The Irregulars Season 1 (2021) Review

It has taken me a bit longer then I expected but I finished the show The Irregulars and here is my review for it. The premise of the show is set in Victorian London and sees a group of teenagers have to work for Holmes and Watson to stop paranormal threats. 

Main Character

There is a group of teenagers but the main two that are focused on are sisters Bea played by Thaddea Graham & Jessie played by Darci Shaw. They are okay together, there were certain times that the two of them seemed to show genuine care and affection for each other but they don't last long enough. The show forces weak conflict between the two of them and I didn't really care about either of there individual plots or characters and that is obviously a big issue. 

Supporting Characters

The rest of the teenage group do nothing for me, you've got Spike the comedy relief, Billy the tough guy and Leo the odd one out. There characters are cliché and the actors are not good enough in their roles to make you care or interested. Billy and Leo have pretty big side plots but they are just not interesting enough and the biggest criticism is that I never felt like these characters truly cared about each other and were only together because this is a TV show. Royce Pierreson plays Watson and he gets more screen time then Holmes and he is functional, but this is a big chance wasted in my opinion. They try and make Watson more mysterious and dark and that could have worked but the script isn't good enough to deliver on these ideas. Henry Lloyd-Hughes plays Sherlock Holmes and honestly I hated this interpretation of the character, I know we have seen a few Holmes on the screen but this one doesn't work. He lacks charm, charisma and just intelligence all what I expect from the character and this drugged out loser is far from what I wanted. There are some decent actors like Clarke Peters and Rory McCann but their roles are quite weak and don't play into the story enough. 

Story 

The story is all over the place and the issue is that it plays a bit like a show that is a weekly show. For the first half of the season it is very much a case of the week type of show with the group investigating different monsters. But with the whole season dropping at once makes it feels so repetitive and they cases aren't that interesting. The overall plot doesn't work either with a lack of heart or emotion to it and the finale doesn't hit the levels that it should. 

Script 

The script isn't very good either. The drama doesn't do enough to make you care about the majority of the characters and that is the biggest killer for the show. The humour is forced and not funny which makes it awkward and the show just lacks depth and intrigue. 

Style

The style of the show has some decent backdrops and Victorian London does look pretty good and there are some fun action set pieces. But the show is just boring, it is slowly paced and that is a large reason why it took me so long to finish it. There could have been 6 episodes and the show would have been a bit better as there may have been less wasted side plots. 

Overall

Overall, The Irregulars is a bad show. It lacks any intrigue and uniqueness to make it stand out from the crowd with a cast that don't offer much. I can't see a huge future for this show and I would say avoid this show as there are very few redeeming qualities. 

Rating - 2/10 

The Walking Dead: World Beyond Season 1 (2020) Review 

So after The Walking Dead & Fear The Walking Dead we now have our third zombie show in this universe The Walking Dead: World Beyond and I have now just finished the first season and here is my review for it. The premise of the season sees a group teenagers leave their university in order a scientist charged with ending the Zombie Apocalypse. 

Main Characters

Young actresses Aliyah Royale & Alexa Mansour play the two leads here and I am sure they are nice people and hopefully have a long careers but they are both pretty bad here. First Royale, she plays Iris and she is the most annoying character, she acts so much better then all the other characters on screen, even though she is dumber then most of the other characters. The show tries its best to make you care and you just won't, it even makes you question why some of the young males are interested in her when she offers nothing when on screen. Then onto Mansour, she plays your tough generic renegade and she doesn't do it particularly well, I think the main issue with her is that you have seen this type of character hundreds of times before and this show does nothing different with it. The character is poorly written and has a few twists that make little sense and feel contrived just in order to raise the drama because the show can't create natural tension and drama. 

