Author Topic: Rate the last TV show you've seen  (Read 1186315 times)

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Offline nickmitch

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4700 on: April 14, 2020, 03:54:37 PM »
As promised, I finally watched El Camino.  I thought it was really good!  It was pretty clear that the actors aged a bit, and it was pretty noticeable having just watched the series.  I don't think I would've liked this if I had to wait as long as everyone else to see it.  It was very good as an epilogue to the series.  You get to see more of what was happening to Jesse, it explores some of his PTSD, and gives him a more satisfying ending.  I think the way his story wrapped up made sense.  He went to the characters you'd expect him to seek out with only a few introduced.  It felt like three episodes strung together, including some moments that felt like they would've been cliffhangers in an episode.  It was a bit flash-back dependent, but all the flashbacks were new content, including the cameo you want.  Overall, it feels unnecessary, but it's really enjoyable.

8/10
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Offline Adrock

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4701 on: April 19, 2020, 04:57:42 AM »
Castlevania (Season 3)

Spoiler warning for the entire show so far. I had a lot of feelingz yet this still ended up being even longer than I thought it would. I don’t expect anyone to read all of it. I bolded certain lines to make this easier to digest if anyone is interested.








Season 2 ended with:

1. Dracula allowing Alucard to kill him while Trevor and Sypha mostly watched.

2. Alucard deciding not to voluntarily sleep “forever” instead opting to sulk a lot.

3. Trevor and Sypha deciding to travel the country to rid it of monsters. Adventurers!

4. Isaac building an army of not-Innocent Devils (as in game canon). My understanding is Devil Forgemasters in the show create “night creatures” by summoning damned souls in and demons from hell to inhabit dead human bodies which transforms them into horrible but completely obedient monsters. I think they can also straight up resurrect dead humans into mostly mindless zombie-like creatures. This change from the games is really important in hindsight.

5. Carmilla kidnapping Hector with the implication that she will force him to build an army of not-Innocent Devils for her. How she plans on doing that is... well, she didn’t think that far. And that’s essentially Hector’s entire arc in Season 3.

Everyone else is dead.

Season 3 is good, not great. After surprise-killing Dracula (I doubt anyone expected it so soon), series writer Warren Ellis seemed like he had a pretty standard path forward then mostly stalled for half of the remaining players in Season 3. I don’t want to judge this too harshly because I appreciate long form storytelling when done correctly.

1. Alucard did next to nothing. He started losing his grip on sanity in like a month of isolation. Then, two former human slaves of one of the vampire lords (Cho) killed in Season 2 found Alucard and convinced him to train them. There was always something off about Taka and Sumi. After frolicking around with Alucard (seriously), they had sex with him (!), there were some anime-tiddies, then Alucard was forced to murder them when they tried to kill him for not showing them more things quickly. His entire season-long arc suggests he’s beginning to follow Dracula’s madness and disdain humans. Interesting take. I don’t think Ellis earned that. Additionally, the siblings weren’t especially interesting or likable. The show had been much better at characterization. Taka and Sumi may as well have been named Traitor and Betrayla.

2. Trevor and Sypha ended up in a town called Lindenfeld where they uncovered a plot by a weird cult/former priory that wished to resurrect Dracula. No major complaints here. This was my favorite thread of Season 3. It had the best supporting cast led by Bill Nighy as Saint Germain (one of the best characters in the entire show and SO much better than his game canon counterpart) and Jason Isaac as the Judge (Isaac previously voiced Satan in the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow reboot series).

There was a bit at the very end in which Trevor and Sypha discover the Judge has been sending the town’s children to their deaths (oddly implying he had time to dig up all those pits and install spikes in them) and creepily collecting their shoes which felt really tacked on and unnecessary. I suppose it kind of crushed Sypha’s spirit, but what purpose did that serve? Maybe we’ll find out in Season 4.

3. Isaac just seemed like he was having a really good time. Every time he runs into any kind of adversity, he quickly dispatches of his enemies. Isaac is in three of the best scenes of Season 3: his conversation with a sea captain (expertly voiced by Lance Reddick AKA that guy who shows up into any number of shows and movies that makes you say, “Hey, it’s that guy!”), another conversation with one of his not-Innocent Devils named Flyeyes, and his fight against Legion which Ellis awesomely included into the show. Admittedly, I didn’t really understand the point. It was cool, but I was also uncertain why it happened or needed to. I thought Isaac was going to use all of those dead bodies to bolster his army except it looked like he just fucked off and left the bodies there.

