The franchise comes to a conclusion and our — well, Rob’s — work is done. We talk about deaths of all kinds: physical darkness, mental endings, you name it. How technical can Rob get, how metaphysical can Sam be, and — crucially — did the guinea pig enjoy this series??

This Week’s Watching

DEEPWATER HORIZON (2016): Peter Berg, Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell

NO OFFENCE (2015—): Paul Abbott, Joanna Scanlan, Elaine Cassidy

Recommendations

SKYFALL (2012): Sam Mendes, Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem

THE LADY IN THE VAN (2015): Nicholas Hytner, Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings

ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES (1991): Kevin Reynolds, Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (2002): Peter Jackson, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen

WHAT IF (2013): Michael Dowse, Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan

Footnotes

Firstly, the obligatory ‘Chekhov’s gun’ link (in TV rather than film, but still some good examples): uproxx.com/tv/ten-of-televisions-finest-examples-of-chekhovs-guns.

Then, a shout-out for JKR’s other literary projects, which are brilliant: robert-galbraith.com (the ‘Cormoran Strike’ series) and www.theguardian.com/books/2012/sep/27/jk-rowling-casual-vacancy-review (The Casual Vacancy) .

Here’s more about ‘crushing the blacks’ in film colouring: www.rocketstock.com/blog/crush-the-blacks-in-color-grading.

And finally, this is an interesting essay about ideas of mastering death: www.edge.org/response-detail/10221.