Flavours of the Month: May & June 2025

Slaying Hellspawn, a considerable uptick in quality, and revisiting some chooms is just some of what's been setting the tone of my May and June 2025...

Click "READ MORE" below to see this month's looks, sounds, vibes & flavours...

LOOKS:

Andor: Season 2 - after a thoroughly disappointing three episodes that kicked off the season, the second batch of three episodes were a noted improvement and nicely set-up the situation on the planet of Ghorman, which basically stands-in for France under Nazi occupation during World War II with it's Parisian-esque rooftops and waterways. The third batch of three episodes marks an even larger improvement, producing a genuinely tense and thrilling escalation of the Ghorman situation and the loss of truth amongst the Senate; listening devices and controlling narratives using fake stories all add an air of Cold War paranoia. These episodes also brilliantly highlight the sense of nerve-jangling peril that the members of the Rebel Alliance are in, going up against the gargantuan might of the Empire.

The considerable improvement in quality over the course of the episodes, replete with satisfying character contrasts and development, makes it all the more baffling that the season gets off to such a plodding start (save for some necessary tidbits) - but once you get over those initial hurdles and mis-steps, it kicks into gear most impressively, returning to the high bar of quality that season one ultimately achieved, rising far above the myriad dreck that Disney Star Wars has too-often produced. The final batch of episodes to close the series further ratchet up the nail-biting sense of 'just get out of there now!' tension, while the coming-together of some key elements leading into Rogue One: A Star Wars Story gets the senses tingling as the ruthless and terrorising threat posed by the Empire is writ large from within its own ranks, concluding the show on a high note of quality.

What We Do In The Shadows: Season 6 - it's fair to say the show had run its course, particularly as this last batch of eleven episodes never felt all that cohesive, bouncing between too many middling ideas while leaving juicier possibilities on the table. There's still plenty of fun to be had and intriguing ideas explored, but this final season never quite takes flight with confidence, too often relying on extended movie parodies, few of which work well enough to justify their inclusion. Season 5 was showing some clear signs of fatigue, but worked quite well, and the first four seasons were excellent, so over-the-piece WWDITS was a superb show with a bumpy departure.

The Last of Us: Season 2 - after a good and solid first season, this second go-round has seen a catastrophic drop in quality. The second game certainly had its fair share of poor reactions from aggrieved players, and its story and structural problems (from what I've gathered) have been ported-over to the HBO adaptation, which has seen falling viewing figures and audience scores in the wake of episode two's translation of a considerably controversial plot choice. The collapse in the quality of the storytelling is only worsened by many smaller details, such as characters - who should be hardened and sensible survivors of the apocalypse - doing spectacularly stupid things. Ellie, in particular, repeatedly behaves like a bratty little child or a lovesick tween hanging out at the shopping mall, even in life-threatening scenarios.

Perhaps, upon entering an unknown enemy city, no doubt populated with infected beasties, the best idea wouldn't be to very loudly explore a tank and then visit a music store where the first thing you decide to do is announce your presence by playing the drums and a guitar. Likewise, when hiding out in an abandoned theater, turning the lights on isn't a great way to keep your presence secret. Clearly, the characters have very little regard for their own safety or the supposed importance of their mission, and they damn well don't give a single solitary shite about chains of command, so fearless as they are of reprisal, but then again, those giving the orders get steam-rollered by wilfully stupid teenagers on a regular basis.

What was once close to vital viewing has now become a big budget slab of dull and dim-witted nonsense, brimming with hubris and self-importance, which is striking to say considering the showrunner, Craig Mazin, was behind Chernobyl, one of the most intelligently written, technically impressive and narratively memorable television miniseries of the 21st Century. Here, though, the muddled nature of it all leads to noticeably poor storytelling. Episode six (which was generally good) flashbacks at an inopportune time and tells a story that should've been combined with episode one, or spread across the opening two episodes, thus episode two would've become three. Meanwhile, the supposed villain of the piece - Abby - disappears for the majority of the episodes, with an end-of-season 'twist' that stirs bugger-all chills.

