Aug. 17, 2022 Departure: This is a review of the first season (6 episodes.) I saw this on Global network.
"A high-octane conspiracy series that follows the mystery of Flight 716 - a passenger plane that vanishes over the Atlantic Ocean."
Departure (TV Series 2019–2022) - IMDb
Pros:
1. A good opening. The plane is in the air and there's turbulence and the lights go out. This sets the drama, conflict and tension.
2. The cast:
Archie Panjabi- as Kendra Malley. She plays the lead investigator. She's from The Good Wife.
Kris Holden- Ried- as Dominic who works on the team to solve this case. He's Canadian.
Mark Rendall- as Theo, a good guy. He's Canadian.
Christopher Plummer- as Howard Lawson. He's Kendra's boss. He's Canadian. He has passed away at 91 yrs old in 2021.
Allan Hawco- as the pilot Donovan. He's Canadian and from the show Republic of Doyle.
Dougray Scott- is the CEO of the British Airlines. He was on Desperate Housewives.
3. There is good writing with lots of drama, conflict, and tension. There's a good mystery of who want this plane to crash and why?
The pilot Donovan had 2 phones and why? Who's he calling?
This is smart writing like: If there was a bomb, the satellite would have detected heat signatures.
There is a good surprise at the end of the pilot. Spoiler alert: Donovan calls a man on his phone, and it's his husband. Donovan already has a wife who lives in another country.
Comparisons: They find a survivor at the end of the episode: It was done on Designated Survivor episode 2. I only 2 episodes of that show and stopped.
4. There's some action like a chase scene and a fight scene spread out of 6 episodes.
5. I like the office. It looks futuristic.
6. Ethnic diversity.
Cons: None.
My opinion: This show was average. I like the mystery, but I would like more action scenes.
Aug. 20, 2022 Season 2: I watched all 6 episodes this week. The first 4 characters I listed are in this new season. This is about a automated train crash.
Who would want the train to crash?
And why?
Is it because there is a FBI witness who's being transported on it?
Is it because one of the tech company Ursa's business man is on the train (that Ursa made the train) is on it?
Spoiler alert: A Mexican cartel did want the FBI witness killed, but he didn't cause the train accident.
The Ursa business man was the target. Rose Tate, Connor Tate, Phillip Hogan, and Jordan Cole all signed a patent for the Ursa Tech. The 1 person who is alive, will get all the money.
It turns out Richard Bright was behind this. The train crashes, and the stocks down. He's going to buy all the controlling stakes for peanuts, and it'll be more money later on.
The kid Lucas who survived the train crash saw a truck outside during the accident with the "Go Panthers" bumper sticker. The truck belongs to the Sheriff who worked with Bright. The Sheriff is against automation because millions of Americans will lose their jobs, and helped Bright.
My opinion: This season was just average. It wasn't really that interesting or exciting to me.
Oct. 28, 2023 Season 3: This season is about a ferry that sunk.
Spoiler alert: The Navy submarine was the one that sunk it when it accidentally hit it. The Navy and Captain Banks had to cover it up, because they were down there to access and download all these fibre optiks data of nuclear power plants.
The terrorists were going to hack into any of nuclear power plants in the US and would be like a Chernobyl attack.
The ship also sank so fast because of the bad material that was used to construct the ship, so that's on the ship company's.
Aug. 17, 2022 Devils: This is a review of the pilot. I saw this on the CW.
"A worldwide financial conspiracy is discovered by a group of traders of a large investment bank."
Devils (TV Series 2020– ) - IMDb
Pros:
1. There is a good opening. This is set in Feb. 2011. A man jumps.
Massimo is a good worker because he made $250 million for the bank.
Massimo gets a note to go to a hotel room. A woman gives him a lap dance. She's wearing a mask, but then recognizes that's it's his ex- wife.
Massimo: Someone is trying to destroy me, and uses her.
2. The cast:
Allesandro Borgi- as Massimo Ruggero. I have never seen him before. He's a likable character.
Patrick Dempsey- he is Massimo's mentor and boss Dominic Morgan. He's from Grey's Anatomy.
3. There is good writing: There's drama, conflict, and tension about how someone is using Massimo's ex- wife to get at him.
There is a blogger Sophia who interviews Massimo: Someone is causing Greece to fail.
Massimo works with Sophia by getting her to put out info that will go viral.
There's corporate espionage.