Ultimately, Isaac wants revenge on anyone who betrayed Dracula starting with Carmilla and Hector. It seemed like Ellis opted to have Isaac seek a path of enlightenment after Isaac conversed with the unnamed sea captain. Nope, seems like a straight up revenge tale which is too bad. I don’t hate it because I think I know where Ellis is taking this. However, I would have been interested to see Isaac regain some faith in humanity.

4. Carmilla took a backseat this season to her vampire “sisters”. It’s seeming increasingly likely that Carmilla is going down hard in Season 4 or 5. I am curious who eventually does it. I have theories.

5. And Hector. Yikes! Ellis has admitted that he just likes kicking Hector around, and boy does Hector get kicked around. Literally and figuratively. After being manipulated by Carmilla into betraying Dracula, Hector is kidnapped and forced to walk 800 miles naked. THEN, once they’re in Styria, fucking Lenore happens. Literally and figuratively. Lenore, one of Carmilla’s “sisters“ on the council, manipulated Hector into willfully becoming her slave through magic while they fucked. The council requires his fealty even if coerced because they need to control the army he forges in order for their plan to work.

Okay, so this is at once one of the most interesting and frustrating aspects of the show and season. The plan is clever; Hector falling for it is such a facepalm. Why would he trust a vampire ever again? That isn’t bad writing. Hector’s characterization is that he sucks at being a person. He’s too trusting, too easily manipulated; and he pays for it. He’s going to keep paying for it until he learns from it or dies.

Lenore has a weird following on the internet even though the implication is that she will be a future rapist. Ew! Stahp! Yes, Lenore is the only vampire who ever asked Hector what he wants (albeit with the intention of using that information to manipulate him), and she gives it to him.......... but in an evil monkey’s paw kind of way. Hector wants to feel safe, be free, and largely be left alone. Well, Lenore provides him a comfortable life in that he’ll have nice quarters, a seat at the council table, and can forge all the night creatures he wants (which is like the only thing he really aspires to do).......... as long as he does what he’s told including but not limited to fucking Lenore whenever she wants. Hector is still a prisoner, but with amenities.

I don’t remember the last time I felt this uncomfortable watching anything which is both praise and criticism of Warren Ellis. Praise because writers are supposed to make people feel things, and he certainly accomplished this. Criticism because Ellis hella leaned on the whole Hector-as-Lenore’s-pet thing. Seriously, it’s super-weird, almost fetish-like in execution. Lenore made Hector wear a leash and said “good boy” repeatedly. I cringed so hard I turned into a diamond, but I think Ellis’ intention was to make people uncomfortable and presumably not (entirely) because of his strange affinity for Hot Vampire Pussy®. Hector was either going to snap out of it or go full-blown sex slave. And here we are.

Here’s where I’m conflicted. So Lenore is awful and probably a future rapist (since Hector can no longer consent to sex) as she flat-out states her intention of having ALL THE SEX with Hector, demanding he get a big bed for explicit Hot Vampire Pussy®. Lenore now has complete control over Hector (more on where this may go later). Minus the implied future rape, isn’t this what Hector does as a Devil Forgemaster? The night creatures he creates are completely obedient to him and presumably not voluntarily. They are for all intents and purposes his pets/slaves. I never thought about it that way before, and now I feel gross and irresponsible because I didn’t hate Hector for displaying similar behavior. The show is very clear in conflating the two. Granted, he isn’t conniving nor is he fucking the night creatures, but the implication is that he absolutely can, right? He can do whatever he wants to the night creatures, and never seems bothered when they’re killed. We can’t even really make the argument that Lenore’s actions are different (or particularly worse) than Hector’s, notably because Lenore enslaved a human. Hector had been desecrating/repurposing dead human bodies and subjecting damned human souls into being his servants. If Lenore is terrible (she is), it follows that Hector is as well albeit without implied future rape. If we’re being fair, we can’t condemn Lenore’s actions without also condemning Hector’s. With all of that taken into consideration, my conflict is that I shouldn’t feel bad for Hector yet I still kind of do. There may be some residual thoughts of the unquestionably heroic (and admittedly flat and boring) Hector from Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. I suppose it is necessary to acknowledge that Hector and Lenore are similarly terrible and feeling bad that Lenore took advantage of his childlike naïveté aren’t mutually exclusive. I’m still processing this.