Season two of The Last Of Us, while shorter, nonetheless squanders considerable chunks of its running time, before suddenly getting itself into a damn rush come the season closer - and yet we still only really get 60% of a full tale. I don't know if Neil Druckman thought the story of the second game was some masterful treatise on the nature of revenge, but all it ultimately manages to do is turn Ellie into a wretched piece of garbage, a continually selfish moron who parades about thinking the world revolves around her, believing that only she has been hurt, before suddenly flip-flopping to lecture the other characters and shouting them down when they point out her idiocy, and then she inevitably goes off and does something else seriously bloody stupid and gets a slew of innocent people killed. To say that season two has been a frustrating watch is quite the understatement. There has been a history of problematic videogame-to-movie/tv show adaptations resulting from ignoring the source material, but in this instance a considerable amount of re-writing and re-structuring would've been wise in order to tell a better version of this story. But they didn't - so we got this instead. Bummer.

Long Way Home - as a huge fan of Long Way Round and Long Way Down, the belated follow-up Long Way Up, with its gimmick of using electric bikes, was only okay. This time, though, twenty years on from the original journey, Long Way Home is more enjoyable as it cruises around Northern Europe and the Baltics on classic motorcycles. Sometimes it feels like it's voluntarily leaving some exploration on the cutting room floor when there's no real need to, but over-the-piece it's been good.

The Walking Dead Dead City: Season 2 - using inflated walkers as catapult ammunition just feels too silly, in a series that evidently pays little regard to 'the rules of the monster' and just does whatever half-baked idea pops into its head at any given moment. The idea of factions fighting over re-taking Manhattan Island for prestige and for the methane power source technology should provide some good material, but the show too often feels dull and meandering, raking over old familiar ground with generic characters partaking in predictable power plays.

There's also yet more cannon fodder in ragged brown clothes who have 'created a new society in the apocalypse' in the most eye-rolling of ways, and still more wobbly subplots where 'one of ours goes native'. Similarly uncaptivating is 'The Federation', a borderline fascistic post-apocalyptic attempt at community governance and bringing 'law and order' back to the wasteland - it's just annoying characters doing plainly evil things without qualms and I simply don't give a stuff about them. This could have been something very enjoyable, but instead it is intermittently boring, non-sensical, and evidence writ large that The Walking Dead - a franchise that I have been a huge fan of since 2010 - has now become played-out, tired, and sigh-inducing. Here with Dead City, it has turned into a messy load of mush through poor stewardship and half-arsed storytelling, of which I've only managed to stomach a few episodes so far. Extremely disappointing.

Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story - did this Netflix documentary series really add anything new to the story, which has been told more extensively elsewhere? Well put-together though it may have been, as all crime docs from Netflix tend to be, it seemed as if it was leaving out some finer details in order to rush through the essential aspects of the case in three episodes.

Clarkson's Farm: Series 4 - an excellent watch as always.

Big Mouth: Season 8 - the final season of Netflix's animated comedy somewhat goes out with a whimper as it fails to really grasp the potential of moving the characters forward, now that they've entered high school, and chooses to abandon them before they reach adulthood.

Critters: A Four Course Feast (Blu-Ray) - all four Critters movies (well, the main ones - discounting the woeful Critters Attack and that curious web series). #2 is the best, closely followed by #1, then #3 takes a modestly successful and entertaining third position, but #4 comes in at a particularly distant last place.

Tires: Season 2 - comparatively more story-driven than it's first season, so it loses a little of the 'banter while hanging around shooting the shit', while the injection of Netflix cashola lends an expanded and more professional aesthetic to what had previously been an enjoyable rough-hewn production. Bring on a third season, please!

Squid Game: Season 3 - after Netflix pulled it's usual trick of splitting the final episodes into two batches (in this case seven and six respectively), which left viewers on the disappointment of a very unresolved cliffhanger, the final season is filled with purpose and direction. It takes enough time to tell the remainder of the story in a satisfying manner, but never dawdles either, and the continual switch-ups and surprises along the way (especially during the deadly games) make for gripping entertainment. There's little to fault it, really, aside from some under/over-written dialogue for the wealthy observers of the games that can make them feel somewhat cartoonish, but the final season wraps things up in a memorable way. Without spoiling things, certain aspects of the climactic episode might be challenging or unexpected, but the fact that the show doesn't take typically Hollywoodised routes is part of the show's strength.


