(L-R, bottom row) THE BEAR (Disney+/Hulu); THE RINGS OF POWER (Prime Video); SUGAR (Apple TV+).
In the final of the three previously announced ‘2024 TV Highlights Thus Far’ review compilation articles, I take a look at some of the most high-profile series of the year, including two dueling fantasy shows, but also an underseen Apple TV+ gem with a plot development you have to see to believe.
F.A.Q.
- What are Additional Bite-Sized Reviews / Review Compilation?
– My movie and television catch-up review series ‘Additional Bite-Sized Reviews‘ is an evolution of the Overview-article section previously titled ‘What I Didn’t Write About.’ In articles such as this one, I will provide my readers with my thoughts on select new films, new shows, or even classics that I feel like giving my thoughts on relatively briefly, since I don’t have the time to dedicate thorough reviews to them at this point in time. Though it must be said, these reviews aren’t exactly short or bite-sized, as most of them are around the 500-word mark, which is why I’ve called it a review compilation instead. - Why do the bite-sized reviews not include either a letter grade or a review score?
– In my full and thorough reviews, I like to score or grade what I watch. But since these reviews aren’t as detailed, I think it is fairer to the films and shows to simply just decide whether or not to recommend them. I guess you could say this is the only type of review that is basically ‘scored’ with the classic thumbs-up/thumbs-down-method on my site, though sometimes my recommendation answer comes with a caveat.
House of the Dragon: Season 2 | Series | Created by Ryan Condal and George R. R. Martin | Release Year: 2024 | Season Length: 8 Episodes | Recommended?: Yes.
It’s strange how quickly the vocal online majority’s consensus can often spread far and wide and dictate the reputation of a show and create a disappointing narrative. It feels like, with the second season of the House of the Dragon, the vocal online majority has labeled it a disappointment. While I can understand why given some of the issues that were clear for all to see towards the end of the season, I must admit that my overall feeling with this second season was that it was a tad overly criticized but, nonetheless, frustratingly curtailed. While it ended up feeling like the series’ showrunners had been rushed to wrap everything up in a season finale that was quite unsatisfying (it was a good episode but a bad season final), the show still had some of the highest highs of the entire franchise.
This second season picks up more or less right where the first season left off, with the so-called ‘greens and blacks’ in an all-out war having been exacerbated following the unjust murder of Rhaenyra’s son Luke and his dragon Arrax. As Rhaenyra (played by Emma D’Arcy) and Daemon (played by Matt Smith) disagree on tactics and, eventually, Aemond (played by Ewan Mitchell) starts taking more control of King’s Landing, the players are, over the course of the season, moved into position for the battles to follow in the upcoming seasons. But, frankly, it doesn’t always go as quickly as fans may have wanted due to how the season splits up Daemon and Rhaenyra.
Although, yes, there are some great moments with Matt Smith in the mysterious Harrenhaal castle, that subplot is a little bit too repetitive. Elsewhere, some of Rhaenyra’s movements between King’s Landing and Dragonstone stretch credulity. Those two issues are really the main problems with the season other than how quickly and unsatisfyingly everything wraps up. But, on the whole, the acting remains spectacularly good, the production design is still at a level of which most other fantasy shows can only dream, and the actual visual effects used to create these enormous and formidable dragons are virtually unmatched on television. Episodes four (‘The Red Dragon and the Gold’) and seven (‘The Red Sowing’) represent some of the most awe-inspiring dragon action, so to speak, ever in this franchise, and the former of the two episodes is arguably one of the best episodes in the franchise as a whole.
Star Wars: The Acolyte | Series | Created by Leslye Headland | Release Year: 2024 | Season Length: 8 Episodes | Recommended?: Yes and No.
