Daley Review: Tv, Movies, And Books - This Is Us | The Orville | The Mist | The Leftovers | Handmaids's Tale | Colony | Westw

This second episode ably builds upon the first. Last week we met pretty much everyone we need to know to get us through the story. (If anybody else shows up, I'm going to call cheating on the Duffer Brothers.) This week, we get to see: Mike's E.T.-inspired introduction of the world outside Hawkins Labs to a wide-eyed Elle Lucas' low tolerance for supernatural shenanigans Dustin's quick-witted ability to cause a distraction (bang-BANG!) Steve Harrington's best moves (not counting those using a stuffed bear) Jonathon's unsupervised nocturnal activities -and- The true meaning of friendship, as demonstrated by our resident slave to raging hormones, Nancy. With only 8 episode this season, no episode can spend much time on any one character. This episode goes a long way to defining who the main characters are without a lot of exposition. They DO the things that tell us who they are, making it very watchable. And just when you think you've seen everything this episode has to offer... Barb. Direct iTun

And we're back! I don't think I'd recommend moving if you want to try and keep a weekly podcast going. It really plays havoc with your scheduling and studio availability. (By that I mean the studio is completely inaccessible). But we're back now with the first season of Stranger Things from Netflix. This one is too good to just sit back and let pass by with giving it the Daley review treatment. Being children of the 80's, there's a lot for Caroline and I to chew on that tastes both satisfying and familiar. I know we're a little late to the party on this one, but give us a chance even of you've watched Stranger Things. We may surprise you with some insights you hadn't heard elsewhere. Of maybe you just like us better. Either reason works for us. Direct iTunes link!

Was it just a week ago the first season of USA's Colony drew to a close? What better way to mark the occasion than with a slightly later than normal, but there's no harm because there's no new episode tonight, podcast? I have just the thing. This here podcast can do that for you. The season started and everyone was together. The season ended with everyone headed in vastly different directions with no way to stay in touch. The idea behind any story's second act is to put everybody in a heap of trouble. With the finale's last few scenes, I think it's fair to say a heap of trouble is in everyone's future. Except maybe Jennifer. She may get through episode 201 without being shot at or run in by red hats, but those odds are only even money. The team here at Daley Review is anxious to see where we go next with the LA Bloc and can't wait for 2017 to see what happens next. In the meantime, we'll start our season 2 coverage of Fear the Walking Dead in a few weeks! Direct iTunes Link!

The next to last episode of the season delivered the big fight between Will and Katie that's been building all season. Before we get to see how that goes down, we get to see how some of our fellow colonists celebrate the first anniversary of the arrival. Let's just say that some of those colonists aim to misbehave. An opportunity arises and Will has a new, third option he wants to explore with his family: not collaborate, not resist, but Colony Exodus. It's this new option that brings Will to the family shootout we've been waiting to see. The Will/Kate blow-up was not really everything I needed it to be and since the writers knew it wouldn't be, they gave us something juicy: Hyperion. Watch the episode, listen to the podcast and strap in for the final episode this week! Direct iTunes link.

If Colony had a Talking Dead-style "In Memorium" section of the show, this episode would have had a long one. A major character, a minor one, the minor one's sons, and then red-hat collateral damage. Let's not forget moon-base plague-man! The terrorist cell Will has been after all season, also known as the Country Quayle Jamboree featuring Katie, is swept into the pages of history with a little help from their leader turning rat (and a little more help from Will's good aim). Things play out in a way that will let Katie skate back into her normal, non-insurrectionist life and all she has to do is take the opportunity Will has created. Can she? Will she? Her unexplained draw to Broussard is likely a time-bomb within her and when he calls, she will come a' runnin'. Maybe in the meantime, she and Will can re-forge their own bond, focus on getting Charlie back, and at least make it hard decision for her when Broussard comes knocking. Overall, great episode, full of surprises; top 3 of the season. In other news,

Busy week with a LOT of setup for what's to come. Broussard is a wanted man, or many men as it turns out. Things get off to an explosive start this episode, Jennifer becomes the team's "Velma" for some reason, and time is about up for Katie with her Resistance comrades. The pieces -should- be all in place in Will's mind, but that doggone blind spot may keep him from facing the truth about the way Katie's been spending her free time. Go check out our Facebook page for more info Caroline has found on details related to the show. Did you wonder how Katie picked the codename Emilia Gould? Have a listen and find out. Direct iTunes link.  

