Dethronizer

It's as realistic as Cobra Kai, but if you're a metalhead, you will watch the first episode with a smile so wide you wouldn't've thought possible of yourself.

The protagonist kids seem awkward at first, but they deliver, and by the end credits, they've bought me.

Bonus points for the cameos where you'll crap yourself from joy.

While the first episode left me with a "meh" kind of feeling, this one was a surprise, and a ride worth reviewing.

I'ts basically a Lawrence of Arabia mixed with a shameless amount of Dune, but it freaking WORKS. And here I thought that the flashback parts are just there for dramatic filling.

I very much hope that the show keeps this pace, because this was Firefly, Dune, and six westerns rolled into one pile of massive storytelling.

Kudos to them.

I kinda liked the whole series from the beginning, but WOW does this episode deliver.

It has feelings, a ridiculous plot and somehow dark, slapstick, situational, reference and meta humor at the same time.

Easily the best episode yet.

WOW.

MQ is usually a plucky, fun, and light show, but DAMN, they warped my mind with this one.

The period, the actors, the pacing, the atmosphere, the story, the feelings... this was flawless.

Hats off to the showrunners and everyone involved.

Wow.

Just wow.

Two episodes in, and this feels like someone went and threw random concepts into a mixer, and poured out a mess, and called it a script. After HBO spent a ton of money on it, it does look gorgeous. But the plot is like something that the current MARVEL comics churned out: somebody who apparently tried to read some horror once (and got bored a few chapters in) wrote a weak fanfic that relies on invoking white/male guilt, because it literally has nothing else to show. There's no setting, no plot line, the protagonists are cardboard cutouts, the supporting staff is somehow even worse, and NOTHING has weight or consequences, because hey, MAGIC! If you're looking for even a hint of Lovecraft here, then better steer clear.

To illustrate the level of laziness here, let me point out that "Betrüger" means "Traitor" in German. And that's exactly how sophisticated this script is. That's not even a spoiler. That's common knowledge for ~250 million people, who DO speak German.

There are two kinds of reviews here:

• Ones that were expecitng an orgy of action, and a popcorn movie. They gave it 2/10s because it's not all that.
• And some that actually KNOW what made Transformers tick back in the day, be it comics or cartoons. For those: you're in for a treat. This is easily the best installment of a blockbuster Transformers movie ever made. It has heart, is cool, awkward, quirky, emotionally loaded, and probably everything that a teen can relate to (I'm forty, but my inner teen smiled through it all). Furthermore, they did justice to the eighties by not overplaying everything to ridiculous levels. The music, the clothing, cars, etc. are dead on.

This movie repeatedly hinted at being the first of many, and if they keep up the heart that went into it (because this movie was clearly directed by someone who is an avid Transformers fan), we could see the proper reboot that this title deserved, but failed to get forom the Bay flicks. I loved it.

This show. This season. ..and probably this episode (although there are 3 or 4 others that complete for the title) had probably the biggest emotional impact on me in the last decade. It's 20 minutes of crazy fun, where you get to experience a new high sci-fi concept with the R&M twist on it, see a hive-mind acting as a boozed-up coed, a race war, a new arc that shows that the moral high road is not always white (but dirty gray, mostly), and an alien couples therapy session, where everything goes to $hit.

Then comes the last ~3 minutes, and without any spoilers, if you care a little bit about Rick, it will feel like a gut punch. Every time I re-watch this episode, that particular scene gets more and more heart-wrenching. The music. The concept. Jerry with his lawnmower as comic relief.

Harmon and Roiland overdid themselves here.

Wow, I'm already in love in the middle of the pilot. Anyone bitching about this being the "lowest point of television, yadda-yadda..." has clearly no f---ing clue what a grindhouse flick is. Basically this show is the group sex lovechild of Carmageddon, Fast&Furious, Evil dead, Mad Max, '80s buddy-cop movies, Vampire the Masquerade LARP, Judge Dredd and literally everything Rob Zombie ever made. It's an over the top caricature of a distopia, and it doesn't want to be more than that. But AT that, it excels. Hear me out. The basics of the genere are there: 35mm/VHS quality, gore, overacting, etc. But the subtle stuff is where it all comes together: the music, camera, atmosphere is remarkably well done. So if you've ever seen a grindhouse flick, and thought "F--k, It's dumb, hilarious and awesome at the same time", you will love Blood drive. And that scene where the race starts, and Skillet's "Back from the dead" starts to play... I had to rewind it three times, because it's f---ing magnificent.