We’re drawn to sympathize with Hector because he’s a person and bad things are happening to him. We don’t think of the night creatures in the same way even though we probably should. Isaac’s conversation with Flyeyes shows that some night creatures (at least partially) remember their former lives. Additionally, Flyeyes actually thanks Isaac for his second chance at living even as a grotesque monster to which Isaac seems almost disturbed (there was no payoff... yet). Give and take. That was Lenore’s point. Hector is her slave, but he gets something in return. Ugh, this is so uncomfortable. Damn, Warren Ellis. I did not expect philosophy in my Castlevania.

Anyway...

Over the last month and a half, I’ve been thinking a lot of where the show is taking these characters. Here are some predictions:

1. Alucard is going Dark Side. Trevor and Sypha will bring him back.

2. Trevor and Sypha will get drawn into Carmilla’s plan to subjugate an entire continent.

3. No idea what happens to Saint Germain. The show was particularly coy about what the Infinite Corridor is. There’s fan speculation that Castlevania and the greenlit Devil May Cry show will be linked somehow through this plot device. I don’t want that. Keep them separate. I’m any case, I welcome more Bill Nighy.

4. Isaac’s hatred and rejection of humans will ultimately be his downfall. Given Ellis’ track record in the show, Isaac seems to be set up to fall even if he was straight up winning all over Season 3. He won’t heed the sea captain’s advice to use his knowledge to teach the world to be kind. He’s too blinded by his hatred for humans to see his path to a peaceful life. That’s dramatic irony 101.

5. It’s too obvious to have Carmilla defeated by Isaac or Hector. I kind of want it to be Trevor and Sypha, but that lacks dramatic weight since they’re unaware of each other. I kind of feel like it’s going to be Lenore.

6. How Hector’s story plays out is particularly interesting to me. There are many ways to take it. I don’t want him to develop Stockholm Syndrome. Ellis has proved to be a skilled writer so I think a reversal is possible, but it’ll be tricky.

Hot take: Lenore is playing 4D chess. The rings she gave Carmilla, Morana, and Striga either have no power or they give Lenore some advantage over them. There were moments in Season 3 when I felt she wasn’t really loyal to her sisters. She’s a manipulator, seems likely everything she does is a ruse. The other vampires view Lenore as a weak diplomat. She can’t simply overpower them. I haven’t decided if Lenore necessarily wants more power or if she just wants to be rid of the others.

With that in mind, it’s possible Hector’s slave ring isn’t actually a slave ring at all as in it may have some untold magic, but more importantly, Hector isn’t actually Lenore’s slave. She made him think she’s her slave. He’s going to be obedient because he doesn’t know he doesn’t have to be. However, this would complicate the whole implied future rape thing. If Hector actually can consent, it would imply all kinds of things I have not thought through yet (e.g. he actually desires Lenore meaning it wouldn’t be rape but remains a mind-**** either way). Maybe this is how he eventually finds out he isn’t a slave. Either way, I don’t want Ellis to try to ship Hector and Lenore. It’s too weird and gross. I also generally hate shipping characters. Best case, Lenore is manipulating Hector as a means to an end. If the slave ring actually is one, I expect Lenore to just release Hector when after her plan succeeds.

Or maybe Lenore just sucks and the text is the text: She manipulated Hector into being her slave. She’ll eventually get her comeuppance, and maybe it leads to Hector becoming a person with actual aspirations and hopefully, some penance over the whole subjugation of night creatures thing. He gives up that Devil Forgemaster life before the events of Curse of Darkness so this isn’t too much of a stretch.

TL;DR: Go watch Castlevania. It’s good.
« Last Edit: April 20, 2020, 10:32:28 PM by Adrock »

Offline Stratos

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4702 on: April 20, 2020, 03:33:07 PM »
Appreciated the detailed thoughts, Adrock. I've been enjoying this show quite a bit and like your insight.

I have very little knowledge of the games so characters like Saint Germain are very intriguing.

The fact that they showed Dracula in Hell makes me wonder if he will eventually return.  We now know it is possible to bring him back, so if the show runs long enough, we could see that come to fruition.

I agree that the Alucard story line was odd, and his descent into madness was way too fast. And the siblings (were they siblings?) were just way too peppy for what they had been through and what they were doing at the castle.

The ending with the judge reveal to Trevor/Sypha does feel like it was shoved in there. I agree that something about that will come back next season, though it definitely darkened their outlook about roaming the land as monster hunters.

