Just another few months for this weeknote, the third one of 2026

Prologue

As always, this is an intentionally browseable set of weeknotes regarding things I “beheld” over the previous “week”¹.

These “weeknotes” support three purposes: mainly recommendations to the handful of people who read it, and also giving me somewhere to look when I’m trying to remember if I watched something or not. But also by putting the first draft of these reviews down soon after I’ve watched something, but only reading them together when it comes time to publish it online, usually a theme or two emerges.

So, what have I read or watched in the last three or four months, probably in the approximate order that I watched things in…

Tracker - Series Three

Unlike my last weeknotes the end of this series was milder than the wild rides of Lestat and Heated Rivalry. While it’s an often dramatic but fairly predictable action drama, covering the adventures of a tracker and kind of “reverse bounty hunter” finding missing persons and similar mysteries, the last few episodes of this series were a little more… fantastical than we’ve been used to. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes, and what happens with the bigger plot points they’ve touched on.

I enjoyed it, I am looking forward to the next series, but we’ll see what the writers do if they feel that the existing formula has run its course.

And I’m being so vague because I don’t want to spoil it; if you like action dramas with fairly low stakes but still significant peril, this is worth finding on whatever streaming services you have access to.

Road Trip

As a break from the intense and fantastical for us, to a point, we watched the series Road Trip. A comedy drama series about a couple who broke up under confused circumstances, having to deal with each other as they travel to a wedding for mutual friends.

Something that occurred to me two episodes in, it’s one of those shows where all the cast are strong, and the casting is especially good, so you’re immersed straight away. Particularly striking for me was leading lady Emma Appleton. The show made a lot of use of flashbacks, to before, during, and after the relationship at the centre of the plot - and I wish I understood this media better in terms of framing or technique, I only tend to spot how a plot is manipulated rather than how a person is framed or how a line is delivered - but her entire manner immediately put the viewer in the right context for the scene we were watching. And in the right part of the chronology, rather than having to resort to different hair colours or similar blunt techniques. This made the entire show work, and also really illustrated the change in her character over the course of the plot. I’m sure that there’s better ways of putting this, but “Emma Appleton is good at pretending” is all I’ve got.

Overall this was a very enjoyable watch, great acting all around, and a set of sympathetic but imperfect characters. I should be too old for dramas about groups of thirtysomethings figuring out being adults, but this worked especially well for me.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

The latest series of this was entertaining but variable. To pick on specifics - the horror episode felt more like they wanted to have a horror episode in their CV, or a possible trailer for a spin-off, and so felt out of place. The party episode induced “mood whiplash” after the previous horror episode - and felt like the nugget of a good idea, but with maybe too many references to 20th and 21st century concepts to work. Similarly there were maybe slightly too many characters to give them all the room to breathe they needed. As with Masters of the Universe reviewed below, I found it more interesting to see what choices were made by the writers and to figure out why rather than this being an enjoyable story.

I understand this kind of show wanting to get away from the “monster of the week” format, where a source of peril is presented and vanquished within a single episode, but this “genre of the week” format was too varied. For example the puppet episode was good, but the “it was all a dream” outcome was poor… in the world of Star Trek it feels like there’s a better third way to resolve that. Although, on reflection and over-hearing another video, in that specific case - seeing that episode as an exploration of Spock, especially as this is set before the original series, means that it can be interpreted differently.

Masters of the Universe

Masters of the Universe is a 2026 sword-and-sorcery film based on the original cartoon and lines of toys by Mattel.

Overall this was bad, and sometimes it was terrible. It didn’t know whether it wanted to be an homage to the original, a piss-take of the original, a poignant call back to our childhoods and our simpler lives and values back then, or a re-imagining of the mythos… at times it seems to try to be all of the above, sometimes by different characters in the same scene.

In another way it was fascinating to watch and consider - is the original idea so bereft of possibilities that you should just leave it alone? Of all things Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 version of Romeo and Juliet comes to mind - comparing Romeo and Juliet to He-Man is quite the stretch, but I don’t think there’s enough to He-Man for more than a half-hour cartoon. And this film comes in at 120 minutes long, but would have been better served by being just one well done version: homage or piss-take or indulgent nostalgia, and maybe cut down to even ninety minutes too.

