Netflix
Away Review – Negative Return (1×02)
If you don’t do well in tense situations, Away’s second episode likely wasn’t your cup of tea. Palms were sweating as Emma and Misha attempted a spacewalk to fix a solar panel on the ship.
And it seems to be an indication of the vibe and pacing of this show. It’s a show about the inaugural mission to Mars — every episode is bound to have your heart skipping a beat or two as they try to survive and achieve the unthinkable.
Space is unknown even to the best of astronauts, but they have the experience and ability to safely navigate it with a calm and collected approach. It’s the reason they were chosen for this mission.
The spacewalk might not have been anticipated, but it restored everyone’s faith in Emma’s ability to lead.
Not only were the different nations that have come together for this mission hesitant about her capabilities, but some of her own team didn’t seem to have much faith in her.
But as she said on Away Season 1 Episode 1, this mission calls for everyone to not only be on their A-game but to also have each other’s backs.
When Emma and Misha embarked on the spacewalk, he didn’t trust her, and that made everyone a bit uneasy. Their survival was on the line because without that third solar panel, the ship wouldn’t produce enough power and they would all die.
Emma went to the extremes and even put her life on the line to fix the panel because it was do-or-die.
Much like with the incident in the pilot episode where some of the crew thought she froze, Emma dived right into the danger knowing that it was her responsibility as Commander.
She was also confident that she would able to get it done, but there was absolutely no room for error. If she didn’t tether herself, she could have floated off into the abyss. How terrifying is that?
Space life comes at a price, and everyone that’s aboard that ship is fully aware of it. Misha believes he’s made more sacrifices than anyone else, but Ram is quick to put him in his place — and chastize Emma for her reckless decision during the spacewalk — as everyone has given up something that mattered to them to be on this mission.
We already know that Emma straddles a thin line between her career and her family, and even more so now that her husband had a stroke and may be immobile from the waist down.
Away Season 1 Episode 2 also gives insight into Misha’s plight. Though brief, we learn that he lost his wife when his daughter was just a young girl. It’s unclear what fractured his relationship with Natalya since his wife’s passing but based on their rigid conversation prior to the spacewalk, we can infer that he threw himself into his career and became an absent father.
Little is known about the other crew members for now. Ram clearly cares about his team’s survival and is a team player. They’re all in this together after all and everyone needs to stay alive if they stand any chance at surivving. Meanwhile, Kwesi continues to put his faith in his religion.
As for Lu, there’s a brief scene with her husband and son, but something seems off when he tells her that he’s “proud to be her husband.” Lu doesn’t seem to share the sentiment as she hesitates to return the compliment. I picked up on more romantic tension between Lu and Mei Chen, which makes me think they’re have a secret romance that Lu has been keeping from her husband.
One thing that I loved about this episode is that each crew member had time to shine in their native tongue. And flashbacks seem to be heavily focused on each member’s country of origin proving that space travel is a global initiative that requires the very best from all over.
Other Moments
- Scenes in “zero gravity” are so fun to watch. And the photos of the behind-the-scenes are equally as fun!
- Melissa was an old family friend that lost touch with the Green’s, but now she’s going to be Lex’s temporary parent while Emma is away and Matt recovers from his stroke. She’s an interesting character because she too was an astronaut that worked alongside Emma and Matt, but unlike him, her dream ended when she had Cassie, who has down syndrome. She’s the opposite of Emma — she sacrificed her dream for her daughter, while Emma sacrificed to have both a career and a family.
- Cassie seems like a great character, and I hope she redefines how people think about children with down syndrome.
What did you think of the second episode? Are you digging the show overall?
Berlin is the Money Heist spinoff we never knew we needed… but we’re so glad it’s almost here.
Since Berlin (Pedro González Alonso) was hands-down the most captivating (and problematic) character in the Spanish heist drama, fans always wanted to get to know more of him, especially after he sacrificed himself in the season 1 finale for his team, largely due to his terminal illness, redeeming himself in the process.
Quickly rising the ranks as a fan-favorite, the writers kept Berlin’s spirit alive in the following seasons via flashbacks, noting that he always had a hand in the planning of the heists, even if he wasn’t around to see them through. And it became more and more clear that there was an unsatiable thirst from audiences to explore additional parts of the character’s origin story; thus, a prequel to Money Heist focusing solely on Berlin’s prior escapades only made sense.
Related: Kiernan Shipka’s New Slasher Comedy Is Your Fall Must-Watch
As seen in the later season of Money Heist, or La Casa de Papel, Berlin garnered even more intrigue when his son, Rafael (Patrick Criado) joined the heist. The former Electronics Engineer from MIT is Berlin’s prodigal son, whose only request was not to end up a thief like his father, also drew attention after entering a relationship with his father’s wife, Tatiana. It’s a lot to unpack, clearly, but it’s also proof that there was nothing boring or mediocre about Berlin’s life in the slightest, at any point.
So, again, it warrants a spinoff that digs even deeper into this complex, charismatic, and morally questionable character we’ve all come to love.
When he joined the Professor’s group in the series, he was already one of the most seasoned robbers of the bunch, having a plethora of experience mapping out and executing heists of ranging scales.
With Berlin: Money Heist, we’re not only going to get to see one of those previous heists in action, but we’re also going to get a sense of the man he was before attempting the biggest heist in history, which made him the beloved criminal we’ve come to know.
Capitalizing on the love already established for the series—one of Netflix’s most popular shows of all time—the prequel finds Berlin, in all his glory as Andrés de Fonollosa, the mastermind behind a heist targeting the biggest auction house in Paris to steal €44 million.
