The Stop Button

Alien: Earth (2025) s01e07 “Emergence” D: Dana Gonzales. S: Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, Essie Davis, Samuel Blenkin, Babou Ceesay, Adarsh Gourav, Erana James. Lawther once again fails to deliver, dragging an already wobbly episode down at the finish. Everything is full red alert, moving pieces in place for the season finale. Ceesay also stumbles, while Chandler gets an iffy part in the script. Olyphant gets an outstanding showcase, as ever. Great special effects, not long enough action; Michael Crichton’s ALIEN 3 continues.

Alien: Earth (2025) s01e08 “The Real Monsters” D: Dana Gonzales. S: Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, Essie Davis, Samuel Blenkin, Babou Ceesay, Adarsh Gourav, Timothy Olyphant. Solid enough finale with some great direction from Gonzales–including what appears to be an ALIEN 3 visual homage; warms the heart. Either way the cliffhanger goes–renewal or not–doesn’t touch movie canon; fine, but safe. No one gives a standout performance, either. This episode really showcases how sacrificing actor gristle can lead to more dramatic success.

All Creatures Great & Small (2020) s05e07 “All God’s Creatures” [2024] D: Andy Hay. S: Nicholas Ralph, Samuel West, Anna Madeley, Rachel Shenton. Stressful, well-acted wartime Christmas episode tries giving everyone something, but only Madeley and Woodhouse get completed arcs. Woodhouse only because he can pick up some more narrative heft thanks to Madeley. Ralph and Shenton are trying to make a nice Christmas for the baby, which is barely a plot. It’s nice to see Tony Pitts and Imogen Clawson.

All Creatures Great & Small (2020) s06e01 “Gathering the Flock” [2025] D: Brian Percival. S: Nicholas Ralph, Samuel West, Anna Madeley, Rachel Shenton. The series jumps ahead to 1945 and the war winding down. Madeley has moved away, leaving West and Ralph to their own devices. Ralph copes, West does not. Can Ralph and Woodhouse get things right? Some great moments, strong performances from Madeley and Wedt, and a cracker of a veterinary case. They handle the time jump quite well.

All Creatures Great & Small (2020) s06e02 “Old Dog, New Tricks” [2025] D: Stewart Svaasand. S: Nicholas Ralph, Samuel West, Anna Madeley, Rachel Shenton. Great episode gets away with not addressing various changes since last time, instead continuing West’s unpleasantness and the various repercussions. Fun subplots for Ralph, home and work, and continuous nice moments for the characters nearly post-war. Outstanding work from the cast, including Hodge, who sets up a promising season plot. The optimism’s back; ditto the particular charm.

My Life Is Murder (2019) s05e08 “The One That Got Away (2)” [2025] D: . S: Lucy Lawless, Ebony Vagulans. Meandering wrap-up to the two-parter should give Lawless more to do character development-wise but the episode intentionally avoids it. Vagulans’s trip to Fiji is a lot less interesting than it ought to be as well. It’s not bad or anything, but there’s very little payoff from this episode or last, which doesn’t work for season finale.

Only Murders in the Building (2021) s05e04 “Dirty Birds” [2025] D: Chris Koch. S: Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Michael Cyril Creighton, Logan Lerman, Christoph Waltz, Renée Zellweger. This episode feels a little like the fourth season premiere, confirming Lerman, Waltz, and Zellweger as the season adversaries (or at least level bosses). It’s a fine episode–great acting (Waltz and Zellweger are particularly delightful opposite Martin and Short, respectively)–but the season’s herky-jerky. And Gomez’s season isn’t looking good. For a final season, it’s unduly erratic.

Only Murders in the Building (2021) s05e05 “Tongue Tied” [2025] D: Robert Pulcini. S: Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Michael Cyril Creighton, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Richard Kind, Téa Leoni. Funny but thin episode gives Martin and Leoni a comedy set piece, which rocks while also being a little pointless as things unfold. Randolph’s back, which also rocks. But then Gomez is just reacting to finding out it’s the last season from a shoehorned detail. Solid Short moments and a great showcase scene for Creighton.

Only Murders in the Building (2021) s05e06 “Flatbush” [2025] D: Robert Pulcini. S: Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Michael Cyril Creighton, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Meryl Streep, Téa Leoni. Good episode for Gomez, great episode for Short and guest starring Streep. There’s also some great Dianne Wiest and Leoni, and also Randolph. It’s an absurdly good showcase for everyone (minus Martin and Creighton, who’ve had their turns already). Short and Streep get some wonderful character moments, ditto Gomez. Albeit with less oompf. Too bad the end reveal’s lukewarm.

Slow Horses (2022) s05e01 “Bad Dates” [2025] D: Saul Metzstein. S: Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas. Well-acted and fairly well executed opener respects the formula–terror attack (related to the HORSES but how)–while they recuperate from last season. Oldman gets very little this episode, mostly just yelling at Edwards, who’s this season’s loose cannon. Meanwhile, Lowden gets less likable; they do ground him better. It’s good, it just hasn’t clicked into place yet.

Upload (2020) s04e01 “Wedding Weekend” [2025] D: Daina Reid. S: Robbie Amell, Andy Allo, Allegra Edwards, Zainab Johnson, Kevin Bigley, Owen Daniels. Allo and Edwards still each have their own version of Amell, albeit with some differences in virtuality. Everyone in the real world lives with Johnson (who gets a lot and is so good she makes up for the more extreme gags), and Edwards’s wedding is imminent. Zilch about the politics or conspiracies; good acting, overly enthusiastic–nearing desperate–writing.

Upload (2020) s04e02 “Workload” [2025] D: Daina Reid. S: Robbie Amell, Andy Allo, Allegra Edwards, Zainab Johnson, Kevin Bigley, Owen Daniels. Amell’s splitting his time between bewildered and doofus, without clicking in either mode. Allo’s trying to find one of those versions, but mostly in background to Daniels’s romance arc or doofus’s honeymoon planning. Johnson continues to have the season’s best subplot, this rushed corporate espionage future spy thing. The season reveal is impressively woven, and the cast’s still appealing.

Upload (2020) s04e03 “Spa Day” [2025] D: Jeffrey Blitz. S: Robbie Amell, Andy Allo, Allegra Edwards, Zainab Johnson, Kevin Bigley, Owen Daniels. It’s Amell’s easy best episode of the season, but they also rush through the big setup. They had the money for the idea but not to take it anywhere. There’s also a bunch of filler with Amell and Edwards on their honeymoon, which is slightly less time wasting than Daniels’s plot. Johnson’s great as always, though.

Upload (2020) s04e04 “Mile End” [2025] D: Jeffrey Blitz. S: Robbie Amell, Andy Allo, Allegra Edwards, Zainab Johnson, Kevin Bigley, Owen Daniels. Well. Some good acting–maybe not from the people who needed to be giving the best performances–but a fairly big whiff of a series finale. Show creator Greg Daniels is back scripting the finish, which accounts for Allo and Amell getting to be cute, and it’s an intentional conclusion. A bad one, but certainly intentional. Oh, well.