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antholly
Reviews
Dark: Leben und Tod (2020)
Dark by name...
Despite the show's title giving out a massive hint, I wasn't expecting it to get quite this dark! The whole scene with Elisabeth in the camper van was incredibly tense and beautifully filmed (the fact that it always seems to be raining just adds hugely to the atmosphere of the show and this episode in particular). And then after that they just doubled-down on the darkness with the Katharina storyline. Just incredibly affecting television all round.
Friends: The One Where Heckles Dies (1995)
Matthew Perry's finest hour
Whilst this episode is excellent and gives a glimpse of the overall brilliance of Season 2, the main reason it stands out for me is the performance of Matthew Perry.
I imagine that at the time the series was probably a little too young for it to be recognised by The Emmy committee but, having watched it several times through TV re-runs, it is clear to see that Perry puts in a wonderful sequence of beautifully-acted scenes which highlight Chandler at his achingly neurotic best.
You really feel like you go on a journey through his back-story, and come to empathise with his current-day status as loner-to-be, all in the space of less than 25 minutes. If retroactive Emmys were to be handed out, I would no hesitation in nominating this episode as Perry's magnum opus.
The X Files: Oubliette (1995)
Mulder's personal touch
I recently bought Season 3 on DVD and am currently working my way through the episodes, enjoying every minute so far. However, none of them has affected me as much as this one. Whether it's because the subject matter of child abduction is made all the more poignant due to recent news items, I'm not sure, but I think part of it is down to the connection between Mulder's character and his own personal experience with the disappearance of his sister. David Duchovny gives a very good performance here, and his character's sympathetic approach to handling the troubled soul of Lucy is at times very touching. The abductor Carl Wade is suitably creepy, and the scenes between him and Amy Jacobs are sometimes difficult to watch, but then, this is always likely when you're handling topics such as this.
For Firefly fans (such as me) there's the added bonus in that the present-day abductee is played by none other than a young Jewel Staite!