This season felt out of place tonally between the explicit anime tiddies and jokes about beer being better than sex (though it was funny). It just seemed radically different from the previous two seasons.


So I started watching iZombie thinking it would be a light and mostly funny take on investigative crime show. First season or maybe two were ok... but it's gotten worse the longer it goes. Midway through season 4 now and just really not enjoying where the show has gone; kind of hate watching my way through as background when focusing on other things.

Yeah, first two seasons were fun up until the finale of 2. 3 was a drag, and I don't think I even finished 3. My wife started the show and lost interest in S4. I think they gave it a 5th season to close out the series (or was that 4?)
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Offline Adrock

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4703 on: April 20, 2020, 10:55:28 PM »
I have very little knowledge of the games so characters like Saint Germain are very intriguing.
I don’t believe much was explicitly stated much Saint Germain in Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. It was implied that he was a time traveler (he did have time based powers during the boss fight). And he fought with Death. When you think about it, a time traveler escapes death so he would be in opposition to the physical embodiment of death, right?

Show Saint Germain is a lot more interesting (and I just enjoy Bill Nighy). The silhouette woman in the Infinite Corridor was not in the games. My guess would be a love interest. The Infinite Corridor is in the game, but it’s just a regular area toward the end with a cool sounding name.
Quote
The fact that they showed Dracula in Hell makes me wonder if he will eventually return.  We now know it is possible to bring him back, so if the show runs long enough, we could see that come to fruition.
That was the impression I got. I love the show, but I don’t want to see it run for more than a few more seasons at most. If they resurrect Dracula, I hope they only do so once, maybe as the final boss of the show. At the same time, he seems content in hell with his wife who I was surprised to see in Hell. I’m curious if Ellis plans to explain that.
Quote
I agree that the Alucard story line was odd, and his descent into madness was way too fast. And the siblings (were they siblings?) were just way too peppy for what they had been through and what they were doing at the castle.
It just seemed like Ellis didn’t know what to do with Alucard. Just felt like straight stalling.

I agree with your take on Taka and Sumi. Way too chipper considering they were forced into slavery and watched countless atrocities. 🤷‍♀️

Offline Stratos

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4704 on: April 21, 2020, 03:58:53 PM »
It just seemed like Ellis didn’t know what to do with Alucard. Just felt like straight stalling.

I have heard of actors being contracted for x number of shows and other such deals, so it may have been forced to keep him in the season due to outside deals, especially if they wanted him to be guaranteed to return in a later season when he would have much greater importance.
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Offline Kairon

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4705 on: April 24, 2020, 05:46:24 PM »
Just started Belgravia and WOW okay Epix I'm not cancelling my subscription just yet. (Also, curse you for only releasing one episode a week!)

I honestly enjoyed Downton Abbey, but I really feel it only had 2 or 3 good seasons and a large amount of treading water/filler. I went into the first two episodes of Belgravia with really low expectations due to thinking that Julian Fellowes was hired to write it based off his name only, but I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. I think it might be based off a novel that Julian Fellowes wrote, so it's probably benefitting from him not having to make stuff up on the spot like I feel he did a lot with Downton Abbey. Finally, I LOVE the central structure of the story so far that really dispensed with the "will they/won't they" trope where only one character has a secret, that's quickly blown to smithereens by the frankness and action-oriented choices of the two grandmothers, who I take to be the real main drivers of the story, and I can't wait to watch more of this English Society spy-game/cold-war between the two of them.

And of course the cast is really strong and filled with laudable British talent. <3 Tamsin Greig. Acting talent this enjoyable can go a long way in making up for faults in other places. With how much I enjoyed the first two episodes, I'm hoping the rest of the season holds up.
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Offline broodwars

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4706 on: April 26, 2020, 06:31:53 PM »
Got a weird one for one today. Just finished watching the 1st season of an Amazon Prime series called Homecoming. Julia Roberts plays a Counselor/Administrator of a new Dept. of Defense Project called "Homecoming" aimed at rehabilitating veterans returning from combat so they can be reintegrated into civilian life.

The twist is that this is a conspiracy/mystery thriller taking place simultaneously at 2 points in time: the past, where we follow Roberts' character as she goes about her job...and the present, where mysteriously everything about the project has been covered up and everyone involved is oddly evasive and conspiratorial regarding how it all went down. The present storyline largely follows a Dept. of Defense pencil-pusher investigating a "complaint" into Homecoming that no one seems to want to talk about...

