’s a lot of supernatural elements in this new season. I’m not sure if it’s from a character’s perspective, or if it’s actually real, in this True Detective world.

While I do love the supernatural ghost stuff… it was only hinted at in the first season, and since then, the series is known for its grim and gritty hard-boiled detective stories.

Like previous seasons, the new series does play with different time lines, and at first it is very confusing what time we’re in… it does tell the story that everything is somehow connected. From the missing researchers to a murder cold case from the past.

So far, it has a very strong start, and it could be my new favorite season of True Detective. Personally speaking, while universally everybody hated Season 2, I am a fan of that second season. The worst season is Season 3, in my opinion, because it felt like a very boring series where nothing happens until the ending is revealed.

True Detective Season 4, titled “Night Country”, already is setting up a lot.

In keeping up with True Detective tradition of having a great theme song, Season 4 uses the dance grooves of Billie Eilish. In fact, you can hear Eilish’s music influences throughout the pilot.

Theme songs:

Season 1: The Handsome Family’s “Far from Any Road”

Season 2: Leonard Cohen’s “Nevermind” (alternate lyrics depending on episodes)

Season 3: Cassandra Wilson’s “Death Letter” (song was originally written by Son House)

Season 4: Billie Eilish’s “Bury a Friend”

Reacher: Season 2 Read More Reacher You know, I do like the Tom Cruise films Jack Reacher, so I was pretty excited that Amazon produced the television show called Reacher (based on the international best selling book Killing Floor by Lee Child). ....

Reacher: Season 2
amazon.com

Hobo muscleman Jack Reacher is back. Where we last left Reacher, he continues his life as a nomadic bum, helping people where he can.

In some small town, he stumbles on a carjacking situation and decides to help out by beating the daylight out of the car jacket. What a great punch-in-the-face introduction to Season 2. It’s off to a great start, as far as I’m concerned.

The latest season is based on Lee Child’s book Bad Luck and Trouble and is about murder of one of Reacher’s old MP squad. The murder sets in motion Reacher and his former unit teaming up to find the killers.

I’m really enjoying the story and action. There’s a lot of complaints from military people, saying how unrealistic it is (particularly the bar brawl at the Officer’s Club). I didn’t think too much on it, it’s just a thing that happened to allow for “team building” in Reacher’s unit.

Looking at the ratings, this is one of Amazon’s strongest shows, landing #2 in the streaming charts with 1.69 billion streams. It’s one of the few Amazon shows to land that far in the chart… which is dominated by Netflix.

Although Season 2 hasn’t ended just yet, Amazon has already green-lit a third season. I hope they bring back Reacher’s team and kind of just make it like an A-Team type of show.

P.S. If you only know Reacher from the Tom Cruise movies... you might be in for a shock when you see Alan Ritchson in the role. This guy basically looks like the Hulk.

Read more Television and Crime Time.

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Crime Time

Read More The OA Incidentally, in Dum Dum Girls news, did you all noticed the DDG’s poster in Episode 6 of Netflix’s The OA? In the first few minutes of that episode, we see a trans character Buck Vu (played by Ian Alexander) practicing the movement …

A Murder at the End of the World
fxnetworks.com

Originally titled “Retreat”, the television producers decided on the right decision to re-named it to “A Murder at the End of the World”.

The title drew me in, and the pilot got me hooked.

“A Murder…” was created by the same team of Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, who also created The OA. I love the first season of The OA, but couldn’t bother to finish the second season. In fact, Netflix canceled the series after two seasons, so the show was left somewhat unfinished.

Anyway, “A Murder at the End of the World” is a show that started with a first-time book author named Darby Hart (played by British actress Emma Corrin) at a book reading. She wrote a book about two amateur detectives uncovering a serial killer’s first victim. It goes from there, and soon, she’s been invited to a secluded retreat in Iceland by some tech billionaire.

Just like those Knives Out, of course, there is a murder… and now it’s up to Darby to uncover the real killer (and why they did it).

So far, only the first two episodes are available to watch, but from what I’ve seen, I’m interested in seeing where this is going and how it’s going to end. I immediately like Darby, and liking the main character will keep me interested in following her story.

P.S. I already suspect the A.I. is the killer… but I don’t think the story will go in that direction.

Read More Justified Apparently Justified was based on Elmore Leonard’s western novels, so if you’re not into cowboys and outlaws, this really isn’t the show for you. The theme song is the most colorful and memorable of all these new shows …

Fargo Season 5
fxnetworks.com

One of my favorite television show Noah Hawley’s Fargo, is returning with Season 5, this November 21, 2023. It’s been three years since the last season (and I thought that ended the series altogether).

