This week on Geektown Radio, Dave is joined by Matt for another packed episode, with the main talking points ranging from eerie audio horror in ‘Undertone’ and relationship drama in ‘The Drama’ to more superhero chaos in ‘Daredevil: Born Again‘ and a return to Gilead in ‘The Testaments‘. There is also chat about ‘Invincible’, the final season of ‘Hacks’, gaming detours into ‘Starfield’, and a hefty pile of TV news, including ‘Young Sherlock’, ‘Law & Order’, a new BBC sci-fi drama, and CBS seemingly throwing ideas at the wall to see which ones explode.
Matt kicks things off with three film reviews, the first being ‘Undertone’, a horror film built around the kind of setup that was always likely to grab his attention, a podcast about creepy audio files. The film follows a woman and her unseen co-host as they investigate a series of disturbing recordings sent in by a listener, slowly pulling apart the sounds, decoding them, reversing them, and uncovering a larger story in the process. Matt really likes a lot of what the film is trying to do, especially the audio design, the camera work, and the steady sense of dread, but reckons it all goes a bit overboard in the final stretch. Which, in fairness, is one of horror’s favourite hobbies.
Then there is ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’, which Matt is rather less enthusiastic about. In fact, it sounds like he found it about as substantial as a brightly coloured sugar rush. While he is not denying that it may keep very young children entertained, he is not exactly convinced it is doing much more than that. There is particular frustration over the cast too, especially the use of Donald Glover (Atlanta, Community) in a role that gives him approximately no room to actually be Donald Glover. So yes, not the film to go to if you were hoping for emotional depth, thematic richness, or much reason to remember it once the colours stop flashing.
The real high point of Matt’s film roundup is ‘The Drama’, starring Robert Pattinson (The Batman, Mickey 17) and Zendaya (Euphoria, Challengers), which he absolutely loved. Without spoiling the mechanics of it, he describes it as a compelling and clever look at morality through the lens of a relationship, with both leads delivering strong performances and the whole thing nailing its ending, which, as anyone who watches enough films knows, is not always guaranteed. It clearly landed with him in a big way, and sounds like one of the best things he has seen this year.
On the TV side, Matt has also been keeping up with ‘Daredevil: Born Again’, which continues to sound like it has properly settled into itself now. Both he and Dave agree that while the first season was enjoyable, it did feel a little patched together in places. Season 2, however, seems much more confident and much more focused, with the story moving in stronger, clearer directions and the whole thing feeling less like a revival trying to remember what it used to be, and more like a show that actually knows what it wants to do next.
He also checks in with ‘Invincible‘, which is still delivering all the blood, guts and cosmic-level emotional damage you could possibly want from an animated superhero show. The latest run continues to deepen the Viltrumite story, keep poor Mark under a frankly unreasonable amount of pressure, and prove again that Robert Kirkman really does enjoy putting his characters through the grinder in increasingly inventive ways.
On Dave’s side, he has been diving into the final season of ‘Hacks‘, which is off to a strong start as Deborah Vance begins wondering what her legacy is actually going to be. As ever, it sounds sharp, funny, and full of the kind of barbed energy that has made it such a consistently great comedy. If you have not picked it up yet, Dave makes a pretty strong case that now is a good moment to correct that.
He has also been watching ‘The Murder Line‘, the Canadian crime drama known elsewhere as ‘The Borderline’, starring Stephen Amell (Arrow, Heels) and Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting, The Riches). Dave does not dislike it, but it sounds like one of those shows that never quite becomes as gripping as it should be. It is interesting enough, just perhaps not quite hard-edged enough, or funny enough, or strange enough, to really stand out.
There is also a return to the world of Gilead with ‘The Testaments’, which Dave had been putting off slightly because, quite reasonably, that is not exactly a universe you wander into when you are after something light. The series shifts focus to a younger generation and a slightly different perspective on the regime, while still keeping the same bleak, oppressive world humming away underneath it all. It sounds like a strong continuation of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, and one that gives a bit more context to where that original story left things.
And then, because no Geektown Radio episode is complete without at least one gaming rabbit hole, Dave has also fallen back into ‘Starfield’ following its new Free Lanes update. This adds the ability to properly cruise around space, stumble across things while travelling between planets, and generally makes the galaxy feel more alive and less like a set of menus pretending to be one. He has also started a fresh character to take in all the added DLC and creator-made content, and sounds very pleased to discover that plenty of people who skipped the game at launch are now coming round to the idea that maybe it is actually rather good.
There is also a quick ‘Geekstorians‘ mention, with this week’s episode diving into ‘Doctor Who’ and the Wilderness Years. So if you enjoy your geek culture history with a side order of BBC institutional weirdness, that sounds like one to keep an ear out for.
In the news section, there are a couple of cancellations, with ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’ ending after five seasons and ‘The Copenhagen Test’ also being axed after one season. On the renewal side, ‘Young Sherlock‘ is back for a second season at Prime Video with Guy Ritchie returning to direct the opener, ‘Law & Order: SVU’ is heading into Season 28, ‘The ’Burbs’ has scored a second season, ‘The Madison’ is getting a third, ‘Maigret’ is back for Season 2, and the BBC has renewed ‘Father Brown’ for two more runs, because apparently there will always be murders in quaint places.
There are also some UK air date updates, including ‘St. Denis Medical’ Season 2 arriving on the BBC in May, and ‘Clarkson’s Farm’ returning to Prime Video in June.
One of the more interesting new announcements is ‘Sutherland‘, a BBC sci-fi thriller set in the far north of Scotland and in space, starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Loki, Surface), Stuart Martin (Army of Thieves, Miss Scarlet) and Iain De Caestecker (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Winter King). Which is exactly the sort of slightly grounded, near-future sci-fi the BBC can do well when it feels like remembering it is allowed to make science fiction.
The episode also digs into a bunch of new projects coming out of the Skydance, Paramount and CBS upfront. These include vampire comedy ‘Eternally Yours‘, legal tech drama ‘Cupertino‘, another genius-consults-for-the-police show called ‘Einstein‘, and, most gloriously, ‘Flint’, a cop drama starring Matt LeBlanc (Friends, Episodes) as a detective trying to get fired, only to discover that this somehow makes him better at his job. Which honestly sounds like the kind of nonsense that could either be terrible or absolutely brilliant.
As usual, the episode also rounds up what is coming to screens next week, including ‘Criminal Record’ Season 2, ‘Saint Pierre’, ‘Stranger Things: Tales From ’85’, ‘Half Man’, ‘The Cage’ and ‘Secret Service’.
So if you want one podcast episode covering ‘Undertone’, ‘The Drama’, ‘The Murder Line’, ‘The Testaments’, ‘Invincible’, and a healthy pile of TV and film news, Geektown Radio Episode 494 has you covered.
Listen below.
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