Space Hospital S02E06 “As The Worm Turns” | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Sci-Fi Comedy Web Series

4 Swirlies

“It’s good to meet a fellow super sentient mollusk. We should hang out some time.”

Awesome. This episode ties up one big plot line from this season and brings another one front and center to set up for the next episode – the last of season 2!

Epic jokes to watch out for: Scanner reference, big fake, prop rocks meta humour, Omacron suggesting a “five way.”

From YouTube Description:

Re: Robot Love, Deep Space Cuisine on a Budget…

As Space Hospital is threatened with absorption into the digestive tract of a giant space mollusk, a slightly less sinister threat still stalks the shadowy halls of the ship, making hapless nurses its victim. Can the newly revived Doctor Omacron cheat fate and save the crew?

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Tyranny Ep.11 “Aversion” | A Webseries Review on The Watch List

A Sci-Fi Web Series

5 Swirlies

“Do you have an aversion to the government?”

Chilling.

There’s so many things to like about this new episode of the webseries, Tyranny. The tension is intense. The acting is top notch. I love the art design of the FBI offices - all boxes and paperwork. They could have done so many other things for the look of the offices, but this busy, slightly claustrophobic approach complimented the intent of the scene perfectly.

While the story didn’t really move forward, this scene gives us a sharp insight into Daniel’s increasing paranoia and emotional trauma. We could have seen him ranting or crying or writing cryptic messages on the walls, but this is a taut, honest, subtle way to get across just how frayed Daniel is becoming.

It also sets up a lot questions. Is Daniel being followed? Was he called in to speak to the FBI for some other reason than he’s being told? Is he paranoid? As much as we totally identify with Daniel, and feel what he’s feeling… I think we can’t help but question his mental state when he’s up against the complete assured calmness of the FBi agent, another testament to the strength of the acting in this series.

I like this series because it makes choices, bold choices. It doesn’t just say, we need an FBI office and this is what FBI offices on TV look like, cause I don’t think they would ended up with the set that they did. And I don’t know for certain all this - maybe this messy room was the only location they could get and so they made it work. But I don’t think so. Everything about this show is deliberate, so well thought out, that I don’t think it happened by chance.

And the character of the FBI agent? So creepy, all the more so because of the banality of much of his dialogue. Is he really just asking about the loft cause he wants to live in one? Or is he probing Daniel for some reason all together?

4 episodes left…

From YouTube Description:

Episode 11 of Tyranny the Web Series:
Aversion”
Daniel McCarthy gets called in for questioning by the FBI.

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Aidan5 Ep.4 “The Enemy of My Enemy” | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Sci-Fi Web Series

4 Swirlies

“The duplicate population have moved from useful machines to self-thinking automatons bent on our destruction.”

Wow. I thought the last episode was a little off the mark, but this episode pretty much nailed it.

There’s two chunks to this episode - the first is a pretty well executed action sequence, and the second is an extended character moment where Aidan talks about his past. And then… there’s a final twist at the ending that hooked my interest.

And it is not just the plot and the technical execution that grabbed me, but I feel like in this episode they re-captured the mood and tone of suspense and quiet tension that was missing in the previous one.

I also liked the fact that Aidan is an “original” with clones and his partner is a clone. Whether or not the creators intended this, it gave the scene in the bar quite a bit of interesting sub-text as Aidan talked about his reasons for cloning himself. I had assumed that his clones were cloned to help with his police work, but here we find out it was just about money. I couldn’t help imagine that she was thinking about her original, and her reasons for cloning herself. What must it be like to know that you exist not because someone really wanted you, but because they wanted a payday?

I’m very impressed, it is not often a web series wins me back. Usually if a series is off to a strong start but then stumbles as the episodes progress, that’s the end to me enjoyment. Aidan5 is again one of the few shows that I really look forward to each week.

From YouTube Description:

Aidan and Riley must stop an assassination plot at Senator Kendrick’s political rally.

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Broken Toy Ep.1 | A Web Series on The Watch List

Astounding progress has been made by the United States government in the development of the once-theoretical Mach 24 jet engine. Fast jets, however, need fast pilots and a program to re-engineer aviators with accelerated reflexes and neural pathways capable of flying these fighters has been a disaster. Four prime candidates were upgraded. All four died horrifically. A fifth — never meant as anything more than a disposable test subject — has unexpectedly survived the strain to his nervous system. Hunted and confused, he is now a violent fugitive on the run from his grave.

4 Swirlies

“Wait. People can survive without their lungs. Yes or no?”"

A very nicely written sci-fi thriller web series. Looks good, sounds good… the acting’s a little stilted but otherwise this episode is very strong. It has a nice mix of tension, pathos and humour - often all at once. It’s a hard mix to get right, but the creators kept everything grounded in the characters.

In many ways, this is what a first episode should be - putting you right into the middle of the action and parceling out just enough backstory so that you understand the context, without spending all of its time telling you what happened before. What I think it could have done better is to let us know what to expect from this series. The ending feels like just that - and ending. Does the web series, so far only four episodes, continue with the same characters? What do I have to look forward to if I remember to come back?

I know this is gonna sound kinda pissy, but I think they could have gone with a better title. Titles are hard - but if you’re clicking around in YouTube, does this title make you stop and think; “Oh here’s a well produced science fiction thriller web series. I should watch it.”

We’re starting to build up quite a solid little collection of science fiction web series to cover - Tyranny, Aiden5 and Broken Toy are just off the top of my head. Go web!

Tyranny Ep.3 “That Day in November” | A Web Series on The Watch List

Episode 3 of Tyranny the Web Series:
“That Day in November”
Daniel McCarthy travels in his memory back to November 22,1999, when he volunteers for a neurological experiment at Berkeley, performed by a grad student named Edson Cross.

4 Swirlies

“Would you rather have them know the truth?”

This web series is constantly surprising me. You may have noticed I say that a lot about the web series that I like.

In this episode of Tyranny, the show has moved away from the montage heavy format of the first two episodes, and is just telling us a straight forward story. I really thought that the thing we saw strapped to Daniel’s chest at the end of Ep. 2 was a bomb, and I wasn’t all that intrigued. But now we learn what ti really was. And I am intrigued.

This web series is really well produced, but still has the confidence to not let fancy camera work or editing get in the way of the story. It’s also well written. Just when I thought maybe this series would be episode after episode of incoherent jumblings, it gives us an episode that wouldn’t be out of place on a network TV series. It also has a really nice arc to it, with a great ending that proves you don’t have to go over the top, with a big reveal or a cliffhanger, to create a ending that we’ll remember - even if their not exactly breaking new ground with the way they end this episode… it works. And it stays with you. At least it does with me.

I think maybe that I like this series because of the length. Some other shows I might like as much if they were longer, or if I watched a whole bunch in a row, but I think Tyranny really works in this short format. I might find that if I watched a bunch of these episodes stitched together to, for example, make it movie length I wouldn’t like it at all.

But for now, all I care about is that I’m hooked and I’m coming back for the next episode.