Author Archives: Kyle

If We Controlled Your Remote… 8/1/18

Posted on August 1, 2018 by

Have you ever been at a loss as to what to watch? Too many shows to pick from? We’re here to give you our opinions on what we feel is worth watching. Check it out and then let us know in the comments below what you’re choosing for tonight!

Kyle’s Choice

Tonight, USA Network’s psychological crime drama series The Sinner returns for a second installment and an all new case. In the first season, a young woman named Cora committed a horrible murder on a public beach. There was no doubt that she was responsible for the crime, but she claimed to have no recollection as to why she did it. Detective Lt. Harry Ambrose (Bill Pullman) became obsessed with the case, digging into this woman’s past and unlocking things from her childhood she had long blocked out, eventually figuring out what led her to commit the brutal murder.

The second installment of the series follows a brand-new grisly case—this time an 11-year-old named Julian (Elisha Henig, Alex, Inc.) appears to have murdered his parents, but once again, there seems to be no motive for the murder. Detective Heather Novack (Natalie Paul, The Deuce) ends up picking up the case. Her father Jack (Tracy Letts, Divorce) is a longtime friend of Harry Ambrose, and so she asks the detective to come back to his hometown of Keller, NY for a few days to assist her with the case.

In the first season, Cora had a disturbing past, being raised by religious zealots who really messed her up. It appears that perhaps some of these same types of forces may be at work with Julian. While digging into the boy’s past, Harry Ambrose will be forced to confront the secrets and demons of his own past and the dark things that went on in his hometown when he was a child.

I really enjoyed the first season of this series – it took viewers on this mysterious and spooky roller-coaster ride as Detective Ambrose and Cora tried to piece together the disturbing events of her past. And while watching tonight’s premiere I had that same sense of pending gloom, wondering when something horrible was going to happen. Once the investigation begins, we start to get glimpses that there is something really dark and disturbing in Julian’s past. And then comes a twist that opens up so many more questions. I look forward to checking out another dark, creepy, and puzzling season of this series. The actor playing Julian was so much fun on Alex, Inc., so it’s both strange and captivating to see him play such a different character in this series. I’m also interested in seeing more of the dynamic between Ambrose and his new partner Heather and how their different personalities will come together to solve this case. This season also stars Carrie Coon (Fargo, The Leftovers) as an enigmatic woman named Vera – I can’t wait to find out more about that character!

On tonight’s episode, “Part I,” a troubled detective returns to his hometown to investigate why a young boy would kill his parents.

Check out tonight’s premiere on USA Network at 10/9c.

I’ll also be watching/recording Big Brother and MasterChef.

Share
Posted in If We Controlled Your Remote | Tagged , | Comments Off on If We Controlled Your Remote… 8/1/18

If We Controlled Your Remote… 7/27/18

Posted on July 27, 2018 by and

Have you ever been at a loss as to what to watch? Too many shows to pick from? We’re here to give you our opinions on what we feel is worth watching. Check it out and then let us know in the comments below what you’re choosing for tonight!

Kyle’s Choice

Early this morning, Netflix released all of the episodes of the sixth season of Orange is the New Black. Last season, the series took a unique approach, with the entire season taking place over the course of just 3 days, as the Litchfield inmates rioted for better living conditions after the accidental death of inmate/friend Poussey. After days of trying to negotiate with the prisoners, CERT sent in a tactical team to squelch the uprising. Meanwhile, Red tried to lure former CO Piscatella into a trap to get her revenge. However, he discovered what she was up to and entered the prison on his own, where he held Alex, Piper, Red, and some others hostage. The women eventually managed to turn the tables on Piscatella, but the CERT team found Freida’s hidden bunker just as he was trying to leave, and they shot him, thinking he was an armed assailant in the haze of the smoke bombs they had released.

During the riot, Maritza and Flaca had bonded making their YouTube prison-style videos. However, they were upset to discover that all of the Litchfield inmates were being gathered onto buses to be redistributed to other prisons while the riot aftermath was cleaned up…and the two of them had been placed on different buses. Meanwhile, Leanne and Angie set fire to all of the prisoner records; Lorna discovered she was pregnant, and her boyfriend professed his love; and Pennsatucky managed to escape from prison and made her way to the home of her CO boyfriend. Back in the bunker, Red, Freida, the newly-engaged Piper and Alex, and some other inmates locked arms, bracing themselves for the unknown as the CERT team entered the room with guns locked and loaded.

