TV Review: Designated Survivor Season 1 Episode 7 "The Traitor" [Emz]

So this episode takes you in so many different directions with all the stories happening. One part definitely tests President Kirkman's negotiation skills.

Here is the Synopsis:

An American track-and-field coach's trip to Russia forces Kirkman into a hostage exchange involving the CIA and the Russian government; Agent Wells and Deputy Director Atwood's investigation uncovers dangerous information

Review:

We begin with the arrest of Team USA's Gymnastics Coach in Russia and learning that he is a spy for the the CIA.

Kirkman has his work cut out to make a deal with Russia to release him.

President Kirkman's wife Alex. makes a trip to Jail to meet with her ex boyfriend who is making accusations about being Leo's father.

Hannah Wells of the FBI is digging deeper into Catalan and McLeish's involvement.

All the stories kept me on edge and I didn't know what was going to happen next. The way Kirkman dealt with the spy stuck in Russia was interesting and finding something Russia wanted to help free the Coach was a smart move.

Also the way that as Wells keeps getting closer to the truth, some people are determined that she is silenced. They go after her boss Atwood.

The pace never really slows down through each episode. I'm glad that the whole story doesn't just rely on the bombings and finding the culprit, but sub stories form throughout each episode. 

I can't wait to see where the story takes us next.

Till next time

Emz x

Read more...

TV Review: Designated Survivor Season 1 Episode 6 "The Interrogation" [Emz]

This episode is quite deep. It's starts out with informing MacLeish that the Vice Presidency is an option for him. 

Here is the synopsis:

A shooting at the White House during a governors' summit throws President Kirkman's plans to elect a new Congress into turmoil; Agent Hannah makes a shocking discovery in her investigation of the capitol bombing.

Review:

So This episode covers the beginning of MacLeish being vetted for VP (Vice President) and it is looking promising.

The FBI are Interrogating Majid Nassar and he eventually caves and gives them information on the real Terrorist "Catalan." Of course no one is able to work out who this person is.

Finally President Kirkman is dealing with 2 situations. He is throwing a governors Ball and whilst this is happening someone shoots at the White House. The only person injured in this attack in President Kirkman's Bodyguard Mike Ritter who was off Duty.

Following this, President Kirkman starts to attempt  to put together Congress. with difficulty.

I enjoyed this episode. It was full of twists and turns. From the Governor Ball, the interrogation and the shooting to the death of Majid Nassar, the interupted reveal about MacLeish and working out a way to form a Congress.

Nothing ran smoothly, but answers we formed by the end in some way, shape or form. It keeps you in suspense, on the edge of your seat.

I look forward to the next episode.

Till next time

Emz x

Read more...

TV Review: Designated Survivor Season 1 Episode 5 "The Mission" [Emz]

Now this is where it's continues to get interesting.

This episode is mainly about the search & capture for Majid Nassar, who is suspected of the capital bombing.

Here is the synopsis:

Kirkman dispatches a team of Navy SEALs to Algeria after learning that the government helped Majid Nassar, one of the terrorists claiming responsbility for the Capitol bombing, elude custody; Wells learns the truth about MacLeish's movements on the night of the bombing; Alex finds out someone from her past has made a damning allegation.

Review:

This episode was really good. The fact that the majority of the episode is about the Navy SEAL's going to Algeria to capture Majid Nassar. This was the main focus of the episode, but it didn't detract form other issues that arose during the episode.

Hannah Wells FBI (Maggie Q) is continuing to uncover information surrounding the Capitol Bombing and surrounding Congressman McLeish's survival and the major possibility that he had/ has a role to play within the group responsible for the bombing . There still does not appear to be enough evidence to show that someone else was behind the bombing and to be able to share this information with the President.

There is a huge story unfolding that Leo may not be Kirkman's son and may be his wifes ex partner's child instead.

Kirkman has been trying to find a job for MacLeish and originally offers him speaker of the house, which he turns down.. just for Kirkman to think about offering him the Vice Presidency.

I enjoed all the twists this epiosde takes and that fact that it didn't miss out any other drama unfolding. Looking forward to seeing how this will progress in episodes I have yet to watch.

Till next time

Emz x

Read more...

TV Review: Designated Survivor Season 1 Episode 4 "The Enemy" [Emz]

So this episode mainly carries on with big issues that have been brewing in the last couple of episodes.

It was a very powerful episode in my mind with the issues it dealt with.

Here is the Synopsis for this episode:

After learning who was behind the attack, Kirkman faces the prospect of war and growing domestic problems; Kirkman assigns Emily to keep an eye on the situation at home; Alex seeks help from Hookstraten.

Review:

This was a an episode where many thing came to a head. The situation in Michigan where all Muslims were being arrested for no reason whatsoever, this escalated when the Governor conspired with the National guard to keep the President out. The Governor ended up being arrested despite Emily speeding time  trying to convince the Governor to talk tings out the The President.

