Drew Koenig

Drew Koenig
Tomatometer-approved critic
Publications: Tell-Tale TV, Hidden Remote

TV Reviews Only

T-Meter Title | Year
4.75/5 96% The Mandalorian: Season 2 - Chapter 16: The Rescue (TV Episode) Out of all of the big swings that this second season has made, this outclasses them all and is a flex that is just downright impressive in its ambition. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Dec 21, 2020
4.25/5 88% The Mandalorian: Season 2 - Chapter 15: The Believer (TV Episode) The way that this all crescendos into what the lengths you're willing to go to compromise versus how well you're able to sleep after feels really well-considered. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Dec 14, 2020
4.5/5 100% The Mandalorian: Season 2 - Chapter 14: The Tragedy (TV Episode) It takes the character and bluntly illustrates why he has been seen as a captivating and menacing force throughout the movies. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Dec 7, 2020
4.25/5 96% The Mandalorian: Season 2 - Chapter 13: The Jedi (TV Episode) While all of this is doubtlessly exciting and exhilarating for the fans, it also becomes a thing where people that haven't watched both of the animated shows might start to feel a bit left behind. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Nov 30, 2020
3.75/5 91% The Mandalorian: Season 2 - Chapter 12: The Siege (TV Episode) The action is all good and it flows really well but never did this feel like an episode that needed to involve Mando, which is good for Star Wars overall, but less so for The Mandalorian itself. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Nov 23, 2020
4.75/5 98% The Mandalorian: Season 2 - Chapter 11: The Heiress (TV Episode) This is the episode that, if you're familiar with the larger Star Wars universe, is a must-watch episode. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Nov 16, 2020
3.75/5 84% The Mandalorian: Season 2 - Chapter 10: The Passenger (TV Episode) This is a show that, for better or worse, wants to tell these smaller, self-contained stories of adventure. It's a modest but very attainable goal that the show has set for itself. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Nov 9, 2020
4.25/5 95% The Mandalorian: Season 2 - Chapter 9: The Marshal (TV Episode) This season premiere feels like it knows precisely what it is and what it wants to do. It's very evident now that this is a show that is doing its own thing with little regard for the rest of the larger Star Wars oeuvre. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Nov 2, 2020
2.75/5 27% Marvel's Helstrom: Season 1 (TV, 2020) There isn't anything inherently objectionable about it. It simply comes off feeling a lot blander than something like this should. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 23, 2020
3.25/5 64% neXt: Season 1 (TV, 2020) Just based on this first episode, neXt looks to be an intriguing romp through technological dangers, even if we've seen things like it before. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 8, 2020
2.5/5 46% Brave New World: Season 1 (TV, 2020) Brave New World is all flash and no substance. It looks good but that's about as far as it goes. It isn't really interested in getting too deep into how the world operates because that's not where its priorities lie. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Jul 24, 2020
2/5 75% NOS4A2: Season 2 (TV, 2019) Overall, if this is a premiere designed to get us back into the show and give us an idea of what we're all in for this season, then this is an auspicious beginning. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Jun 23, 2020
100% Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: Season 1 (TV, 2020) Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts feels like this nice balm to our souls and we're very grateful that we'll have more of it soon. - Hidden Remote EDIT
Read More | Posted May 1, 2020
100% Infinity Train: Book Two - Cracked Reflection (TV, 2019-2020) A story that is able to touch upon ideas like identity and self-worth, which is so necessary with a program that skews younger like this. - Hidden Remote EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 14, 2020
100% Steven Universe: Future (TV, 217-2019) An interesting footnote to the climax of this beloved story. - Hidden Remote EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 14, 2020
96% Killing Eve: Season 1 (TV, 2018-2020) It manages this wonderful blend of wit, humor, and smarts while also being terrifying and engaging. - Hidden Remote EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 15, 2020
100% The Magicians: Season 3 (TV, 2016-2019) Ultimately, this is pairing up to be a Dungeons-and-Dragons type season and, needless to say, we are here for it. - Hidden Remote EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 15, 2020
