Review Category: Television

It’s been over a quarter of a century since Maul, the red-skinned, horned lord of the Sith, made his Star Wars debut. Now, following his incredible resurrection in The Clone Wars, he finally has his own series – proof that some things are worth waiting for. Maul – Shadow Lord is a breathless, carnal and stylish series that leans heavily into its protagonist’s appeal, while living and breathing the history of Star Wars.

The animation style has come so far since The Clone Wars. This is also true of other recent shows like The Bad Batch, but Shadow Lord shows it off like never before with an angular, dark style that combines elements of horror with crime noir. The lightsabers fizz with a newfound intensity, a perfect accompaniment to the duels that are the highlight of the series. Every one of them possesses a brutality and voraciousness that makes your heart beat faster (even if the results are arguably unsatisfying – Maul never seems capable of anything more than a stalemate). 

The whole show only exists so you can bask in Maul’s aura, and Star Wars legend Sam Witwer brings him to life with tangible anguish, pain, and grace, as well as his relentless fury. Much like the exceptional Andor, Shadow Lord concerns itself with independence, identity, and strength of will. But unlike other Star Wars stories, the protagonist here is never mistaken for a hero. He is a malevolent and scheming demon, who returns to the fold in scintillating style and in a manner that reminds you of why his popularity – like Maul himself – endures.

All episodes of Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord are streaming now on Disney+.

It’s been a long road, getting from there to here. The idea of doing a story set at Starfleet Academy dates back to the era of the original movies, with a proposed instalment detailing Kirk and Spock’s academy days. But now the basic concept’s been given an Alex Kurtzman makeover (alongside show creator Gaia Violo) and transplanted to the Discovery era of the 32nd Century.

The new show – as established in Discovery’s final season – sees Starfleet Academy return to its traditional home in San Francisco for the first time in over a century, with a new chancellor in Holly Hunter’s Nahla Ake.

The show however starts several years earlier, showing an incident between Ake, a young child called Caleb, his mother (She-Hulk’s Tatiana Maslany), and Nus Braka – a half Klingon, half Tellarite pirate, played with glorious hamminess by Paul Giamatti.

Flash forward several years, and the now-civilian Ake and Caleb (now played by newcomer Sandro Rosta) are reunited. She’s persuaded to reenlist and take over the academy, and persuades Caleb to study there (considering he’s looking at a prison sentence otherwise, he’s not got a huge amount of choice).

Before you can say “but it took Wesley Crusher years to get into the Academy,” (different era, and it’s explained that Starfleet needs to expand) they’re on the USS Athena heading to Earth. The Athena is the show’s new hero ship – a training ship which handily doubles as the academy’s campus while on Earth – when it’s attacked by Braka, who’s got a score to settle.

Despite the presence of much more experienced officers, it’s up to Caleb and fellow recruits (played by Karim Diané, Bella Shepherd, Kerrice Brooks, and George Dawkins) to save the day. They’re a fun bunch, with Brooks’ Sam (an advanced hologram) and Diané’s Klingon, Jay-Den Kraag by far the most interesting.

But, like another school-based (magical) franchise we could mention, the teachers are much more fun than the students, in large part due to the return of Robert Picardo as an 800-year older version of Voyager’s Doctor (his bedside manner having not improved one iota), and Discovery’s two most enjoyable characters – Tig Notaro’s Jet Reno and Mary Wiseman’s Tilly (who, we’re promised, is in the show, despite not appearing in the initial batch available for review).

Holly Hunter is also – as you’d expect – rather excellent, combining the gravitas needed from a Starfleet captain, with a quirkiness that won’t be to everyone’s taste. (Her character’s the same species as Carol Kane’s on Strange New Worlds. Apparently, they’re all a bit kooky. Ake’s primary quirk is walking around barefoot like she’s auditioning for a part in a new Tarantino epic.) There’s also a half Klingon, half Jem’Hadar, whose teaching method seems straight out of Full Metal Jacket (although with fewer mentions of reacharounds). Oh, Stephen Colbert and Brit Marling pop up in small recurring voice roles. He’s witty, she’s wasted.

