Reviews

The is the best episode of any show I have seen in years.

It picks up right after the previous episode with an introduction of Henry and his little brother who is deaf. Soon after they join the main characters in finding a way out of Kansas City. Having almost made it they are caught up by the group that's hunting Henry. It's followed by one of the most impressive action scenes I've seen in a long time as the confrontation between the two gets interrupted by an invasion of creatures. With as a finale a creature who seems to have mutated to a giant.

Having made it through the invasion and the hunting party it becomes clear Henry's little brother has been bitten. Another impressive scene follows which I won't spoil. This episode has it all. Great dialog and character building, action and visual effects. Storyline development and some cool surprises.

The series is too drawn out yet fails to resolve or conclude most major elements of the storyline.

In the end Dean himself becomes one of the wacko people obsessed with this house. The ending is quite unsatisfactory I mean it's clear the creepy neighbors along with Jeff Graff, who seems to secretly live with the Amish looking neighbor and the mute guy, are the ones messing with whoever buys the house next by breaking in through the tunnels. But is it really only to protect the monumental value of the home or are they just petty and prey on the rich out of jealousy and don't think these people deserve the house? Theodore made up a story about this Jeff person but at the same time he is there but they call him William, is he actually Jeff? If yes what did happen to his family if they weren't killed? In the end we are left with so many questions because the way it's written it makes you think everyone may have had something to do with it, and perhaps that's the conclusion we have to make.

This film leaves some room for interpretation. In short it is about a soft spoken creative, traumatized teenage boy (Smith-McPhee) with an alcoholic mother (Dunst). In a world of cowboys and manly men he struggles to find his way, the brother (Cumberbatch) of his mothers new relation (Plemons) is the ultimate tough guy and they clash at first but grow closer together and start to learn from each other. The mother struggles in her new relationship with the overpowering brother and falls apart when the boy gets closer to the brother, turning to alcohol. All quite standard and nothing new. However the characters are interesting, the acting is good and the scenery and filmography is very appealing. It's a very slow burning story so you have to be able to handle that, and appreciate the simplicity of it.

The last 15 minuter or so is when the story concludes as the boy and the man grow closer together, they get so close that you are left waiting for a homo-erotic scene that never happens. Not sure if that's where the story was going but it seemed that way to me, there is an intimate scene where the boy rolls a sigaret and shares it with the man in a soft, delicate and almost erotic way.

Unsurprisingly, the man dies. He had a cut on his hand that got infected after dealing with a dead animal. The boy, a surgeon to be, is involved in dealing with the animal so you'd think he would warn the man to be careful with the cut on his hand, as the man and the boy are already close at this point. After the funeral the mother and her man (deceased mans brother) come home and the boy is looking out on the street as they approach the house, the scene shows the mother and her man sharing an intimate moment, they seem happy not having to deal with the overpowering presence of the brother, finally being able to live their lives without this person judging their every move. The boy turns away and smiles which marks the end of the film. It left me thinking the boy was out for the ultimate revenge against the man. Making him fall in love, only to kill him. The boy is way too intelligent for these turn of events to be random and if you ask me, outsmarted everyone in this story.

As I said a lot about this film is open to interpretation, and this is only my humble opinion. It is a tasteful film for sure and it wouldn't surprise me if Oscar nominations follow. In particular Smith-McPhee as a supporting role and perhaps Cumberbatch as well. It was refreshing to see a film that doesn't shy away from male nudity as well. Go watch it if you have the patience for a slow burner.

This should be labeled as a fantasy show with the astral projection being one of the main things, if not THE thing that makes the entire show. Without that it is just a mediocre drama. To be fair, It is all quite tastefully done and the acting is good, the story however is very thin and feels like a reach.

They left the astral projection part until the second to last episode. It almost feels like an after thought, but it isn't because without it there is no story to begin with. I wish they would have detailed the astral projection part a lot more at the beginning of the season so viewers could get used to this idea and get on board with it. It's like the writers thought around episode 4, how can we make this interesting? Ah yes, astral projection.

Throughout you are thinking who is the bad guy in the story is it Adele, is it David or Rob? No, the bad guy in this story is astral projection, the very thing that makes this show unique is also its downfall.

Farai and Kiki were obviously the weakest duo in this challenge and they have been the weakest in several challenges before. They are being kept in because the expectation is high which is stupid because they are not delivering.

Also Kirby walking off and making a scene over Tan saying he wants to vote Farai and Kiki out is a load of ****, would he have acted this way if Farai and Kiki were two white women? I think not.. yes I said it. I am all for giving everyone equal opportunity but the clothes need to speak for themselves and what they made is just not modern.