I was reminded of it later when reading this blog - it wasn’t so much a movie as a movie-shaped thing.

Wonder Man

Another series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Well made, up to Marvel’s high production values, so there were no issues there with any of the technical aspects.

The character building was particularly well done, I felt showing the trials and doubts of the characters worked in getting the viewer to empathise with the characters. Even relatively odd characters like this, who tend to make bad decisions.

Also, as always the realistic portrayal of consequences around the existence of superheroes is welcome - as per “Doorman” in this series.

I haven’t really explained it, assuming any reader is into the MCU by now or not, but also… The overall plot, I don’t know, it feels like Marvel never quite ends things, or always keeps its options open, which just leads to an “unfinished” feeling to everything they do now. Not that I’m able to watch everything any more, but that’s the way it feels.

If you have watched this - the last episode was especially disappointing, that level of consistent organisational ineptness is where my suspension of disbelief struggles, as per many other comments about superhero movies. Which is a shame, giving Wonder Man a chance to be especially intelligent or devious or thoughtful would have worked better rather than “agencies are idiots”. “plot armour” often surrounded and protects lead characters, to prevent anything too disastrous happening to them - and good writing/plotting can hide that, in this it felt like the open ending, the clear set up for a sequel ( which could have been the entire story represented in the last episode ) was protected by that “plot armour”. More and more often contemporary genre drama feels like you’re always watching an extended trailer for the next thing, rather than enjoying the satisfactory ending to a well told story.

Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender

A good film, a sequel to the animated series from twenty years ago. Definitely of interest to fans of the original series, but I really think you need the emotional “weight” from having watched that series for this one to work. Another “theme” in these notes is how many of these films or series rely on your existing investment in the story and characters.

I was less impressed with some of the voice acting than I’d hoped, and overall it felt like something that could have developed over its own series squished into a 99 minute film. The development of the film looks a little fraught, which might explain this.

Ted Lasso: series four

This time the series covered women’s soccer, but I thought those characters were underused.

A series that’s struggled to live up to the promise of its first series. The start of the fourth series was very wobbly, but seems to find its feet three episodes in… but still just good enough, and I wish that they’d have taken more chances with more new characters to try and rediscover the magic rather than leaning on so many existing ones.

And then it lost it a little at the end too. I’m being vague because if you’ve not seen it Ted Lasso is something worth watching, and I do think all four series are worth your time. But while the first series was “we can’t watch this while eating, we’ll choke” the fourth series was “pleasant”.

Lanterns

Initially I gave this a try because I’m always intrigued by how superpowers are handled… but then I ended up watching it just to see how the plot played out, and what choices the showrunners made, rather than being interested in the characters. I liked the characters, but they all seemed plot-driven, and made unnecessary and stupid decisions in order to heighten drama and tension, rather than making the choices those personalities would make in that situation.

Well, I did that for a while, and then ended up just reading Wikipedia summaries.

Coyote vs Acme

A modern movie-length retelling of the eternal attempts of the old Warner Brothers Looney Tunes character, Wile E. Coyote, to catch the Roadrunner. On the one hand, just a lovely light little film - of course with some nostalgia but I like what they did with the source material, and the world building was good. I especially liked that a combination of live and animated characters exist in this world… and that’s it, it wasn’t explained or justified.

But on the other hand, a story of art versus corporate greed or weirdness, which is ironic given the production problems the film encountered. Wikipedia has a good summary.

And on the, er, third hand - I was particularly impressed with the treatment of the source material, to honour the spirit and frantic pace of the original, and its simplicity, in a film made in the 2020s. This was in sharp contrast to the He-Man film above, which was just a mess.

