Topic: Rate the last TV show you've seen

[kaijugamer]

I lowkey enjoy The Good Place.

[Adrock]

The Dragon Prince

Binged Season 1 last week then binged all of Season 2 on Saturday. S2 is better from a narrative standpoint since most of the world building was out of the way. The animation is excellent. My brother said they skip frames though I didn’t notice.

The show really leans in with respresentation. There’s a black king, two interracial relationships including a lesbian couple, a mute female general with subordinates who just know and use American Sign Language. No one in this world questions any of that. As a non-white person, I like seeing representation in works of fiction. There were fleeting moments when I thought some of it felt forced. I wondered if I felt that way because I’m so used to not seeing representation. What does that say about our culture? What does that say about me?

One of my complaints about The Legend of Korra was the ending didn’t feel earned. Korra and Asami were suddenly shipped and it felt forced. I thought that was a disservice to the LGBTQ+ community even though the reaction was largely positive because at least the creators did something. It felt like token representation at the 11th hour which was weird because the best character by far in Avatar: The Last Airbender was blind. The Dragon Prince pulls no punches. Representation just is now and the creators tell the audience to simply deal with it which I think is a better way.

Anyway, The Dragon Prince dumps a lot of exposition in the beginning of S1. The story itself was fairly generic at first though it got significantly better. The writers upend expectations several times. Rayla doesn’t tell Callum something important so when Callum finds out from someone else, he’s initially upset. One would think this would lead to a big fight between Callum and Rayla except when Callum has to tell his younger brother the same news, he can’t bring himself to do it for the same reason Rayla couldn’t. What could have devolved into the most generic misunderstanding in fiction turned into a really great character moment between the two. That’s just great writing.

Still, the writers occasionally shoehorn memes into the dialog, and I found that to be more distracting than anything. The villain is kind of a caricature. I hope they give Viren more depth in S3 because he’s trending toward mustache twirling territory. Anyway, I’m pretty invested now and the seasons are short enough to get through pretty easily.

[Adrock]

Russian Doll

Natasha Lyonne plays one character: Natasha Lyonne. I don’t think i’ve ever seen her try to play a different character. She was Natasha Lyonne in Orange is the New Black, and Nikki was my favorite character in that show. Unfortunately, that show became too absurd to keep watching. Natasha Lyonne is good at playing Natasha Lyonne-like characters, and she should keep playing Natasha Lyonne in things.

I originally wasn’t that interested beyond liking Natasha Lyonne as Natasha Lyonne. I really like that Bill Murray joint, Groundhog Day, and outside of Majora’s Mask, I haven’t seen anything do something unique with the concept (EDIT: I really like Edge of Tomorrow/Live.Die.Repeat). I kept hearing good things about Russian Doll, and since my life isn’t that interesting, I decided to give it a shot.

Russian Doll does a very good job establishing the rules of the reset. Nadia Vulvokov has to die to reset the day except she always goes back to the night of her birthday when she’s in the bathroom with “Gotta Get Up” by Harry Nilsson playing. Her friend always says, “Sweet birthday baby!” to her when she walks into the kitchen. That repetition is good world building (which admittedly borrows a lot from Groundhog Day). When it doesn’t happen, it’s immediately noticeable. Additionally, Nadia can make it to the next day and the day after, but she always seems to die or some force is causing her death to trigger a reset.

Groundhog Day wisely did not try to explain why Phil Connors was trapped in a loop. There’s no time for that in a 90 to 100 minute movie. In a show, it works really well for Russian Doll. Nadia trying to figure out what is causing the loop is a fun part of Russian Doll. The show does some pretty interesting things with the time loop concept such as Nadia meeting another person trapped in the same loop, separating them into different loops where the other person is “non-looped” and never experienced a loop etc. It even acknowledges the possibility of multiple universes where the world continues after Nadia was violently killed in some freak accident (not a spoiler, Nadia has a realization that this might be happening). The concept of time loops are really cool to me. As a side bar, I recommend this five minute short film, One-Minute Time Machine.

