Tag Archives: tv review

The Rehearsal Season 2 Episode 4 Review

May 11, 2025 Ben Sears 3 Comments

“Kissme”

Creator: Nathan Fielder
Starring: Nathan Fielder

Grade: B+

Warning: This review of episode 4 of The Rehearsal will contain spoilers.

So far in season 2, The Rehearsal has dodged most of the ethical concerns that came around the edges of the show last season. Episode 4 will likely bring those conversations back to the forefront, with Nathan Fielder acting at his most manipulative so far. The ethics in question concerned Fielder’s real-life subjects, how aware they were of the show’s purposes before signing on to appear, and how manipulative Fielder was being with what they were asked to do. With “Kissme” – another hysterical outing overall – I don’t feel icky or uneasy towards Fielder or his methods, but I won’t entirely begrudge those that do.

Continue reading →

TV Reviews

The Rehearsal Season 2 Episode 3 Review

May 4, 2025 Ben Sears Leave a comment

“Pilot’s Code”

Creator: Nathan Fielder
Starring: Nathan Fielder

Grade: A

Warning: This review of episode 3 of The Rehearsal will contain spoilers.

Here’s what makes The Rehearsal so special and so funny amongst its television peers: episode 3 could have contained the same premise and found ways to tell jokes and get its point across. But in the hands of Nathan Fielder, the episode becomes transcendent in its silliness, willing to go to depths that no other comedian would think to go to. I had written last week that Fielder was painting on an almost entirely new, sillier canvas, but episode 2 feels positively straight-laced in comparison to what we see in “Pilot’s Code.”

Continue reading →

TV Reviews

The Rehearsal Season 2 Episode 2 Review

April 27, 2025 Ben Sears 1 Comment

“Star Potential”

Creator: Nathan Fielder
Starring: Nathan Fielder

Grade: A

Warning: The review of episode 2 of The Rehearsal will contain spoilers.

I can’t remember the last time I laughed as hard as I did during episode 2 of The Rehearsal. Whereas episode 1 set up the stakes and the conceit for season 2 going forward, this week’s installment leans heavily on the comedic potential, while going down Nathan Fielder’s many insane rabbit holes. Nathan doesn’t make much progress with the airline disaster problem he’s set out to solve, but with an episode as funny as “Star Potential”, who’s to argue with the results?

Continue reading →

TV Reviews

The Rehearsal Season 2 Episode 1 Review

April 20, 2025 Ben Sears 2 Comments

“Gotta Have Fun”

Creator: Nathan Fielder
Starring: Nathan Fielder

Grade: A-

Warning: The review of the season premiere of The Rehearsal will contain spoilers.

Before pressing play on episode 1 of season 2, I wondered “what the heck does airline safety have to do with The Rehearsal?” I had not watched the trailer but had read the headlines and was left confused as to how this conceit would track with what was previously established in season 1. Even after watching the darkly comedic cold open, where creator-writer-director-star Nathan Fielder watches as two actors recreate a plane crash from black box transcriptions, it’s not entirely clear where the season will be headed. But then Fielder has a meeting with John Boglia, a former board member of the National Transportation Safety Board, and it all clicks into place.

Continue reading →

TV Reviews

Severance Season 2 Episode 10 Review

March 21, 2025 Ben Sears Leave a comment

“Cold Harbor”

Creator: Dan Erickson
Starring: Adam Scott, Britt Lower, John Turturro, Zack Cherry, Tramell Tillman, Patricia Arquette, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, Dichen Lachman

Grade: A-

Warning: The review of Severance season 2 episode 10 will contain spoilers.

“Cold Harbor”, the season 2 finale of Severance, had a lot to live up to, and it mostly succeeds, further establishing the show as one of the best on TV today. The season 1 finale so memorably opened up the world with a shocking final sequence that was unlike so much of what we see in modern television, and while this week’s installment offers a lot of similar flavors, I don’t know if it goes down quite as smoothly. We’ll get to the final moments, and how it sets up the future, in a moment, but first we should talk about what episode 10 is primarily concerned with.

Continue reading →

TV Reviews

Severance Season 2 Episode 9 Review

March 14, 2025 Ben Sears Leave a comment

“The After Hours”

Creator: Dan Erickson
Starring: Adam Scott, Britt Lower, John Turturro, Zack Cherry, Tramell Tillman, Patricia Arquette, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, Dichen Lachman

Grade: B+

Warning: The review of Severance season 2 episode 9 will contain spoilers.