Spiderman: Brand New Day

As I’ve mentioned about other media, I was really struck by plot-driven characters in this, which demotes them to mere pieces to move the plot along. Which is a shame, as the characters are really strong, as are the relationships between them, and the acting “elevated the material”, so it was a shame to see characters be especially stupid or especially clever because it’s what the plot needed, both in this specific film, and with an eye to future films too.

I don’t know whether this is an aspect of my personality that’s really come to the fore in the last few months, or a side effect of the media I’ve ended up watching, but that issue has really caught my eye this time around.

But holding the “idiot ball” ² were the Damage Control organisation especially, as per my thoughts on Wonder Man and Lanterns above. Which is a shame, seeing “competence porn” of a smart character outwit and out-think a far more powerful or well resourced enemy is enjoyable. But instead both organisations and characters would just ignore obvious threats, or methods of protection, because otherwise that would make the plot too difficult. I’ve very limited experience from personal projects and ideas, but I would assume that coming up with plans to defeat smart adversaries would be one of the most challenging and intriguing parts of writing this kind of material.

Overall this is a solid enough film, which has done remarkably well at the box office. I wonder if I just expect more, or different, than the typical viewer or fan?

Chad Powers: Series 2

This was released all at once, which implies a lack of faith in the series - surprising considering how well series 1 was received. I binge-watched the first four episodes of this… but then read the Wikipedia summaries of the last two. I’m sorry, I think this blog is mostly me being disappointed in things - especially me being disappointed in the same way by things repeatedly. The central conceit of the series: Chad Powers is a shamed college player using a disguise to have a second crack at a football career, has maybe enough material for one six episode series, so I really thought this second series would end on the satisfying conclusion… but apparently not. The idea doesn’t quite have legs for a second series, let alone a third.

It’s fun, but the “mood whiplash” between heart-warming moments with the characters, and wacky farce as Chad has to avoid being discovered, is too jarring. This especially seems to lead to Ricky, the coach’s daughter, changing her personality from scene to scene.

Without giving too much away, just in case you want to watch this, the “vengeful nerd” plot was disappointing. I think there was a better and more interesting way of handling that character and that relationship.

I’m intrigued by writing this kind of series as a problem solving exercise, how do you maintain tension, advance the plot, make the events either endearingly predictable or interestingly surprising, give sufficient characters sufficient character arcs - and for relationships too, and so on. I’m not sure how I would have done this, but this doesn’t feel well executed - as other reviewers have commented, it feels rushed, which seems to apply to more and more media these days.

Of particular note, although she’s playing a one-note character, I think Wynn Everett as Tricia, the rich booster of the team, is especially good. I mean all the performances in this are “elevating the material”, but in this case there’s just not enough to work with.

Spoiler Alert

A film about relationships and death that treats the audience like adults. Recommended, without wanting to give away more about the subject matter… it’s not a fun film, but it is an enjoyable one.

Laws of Attraction

In contrast to that last movie, this is a much gentler film about relationships and marriage, starring Pierce Brosman and Julianne Moore. It’s a very traditionally formatted film - two New York divorce lawyers, opposites in personality and background, go from enemies to lovers. But as with Spoiler Alert, this film also treats its audience like adults in a way. Maybe it’s because I watched it twenty years after it was made, but there were no grand pretensions here, it’s a charming film that will make you smile. Some of that might be nostalgia for what seemed like simpler times, but only some of it.

It has disappointingly low scores or reviews online, when it is very well made, and is just a lovely film.

The Mighty Ducks

The well known film about a kid’s Ice Hockey team… I lasted about eleven minutes into the first movie of the series, gave up, and deleted the entire series from my Watchlist on the appropriate platform.

Tron Legacy

On first pass… the main issue with this is that the CGI of Jeff Bridges didn’t work at all. I watched this on an average sized TV screen, with a reasonable pair of glasses, but that just felt like an error.

For a film about a free OS it was ironic seeing the Ducati and Coors product placement somehow. I don’t think that’s an echo from the first movie, but I hadn’t seen anything that jarring since the Guinness in Aquaman, which made being immersed in the film challenging.

