All Creatures Great & Small (2020) s06e03 “Captain Farnon?” [2025] D: Stewart Svaasand. S: Nicholas Ralph, Samuel West, Anna Madeley, Rachel Shenton. The show feels comfortable enough after the season jump ahead–with Shenton finally getting down to the village for a bit–it’s a surprise when the episode slows down in real time. Ralph’s got the Tricki Woo breeding subplot, West and Woodhouse have the bickering because West’s not communicating one. Sublimely goes from busied to precise. Madeley’s awesome.

All Creatures Great & Small (2020) s06e04 “Jenny Wren” [2025] D: Brian Percival. S: Nicholas Ralph, Samuel West, Anna Madeley, Rachel Shenton. Heartstring-pulling–in all the best ways–episode about Imogen Clawson’s future potential. Meanwhile, Woodhouse has a culture clash with his paramour’s family, and West still can’t figure out how to communicate. Excellent episode for Shenton, Woodhouse, Clawson, and Tony Pitts, with some delightfully unexpected character interactions. It quickly gets emotionally intense and stays there. Great vet cases, too.

Only Murders in the Building (2021) s05e07 “Silver Alert” [2025] D: Jessica Yu. S: Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Michael Cyril Creighton, Logan Lerman, Christoph Waltz, Renée Zellweger. The gang heads out to the country to Waltz’s weird mansion, thinking they’ll catch the billionaires plotting. Instead they find them playing board games for the future of the MacGuffin. Only then everyone figures out it’s a MacGuffin. Maybe they’ll pull this off? Like, Short and Gomez are really good this episode, and Waltz’s fun. But it’s still iffy.

Only Murders in the Building (2021) s05e08 “Cuckoo Chicks” [2025] D: Jessica Yu. S: Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Meryl Streep, Richard Kind, Renée Zellweger. Did they just save the season? It’s a big turnaround episode, thanks mostly to Streep getting every morsel off the scenery. It’s kind of cruel Zellweger’s one note Martha Stewart is opposite her. The circles Streep runs are something. Really nice character moments, lots of laughs, and a genuine surprise at the end. Great balance of guest stars too.

Only Murders in the Building (2021) s05e09 “LESTR” [2025] D: Jamie Babbit. S: Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Michael Cyril Creighton, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Richard Kind, Jermaine Fowler. The penultimate episode puts everything on the line with the case and the building. Then it (initially) inexplicably messes with the stakes (with Gomez nicely getting the good scene if not arc), before a dynamite second half. Returning supporting cast members make for a fun time. And Short and Martin eventually do get to their moments, too. Real good.

Slow Horses (2022) s05e03 “Tall Tales” [2025] D: Saul Metzstein. S: Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas, Saskia Reeves, Christopher Chung, Aimee-Ffion Edwards. Brilliantly done bridging episode has Scott Thomas and Oldman simultaneously figuring out what the season villains are plotting. Oldman’s in lockdown with the team while Scott Thomas is interrogating Chung, who gets to show some actual range for the first time. There’s also a lot of saboteur intrigue and reveals, though special guest star Nick Mohammed isn’t really delivering.

Slow Horses (2022) s05e04 “Missiles” [2025] D: Saul Metzstein. S: Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Saskia Reeves, Christopher Chung, Aimee-Ffion Edwards. Excellent direction, acting, and a surprise ending cap the episode, which opens with Oldman thinking through a part of the mystery and showing off. The second half is Lowden and Edwards trying to investigate and potentially protect assassination targets, with varying levels of success. Once again, Nick Mohammed is over his head, but James Callis finally gets to flex.

Slow Horses (2022) s05e05 “Circus” [2025] D: Saul Metzstein. S: Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas, Saskia Reeves, Christopher Chung, Aimee-Ffion Edwards. Excellent setup for the finale has little fallout from last time, instead showcasing supporting players Ruth Bradley and James Callis. It’s (presumably) to get the board in shape for the HORSES to come through and save the day next episode; superbly executed. Though not enough for still regular Scott Thomas. And there’s some concerning repetition from last season’s wrap.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) D: George Roy Hill. S: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin, Henry Jones, Jeff Corey, George Furth. Superlative Western about outlaws Newman and Redford’s luck running out as the world’s changing and they aren’t. Spectacular filmmaking–Hill’s direction, Conrad L. Hall’s photography, John C. Howard and Richard C. Meyer’s editing standout–essays William Goldman’s patient, lush screenplay. And then, of course, there’s the acting. Redford, Newman, and Ross are all fantastic. Some great bit players, too.

A Date with the Falcon (1942) D: Irving Reis. S: George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, James Gleason, Allen Jenkins, Mona Maris. Professional cad Sanders once again finds himself embroiled in a mystery, this time at the expense of meeting fiancée Barrie’s family. Sanders is charming throughout, thank goodness, because Barrie spends most of her time either complaining about Sanders being a cad or catching him with other women. The mystery’s half-baked, and Reis’s direction is wanting, but Sanders delivers.

