Reviews

Let me start off with saying that the main reason I love this show is the Spencer/Olivia relationship/friendship. From the moment I stumbled across the show, I fell in love with it. A major part of that was firstly the character of Olivia and the way Samantha Logan portrayed her. Secondly, it was the obvious chemistry between Spencer and Olivia from the get go. I was bummed when they remained merely friends but I eventually accepted it, deciding that the show was still too good to give up even if a Spencer/Olivia love story wasn't in the cards. And then Vegas happened...

Now, after season 4 let me down (majorly disappointed that we got to see them as an actual couple for such a short time after the longest build up), I came back for the 5th season hoping for a Spencer/Olivia reunion. Season 5 turned into the worst emotional rollercoaster I've been put through in years and here's why:

1. THEY KILLED OFF BILLY BAKER!! REALLY?!!

Yeah, I know it was Taye Diggs' choice to leave but Billy's departure could've been handled way better. I personally liked the idea of Billy accepting a D1 coaching job across the country, possibly ending with him divorcing Laura (which would've made him an a$$hole, especially since they just renewed their vows) or dying slowly from an illness so there would've been time to come to terms with his absence from the show. The whole bus crash storyline was just overall poorly done.

2. THEY DENIED US SPENCER/OLIVIA!

Until literally the last scene in the season finale. I almost cried out of joy, so damn happy for that airport kiss. Actually, the whole episode was really good. Spencer having a terrible British accent was hillarous considering the fact that Daniel Ezra is actually British. I'm just so damn happy and relieved that S6 will (hopefully) contain the Spencer/Olivia reunion I've personally been waiting for since May 2023.

3. ALMOST RUINING THE OLIVIA CHARACTER.

Like stated earlier, Olivia has been the main reason for me watching and loving the show. But after her driving while drunk with Spencer, begging him to take the rap for her, there had been several episodes where I've seriously questioned her behavior. Especially towards Spencer, and it nearly caused me having anxiety watching season 4. After being such an amazing and supportive friend to Spencer, she started treating him badly once they were a couple and that didn't sit right with me. For that, I blame the writers for nearly ruining a beloved character that will hopefully redeem herself in more ways than one.

I wanna start off with saying that the main reason I've watched this show three times (so far) is Grace Greenleaf. Sure, there were other characters that greatly contributed to the storyline but watching Merle Dandridge bringing the character of Grace Greenleaf to life was what kept me watching season after season.

Now, with that said, I can't in good conscience give "Greenleaf" a higher score than 8 out of 10 stars. As with all shows, it didn't manage to maintain a strong storyline throughout all its seasons. Because I liked the show so much, I seriously wished the people responsible would've done some things differently:

1. Gotten rid of Charity (and Kevin by default.) The character (in my personal opinion) brought nothing to the story expect childish behaviour and boring storylines. Each time I watch the show, I fail to see why she was in the show to begin with. Would've been much better with just Grace, Jacob and Faith.

2. Not killing off James Greenleaf. I mean, WTF? You had him survive that heart attack earlier in the show and finally reconcile with Lady Mae only to have him die just as they were getting re-married and starting over?! Nope, sorry, not gonna forgive you for that anytime soon.

3. Removing A. J. from the story entirely, or at least have him be Faith's long lost secret child. This entire storyline was just all wrong, especially for Grace. And really made "Greenleaf" look like "Days of Our Lives" with the sudden appearence of a secret love child. It also screams desperation to attract viewers and I'm so over it. It changed my perspective of Grace and not for the better.

In the end, I still really like the show and enjoy the drama going on with all the twists and turns. Would've loved for the show to have more episodes per season and more seasons overall. I also *really* hope that the talked out spin-off show will happen eventually and obviously I would want it to be centered around Grace's life in New York but you can't have everything...

Against my better judgement, I decided to watch the show and purposely waited until I'd finished the book. I checked it randomly from the local library to have something to read until my ordered books arrived, and I quickly became hooked! I knew the show wouldn't be as good as the book, but I still expected more. Especially with one of the authors working as a writer for the show. The show was obviously very loosely based on the book and lacked alot of the best scenes/dares, as well as the on point writing that made the characters loveable and me laugh out loud several times. Some of the things that was changed/left out: Lily's ethnicity, Boomer's personality/ethnicity, Boomer meeting Lily under different circumstances (helping Dash with a dare for her), Sofia and Dash's relationship (he was simply "fond" of her at the most), several dares for both Lily & Dash was left out, Lily finally becoming a dog owner, Dash spending the Christmas holiday at his mom's apartment mostly because he had a pretty close relationship with her and the New Year's Eve scene in the strand was way better/longer in the book. Also, there's actually a trilogy of books regarding Dash & Lily. READ THE BOOKS INSTEAD! THE SHOW DOESN'T DO THEM JUSTICE! So much better writing, loveable characters and more interesting storyline.

I wanna start off with saying that I had really high hopes for this Ant-Man sequel, especially considering how good the other two movies are. My personal favorite will always be "Ant-Man & The Wasp" and so I was hoping for "Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania" to be an equally good continuation, but found myself being let down. We all know what the general rule is; the more sequels, the lesser the quality. I personal feel that Marvel usually succeeds at this while most others fail, although there has been several sequels lately that just isn't as good as expected. But still, in my excitement for the third return of one of my favorite Marvel heroes, I was very hopeful for this movie. All in all, it was better than some of the other Marvel sequels I've seen recently and that's mostly because of Paul Rudd and the overall casting of the Ant-Man movies, alongside a well-rounded script that contains both action and comedy. I however was disappointed in the development of Cassie Lang, both the fictional character and the new actress. I loved Cassie in the first two movies and while I realize why they needed an older actress post-Endgame, I still feel they could've done better. I also would've liked to see more of Scott and Hope's romantic relationship, as well as the Lang/Pym/Van Dyne family dynamic. This movie was obviously very much about introducing the Kang character, which I was not impressed with at all. In the end, what I'm left with is a feeling of unfulfillment and putting even higher expectations on a future Ant-Man sequel to give me the same joy as the first two...