GHOST WARS - Series Review

Premiere Date- October 5, 2017

Ghost Wars is a paranormal series set in a small Alaska town - Port Moore, where  the residents are experiencing mass haunting by ghosts trying to destroy them.

Roman Mercer (Avan Jogia) is a disturbed young man, who talks to himself all the time. The whole town treats him differently because they think he's crazy. The only people who believe in him are Father Dan Carpenter (Vincent D'Onofrio) and his friend Maggie (Elise Gatien). The trouble is, Maggie is dead which reveals that Roman hasn't been talking to himself but to Maggie and other regular ghosts hanging around the town.

After an earthquake hits Port Moore, releasing a bunch of new ghosts in town that has refused anyone from leaving, everyone starts hallucinating things that makes them want to kill themselves. Roman who has the ability to communicate with the ghosts and send them packing (an ability inherited from his mum) has to save everyone from the mass haunt.

'Ghost Wars' isn't entertaining for a ghost story. First of all, this is supposed to be a paranormal 'action series' but you don't actually see the ghosts, just their projections - it's laughable. I can't tell if its poor acting or poor directing. There is no action and nothing horrifying about this show.

The trailer is quite interesting, good editing but the first two episodes wasn't impressive for a paranormal series.
'Ghost Wars' - the name should bring some kind of sinister paranormal expectations with it, but the show has no tension, no scary scenes, nothing frightening. And the medium, Roman doesn't seem to be doing anything, just hangs around.

The third and fourth episodes were better than the first two. This show has a very slow build up.
The first season comes in 13 episodes, so i have decided to keep watching because after seeing episodes 3 and 4, I think it will get better in future episodes (fingers crossed).

If you are into paranormal series, you might like this. Don't expect much even if you've seen the trailer.
So far, there is nothing scary about this show but some younger viewers might find it disturbing.

WISDOM OF THE CROWD - Series Review

Premiere Date - October 1, 2017

A year after the death of his daughter, Jeffrey Tanner (Jeremy Piven) decides to concentrate all of his time and resources on a new crowd sourcing app, SOPHE, designed to help solve the murder of his daughter, Mia, after believing the wrong person had been convicted. He soon uses the app to help solve other cases. Tanner believes its millions of users would be able to solve what the police couldn't.
SOPHE is designed to accumulate shared information online, effectively deputizing the internet to develop and explore leads and generally play detective.

Tanner's team includes, Sara (Natalie Tena) SOPHE'S engineer and also Tanner's current love interest, Josh (Blake Lee) as Head of programmer and Tariq ( Jake Matthews), a hacker who got on the team after hacking into SOPHE.

There is also Alex (Monica Potter) a congress woman and Tanner's ex wife as well as Detective Cavanaugh (Richard T. Jones) who works the cases Sophe gets a lead on and also the initial investigator assigned to solve Mia's case.
Cavanaugh is skeptic about Tanner's software as he believes people's constitutional rights are being violated.

I like this show, its quite entertaining. It joins other shows like 'Bull' where the use of technology in solving crime is used in a similar way.
I don't like that sometimes the use of sophe invades on people's privacy, especially when its done without their consent.
I also don't like that the users do not pay attention. I get that "People want to be a part of something meaningful" but they could also be putting themselves in harms way, like when a crowd of sophe users identifies a suspect at a busy train station, they don't listen to warnings not to get close, they all gather round him.
There's another case in the second episode where sophe is solving the case of a missing high school student. As they track the boy using a tracking device placed on the boy's jacket by his parents, there is this user on wheels who is close to where the tracker is spotted. He didn't pay attention not to get close as he quickly moved to the scene and picked up the jacket. What if the kidnapper was around, you are on wheels, you can't even run. You trying to play cop at the expense of endangering your life.
Sophe just needs the users help in gethering information and not for them to play cop, going towards a crime scene. I guess when you give people the chance to partake in crime solving, they feel they are now working with the police because "People want to be a part of something Meaningful."

There are questions of privacy and ethics in the tech age to explore in this series. Its an interesting show and I will keep watching.