2024 was the year when we found out that Disney+ isn’t afraid of cancelling an ongoing live-action Star Wars project whether we like it or not. The Acolyte was mired in online criticism from the loudest corners of the internet (and in some cases from a toxic vocal minority) whose critical narrative about the show ended up winning the day as Disney finally gave in and cancelled a project that, for once, was a Disney Star Wars project that dared to be about something other than Boba Fett lookalikes and Skywalkers. Although my experience with The Acolyte was a seriously bumpy rollercoaster ride, I never bought into the toxic criticism from the vocal minority, who prematurely felt the show was canon-breaking (even though it only really broke the so-called ‘legends’ storylines that have never truly been canon). For me, the show did, however, have structural issues, pacing issues, and sometimes felt clumsy or silly (or like dress-up when they were on Coruscant) in a way that threatened to throw the entire series off. So there were essential, fundamental issues with this show, but there were also quite a few things that I liked about it, which I’ll get to on the other side of my description of what the show was actually about.
One of the most interesting things about the show is that it is set way before anything else we’ve ever seen on screen in Star Wars. Here the Jedi are merely, to make an unkind comparison, space police. I say unkind, because the show essentially shows us how the Jedi Order would have groups of Jedi spy on communities, recruit children sometimes against the will of their parents, and regulate how the Force is used. It is an interesting idea that, frankly, lines up relatively well with what we see in The Phantom Menace and the criticism that Luke Skywalker levels at the Order in the sequel trilogy. In the show, we follow two twin sisters (both played by Amandla Stenberg) who, after having been separated for years, are on a collision course. One was recruited by the Jedi (but failed to actually become a Jedi), while the other was presumed dead and is now working with a Dark Side Force user. As the series moves forward, we start to learn more about how they were recruited and whether or not the Jedi have been telling the whole truth.
So, let’s now get to the things that really did work about the series. Despite its issues, the series featured incredible action choreography that helped to really sell the power of its Dark Side Force user. Some of it is brutal and intense, but there are also moments with wuxia elements that I thought were entertaining and fit right into the show. I also think the performances delivered by — and rapport shared by — Manny Jacinto and Amandla Stenberg were off-the-charts entertaining, and Lee Jung-jae’s English-language performance also deserves praise given the language barrier and the emotional effectiveness of his work. Can you recommend a recently canceled and thus unfinished Star Wars product? I am of two minds. There were things here that I really dug about the show, but because I don’t know if we’ll ever get closure on the antagonists’ storyline, I am unsure as to whether or not I can fully recommend it, which is why I’m going with a half-hearted and vague ‘yes and no.’
The Boys: Season 4 | Series | Developed by Eric Kripke | Release Year: 2024 | Season Length: 8 Episodes | Recommended?: Yes.
For the longest time, the team behind The Boys have been doing a phenomenal job of creating a superhero television series that not only manages to be an entertaining series about the little guy fighting back against superpowered individuals who, largely, only care about themselves, but it has also been able to thrive as a series that expertly pokes fun at modern politics and the swiftly changing state of superhero-centric entertainment. It is a sharp, funny, dirty, and no-holds-barred bloody series that can, you’d imagine, get away with pretty much everything. And, just to be clear, all of these things are still true even with the series fourth and penultimate season. It’s a terrific series that lives up to its promise and, in fact, consistently goes even further to wow and shock us in the best ways possible. Season four is more of the same, and that is very much a good thing in the case of this series, even though, admittedly, sometimes certain elements are on the verge of feeling played out because the show has done these things expertly so many times before.
I thought the season was at its strongest in the episode centered on Hughie (played by Jack Quaid) and his father (played by Simon Pegg), although I will say that the plot thread could’ve benefitted from being spread out over the season. Where the season maybe wasn’t as strong or well-executed as intended was, I thought, in the shapeshifter subplot, which was maybe a tad too harsh on one character. I also think too much of the entire season’s major action and plot developments happened in the final episode. This season also, it should be mentioned, was the subject of review-bombing from right-wing-leaning fans who, frankly, finally realized how much the show had always been poking fun at and criticizing their politics. This season, perhaps due to it being an election year, took off the kiddie gloves and made very clear allusions to modern day politics, which, to be honest, I thought was an excellent feature rather than a bug.