Season 1 is...alright. As it's aiming for an atmosphere of paranoia, there's a lot of shots lingering on seemingly unimportant things for long periods of time. The odd performances & atmosphere almost reminds me of David Lynch's work, but there is a LOT of boring, "shot/reverse shot" camera work. I also feel like there's a lot of fat here that could have been trimmed because it feels like there's a fair amount of screen time spent on elements that either don't altogether matter or have long since been firmly established.

Season 1 will apparently be self-contained from the upcoming Season 2, which will follow a new cast of characters.
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Offline Kairon

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4707 on: April 26, 2020, 07:17:26 PM »
I always get the feeling that Amazon's Original Series are well done, but they've looked so weird so often, and Homecoming is no exception. I appreciate the volume of their output though. Yet based on the vibes from the trailer and your review, I have to admit I'm not in any rush to watch Homecoming.
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Offline Plugabugz

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4708 on: April 29, 2020, 09:32:08 AM »
Got a weird one for one today. Just finished watching the 1st season of an Amazon Prime series called Homecoming. Julia Roberts plays a Counselor/Administrator of a new Dept. of Defense Project called "Homecoming" aimed at rehabilitating veterans returning from combat so they can be reintegrated into civilian life.

The twist is that this is a conspiracy/mystery thriller taking place simultaneously at 2 points in time: the past, where we follow Roberts' character as she goes about her job...and the present, where mysteriously everything about the project has been covered up and everyone involved is oddly evasive and conspiratorial regarding how it all went down. The present storyline largely follows a Dept. of Defense pencil-pusher investigating a "complaint" into Homecoming that no one seems to want to talk about...

Season 1 is...alright. As it's aiming for an atmosphere of paranoia, there's a lot of shots lingering on seemingly unimportant things for long periods of time. The odd performances & atmosphere almost reminds me of David Lynch's work, but there is a LOT of boring, "shot/reverse shot" camera work. I also feel like there's a lot of fat here that could have been trimmed because it feels like there's a fair amount of screen time spent on elements that either don't altogether matter or have long since been firmly established.

Season 1 will apparently be self-contained from the upcoming Season 2, which will follow a new cast of characters.

I quite enjoyed it for its oddness admittedly. It set a strange feeling which works quite well with the story.

Gangs of London - The director behind The Raid 1 and 2 made a TV series. That should be all i need to say to get BNM to watch it. It's incredibly brutal.

Offline BlackNMild2k1

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4709 on: April 29, 2020, 10:04:53 AM »
Gangs of London - The director behind The Raid 1 and 2 made a TV series. That should be all i need to say to get BNM to watch it. It's incredibly brutal.

I heard about this but never even seen a trailer. So I don't really know more than it either exist or is in the works. I'll probably look it up later now that you reminded me.

Offline Plugabugz

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4710 on: April 29, 2020, 04:32:15 PM »
I heard about this but never even seen a trailer. So I don't really know more than it either exist or is in the works. I'll probably look it up later now that you reminded me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CJ5p4XisHs

It's a Cinemax co-production with Sky so it will appear on US TV soon enough.
« Last Edit: April 29, 2020, 04:35:18 PM by Plugabugz »

Offline Plugabugz

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4711 on: May 05, 2020, 05:48:27 AM »
Gangs of London - The director behind The Raid 1 and 2 made a TV series. That should be all i need to say to get BNM to watch it. It's incredibly brutal.

So i binged the whole season. The show definitely didnt go as brutal as the first episode, but it was an interesting story with multiple different plots that often only brushed against each other.

I had one issue with the final episode and a single point which the entire series hinges on Shaun works out that Elliot is a cop because the other undercover cop had zero security locks on his phone containing all the photos and evidence but aside from that it was quite a ride. The actor who plays Ed Dumani was fantastic, he had such stage presence about him (compared to other people who was just merely acting; this will make sense in the show) while coming off as calm and collected even while everyone else is going nuts.

However, this show gets an 18 rating in the UK (the equivalent of a USA R rating?), and is equally graphic to match.

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4712 on: May 05, 2020, 08:07:59 PM »
Been taking a break from gaming of late to try to catch up on something from my backlog: FarScape.

Several years ago, I started watching this series and got as far as, apparently, nearly the end of the 3rd season. However, for reasons I couldn't remember until recently, I stopped watching it. I couldn't remember what was going on in the show or who the characters were (a great sign of the quality of the show in general, I know), so I decided to start over.

