Seshadri's Musings

  More web-series reviews… Annika – Came out in 2021. 12 episodes in 2 seasons so far.  Witty, enigmatic DI Annika Strandhed heads up the Marine Homicide Unit, tasked with solving murders in and around the Scottish waters. A review from iMDB... Single mom with a demanding job and a troubled/difficult teen daughter. The lead character talking to the camera threw we for a bit, but once I got used to it, it was fine - and even a bit fun. It's funniest when she doesn't talk, but just gives the camera a wry look and a shrug like, "What can you do?" Several who reviewed this show complained about it being too woke. Obviously they haven't watched American CBS television. The wokeness there can virtually reach out and slap you upside the head - no matter which show you're watching. Personally, I find diversity refreshing as long as I'm not being bashed over the head with it. One aspect I really enjoy about this show is that Nicola Walker's character...

I have been to Tirupati a lot of times, but never thought that there would be other temples there, that are worth seeing.   Of course, no visit of Tirupati is deemed complete without seeing the Tiruchaanoor Thaayaar and Govindaraja Swamy temple.   There is always Google which could have been used to find out other temples in the area.   But I don’t use it unless it is very imperative 😊 ! It all started when my family and I landed in Tirupati last week.  Our darshan was at the 8pm slot on Thursday. My wife said we had to visit Thaayaar before visiting the Balaji temple.  So, we decided to reach Tirupati on Thursday morning so that we can visit the Thaayaar temple and then the Balaji temple at night.  And since I wanted to travel the Vande Bharat train, I had booked our return for Friday 3pm train. After reaching the Tirupati railway station, I booked an Uber to take us to our hotel.  While chatting with the driver, he asked if we wanted to see othe...

More web-series reviews… The Recruit – Came out in 2022. 9 episodes in total.  Owen Hendricks, a young CIA lawyer whose first week on the job turns upside down when he discovers a threatening letter by former asset Max Meladze, who plans to expose the agency unless they exonerate her of a serious crime. Owen quickly becomes entangled in a dangerous and often absurd world of power politics and mischievous players, as he travels the world in hopes of completing his assignment and making a mark at the CIA. One of the reviews from IMDB... Noah Centineo is well cast as reckless but lucky CIA recruit Owen Hendricks, Laura Haddock (as Max Meladze) is sufficiently bad-ass (with the necessary cracks in the surface) and all the supporting actors turn out decent performances aided and abetted by some witty and smart writing. As per typical 2020s productions - we have gender flipping turned up to max (no pun intended) with not just o...

More web-series reviews… Convicting a Murderer – Came out in 2023.  Convicting a Murderer unveils the shocking truth behind one of the most controversial criminal cases in recent history. In Making a Murderer, Steven Avery was portrayed as an innocent victim of corrupt law enforcement, but there's more to the story than what we were shown. Join Candace Owens as she sets the record straight by exposing hidden evidence in the murder of Teresa Halbach. One of the reviews from IMDB... As someone who found season one of Making a Murderer perfect (initially), this was a perfect down to earth alternative point of view. Was aware of some liberties the Netflix show took from news articles, but this so much more details that you would expect. Maybe you have to start it with an open mind, as I definitely didn't have something against DailyWire or Candice (first encounter). As the series progressed it got better and more intere...

More web-series reviews… The Fall of the House of Usher – Came out in 2023. Another Mike Flanagan series.  The Usher family is never far from controversy. The fortunes of siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher were made through Fortunato Pharmaceuticals, a company whose products are often under scrutiny due to health concerns. Assistant District Attorney C. Auguste Dupin is determined to land a conviction and his case against Fortunato and the Ushers has gone to trial. Now, right in the middle of the trial, Roderick's children are dying under mysterious circumstances. Roderick Usher knows who/what is behind the deaths and meets with Dupin to reveal all. A review from IMDB... In my opinion, polarising creations are always fascinating, and generally I don't think ill of people who happen to dislike what I enjoy very much. I'm not particularly fond of being meta in my reviews either, but I feel that in the case of "...

More web-series reviews… Charlie Chopra & the Mystery of Solang Valley – Came out in 2023. When her fiance gets implicated in a murder, Charlie arrives at his family home in pursuit of the truth. But as secrets tumble out that the murderer would rather have hidden, the next person to lose their life might be Charlie herself.  Based on Agatha Christie's The Sittaford Mystery. A review from The Quint... Charlie Chopra & The Mystery of Solang Valley opens with a séance, helmed by a broody and mysterious psychic (Naseeruddin Shah). Skeptics and believers alike populate this small get-together in Solang Valley which comes to an abrupt end when it is “revealed” that Brigadier Meherbaan Singh Rawat (Gulshan Grover) might be dead. This small sequence is enough to suck you into the narrative, especially since it is peppered with all the Vishal Bhardwaj magic of, say, a Makdee. What follows is an enticing mix of Bhardwaj an...

More web-series reviews… Aakhri Sach – Came out in 2023. A bone chilling history that unravels the twisted ties of fate, hidden secrets of a family and terrifying horrors an investigator has ever seen. Based on Burari suicides case. A review from IMDB... "Aakhri Sach" is an outstanding series that left a profound impact on me. It takes real events from the Burari case, and presents them with an incredible level of detail and accuracy. The dedication to portraying the events as they happened is commendable. The series masterfully captures the essence of the case, drawing viewers into the mysterious and chilling world of the Burari incident. The attention to detail, from the character portrayals to the settings and dialogues, is impeccable. It truly felt like reliving those moments as they unfolded in real life. One of the most commendable aspects of "Aakhri Sach" is how it respects the sensitivity of the ...

More web-series reviews…   Death in Paradise – Came out in 2011 and have run for 12 seasons so far:-)!102 episodes in total.  Scotland Yard DI Richard Poole is sent to the Caribbean island of Sainte Marie to solve a fellow policeman's murder. Having done so, he is seconded to the local police force as the dead man's replacement. Poole proves to be a brilliant detective, solving several complex murders. He's not quite suited to, and doesn't like, the pace of island life or the heat and the sand; he also doesn't like seafood. That aside, the place is just great. In later series, other English and Irish police officers head the investigative team, namely Humphrey Goodman, Jack Mooney, and Neville Parker. One of the reviews from IMDB... British TV viewers have been spoiled with great detective shows over the past decades. Bergerac, Inspector Morse and Frost have trained us to expect quirky, interesting shows w...

  More documentary web-series reviews… Can’t get you out of my head – Came out in 2021. 6 episodes of an hour each.  Love, power, money, ghosts of empire, conspiracies, artificial intelligence and You. An emotional history of the modern world by Adam Curtis. A review from IMDB... A hundred strange stories strung together How come we live in a world where toxic nonsense like Q-Anon is so widely believed? To address this question, Adam Curtis has made his most ambitious documentary series yet, essentially a personal history of the modern world. His thesis appears to be that the answer lies in the loss of political ambition coupled with the ever growing power of the new technology (whose greatest power, he suggests, is to convince us that it can indeed control us). As usual, he shows a great aptitude for digging out extraordinary, obscure stories and moreover finding great footage to illustrate them. Also as usual, the ...