Frame Rated: TRUE DETECTIVE - Season 2 Finale

Yesterday over at Frame Rated: I stepped in to review the season 2 finale of HBO's TRUE DETECTIVE on Sky Atlantic, "Omega Station".

I lost interest in this season of True Detective around the time Ray Velcoro (Colin Farrell) lost his moustache; which was ironically the moment Nick Pizzolatto’s plot broke from a crawl to a light jog. There have been some impressive sequences this year (episode 4’s city shootout was good fun, although I preferred the queasily otherworldly sex party from episode 6), but the meat of the story failed to sink its talons early enough. For much of the year, it was difficult to fully understand exactly what was going on; as important names and faces failed to leave enough of an impression on audiences, beyond the core trio of downtrodden Vinci detective Velcoro, anxious Sheriff Ani Bezzerides (Rachel McAdams), and tortured traffic cop Paul Woodrugh (Taylor Kitsch). Continue reading...

Watch True Detective online via NOW TV.

I'm watching: EXTANT • HALT & CATCH FIRE • HANNIBAL • HUMANS • JS&MN • MR ROBOT • THE STRAIN • TRUE DETECTIVE • WAYWARD PINES

Familiar preamble by now: I'm still watching lots of television every week, but have less time and inclination to blog about it all. Therefore, occasionally I like to offer brief thoughts on some of the shows I've made a weekly appointment to watch. Maybe you'll enjoy reading? Onwards!

Extant – Season 2 (CBS/Amazon Prime)
Look, I wasn't a huge fan of season 1, but sometimes you watch silly things in the summer. It's a symptom of heat stress. Extant looks gorgeous in 1080p on Amazon and is frankly of the few reasons I can justify paying for their Prime service. But I'm probably going to give up soon, because this is clearly yet another U.S series that doesn't warrant going beyond a single season. This year has Molly (Halle Berry) becoming more crazy-eyed cop than problem-solving astronaut (who's suddenly a gifted marksman!), and I'm less interested in her reshaping because it's so clichéd. Ditching sensible Goran Visnjic for swaggering Jeffrey Dean Morgan was a good move, though. David Morrissey doing his American Accent© in a clichéd military tough-guy role, and the ridiculousness of scientists designing the government a robot warrior who resembles, um, a beautiful catwalk model... less so.
★☆☆☆☆

FRAME RATED (4 - 10 Jul 15)

Below is my weekly rundown of all the posts FRAME RATED published, which is a new entertainment site I'm editing and writing for. I do hope you enjoy reading the content there, and please follow @frameratedUK. We managed to break through 100 Twitter followers in our first month, which was great! If visiting a website every day feels like work, just subscribe to our RSS feed!

JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL, by Paul Whitelaw.
TERMINATOR GENISYS, by Simon Cocks.
HANNIBAL, 3.5 - 'Contorno', by Andrew Bemis.
TRUE DETECTIVE, 2.3 - 'Maybe Tomorrow', by Sarah Hughes.
HUMANS - series one, episode four, by Alex Mullane.
KNOCK KNOCK, by Simon Cocks.
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK - Season Three, by Josh Winning.

Digital Spy: 12 Fantasy Television Crossovers

Over at Digital Spy today, it's my latest article. This one fantasises about 12 "crossover" episodes of past and present TV shows, that would be extremely unlikely but incredibly fun to watch. Dexter meets Hannibal? Sherlock travels to Fargo? Justified visits True Blood? Click through to read more, and remember to share if you enjoy it!

From AMERICAN HORROR STORY to FARGO, will U.S cable's sudden love of 'anthology series' last?

There's an emerging trend in U.S TV for cable dramas to have seasons that deviate from the preceding one, becoming anthologies. FX's American Horror Story started the ball rolling, when creator Ryan Murphy announced its second year wouldn't continue the 'haunted house' plot of its inaugural run. Instead, AHS told a completely different story set in a crazy asylum, utilising some of the same actors.

Video: Can Anyone Understand TRUE DETECTIVE?

HBO's True Detective has made a name for itself because of its haunting strangeness and, well, occasionally unintelligible Southern accents. E!'s The Soup have nicely spoofed the latter, in a video starring Joel McHale (as Matthew McConaughey) and his Community co-star Jim Rash (as Woody Harrelson). Enjoy.

It's March, so I'm watching...

It's impossible finding time to review everything I watch on a daily basis, so here are my broad thoughts on the TV shows I'm watching every week, started queueing on my TiVo, or have dropped from viewing, as of 3 March...

MSN TV: Sky Atlantic's TRUE DETECTIVE

Over at MSN TV: I've reviewed the premiere of HBO's TRUE DETECTIVE, starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as two detectives on the trail of a serial killer in mid-'90s Louisiana, which debuted in the UK on Sky Atlantic last night. (This is a rewrite of my original review, coloured by the fact I've now seen five episodes ahead.)

Anything new from HBO never fails to elicit high expectations and excitement, such is the case with True Detective. It also has the advantage of starring two Hollywood heavyweights in Harrelson and McConaughey, plus a short eight-hour commitment with the promise season two will tell a different story.

Continue reading at MSN TV...

Pilot review: HBO's TRUE DETECTIVE

written by Nic Pizzolatto | directed by Cary Joji Fukunada

A new drama from HBO never fails to elicit frantic hand-rubbing, as the US cable network succeeds more often than it fails (and even the failures are noble, interesting ones). True Detective also has the advantage of starring three bonafide Hollywood stars in Woody Harrelson, Matthew McConaughey and Michelle Monaghan, plus a short eight-hour commitment with the promise a potential second season will tell a completely different story.

Trailers: CBS's BACKSTROM & HBO's TRUE DETECTIVE

Don't get too excited after viewing this trailer for Backstrom (if that's possible), because CBS decided not to pick it up for a full series. It's an unaired pilot, probably doomed to forever float around the internet in this 'sizzle reel' format. However, maybe if enough people shout about it the streaming Gods will listen and bring it to Amazon or Netflix. Stranger things have happened. I'm probably helping by embedding it here, in a very small way.