So, do you think turning crime solving over to the public using the internet is a good idea?
Share your thoughts in the comment section.

DYNASTY -Series Review

Premiere Date - October 11, 2017

The story starts with Fallon and Steven being called home by their father, Blake Carrington to meet his wife-to-be, Cristal.

Fallon Carrington (Elizabeth Gillies) is a smart and ambitious woman, who is also the Head of Acquisition for Carrington Atlantic, an energy company founded by her grandfather and handed down to her dad.
She expects to be named the Chief Operating Officer only for her to find out that her rival, Cristal Flores (Nathalie Kelley 'The Vampire Diaries') has been sleeping with her father Blake Carrington (Grant Show) and plans to marry him.

Blake Carrington is a deceptive man who has his way of making people carry out his agenda by making it seem like he is doing them a favour. His gay son Steven happens to be one of these people.
Steven Carrington (James Mackay) is an environmental activist who opposes his father's plan to exploit native American land.

The trailer of this series displayed a brawl between Cristal and Fallon, but after seeing the first episode, I couldn't find anything about Cristal that makes her look intimidating to Fallon. Don't get me wrong, Nathalie Kelley will play a good rival to Elizabeth Gillies character, I am not just seeing the rivalry yet.
We'll probably see more of that in subsequent episodes.

I like that this show has a twist and a build up with different stories to look forward to.
The guy Steven had a one night stand with happens to be Cristal's nephew, Sam 'Sammy' Joe (Rafael de la Fuente 'Empire'). This might make you think Cristal's marriage to Blake was planned out, but I don't think that's the case here.
The last scene of the first episode, shows Claudia Blaisdel, accusing Blake for the death of her husband, Matthew Blaisdel (Nick Wechsler), the company's chief field engineer who happens to be Cristal's ex. This makes me wonder if his death was an accident or not.

I am looking forward to how Fallon's fondness for Jeff Colby (Sam Adegoke) and her secret affair with her driver, Michael Culhane (Robert Christopher Riley) plays out.
Cristal has a secret past which no one but the Carrington family's Butler, Joseph Anders (Alan Dale) knows about (this is not a surprise as butlers seem to know everything). But, that's not the case here as Joseph is in charge of hiring staffs.

Fallon decides she doesn't want to be a shadow cast of her father, she wants her own company with her own name. She then makes an investment deal with Jeff and becomes the Chief Executive Officer of Carrington Wind Brier, which now makes her a competition to her father. This is an act of rebellion against her father's decision to marrying Cristal, and making her the Chief Operating Officer.

I am really looking forward to the story build up with more twists and drama. This show has a good start and Elizabeth Gillies as Fallon is just perfect.

VALOR - Series Review

Premiere Date - October 9, 2017

This military drama tells the story of Nora Madani (Christina Ochoa) and her Commanding officer, Captain Leland Gallo (Matt Barr 'Sleepy Hollow') two Shadow Raiders- an elite unit of U.S Army helicopter pilots. After a failed secret mission in Somalia, they both return to camp and later discovers that two other military officers  were captured during the operation and still alive, they seek to return to duty and rescue them.

I like that the show is giving us other stories to look forward to. Apart from their private and professional lives, you look forward to secrets, lies, bravery, guilt as well as government conspiracy.
Nora seems to be the main character, she is one of the first female pilots and will do what she can in order to keep flying. Nora tries to convince everyone that she is fit to fly again after the mission in Somalia. Her boyfriend, First Lieutenants Ian Porter (Charlie Barnett) isn't convinced she is ready to fly and the CIA officer assigned to investigate the mission, Thea (Melissa Roxburgh) doesn't trust her.

 

After lying in their debrief, Nora and Gallo agrees to keep the details on what happened in Somalia a secret. There are flashbacks of the mission in Somalia that explains what exactly happened.
Like how they discovered the prisoner they were retrieving was an American soldier thought to have been killed in action in 2014. How a mysterious Richard Lasky is the reason the soldier was taken captive and Nora killing  Richard while the unidentified soldier ran off.

