Daniel Tessier
Bio
I'm a terrible geek living in sunny Brighton on the Sussex coast in England. I enjoy writing about TV, comics, movies, LGBTQ issues and science.
Stories (45/0)
Review: The Orville 3-5 - "A Tale of Two Topas"
The Orville: New Horizons continues to deliver relevant surprising and important stories in its revitalised third season. The five episodes released so far have, on the whole, been excellent. After the powerful season opener, “Electric Sheep,” “Shadow Realms” built on the Krill-Union storyline while delivering an effective sci-fi horror story. Episode four, “Gently Falling Rain,” was a thriller with spectacular visuals, strong action and some genuinely touching moments. Further developing the Krill storyline, it commented on political popularism, while briefly taking a swipe at the abortion debate and religious extremism on the whole. Only the third episode, the throwaway “Mortality Paradox,” failed to really make an impact; obvious filler that isn't really about anything.
By Daniel Tessier9 months ago in Futurism
Review: The Orville 3-1 - 'Electric Sheep'
The Orville has, after much delay, returned to our screens for its third season, now sporting a nifty subtitle, New Horizons. During its three years away, the series has jumped from Fox to Hulu (available simultaneously on Disney Plus in many territories outside the US), and it has not been time wasted. Seth MacFarlane has reworked his show, bringing it further in line with what, I imagine, was his original vision of a bespoke version of Star Trek.
By Daniel Tessier10 months ago in Futurism
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
This is a film that's difficult for me to review from an objective standpoint. More than any Marvel film so far, Multiverse of Madness is made for fans, reveling in the lore of both comics and screen and continuing multiple storylines from various properties. What it would play like for a casual viewer is hard for me to imagine.
By Daniel Tessier11 months ago in Geeks
Legend of the Sea Devils
"Legend of the Sea Devils" is only the second Easter special for Doctor Who, which is an oddity since it seems even more suited to that holiday than to Christmas. The last three regenerations have aired on Christmas, yet surely the day marking death and resurrection would be more appropriate?
By Daniel Tessier11 months ago in Geeks
Eve of the Daleks
Precisely one year after “Revolution of the Daleks,” we get yet another Dalek episode. Are we at overkill yet? The Daleks were nearly done to death under Moffat and Davies, and then we've had a Dalek special every New Year's Day since 2019 under Chibnall (saving 2020, where we had the first episode of series twelve with the Master instead). While it's fair to say we're now at the end of a trilogy, we're seeing the Daleks far too often. Once, maybe twice per Doctor would probably do, since they're just about the only villain each Doctor has to face in order to really count. Thankfully the Daleks were kept at a minimum in Doctor Who: Flux, being there primarily to act as antimatter fodder for the Doctor.
By Daniel Tessierabout a year ago in Futurism
REVIEW - Spider-Man: No Way Home
Now that's how you do a fan-pleasing movie. In all honesty, Spider-Man: No Way Home is an indulgent, over-the-top, absurd cash-in of a film. It's also an absolute joy. Is it designed to be the perfect fan-service for Marvel and Spider-Man fans, which is exactly what it is. This film is tremendous fun, and is far better than it really needs to be. No Way Home could have gotten away with being a stream of classic character cameos and patented Marvel CGI-heavy fights. What we got was a film with genuine heart, intelligent storytelling and three-dimensional characters brought to life by some of our most acclaimed actors and up-and-coming stars.
By Daniel Tessierabout a year ago in Geeks
I Wish Bernard Were Here...
Who was Quatermass? A genius? A scientist, qualified in half a dozen disciplines? An explorer, on a quest to know the unknown? A pacifist, ruing the inevitability of war? A family man, trying to protect his own? A broken man, burdened by guilt? An idealist? An iconoclast? Or was he simply the avatar of Nigel Kneale, the man who created him? He was all these things.
By Daniel Tessierabout a year ago in Futurism
REVIEW - Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Well then, it's finally here. Ghostbusters: Afterlife (or Ghostbusters: Legacy in some regions). I saw it on opening night (three evenings ago) but have taken a little while to collect my thoughts. As some of you might have noticed over the years, I'm rather into Ghostbusters, the film and the whole franchise. Ghostbusters II is great, sorely underrated, I thoroughly enjoyed the 2016 reboot (these days referred to as Answer the Call) and am still a bit annoyed the fan backlash damaged its performance so much that it didn't get a sequel. A third movie of any kind seemed unlikely for years, and at least the reboot made it clear there was still an appetite for the film. Finally we get a third instalment of the original continuity and... I liked it. I didn't love it. But I liked it.
By Daniel Tessierabout a year ago in Geeks
Don't Drink the Water
Kyungay fell, landing on the dry mudstone floor with a thud and a snap. He tried shifting to a more comfortable position, but was rewarded only by an intense pain in his left ankle. Cautiously, he brushed his hand along it - a sliver of bone was jutting sharply outwards, threatening to break the skin. Kyungay forced himself to his feet, gritting his teeth and grunting with the pain. The pain didn't matter, he reminded himself. Once he'd found the Fountain, he could stop worrying about pain and injury forever.
By Daniel Tessierabout a year ago in Fiction
Ginny
Ginny waited. The taste of the last child's bone marrow was almost lost, a mere echo of flavour on her thick, black tongue. The faint scent of blood, stray particles that hung in the stagnant water, stirred her senses, serving only to taunt her. Her distended belly ached and rumbled, the gnarled, yellow claws of her toes swirling the grey-green mud beneath her feet. Grey-green, like her own flesh, pallid and cold as the water in which she floated.
By Daniel Tessierabout a year ago in Fiction