The troubled relationship between Nadia and her mother is a bit cliche though Chloë Sevigny does her best to make Lenora more than a bad mother trope. That’s my only real knock against Russian Doll so far. Alan is kind of grating, but I think that’s the point. Dascha Polanco just isn’t a very good actress so I don’t know how she keeps showing up in things. She is thankfully not in Russian Doll a lot though she’s in a couple really important scenes. There’s definitely going to be another season. However, I hope the writers wrap it up after the third season, if not the second. While I like a lot of what’s going on here, I don’t want it to overstay its welcome.

[oohhboy]

I am not sure what the writers of Supergirl is getting at but they seem to have dumped the copy of Supergirl which has a total screen time of about a minute. They somehow managed to release a serial killer.

Worse of all I am in total agreement at this point of what the Elites are going murking all these people who are ridiculously guilty of genocide. Yet we are somehow expected to follow the Rule of Law which I am super big on which doesn't exist in the Supergirl world with alphabet agencies, groups and people running around doing whatever while moralising.

Bloody breaking up Lena and Olsen again. They have the most interesting relationship in the show and they break it with the same reason they used earlier. This isn't the trope where two people getting together their story ends, they is so much going for them.

Its still watch-able despite the show not knowing what the **** it wants to do with hack writers garbage drama. Kara not Supergirl gives it a bit of fun, funny and something cleverish where she has to play dumb while helping everyone. Also the Elites murking all these people. Menagerie just came out of nowhere though so err yeah.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Aggretsuko - Netflix

My daughter discovered this cartoon. about a little Red Panda (Sanrio created like Hello Kitty) who works at an accounting firm and absolutely hates her job, but does her best to hide it.
There's a handful of very interesting characters in this, an office full of all sorts of different animals all with very distinct personalities, such as her Dept manager the Big angry Pig and the Slithering Snake lady, but I think my favorite crazy character outside of the main Retsuko, has to be Fenneko the unassuming Instagram Slueth.
I can't pinpoint her animal type, but damn, talk about crazy. LOL

I didn't actually expect to like this show, as I just thought it was weird for the first few episodes, but characters start to grow on you, especially once you realize how they represent the different aspects of that corporate culture and the types of people you are bound to meet.

But I have to say that the musical theme and form of stress release for Retsuko for this show, is DEATH METAL, and despite that, there are some good lessons shown in here.

Long story short, I actually look forward to season 2.
but if it wasn't for my daughter insisting on that cartoon, I would have never made it past the first 2 episodes.

[oohhboy]

A surprise strong episode. Lex shows up played by John Cryer. I never knew he had it in him. After seeing him in 2 and half men for so long I didn't think he could act beyond that show. Being mostly a Lena episode is a treat.

Err what? Manchester Black? That was your plan??

[broodwars]

Haven't watched an actual anime series in a while. Just haven't been in the mood. However, one of my favorite anime series of all time, Full Metal Panic, got its LOOOOOOOOONG-awaited 4th season, Invisible Victory (Get it?), last year. I never got around to seeing it since I was waiting for the home video release with the English dub. Well, that BluRay release finally came out this week, so I finally checked it out.

Yeah, it's pretty damn good, and it's good to see a semi-gritty anime mecha show again after 13-14 years since the last season, The Second Raid. In a curious move, this season is a DIRECT sequel to the 2005 previous season, with absolutely no time spent catching newcomers up on the premise of the series, Sosuke & Kaname's relationship, Mithril, Amalgam, Arm Slaves, Lambda Drivers, Whispereds, the events of The Second Raid, etc. If you didn't see the previous seasons, you'd better get on that. Hell, it's been so long since Second Raid, I didn't remember some of the newer characters from that season.

The 12 episode season is broken up into roughly 3 arcs: Amalgam's assault on Mithril; Sosuke's globe-trotting in the aftermath; and the resulting raid on an Amalgam base. The 1st & 3rd arcs are generally well-paced and move the story forward considerably from The Second Raid, but the middle arc feels really out of left field and doesn't feel like it approaches having a point till near the end.