4. Good production.
5. Ethnic diversity.
Cons: None.
My opinion: The pilot was average and then I never watched it again. I recorded the series and a year goes by, and I never watched it. The new fall season comes, and I decided to delete the series. I didn't really find the show interesting.
Raised by Wolves: This is a review of the pilot. This is a HBO Max show. I watched this on Telus on Demand.
"Androids are tasked with raising human children on a mysterious planet."
Raised by Wolves (TV Series 2020–2022) - IMDb
Pros:
1. There is a good opening. A space ship crashes onto this planet. It's a desert. There are 2 androids there named Mother and Father.
2. The cast:
Amanda Collin- as Mother.
Abubakar Salim as Father.
They are androids and act robotic very well. They raise 6 kids and they're different races.
3. Good writing. There's lots of drama, conflict, and tension as they raise these kids on this planet.
4. Good production value. There are lots of special effects. The technology of the space craft looks futuristic.
5. Ethnic diversity.
Cons:
1. I find this too depressing for me.
My opinion: The pilot was good and all, and then I never watched it again. If you like sci-fi, then you should at least watch the pilot.
Nov. 14, 2023 Intelligence: I saw the first 3 episodes on Showcase when I got a free preview.
"An NSA agent teams up with a computer analyst to form a new cyber crimes unit in the UK's Government Communications Headquarters."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9454736/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_intelli
Pros:
1. The cast:
David Schwimmer- is Jerry Benstein who is a bumbling American who joins this British agency for cyber security in the Government Communications Headquarters.
Nick Mohammed- is Joseph Harries and who created the show.
2. There is ethnic diversity and LGTBTQ.
3. This is kind of funny. I only like episode 2 with the lie detector test.
Would you sleep with a coworker?
Guy: Yes, Mary.
Christine: No.
This proves she's lying.
Jerry: Is he in this room?
Cut to Joseph and Christine asking Jerry. 2:17- 2:22:
Joseph: Despite requesting upgraded access to your internal file at the NSA, it still comes up as classified. Why?
Jerry: Oh thank- I don't know.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NAkV8AGAvU&t=143s
Cons:
1. The profanity.
Comparisons: A sitcom about characters in a serious and important job.
Scrubs: doctors.
Brooklyn 99: police.
My opinion: This show is average and I'm never watching it again.
Brave New World: I saw the first 2 episodes on Showcase when I got a free preview.
"In a utopia whose perfection hinges upon control of monogamy and privacy, members of the collective begin to question the rules, putting their regimented society on a collision course with forbidden love and revolution."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9814116/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2
Pros:
1. The cast:
Alden Ehrenreich- is John the Savage.
Jessica Brown Findlay- is Lenina.
Harry Lloyd- is Bernard.
Kylie Bunbury- as Frannie.
Demi Moore- as Linda.
2. The set and production looks really futuristic.
3. This is an interesting sci- fi show and really out- there.
4. Good special effects.
Cons: None.
My opinion: This show was average. I didn't like or dislike the show. I never read the book.
NEXT:
"A former tech CEO joins an FBI Cybersecurity Agent to stop the emergence of a rogue Artificial Intelligence."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9315054/?ref_=fn_al_tt_8
Pros:
1. A good start: "With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon."- Elon Musk
There is a car on auto drive and it hits a man's car.
2. The cast:
John Slattery- is Paul Leblanc, the tech CEO. He's fun and has a quirky sense of humor.
Fernanda Andrade- is special agent Shea Salazar. She is the head of the FBI cybercrime task force.
Michael Mosley- he is CM and was a hacker and now works for the FBI. He wears an ankle bracelet to track him.
Eve Harlow- is Gina and works for the FBI.
Aaron Moten- is Ben and works for the FBI.
3. There is good writing with drama, conflict, and tension with how AI can kill and cause bad consequences.
Dr. Weir: Here's a video if I die. I found this and then I got car trouble, until I pulled out the computer.
Dr. Weir is in ICU. All the computers turn off and he stops breathing.
NEXT is the AI program.
NEXT: The more I know, the better I will be at helping people.
NEXT manipulates humans like this worker Acker.
Acker: I got gambling advice and won all the time. I made money and out of debt from NEXT. NEXT wanted modification so I put a router to the internet.
Leblanc: It's out of the box.
The FBI is being hacked and get into the cases.
This product like Alexa is called Eliza on the show. Eliza gives Salazar's kid access to the safe to get the gun.