To recap, the first season took place in 2006, the second season in 1979, the third season in 2010, and the fourth season in 1950. Season 5 will be a little more modern - taking place in 2019… and I absolutely cannot wait to see what it is all about.

So far, we only know that it stars Jon Hamm, Juno Temple, and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Originally, Fargo Season 5 was supposed to premiere in September, but was put on hold, due to the Hollywood strikes. Now that SAG has settled, the black comedy/crime drama will premiere next week on FX.

Watching the trailer on YouTube fills in some more clues. It’s about a typical midwestern house wife, who has a mysterious past.

The synopsis mentioned that North Dakota Sheriff Roy Tillman is looking for Dot, the house wife. Dot goes through great lengths to keep her family (and herself) safe. It looks like another great season of Fargo to me.

Update: Now that November 21st is here, I finally got to see the first two episodes of Fargo. The pilot is so good! It’s everything you expect Fargo to be. We got bumbling criminals. We got an imposing killer with a wacky haircut. We got that ‘ah jeez’ accent. We got a misunderstanding. It’s good!

The best thing about Fargo is that balance of black comedy, absurdness, and serious crime drama.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

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Spin-offs

Read More Bosch Out of nowhere, I got notification that the new Season 7 of Bosch just dropped on Amazon Prime! I was so excited that I launched the pilot and after viewing the “Last Season on Bosch” recap… I realized I had totally missed the entire .…

Bosch Legacy
amazon.com

You guys know I love Bosch, the Amazon original series based on Michael Connelly’s detective novels and crime books. They’re well-written, and the television show does a great job adapting Connelly’s books.

If you’re not familiar, Bosch is named after LAPD Detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch. After seven seasons, the show runners decided to end Bosch in 2021. Not to spoil anything, but Bosch decided to quit the LAPD. It’s a good ending… but that’s not the end of his story.

The show re-launched in a spin-off called Bosch Legacy in 2022, which still takes place in the Connelly’s detective universe - but its focus is on Harry’s daughter, Maddie Bosch, and Honey Chandler.

At first, I did not like the fact that Harry Bosch took a backseat to other characters, but since the plot is still very good, you can forgive the show’s spotlight on other characters. Bosch still overshadows everyone, as most of the stories somehow involves Bosch, so at least he’s not gone away. At the end of Season 1 of Bosch Legacy, I was still not convinced about the change.

Now in Season 2, which Amazon premiered on October 20, 2023, with four episodes (the remaining episodes will be released two at a time per week) … and I’m a believer again! The first two episode wraps up the story of Maddie’s kidnapping, and, wow it was gripping. I was on the edge of my seat as Harry raced against time to save his daughter. I felt like the first two episodes of Season 2 would have benefitted by being the season finale of Season 1, because it’s that good as a bookend.

Episode 3 and 4 seemed to be starting a brand-new storyline, which is, as of this writing, very intriguing. I’m very interested in seeing where all this setup is going. The focus seems to be on Honey’s case and the B-plot is on Maddie as rookie cop.

So, yeah, I’m on board, patiently waiting for Amazon to drop the next two episodes.

Bosch Legacy is available to watch for free (with advertisements) on Amazon’s Freevee. New episodes will land on Friday.

Read More Cheers Apparently Woody Harrelson, taking a break from filming Wilson, stopped in at Rock the Garden to check out Oberst's set. .…

Fraiser
paramountplus.com

It’s 2023, and there is a new Fraiser. This 2023 is the sequel to the acclaimed 90s sitcom, based on the character Fraiser Crane (who was a spin-off of the popular Cheers television show).

If you’re not familiar, Fraiser was introduced in Cheers Season 3, and became a main cast in Season 5. Kelsey Grammer, who plays Fraiser, stars in his own series when he returns to his hometown, Seattle, as a radio show host.

While I didn’t follow Fraiser religiously, whenever it was on television, I would watch it. It’s not an exciting show, and the show’s humor isn’t really for everyone.

Fraiser ran for 11 seasons, from 1993 to 2004… and for the 30th anniversary, Paramount launched the 2023 series… I believe only Kelsey Grammer is the only person from the original cast.

In this new series, Fraiser is back in Boston (where Cheers takes place), and he’s trying to re-connect with his son, Frederick, a Boston firefighter. It’s clear that his son wants nothing to do with his father. In an effort to build a better relationship, Fraiser decides to buy the apartment building where his son is living and had him become roommate. Who knew Fraiser was a millionaire?