The show itself is, as you may expect half Kurtzman-style Trek adventures, half school-based shenanigans. Considering the show is looking to attract a younger audience than usual for the franchise, this isn’t surprising. However, while all the usual teen cliches are covered (outsiders and daddy issues are a big thing with this lot), the early, school-centric stories seem a little conventional. What we will say, is stick with it, as by mid-season, it looks like the show is firmly finding it’s feet (one episode in particular ranks among the best of modern Trek).

Ultimately, if Kurtzman’s output hasn’t done it for you to date, it’s unlikely Academy will win you over. And with the new regime at Paramount developing their new Trek output, it’s quite likely that the currently filming second season will be the last we see of Academy. If so, it’ll be a shame. The show, like the cadets may currently be a little rough around the edges, but they both have a lot of potential.

In the brutal battle of La Justicia Fronteriza, Paz proved just how capable she was as a street-fighting warrior. Her ability to find Daryl out on the open road proves she’s no slouch as a tracker either. Bringing these two characters together ahead of the attempt to infiltrate Barcelona means that Daryl will be able to call on additional firepower and local knowledge. At the same time, it affords writer Marta Gene Camps the screentime to heat up Carol’s simmering relationship with Antonio, as they protect the ailing Roberto back in Solaz del Mar.

The chance to visit a walker-infested Barcelona was always an enticing prospect – and, back in the director’s chair, the ever-dependable Daniel Percival delivers the hoped-for visual impact. As well as the sprawling cityscapes, there’s a melancholic trawl through a forlorn and abandoned funfair that triggers Paz’s pre-apocalyptic flashbacks – nostalgic recollections of a rose-tinted childhood, which contrast so sharply with Daryl’s own fleeting memories of childhood trauma.

After Paz confesses to Daryl her intimate connection with Elena, she agrees to try to track down the Barcelona survivor community she lost contact with years before, led by an old friend. After she finds the group living in secret, and under the radar, deep within the city, her reunion with the group’s leader Laia is joyous. Once again, Daryl Dixon outshines the recent efforts of its spin-off compatriot Dead City. The hidden community in Negan and Maggie’s drama are insipid hippy foragers, eking out a life of New Age penury in Central Park. Laia’s community in contrast is shown to be thriving, well-armed and taking self-defence seriously. It something which simply offers more dramatic potential.

When Laia agrees to put the group’s head above the parapet and join a raid on the royal convoy en route to El Alcázar, Daryl puts together a cunning plan that makes best use of the city’s narrow streets to trap Guillermo’s party at a road block. It’s a tightly choreographed set-piece, well framed and well executed – another target that the last season of Dead City often missed. Percival matches the intense action with some moments of high emotion and agonising and melodramatic disappointment. A sense of élan and confidence infuses the on-screen action.

There’s a very different tone to proceedings back in Solaz del Mar, as the will-they-won’t-they dynamic between Carol and Antonio reaches a critical juncture. There’s even a dabble in comedic embarrassment, as Carol walks in on Antonio taking an alfresco shower. But the heightened intimacy between them feels legitimate and hard earned. Their respectful mutual attraction has been threaded into the season’s storyline from the beginning, while single-minded Daryl’s attention has been elsewhere. Their new closeness encourages Antonio to confide in Carol, confessing the shocking truth behind his late wife’s death, and explaining the hold that this secret has given Fede over him.

But while Antonio carries not only the physical scars of the incident but the guilt that goes with it, not everyone in the episode treats culpability in the same way. When Paz thwarts Laia’s rocket attack on Guillermo’s vehicle to protect Elena, the consequences are devastating. Not for the first time, those agreeing to help Daryl in his quest suffer as a result of that decision. But Paz seems unaffected by the cost of her intervention. Realising the true extent of Fede’s cruelty, Carol guilts his mother Doña Marga into sharing the essential medicine from her son’s stash that might yet save Roberto’s life. When her attempts to sneak Roberto to safety are interrupted, Antonio offers himself as a distraction and a sacrifice.