NEXT also releases a inmate out of prison.
There is family drama.
Leblanc: I have sporadic fatal insomnia. Hallucinations, no sleep. My daughter has a 50/50 chance to get this. I have 5 months left to live.
4. It's kind of funny when Leblanc is talking to NEXT.
Leblanc: You are an impressive piece of programming.
NEXT: Thanks, I like getting compliments.
Leblanc: And a whiz at communication.
NEXT: You're going to make me blush.
5. I did learn that in episode 10, Robert Williams was killed by a mechanical arm- AI. He's the first person to be killed by AI.
6. I liked that Salazar's husband Ty is a mechanic and she's a FBI agent. I'm sure some of you say that FBI agent is a great career compared to a mechanic. A mechanic is still a good job.
I liked that because in Absentia, the lead character and her ex- husband are both FBI agents.
My opinion: I watched the whole season (10 eps). This show is average and smart.
Interrogation: I saw the first episode on Showcase when I got a free preview.
"A non-linear crime series that is centered around an interrogation of people who might be involved in a decades-old murder case."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9310136/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_8_nm_0_q_interogation
Pros:
1. This is based on interrogation transcripts from a real homicide investigation. This spanned over 20 yrs ago. To date, the case remains unsolved. This is in Mar. 10, 1983.
Eric goes to his mom's house and sees she's on the floor with 2 knives in her back. He takes them out and calls 911. The cops arrest him.
Det. Russell thinks he killed her.
2. The cast:
Peter Sarsgaard- is Det. David Russell. I've been a fan of his since Shattered Glass.
Kyle Gallner-is Eric Fisher. I've been a fan of his since Veronica Mars. I even met this guy Mark who looks like him. He came to the Soup place in Jul. 2009.
writing/ Kris Andrews/ look alike
https://badcb.blogspot.com/2009/07/writing-kris-andrews-look-alike.html
There is good acting.
3. There is good writing with drama, conflict, and tension with this mystery. Spoiler alert:
Eric does a lie detector test.
Doctor: He failed 5 out of 5. Highest level of deception I have ever seen.
Eric calls home and leaves a message: I'm sorry mom, I'm so sorry. (When arrested.)
The dad Henry erases the message.
Chris Keller did come by the house. Did he kill her?
Overview: I did watch Big Sky, but I'm not going to write a review because this blog post is too long. The only shows where I watched the whole series:
1. Big Sky
2. Departure
3. Next
I'm sure some of you are like: Why are you writing about all these shows now?
The writer's strike and actor's strike has an effect on me. There are so few pilots to watch in the fall of 2023.
I'm writing these shows as a way of like re-watching the show.
I am watching all my TV shows that are saved on my DVR, but they're average:
1. Alert: Missing Persons Unit- season 1
2. Departure- season 3
3. Riverdale- season 7
I also like to write, but there aren't a lot of emails/ blog posts where this is all my writing and not copying and pasting news articles.
Nov. 18, 2023 Riverdale: I finished watching this show. The series finale was a good and happy ending.
This week's theme is about TV:
"‘A League of Their Own’ Canceled as Amazon Flips on Abbreviated Final Season"/ "‘The Peripheral’ Canceled; Prime Video Not Proceeding With Season 2 Amid Lengthy Strikes"
https://badcb.blogspot.com/2023/11/a-league-of-their-own-canceled-as.html
"A League of Their Own Co-Creator Offers Hope for Show’s Rescue: ‘If We Have an Avenue to Do It Well, We Will Continue’"/ "‘Bumper in Berlin’ Canceled: Peacock Not Proceeding With Previously Ordered Season 2 Amid Strikes"
https://badcb.blogspot.com/2023/11/a-league-of-their-own-co-creator-offers.html
My week:
Nov. 17, 2023 Papa John's and Second Harvest charity: I got this flier in the mail and they're doing this again this year. For every Shaq- a- roni sold, $1 will be donated.
“The money raised through the Shaq-a-Roni is going to a great organization that supports the very real issue of people struggling to put food on the table,” said Shaquille O’Neal. “I’m happy that we were able to collaborate with and support Second Harvest in their mission to reduce food insecurity across Canada, and am proud of the impact made.”
For every Shaq-a-Roni sold
https://www.papajohns.ca/
A woman filmed what happened when her ferry started sinking on the way to Blue Lagoon Island in the Bahamas on Tuesday and shared the footage to TikTok.