The Bear: Season 3 | Series | Created by Christopher Storer | Release Year: 2024 | Season Length: 10 Episodes | Recommended?: Yes.
The Bear has been one of the most popular series in recent years. Its blend of affable personalities, stressful workplace situations, and its loving and delicious presentation of food all add up to must-watch television that gingerly walks the line between comedy and drama. It has rightfully won numerous awards over the years, but, even before I had the chance to watch the third season, I noticed that this latest season had been the victim of a notable backlash from audiences. Not knowing what to expect, I was really curios about what irked its trusted audience. Ultimately, while I don’t think this season is bad or as disappointing as some fans suggest, I definitely recognize its clear and obvious problematic features that hold this season back comparatively. But it is still the same show about, as Will Poulter at one point says, repurposing your trauma into your food and whether or not that’s healthy.
The second season ended on an incredibly stressful note as opening night of the new version of the restaurant had the show’s star (played by Jeremy Allen White) locked in a walk-in refrigerator as he had an unhinged rant that was heard by the one person who mustn’t hear it. As Carmy’s core relationships were falling apart, Marcus’ phone was beeping with ominous messages, and Sydney’s father showed his daughter how proud of her he is. One would think that, with that ending in mind, the third season would open with a great deal of emotion and swift action on Carmy’s part. That, however, is not what we got in the third season. While, yes, I think there is some truth to the way the show presents Carmy’s newfound relationship issues as something he is too anxious, self-critical, and in-over-his head to deal with immediately and in the most healthy way, the season suffers from a distinct lack of urgency in the season as a whole.
I also think this season the people behind the show made some unforced errors with regards to the style, ambition, and mood outweighing the substance and forward momentum. While I, personally, really dug the idea of the unconventional montage-heavy season opener, it got the season off on the wrong foot precisely because the subsequent episodes similarly meandered. The main problem seems to be that the overall goals of the season, some of which are things set up at the end of the second season, have been pushed into the next season despite the fact that the second season had basically ended on a cliffhanger that made us all worry about Carmy’s work and life relationships that we now don’t at all get the required payoff for. It is deeply frustrating especially because the show instead spends too much time on real-life chefs waxing poetically about their own lives in the season finale.
Despite the lack of urgency and payoff, I still think this is a season of supremely good episodes and performances. In the aforementioned season finale, Jeremy Allen White delivers one of the best and most emotive and raw performances of the entire series, the Abby Elliott and Jamie Lee Curtis centric episode “Ice Chips,” is absolutely phenomenal (and will for most people be super relatable), and the Ayo Edebiri-directed “Napkins,” which zooms in on Liza Colón-Zayas’ character is another highlight (and is just as relatable) — Colón-Zayas and Jon Bernthal’s scene is pitch-perfect. So, there is still a lot to love about this imperfect but more-than-watchable third season of this great show.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Season 2 | Series | Developed by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay | Release Year: 2024 | Season Length: 8 Episodes | Recommended?: Yes.
The internet hasn’t been kind to the first season of The Rings of Power. In a way, it’s easy to understand why, as its changes to canon is probably considered sacrilege given how well-received the Peter Jackson original trilogy was and how poorly received the subsequent Hobbit trilogy was. We live at a time when the vocal minority of fans are incredibly protective of the IP that they adore — sometimes to an extent that stands in the way of creativity. I was probably more kind to the first season than most people, but it wasn’t without its problems, even for me. On the whole, I think this second season is a huge step in the right direction, but, at the same time, my frustrations with the first season (the issues surrounding the half-ling and Numenor storylines that frustrated other fans even more than it frustrated me) are still there.
