On a warm September day several years ago, I was blindfolded in the lobby of a Chicago theatre and sent off on a quest through the Loop with just a cell phone and a series of videos. I spent the next couple of hours interacting with actors and being pushed out of my comfort zone. […]
Author: Jean Henegan
Formula 1: Drive to Survive Season Two (Spoiler-Free) Review
I have never watched a single Formula 1 race. In truth, I’ve never watched any auto racing at all. It’s just not how I would choose to spend my time. Which makes it all the more surprising that I absolutely loved the Netflix documentary series Formula 1: Drive to Survive. I burned through the first […]
Star Trek: Picard – The Impossible Box
After last week’s weighty (but fun) outing, Star Trek: Picard decided it was time to finally start pushing it’s relatively thin narrative forward at warp speed with the plot-packed “The Impossible Box.” After spending half the season talking about saving Soji and the extreme difficulty such a rescue attempt would present, that was shockingly simple, […]
Star Trek: Picard – Stardust City Rag
A sentence I never thought I would write: I want to see a Seven of Nine spin-off series ASAP, CBS All Access. Holy hell, was that great hour of television. This is the kind of episode I was expecting when Star Trek: Discovery launched: dark, moralistically murky, but still fun. It’s what I hoped to […]
Hunters (Spoiler-Free) Review
I’m going to be perfectly honest: I have no idea if Hunters is a good show. I have watched the five episodes Amazon provided to critics, and I don’t know if this is a series worth watching. It’s a strange place to be in as a critic. What I can say is that there was […]
Star Trek: Picard – Absolute Candor
Ok. That was more like it. While Picard certainly still has some growing pains to work through (more on that later), “Absolute Candor” was the most complete episode of the series to date, managing to integrate the Narek/Soji/Rizzo piece of the story into the much more robust Picard elements to satisfying effect. I actually found […]
Sex Education Season Two Review
The sophomore slump is a pretty well-documented phenomenon in television. A series starts off strong, building buzz and growing its fan base throughout its first season while also ratcheting up expectations as to the heights the show can achieve when it returns for its second go-round. To say Sex Education, the British high school dramedy […]
Star Trek: Picard – The End is the Beginning
After last week’s episode of Star Trek: Picard, I said that the series would live and die on the ability of the cast to perform at the same high level as Patrick Stewart. “The End is the Beginning” once again drove this point home, as every actor who shared a scene with Stewart rose to […]
The Good Place, BoJack Horseman, and What We Owe To Each Other
What do we owe to each other? A loaded question, to be sure. But two exquisite comedy series tried their darnedest to answer it, each coming up with essentially the same response: Everything. If you haven’t had the chance to watch The Good Place or BoJack Horseman, this is the part of the piece where […]
Star Trek: Picard – Maps and Legends Review
The initial two episodes into Star Trek: Picard have made one thing crystal clear: The series will live and die on the strength of Patrick Stewart’s performance. Considering how Picard-heavy these two episodes have been, that hasn’t exactly been a problem for the series. In fact, I’d consider it quite the strength. But when the […]