Gritty and Realistic. Better than the books.
Lovable characters. Particularly Eleven. Some people didn't like an entire episode with El by herself, however I thought it was an important growth arc. Originally, I think she was supposed to be the Gandalf, but by season 2 she is definitely the hero (although there is still a lot of Gandalf in her), which I guess makes Mike the heroine.
Even though it has a ensemble cast, Season 1 the focus was more on Mike and Nancy but Season 2 it was more about Eleven and Dustin. Season 3 Steve and Joyce maybe?
Likeable and well developed characters. Good plot.
Emphasising Matts Catholicism and blindness was a good choice as superheroes tend to feel interchangeable. And the actor and the script sold the fact that he was blind very well. Fisk was believable, charming and evil with strong parallels to the hero making him the prefect foil.
I liked how Jessica's powers are underplayed. She rips a car door off or crushes padlock like its nothing special, like its a cheap party trick, no big deal. Jessica's detective skills are what she really relies on, her powers make things more convenient thats all. It does give her a more male/macho attitude of never having to worry about walking into a dark alley. Jessica's fearlessness is as much due to her "life sucks" noir attitude as her powers though. And a big part of Killgrave's threat is that he represents something worse than mere death.
Terrific detective story. Gritty but believable far future dystopia. High personal stakes with the hero caught in a very personal dilemma. The series shows why Poe is such a popular Expy. Poe replaced Jimmy Hendrix in the book. It was a good choice.
Underrated. Terminator Genisys has a few shoutouts to this series incorporating some of it's story elements.
Spin off of Daredevil. How many people were involved in his wife death? He kills more than 37 people at the start of the series thinks he is done then finds a whole new batch that was involved? I will have to go back and watch his introduction in daredevil season 2 and see how the new narrative matches up to the old narrative. Season 2 is good, they didn't take the easy and obvious direction that we have seen to many times before and this version of Frank is very likeable, down to earth and self aware. In the comics I have read he was an unyielding force of rage. I like Bernthal's shy gentle killing machine version better. I stopped reading the comic book version when he shot a friend and ally in the head for compromising himself.
Every different from the 2010 TV series and from the books. Previous incarnations of Dirk Gently have been middle aged con men whose unconscious psychic abilities make their endeavours less of a con than they intended. Whereas this version is young, earnest and naive.
Has great characters, but the plot can be a bit so-so. My favourites are good Georgiou, Jett Reno, Sarek, Chris Pike, dark Georgiou, Saru and Harry Mudd. ST:D has a great main character which is strange for ST, as ST is usually about the ensemble. Unfortunately the focus on Micheal has left half the bridge staff as paper cutouts, e.g. we only learn what the deal is with Airiam at the very last minute. A few character moments for each of them could have fixed that. Micheal by contrast has lots of development with 4 mothers, 2 fathers, a brother and a star-crossed lover. Instead of the standard Star Trek where everyone is too good to be true in ST:D almost everyone either is compromised or has straight out betrayed Starfleet in the first season. First season finale was a little quick and a little too tidy. In 2nd season they are making a effort in continuity with the original series and STD season 1.
Self proclaimed mad scientist accumulates a small groups friends despite himself and risks all to save them.
The most important things about LiS are a compelling Dr Smith and the friendship between Will and the Robot. The 1998 movie got this wrong but this new version gets both right. The new version of Smith is the perfect blend of charm, menace and cowardliness while being completely different from the old one. They also fixed the problem with the old show were most of the cast had little to do. This time all the cast have well defined roles and personalities and are utilised well. Cons - John and Maureen don't have chemistry. This was okay when they were estranged but as their relationship improved this became a problem. Cast rating from best to worst. Penny, Maureen, Smith, Don, Will, John then Judy. Judy isn't bad, she is way better than the original, but she didn't totally sell it for me.
There was one bad info dump in episode 6 (the one with the coffee cup) that was jarring and threw me out of the story but otherwise the science wasn't too obnoxious, not great but way better than the original anyway. It gave the impression that science was important even if the science wasn't always right in practice. E.g. naturally occurring elemental magnesium and Hawking radiation from the wrong sized black hole and orbital mechanics etc.
The first few episodes are hectic with our heroes careening from disaster to disaster with some of it feeling self inflicted, but things soon calm down while still maintaining a fast pace.
Off to a good start. Multi-world spy vs spy shenanigans. Feels very "cold war"-ish. Especially with the show being set in Berlin. It hits you over the head with the parallels.
Very character driven. All the powers are linked to insecurities the anti-heroes have. Enjoyable. Unfortunately it is a little to racy for me to watch with my daughters. Not a fan of the replacement characters in the latter sessions.
Sherlock is a bit of a mental superhero, the way they show how Sherlock sees things is terrific. The first episode was the best. I didn't like now they Boba Fett'ed one of the villains it retroactively undercut his menace and made him into a joke.
Freedom vs. Stability. A time travel series where no-one is exactly the good guy. It wasn't renewed for the 5th season so they rushed an early ending in. The hackneyed ending bumps the score down for me.
Really slow start. Standard future androcratic theocratic dystopia, but from the female view. Asks questions about how the disenfranchised in society are controlled and how their anger is redirected. Of course you can't avoid the gender politics implicit in the show. You wince when you hear a character say something you have heard or seen by a real life bigot. Its good, but did I mention that its slow?
Lord of the flies post-apocalyptic style
Gary is optimistic to the point of insanity and has a poor grasp of reality.
Battlestar Galactica prequel. Good plot and good characters.
6 million dollar man v2.0, What does it mean to be human? There is the creepy dynamic of a black man enslaving a white man by insisting that he is not human, with obvious historical echoes.
Was my favourite Star Trek series until Discovery came out. Full of likable and interesting characters.
Better than Iron Fist. Liked the 3d villains and their dysfunctional family background. The villain for the second half of season one had less depth and didn't work as well as the earlier villains.
Cowboys and Aliens. Good characters. The Tarrs are terrific villains/anti-villains: you don't know whether to love to hate them, or hate to love them.
Very likeable characters. Each episode is a morality tale about a possible failure mode of society.
After 2 daredevils plus JJ, LC and IF, it all comes together. However the villain isn't as strong as Fisk, Killgrave, Cottonmouth or Mariah. It was also hard to figure out what was going on in the head of the anti-villain. I guess it was supposed to be a surprise, but it lacked the surprising but inevitable quality of a good twist.
Has its funny moments. A bit rough around the edges.
Amazing political thriller. How the flash forwards were handled was amazing, with the interpretation of predicted events changing with each new reveal. Shows how good something can be if it is not interfered with, and is allowed to run its full extent.
Slow start, but gets better in latter seasons. The first half of season one was awful. Start with s01e13 T.R.A.C.K.S. Don't bother with anything earlier unless you're masochistic.
Alternate History for TV
I enjoyed the earlier seasons, however I am mostly arrow-versed out by now. I still sample bits and pieces of episodes but I no longer watch full episodes all the way through anymore. The main villains start to blur together and I can no longer remember why this seasons villain hates the hero and why they are different from last seasons villain.
Semi realistic. Gives a possible future solution to the real life problem of space debris. see the film gravity for an explanation of problem.