TV

Once upon a time, TV was a passive experience. You turned it on, plopped down on the couch, and let the story unfold without lifting a finger. But then came shows like Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, which flipped the script and handed the reins to the audience. Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (Netflix/Screenshot) Suddenly, viewers were making decisions

Critic’s Rating: 4.8 / 5.0 4.8 The closer Blue Bloods gets to the end, the more upsetting it is that this show is going off the air. Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 16 did the impossible: it explored contentious, potentially divisive issues and explored them in a way that takes a stand without feeling heavy-handed.

Thanksgiving dinner — a time for family, food, and a colorful cast of personalities. But let’s face it, not everyone you’d want at your Thanksgiving table would make it a relaxing meal. Some TV characters would turn it into an evening of laughter and camaraderie, while others, well, let’s just say they’d leave you reaching

Critic’s Rating: 4.6 / 5.0 4.6 It’s official; Grey’s Anatomy just wrapped for the midseason break, and boy, did the latest episode leave us with a lot to think about until spring. The first few minutes were deceptively lackluster, with a confusing November heat wave and a six-week time jump to set the stage. But

In a stunning legal reversal, the Illinois Supreme Court has overturned Empire actor Jussie Smollett’s conviction for falsely reporting a hate crime in 2019. The court didn’t clear him of wrongdoing but instead ruled that Smollett should never have been prosecuted after Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office initially dropped the charges in a

Critic’s Rating: 4.5 / 5.0 4.5 (Content warning: this article discusses a scene that depicted a suicide attempt.) It feels like the season just started, and it’s already time for Chicago Fire‘s midseason break. What is time, anyway? Overall, the episode was enjoyable, a little stressful, and we finally got a morsel of insight into

If you’re anything like this TV Fanatic, you were blown away by the first half of the premiere season of Matlock. To be fair, we had high expectations — the show just exceeded them. It’s no wonder Kathy Bates is an Oscar and Emmy-winning actress. Can you imagine how excited the executives at CBS must’ve

Critic’s Rating: 3 / 5.0 3 Well, that was something. Overall, Accused Season 2 has been hit or miss with the installments, and this one falls closer to the latter than the former. “Margot’s Story” involved a senior-aged woman who became enamored with a con artist and wanted to exercise some control over her life

Carisi spent most of Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 7 chasing after a pedophile he was afraid would hurt someone, while the official case of the week involved a serial rapist targeting sex workers on the street. Did Carisi go too far? Was the case of the week done well? TV Fanatic writers

Critic’s Rating: 4.7 / 5.0 4.7 Brilliant Minds has excelled at exploring living life on a patient’s terms when they need to adapt to new circumstances. In Brilliant Minds Season 1 Episode 8, Dr. Wolf appealed to June Sullivan’s family to get them to adapt and accept that their mother had changed. June Sullivan had

Ellis Stevens has had a rough go of it in FROM Season 3. When the season began, he and his wife Fatima were in a good place as recent newlyweds expecting their first child, but things have gone from bad to worse, as they typically do in FROM land. After learning they weren’t expecting as

The Equalizer Season 5 Episode 4 featured Marcus’ surprising return. A reunion between Marcus and Robyn has been long overdue since the pair said goodbye at the end of The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 10. It was an emotional episode all about sacrifices and trust, along with a shocking death. (Jocelyn Prescod/CBS) Before we dig

Critic’s Rating: 4.5 / 5.0 4.5 Taylor Sheridan has done it again. His new series Landman on Paramount+ drops viewers right into the rough, risky world of Texas oil, as only Sheridan can. To be clear, critics will not love this show. Just as they have overlooked other Sheridan works like Yellowstone and Tulsa King,

It’s been a long, bumpy ride, but there is some hope for Days of Our Lives’ future. Lead actresses Susan Seaforth Hayes (Julie) and Deidre Hall (Marlena) recently confirmed in an interview that the ridiculous Body & Soul storyline will end by the time the new writers take over, if not before. Days of Our

In difficult times, young adults need shows about them more than ever. Adolescence and early adulthood are challenging no matter what’s going on in a young person’s life, and doubly so when they’re growing up in a high-stress, polarized environment. TV gets a lot of things right about young people, though it still misses the

Critic’s Rating: 4.8 / 5.0 4.8 I know I keep saying it, but Blue Bloods’ cancelation is the worst television news in a long time. We’re more than halfway through the final batch of episodes now. Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 15 had everything that made me fall in love with this show and then

Unless you’ve been under a rock, you know that Outer Banks delivered one hell of a cliffhanger by the end of Outer Banks Season 4, and to say people aren’t pleased would be an understatement. No, we’re still not over the decision to write out JJ Maybank, the Pogue Prince, if you will, and we

Critic’s Rating: 3.65 / 5.0 3.65 I have to admit, Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 Episode 7 did not go the way I expected. There was a shocking death, an emotional goodbye, and a heaping portion of callbacks to older Grey’s Anatomy storylines, and I wasn’t really prepared for any of it. Granted, some of the

Critic’s Rating: 4.6 / 5.0 4.6 Cross is an adaptation done right. Unsurprisingly, Aldis Hodge brings the titular character to life, making this iconic hero his own mere seconds into the season premiere. He doesn’t release his hold on the audience, as he completely captivates them, and moves them with his portrayal until the credits

Critic’s Rating: 3.6 / 5.0 3.6 What’s the quintessential Chicago PD motto? Tell Voight the truth so he can lie for you. It’s as simple as that, yet here we are 12 years later, and we see during Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 7 that it still isn’t clicking for the characters. (Elizabeth Sisson/NBC) In