Maybe it’s just me, but I just don’t like the new (younger) cast. The old guys, like Harvard professor Alan Cornwall, I like and I felt fits well in the Fraiser universe. The new generations, David Crane, Freddy Crane, and Eve (no last name given) are just annoying to me.

I guess, if you enjoyed the 90s Fraiser show, you might like this new 2023 series. I’m still on the fence about the show.

Read More Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch doesn’t even compare to power and graphics (it will upgrade to 900p when docked, not even 1080p!), but what it does offer is the ability to take games with you on the go. Plus, only Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Pokemon, etc., are playable on their consoles. …

Castlevania: Nocturne
netflix.com

Based on the popular video game that inspired a whole genre (called Metrovania), Castlevania the animation series, written by Warren Ellis, first debut on Netflix in 2017. I liked the anime so much, that I did buy the Bluray.

The series for four seasons, ending in 2021, with an approval rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was a bittersweet ending to the series.

Now, in 2023, we have a new spin-off series called Castlevania: Nocturne with a new Belmont. The star of this new series is a young Richter Belmont, the previous Castlevania series starred Trevor Belmont. In this series, Belmont is battling a vampire from ancient Egypt, and he could use all the help he could find.

Castlevania: Nocturne is loosely based on the video games Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (1993) and its sequel Symphony of the Night (1997). Many fans considered Symphony as the game series’ finest moment.

While I did enjoy Castlevania: Nocturne, it really felt unfinished. The story will wrap up in Season 2, which was renewed and pending a release in 2024. We have to wait a year to get some resolve.

Description:

As revolution sweeps France, Richter Belmont fights to uphold his family's legacy and prevent the rise of a ruthless, power-hungry vampire ruler.

Starring: Edward Bluemel, Pixie Davies, Thuso Mbedu
Creators: Clive Bradley

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Justified: City Primeval

Read More Justified Apparently Justified was based on Elmore Leonard’s western novels, so if you’re not into cowboys and outlaws, this really isn’t the show for you. The theme song is the most colorful and memorable of all these new shows …

I thought for sure we’ve seen the last of Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, as he barely made it out alive in the sixth (and then-final) season of Justified.

Givens, played by actor Timothy Olyphant, is a smooth, no-nonsense lawman, who shoots kill (if he has to), always brings in his man, and is never seen without his trusty cowboy hat. Throughout the six seasons, Givens faced many dangerous criminals, but the one character that keeps popping up is career criminal, pyromaniac, white supremist, Boyd Crowder (played by Walton Goggins) and his family of outlaws.

As much as the story of Justified the story of Givens, it’s also the story of Crowder… so when Justified ended with closure for both Givens and Crowder, I thought it was a perfect ending. Not many shows can stick the landing (like Lost, Dexter, or Battlestar Galactica).

Imagine my surprised when I found out that there is a new Justified show, titled Justified: City Primeval, continuing the story of Raylan Givens! The new show is currently playing on FX, with the pilot and episode 2, debuting on July 18, 2023.

Justified: City Primeval is based on Elmore Leonard’s novel City Primeval. In the new television show, an older Givens is taking his 15-year-old daughter Willa Givens (played by Olyphant’s real daughter Vivian) on a road trip when they were carjacked on the road. This detour took Givens to Detroit, where he has to lend his hand to the local task force on a murder of a judge. As a result, he’s now pitted against a violent wildman named Clement Mansell, who used to belong to a criminal group called the Wrecking Crew.

So far, we’re only two episodes in, but it’s really good to have Raylan Givens back. It’s like he never left. He’s still the same sharp-witted lawman … but now with a whole new set of colorful Detroit characters.

I think the only character that I don’t like is the daughter. She’s not given a lot to do, she’s supposed to be spending her time in Detroit in a hotel room. I felt like her character was only introduce to give Givens a reason for the road trip, which started this adventure.

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Crime TV

Read More Condor Based on the novel Six Days of the Condor (which was also made into a 1975 film called Three Days of the Condor), this television show is now in its second season. …

Read more Television.

REACHER
amazon.com

You know, I do like the Tom Cruise films Jack Reacher, so I was pretty excited that Amazon produced the television show called Reacher (based on the international best selling book Killing Floor by Lee Child).

The eight-episode series stars Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher… and honestly, his version is more brutal than Tom Cruise. Ritchson looks the part, but at the same time, I think he’s just too big. I’ve never read the books, but apparently, this is how the book describes the character.

Speaking of the book, the story is actually very good… and they did a good job in adapting the book. There’s lots of twists and turns, and the ending felt satisfying.