The Falcon and the Co-Eds (1943) D: William Clemens. S: Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Rita Corday, Amelita Ward, Isabel Jewell, George Givot, Cliff Clark. Despite Conway being a profound creep (his romantic pursuit is Ward, the–hopefully–legal age daughter of an old paramour), it’s a swell FALCON. Conway’s investigating a mysterious death at a girls’ school, where everyone (who isn’t coming on to him) is a suspect. Clemens’s best work directing on the series. Brooks is fantastic as the moody drama teacher.

The Falcon in Danger (1943) D: William Clemens. S: Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Elaine Shepard, Amelita Ward, Cliff Clark, Edward Gargan, Clarence Kolb. DANGER gives Conway a fiancée sidekick with Ward, who’s still hysterically jealous after telling him to help damsels Brooks and Shepard. Long, but Conway’s found his (somewhat less slutty) groove (and Clark’s his best ever as the cop antagonist). The mystery’s great until the messy, unrewarding third act. Ward’s amalgam character’s an interesting idea, but the execution fizzles fast.

The Falcon in Mexico (1944) D: William Berke. S: Tom Conway, Mona Maris, Martha Vickers, Nestor Paiva, Mary Currier, Cecilia Callejo, Emory Parnell. After a somewhat protracted setup in the city (which city, what supporting players, don’t ask), Conway’s on his way to MEXICO to uncover a potential art forgery. Vickers doesn’t impress as the ingenue, but Maris is great as her suspicious step-mother. Paiva’s profoundly uncomfortable Mexican caricature has an explanation, if not a point. Competent outing.

The Falcon Out West (1944) D: William Clemens. S: Tom Conway, Carole Gallagher, Barbara Hale, Joan Barclay, Cliff Clark, Edward Gargan, Minor Watson. Fun–albeit frequently racist–outing with series regulars Conway, Clark, and Gargan heading out to a ranch to investigate a murder. Conway’s there to help grieving almost-widow Gallagher, but gets distracted by capable cowgirl Hale. Conway’s getting better at the detective scenes but worse with the caddish behavior material. Great Roy Webb score. Off finish but great rhythm.

The Falcon Strikes Back (1943) D: Edward Dmytryk. S: Tom Conway, Harriet Nelson, Jane Randolph, Edgar Kennedy, Cliff Edwards, Rita Corday, Erford Gage. Conway’s first solo FALCON is a whodunit with wartime espionage trappings. He’s framed for a war bonds heist; somehow, lovely ladies Corday and Nelson figure in. Plus, Randolph’s back to perturb the plot whenever needed. Conway’s charming (though less believably mindlessly horny than unmentioned George Sanders), Dmytryk’s direction’s nicely moody, and it moves. The resolution’s a little pat, though.

The Falcon Takes Over (1942) D: Irving Reis. S: George Sanders, Lynn Bari, James Gleason, Allen Jenkins, Helen Gilbert, Ward Bond, Edward Gargan. Fascinating mix of Sanders’s slutty (no other word) adventurer FALCON and a Raymond Chandler adaptation. Sanders (fiancée now off-screen) moves from lady to lady (Bari as the good girl, Gilbert as the bad), while sidekick Jenkins is constantly assaulted by man mountain Bond, who’s looking for revenge. Plus, series cop Gleason’s around (and pressuring Jenkins). Often very noir.

The Falcon’s Brother (1942) D: Stanley Logan. S: George Sanders, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph, Don Barclay, Cliff Clark, Edward Gargan, Keye Luke. Sanders, still in New York but with an almost entirely new supporting cast (and no fiancée to be cheating on), goes to greet visiting brother Conway, only to find a corpse, instead. Incredibly efficient, albeit derivative (same jokes, plot points, and character setups as last FALCON entry), baton passing entry. Randolph’s likable as the good girl. Some racism, however.

Münchhausen (1943) D: Josef von Báky. S: Hans Albers, Wilhelm Bendow, Ferdinand Marian, Käthe Haack, Hans Brausewetter, Marina von Ditmar, Brigitte Horney. Often racist, always sexist, tedious, terrible (just because it’s literal German Nazi propaganda, either) tale of how young fräuleins can’t get enough of fifty-year-old Albers. Who’s magic and immortal. The narrative arc itself could be worse–but the pieces along the way are awful, so the finish flops. The single imaginative sequence (the moon) isn’t worth it.

Underwater (2020) D: William Eubank. S: Kristen Stewart, Vincent Cassel, Mamoudou Athie, T.J. Miller, John Gallagher Jr., Jessica Henwick. Ocean floor and monsters of the deep versus determined gaggle of survivors lacks competent directing and writing, but the special effects aren’t bad. Director Eubank cares about nothing but getting Stewart soaking wet and scantily clad. She and Cassel manage not to embarrass themselves; everyone else has a bad part (in addition to bad writing). Except charisma vacuum Miller.

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.