The Rig season two

The first season of The Rig was a curious series that ended up a long way from what you might expect with an ecological thread and ambitious staging far exceeding expectations. When you think of recent series cancelled by streamers, despite creating a big buzz and seeming popular, it seems odd that The Rig has sneaked though to a sophomore year. I liked the first season but I hadn’t realised it must have done well enough to pass the mysterious criteria streamers have for renewal. Yet survive it has and two years on we have season two.

The Rig review

 

A lot of modern tv drama attempts to be so meta or postmodern or over clever that its something of a pleasant change to find a serial so defiantly old school. The Rig, Amazon Prime’s new six-part series is very traditional while striving for some realism amidst the crisis. It’s a recipe that generally works and even though much of the plot seems familiar there is enough spark to keep the viewer intrigued. It’s a series that refuses to sit still and be one thing so elements of business, ecology, employment and technology are knitted together and the sci-fi aspect is kept believably shadowy. In short, it is a great yarn!

 Spoilers from here...

Review - Titans Season Three Eps 9 - 13

 

Titans has never looked more gothic than it does in `Souls` which could be a pilot for a spin off series. We left poor Tim Drake last episode after he’d been shot by Crane and this episode opens with him on an old fashioned steam train being bothered by an especially aggressive conductor. Also on this train is Donna Troy who of course died at the end of last season. Before long Hank turns up with a car as the other two escape the train and head into a snowy forest. We’re in a monochrome afterlife which makes a nice change to the usual grim Gotham streets. It’s best not to examine too closely just how any of this can happen- especially when they discover they can dream up weapons to fight off shadowy ghouls- and go with it. As well as being visually interesting this episode also contains some great character beats and given the subject matter some humour as well. Just listen to the song playing when Hank draws up- `Living on a Prayer`! This is intermingled with Rachel who is trying to bring Donna back to life on Paradise Island and it’s great to see so many characters back again.

Review - Titans Season Three Eps 5 to 8

 Context is everything of course and albeit a tad late here we find out exactly what’s been going on with Jason in the excellent `Lazarus`. Arguably this would have made a great second episode even if it took way the shock of him seeming to die which was taken away in the actual second episode in any case. Essentially a four handed episode without any of the other Titans and an excellent script from Bryan Edward Hill unfurls a story of a boy trying to impress his mentor who in turns is doing his best to stop the kid getting into any more trouble. It reverses the arguments of episode one which painted Bruce as uncaring- as Dick saw him and accused him of- to reveal exactly the opposite. Stung by how his time as Robin damaged Dick, he is determined not to repeat the mistakes with Jason. The latter though, still traumatised by what happened to him in season two, thinks Bruce is trying to protect him because he’s weak and wants to show otherwise hence his attempt to confront the Joker. It’s a potent brew that bubbles constantly and includes some of the best scenes the series has so hitherto played.

Titans Season Two Episodes 9 - 13

`Atonement` brings us back to the present as Dick’s confession to everyone about what really happened causes a parting of the ways leaving only Gar. Trusted to look after the still unconscious Conner we have a lighter interlude as Gar tries to keep himself occupied with positive thoughts, healthy eating and reading classic literature to the sleeping stranger. His positivity lasts all of a few days and then Conner wakes up. Eager to fill him in on the role of a superhero, Gar takes him outside only for Connor to misunderstand the fundamentals and take on a whole squad of police! Ryan Potter has been left on the sidelines in recent episodes so it’s good to see him exercising his comedic side again and the scenes between Gar and the baffled Conner are great fun. It’s good too that at least one person still maintains a sunnier outlook on the Titans and believes they ultimately do good which counter balances the older members angst this week.

 

Titans Season Two Episodes 5 - 8

 The fifth episode `Deathstroke` packs an enormous amount into its thirty seven minutes, perhaps too much. There are times when it plays like a clips show zapping from one revelatory conversation to another with gusto though the cumulative effect is hugely enjoyable. It’s a plot that pulls at the relationships between young and older Titans and asks questions of their working methods. Has Dick recruited the younger Titans without really telling them what could lie in store? How can Rose come back to life? And just what is that black thing that looks like wings which keeps sprouting from Rachel? It’s a heady brew punctuated by violent action and some heartfelt scenes though I did find the latter somewhat basic at times. Some conversations seemed to just have characters saying one cliched line after another. Yet it all comes together somehow.