I'm once again towards the end of the 3rd season and have almost caught up to the last thing I remember happening (the death of Talon). Overall, the show is still incredibly hit or miss, though the 3rd season is easily the most consistent. In general, though, the characters are fairly forgettable and interchangeable, and the standalone episodes fail more often than they succeed compared to the "storyline episodes." Go ahead, name a character trait of Chianna that doesn't involve her sexual promiscuity. I dare you. She's not "the thief", because she's downright bad at it and rarely attempts it. ALL of her plot threads involve characters she's screwed, metaphorically and often literally. Really, it's like that with all the characters, with only Chricton, Aeryn, and Scorpius standing out as more than 1 dimensional.

But oh boy, do I remember now why I stopped watching this show: a combination of pointless melodrama and the introduction of the worst character in the show: Jool. What...just what...were they thinking? Her whole THING is being Willie Scott from Temple of Doom, only she breaks out into ear-bleedingly shrill shrieks that literally cause metal to melt. On the subject of melodrama, I don't know why the show expects me to have ANY  emotional investment in the death of Clone Chrichton when there is LITERALLY a BACKUP Chrichton back on Moya that we've been following as well.

The show is also next to impossible to watch without subtitles because even these BluRays have some of the worst audio mixing I've ever heard in a professionally-produced TV show. Characters constantly mutter their lines under their breath inbetween INCREDIBLY LOUD special effects and miscellaneous noises/music stings.

I'll give FarScape this: the show is so fantastically cheap that you could have probably filmed an entire season of Farscape on the budget for your typical Star Trek: TNG episode. To make up for this, this show is not the least bit afraid to get really, really, REALLY WEIRD and utterly goofy. It doesn't always work, but at least combined with the fantastic work of the Jim Henson company on the puppet characters it does give the show an identity.

Looking forward to finally getting to Season 4 and Peacekeeper Wars.
« Last Edit: May 05, 2020, 08:14:41 PM by broodwars »
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Offline ThePerm

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4713 on: May 06, 2020, 01:29:59 AM »
Upload - Worth a watch. It's like San Junipero the TV show

Hollywood - I enjoyed season one, It starts off pretty interesting. It sort of devolves into fantasy history though. The last episodes might be too upbeat. But that might be the point. Being a better version of history.

For All Mankind - another show with revision history plot, but I think this one was better/more interesting.
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Offline BlackNMild2k1

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4714 on: May 06, 2020, 02:38:46 AM »
I liked Upload, up until right near the end.

I'm in for S2, but I just don't like some elements towards the end of the season finale there.
Robbie Amell did a good job, and Andy Allo was gorgeous, both extremely likable.

I kept seeing comparisons to The Good Place, but it's far from being anything remotely like The Good Place outside of the general theme of "Heaven" and "Afterlife".

Offline broodwars

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4715 on: May 11, 2020, 06:20:06 PM »
Finished Farscape + The Peacekeeper Wars.

Meh. I could write a whole lot more about why this show is so spectacularly mediocre, but my computer's busted right now & I don't care to punch it all in on my phone. Suffice it to say that Peacekeeper Wars was supposed to contain everything the writers wanted to do in a 5th season. The movie is 3 hours long, and it only feels a little rushed and is fairly enjoyable overall. The movie is Farscape with all the typical Farscape filler bullshit cut out, and it's about the length of 4 episodes. The typical season is 5-6 times that length. That sums up Farscape's problem rather nicely: it came out in between the era of standalone TV and the era of serialized TV. It tries to do both fairly unsuccessfully. The filler is boring and doesn't tend to advance the characters, and the serialized episodes are so spread out as to lose their dramatic edge.

There's a lot of good in Farscape, and I think a lot of characters were "fixed" in late season 3/early season 4. But there's just so much unengaging padding.
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Offline Kairon

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4716 on: May 12, 2020, 07:08:49 PM »
My Mom really wanted to watch Upload, so I relented. Ended up binging it for most of that Saturday when we did. I was VERY impressed with how enjoyable and easy it was to watch, definitely what I like to think of as "good tv" in that it's got enough dramatic excitement to keep you watching, but also a good amount of crowd-pleasing tv moments so I can relax while I'm watching it instead of girding myself for serious battle. Also, as with most tv, lots of beautiful people in beautiful places falling smiling at each other. /shrugs I watched how many seasons of Royal Pains, so I can't exactly complain about that aspect of TV, just point it out.