Gallo and Nora begins to question why they were sent on the mission in the first place.
I guess someone on the inside knows something they weren't telling the others.
And I would like to know if these two will follow orders or do what they think is right.

Unlike 'The Brave,' and 'SEAL Team' , this show uses secrets, lies and government conspiracies to build up its story. So asides the action, you look forward to seeing how Nora and Gallo deals with the secrets, what other secrets, lies and conspiracies are yet to be known and how the whole story unfolds.

SEAL Team - Series Review

Premiere Date: September 27, 2017

This military drama follows a team of Navy SEALs of the Tier One unit as they carry out covert operations with the help of the CIA.

You get to see the life of Jason Hayes (David Boreanaz) the team leader, whose dedication to work crumbled his home life, and how he deals with the recent loss of a teammate.

Other casts include, Mandy (Jessica Pare) a CIA analyst who helps to coordinate missions, Clay (Max Thieriot) a young soldier trying to make it into the Tier One unit, Ray (Neil Brown Jr.), Sonny (A.J Buvkley), and doing logistics is Lisa (Tori Trucks).


Unlike NBCs 'The Brave', this show tells on both the private and professional lives of the teammates, so you get to see how their lives are been affected by work and how they manage both lives.

Also, compared to 'The Brave' the war dog in this series actually joins the teammates on missions.
I love the acting, as well as the action.

ABSENTIA - Series Review

Premiere Date: September 25, 2017

An FBI agent, Emily (Stana Katic), while hunting a serial killer vanishes and is being declared dead in absentia. 

While a suspect is being sentenced for her death, you keep getting flashbacks of Emily being tortured in an unknown place.

Fast forward six years later, Emily's husband, Nick Durand ( Patrick Heusinger) who is now remarried receives a call telling him where to find Emily. As he rushes to the location he finds her inside a locked tub filled with water.

In this series, you get to see Emily try to clear her name as she is now the prime suspect in a series of murder at the same time trying to build a relationship with her son.

You also get to see Nick Durand pulled in two different directions between Emily and his new wife, Alice Durand (Cara Theobold).

Stana Katic plays the character of 'Emily' well, and I like that the show has a build up.

Its a good show and i think you should watch it.

KEVIN (PROBABLY) SAVES THE WORLD - Series Review

Premiere Date: September 27, 2017

After a meteor lands close to their house, Kevin Finn (Jason Ritter) and his niece, Reese (Chloe East) goes to check it out.
Kevin touches the meteor and soon begins to have conversations with a celestial being, Yvette (Kimberly Hebert Gregory) a "warrior of God" who is to guide Kevin towards to the right path as he now has a sacred mission to save the world.

Kevin Finn is a young man who has mental-health crises, he tries to kill himself by taking pills, loses his job and gets dumped by his girlfriend. He then goes back to his home town in Texas to live with his widowed twin sister, Amy (Garcia Swisher) and her daughter Reese.

Jason Ritter plays the character of Kevin Finn well, from his physical appearance (starting with his face) to the way he talks portrays the character well.
The connection between him and his sister is really good, sometimes I forget they are siblings.

This is a good show and unlike other TV shows, this series is all about redemption, hope and finding one's purpose.

5 NEW TV SHOWS YOU SHOULD SEE

MARVEL'S INHUMANS

The story focuses on super powered characters secretly living in a city on the moon “Attilan”  on the verge of being discovered by humans. The city is ruled by King Black Bolt who doesn’t talk because he has a lethal “quasi-sonic” voice, and Queen Medusa whose long red tentacle hair can be a deadly weapon.

Black Bolt’s non-mutant brother/rival, Maximus (Iwan Rheon, “Game of Thrones”) stages a coup to dethrone his brother, forcing members of the royal family to flee to Earth using the family’s pet, Lock Jaw: a giant teleporting dog.

I was eager and really looking forward to this show for 3 reasons:

•Iwan Rheon
•Super powered characters
•It’s Marvel

But, to be honest, I wasn’t impressed and the show didn’t make sense at some point.