The series trails the planning of a new heist as he recruits his crew: “Michelle Jenner (Isabel) plays Keila, an eminence in electronic engineering; Tristán Ulloa (Fariña) goes into the skin of Damián, a philanthropic professor and Berlin’s confidant; Begoña Vargas (Welcome to Eden) plays Cameron, a kamikaze who always lives on the edge; Julio Peña Fernández (Through My Window) brings to life Roi, Berlin’s faithful squire; and Joel Sánchez plays Bruce, the relentless man of action in the gang.”
While it’s mostly an all-new cast, we’ll see a few familiar faces with Alicia Sierra (Najwa Nimri) and Raquel Murillo (Itziar Ituno) appearing at some point, though it’s unclear what their connection is to the storyline. Is it possible that their paths have always crossed and Berlin was always on their radar way prior to the action at the Royal Mint?
We may not be getting the version of Berlin from the original series, but don’t fret, as the teaser trailer evidenced, he’s still as ruthless, dapper, and flirtatious as ever, meaning that they really did this character–and prequel—justice. The fact that it hails from the original showrunner, Alex Pina, is also a sign that it won’t let the fandom down.
“It’s a trip through the golden age of the character, when he robbed around Europe crazy in love,” Pina previously told TUDUM, adding, “That’s the most surprising, the comedy. You’re going to make people laugh a lot.”
Berlin in his prime, in love, and flexing his comedic bone? As the beloved criminal says in the trailer, “it’s all the things worth living for.”
The full synopsis for the series reads:
“There are only two things that are sure to turn a bad day into a great one: love, and a payday worth millions. They’re what keep Berlin going through his golden years, a time when he still has no inkling of his illness and hasn’t gotten trapped like a rat in the Spanish Mint. This is where he starts preparing one of his most extraordinary heists: making jewels worth 44 million disappear like some sort of magic trick. To do it, he’ll enlist the help of one of the three gangs he’s ever stolen with.”
Watch the Berlin trailer below:
Berlin arrives a few days prior to New Year’s Eve on Dec. 29, 2023, which means you’ll have plenty of time to binge watch while counting down to 2024.
To prepare, you can stream Money Heist on Netflix and read our coverage here.
Virgin River Season 5 concluded with a tiny time jump four months into the future, bringing the timeline into the Christmas holiday season.
Disclaimer — this post includes spoilers from the episode — proceed with caution.
On Virgin River Season 5 Episode 10, as Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Jack (Martin Henderson) decorated their cabin in anticipation of Joey’s arrival with the kids for their first-ever Virgin River Christmas, Mel received quite a shocking piece of information.
Her sister informed her that she found a stack of love letters between Mel’s mother and a mystery man in Virgin River that she believed could be Mel’s real father.
And this obviously lends itself to the question—who is the secret admirer?
There aren’t that many elderly men in Virgin River aside from Doc (Tim Matheson), and it would be next-level if he had another secret child in addition to Ryan, Denny’s late father. Though wouldn’t it be funny if Mel thought she just escaped to this random small town only to learn that it wasn’t random at all and she’d been working with her dad this whole time?
Aside from Doc, there’s really only Nick (Keith MacKechnie), Bert (Trevor Lerner), and Charlie (Patrick Keating), that we are familiar with, anyway.
Naturally, there are probably plenty of residents that audiences have never met (and they have to keep us on our toes and think of new directions for the storyline), and it’s possible her dad isn’t even alive anymore.
It would be extremely fitting if it was Lilly’s late husband, Buck, making Mel sisters with Ava, and Tara. Considering her strong bond with that family, her sisterly relationship with Ava, her love baby Chloe, and how drawn she is to that farm, this would be such a sweet twist. Mel always had a soft spot for Lilly as well, so this would be a unique way to keep her memory alive.
Mel’s father will be the major storyline addressed in the two bonus holiday episodes dropping in November, as the trailer revealed Mel starting the search for her biological dad before informing Jack shortly after that they found him, with Preacher noting that he’s “still in Virgin River.”
The way he says it makes it seem like he’s still alive, which limits the possibilities even more. Who do you think it is?
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Either way, Mel actually has roots in this small town that’s always felt like home.
Will There Be a Season 6 of ‘Virgin River’? And If So, When?
Riverdale’s seventh and final season is now available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.!
Merely a week after the long-running CW series aired its final episode ever, the streaming giant has added the series in its entirety.
All the episodes are available for fans all over the world to binge-watch on September 1, and going into a long weekend, that gives you plenty of time to catch up on all the shenanigans happening in the Town with Pep.
Credit: Netflix
Many fans weren’t interested in the weekly release model as it wasn’t ideal having to wait for new episodes to drop every week, but having them available all at once on Netflix allows you to catch up with ease.
And if you’ve never seen Riverdale and are curious about all the nutty twists and turns that eventually get all of our characters to—spoiler—the 1950s, well, all seven seasons are on the streamer for your viewing pleasure.
You can rewatch those previous seasons and relive the series in all its glory (including anything you may have missed/forgotten about), or you can just tune in for the final season—it’s up to you!
As mentioned before, the final season hit the reset button of sorts as Archie (KJ Apa), Betty (Lili Reinhart), Jughead (Cole Sprouse), and Veronica (Camilla Mendes), along with many of their loved ones and friends, went back in time to 1955 and found themselves reliving their high school days all over again.
Of course, as you rewatch any and all episodes, you can read all our reviews of the series that we’ve covered since its inception in 2017!
Enjoy your Labor Day travels to Riverdale—just remember that before it was redubbed the “Town With Pep” it was known as “Murder Town of the World.” You’ve been warned.
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