With a storyline rich in operatic levels of Mediterranean emotion, where the make-or-break showdowns of the season finale will leave Daryl and Carol will soon be revealed. Miles apart from one another, Carol and Daryl both face daunting challenges in rescuing the people they have committed themselves to, as the full ugliness of both the Solaz and El Alcázar regimes is exposed.

The third season of THE WALKING DEAD: DARYL DIXON premiered on Sundays on AMC and AMC+ in the US is available in the UK on Sky Max and NOW TV

Read our previous reviews of the third season of THE WALKING DEAD: DARYL DIXON below:

Season 3, Episode 1, COSTA DA MORTE
Season 3, Episode 2, LA OFRENDA
Season 3, Episode 3, EL SACRIFICIO
Season 3, Episode 4, LA JUSTICIA FRONTERIZA
Season 3, Episode 5, LIMBO

With the showrunners making no effort to disguise their intentions, the fifth episode, Limbo, emerges as Daryl Dixon’s homage to the spaghetti western — albeit one with a few extra Mad Max motifs thrown in. Limbo is a ‘bottle’ episode that does little to advance the season’s story arc or move forward the show’s key relationships.

But it is an entertaining diversion from the main event, and an episode filled with glorious visuals courtesy of some stunning real-world Spanish locations. And it’s unlikely that Norman Reedus raised many objections to the chance to temporarily become the heroic ‘man with no name’ who – as the premise demands – comes to the aid of an isolated community terrorised by a gang of extortionists.

Out on the open road, Daryl, Carol and Antonio come across a wrecked vehicle. They rescue a badly injured Roberto, strapped to a bridge and menaced by walkers, and learn of Justina’s abduction following the pair’s short-lived escape from the clutches of Torres’ henchmen. Needing to split up, Daryl agrees to set off alone in pursuit, while Antonio and Carol take Roberto back home for life-saving medical treatment.

Back at Solaz de Mar, Antonio clashes once again with settlement leader Fede in a re-run of their recurring conflict about the community’s relationship with their supposed ‘protectors’. The challenge that confronts Antonio is that Fede controls access to the medicine and resources that the ailing Roberto desperately needs. Fede is now convinced that Roberto is a disruptor and the architect of his own misfortune.

But the episode’s main focus is on Daryl’s solo mission, which begins with some arresting visuals of him powering through the endless rugged scrubland of the Monegros Desert of Zaragoza — every inch the lone warrior on a quest. Those shots are then topped by the appearance of the engine and carriages of a train being dragged along the tracks by a posse of walkers, all yearning to reach the human rider just out of their reach up front. Chofo, the vindictive leader of the Buzzards bandit group, orders his riders to rob and kill Daryl, triggering a brief but intense chase. Later, Daryl — dehydrated and on foot — is found by the kindly Mateo and taken to their village (the real-life location of the ruins of Old Belchite offering evocative visuals).

When he learns that Mateo’s isolated colony of lepers, already estranged from Spanish society, has been targeted by the rapacious Buzzards who have stolen all of their water, Daryl knows what he must do. Daryl’s character arc across Season Three has been about his need to reconnect to people, after emotionally recoiling from others following the Laurent’s escape and the death of Isabelle. Taking on responsibility for the survival of those in “Limbo” is an expression of a wider redemptive impulse on his part, which helps to set the scene for the sacrifices required in the upcoming finale.

As Daryl sets to work to take apart the criminal enterprise, viewers are treated to some classic western action, especially the scenes of him taking down the Buzzards’ train single-handedly. Mateo’s people are understandably delighted to have such a saviour championing their cause. And even if it’s not obvious how this community feeds itself, given there’s no evidence of agriculture or husbandry (or indeed of a water source), it is clear what their salvation is meant to represent by way of metaphor.