Maximus ( the guy who thinks they should all return to earth before the humans finds them) is seen as the villain, his goal is to free the royal family’s legion of slaves (the non-mutants or the humans whose super powers are yet to be revealed). Meanwhile, Black Bolt and Medusa “the good guys” wants to rule Attilan forever as the non-mutants slave away in the mine.

I don’t understand, it doesn’t make sense to me. The “good guys” use the non mutants as slaves just because they don’t have super powers? I don’t see what’s 'good' about that. Is the show promoting slavery?

I am yet to know what this show is all about, i don't know what the story is.
“Marvel’s Inhumans”  isn’t bad but its not a great show either and I think it’s predictable. There is no suspense, and its not compelling.

THE GIFTED

After displaying their mutant powers at the school’s dance, two mutant teenagers alongside their non mutant parents run from the Government with the help of an underground network of mutant.

The show sets in the “X-men” universe as it makes reference to those more famous mutants having gone missing. It has a promising start with mutant abilities like telekinesis, teleportation, fire rays (manipulating photons), the ability to be super athletic and super aware.

The show is enjoyable, compelling, definitely worth the wait and worth watching. I just hope FOX doesn’t mess up by canceling the show like they did PITCH and SLEEPY HOLLOW.

I feel its going to be a great show and will say it is better than “Marvel’s Inhumans”.

THE BRAVE

The military drama tells the story of a highly trained military special ops squad who put themselves in harms way to save hostages and executes missions in some of the world’s most dangerous places.

The squad leader, Commander Michael Dalton (Mike Vogel) and his team receives order from Anne Heche who plays a hard-driven intelligence agency lead. There is also an appearance by a “Quantico” cast member that makes things peculiarly familiar.

“The Brave” also features a dog (a war dog, I guess) who does nothing but bark, I hope it gets an opportunity to do something other than that.
So far, the show has centered only on the professional lives of the teammates, i will love to see both their professional and personal lives in subsequent episodes.

There is no hype to the show, nothing compelling about it.  

Meanwhile, i will make a review on the upcoming CW’s military series “Valor” and hopefully it will be better than this show.

This show isn’t bad, so feel free to watch if you are a lover of Military based movies/TV shows.

THE GOOD DOCTOR

Dr. Shaun Murphy is an autistic surgeon looking for a new start at San Jose's St. Bonaventure Hospital. Shaun has a brilliant mind  (like a memory booster), visual aid, he remembers things and see what no one else can see.

He is smart with exceptional talents but his disorder makes it hard for him to find a job.

Luckily, Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) who has known Shaun for years  makes a passionate case for hiring Shaun as the Hospital’s board feels skeptical about hiring him.

This show also examines the challenges Shaun faces as he tries to work alongside his peers including his arrogant team leader as they all find it difficult to understand his behavior. He also has memories involving bullying and family abuse as a child. 

Shaun may be bad at relating with people but he is definitely good with medicine.

Despite all he has to go through at the hospital because of his condition, I don’t think Shaun is getting fired because without him there wouldn’t be a show.

And Yea, I’m watching this show because after seeing “Chicago Med”, I got interested in medical related TV shows and I will say “The Good Doctor” is a good show.

THE DEUCE

Using “ Game of Thrones” as an example, I will say HBO has a history of using sex to sell its show.

“The Deuce” focuses on the rise of the porn industry in the city of New York  during the 1970s through the eyes of Vincent and Frankie Martino ( both played by James Franco)  alongside a cast of barkeeps, prostitutes, pimps, police and nightlife seekers and a reporter looking to understand the lives these prostitutes lead.

Vincent becomes the lead character because most of the series storylines revolves around his bar.

So far, the nudity is not as much as what is seen in the first season of “Game of Thrones” or “Power”. But, it chronicles the mainstreaming of adult entertainment and has an unusual amount of sexual content. Its not the kind of show you want to see in a public space.

The story has a build up as it focuses on how the women react to the changing times, potential to make more money, getting off the streets and into the studios. Some people are trying to change the game while some are working hard to make sure it doesn’t change.

This show is a good one, well written , good acting, and of course, has two James Franco.❤