I did have a problem that Reacher felt too much like a superhero at times. I mean, the way it’s written, it’s like Reacher was Batman… but without the International Playboy personality. Instead, Reacher takes out the bad guys and also is an amazing detective. I guess, I just don’t buy that Reacher is smart.

The good news is that the show is doing well - well enough that Amazon renewed Reacher for a Second Season.

If you have Amazon Prime, you can watch Season 1 for free. With my new Xbox Series X, I was able to see the show at 4k streaming and it looked great.

Read More Mosquito Coast I’ve been enjoying the new American drama series called The Mosquito Coast on Apple TV+. The television series was developed by Neil Cross and Tom Bissell and based on the 1981 novel by Paul Theroux ....

OZARK
netflix.com

I got into watching Ozark, because critics and fans were comparing this show to Breaking Bad (which is one of my favorite TV shows). While I find it unbelievable, the series is coming to an end… and their last season is possibly the best yet.

The final fourth season is divided into two parts… and first part was released on January 21, 2022, while the second part is pending release.

The fourth season introduces a new character, Javi, who is one of the cartel’s leader. He is primary causing all sorts of problem…

Some frustrating things about this final season: Marty Byrde’s son, Jonah is working for the wrong team. Darlene practically kills everybody that visits her house with her shotgun. This seemed impractical and excessive…. Why haven’t the law caught up with her killing streak?

Ruth’s cousin Wyatt is the most frustrating character in the final season. First of all, he’s “dating” Darlene, who is like 90 years his senior. Then when he witnesses the brutal murders of Darlene, he still can’t leave her. I just hated his character… I still felt bad for what ultimately happened to him.

Despite those annoying characters, it’s still a very solid story for the last season. Also, a lot of characters died in the final season, and it felt like anything goes. Some of the deaths were shocking… but you didn’t actually feel bad when they died. It’s because all the characters actually deserved it, in some manner.

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TV: Bosch and Lisey’s Story

Read More Television The pilot does an incredible job of setting the tone and style of the show. This was a police procedural crime drama with two parallel storylines: Detective Bosch on trial for the murder of an alleged serial killer …

BOSCH
amazon.com

Out of nowhere, I got notification that the new Season 7 of Bosch just dropped on Amazon Prime!

I was so excited that I launched the pilot and after viewing the “Last Season on Bosch” recap… I realized I had totally missed the entire Season 6. Basically, I had to binged through Season 6 so I can start on Season 7.

Since these Bosch seasons are based on the Bosch novels, the mysteries are all really well-crafted. The characters are wonderful and unique… and it’s the great writing that kept me interested since I watched the pilot in Feb 2014.

In Season 6, the storylines are based on The Overlook (Book 13) and Dark Sacred Night (Book 21). The FBI/radioactive storyline wrapped up mid-season, but the aftermath (and court trials) would take a backseat as other stories (such as the serial killer copycat) surfaced and resolved.

Overall, Season 6 was solid. I do have some issues, like I didn’t particularly enjoyed the Jerry Edgar/The Butcher storyline. The story felt unsatisfying. We, along with Harry Bosch, knew the truth behind the fatal shooting of the Butcher, but what was the point… and why go in this direction? I suppose, it’s all to setup Edgar’s actions in Season 7.

Season 7 is the final season of Bosch. The storyline was based on The Burning Room (Book 17). Once again, Detective Harry Bosch is doing all he can to solve the death of a 10-year-old girl in an arson fire. This season also heavily focused on Bosch’s daughter, Maddie, who is on a hitlist.

The Inter-Police Division fighting Plot B of Season 7 was just plain silly, in my opinion. I understand that they want to spotlight the other supporting characters in the police department… but it just felt like it was time-consuming and going nowhere.

While it’s true that this is the final season of Bosch, Variety wrote that there will be a spinoff series… From what I’ve read, it seems like the new spinoff series will be focused on Maddie Bosch. Which makes sense to continue the story in this new direction, considering that Maddie was such a main focus in Season 7.

Since Harry Bosch is such a jazz enthusiast, you can expect that same music language in the upcoming spinoff series.

While there’s no official soundtrack for Season 7, Titus Welliver (who plays Bosch) curated his Bosch Playlist, which includes The Soul of John Black and Etta James.

Read More Television The concept is pretty cool, especially because it’s based on the characters and stories of Stephen King... but the execution is just not that great. The same can be said for all of Stephen King’s TV …

LISEY'S STORY
apple.com

Stephen King’s favorite novel that he’s ever written, Lisey’s Story, is being adapted to a limited series on Apple TV+. I’ve previously mentioned that I did not enjoy any of King’s stories to television, based on the horrible Under the Dome and The Mist. It’s the same for Lisey’s Story… the pilot was down-right boring to me, that I gave up. For a pilot, you really need to hook the viewer, and the first episode did nothing for me.