Seth ends up becoming White House Press Secretary even though it wasn't the Job he wanted. 

Kirkman ends up firing General Cochane after he takes matters into his own hands regarding Algeria and the search for the Terrorist believed to be behind the Capital Bombings.

Finally Hannah Wells the FBi agent continues to look into why McLeish was not in his seat when the bomb went off.

It was good to see some loose ends tied up in this episode. With the firing of the General, who has been against President Kirkman since day one and the Governor of Michigan being arrested, it helps to create more alliances for Kirkman.

Obviously there is still a lot more to be sorted out but for now it's a start.

Till next time

Emz x

Read more...

TV Review: Designated Survivor Season 1 Episode 3 "The Confession" [Emz]

Here we are with episode 3. This episode is called "The Confession." This episode takes another twist. 

In this episode we find out who survived the Capitol Bombing, Who is supposedly behind the bombing and what exactly this 'Confession' is.

This episode originally aired on the 5th October 2016 on ABC.

Review:

This episode was full of mixed feelings. We start with the Hack of the White House's firewall. They were not searching for anything but left behind a video supposedly proving who was behind the bombing.

We also have the revealing of who survived the bombing. Congressman Peter McLeish (Ashley Zukerman.)

 Also, during an interview President Kirkman reveals he was originally fired before being Designated Survivor. This does not go down well and the former Presidents Son refuses to have him speak at the funeral.

Hannah Wells and one of her associates uncovers evidence to show that McLeish survived as he wasn't in his seat when the bomb went off.

That is where the episode ends and the suspense is still building and I look forward to the next episode.

Till next time

Emz x

Read more...

TV Review: Designated Survivor Season 1 Episode 2 "The First Day" [Emz]

So, episode 2. Blimey this episode takes a turn. The episode is called "The First Day." It originally aired on the 28th September 2016.

Here is the synopsis for this episode:

Amid chaos and confusion, President Kirkman steps into his role as commander in chief and struggles to hold the country together.

Review:

Blimey these episodes are gripping. So following the last episode, President Kirkman learns he was one of 2 Designated survivors are there was one for the opposition by the name of Congresswoman Kimble Hookstraten. Michigan has an uprising against the Muslim community, lead by Governor John Royce. He manages to find a way to get Royce to back down especially after a Muslim teenager aged 17 dies after being beaten by Police.

During this time a visit to the site of the bombing starts well but doesn't end well, with people ending up more interested in what was happening in Michigan, causing a panic and almost stampede. 

The case into who cuased the Bombings seems to have taken a very predictive case towards a well known Torrorist cell, but Maggie Q's character, Hannah Wells has other ideas but doesn't yet have the information to back it up.

There are still people out to remove Kirkman from Presidency but it's not currently going the way they had hoped.

We are left on a cliffhanger with someone shouting they had found a Survivor.

I enjoy watching these episodes, they keep me hooked every time.

Till next time

Emz x

Read more...

TV Review: Designated Survivor Season 1 Episode 1 "Pilot'' [Emz]

I discovered this Series on Netflix last year, I haven't quite finished it so I decided to re-watch from the beginning.

The series stars Keifer Sutherland, Maggie Q, Kal Penn & Italia Ricci.

Here is a synopsis:

A low-level Cabinet member becomes President of the United States after a catastrophic attack kills everyone above him in the Presidential line of succession.

Review:

I found this episode quite gripping. What seem like a normal day in the characters lives, turns around in an instant. The whole change happens in the blink of an eye as the whole cabinet including the President is killing in a bombing at the Capital. 

With Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) being the Designated Survivor, he is suddenly launched into a world he is not used to. It also comes a huge shock for his family.

I like the way no one is sure what to make of him to begin with and at the end of the episode we are not sure that the people behind the attack are finished and everyone seems to be a suspect.

I look forward to remembering how this season progresses and continuing to watch.

Episode 2 coming soon.

Till then

Emz x 

Read more...

Movie Review: American Assasin [Emz]

So I recently saw this at the cinema. I didn't realize it was an 18 until the movie began, but that didn't matter. The film stars Dylan O'Brien, Michael Keaton & Taylor Kitch, to name but a few.

Dylan O'Brien is best known.. well to me anyway in The Maze Runner series. He has also been starring in Teen Wolf.

Here is the synopsis of the story:

When Cold War veteran Stan Hurley takes CIA black ops recruit Mitch Rapp under his wing, they receive an assignment to investigate a wave of random attacks on both military and civilian targets. After discovering a pattern of violence, Hurley and Rapp join forces with a lethal Turkish agent to stop a mysterious operative who wants to start a global war.

Review:

Even though the beginning was very brutal, I enjoyed this film. 