So many television shows use the penultimate episode of a season to produce the biggest shocks, but Severance episode 9 is all about building suspense for next week’s season 2 finale. With Mark’s (Adam Scott) completion of Cold Harbor imminent, our major players are coming together – or going apart, in some cases – as they seek to destroy or protect Lumon. Unlike so many of season 2’s installments, “The After Hours” moves along at a breakneck pace, so let’s get going on one of the show’s most densely packed offerings.

Continue reading →

TV Reviews

The Studio Season 1 – TV Review

March 7, 2025 Ben Sears 2 Comments

The Studio

Creators: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory, and Frida Perez
Starring: Seth Rogen, Ike Barinholtz, Catherine O’Hara, Kathryn Hahn, Chase Sui Wonders, Bryan Cranston
Ten episode season, ten episodes watched for review

Grade: B-

Effective satire has to dig underneath the skin of its target to get at an unspoken truth. The Studio, the latest prestigious comedy series from AppleTV+, has its sights set on some of the lowest-hanging fruit available – Hollywood – but rarely has anything insightful or biting to say that hasn’t already been said over the years. It’s the kind of star-studded affair where it feels like co-creator and star Seth Rogen has pulled together as many famous friends and previous collaborators as an attempt to poke the eyes of the system the show is skewering, but plays it safe in order to ensure everybody’s reputation escapes intact. Though it’s more handsomely mounted than its modern contemporaries – 30 Rock and The Other Two, to name a few – The Studio lacks those series’ key insights and specificities.

Continue reading →

TV Reviews

Severance Season 2 Episode 8 Review

March 7, 2025 Ben Sears 1 Comment

“Sweet Vitriol”

Creator: Dan Erickson
Starring: Adam Scott, Britt Lower, John Turturro, Zack Cherry, Tramell Tillman, Patricia Arquette, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, Dichen Lachman

Grade: B

Warning: The review of Severance season 2 episode 8 will contain spoilers.

Whenever a TV show veers away from its main story to focus on a secondary character, or an understated plotline, it can often feel like the show is spinning its wheels, filling out the network’s episode order mandate. I’m reminded of the season 2 Ted Lasso episode “Beard After Hours”, where the creative team had no plans to write an additional episode, but was thrown a curveball when Apple ordered one more. But episode 8 of Severance doesn’t feel quite so purposeless as it explores the mysterious origins of Ms. Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette), even as we edge closer and closer to the season 2 finale.

Continue reading →

TV Reviews

Severance Season 2 Episode 7 Review

February 28, 2025 Ben Sears 1 Comment

“Chikhai Bardo”

Creator: Dan Erickson
Starring: Adam Scott, Britt Lower, John Turturro, Zack Cherry, Tramell Tillman, Patricia Arquette, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, Dichen Lachman

Grade: A

Warning: The review of Severance season 2 episode 7 will contain spoilers.

Why do we care about Mark’s (Adam Scott) search for Gemma (Dichen Lachman)? Besides the very relatable, human notion of wanting to reconnect with a lost loved one, we don’t have much to go on regarding Mark and Gemma’s relationship or their past. Episode 7 of season 2 fills in some necessary gaps in their backstories, and provides some shocking developments to show exactly what’s been happening since she disappeared into that dark hallway, and it’s another fascinating episode of Severance at its best.

Continue reading →

TV Reviews

Severance Season 2 Episode 6 Review

February 21, 2025 Ben Sears 1 Comment

“Attila”

Creator: Dan Erickson
Starring: Adam Scott, Britt Lower, John Turturro, Zach Cherry, Tramell Tillman, Patricia Arquette, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, Dichen Lachman

Grade: A

Warning: This review of Severance season 2 episode 6 will contain spoilers.

Fun fact: episode 6 of Severance season 2 was the last which AppleTV+ had distributed to most critics in advance of the show’s premiere. And with the final moments arriving in the shocking fashion as they do, I can understand why. Within the world of the show, reintegration has always felt like a kind of trial-run procedure – especially given what happened to Petey last season. So to see Mark (Adam Scott) rushing through the terrifying process first-hand makes us understand just how great the stakes are.

Continue reading →