The Bastard Executioner Review – A bloody tale

TV-MA, 1 hr episodes, FX

Created by Kurt Sutter, Starring Lee Jones and Katey Segal

I was pretty stoked for The Bastard Executioner, and for good reason. This is Kurt Sutter’s highly anticipated TV show coming hot of the heels of a disjointed, but very good Sons of Anarchy TV show and the thrilling Southpaw. The short ads for this show also showcased stunning vistas and intense battles with bloodshed aplenty.

Bastard is a show that knows it audience. That audience is one that wishes Game of Thrones was on, but has to wait until April. So in the meantime, we get this medieval show.  The plot was fairly interesting, and it just enough so to keep you hooked, but not so confusing that you didn’t know what was going on.

The star of the show here is Wilkin Brattle (Jones) who after a stroke of luck, survives an epic battle and comes into contact with a witch/healer of sorts, Annora of the Alders (Segal) who gives him a scar that is similar to an executioner that was in the battle and did not survive. Brattle then takes that identity, and travels to find somewhere to settle down and figure out what to do next. His family, along with his friends’ have been slaughtered and he pretty much has nothing. He doesn’t travel long before he comes to a Baron’s castle and has to execute the one man that still knows his former identity from the battle. Thus is the basis for the show, and we spend most of the next 10 episodes here.

Bastard gets the essentials right for an ultraviolent show like this. Before I continue, let me stress that this show is extremely violent. I really can’t stress that enough. It pushes the boundaries of what you think can be shown on TV and is definitely not for the squeamish. That aside, it’s very well done. It all looks and sounds very real, and the camera sometimes gets uncomfortably close. Just like in Game of Thrones, there are many people who do horrible things to others just to get by or fuel their own fires. Some characters do come full circle and learn from their wrongdoings, which did give the show some humanity and helped it feel less bleak.

The cinematography is also fantastic, and showcases some stunning landscapes and was shot in Wales, UK. This show isn’t extremely action packed, but when things do heat up the battle sequences are breathtaking, and definitely worth the watch just for those. Beyond that, the story was pretty solid, the characters were very relatable and the show doesn’t overstay it’s welcome with a perfect 10 episodes. So what went wrong?

Well, I have to address the elephant in the room here; and i’m referring to Katey Segal. She is by far the weakest part of the show, and her accent was atrocious. It just came off as a poor idea that they stuck with for some reason, and the intro music wasn’t very fitting as well. I would usually just skip through it. Segal was extremely miscast, and it’s a shame because if they had gotten a little younger character that doesn’t hail from the USA.

Besides that, there is some serious pacing issues. After some episodes I was asking myself: “Well, it didn’t seem like much happened here, but i’m still intrigued to see what happens.” It felt like these episodes were just a trail to the next one, but luckily there were just a couple of them.

Verdict

So ultimately, this is a show that fills in the gap between now and April 2016 for Game of Thrones. It’s a decent, violent medieval show that gets a few things right, but ultimately it wasn’t enough, as the show is not getting renewed for a second season. As it stands though, there are a satisfying 10 episodes here to get through, and the finale does wrap up a lot of loose ends. Bastard is just interesting enough to keep you going, but it’s not nearly the experience that Sons of Anarchy or Southpaw managed to achieve.

Score: 6.5/10

Up and Coming – 11/30/15

Change is in the air! I feel like trimming some fat on here, so i’m going to start with cutting out the Warriors Update and Song of the Day. Neither seem to be garnering much attention. Besides that, everything is the same.

Now that we got that out of the way, here’s what you can look forward to in the near future:

• The Bastard Executioner  season 1 review. New medieval TV show by Kurt Sutter, the creator of Sons of Anarchy.
• American Horror Story: Hotel review, as well as the 4 earlier seasons. That should be a juicy one.
• Spectre review. Saw the newest 007 at the theater recently, was it any good?
• The Last of the Mohicans review. This was a movie I finally got around to finishing up.
• Dying Light review.Techland, the developers of Dead Island are back in a shiny new zombie game, but were they able to get it right this time?
• God of War III Remastered review. Kratos’ legacy comes to an end in this epic action game, remastered for the PS4.

If you have any thoughts on what’s coming up or the changes i’ve made, be sure to sound off below. Besides that, some of you may be wondering if i’ve picked up Fallout 4 yet. Well, the question is no. I’m waiting for the first big patch to hit the PS4 as I got burned on Skyrim from playing it day one, and the extra time right now gives me more opportunity to get through my backlog. I imagine i’ll be picking it up sometime before Christmas.

Speaking of backlogs, I have some links to share with y’all. I will be keeping my backlog up to date on howlongtobeat.com. You can see what i’m going to be playing in the future, what i’m currently playing, and what i’ve completed. It’s a great site, and let me know if there are any additions you think I should have. Finally, I have a bunch of videos that I need to upload to my YouTube channel (mostly just highlights of PS4 games), so you can keep an eye on that here: My YouTube Channel. There’s not much there now, but I should have some more time in the coming weeks to add some more fun stuff on there. Well that’s it for now! As always thanks for reading and happy holidays.

-Fro$ty

Attack on Titan Review

Rated: TV-MA

25 min episodes, 2 seasons **Minor spoilers**

A show that starts off great, but loses steam with time

Attack on Titan is one of those shows that explains just enough to the viewer so that there is reason for the conflict. The main character here is Eren Jaegar, who makes a vow to cleanse the land of Titans because of what they did to his family. Titans are big, monstrous, humanoid beasts that for some reason that is never really explained roam the land in search of their next meal. Eren’s path to vengeance fuels most of the show, and while it works for a little while, there is a point where the plot twists are not only strange, but there isn’t much explained to make them believable at all. As the viewer I cared less and less about the plot as the show went on, because it got so weak.

