Gregory Todd

This show is like traitors or the mole, but the game needs some tweaking. Contestants have literally no reason to vote out the millionaire because if they do, the money just moves to a different person, even in the penultimate game! Sometimes they try to vote out players they deem a threat, regardless of whether they may be the millionaire. Keeping the millionaire around to wait to vote them out also wouldn't work bc the money has the opportunity to change boxes at least 5 times during the season, while keeping that competitor in the game, which is interesting and different. On the plus side, they don't ramp up the drama or use vapid reality stars like traitors for example. One person even confessed to being the millionaire and we got to see basically everyone forgive them, which was refreshing. Making the votes affect the pot similar to the mole would make the votes more purposeful. I do also like how the money is physically in the game the whole time. Fortunately they picked the PERFECT host. Ultimately I still have to say the mole is better.

Starts off with cool battles and even a decent twist. It reaches its peak around halfway through then starts on a steady decline. The last 10 episodes especially they really lose the plot. Characters make really stupid decisions to further the plot, which becomes drawn out. Character arcs also become drawn out and predictable with most of them unresolved. The ending is just strange and not even in an artsy way. A few things about the main character's powers are never fully explored or explained even half-assedly.

Reminiscent of true detective season 1. There were definitely some cringey moments and tiny bits that didn't make sense, like how an unrelated person(s) seemingly knew about the bomb threat given who the culprit actually was, but overall this series was well-layered and not predictable, a hard thing to accomplish with a police procedural these days. One thing I have to mention, besides the fact that it ended on a low note, is that my wife and I call this show "freezy face." The lead has had so much work done his eyebrows move without his brow moving. It is very unnatural and distracting. Personally I am also a fan of the actor who plays Earl from Sirens and Scrubs in particular so that was a nice little bonus.

Limited spoilers ahead. At first the series very much copied elements of the original before solidifying on a truly bizarre, albeit orginal, storyline. Original cast cameos were short and very much shoehorned in. They either needed to lean more into the original series cast or disregard them almost entirely with a proper time skip. Character development was very inorganic for almost everyone (in particular seeing lelouch be a recluse after chastising others for being separate from humanity was jarring). They tried to retcon that geass can be given away, invalidating the whole Mao arc from the original series. Why on God's green earth they tried to retcon clone of Charles vi Britannia that was "meant to be a vessel" is beyond me. They lean in even harder to failed chess metaphor at first too. Even the lack of float units was criminal. I could not have rolled my eyes any harder when their mercenary brothers' knightmares merged together like a bad zoids sequel. The mech action and designs were pretty good. All in all this really felt like another gundam sequel than code geass. If you're looking for the spiritual successor to code geass just watch overlord instead.

Interesting premise, but not as good as the mole reboot on Netflix by a longshot. I don't know what show other reviewers and "esteemed" tv critics are watching, but despite the light-hearted fun, this show has some clear problems. For starters, the cast has lots of the typical, vapid, pseudo-famous reality TV stars. Although they help cast doubt away from the traitors with all of their finger pointing, that air-headed, drama-hungry jackaling is hard to watch unless you like that sort of thing. Secondly, the traitors are revealed immediately instead of the audience playing along with the cast. Perhaps this would be fine if not for the third and most important fault: the traitors have no incentive to lie about anything except being traitors. Unlike in the mole, traitors are playing for the same pot as the rest of the players. In other words, traitors and non-traitors (aka "the faithful") share the common goal of successfully completing missions to increase the pot. From small touches like the traitors wearing hoods only to be revealed immediately, this game was clearly more fun for the cast than the audience.

The first 2 seasons are a masterpiece, however the third season is almost completely disjointed with it save for some recurring characters. Personally, i was hoping we would get to see the implications of a criminally asymptomatic person not commit crimes, especially if it was akane tsunemori as a threat to the existence of the Sibyl Sythem. Instead they went in a completely different direction. In short, if the first 2 seasons are like the movie Minority Report, then the third season is like the TV show Hannibal, completely different. The whole "mental tracing" aspect adds nothing to the core concept of the show, it just feels super gimmicky and improvised. The character cameos from past seasons we see add nothing to the story and feel like a bad fan fiction meant to show how all the old gang is doin' good. Most importantly, they built up this idea in the first 2 seasons of a "perfect" system to prevent crime before it happens then in season 3 try to grandfather in some "blind spots," flying in the face of everything they stood for in the first 2 seasons. We never learn how so many people are suddenly skirting this perfect system (the criminal masterminds not the unwitting accomplices), which was a MAJOR plot point in the first 2 seasons. Despite half of season 3 being filler we never have any resolution to the story they set up in season 3. All we get is teased of any real plot development connected to past seasons. After an amazing first 2 seasons, season 3 is a woeful disappointment. Clearly they've taken their premise as far as they can.