Playball40
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Watching Neflix's SEX EDUCATION to get to know Ncuti Gatwa, the new Doctor. It's actually very funny. Over the top...but I believe that is the intent. Gillian Anderson is hilarious.
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What TV are you watching and how would you rate it? [Revive from FRDB]
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Swammerdami
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This is just about how I feel. I think I only watched one episode of Season 2, and figured the writers were just directed to do something vaguely like Season 1; while the story of Season 1 was original inspiration.
marc
Veteran Member
My wife is watching The Indian Doctor. A 2010 series, It is about a doctor from India that moves to a small UK village in the 1960’s.
Surprisingly, the second season is about a small pox outbreak. The doctor finally gets a supply of vaccines in, but the village priest is against them, and telling all his people to not get vaccinated. There was an insinuation from one person that the virus might have been brought in by..*ahem* foreign elements... when actually it was brought in by the priest. A fellow priest he knew died in another country, and his effects were sent to the priest. A kid secretly playing with the robes that had been sent was the first patient.
For a season written 12 years ago, it is amazingly appropriate for today.
Surprisingly, the second season is about a small pox outbreak. The doctor finally gets a supply of vaccines in, but the village priest is against them, and telling all his people to not get vaccinated. There was an insinuation from one person that the virus might have been brought in by..*ahem* foreign elements... when actually it was brought in by the priest. A fellow priest he knew died in another country, and his effects were sent to the priest. A kid secretly playing with the robes that had been sent was the first patient.
For a season written 12 years ago, it is amazingly appropriate for today.
blastula
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Beforeigners 7/10
Norwegian show on HBO about people from the past appearing suddenly in the present. They come from different time periods, some are historical figures. Lots of Vikings. The main characters are some police murder detectives, so there is a Scandi-noir element to it, but much lighter in tone. A lot of it is about how the newcomers assimilate into society, echoing the immigration dynamics we see now. Also dealing with modern life stresses, like student loans. Some "timeigrants" embrace modern culture, others keep to their old ways. They have to deal with the new woke world, and sometimes using woke sentiments to their advantage as minorities. Some present day people are welcoming, others (timeists) want them gone. Timeigrants coming from different times form factions, and some carry on old feuds, like the Vikings and the Christians. A lot of it is quite amusing. I really liked this show, the characters are so unpredictable. There's been 2 seasons, no word on a 3rd.
Norwegian show on HBO about people from the past appearing suddenly in the present. They come from different time periods, some are historical figures. Lots of Vikings. The main characters are some police murder detectives, so there is a Scandi-noir element to it, but much lighter in tone. A lot of it is about how the newcomers assimilate into society, echoing the immigration dynamics we see now. Also dealing with modern life stresses, like student loans. Some "timeigrants" embrace modern culture, others keep to their old ways. They have to deal with the new woke world, and sometimes using woke sentiments to their advantage as minorities. Some present day people are welcoming, others (timeists) want them gone. Timeigrants coming from different times form factions, and some carry on old feuds, like the Vikings and the Christians. A lot of it is quite amusing. I really liked this show, the characters are so unpredictable. There's been 2 seasons, no word on a 3rd.
couch_sloth
Member
The Lincoln Lawyer (2022, 10 episodes, Netflix). 5/10.
It’s a law & crime series that follows a defense attorney who does much of his work while being chauffeured around in his Lincoln Continental.
After watching the first 5 episodes, I read a review of the series in which the reviewer referred to it as a “potboiler”, at that time it seemed like a rather harsh review. But after watching the rest of the series I see their point.
It seems to me that they took a story that worked well until they tried to stretch it out a few more hours. e.g. They added too many plot twists in the last couple hours. And I think too much time was spent on side plots and details about the lead character’s personal family life.
It’s a law & crime series that follows a defense attorney who does much of his work while being chauffeured around in his Lincoln Continental.
After watching the first 5 episodes, I read a review of the series in which the reviewer referred to it as a “potboiler”, at that time it seemed like a rather harsh review. But after watching the rest of the series I see their point.
It seems to me that they took a story that worked well until they tried to stretch it out a few more hours. e.g. They added too many plot twists in the last couple hours. And I think too much time was spent on side plots and details about the lead character’s personal family life.
Jarhyn
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To me, season 2 was more a discussion on absurdism than anything else: that we shouldn't be trying to figure out what we can get so much as trying to understand and make the most of what we have.
Currently watching:
The Boys season 3. 8/10
Using superheroes as metaphors for empowered special interests within society (nationalism; racism; bad-faith feminism; voyeurism, etc) and numerous metaphors for forms of action against these interests, an effective story is told that helps the watcher more readily identify the tropes of their application and signalling and effectively associate the negative externalities of such to their core interests.
It may suffer a little bit from being "on the nose", but it's quite binge worthy.
TSwizzle
I am unburdened by what has been.
Super Nature, 10/10; Ricky Gervais' latest comedy special streaming on Netflix. Ricky excels at triggering his po-faced critics which makes this comedy special even more enjoyable.
TSwizzle
I am unburdened by what has been.
Bill Burr Presents: Friends Who Kill, 1/10; Streaming on Netflix this comedy special features Bill's favorite comedians. Most of the line up I hadn't heard of before but a couple of them I knew, Jimmy Carr and Jeff Ross who were not particularly funny. In any event, this was a stinker. It seemed to be people just trying out new "edgy", experimental, un-woke material but it just wasn't funny and was pretty awkward for the audience.