And now something different. Don't worry, we're still going to review this past week's episode. This mini-cast is a recorded conversation between one of your Daley Review hosts, Paul Daley, and one of our listeners, Paul Rabenowitz (@paulrabenowitz on Twitter). Paul has been listening and conversing back and forth with us since our Leftovers reviews and has come along for the ride into the LA Bloc as we review Colony. The initial scope of the conversation was meant to include a discussion of Flatland, a book about expanding your perspective beyond what you may be capable of and how it relates to Colony. Paul R. had caught subtle references to "Flatlanders" during the show and the themes of this 100 year old novel made an immediate connection. He mentioned it to me (Paul D.) and we decided to exploit the marvelous technology of our modern age and have a trans-Atlantic conversation about it. The result was what follows, a conversation that sounds like old friends, able to draw references from books, TV, and mo

Tons of action and Action Jackson was nowhere to be seen! This one was all about Will and Proxy Snyder trying to survive an ambush, Broussard trying to perform that ambush, and Katie trying to fit into the middle of the ambush without Will ever finding out about it. Given her natural talent for disguise and espionage, it's hard to believe Will could ever find her out. And by that I mean it's just a matter of time because she -doesn't- actually have any natural talent in those areas and I have serious doubts about the integrity of the resistance's training program. I sure love great action scenes, but even more I love when light is shone upon up until now unknown nuggets of info about the Colony universe. You wouldn't expect an action oriented episode to have such meaty exposition, but it does and it really works. The pace of the show didn't drag as a result of the three or four gut-spilling sessions our characters had. Congrats, Colony Creators! This week, my sister joins us on the podcast, and be on the lo

Will's team is shaken up after the murder of their former boss and everybody's going to have to get used to the new guy being in charge. If I was Jennifer, I'd be all like, "Anything he can do, I can do better," but I doubt it would work on Proxy Snyder. At least not right now. Phyllis' death has him very nervous and all of the sudden it doesn't matter that he doesn't have the right Geronimo in custody. In cases where a public example needs to be made, any Geronimo will do. Other Geronimos may surface (they do), but they don't quite look the part quite like poor, under-represented Luis (I guess certain rights, like legal representation, have been suspended during the occupation). This was a fine episode, and one that helped add texture to the levels of human bureaucracy above the proxy level, but overall it was meant to serve up next week's episode (which looks action-packed). We end on a cliffhanger and a preview promising a gunfight, so stick around and we'll catch up next week! Direct iTunes link. More

The best episode of the season so far. That's what I said on Twitter after it aired, and I stand by that assessment. A leader arrested, a major reveal and a major character death. Normally, a house-fire would qualify as a show's major action-piece, but not so for Colony. That's just a set up for something better to actually happen. Look at our Facebook page for additional fact-finding related to the show. Let's review: Will - Continues to be too good at his job, but suffers from a woman-shaped blind spot. Katie - Is a bad liar and ok with arson in small, manageable quantities. Bram - is grounded. Beau - Did a -little- police work this week. Phyliss - Don't get too attached... Direct iTunes link.

Will can't stop tightening the noose, which his own wife has tied for him, around his neck. An eleven month layoff from his career in law enforcement did little to put Will Bowman off his game when he sets his mind to it and his tenacity might get him killed. Is that any way to complement a job well done? Katie assists on her first real action for the Resistance and witnesses the true horror of what her choice may bring her as a team member is killed in front of her. She also gets to open the Yonk this week. So, it's not all bad for Katie. Direct iTunes link.

The second episode of USA's new show Colony started to widen out what we know about the show's mythology and introduced a very "gray" way to ease Josh Holloway's Will Bowman into his new life as a collaborator. Is it still collaborating when your own personal ambitions align with the occupation's? We're also left with a lot of questions concerning Katie's (Callies) motivations. Is she truly riding the line between supportive collaborator's wife and up-and-coming resistance agent? Or is it possible she's really pumping Will for info and recklessly (or even calculatedly) put Will directly in harm's way? There's not enough to go on yet, but this episode definitely presents evidence on the matter. Plus, we get to see Josh Holloway walk a balance beam. Direct iTunes link.

We've been looking forward to this one for a while. Carlton Cuse has been very active in the since LOST ended with The Bates Motel and The Strain, but this is the first series of his that jumped out to us. It doesn't hurt that we've had a little layoff in active programming since The Leftovers finale either. The series gets off to a very fast start and throws the main characters, Will and Katie, played by Josh Holloway (Sawyer from LOST) and Sarah Wayne Callies (Lori from The Walking Dead), into the thick of a plot that should make for some great TV. In the podcast we discuss everything in our usual scene by scene style and try to sort out just how this show is going to work. Right away the characters are going to be headed in very different directions and their motivations are not 100% clear. Do we think this is a strong start? Listen to find out! Direct iTunes link.