The film’s version of the Internet, or Cyberspace, is “The Grid”. And it fails to make sense I feel, as does the film overall. There’s not enough plot or story, just many echoes of the original film. The Grid doesn’t feel very “cybery” in terms of geography or security, and - while not making the effort to go back and rewatch the original - in that film the Grid was something meaningful, whereas here it was just a backdrop.

There was a good film in here somewhere, the tension Flynn faced between wanting to return home and protecting the Grid was interesting, as was the relationship between father and son, but it was under developed. But, on reading a little about it, I wonder if I’m impeded by not seeing it at the cinema, not seeing it in 3D, and looking at 2012 graphics in 2026… also I have a strong understanding of how the inside of computers, and computer networks, actually work.

Tron Ares

As with Tron Legacy above, bear in mind I was watching an IMAX enhanced film on an old TV, at 720p or 1080p. For example, to me quite a lot of the film felt like “this is going to be great on a massive screen with NIN music blaring” not “the character has just raised the emotional stakes for us all”.

Also… realising that I’m front-loading this with caveats… in the film the corporate cyber security and physical security is terrible in a number of ways. I realise I’ve got inside knowledge to some extent, but many people and organisations make elementary errors. Which I find throws me out of seeing world leading organisations battle over the future.

Also the tech is all over the place, such as Tron bikes creating laser trails in the real world, but otherwise most of the real world technology is just at contemporary levels.

The music is good, but feels like a separate thing to the visuals.

I think much more could have been done with the idea, I kind of liked it but kept being thrown out by clearly poor decisions by characters or just “how the hell does that work” as the particle laser essentially creates magical artefacts from “the Grid” on the real world. I mean even with those caveats above, this just looked incredible at times, with NIN in my ears I could see how some of this would have been a great part of a better movie.

The human/robot logic/feelings were simple, but sufficient for a film like this. But I didn’t think about that aspect too much, and I’ve a feeling I shouldn’t. The characters’ final choices left the narrative relatively unresolved and felt like setting up the sequel. Which is a shame, stories should end, and people talented at putting together a narrative should have more confidence that they don’t need to leave such obvious “handles” for the next narrative to start off, or to encourage us to see their next release.

One last criticism, something that occurred to me quite a while after finishing watching - the second film ends with an “isomorphic algorithm”, a kind of magical example that emerged from the Grid, escaping into the real world. But in this third film I don’t think that’s even mentioned?

Celebrity Traitors

As with many entries above, such as the Tron films, either you know about what I’m writing on already, or you’ve decided already that it’s not for you. So a summary of my thoughts:

• I love the casting overall, what an interesting mix. And contrary to the “civilian” version, I enjoyed seeing how existing friendships or hierarchies affected people’s strategies.
• As with all versions, the immersive environment of the game is great, but especially here where we know at least some of the players in a parasocial way but the game takes them out of their usual ways of acting or performing.
• As always, we’re getting edited highlights retrospectively built to illustrate narratives… so I’m tempted to say “release the all-22”, but actually I won’t be watching much beyond Uncloaked. I do envy the people who are paid to spend time thinking and writing about this though.
• I particularly liked the players who disrupted the format of the game, Richard and James A.
• While not as dramatic as previous series, I really enjoyed the ending.

Coven Academy

A quibified combination of The Craft and Harry Potter on Disney+ - very underwhelming, I felt that the subject, and maybe the cast, deserved better.

VisionQuest

At the time of writing I’ve watched most of this series. The acting is excellent, the production especially so - the special effects and choice of locations and just the time and effort that goes into so many aspects of how this looks and sounds.

But… to me the plot has no cohesion at all, those previously mentioned “idiot balls” are everywhere - actions have no consequences, AIs are somehow galaxy-brain level predictors and also strategic idiots. Powers come and go for no reason, it feels like the old ThunderCats cartoons where Lion-O’s sword was used only when the plot needed it, but forgotten about if it provided too quick a solution.

While I appreciate the difficulty of portraying a set of AIs, all in Vision’s “head”, communicating with each other, some of the metaphors felt especially clumsy. As with comments about Tron above, I realise I know computers more than most, but so do many people now. And the metaphors and terminology just didn’t work well.