TV and credit cards
Contributor
Lazy. Deserving of the Netflix bargain bin streaming service.
Unprepared and it showed. Didn’t he even say as much during the routine? Yeah. It’s about a 4/10. There were a few chuckle-worthy comments but that’s it. A very missable performance.
I very much liked After Life though. Something it looks like he put a bit of effort into.
Ford
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And yet you cannot binge just yet.
As for it being "on the nose," I can't quite figure out if Homelander is supposed to be Trump in some way, and if the show-runners anticipated what's happening as the season slowly rolls out. It is being revealed now that Trump raised a bunch of money from his followers, essentially spent it on himself/his own brand, and his supporters seem to be like "yeah...that's our guy!" Meanwhile the people trying to bring him down are trying to do what Hughie set out to do (fight the good fight) but...
Jarhyn
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Homelander is a general sense of jingoist nationalism, as far as I see it, or more accurately private interests leveraging nationalism.
The metaphors are so thick in that show!
Jimmy Higgins
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Homelander is the bizarro Superman. It is just the public are just starting to become aware of it. Like Trump, he wants devotion and admiration. Being specifically and poorly raised, he is also a sociopath... like Trump.
I think that's a stretch. I mean the big difference is that unlike Trump, Homelander isn't afraid to put in the work. He'll delegate, he certainly gets off ordering people around, but is also quite capable of going, "fuck it, I'll do it myself". If anyone is like Trump in the show, I would say it's the Deep. I'd say one of the strengths of The Boys is that it is clearly social commentary, but it's not ham fisted. Like making a character seem like AOC with a twist or when they casually blame a fuckup on MS-13. It shows the issue but strips it of contemporary context. In that regard it is very much like my favourite Star Trek episodes.
Also, TV Homelander isn't much different than comic book Homelander, which was done in the early 2000s.
TSwizzle
I am unburdened by what has been.
After Life was quite watchable when it was funny but the sentimental tugging at heart strings became tedious and predictable as the series progressed.
TV and credit cards
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But this kind of dovetails in nicely with the premise of the story, wouldn't you say? Considering the premise, if all there was was biting humor, it'd be a story about an asshole. And I would expect the sentimental parts to be somewhat predictable. It is a facet of empathy.
TSwizzle
I am unburdened by what has been.
Indeed it does but as the series progressed I felt the writing started leaning toward what the audience wanted, a sentimental tear jerker. It was a good series and I enjoyed it but I felt Ricky was playing into the feedback from the audience. Nothing wrong with that but for me it was a little too sickly from where it started. Glad you enjoyed though.
Swammerdami
Squadron Leader
In 2001 the novelist Michael Peterson allegedly killed his wife Kathleen. I suppose this was a big story when it happened, but I hadn't heard of it until yesterday.
Netflix is showing The Staircase, a 13-episode documentary of that event — I just started Episode 2. The lawyers and defendant submitted to camera coverage of their conferences and practice testimony. It should be interesting just for that.
Meanwhile, it's also a mystery! Did he kill her or not? I haven't "peeked" to see what Google thinks about that. (Does it mostly revolve around the forensic question of comparing lacerations and blood spatter from a beating with those from a multi-bounce staircase fall?)
Apparently the 2004 documentary inspired a 2022 8-episode dramatization with the same name, now on HBO, but I'm watching the original documentary.
(ETA: I just started Episode 4. I still don't know if Michael is guilty or not, but the Durham, NC police and their medical examiner seem to be clearly lying assholes.)
Netflix is showing The Staircase, a 13-episode documentary of that event — I just started Episode 2. The lawyers and defendant submitted to camera coverage of their conferences and practice testimony. It should be interesting just for that.
Meanwhile, it's also a mystery! Did he kill her or not? I haven't "peeked" to see what Google thinks about that. (Does it mostly revolve around the forensic question of comparing lacerations and blood spatter from a beating with those from a multi-bounce staircase fall?)
Apparently the 2004 documentary inspired a 2022 8-episode dramatization with the same name, now on HBO, but I'm watching the original documentary.
(ETA: I just started Episode 4. I still don't know if Michael is guilty or not, but the Durham, NC police and their medical examiner seem to be clearly lying assholes.)
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Swammerdami
Squadron Leader
I like Boston Legal, though it's often farcical. I just watched Boston Legal S5 Episode 8, which aired November 2008. A 15-year old girl born in China wants an abortion without parental permission. (Shirley Schmidt deduces that the girl wants to abort because the fetus is female.)
The title of this episode is "Roe". In it Alan Shore predicts that Roe v Wade will be overturned.
The title of this episode is "Roe". In it Alan Shore predicts that Roe v Wade will be overturned.
TSwizzle
I am unburdened by what has been.
This Is England '86, 8/10; A four part mini series follow up of the movie "This Is England". The main characters return and face a hard life as they move towards adulthood on a bleak English housing estate. Complicated relationships develop between the characters particularly when a sexually abusive father returns from a period of absence. It all comes to a head when Combo returns to the area after a stint in prison. The series can be funny, charming, dramatic and intense with a very talented cast giving great performances only occasionally going over the top. Sometimes the music used for dramatic effect can be obnoxious. Looking forward to This Is England '88.