Jarod C.

The mainstream's attention is focused on Squid Game. Meanwhile, the beginnings of a true gem can be found in Hellbound. This is Koreans doing what they do best: Melodrama, violence, and a dash of horror baked together with a plot that will keep you guessing well past the end of season one. The premise is simple: Monsters are killing people, seemingly at random and quite viciously, and the dominant theory is that they are messengers from God punishing unrepentant sinners. With only six episodes, the plot moves swiftly and wastes no time stewing with fillers just to prolong the episode count (I'm looking at you Invasion & Foundation). It quickly becomes apparent that the God theory doesn't quite hold up, and the audience is left pondering the central mystery of why this is happening. The shocking reveal at the end of S1 will keep you guessing. Here's hoping that S2 will continue to delight and fright.

It's good. Your loss if you don't watch it. Better than Game of Thrones. (I reserve the right to change this opinion after GRRM finishes the books.)

So far, 4 episodes in, this show has been about grief, loss, and some kind of presence, largely unseen (because it's literally invisible sometimes), that's attacking people. As a strategy to invade an alien civilization, it makes sense: Knock out communication, disable power, broadcast a nonsense word at a frequency only few people can hear to make them (and non-listeners) think they're crazy, etc. But largely, the pacing just makes me sleepy. There is no sizzle here.

A show like this depends much on how it ends (I'm looking at you Lost!). Unfortunately, this show's ending is weak and doesn't pass the smell test. It's impossible for me to drill into the issues I have without spoiling, so I'm just going to end this review the same way the show ended: Meh.

I'm exhausted just watching them race!

I started out liking this show because I can sense the potential. Then a few episodes later the execution put me to sleep. I know nothing of the source material, but the show's pacing is like watching grass grow. I haven't seen a show that's so miserly with its plot development since Lost. Nine episodes later, no answers to any of its mysteries have been proffered. In a golden age of television, this show is pacing for like a 10 season run when it hasn't even proved itself worth watching. Why is Hero so pissed at her mom? I don't know, but the world just ended and she's not a serious enough person to focus in on the big picture. Doesn't even bother checking in on her brother, even if to just confirm and get his ID. She is a repugnant person. Why does everyone assume Yorick is in mortal danger from everyone else? Are people just going to murder the last man alive as the last act of insanity and self-destruction that this show seems to really be about? He is definitely spending the rest of his life either in captivity or hiding from the world, but like his sister, he's not serious enough of a person to stiffen up for the apocalypse. Honestly, the most interesting character of the show so far is the Capuchin, but even if you like monkeys, there are better shows to watch on animal planet.

This is the best Star Trek. Seriously. I grew up watching The Next Generation and I greatly enjoyed Enterprise, Voyager, DS9, and all of the major movie releases over the years. As a television show, never has Star Trek been more ambitious and prestigious than Discovery (maybe Picard, but it is still too early to tell). I understand where the sentimentalists are coming from. Discovery is not your ABCD's Star Trek. It breaks rules, takes risks, and dares to change the paradigm. I'm okay with that. I keep an open mind. When it hits its mark, it is glorious. I look forward to many more years with this crew (hopefully it can garner a fan base as devoted as Supernatural).