Kaka

The second season opens without hesitation, with the creators following exactly the same style as in the first one. It remains relatively faithful in terms of history, with an accurately captured atmosphere and precise performances. Plus peppered with the Suez conflict and, surprisingly for an otherwise sedentary dialogue series, quite an action-packed finale.

A great alternate history idea with a plethora of possibilities to grasp the concept of space conquest, and it works very well on the whole. Joel Kinnaman is the driving force, but the other actors, admittedly lesser known, are not lost either. Unfortunately, as is sometimes the case, the first season is unsurpassed, it had the best mix of space action, great alternate events of the time, and just enough room for the characters to keep it from being too mawkish, talky, and overly emotional. The second and third seasons no longer have an optimal balance and they slip into space and earth soap-opera that doesn't really go anywhere and just fills in the blanks, and is so over-the-top that it would have even the Armageddon guys rolling their eyeballs. Still, there are many scenes that will take space fans by the heart, and none of the creators need be ashamed of the outcome of the project.

Pleasant one-off. Too politically correct and a bit simplistic, but as a sequence of funny scenes with the great acting tandem of Miles Teller and Jonah Hill, it's fine. If you don't see it, you're not missing out on anything groundbreaking, but as light entertainment that so peripherally winks at the absurdities of war conflicts, the fact that it's money laundering, and shows the "beauty" of Albania (and the fact that there are good businessmen there too), it's OK.

I will happily remember the first season, it had great space scenes and characters that were flexible and developed naturally. The second and third seasons are nothing but art-pop constructs with elements of the paradise hotel, which, unlike the desert island, shows the beauty of the desert moon and then Mars. This is a much more likeable backdrop, but the original idea of the first season is completely lost in most of the subsequent episodes.

The stage in the oval office is thankfully coming to an end. Not that Jodi Balfour is a bad actress and can’t play Madame President of the USA with class and charm, but the whole plot about her sexuality and the mindset and ideology around it is kind of wobbly, and culminates in an emotional speech that unfortunately slips into pathos. It is bearable, but I wouldn't play it as a "sample scene". Again, there are few scenes from space, and when there are, I wouldn't be afraid to call them a fluke (the finale).

A finale that is far from the pinnacle of the series. Unfortunately, the idea on which the series was built went awry, and when they started piling on increasingly crazy twists and turns during the last episode, it was clear that there's not much of a universe here anymore. It culminates in a launch from Mars, which is a mix of Armageddon, The Martian and any space crap from any B-movie director, where directorial ingenuity (or lack thereof) goes hand-in-hand with zero amount of even remotely digestible semblance of a possible alternate reality. The only thing worth mentioning is the situation around the space hub.

A very vague and abbreviated depiction of a key and very ambitious plan to rescue crucial crew members. Almost all the lines on Earth lose any relevance in the context of the one on Mars, and yet there's barely half of it in the entire runtime. I would have expected much more daring and better execution, but alas.

The political gay/lesbian line is still interesting and quite realistic if you squint your eyes, but the hippies are downright annoying and psychologically it doesn't go well even on Mars. This episode is at least a bit entertaining, though, as the last few minutes bring back memories of the golden days of the first season.

A must-see feel-good movie about racial issues in upper middle-class USA in the 1960s. Paradoxically, the most black and white is the dosage of emotions, which is sometimes too simplistic and for effect – the vast majority of whites are superficial scumbags and the vast majority of blacks are good and model workers. But if you overlook this creative vice of pigeonholing characters in an otherwise interesting story, you get a number of scenes with a huge range of emotions that can grab you by the heart and move you appropriately. An intense viewing experience, a stimulating Oscar-winning film with a stellar cast and deservedly positive reviews.

The Crown has almost everything (so far). Script-wise, it's quite digestible, even for typical Netflix viewers who devour all sorts of TV shows on desert islands with a pure 0-value. At the same time, it is artistically ambitious, period-accurate, brilliantly shot, and appropriately dynamic and emotional. Even though it’s almost purely conversational, you usually won’t get that impression on screen. Last but not least, it provides countless interesting conversations about important questions and diverse philosophies and perspectives on a range of issues, some of which are still applicable today, because there are life values and decisions that haven’t changed for hundreds if not thousands of years, like the monarchy. The first season sets a high standard, it’ll be fun to watch the following ones.