Quite possibly the most frustrating thing about this series is that the fans waited 13-14 years for this thing (depending on the region), and this still isn't the conclusion to the story. There are still 3 or so of the original light novels to adapt, and there isn't any indication that's going to happen just yet. This show's changed studios twice already, and it looks like it probably will again now that Xebec's been sold to Sunrise.

That said, there's certainly a big "well, it's about time" element to the finale long-time fans will appreciate. Tessa, the submarine captain, also gets plenty of screentime to show what a complete and utter badass she is despite being this small, frail teenage girl. Chris Paton & Luci Christian are still absolutely pitch-perfect as Sosuke and Kaname, but unfortunately this season doesn't give them much to do together and Kaname spends a huge portion of the season mired in depression and self-pity. It gets a bit tiresome.

I realize it's probably not the most interesting write-up on the show, but I'm trying to avoid spoilers since this is a series I highly recommend if you've never seen it and has shifted tone a LOT over the course of the existing 4 seasons. What started as this fish-out-of-water comedy with occasional gritty mecha fights shifted to screwball comedy in Season 2, then deathly serious drama in Seasons 3 & 4. Hopefully, we get Season 5.

[broodwars]

The 1st half of My Hero Academia's 3rd season hit BluRay today, so I finally got to see it.

I give it 10 viewings of "United States of SMASH" out of 10.

God, I love this show. It just "gets" superhero stories on a fundamental, human level. And THAT is how you end an epic plot thread that completely changes the circumstances of a show's universe.

[Adrock]

And THAT is how you end an epic plot thread that completely changes the circumstances of a show's universe.

I've been hounded to watch this show. I've been putting it off. This is quite an endorsement. You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention.

[broodwars]

And THAT is how you end an epic plot thread that completely changes the circumstances of a show's universe.

I've been hounded to watch this show. I've been putting it off. This is quite an endorsement. You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention.

I'm a really hard person to please, especially these days when it comes to superhero stories. But My Hero Academia understands that the emotional core of superhero stories lies in people pushing themselves beyond their limits to make the world a better place, and to inspire others to have hope for the future.

The show is by no means perfect. There's some formulaic, Naruto-esque trope work in there. But when push comes to shove, the show knows how to deliver to its emotional core and above all not waste your time. It's consistently the most "fun" I've had watching anime lately. I just wish the show wasn't released at such a slow pace if you're waiting for the English dubbed BluRays.

[oohhboy]

Supergirl Season 4 second half:

The second half is doing good. That first half was dire, I was almost ready to quit. They have come back to having characters rather than thing with a assigned superficial attribute. The plot has meat now, a lot smarter. Good focus on Lex, as much as I want more of him they are not overplaying him and John Cryer while I was initially hesitant on his take had me on board pretty quickly. His Red Sun intro was sharp,nothing wasted.

I love the increased focus on Kara and Lena(Always MVP), great interactions, less Supergirl doing pointless punchman. Kara through out the series had been so under utilised, not much more than vapid girl talk, it was like they forgot she is a reporter or a person.

I gets a little RAHRAH AMERICA, it's tolerable as it doesn't last long and has a narrative reason.

The villain this season started as this one dimensional thing despite an entire episodes devoted to who he was and who he turned into felt so forced he was just as 1D as before. Finally after taking a break from him, we have come back more developed, see him become deranged not realising he is fucking everything up, how everything bad that is happening to him is all on him, he did this to himself.

Seriously WTF happened to cause this turn around? The first half was bad, Manchester Black while not a dead end the conclusion was a Krusty "What the hell was that"? They were throwing characters under the bus for things they didn't do or with absurd out of character and narrative context. The plot was spinning it's wheels, tiresome, Supergirl put in death traps, plot points introduced last season actively ignored or playing out poorly.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Happy!

Is anyone watching this drunk acid trip of a show?
Holy ****. Season 1 was entertaining and crazy, S2 so far has been absolutely off the wall WTF!? LOL

I mean all of that in a good way.
all sorts of what the **** am I watching moments in this show and I'm loving it.
It's gruesome, twisted, disgusting, maniacal and senseless throughout so many moments of the show.
If you haven't already checked it out, and looking for something way outside the box of usual shows, give this one a shot.

