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Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Dave Has Thoughts on… The Last of Us, Andor, The Rehearsal and More
In this column, TVLine's West Coast Bureau Chief Dave Nemetz shares his take on the current state of TV, including capsule reviews of upcoming shows, commentary on recently aired episodes and perspective on TV casting news, cancellations and more. I couldn't talk about this in my full review of The Last of Us Season 2, for obvious reasons, but Sunday's Episode 2 delivered a jaw-dropping twist, with Joel being brutally murdered by a vengeful Abby right in front of Ellie. (Read our full recap here for all the gory details.) The episode also featured a terrifying full-scale assault by hundreds of undead clickers that emerged from a snowbank, leaving the town of Jackson in ruins. It was one of the most gruelingly intense hours of television I've seen in years — and I can't say I enjoyed it. More from TVLine The Last of Us' Joel vs. The Walking Dead's Glenn: Which Brutal Zombie-Drama Death Hurt More? Andor Season 2: 'A Very Brutal Reality' Triggered Mon Mothma's Episode 3 'Chaos' Dance, Says Genevieve O'Reilly ATX TV Festival Adds Kevin Williamson's The Waterfront, 'Ladies of Law' Panels - See Full Schedule No, I don't expect a zombie show to be all sunshine and rainbows. And yes, I know this happened in the video game as well, so it wasn't a question of if Joel would die, but when. I do give the writers credit for dropping such a bold storytelling stroke into just the season's second episode, reminiscent of Game of Thrones killing off Ned Stark in Season 1. It was a nice throwback to the days when TV shows could truly surprise us. But Game of Thrones had a rich supporting cast to fall back on, while so much of The Last of Us' appeal stemmed from Joel and Ellie's relationship — and now that's gone. I've seen the next two episodes as well, and I do think the show is missing something without Pedro Pascal's Joel at the helm. (Beyond Ellie, the other characters are either too new or not developed enough.) It's actually closer to The Walking Dead killing off Glenn in the Season 7 premiere, which led to a mass audience exodus. I wonder if any The Last of Us fans will walk away from the show knowing that Joel won't be back. (Except for flashbacks, of course.) Even aside from Joel's death, this episode was so unrelentingly depressing, with sadistic torture scenes and unbearable tension, that it just felt like misery porn. With Ellie now certain to seek her own vengeance against Abby, is The Last of Us trying to show us how toxic revenge can be, and how an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind? Quite possibly. But that doesn't mean I want to watch it happen. * I didn't watch Andor when it first aired — there are only so many hours in the day to watch TV! — but I did catch up with it earlier this year, and I thought Season 1 was terrific. I'd call it one of the five best TV shows of 2022, belatedly. Now it's back for Season 2, and this week's premiere picked up right where it left off, combining exhilarating Star Wars action (like Cass' bumpy escape in an Imperial fighter) with a strong political undercurrent and serious psychological depth. Andor truly is a Star Wars series for grown-ups, and I can't wait to see how the rest of Season 2 unfolds. * It's so hard to pin down how I feel about The Rehearsal: It's supremely uncomfortable to watch, and yet at times, it's one of the funniest shows on TV. That uneasy balance was only amplified in this week's Season 2 premiere, with Nathan Fielder tackling the issue of… airplane crashes. Are you laughing yet? Fielder is truly gifted at capturing the awkward rhythms of human interaction, and he did manage to find quite a few laughs in his quest to train airline pilots how to communicate better in the cockpit. But I worry that this subject matter might prove too heavy for a goofy comedy show like this, and I also wish Fielder would take on new challenges each week like he did on Nathan for You, rather than just one for the whole season. In the end, I like it, I think — but if you can't stand watching it, I can't blame you. * I gave Apple TV+'s Dope Thief a very positive review based on the first six episodes, and I still stand by it. But I have to admit: The way Season 1 ended was a bit disappointing. After spending most of the season cleverly subverting crime drama conventions, it fell back into those same conventions in the finale, turning into a deadly serious shoot-'em-up spectacle. In the process, it lost the humor and personal touch that made it so special, and even Brian Tyree Henry, so great all season long, was strangely muted. It's a shame, because the show had such a unique spark in the early episodes, and I was hoping to see more of it. But not all shows can stick the landing, I guess. Got questions for Dave? Thoughts on his thoughts? Reach him at davehasthoughts@ Best of TVLine Weirdest TV Crossovers: Always Sunny Meets Abbott, Family Guy vs. Simpsons, Nine-Nine Recruits New Girl and More ER Turns 30: See the Original County General Crew, Then and Now The Best Streaming Services in 2024: Disney+, Hulu, Max and More