Supporting Cast 

The supporting cast suffers too but there are a few glimmers of okay performances that do enough. Hal Cumpston as Silas is easily the most interesting character on this show, the show does a good job through flashbacks in showing his interesting backstory and I think some credit has to go to the actor for the way he conveys the character. Annet Mahendru plays Huck who is basically the female leader of the group and I thought she did a pretty good job, again the flashback story involving her is something new and interesting in this world and her character becomes more interesting as the show goes on. But then we get to the rest of the cast, Nicolas Cantu plays Elton and this guy is really annoying, he is very clearly positioned as the nerd of the group and it doesn't allow the character to be interesting and he actually comes across as too much at times. Then onto Nico Tortorella who plays the groups guardian, he is as generic as they come and their is nothing about this character that stands out. I mean there is one part of his character that is just beaten over your head even though it would have been more effective if it had been weaved organically and just feels like a cheap attempt at getting sympathy. The group meet a few people and they are annoying and you won't care about them and the main bad guy is barely on screen so again why should you care. 

Story 

It's funny because as I mentioned earlier this show actually does an okay job in portraying a few of the characters and there backstories, the show also does a few things that ties it into the larger Walking Dead universe and it now seems that this show is heavily connected to what is going on in the main Walking Dead show. But this show also has some dull flashback stories that do nothing for characters, I mean one character has multiple flashback episodes for some reason and it feels like they aren't really sure what story they want to tell. I mean at this point we have seen plenty of The Walking Dead and this show does nothing new, the whole show feels like a copy of the other shows and don't get me started on how The Walkers or Empties as they are called on this show are the weakest to date and literally offer no challenge to these novices. 

Script

The script is woeful, the dialogue is cringeworthy at times and as I said above the character development is pretty much non existent and the writing is just poor. The show doesn't make you get invested dramatically and there is nothing to laugh about at all and the actors aren't strong enough to rise above it. 

Style  

The shows style suffers as well, it offers nothing new or unique, it looks cheap and like its The Walking Dead's ugly step sister that they don't care about. The pacing is all over the place, why their needs to be 10 episodes I don't know as it feels like padding and like there are a few episodes where very little happens. 

Overall

Overall, this is an awful show and easily the worst thing I have ever seen The Walking Dead make. But I feel like for the future of The Walking Dead this show is going to play a part in its main story which makes it something to know about. Luckily before the show came out they confirmed that there would only be 2 seasons, so only one more season of this garbage to go, but yes unless you are a Walking Dead nut avoid this show at all cost. 

Rating - 2/10

 The Deceived Season 1 (2020) Review

So this week Channel 5 premiered a new drama called The Deceived and I have now watched the four episodes and here is my review for the show. The premise of the season sees a young student fall in love with her married professor but after a death in his family she finds herself in an uncomfortable situation. 

Main Character

Emily Reid plays the main female character here and I thought she wasn't very good. Looking at her history she has not acted much and it comes across, plus her character is really boring and hard to care about. She is really gullible and falls for everything here, there isn't any reason to care about her other that the guy is a bit creepy, she just added nothing into the role for me to care about her as a character. 

Supporting Characters

Emmet J Scalan plays the professor here and I thought he was the best actor here, though that isn't saying much. He does creepy quite well, you know something isn't quite right with this guy and that he isn't as nice as he seems. I mean there isn't that much to his character but for what he was given I thought he did fine. But the rest of the characters did nothing for me, they were poorly acted and there was nothing interesting about them, one character in particular called Sean was so bad here and every time he was on screen I just switched out. 

Story

The story is all over the place, if you have read the premise you can kind of guess the main idea for the story but it is so convoluted and stupid. I mean it tries to deal with supernatural stuff which it fails miserably and when the twist is revealed you are left shaking your head wondering who wrote this. This show also sets up a second season in an illogical way that shouldn't really interest anybody. 

Script

The script has nothing about it, the romance and drama just doesn't click for me to make me care about the relationships here. Also as I mentioned the writing goes all over the place in terms of storytelling and really hurts the show. 

Style

The style of the show does doe a half decent job in building tension and making the show aesthetically look nice. It is just paced poorly and even though there are only four episodes it feels like that is even too much. 

Overall

Overall, I thought this was an awful show, the acting isn't good, the plot is not good and it is not worth your time so don't watch it. 

Rating - 2/10