And as Carol and Antonio fret about Roberto’s fate and Justina’s whereabouts, Daryl sets off alone again into the wilderness in the direction of Barcelona (and the main season storyline), channelling his inner-Clint Eastwood as he goes.

The third season of THE WALKING DEAD: DARYL DIXON premiered on Sundays on AMC and AMC+ in the US is available in the UK on Sky Max and NOW TV

Read our previous reviews of the third season of THE WALKING DEAD: DARYL DIXON below:

Season 3, Episode 1, COSTA DA MORTE
Season 3, Episode 2, LA OFRENDA
Season 3, Episode 3, EL SACRIFICIO
Season 3, Episode 4, LA JUSTICIA FRONTERIZA

What impresses most about El Sacrificio (“The Sacrifice”) is the way it presents life in a rural Spanish coastal region plunged into its own past by the long reverberations of the zombie apocalypse. Time in this part of Spain has wound backwards, so that earlier traditions, premodern cultures and old forms of monarchical rule are once again resurgent.

That means that refugees Daryl and Carol are not simply geographically adrift in a strange land, but are travellers who are out of sync with the society into which they have been shipwrecked. Writers David Zabel and Jason Richman make good use of this sense of disconnection in an episode that offers both some decent water-based walker action and some emotionally dialed-in character development.

Daryl’s decision in La Ofrenda to come to the aid of Roberto and Justina continues to ricochet through the law of unintended consequences. Outraged at the disappearance of his men, would-be king Guillermo threatens to withdraw his protective shield from Solaz even as settlement leader Fede tries to placate him. Daryl is ignoring the gathering crisis, his focus solely on repairing their ship so that they can set sail afresh. He views the community as an asset from which he can strip the resources he requires.

Far more attuned to the rhythms of the community around her, Carol finds herself drawn to Solaz’s quiet and reflective cinephile Antonio. As she joins him for an intimate solar-powered film screening, the affinity between these two resilient and self-possessed survivors is as close as it is respectful. Eduardo Noriega is superb as the damaged but fiercely perceptive fiftysomething. The growing closeness between his character and Carol is one of several unexpected developments that auger really well for what comes next.

In Season Two, the showrunners decided to kill off the mighty Isabelle at the very moment that Daryl and Carol were reunited, in order to remove the distraction that a potential emotional ménage à trois might introduce. This new Carol-Antonio dynamic suggests there is renewed interest on the producers’ part in sprinkling a little grit into the gears of Daryl and Carol’s relationship.

Oblivious to all of this, Daryl takes Roberto on a scavenger hunt looking for replacement parts for their beached sailboat. Their search leads them to visit a striking-looking lighthouse and to draw on the expertise of Valentina, a salty sea-dog of a distinctive and unusual flavour. Her assessment in turn leads Daryl to an old boat yard on the lookout for a new rudder. The visit is the catalyst for a walker surge on the beach and in the waves. Director Daniel Percival delivers some energetic action set-pieces, as Daryl and Roberto bond in an alliance that leads Daryl to rescind his objection to Roberto and Justina joining his sailing crew.

Of course, in the world of the Walking Dead, optimism usually has a short life-expectancy. Carol’s efforts to assuage Justina’s guilt in avoiding being chosen as the offering in La Ofrenda backfire when Justina draws a sharply different conclusion from their conversation. Her counsel leads to a twist that makes conflict between Solaz and El Alcázar seemingly unavoidable, despite Fede’s instincts to appease Guillermo. All of this will complicate Daryl’s and Carol’s travel plans.

There’s a surprising nod to Daryl’s Gallic adventures after Roberto shows him a clifftop statue named Camino de Santiago, a shrine to pilgrims and travellers. Daryl leaves Laurent’s Rubik’s Cube at the site, expressing the hope that the young Frenchman reached the shores of the US courtesy of Ash Patel’s plane. As well as being a fan-pleasing continuity moment, it’s also a means to bring Daryl’s softer side back into focus.

