2023 TV Catch-Up / Backlog: The Mixed Bags | Bite-Sized Reviews

(L-R) The Changeling (Apple TV+); Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (Apple TV+), The Crown (Netflix).

In this edition of Additional Bite-Sized Reviews, the point of this post is to function as a review compilation, if you will, of some notable 2023 television series that I’ve either caught up with in the last few months or which I never found the time to write about when they were released way back when (i.e. my review notes backlog). For this post, I have specifically highlighted three shows from the past year that didn’t fully work for me, even though I liked a fair bit about them.


Continue reading “2023 TV Catch-Up / Backlog: The Mixed Bags | Bite-Sized Reviews”

REVIEW: The Crown – Season Five (2022)

PHOTO: NETFLIX.

Series Created by Peter Morgan.

A lot has happened since November 2020, when, two years ago, Netflix released the fourth season of their wildly successful historical drama, The Crown. Britain has had three different prime ministers — Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and, current PM, Rishi Sunak — and, most importantly, Queen Elizabeth II, the subject of this series, has died. The United Kingdom now has a new monarch in King Charles III, who, as the series has moved forward, has moved closer and closer to the focal point of the series. Indeed, one might argue that these latest two seasons are the most critical of the former Prince of Wales.

Continue reading “REVIEW: The Crown – Season Five (2022)”

REVIEW: The Crown – Season Three (2019)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a review of the third season of The Crown — Available on Netflix.

When The Crown premiered in 2016, I proclaimed that Claire Foy’s Queen Elizabeth II might become the new face of Netflix. In 2017, following a truly outstanding second season, I argued that The Crown had become the greatest live-action television series that Netflix had ever made. Then the long wait began. It has been two years since we last saw new episodes of this show, and now all of the central characters have been recast as the next stage of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign begins. Though this third season is not as impeccable as I thought the previous season was, Peter Morgan’s series is still a must-watch series even for those people who aren’t necessarily obsessed with royal families. Continue reading “REVIEW: The Crown – Season Three (2019)”

REVIEW: The Crown – Season Two (2017)

Season 2 Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a review of the second season of The Crown – Available on Netflix.

I explained in my review of the first season how people might be surprised by my reaction to The Crown. I’m not obsessed with the royal family in any country, even though I live in a constitutional monarchy. My interest in The Crown was originally more centered around the inclusion of Sir Winston Churchill in the first season. However, having now seen the second season of The Crown, I must admit that I’ve actually become extremely fascinated with the British royal family. I’m still quite shocked.  Continue reading “REVIEW: The Crown – Season Two (2017)”

REVIEW: The Crown – Season One (2016)

Release Poster - Netflix
Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a full season review of the first season of Peter Morgan’s The Crown.

I’m not exactly what you might call a royalist or a ‘royalophile.’ My mother loves following multiple different Royal Families, but it has never been something I’ve been particularly drawn to. Therefore I’m pretty sure some people who know of my interests were confused when I said how excited I was about The Crown. Continue reading “REVIEW: The Crown – Season One (2016)”