I honestly think Upload was the first Amazon Series in a long time I've given a shot and ended up liking unreservedly. I'd rather have 1 season of this than 2 seasons of Jack Ryan, for example. I also liked all the juxtaposed corporate mergers they'd throw in as near-future pop culture gags.

Aside from that I recently did give Quibi a try. Unfortunately I only got 3-4 (10 minute long) episodes into Anna Kendrick's "Dummy" before I put it down. It wasn't bad, just I'm not sure the 10 minute format works. I honestly had the most fun watching a cooking show traveling to places in Italy with endangered pasta shapes, so maybe a 10 minute episode is just a difficult time frame to make work with scripted stuff right now until they figure some things out.
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Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
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Offline nickmitch

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4717 on: May 13, 2020, 07:45:58 PM »
[adult swim] has mastered 11 minute shows, so I'm surprised to hear that quibi isn't worth it.  I'd like to check it out, especially for Reno 911, but I'm not sold on much else.
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Offline BlackNMild2k1

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4718 on: May 18, 2020, 11:19:51 AM »
Magic for Humans (all 3 seasons)

I don't know how long the episodes are on this, but I somehow finished all 3 seasons without even realizing it in about a days time...? Humor is a little dry and the production is a bit cheesy at times, but I think that plays into the dry humor for some of if (Magic for Susan's!), but some of the best parts are the reactions he's getting from these bits.

He says there are no camera tricks or anything of the kind, but I don't really believe that. Especially in a scene where he say "the camera will not cut away" and he disappears off one side of the screen and shows up in a vehicle changed barely 2 seconds later from the other side of the screen, which is impossible w/o a twin or double or "camera tricks".
But one of the best ones was the "Magic Show in the Park" where he made people believe they were invisible.
This is a easy one to watch in segments between other stuff, or apparently binge right through without realizing you were at the last episode, but it's pretty entertaining, and has lot so moments where you'll be laughing and even a few where you're thinking "What a dick" but with a chuckle and a smile, such as the Family on the corner given a jar of quarters.

The magic itself is pretty good if you're into that, but so are the reactions to some of the segments.

Offline ejamer

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4719 on: May 19, 2020, 12:06:16 PM »
Just finished Castlevania season 3 (a month late). I rather enjoyed it! There are some odd points for sure, most of which are already discussed, but I think the slow roll this season was mostly interesting.

The resurrection was a success, until Big D told the living all to F-off and mind their own business. Seeing a Dracula who has found happiness in Hell, and actively chose not to return when the gate was opened, was a nice touch and left me guessing about a couple of points that might (or might not) happen later.

The Legion battle was great, although I found his motivation unclear. Was it doe to a fellow Forgemaster being attacked, or the magical enslavement of an entire city that enraged Isaac enough to risk his own path to vengeance? Enslavement and/or compulsion (whether by forces internal or external, natural or supernatural) definitely felt like a common theme in the season.

...
Quote
I agree that the Alucard story line was odd, and his descent into madness was way too fast. And the siblings (were they siblings?) were just way too peppy for what they had been through and what they were doing at the castle.
It just seemed like Ellis didn’t know what to do with Alucard. Just felt like straight stalling.

I agree with your take on Taka and Sumi. Way too chipper considering they were forced into slavery and watched countless atrocities. 🤷‍♀️

The whole Alucard plot line felt undercooked. They could've teased out some interesting ideas about Alucard's motivations (survivor guilt after killing his father, desire to live/love as part of the human world versus isolation) and contrasted them with the psychopathic behavior of Taka and Sumi. But the characterization never really materialized so the whole arc felt hollow. Still, it seemed like more of a side story or diversion from the main action... so I didn't really care.

I'll happily watch another season when it gets released.
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Offline BlackNMild2k1

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4720 on: July 16, 2020, 11:52:10 AM »
Black Lightning S3

So I decided to go back and pick up this show since I've had time to catch up on just about everything.
I know this show has been dealing with Black Community issues and perspective from the onset, but it's just crazy how much this has parallels to whats going on in the world right now.
So they are dealing with a deadly poison and I believe a virus that targets Metahumans specifically, and the "Authorities" are abusive in the enforcement of oppression of the people of Freeland, as they try to round up all the Metahumans.
So at the point in the show where I am, the Metahumans wants to fight for their rights, the ASA (Gov Police Force similar to ICE but for metahumans) and their blatant disregard for specific peoples lives nor anyone else that would speak out for Metahumans or against the ASA, and the public display of all this is about to lead to a movement against ASA Violence and Occupation.
I'm curious to see if the parallels continue.