100% Sweet/Vicious: Season 1 (TV, 2016-2017) It was filled with nuance and warmth, blood and understanding, along with being completely unflinching in what it believed and demanded that you be that too. - Hidden Remote EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 15, 2020
100% Hilda: Season 1 (TV, 2018) Hilda is many things: weird and irreverent; silly and quirky; but more than that, at its very core, lies a show that genuinely feels. - Hidden Remote EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 14, 2020
100% The Hollow: Season 1 (TV, 2018-2020) Another thing that really lends to the series' success is the strength of the three characters and how well they work together in a believable teen/pre-teen way. - Hidden Remote EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 14, 2020
53% Reverie: Season 1 (TV, 2018) It could be trying to lure the viewer in with visual cues and concepts that we're already familiar with to get us on its side but, honestly, it's having quite the opposite effect here. - Hidden Remote EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 14, 2020
100% Wynonna Earp: Season 3 (TV, 2016) Perhaps the most worthy successor of Buffy the Vampire Slayer since its departure. - Hidden Remote EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 14, 2020
93% The Terror: Season 1 (TV, 2018-2019) The Terror, more than anything, knew how to build upon its suspense to the point that it felt unbearable and released it in such a succinct fashion that it felt like the big moment of the season, except it would do so again and again throughout its run. - Hidden Remote EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 14, 2020
100% Killjoys: Season 5 (TV, 2015-2019) The major draw of the series, and by far its greatest asset, is Hannah John-Kamen and her performance as Dutch. - Hidden Remote EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 14, 2020
No Score Yet Adventure Time: Elements: Miniseries (TV, 2010) More than anything, Adventure Time was a show that made sure that by the end of it you had learned something from it. You may not have always been able to pin down exactly what it was saying (like "Hall of Egress") but it always made that effort. - Hidden Remote EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 14, 2020
100% The 100: Season 6 (TV, 2014-2020) Josephine who, while being a despicable person, is also a fascinating character and an excellent foil. - Hidden Remote EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 14, 2020
4.5/5 100% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 5 - Meet the Legends (TV Episode) If this is more of what we'll be getting with the rest of this season, then this will be a wonderfully weird run of episodes of an already deeply insane series. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 23, 2020
3/5 100% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 5 - Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Five (TV Episode) Ultimately, "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Five" isn't the perfect conclusion, but it's one that feels completely in line with the type of show that Legends of Tomorrow has proven itself to be. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 21, 2020
4/5 100% The Mandalorian: Season 1 - Chapter Eight: Redemption (TV Episode) It's one of those things that looks great on a storyboard or animated, but you're not quite sure how it'll look in live-action. The good news is that it still looks incredible and distinct enough from how we recognize live-action versions of lightsabers. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Dec 30, 2019
3.5/5 100% The Mandalorian: Season 1 - Chapter 7: The Reckoning (TV Episode) In all, it's a solid episode that gets us back on track to the main thrust of the story before the end, and it'll be fascinating to see where it goes from here. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Dec 23, 2019
2.9/5 83% The Mandalorian: Season 1 - Chapter 6: The Prisoner (TV Episode) On its own, "Chapter 6: The Prisoner" might be a perfectly fine episode. It's serviceable in every way that matters... As a piece of this season, however, it is less successful. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Dec 18, 2019
3/5 74% The Mandalorian: Season 1 - Chapter 5: The Gunslinger (TV Episode) The action is well-done, the visuals are stunning, and Baby Yoda is adorable. There's nothing about it that really justifies its existence as to why you're watching this particular episode. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Dec 9, 2019
3/5 92% The Mandalorian: Season 1 - Chapter 4: Sanctuary (TV Episode) "Chapter 4: Sanctuary" is the kind of episode that doesn't really get made anymore. While the episode does also draw heavily from Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, it harkens back to a simpler time for television. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Dec 4, 2019