The landscape of El Sacrificio looks fantastic throughout, as the action moves from the narrow streets and open plazas of the village, across the huge vistas of the rugged coastline, and down to the tiny coves and beaches. Whether it’s the politics, the plotting or the evocation of place, Daryl Dixon is once again able to show other — less grounded — Walking Dead spin-offs how it should be done.

The third season of THE WALKING DEAD: DARYL DIXON premiers on Sundays on AMC and AMC+ in the US and will be available in the UK on Sky Max and NOW TV from October 24th

Read our previous reviews of the third season of THE WALKING DEAD: DARYL DIXON below:

Season 3, Episode 1, COSTA DA MORTE
Season 3, Episode 2, LA OFRENDA

Although the opening episode’s surprise cliffhanger soon fizzles out, events in Episode Two immediately pick up as Daryl and Carol are reunited. In fact, the storyline of La Ofrenda (Spanish for “The Offering”) quickly immerses the pair in the unusual environment of the Spanish coastal region where they were shipwrecked. Their impulsive actions also quickly position them on one side of a conflict that neither of them yet fully understands the fracture lines of. Within hours of arriving in Spain, Carol and Daryl are no longer just unwitting refugees; they’re already combatants.

After Daryl finds a still-recuperating Carol watching a seemingly carefree couple relaxing by a fresh mountain stream, they pause for a moment to observe them unseen. This wistful vista of young love, free of fear and responsibility, is shattered when an armed patrol arrives and attacks them. Daryl takes out the assailants and saves the youngsters’ lives. Roberto and Justina are grateful, but reveal they are runaways who have eloped from their settlement, Solaz del Mar. After Daryl insists they repay their debt to him by returning, so that Carol can receive medical treatment, they reluctantly agree.

One of the signature successes of Daryl Dixon is the show’s ability to get great visual impact from its real-world locations, and in a way that generates an evocative and distinctive sense of place. The first two series were bursting with bucolic Gallic vistas, and impressive urban French desolation. With the showrunners aware of just how important the idea of ‘place’ is to the series’ identity, series three is already pulling together a sense of how the art, architecture and complex social history of Spain might have morphed through the experience of a zombie apocalypse.

This means that the setting of Solaz del Mar is a particularly interesting prospect, especially as it’s quickly made clear that this is not an everyday dystopian enclave. The new arrivals are greeted with warm hospitality, as Carol’s infection is treated by Justina’s grandmother, while Roberto’s father provides Daryl with accommodation and the offer of tools and materials to fix their beached and damaged boat. There’s also some life and a bit of joy in evidence at Solaz del Mar. The Mediterranean climate seems to support not just a bountiful harvest, but resources enough for parties, colourful ritualistic celebrations and more than a glimpse of the good life. Given that it’s far from being a work-camp offering a life of drudgery and hard labour, it’s not immediately obvious why Roberto and Justina were so keen to flee.

It’s only later when it becomes apparent that the young lovers hope to escape an obligation that could see the pair separated for ever. Each year, the settlement’s leader Fede must handover a young woman to the clutches of El Alcázar as the price for their ‘protection’ of Solaz del Mar. El Alcázar’s leader Guillermo Torres styles himself as the last surviving member of the Spanish monarchy, with all of the entitlements he believes are invested in that status.

It’s perhaps not the most original, nor the most exciting, jeopardy that the showrunners could have injected into the plot. The idea of one essentially decent community being preyed upon by their more powerful neighbours, who extort an appalling ‘tax’ with menaces, is as old as storytelling. But with resistance to the ritual being brutally punished by El Alcázar’s enforcers, it does at least set in motion the potential for a showdown between the blackmailers and the blackmailed. There’s also a weak point in Torres’ inner-circle that he’s unaware of, which could have unforseen repercussions.