[ShyGuy]

Season 1 was a lot of fun! I'm not usually into gross out humor, but this manages to walk a fine line. Christopher Meloni  is fantastic in it as well. His facial expressions are top notch.

[BlackNMild2k1]

S2 is more of S1 but turned up to 11. LOL

[oohhboy]

SG: Giving grass to a Kryptonian makes them better. Yeah, sure. Rest of the episode was pretty good.

[oohhboy]

I don't watch Game of Thrones, bounced off it right from the first episode. Gotta say, the creators completely destroying the show is an amazing sight. 8 seasons rendered entirely into BS, jumping the shark like so many famous franchises into infamy. The level of creative bankruptcy and laziness is astounding.

Star Wars is already dead and still I can't stop laughing that these guys are going to "create content" there.

The dumpster fires warm the cold winters.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I was trying to get caught up on Agent of SHIELD last night, but kept falling asleep.
I tried a second and 3rd time really early this morning when I won't up, but couldn't stay awake.

So this afternoon, I decide to ipick up where I last left off, and as soon I finished the episode, this is what HULU showed me....


W(hen)TF did that happen!? I know it kept showing more episodes of stuff when I kept dozing off, but did I really miss a yet to be aired episode of AoS that comes on next week? really Hulu, quick fucking with me. and it will not let me play it again. No idea who the character in the screenshot for Ep3 is, but I would've said the same thing yesterday for the character in the screenshot of Ep2 as well.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I was finally able to watch S6E3 of AoS.... was I a week further behind than I thought?
Or did they drop an extra episode early?

Did the extra episode not show up till Saturday because Hulu is always a day behind?

[ThePerm]

Babylon 5, Farscape, and Andromeda are all on Amazon prime.  I've been meaning to watch these for years.

I watched the first episode of Babylon 5. The space CG has aged horribly, but overall it seems pretty interesting. It's basically the same thing as DS9 with lesser production values. The makeup is pretty good though. It's charmingly 90s too. There was some pillows on a couch in Vir's quarters that looked like they could be in Zach Morris's bedroom.

[kaijugamer]

I've watched an animated-series Hilda on Netflix and it's good. I feel like I'm watching a comicbook.

[oohhboy]

AoS: They gave them money this season.

I am at OK with this season, I mean compared to last season it should win awards or something. Who knew a show would need more than a pack of gum to be good. You can have things happen, more than 3 people in a room, go outdoors. The ending to last season was embarrassing.

So far it has been silly in a good way. The Fritz/Daisy/Simmons story line has been an absolute drag until they got to the Casino (Planet /j) where they start having some fun. The Doctor is really killing it with the best WTF is this reactions.

I can't remember what the deal is with the lay lines but whatever.

Man I would have dumped someone that vapid in a heart beat. I would ICE her if I had the chance. Agent man is doing you a favour, take it. Good on you for caring, losing your survival instincts.

[ThePerm]

I finally got around to watching the Haunting of Hill House. It was pretty good. The last episode of the first season is a bit of a drag though.  Not depressing, just boring.

[Stratos]

I finally got around to watching the Haunting of Hill House. It was pretty good. The last episode of the first season is a bit of a drag though.  Not depressing, just boring.

Yeah, the last episode was a total shift in tone that was real let down. It was like we weren't watching a horror show anymore. Even though the "big reveal" was a nice whoa moment, it just fell flat with how they ended it. Was hoping for a season 2 with a new setting where we could get more horror, maybe themed after the other ghost stories the oldest son wrote about, but guessing we won't be seeing that anytime soon since there has been no word in a long while.

[ThePerm]

The Netflix app show page says they'll be returning for 2020. So the show will be back, but I don't know any other details. I'd rather it be another family because this family seems resolved.

[Stratos]

Agreed. I was just hoping for a loose connection and the author angle seemed the most logical to relate in a tangential way.