Just to make it clear I saw this film last Wednesday (27th September) before the attacks in Las Vegas and my heart goes out to everyone affected.

So in this film,  Dylan O'Brien's character of Mitch is trying to take down a Terrorist cell single-handedly after his fiance was murdered by them whilst they were on Holiday. 

He gets recruited by the CIA for Black Ops and i is trained by Michael Keaton's character Hurley, of course he is a loose cannon right from the beginning but he completes his training.

Turns out there is more to Hurley than meets the eye as the mastermind behind the mission they are training for is a previous recruit trained by Hurley (Taylor Kitch) 

The fact that Mitch kept doing his own thing instead of completely following orders made this movie much more interesting. Of course he was still trying to complete the mission, just finding a different way of doing so.

I enjoyed the film and the way it ended, but hopefully there wont be a sequel as some films should just stand on there own.

Till next time

Emz x

Read more...

TV Review: Strike: The Silkworm [Emz]

So these two episodes are based on the second book by Robert Galbraith (pseudonym for J.K. Rowling.) The Silkworm.

Here is the Premise for this story:

Strike is approached by Leonora Quine with a plea to locate her husband, the notorious writer Owen Quine, who has disappeared without a trace.

Review:

I enjoyed this story. The way it started of as a simple missing persons, but ended up as a murder was a little different. I really liked the characters and the way the story takes a twist. 

We also find out a little more about our main characters Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellicott as the story progresses onscreen.

I haven't read the books but in my opinion the idea of the story is portrayed well on screen. I think Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger portray their characters well.

I look forward to seeing Career of Evil in the new year. i would read the books but I have far too many books to go through at the moment.

Thats all for now

Till next time

Emz x

Read more...

DVD review: Now You See Me [Emz]

So I have had this film on DVD for a while, but I love this film.

The way these magicians/ illusionists are rounded up y an unknown source and all the twists and turns that keep misleading you until the final reveal.

Here is the premise:

Charismatic magician Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) leads a team of talented illusionists called the Four Horsemen. Atlas and his comrades mesmerize audiences with a pair of amazing magic shows that drain the bank accounts of the corrupt and funnel the money to audience members. A federal agent (Mark Ruffalo) and an Interpol detective (Mélanie Laurent) intend to rein in the Horsemen before their next caper, and they turn to Thaddeus (Morgan Freeman), a famous debunker, for help.

Review:

I loved this film and the cast. We had Isla Fisher, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.

So we have the four Horseman. All the twists and tricks they pull off, keeps leaving you guessing. Jsust when you think they have been caught, something happens and they slip away. 

From simple tricks and illusions, to robbing a bank, faking death and then the big reveal that someone isn't who you though they were was brilliant.

I would happily watch this film and it's sequel over and over again.

Till next time

Emz x

Read more...

Books to review soon [Emz]

So I thought I would post something a little different for this post. I am in the middle of two books and will be reviewing them once I am done

So here we go.

1. Private Games by James Patterson.

I have read quite a few books by James Patterson. I have read 3 of the NYPD Red series and 2 books in the Private Series (Private and Private L.A) This book is set in London at the beginning of the 2012 Olympic Games.

Here is the plot.

This book is a thriller novel set just before and during the 2012 London Olympics. Peter Knight is an investigator for Private London, a subsidiary of Private, a private investigative agency led by Jack Morgan in the United States. Private London has been commissioned to provide security for the London Olympics. Private London has been thrown into some disarray, because a number of its personnel were killed in an airplane crash just before the Olympics began.
Just before the Olympics begin, someone beheads the fiance of Knight's mother. The slain man is a member of the Olympic games organizing committee. After the murder, Karen Pope, a reporter for The Sun, receives a letter from a person who calls himself Cronos. Cronos claims he will kill persons involved with the Olympics who he considers corrupt. Cronos does just that, even infiltrating Olympic security and Knight's home. Throughout the novel, Cronos and his underlings kill those considered corrupt and anyone who gets in their ways. Near the end of the book, Private Games takes an unexpected twist.

So I hope to finish this soon.

2. Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Enigma by Eric Van Lustbader

Soo I started reading this on my Kindle on the Train to Edinburgh and got really into it. It's completely different to the Bourne in the films, which is actually quite refreshing.

I am past halfway in this book so I should be finished soon enough.

Here is the plot

On the eve of Russian general Boris Karpov's wedding, Jason Bourne receives an enigmatic message from his old friend and fellow spymaster. In Moscow, what should be a joyous occasion turns bloody and lethal. Now Bourne is the only one who can decipher Karpov's cryptogram. He discovers that Karpov has betrayed his sovereign to warn Bourne of a crippling disaster about to be visited on the world. Bourne has only four days to discover the nature of the disaster and stop it.
The trail Karpov has been following leads Bourne to Cairo and the doorstep of Ivan Borz, the elusive international arms dealer infamous for hiding behind a never-ending series of false identities, a man Bourne has been hunting ever since he abducted former Treadstone director Soraya Moore and her two-year-old daughter and brutally murdered Soraya's husband.
Bourne must travel to war-torn Syria and then Cyprus as he chases the astonishing truth. The clock is ticking, and Bourne has less than four days to solve Karpov's riddle—and hunt down Borz—if he hopes to prevent a cataclysmic international war . . .