It definitely feels like there has been some retooling here to maximize our involvement in the storylines that work and to minimize the time we spend with storylines that don’t (we barely see what’s going on with Isildur) and making sure that whenever we see them, they have to work much better. This was, at least to me, felt with regards to the Numenor storyline, which felt trimmed or chopped up (sometimes to its detriment), but, at the same time, I got progressively more vested in those storylines as the season went along. As for the half-ling storyline, it still felt like a different show to me, and I feel like it would’ve been better received as a spin-off, because those sections of the shows often have a markedly different tone (it’s much more silly, which can be a little bit jarring). The much-hyped inclusion of Tom Bombadil is nice to see, but the way his first scenes are shot almost felt like they wanted to knowingly pat themselves on their backs for doing it.
At the same time, I thought everything about the Elvish and Dwarf storylines were exceptional. The focus on the deception of Celebrimbor was must-watch TV for me, as I couldn’t take my eyes off of Charles Edwards and Charlie Vickers’ rich performances (Celebrimbor and Sauron, respectively). This season also opens with a really engaging and mystical origin story for this version of Sauron — featuring Jack Lowden — that was just exceptional. Frankly, though it probably won’t ever have the audience that House of the Dragon does, there were times here — i.e. aspects of the show — when Rings of Power did fantasy storytelling better than House of the Dragon did, both in their second seasons. This was a significant improvement, to me, season-to-season.
Sugar: Season 1 | Series | Created by Mark Protosevich | Release Year: 2024 | Season Length: 8 Episodes | Recommended?: Yes.
I was always going to end up watching this show, as there was so much about it that spoke directly to someone like me that I couldn’t stay away forever. After all, this is a mystery-film noir show with a private investigator played by Colin Farrell, an actor who continues to be more and more of a personal favorite every time I see him in something. Oh, and also, this specific private investigator just so happens to be a cinephile. Despite checking all of my boxes, it took me quite some time to circle around to the show. Even though the first season finished its run on Apple TV+ back in May, I didn’t actually see it until recently. What finally made the difference? Well, I was instantly hooked by Max’s The Penguin, also starring Colin Farrell, and I needed something Farrell-centric to satisfy my recent appetite. And the straw that broke the camel’s back — the incident that knocked some sense into me — was that I was spoiled on a shocking development in the show that was, frankly, too ‘out there’ for me to believe. Put simply, this tidbit was so enticing and strange that I simply had to see it, and I had to see it immediately. Now, I won’t actually spoil the tidbit here, but I will say that it’s a crazy game changer that you is best experienced blindly (in part because once I knew the direction it was headed in, I saw all of the signs that they were carefully placing along the way).
Anyhow, in the series, we follow Farrell’s P.I. named John Sugar, as he is hired to investigate the disappearance of the granddaughter of a renowned movie producer, and, while we see Sugar investigating all over Hollywood, we also follow along as Sugar has these strange seizures or panic attacks that his long-time friend Ruby (played Kirby Howell-Baptiste) are massively concerned about, just as she also tells Sugar that he should let this new case go. It won’t surprise anyone to know that Colin Farrell is so fun to watch in this show as the cineliterate and über competent titular P.I., and he’s surrounded by a strong supporting cast that, in addition to Kirby Howell-Baptiste, also includes Amy Ryan, Anna Gunn, and James Cromwell. Along the way, there are some really interesting stylistic flourishes as we get these strange angles and handheld movements (especially in the episodes directed by Fernando Meirelles) that are always complemented by fun and inventive editing that splices the show together with images of old black-and-white Hollywood movies. It is such an easy ride of a show and an easy binge-watch, as the episodes are mostly fairly short, and it’s so nice to watch a movie star dressed to the nines and riding around in his beautiful Corvette Sting Ray. And once that twist kicks in, it’s such a game-changer that really makes a second season a must-have. Many of the shows that I’ve written about in this article are widely seen and known, but Sugar deserves a bigger audience — I think you should give it a chance.
– Reviews Written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.
I'm Jeffrey Rex 