I’m looking forward to seeing where things open in the new season and how this affects the main characters we have followed for five seasons. Will our group be separated from one another? Is Litchfield no more? Will we jump ahead to after things have been cleaned up from the riots? Or have the women been sent to a new prison/prisons, and if so, how will the environment/character dynamics be different?

Check out the entire sixth season streaming now on Netflix.

I’ll also be watching/recording Welcome to the Family, The Great British Baking Show, Wynonna Earp, Killjoys, and Outcast.
 
Jump with us to see else we think you should watch. Continue reading →

Share
Posted in If We Controlled Your Remote | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on If We Controlled Your Remote… 7/27/18

If We Controlled Your Remote… 7/25/18

Posted on July 25, 2018 by and

Have you ever been at a loss as to what to watch? Too many shows to pick from? We’re here to give you our opinions on what we feel is worth watching. Check it out and then let us know in the comments below what you’re choosing for tonight!

Kyle’s Choice

Early this morning, Hulu launched the new psychological-horror series Castle Rock, which is based on various stories by Stephen King. The series is set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine, where there seems to be some sort of clash between good and evil brewing. As the series opens, a mysterious, nameless prisoner (Bill Skarsgård, It) is found locked up in a cage in an unoccupied cell block of Shawshank Prison. He appears to have been placed there by former warden Dale Lacy (Terry O’Quinn, Lost) for some unknown reason. The only name he gives is that of Henry Deaver (André Holland, The Knick), a lawyer who grew up in the town but has since moved away. As a child, Henry was missing for 11 days and thought to have been abducted. During the search, his adoptive father, the beloved local minister, was seriously injured and died shortly afterwards. The town blamed Henry for his father’s death, and so now he is reluctant to return to Castle Rock. However, he is curious as to how this inmate knows his name and how and why he ended up in Shawshank. Henry also sees an opportunity to visit his adoptive mother Ruth (Sissy Spacek), whose dementia seems to be getting worse.

There seems to be a darkness that follows this nameless prisoner, and that darkness seems to grow stronger the more Henry unlocks about his past. Other Castle Rock townsfolk include former sheriff Alan Pangborn (Scott Glenn), who seems to be harboring some secrets of his own; and Molly Strand (Melanie Lynskey, Togetherness), Henry’s childhood neighbor who is now a real estate agent in Castle Rock. She was obsessed with Henry as a child but never let him know her feelings, and some of those feelings may still be present today. She suffers from hearing voices and is often trying to get her hands on illegal drugs to help quiet the commotion in her head.

The series establishes its creepy tone almost immediately and does a great job of weaving in lots of characters, stories, and Easter eggs that will be familiar to fans of King’s oeuvre. I really enjoyed the first four episodes of the series. It slowly builds the tension by metering out the backstory of the characters and the history of this creepy town at a slow pace. Just in the first few episodes, there are several unexpected twists and turns and many hints that something sinister may be happening in this town. I was kind of reminded of Needful Things, which also includes the character of Sheriff Alan Pangborn and the devil residing in the town of Castle Rock.

This morning, Hulu made the first three episodes of the series available to subscribers and will release additional episodes weekly.

I’ll also be watching/recording Big Brother, MasterChef, and Young & Hungry.
 
Jump with us to see else we think you should watch. Continue reading →

Share
Posted in If We Controlled Your Remote | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on If We Controlled Your Remote… 7/25/18

If We Controlled Your Remote… 6/20/18

Posted on June 20, 2018 by

Have you ever been at a loss as to what to watch? Too many shows to pick from? We’re here to give you our opinions on what we feel is worth watching. Check it out and then let us know in the comments below what you’re choosing for tonight!

Kyle’s Choice

Tonight, Young & Hungry returns to Freeform to kick off the second half of its fifth/final season, with back-to-back episodes. After nearly five years of their will they/won’t they/on again/off again relationship, when we last left off, Gabi & Josh finally officially became a couple. It seemed like this was never going to happen – especially when in the midseason finale, Josh bumped his head and got amnesia, and Gabi had to recreate their first date in order to jog his memory.