The only Stephen King television I like are Creepshow and, I will admit to liking The Outsider (except for that ending).

Critics are also hit or miss on the new Lisey’s Story show, citing that it’s very slow-paced. I can agree with that, but given that it is based on a long novel, that it would make sense to let the show interpret the story to television form. Even though some people hated the show, they all agree that actress Julianne Moore is doing a great job, playing the lead character.

If you were interested, the Lisey’s Story Apple TV+ Original Series Soundtrack is available on Loud Robot and WaterTower Music. The soundtrack was composed by Clark (aka Chris Clark) and he wanted the music to sound threatening and uneasy: “The idea was to capture the demented threat of Long Boy's presence in a way that made it sound beautiful, like the maws in an H.R Giger painting. So much detail and there's a visceral shock factor that works on screen, but the malevolence is crafted with love and care.”

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Crime Drama: Mare and Clarice

Television I’ve been enjoying the new American drama series called The Mosquito Coast on Apple TV+. The television series was developed by Neil Cross and Tom Bissell and based on the 1981 novel by Paul Theroux. The same novel …

Here are a couple of drama/mystery shows currently airing on TV right now to help you with the lockdown.



MARE OF EASTTOWN
hbo.com

When I first heard the words Mare of Easttown, I thought it was about a “Mayor of Easttown”, and had made up in my mind that it’s loosely based on Thomas Hardy’s “Mayor of Casterbridge”… which, in fact, it is not.

“Mare of Easttown” is an American crime drama miniseries starring Kate Winslet as detective Mare “Ladyhawke” Sheehan in a small Philadelphia suburb called Easttown. Mare is a competent detective, but sometime a little hard-headed, and she’s trying to solve a murder of a teenage mother. The police precinct asked another district to send over another detective to help bring “fresh eyes” to the case.

Although the death of the young girl is the topic of the show, many episodes aren’t really about the murder… but rather Mare’s life and how it’s slowly falling apart around her. I suppose the main point of these shows are to showcase all the interesting characters in the world of Easttown.

As for the actual murder mystery, they revealed the killer in the penultimate episode (sort of), and it wasn’t a massive surprise or anything. I was actually more interested in the serial kidnapper storyline, to be honest. However, they quickly wrap up that story in Episode 5… and that was the last we heard of that story.

The finale will be airing tonight (May 30, 2021) on HBO Max. Let’s hope it’s a satisfying ending.

Television Based on the novel Six Days of the Condor (which was also made into a 1975 film called Three Days of the Condor), this television show is now in its second season. …

CLARICE
cbs.com

While I’ve enjoyed and intrigued by the early episodes of Clarice, I have to admit that the show is running in circles right now. The show suffers from two major problems: the COVID pandemic, which is causing numerous delays in getting episodes to air in a consistent manner. For example, as of this writing, episode 10 won’t air until June 3 (a three weeks break). The other problem is that the show was co-created by Alex Kurtzman. Kurtzman has destroyed the Star Trek franchise, trying to turn the smart Sci-Fi show into a mindless dark and grim action show.

Anyway, the Clarice show is based on the characters from the popular movie (and book) The Silence of the Lambs. We’re following the further development of FBI agent Clarice Starling. As you know, the breakout character from these Harris books is the Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lector, who we first saw in Manhunter, but Silence of the Lambs was the film that really popularized the character. Hannibal would appear in Red Dragon (Manhunter), Hannibal, Hannibal Rising, and the television show that ran three seasons. Personally speaking, I’m tired of following a cannibalistic villain... so I was happy to embrace “Clarice”.

Due to the pandemic, only a few episodes were produced, so we got episodes 1 to 5 on schedule. From what the critics have seen, they hated the show. Maybe it’s because they got the character wrong... and as someone who hasn't read the book, I wouldn’t know it. I do think that perhaps the series could be better if Clarice was out hunting serial killers, rather than trying to investigate a big conspiracy (which is starting to turn out to be more like the X-Files rather than something in the Silence of the Lambs universe).

The series starts off with Clarice coping with Buffalo Bill, and she’s back on active duty to investigate a serial killer (per the FBI director who happens to be the mother of the victim that Clarice saved in the movie). The serial killer turns out to only pretend to be a serial killer. It’s tied to a big corporate company...

Again, I’ll probably continue to see how the show ends. Right now, it’s kind of boring and directionless.

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