3.5/5 93% The Mandalorian: Season 1 - Chapter 3: The Sin (TV Episode) The Mandalorian Season 1 Episode 3, "Chapter 3: The Sin," continues to not be terribly interesting while also being wonderfully executed. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Nov 26, 2019
3/5 92% The Mandalorian: Season 1 - Chapter 2: The Child (TV Episode) Again, however, the episode is able to function really nicely in spite of that, even if it does feel like it could have been cut down severely and added onto the next episode. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Nov 18, 2019
4/5 90% The Mandalorian: Season 1 - Chapter 1 (TV Episode) The concept for The Mandalorian is a simple yet bold one: Star Wars but make it a western...an obvious and unsurprisingly successful idea that lends itself to the universe rather well. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Nov 14, 2019
3.5/5 94% Emergence: Season 1 (TV, 2019) It blows things open to such a degree that it calls into question much of what we've already seen on the show, giving a new contextualization. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 25, 2019
91% Evil: Season 1 (TV, 2019-2020) What makes Evil interesting is the way that it marries the procedural setup that is such a staple of CBS and the more frightening elements at play within the series. - Hidden Remote EDIT
Read More | Posted Dec 5, 2019
2.2/5 81% The Terror: Infamy (TV, 2018-2019) Ultimately, we're just waiting to get to the end now so we can be done with it - and that's disappointing for a show that was so strong in its season. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Aug 14, 2019
3/5 70% NOS4A2: Season 1 (TV, 2019) The premiere doesn't exactly inspire confidence at first glance, but it's possible this a show with promise buried down deep that will take a bit of time to get the ball rolling. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Jun 4, 2019
100% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 4 - Hey, World! (TV Episode) Hey, World! is silly and corny, in the best and most Legends of Tomorrow way, but its success is how it cares more about character than plot. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted May 22, 2019
80% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 4 - Terms Of Service (TV Episode) Legends of Tomorrow always values character over plot, and that's why it's certainly better than other shows with dragons that we could mention. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted May 22, 2019
4/5 100% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 4 - Nip/Stuck (TV Episode) Individually, each plotline of "Nip/Stuck" really works and is also some of the weirdest things the show has done in some time. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted May 8, 2019
4/5 100% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 4 - Egg MacGuffin (TV Episode) "Egg MacGuffin" is the episode that will serve as the big pivoting point as Ray is basically setup as the Big Bad for the rest of the season. It'll be fun to see what Legends of Tomorrow can do with that going forward. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted May 1, 2019
4/5 100% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 4 - The Eggplant, The Witch & The Wardrobe (TV Episode) If nothing else, this is an essential episode for pushing the plot forward, but especially with fixing a lot of the damage done to Sara and Ava's relationship. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 24, 2019
3.5/5 100% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 4 - The Getaway (TV Episode) "The Getaway" is really good at is getting us inside the headspace of Sara, a character so often has to be the proverbial rock of the cast. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 11, 2019
86% DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 4 - Lucha de Apuestas (TV Episode) With "Lucha de Apuestas," we have what is largely a fairly solid outing that is thoroughly enjoyable. This is despite the fact that...the episode feels like it has been reverse engineered in a way to facilitate a major break-up on the show. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 3, 2019
3.5/5 100% You're the Worst: Season 5 (TV, 2014-2019) If nothing else, [the premiere] shows that just because the series is in its last season, it doesn't mean that it has any intention of slowing down or to stopping being the weird little show we all love. - Tell-Tale TV EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 11, 2019
100% Elementary: Season 6 (TV, 2012-2019) Elementary becomes not just the story of a brilliant man solving convoluted crimes, but, more importantly, one about the day-by-day process of recovery. - Hidden Remote EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 9, 2019
100% The Expanse: Season 3 (TV, 2015) The end of The Expanse's third season has arrived and in a drawn fashion perfectly befitting the rather solid season that it has led up to. - Hidden Remote EDIT
Read More | Posted Dec 21, 2018