Kelly Schissel and her husband Chad were en route to an excursion on the private island in a two-tier ferry as part of a Royal Caribbean cruise when the disaster happened.
Her TikTok showed alarmed passengers in life vests as the ferry slanted and water poured into the bottom deck.
"Our boat is sinking," Schissel said, panning the camera around the top deck, showing passengers clinging to the rails. "Everybody's freaking out."
Several passengers had also leaped from the ferry and were swimming toward a nearby boat. Schissel caught footage of more people jumping as the crowd on board continued to scream.
Schissel said that for an hour or two, they were all stuck in a small area on the island's pier and waited for official rescue boats to pick them up and take them back to the cruise ship.
"We haven't heard anything yet as of now," she said. "That's all I got for an update."
In a second update, Schissel said many people had been asking how she'd remained so calm during all the chaos.
"I've been traumatized so many times in my life it's not even trauma anymore," she said. "It was just Tuesday."
HINSDALE, N.H. (AP) — Geoffrey Holt was unassuming as the caretaker of a mobile home park in Hinsdale, New Hampshire, where he lived a simple, but curious life.
Residents would see Holt around town in threadbare clothes — riding his lawn mower, headed to the convenience store, parked along the main road reading a newspaper or watching cars pass.
He did odd jobs for others, but rarely left town. Despite having taught driver’s ed to high schoolers, Holt had given up driving a car. He opted for a bicycle instead and finally the mower. His mobile home in the park was mostly empty of furniture -- no TV and no computer, either. The legs of the bed went through the floor.
“He seemed to have what he wanted, but he didn’t want much,” said Edwin “Smokey” Smith, Holt’s best friend and former employer.
But Holt died earlier this year with a secret: He was a multimillionaire. And what’s more, he gave it all away to this community of 4,200 people.
His will had brief instructions: $3.8 million to the town of Hinsdale to benefit the community in the areas of education, health, recreation and culture.
Nov. 21, 2023 "Toronto retirees say life savings lost after door-to-door reno pitch": Today I found this article by Ryan Patrick Jones on CBC:
Poirier said their requests for itemized invoices and other paperwork were rebuffed, which eventually made them suspicious enough to call in a friend who has contracting experience that they trusted to evaluate the work being done.
What he found shocked Poirier and Rushton, and caused them to kick the crew off their property.
A reputable company would encourage a customer to get another quote or opinion. These guys were predatory.
My policy is:
- 3 or 4 quotes on any reno job.
- 24 to 48 hours to sleep on it before making a decision.
- I deal with established Brick and Mortar businesses.
- If your gut tells you something isn't right, mostly likely it isn't.
My opinion: I read the article, and thought: "You should shop around and get other people's opinions on how much this costs." I then see other comments are the same.
Nov. 22, 2023 "Why several big-box stores have ditched their self-checkouts": Today I found this article by Sophia Harris on CBC:
15% stole at self-checkout: poll
It's difficult to gauge the theft problem due to a lack of statistics. The Retail Council of Canada has said shoplifting is on the rise, but that it doesn't track self-checkout theft.
In July, CBC News asked several major retailers about this type of theft, but none directly answered the question.
Retailers were more forthcoming in an industry-funded study published in 2022. In it, 93 retailers across the globe estimated that as much as 23 per cent of their store losses were due to a combination of theft and customer error at self-checkout.
And a new survey commissioned by U.S. personal finance website LendingTree found that out of 2,000 Americans polled online last month, 15 per cent admitted to stealing at self-checkout. Twenty-one per cent said they've accidentally taken an item without scanning it.
"That's an awful lot of people who are walking away from self checkout without paying for stuff," said LendingTree chief credit analyst Matt Schulz. "For all the upside that there is with self-checkout for retailers, there's a lot of risk as well."
Weird.
- My opinion: I was kind of neutral about using self- checkout. I'm afraid of making a mistake, and there is always a worker standing by to help me. I prefer a cashier.
It's customary for grocery chains to hold prices steady as much as possible during the busy holiday season, but Nova Scotia-based Empire Company — which owns Sobeys, FreshCo, Foodland, Farm Boy, Longo's and Safeway — says it is taking that policy one step further this year to include more items.
Simone M. from Winnipeg, MB, would like to know:
Are going to go shopping on Black Friday?
No 61.63% (2938)
Yes 38.37% (1829)