SOUNDS:

Green Day "Ballyhoo", "Dookie" (album), "Father To A Son (Acoustic)", "Stay Young", "Suzie Chapstick (Acoustic)", "Underdog"

M83 "A Necessary Escape" (album)

Tryanglz "Photoplay", "You Can't Do That", "Burnin' In The Third Degree"

Alice Cooper "Wild Ones"

Ministry "Just One Fix"

Finishing Move "From The Ashes", "Into The Void", "Unchained Predator", "Between Hex and Flame"

Good Charlotte "The Young and The Hopeless" (album)

Tomandandy "Canaan" (Killing Zoe End Credits Version)


VIBES & FLAVOURS:

The Bells of Corpse Cross - time for the second draft polish, and a chance to work out those inevitable plot holes or missings pieces of information that you have by the end of the first draft, moreso when you've opted to find more of the material 'on the page' as opposed to pre-planning it all.

Alan Wake II (Xbox Series S) - concluding a re-play of the main game, this time in the 'Final Draft' version, which culminates with the full (and superior) version of the ending. Splitting versions of an ending over multiple required playthroughs is something that I don't agree with, as it gives a worse ending to those people who only play the game once, perhaps because they only have time for one go-through, and that penalises them unfairly.

Certain lines of dialogue that I had previously referred to as coming out-of-the-blue and being remarkably 'out of character' for the game and its characters still lurk from time-to-time: the sniffy comment about the Mother Doll, for example, or the horrendously clunky line "another white asshole telling me what to do", which feels teleported-in from an entirely different story and character, and smacks of unnecessary outside interference. The game, which is excellent (if a little bit too talky at times), would have been better served by not including a handful of these sorts of lines of dialogue, as they only yank the gamer out of the experience with a sudden jolt and are quite unwarranted. But it should be remembered that those dropped spanners are very few in number and are overwhelmed by the steadfast quality of the game as a whole.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Xbox Series S) - there is excellent direction and cinematography in the cutscenes, the Rook safehouse is a nice little narrative breather between levels, and there's an interesting story afoot, but the good old days of focused action gameplay with brisk pacing is seemingly absent in favour of various experimentations that don't really fit the style, consistent pacing, or expectations of a good old guns-a-blazin' action spectacular. The golden age of Call of Duty was best exemplified by the original Modern Warfare trilogy (2007-2011), which provided jaw dropping hits of lead-flinging action against a highly dramatic backdrop with tight, focused gameplay.

The campaigns did end up getting a little shorter over time, but the clarity of the gameplay lent itself to repeated play-throughs. Will I ever re-play Black Ops 6 ... honestly? No. Furthermore, the focus on parachuting-in ideas from the other game modes ('Zombies' mode, or Multiplayer, for instance) further dilutes what a CoD campaign should be. The notion of experimenting is fine, but the route they've gone down hasn't worked for the most part, leading to a muddled and inconsistent story mode (which is also clogged with the clutter of multiplayer gadgets) that's unfortunately proven to be generally disappointing.

Doom: The Dark Ages (Xbox Series S) - I can understand why they mostly removed the 'Glory Kills' mechanic from this game, considering how the combat tends to play-out with so many more demons on-screen, but I still miss it somewhat. You do get 'finishing moves', but they can be a little tricky/inconsistent to implement. However, in return you instead get the wonderful chainsaw shield and a selection of melee options (e.g. a flail) that produce fantastically meaty, crunchy, gory gameplay as you pound away at gruesome demons, severing their limbs and crushing their hearts in front of their horrified eyes. The movement controls feel excellent, even if a bigger jump wouldn't have gone amiss, while the focus on pulverising arena battles chock-full-o-demons is most welcome. To say that the combat in this game is meaty would be an understatement - it is six-hundred-and-sixty-six rib-eye steaks mashed together into a giant ball of jaw-breaking, skull-crushing, limb-ripping slaughter.