Best of 2000AD - Volume 1

An interesting read. I haven’t read 2000AD for literally decades, and as far as I remember I always liked some of it, but it was partly notable for being unlike anything else available or that I’d discovered. Bearing in mind I lived in a relatively small town in the seventies and eighties.

For me Judge Dredd stood out, and The Ballad of Halo Jones - something I don’t recall liking at the time. Less so Strontium Dog, but that’s just off one short piece in here. The piece from Judge Anderson, Psi Division: Shamballa, was apparently deserving of being prefixed by a critical essay. This essay, by Adam Karenina Sharif is well put, and it’s great to see “comics” given this level of analysis, especially as influencing and reflecting the culture they’re in. But as for the Anderson story itself - I really liked the art style, to me it really stood out in that way - I believe this is “photo-surreal”, but the story did nothing for me at all. On reflection, especially on reading the critical essay… I wonder if, for me, it needed more space or more time, or just for me to ponder it, rather than have it around as a relatively quick read at bedtime?

This was printed on lovely glossy paper… but an old man’s eyes and a bright bedtime reading light made that a challenge, it would be interesting to read in other formats at some point. Similarly I have some ABC Warriors books somewhere, and vague memories of Slaine - I hope to make time for both of those, and see how they hold up.

Fightworld: Senegal: If I Should Fall from Grace with God

Something I found on Netflix, a short one-off documentary: an insight into a very different country and culture, the sport of laamb, the only wrestling where punching is permitted. It was very atmospheric and evocative. And I’m glad I watched it. But I would have liked something more literal and factual - about the competitors and the sport and the country.

Taskmaster Podcast

If this interests you it’s the first one listed on the taskmaster page of podcasts.

Not for me, good enough but too much of the discussion was on the specifics of episodes I haven’t watched in too long.

On the one hand, well done to Alex Horne and the rest for getting so much content out of this - and clearly the idea will stand this amount of analysis around it, and if there wasn’t market demand they wouldn’t be doing it. But still, seems like a shame for nothing to be left for the audience to speculate on.

I’ve seen him criticised for it but, as with the Uncloaked programmes accompanying The Traitors, Gamble is good at this light entertainment, and clearly has a love of what he’s covering.

Game Changer

One of the shows on dropout.tv, something I know from many online clips, but due to it being on Amazon Prime, we made time to watch entire episodes at once. If you’ve Amazon Prime do check it out, I strongly recommend watching a couple of episodes to see if this comedy quiz show is for you.

One thing that stuck out for me watching it - to see comedians from that relatively competitive American culture working and laughing together in what’s technically an adversarial format, much more than British comedians on something like Mock the Week.

Taskmaster series 22

Just a couple of thoughts on this:

• As with Dropout’s work above, any competitive comedy show where the contestants are against each other, but also clearly enjoy helping each other make the show funnier - that works so well, and I think that double aspect makes for a better show. ( as a side note, I wonder if that’s why The Traitors appeals to me, that tension between team-mates. )

• If you’ve not seen Taskmaster, or tried a couple of episodes you didn’t like, do try a different series. So many episodes are available on different platforms ( Disney+, Netflix, All 4, YouTube in the UK ) it’s worth trying. The format is so well designed, and the team personalities and chemistry make such a difference series to series, it’s worth dipping into.

M3GAN 2.0

As with Now You See Me: Now You Don’t last time - a film that set its target and hit it exactly, rather than trying to be too sophisticated.

Just a good action film. It knows what it’s aiming to be and hits the target well, so an enjoyable watch on Halloween. I hadn’t seen the first film, and I preferred the action framing to horror, so this suited me. Unlike a lot of the films I’ve complained about above, no idiot balls - everybody’s actions seemed to make sense, and there was a nice tension between the most sensible thing to do and the most instinctive thing to do.

It touched nicely on issues around artificial intelligence and who actually controls and benefits from technological advancement without labouring the point, or ensuring that you agreed with any central political conceit.