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Dave Has Thoughts on… Black Mirror, Hacks, The Last of Us and More
In this column, TVLine's West Coast Bureau Chief Dave Nemetz shares his take on the current state of TV, including capsule reviews of upcoming shows, commentary on recently aired episodes and perspective on TV casting news, cancellations and more. As an anthology, Black Mirror is hit-or-miss by nature, and some episodes (and seasons) are better than others. But Season 7, which just hit Netflix last week, feels like the most consistently great season since at least Season 4, with a couple of installments that rank among the best the show has ever done. For me, the top episode was 'Eulogy,' with an absolutely heart-crushing performance from Paul Giamatti, and 'Common People,' starring Rashida Jones and Chris O'Dowd, was a close second, with its frighteningly plausible look at life-saving health care tailored to the subscription model. More from TVLine Ratings: The Last of Us Opens Season 2 Up 13% vs. Series Premiere The Last of Us EPs Explain Why the Premiere's Time Jump Differs From the Game's and Other Season 2 Changes The Last of Us Season 2 Premiere Recap: Joel is Hunted (and Haunted) Five Years After the Hospital Attack - Plus, Grade It! The 'USS Callister' sequel didn't boldly go anywhere new, but it was a fun space caper — and I kind of wish I'd been able to see it on the big screen, with all the gee whiz sci-fi effects. 'Bête Noire' and 'Plaything' were flawed but decent enough entries into the Black Mirror canon, and even 'Hotel Reverie,' probably the least successful of the new batch, boasted a stunning performance by Emma Corrin as an old-timey Hollywood starlet trapped inside her most famous movie. All in all, a nice comeback season for Black Mirror, which had been stuck in a celebrity-chasing funk of mediocrity for a couple of seasons. Which Season 7 episode was your favorite? Vote in our poll: * Hacks is coming off a very strong Season 3, and I'm happy to say it's picked up right where it left off with the first two episodes of Season 4, with Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder back in top form. I was a little worried about the Deborah-Ava dynamic after last season ended on such a bitter note, but it turns out Deborah and Ava make great enemies as well as friends, trading vicious insults at a head-spinning rate. Plus, it still finds plenty of room for laugh-out-loud one-liners, at a time in TV history when we really need our 'comedies' to be funnier. And can we just applaud this show for coming right back in less than a year with a new season? That shouldn't be rare, but these days, it is. * I posted a full review of The Last of Us Season 2, based on the first four episodes, but I actually liked Sunday's season premiere quite a bit, simply because it gave us a chance to breathe and get to know these characters a bit better. Yes, the fortified town of Jackson is a whole lot like The Walking Dead's Woodbury — and we know how that turned out — but it was nice to see Joel and Ellie fixing electronics and mooning after girls while in a bubble of relative safety. (Joel even went to therapy!) Plus, two new cast additions really stood out: Kaitlyn Dever, who put a human face on the show's ultra violence as a vengeful Abby; and Isabela Merced, who shined right away as plucky town girl Dina. It was a good start — and well, I'll talk about the rest when it happens. * I'm usually all for comedy pushing boundaries and not being afraid to offend anyone, but I do think Saturday Night Live crossed a line with its impression of Aimee Lou Wood in this week's otherwise stellar parody of The White Lotus. Reducing Chelsea down to a bad British accent and a set of fake teeth wasn't 'edgy'; it was just lazy. There were plenty of ways to poke fun at The White Lotus without stooping that low, and I'm glad Wood herself spoke up against it. SNL is a comedy institution: It should hold itself to a higher standard and not resort to cheap shots like that. Especially if they're not even funny. Got questions for Dave? Thoughts on his thoughts? Reach him at davehasthoughts@ Best of TVLine Weirdest TV Crossovers: Always Sunny Meets Abbott, Family Guy vs. Simpsons, Nine-Nine Recruits New Girl and More ER Turns 30: See the Original County General Crew, Then and Now The Best Streaming Services in 2024: Disney+, Hulu, Max and More
