Television | Reviews

5 Minutes

Game of Thrones: “The Winds of Winter”

T. Dawson June 27, 2016

It seems as though Game of Thrones has finally solved its finale problem. For several seasons of the show’s run, the finale has been unable to live up to the over-the-top penultimate episode, leaving viewers mostly...

5 Minutes

Television | Reviews

Orange Is the New Black: “Friends in Low Places”

T. Dawson June 25, 2016

Orange Is the New Black doesn’t quite break its streak with “Friends in Low Places” – it’s still better than “We’ll Always Have Baltimore” – but it can be frustrating at times because it doesn’t...

4 Minutes

Television | Reviews

Orange Is the New Black: “It Sounded Nicer in My Head”

T. Dawson June 24, 2016

The economy with which Orange Is the New Black arrived at the first stage of Piper’s comeuppance is indicative of how well-oiled this storytelling machine has become. In just a few episodes, we’ve seen Piper aghast...

3 Minutes

Television | Reviews

Orange Is the New Black: “Piece of Sh*t”

T. Dawson June 23, 2016

“Piece of Sh*t” does a damn good job at examining why its title character, Joel Luschek, is so troublesome. Many viewers, myself included, would count Luschek among their favorite characters on Orange Is the New...

4 Minutes

Television | Reviews

Orange Is the New Black: “We’ll Always Have Baltimore”

T. Dawson June 22, 2016

“We’ll Always Have Baltimore” is of several different minds. While not a bad episode, strictly speaking, this is the most scattered installment so far of Orange Is the New Black‘s fourth season. At times it...

4 Minutes

Television | Reviews

Scream: “Happy Birthday to Me

T. Dawson June 21, 2016

Here’s my problem with drug trips in TV or film: none of it is actually happening. It’s my same complaint about dream sequences and hallucinations. Since none of it is real, per se, it has to...

4 Minutes

Television | Reviews

Orange Is the New Black: “Doctor Psycho”

T. Dawson June 21, 2016

I was right, wasn’t I? I’m always right. Orange Is the New Black got dark with “Doctor Psycho,” and the show was better for it. Where “Power Suit” and “(Don’t) Say Anything” were significantly lighter, they didn’t do...

5 Minutes

Television | Reviews

Game of Thrones: “The Battle of the Bastards”

T. Dawson June 20, 2016

“The Battle of the Bastards” is such a ludicrously big episode of Game of Thrones that it begins the best GoT episodes end: Tyrion gets off some solid quips, Grey Worm gets in a satisfying double-kill, and Daenerys rides...

4 Minutes

Television | Reviews

Orange Is the New Black: “(Don’t) Say Anything”

T. Dawson June 20, 2016

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: yes, Orange Is the New Black is rushing the Brooke/Poussey relationship. Does that matter, if the relationship works? I mean, yes and no. There’s some narrative leeway...

4 Minutes

Television | Reviews

Orange Is the New Black: “Power Suit”

T. Dawson June 19, 2016

Man, Orange Is the New Black is really reaching deep into its roster for flashbacks, isn’t it? I guess the writing was on the wall when we saw Chang’s flashback last season, but man, who was...

4 Minutes

Television | Reviews

Orange Is the New Black: “Work That Body For Me”

T. Dawson June 17, 2016

Orange Is the New Black pulled off an amazing feat of storytelling in its last season. It made Piper Chapman interesting (has she ever been more engaging than when she got Stella sent to max?),...

3 Minutes

Television | Reviews

Animal Kingdom: “We Don’t Hurt People”

T. Dawson June 16, 2016

For a show with such an expansive-sounding title, Animal Kingdom is remarkably insular. Someone with the last name “Cody” appears in every scene of “We Don’t Hurt People,” which works both for and against the show....