Phew! That was some finale last night! (Your part is to pretend that the finale was last night and not a week ago.) We at Daley Review try to deliver a unique podcasting experience for fans of the shows we have in common. We also have about 17 major projects going on, including a complete remodel of our podcasting studio. Something had to give and this week, it was the podcast. Fret not! We will take you back in time and help you re-live the finale and make it feel like you're watching it for the first time, all over again. We will also have some comments in the podcast that were made before HBO renewed the show. We're all learning to live with inconveniences here. No picture this week. Instead, check out this location and see if it seems familiar. If not, try picturing an airstream trailer parked on it. Direct iTunes Link.

With this episode almost everything has fallen in to place except: How does it end? This is quite a build up, isn't it? I was fooled into thinking another Departure had taken place, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. This Meg / Tom -centric episode answers almost every question we have about the second season of this excellent TV show. The girl's naked cross country team is still is puzzler for us at the Daley Review, but we have a hunch. Anyway, now with this podcast we are all caught up and ready for tomorrow night's finale. If you see Damon Lindelof, tell him it's his own fault that our expectations are super, mega high. This season has been SO good. Direct iTunes Link. The Garvey's house as it looks today.

We all know International Assassin came out two weeks ago and it was an amazing, bold episode. It also came out the Sunday before a Thanksgiving trip we had scheduled months in advance. We recorded the podcast right away, but one thing led to another and I didn't get to edit this beast of an episode until this week. So, here it is, filed under the "better late than never" category. It's a long podcast, so it's chock full of wild claims and opinions and bits of research we hope you find interesting. Direct iTunes Link.

Some major events happened in this episode. The permanence of those events will say a lot about the reality that defines the universe of The Leftovers. We, at the Daley Review, have long been of the opinion that the Sudden Departure is not the only supernatural event or example  in the show's universe. However, the bulk of the show remains grounded in a reality that, although bleaker, is nearly identical to our own. Whatever happens after this show will tell the fans of this show how far the magical parameters actually stretch. We have a picture of Damon and you don't.

Nora and Erika become frenemies in the sixth episode this season. One second they're smiling at each other, the next they're hucking  rocks at each other's houses. Is that any way for ladies to behave? Maybe not, but I have a feeling it's going to get worse before it gets better between these two. Meanwhile, Jill has a flare up of her former snottiness, albeit balanced out by the fact that she does a lot of nice things and wants to spend time with a junior minister -PLUS- we get chance to see what it looks like from the outside looking in when Kevin is coming apart at the seams. It's not pretty. Given the level of woman-on-woman warfare going on in this episode, we take our sweet time in this podcast to  cover our bases. Plus, we're a lot funnier than last week. Content mentioned in the podcast: The Scientific American "Lensing" article - The text has been transcribed by viewer Rafael Ferreira on the Facebook Leftovers Chat. If you don't have access to the story, ask for it and I bet they let you in as lo

Matt Jamison is destined to walk the harder road it would seem. In this episode, he is determined to recreate the circumstances surrounding the Mary's miracle that he told Nora about last week, but the miracles don't end there, folks. A trip to Austin informs the Jamisons that they'll be needing to add an additional room onto their lawn mower shed when the baby arrives. First things first though - they have to make it back into Jarden and this is no easy feat. We talk all about it. Direct iTunes link. The bridge used to separate Miracle National Park from the outer world is actually just south of Austin's Bergstrom Airport. The park below was ravaged by a recent storm. I took this pic before getting chased off. We're trying to get our numbers higher in iTunes, so use the link below to download the episode through iTunes. If iTunes isn't your favorite podcatcher, go to our More Subscribe Options for what best suits your needs. Also, please leave us ratings and reviews on iTunes to let us know how we're doin

Migraines can't stop us from getting our podcast out. They can definitely challenge us, but they won't stop us. After a week of medical ups and downs, here is our podcast for the exciting fourth episode of the second season of the Leftovers. A lot happened and more questions were raised. Mainly, can we trust Patti? As you listen to the podcast, you may wonder what Caroline is referring to as a "Boogedy". As near as I can tell, the term is inspired by this charming piece of  classic television. She is simply referring to any possibly malignant spirit, like Patti, whose motives have yet to be proven. We also get to take a closer look at John Murphy as Kevin expands the circle of people that he commits felonies with. Direct iTunes link. We're trying to get our numbers higher in iTunes, so use the link below to download the episode through iTunes. If iTunes isn't your favorite podcatcher, go to our More Subscribe Options for what best suits your needs. Also, please leave us ratings and reviews on iTunes to let