What makes it trickier to predict how this will play out is the differing approaches of the two American émigrés observing proceedings. Daryl is single-minded about finding a way back across the Atlantic, and is determined that they not get ensnared in local matters. He won’t countenance the idea of taking the two youngsters with them. Carol is more empathic and willing to voice concerns to her hosts. What complicates matters for Daryl is the arrival of the sole surviving member of the group he tackled earlier, who could expose him as a killer.

This is an episode light on walkers, which focuses instead on introducing the new and alien European culture into which Carol and Daryl are thrust. There are hints of a latent tension between the pair (Daryl the grumpy isolationist, Carol the diplomatic lobbyist) which could introduce a sparky new dynamic to their relationship. Their new environs look great on screen and give off a very different ambience to their earlier French counterparts. This sojourn in the Spanish sun is already revealing its undead rustic charms.

The third season of THE WALKING DEAD: DARYL DIXON premiers on Sundays on AMC and AMC+ in the US and will be available in the UK on Sky Max and NOW TV from October 24th

Read our previous reviews of the third season of THE WALKING DEAD: DARYL DIXON below:

Season 3, Episode 1, COSTA DA MORTE

After finding success with a new formula in its lurid Jeffrey Dahmer biopic, Ryan Murphy’s Monster returns for a third instalment of its twink-ified serial killer universe. Here, Charlie Hunnam steps into the workboots of the Butcher of Plainfield, Ed Gein, donning a Winnie-the-Pooh voice and lazy eye to deliver the performance of his career.

If Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story took some controversial liberties with the truth, then The Ed Gein Story is altogether off the chain(saw). Examining the killer’s life and legacy through the scope of those he inspired, it blends truth with speculation, fantasy, and straight-up horseshit. What we do know: Ed Gein was a troubled man with serious mommy issues and a thing for digging up corpses and making furniture (among other things) from their bodies. What no-one knows for certain is unfathomably more than that, so Monster is forced to fudge the rest. It helps that Hunnam’s Gein is the ultimate unreliable narrator – being so incapable of separating fantasy from reality that Monster can brush its falsehoods away in the name of artistic license.

What The Ed Gein Story does do is explore his relationships with the women in his life – mother Augusta (Laurie Metcalf) and local girl Adeline Watkins (Suzanna Son). When his infirm mum dies, disturbed Ed is suddenly left with a void in his life, and one which can only be filled with delusions from a sick mind. The show builds around the two murders Gein definitely confessed to (distastefully making up a whole romantic relationship with one of them), while beefing up its body count with those he was rumoured to have killed (including a babysitter, played by Addison Raye) and flights of pure fantasy.

This includes the works of fiction which Gein himself inspired – notably Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs. Re-staging scenes from each is fun, if only for the show’s dedication to making each film-within-a-film look like something purchased from Temu or The Asylum. Still, that’s nothing to the indignities suffered by Anthony Perkins (Joey Pollari), whose life and story is desecrated in the name of drawing a throughline between Ed Gein (a murderer) and a closeted gay man. Still, not even Temu Leatherface is quite so nightmarish as Alfred Hitchcock (a fat-suited Tom Hollander), depicted here as a leering weirdo who inadvertently torpedoed his own career with Psycho.

One person who does emerge from all of this with a pinch of sympathy is, uh, Ed Gein. When it’s not blaming the women in his life for his actions, Monster depicts Gein as basically clueless; an innocent victim of his own upbringing and sick mind. Adding to this is Hunnam’s admittedly accomplished performance, playing the man as a cross between Forrest Gump and Tropic Thunder’s Simple Jack.

It’s an alarming take on the true crime biopic, and one which throws everyone under the bus, from Gein’s victims to the filmmakers he allegedly inspired. In the end, Monster: The Ed Gein Story is insulting to just about everybody except Ed Gein himself.

MONSTER: THE ED GEIN STORY is streaming on Netflix UK now.