So that's all for now.

Till next time

Emz x

Read more...

TV Reviews: Strike: The Cuckoo's Calling [Emz]

Hey guys! So I finished watching Strike: The Cuckoo's Calling last night and it did not disappoint.

For those who have not seen the series, read the books or heard of the show/books by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling) then here is the Premise:

Cormoran Strike, a war veteran turned private detective operating out of a tiny office in London's Denmark Street, is wounded both physically and psychologically. His unique insight and his background as a Special Investigation Branch Investigator prove crucial in solving three complex cases, which have eluded the police.

Review:

So I really enjoyed this story. The twists in the story and all evidence apparently pointing in one direction until the twist takes them away form the person they think is responsible. The big fight at the end with the killer trying to get away was obviously going to happen but it was rather amusing at the same time (full of suspense also.)

I have to admit I had an inkling who the killer was before it was said on screen but, i could have been wrong.

Next week is the start of the 2-part story The Silkworm adapted from the book.

I will probably review that story after the 2 episodes are up.

Till next time

Emz x

Read more...

Movie Reviews: American Made [Emz]

So I was supposed to go and see Atomic Blonde today but the film finished at my local cinema on Thursday. So instead Myself and my friend went to see American Made.

Here is the premise:

Barry Seal, a TWA pilot, is recruited by the CIA to provide reconnaissance on the burgeoning communist threat in Central America and soon finds himself in charge of one of the biggest covert CIA operations in the history of the United States. The operation spawns the birth of the Medellin cartel and almost brings down the Reagan White House.

Review:

So I knew that this film was going to be about drug-smuggling and lots of money.

What I didn't know was that this film is based on a true story. So true  it actually happened (no i'm not kidding)

I actually enjoyed this film. Now I have to say the whole of what happened is before my time but blimey it was so easy to commit fraud and get away with it.

Overall the film was really good, sad ending for the family of this person, but it was definitely interesting.

I would recommend if you like true stories... or Tom Cruise..

Till next time

Emz x

Read more...

September 2017: What to watch! [Emz]

So It is now the 1st September and there are a few new and returning shows on our screens this month.

I will be posting three shows that I am looking forward to watching and perhaps some that i'd recommend.

1. Strike: The Silkworm

So this Sunday (3rd September) is the conclusion of The Cuckoo's Calling, based of the book by Robert Galbraith (pseudonym of J.K. Rowling.)  There is only three episodes in this series.

But, the good news is that if you have been watching the series, the second book, The Silkworm, has been adapted alongside the Cuckoo's Calling and will be on our TV screens the following Sunday.

I have been enjoying this series and would recommend it.

Strike: The Silkworm airs Sunday 10th September 2017 on BBC One at 9pm.

2. Timeless - Season1

So this Series has already aired it's first season in the USA on NBC.

I have heard of this series but never watched it as yet.

Here is the Premise:

When an experimental time machine is stolen, a history professor, a soldier and an engineer are tasked with capturing the culprit only to learn that he plans to rewrite American history and that each of them has a connection to his plan as well as the mysterious organization that funded the machine's development.

The show stars Abigail Spencer who has previously starred in films such as Cowboys & Aliens and This Means War, along with TV series Rectify.

Also starring in this Show is Matt Lanter who appeared in the TV show 90210 and Star-crossed. He has also appeared in a few films including Vampires Suck and The Roomate. He also voices Anakin Skywalker for Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Ward Rebels.

The show was cancelled after one season in the USA but due to the fans being angry at the decision, they reversed the cancellation and renewed it for a second season.

Timeless lands on Netflix on the 1st September (today!)

3. Designated Survivor - Season 2

For anyone who hasn't seen or heard of the show, yes that is Keifer Sutherland.

The first season is brilliant I am not too far off finishing it.

Here is the premise from the first season:

On the night of the State of the Union, an explosion claims the lives of the President and everyone in the presidential line of succession, except for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Tom Kirkman, who had been named the designated survivor. Kirkman is immediately sworn in as President, unaware that the attack is just the beginning of what is to come.

The series also star Maggie Q who previously starred in Nikita and Italia Ricci who starred in the TV show Chasing Life and appeared in five episodes for Supergirl.

If you like thrillers and a whole load of drama, then you will enjoy this! 

Season 2 of Designated Survivor lands on Netflix on the 28th September.

Thats all for this post

Till next time

Emz x

Read more...