I have really enjoyed this series over the years and am looking forward to seeing what the show does with these final 10 episodes. Will we ultimately get an engagement or wedding by the end…or will the couple just find some new obstacle to keep them apart? Now that Josh and Gabi are together, will Gabi still work as his chef? Will they move in together? How would that affect Josh’s other employees, Elliot & Yolanda, and Gabi’s roommate Sofia? There are a lot of fun stories they could tell now that these two are together, and I can’t wait to see what the writers have come up with.

On the first half of tonight’s premiere, “Young & Downton Gabi,” Elliot and Yolanda worry about how their work lives will change now that Josh and Gabi are a couple; Gabi asks Josh to spend more time at her apartment, but Josh is horrified when he learns how messy Gabi is. Then, in “Young & Third Wheel,” Josh sets Sofia up with his dentist, but after the two hit it off, Gabi isn’t so sure he’s the right one for her friend; Elliot turns to Yolanda for help in reigniting the spark between him and Alan.

Check out the double-episode premiere tonight on Freeform starting at 8/7c.

I’ll also be watching/recording Reverie, MasterChef, Yellowstone, and The Expanse.

Share
Posted in If We Controlled Your Remote | Tagged , | Comments Off on If We Controlled Your Remote… 6/20/18

If We Controlled Your Remote… 6/7/18

Posted on June 7, 2018 by and

Have you ever been at a loss as to what to watch? Too many shows to pick from? We’re here to give you our opinions on what we feel is worth watching. Check it out and then let us know in the comments below what you’re choosing for tonight!

Phoebe’s Choice

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has come a long way in the decade since the first Iron Man movie marked the inaugural moment in the time line, and in that time it’s spread from silver-screen to TV to newer platforms like Netflix. Tonight, the complex tapestry of that defines the furthest boundaries of the MCU take us to New Orleans for a new rendition of the classic Marvel troubled teen couple: Cloak & Dagger.

What’s that you say? The original book took place in New York, like you know, nearly every Marvel title in the 80s/90s except West Coast Avengers & Alpha Flight. They say that this was an intentional move to set it apart from so much of what is going on elsewhere in the continuity, but I think it was just cheaper to film there. (Similar economic circumstances led to last year’s Inhumans inexplicably being set in Hawaii.) But what does stay true to the original Cloak & Dagger story? Well, we’re not sure yet. All I’m given to understand is that they are still teen runaways but that their powers are interdependent and affected by their blossoming romance.

Way back when in the comics, they got their powers when a mad scientist experimented on them with synthetic heroin that was being developed for some of Spiderman’s enemies. They spent the greater portion of their time fighting drug dealers rather than any superpowered bad guys. So like Luke Cage maybe? TBH, the MCU has been severely lacking in convincing Big Bads since Jessica Jones season one, so not sure yet if this is a good look or a bad one. But just based on their powers alone, I think it will be fun to watch: he has a giant cloak that helps him contain the Negative Zone, a dimension we already are familiar with from Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.; she can project hard light projectiles which are shaped as daggers. Very punny, eh?

The show stars Olivia Holt (Disney XD’s Kickin’ It) and Aubrey Joseph as main characters Tandy & Tyrone. It also stars Andrea Roth (13 Reasons Why, Rescue Me), Gloria Reuben (Mr. Robot, ER, Raising the Bar, Saints & Sinners), J.D. Evermore (Rectify, True Detective, Treme), & James Saito (Eli Stone), as well as Carl Lundstedt & Miles Mussenden.

There are two episodes tonight, airing on Freeform (an interesting choice of networks, really…). It’s worth checking out to see how they are handling the latest addition to the Marvel small-screen family.

On tonight’s first episode, “First Light,” two teenagers from very different backgrounds find themselves burdened and awakened to newly acquired superpowers which are mysteriously linked to one another. The only constant in their lives is danger and each other.

Then on the second episode, “Suicide Sprints,” Tandy and Tyrone try to grasp what has happened to them with their newfound powers, while Tandy’s past catches up with her and Tyrone becomes consumed with revenge; Detective Brigid O’Reilly works an interesting case that has ties to Tandy.

Don’t miss the two-episode premiere tonight on Freeform starting at 8/7c.

Other than this premiere, I’ll also be watching The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
 
Jump with us to see else we think you should watch. Continue reading →

Share
Posted in If We Controlled Your Remote | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on If We Controlled Your Remote… 6/7/18