Doom Eternal was an overall good game, but the clunky manner of harvesting resources and the relentless platforming stuff really irked me - so it's nice to be done with that - and kudos to the game makers for not just copy/pasting their previous game with some new skins unlike what some other companies tend to do *cough* UbiSoft *cough*. The music (by another artist entirely after Mick Gordon's alleged rough treatment on Doom Eternal) is appropriately aggressive, when you can hear it over the melee of chaos during battle sequences, that is, with "Unchained Predator" proving to be particularly punchy. Meanwhile, the story/lore has got a bit bloated with the charming purity of Doom 2016's no-jibber-jabber approach long gone. However, throw in giant Jaeger-like battle bots, grand scale level design, inclusive difficulty sliders for all skill levels, and a flippin' combat dragon and you've got a hell of a good time at your fingertips! THIS is how you do a power fantasy!

"Shock Induction" by Chuck Palahniuk - a bit of a mixed bag, this one, hampered by jumping around in the way the story is laid out (skipping back and forth between the main narrative and then extracts from a guidebook or senate hearings, for example). The central conceit of the 'Greener Pastures' process (or conspiracy, you might say) and what it entails is some of the most interesting aspects of the story, so it's a little disappointing that more of exactly how it functions, and what its methodology actually creates in the actions of those involved, wasn't included.

There's a leaner, meaner, more focused story in there trying to get out, but the fragmented structure and frequent referencing of books that, let's be honest, many people won't have read these days, hinders the narrative somewhat. It's interesting to read some comments, though, as this one seems to have split the readership much like his previous novel "Not Forever, But For Now". Personally, I much preferred that book to this one, but that's not to say I didn't find plenty to enjoy with "Shock Induction".

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Xbox Series S) - another mixed bag, but better than the Black Ops 6 campaign. There's too many instances of 'sneak around with bugger all guns/resources', which gets frustrating (crafting - in a CoD game - REALLY?!), while other interesting detours can either be a little drawn-out (sniper duet with Captain Price) or clumsy: the convoy chase - jumping from vehicle to vehicle, as well as driving/shooting/avoiding landmines all at once proved very frustrating.

Alternatively, you have inspired moments that sometimes call back to previous highlights of the franchise - shooting baddies on a roiling cargo ship as containers slide about on the deck, for example, or carefully clearing buildings using night vision. But then you get a boss fight with a tank, and - yet again!!! - you are left scrounging for resources to blow it up, in a battle that feels like something from the turn of the century (and not in a good way). Finally, to add insult to injury, the climactic level descends into farce as you - YET AGAIN - lose all your weapons and are forced to clumsily multi-task (defuse a bomb while evading heavily armoured baddies) before, you guessed it, more fucking crafting! That's how you end the game? Jog on! When CoD:MWII gets things right it works very nicely indeed, but when it falters it doesn't half do your head in.

Arcade Paradise (Xbox Series S) - there's a better game in here trying to get out, but you very quickly find yourself just doing other people's laundry (aren't they supposed to be self-service?) instead of getting to play the various in-game arcade machines. Your in-game timer doesn't pause to allow you a proper go at any of them, and if you don't rush away to handle the laundry you get big penalties to your profits. Upgrades are also locked behind costly challenges and a whole heap of grinding, so it really becomes a chore simulator at a laundry instead of a game where you can design and operate your ideal videogame arcade, which is what it really should have been. The charms that it does have wear thin pretty quickly, unfortunately.

Forza Motorsport (Xbox Series S) - I remember that the previous game's car upgrade system never seemed to really work properly, although this time it's easier, but the game dishes out 'car points' (you can't use 'game cash' to upgrade, like you do in Forza Horizon) in such a stingy way that you can never properly upgrade your vehicle, which is frustrating. It's got a decent selection of tracks, some familiar and some newer, but the AI cars can be annoyingly aggressive or unawares quite frequently, which make overtaking tricky to pull off in a clean fashion; the AI cars don't seem to have a great sense of self-preservation, for instance, and are routinely oblivious to you doing a bit of late-breaking action up the inside line.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (Xbox Series S) - despite some rough edges that prevent it from reaching God-tier immersion, the world of Night City and its surrounding environs have a way of sticking in your mind. Months after finishing the main game I was still thinking about Night City, of roaming through alleyways between towering buildings, of marvelling at the colourful holograms of Japantown, of gazing up at the sky as a droning sky ship slowly creeps between the skyscrapers, so it has been nice to revisit some old haunts, and the new Dogtown location, with the DLC expansion.