It was weak because none of the characters are really around long enough for you to get attached to, and they are always so busy just trying to stay alive that they don’t get all that fleshed out. Even with all the flashbacks and heart to heart conversations, I didn’t really develop any feelings with the characters. It all felt pretty hollow.

Please don’t eat me

I watched this show because of the Titans. They are wonderfully designed and are extremely menacing. The main problem with this show is that is repeats itself over and over. People are dead! The government is corrupt! We are doomed! Another Titan invasion! Ok, ok we get it, things are depressing. The show doesn’t understand that you need to have a balance and doesn’t really have any sort of comic relief or any big events that give the viewer much hope that things are going to get better.

Verdict

The final nail in the coffin for this show was the ending. It was not only a cliffhanger, but incredibly unsatisfying. I had to trudge through all the episodes to get to this finale? THAT’S IT? How does this show have an 8.9 on IMDB? If you want to check out this show, just watch the first half. It is pretty badass just to watch the Titans do their thing. Beyond that, it was kind of a waste of time for me. I put a bunch of episodes on my iPad before a trip and got invested in it because I didn’t have wi-fi access and therefore didn’t have much else to watch.

6/10

Banshee Seasons 1-3 Review

**Minor Spoilers!**

TVMA, 1 hr episodes, Cinemax Network

This show is a guilty pleasure of mine. I remember feeling that way when I was hearing about it, I just had this lingering idea that I wanted to watch it, and i’m glad I did. Before I go any further, let me say that this show is very graphic and really earns the mature rating. So now that we got that out of the way lets get into it shall we?

Banshee is about an ex-con Lucas Hood (Antony Starr) who assumes the identity of a sheriff that was murdered right when hes passing through Banshee, a small Amish town in Pennsylvania. He really starts taking the role seriously and disbanding his own brand of justice. Its not by the book but he has his reasons and you sympathize with him because his character is pretty well fleshed out. The other characters are all very believable and well done, especially his old flame, Carrie Hopewell (Ivana Milicevic) who is a beautiful fighter that you really get to understand as the story wears on.

Don’t mess with Carrie

Banshee is really all about the action, it just helps that the characters are solid as well. There is a bit of disbelief you will have to suspend to enjoy this show, but its well worth it as the directing and script keep things going at a steady pace, and the choreography is fantastic. Things get very visceral in this show, and im not going to lie, season 3 will have you on the edge of your seat. This is one of those few shows that really does get better with each season, I cant believe they are ending it next season. Some of the action sequences are so good, I felt like I was watching a live action version of Mortal Kombat. The villain in the show, Kai Proctor (Ulrich Thomsen) is amazing. You get to understand why hes become the monster he is, and you really sympathize with his need to break away from the Amish tradition that he was thrust into and become his own man, while avoiding the law and making shady deals on the side.

There are a few other characters that are very fleshed out and paid meticulous detail to that I wont spoil here. Banshee is one of those shows that just keeps getting better. If you like season 1, just keep watching, trust me.

Things get so crazy in season 3 you’ll be watching 2-4 episodes in a row. Its so well done, so addicting, that it just feels like a long, epic action movie that you just happen to be in the middle of. Turn up the sound, tell the neighbors to shut up, and watch some ass get kicked. Banshee is one of my favorite action shows, and one my favorite shows in general. No one feels safe, and the show really goes all the way. Check it out.

Score: 9.5/10

Mr. Robot Season 1 Review

**Minor Spoilers!**

TV14, 1 hr episodes, 10 episodes, USA Network

My first post! Very excited coming off of the finale for Mr. Robot, a show I heard about that has been a magnificent surprise. I literally watch nothing else on the USA network, but have enjoyed every minute of this.

Mr. Robot follows Elliot (Rami Malek) a young programmer who suffers from social anxiety disorder and works for Allsafe, a company that is a digital gatekeeper for Evil Corp. In his free time he enjoys hacking people he is curious about, whether it be his therapist, his boss, no one is safe. He is very good at what he does, and the show is all the more believable when you notice that much detail has been paid to the actual hacking, this is not the typical Hollywood hacking your’e used to seeing. Elliot references packet sniffers, loopholes, scripts, and other terms that will be familiar to anyone who has tried programming before. That is one of the few downsides (or upsides depending on how you look at it) about the show, there are times when if you don’t really know what he’s talking about, you may be a little lost, but the show doesn’t spend too much time going into that so you can still know what’s going on.

Nothing is safe

He is so good, that an undercover group “fsociety” is revealed to him when Mr. Robot (Christian Slater) finds him and tries to recruit him into it, and he is reluctant at first, but one thing leads to another and he finds himself as the main brain of fsociety. This show has a feel to it that is different than anything I have watched in some time. What this immediately reminded me of was The Sixth Sense. What it shares with that movie is that you never really know whats going on. What is real? What is fake? Is Elliot just taking too many drugs? I felt compelled and excited when each episode would end, I just wanted to see what happens next, there are so many twists and turns (some I saw coming, but it was well done) that it keeps you hooked. This show also doesnt hold back as far as content goes, and it feels like it was a TV MA show that was cut to be TV 14, for better or for worse. There are only 10 episodes, so its not a huge time commitment, but wow. What a fantastic show about hackers trying to make a difference in this crazy world. Its not only a show that will make you think about the world, but it will make you think about yourself.

Anyone who knows the basics of technology owes it to themselves to watch this show. Its that well done and thought provoking. Give it a chance, you wont regret it.

Score: 8.5/10