Offline nickmitch

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4721 on: July 16, 2020, 04:03:42 PM »
Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans

I had almost forgotten how much I liked the Gundam franchise.  I remember really enjoying each series as it came to Toonami.  I was really into Gundam Wing and enjoyed 08th MS Team, G Gundam, and the others.  This came to Toonami some time ago, but I kept missing episodes and with this franchise that makes it hard to follow.  Thankfully, it's on Netflix.

The premise of this one is basically Mars has been colonized, but is being drained of resources by the Earth Economic Blocks (basically just unified continent nations).  And a big war 300 years prior left a single military group in charge of keeping the peace.  The story follows a group or martian orphans, children who work at a paramilitary base.  They call kids recruited/abducted into piloting mobile suits for combat "human debris" but they're basically the equivalent of child rebel soldiers.  The children are also subject to some mild genetic experimentation.  Basically, the protagonists fight for their freedom, then struggle to find a place in the world while getting caught up with the military organization.

The series is overall great.  The series starts with the group being selected for an escort mission, but conflict arises immediately when people want that person dead.  It does a good job of showing how the difficult choices and alliances the group (or their leader) makes have consequences that push the story.  The character kids' commitment to the group and leader are constantly reinforced as they suffer major losses which each one feeling pretty heavy.  Despite the success of the group, driven by their access to a Gundam, they are just kids getting caught up in conflicts larger than themselves, and eventually that's what drives the series to its ending.

Highly recommend if you like action sci-fi anime and don't mind sadness.
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Offline BlackNMild2k1

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4722 on: July 20, 2020, 06:35:21 PM »
Black Lightning S3

So I decided to go back and pick up this show since I've had time to catch up on just about everything.
I know this show has been dealing with Black Community issues and perspective from the onset, but it's just crazy how much this has parallels to whats going on in the world right now.
So they are dealing with a deadly poison and I believe a virus that targets Metahumans specifically, and the "Authorities" are abusive in the enforcement of oppression of the people of Freeland, as they try to round up all the Metahumans.
So at the point in the show where I am, the Metahumans wants to fight for their rights, the ASA (Gov Police Force similar to ICE but for metahumans) and their blatant disregard for specific peoples lives nor anyone else that would speak out for Metahumans or against the ASA, and the public display of all this is about to lead to a movement against ASA Violence and Occupation.
I'm curious to see if the parallels continue.

Well, I finished S3 just now. (I know.... I should be working, but I can multi-task.... :/)
and between this show and what was being done in the MCU w/ Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Pandemic storyline that may have been removed due to... ummmm... real life reason event), Fantasy Media is touching so close to reality with the timing on subject matter shaping these events.

There was a kind of hole in the story when Crisis happened, but I think they glossed over it well enough. I don't really have any intentions of checking out Crisis, as it didn't sound like it turned out all that well, even if it wasn't all that bad. But I think BL was fairly decent for what they have got going on here. Just the fact that they can draw on the real Black dilemma to fuel the underlying struggle of the characters, tapping into real history to paint a familiar depth to the burden of the black community, and then sprinkle it all with that magical negro coating of Superhero show. I with it.

I just wish that if they trying to keep they identities a secret, they probablys shouldn't walk around as a superhero family with the disguise of "no one will recognize me with these sunglasses on, especially if I walk around with my family, who is also wearing glasses.... except for my other daughter who is wearing an eye mask".... smh. I guess the voice changer helps a little. LOL

Offline Plugabugz

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4723 on: July 28, 2020, 05:36:31 PM »
Last weeks episode of Agents of Shield was fantastic. Quite possibly the best in the series.

Offline Plugabugz

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Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen
« Reply #4724 on: August 14, 2020, 03:47:05 PM »
And goodbye to AOS entirely. The show had many problems over the years - not being allowed by Marvel to use anything to do with the movies or even other comic characters, being ignored by the movies, budgetary issues (which the showrunners acknowledged after the final episode) - but the characters really grew into their positions and Chloe Bennet (Daisy) really matured into the role over the years.

It got 7 seasons and ended on its own terms which is a lot better than most shows these days.