What TV are you watching and how would you rate it? [Revive from FRDB]

[Shadowy Man]

Mr. Robot (7/10 so far)

I'm several episodes in now on this show. It feels like it's still building up to something, but it has an interesting feel to it. Rami Malek has really nailed the creepy, longer persona well in his acting.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

The Man in the High Castle (Amazon) - Three words to describe this, "slow burn intensity". Each episode is slow, but deliberate, and it just builds so much tension. 4 episodes in, pretty attached right now. They are doing a pretty good job at selling potential avenues for a couple characters to go down. It is refreshing not to know what exactly will happen or what some people's motives are.

3 of 4

Oh man. You have to be part of the Amazon Collective to watch.

Join us. JOIN US!

 

[spikepipsqueak]

Just saw, for the first time, the beginning ep. of One Foot in the Grave.

I suspect there is a market for a DVD with the first ep. of everything on it.

 

[tantric]

just discovered Stephen Universe. nice cartoon, postmodern but it does include moral lessons, without being preachy. concept: a family of superheroes, well, three sisters and their baby brother, save humanity from their beachside crib.

 

[Canard DuJour]

Better Call Saul

It'd be difficult to match the sheer chemistry (pun definitely intended) of Breaking Bad, but the writing and acting in this spin-off are of a similar quality IMO. Probably has something to do with the same writers and actors.

's all good, man.

 

[TV and credit cards]

The Last Kingdom 8/10

Quite good. Better than Cornwell's writing. I was into this author many moons ago and read everything until I finally burned out half way through this series. Looking forward to The Pale Horseman.

 

[Sajara]

Shameless on Netflix 9/10
A family of miscreants doing whatever is needed to stay alive in a bad part of Chicago. The situations the family finds themselves in are sometimes a little over the top, but the writing is superb so I overlook the short falls.

The show does a good job humanizing addicts.

 

[Harry Bosch]

The Last Kingdom 8/10

Quite good. Better than Cornwell's writing. I was into this author many moons ago and read everything until I finally burned out half way through this series. Looking forward to The Pale Horseman.

Love the Richard Sharpe books!

 

[DBT]

Getting to the last three episodes of the walking dead, and the last five episodes of Vikings.

 

[TV and credit cards]

The Last Kingdom 8/10

Quite good. Better than Cornwell's writing. I was into this author many moons ago and read everything until I finally burned out half way through this series. Looking forward to The Pale Horseman.

Love the Richard Sharpe books!

Agreed. I especially liked Trafalgar. After so many epic field battles, it was refreshing to have some violence on the high seas.

 

[TSwizzle]

Just finished watching the Mad Men finale. On the whole, this was a very good series and worth watching and I enjoyed it. The final episode wraps up a few loose ends but was a bit slow.

Now that Mad Men is out of the way I can get back to Peaky Blinders season 3. I watched season 3 episode 1 earlier but I was confused about what was happening because my memory of what happened in season 2 is a bit hazy so will have to recap season 2.

 

[Ford]

Stranger Things 10/10

I started watching this on Netflix after recommendations from several coworkers. The wife and I binge watched the entire series (only 8 episodes) over the weekend, plus Monday. It flawlessly captures the time period it depicts (early 1980's), from the clothing and hair styles, right down to the furniture. The way it was filmed even feels like an '80s movie, with synthesized incidental music and other fine touches that just take you back to movies of that time period. The way it differs from the typical '80s movie is in the coherent plot, even pacing, and modern computer generated special effects. The acting, direction, script, and cinematography are all top notch, but all contribute to the sense of being transported to that time period.

I was initially going to rate this show as a 9/10, but as I started thinking about what TV series might have been better than this, I couldn't think of one, not by a long shot.

I'm about halfway through this right now. There's so much good about it. The texture is right for the time period. There was a shot of a door that looked exactly like the one in my house growing up. The fire hazard Christmas lights. The cars. The Radio Shack "Realistic" walkie-talkies.

There was a couple things that they got close, but not quite right. The bikes were good, but I don't recall ever having those kind of lights. We had lights that were powered by a little gadget that clamped onto the wheel. It got dimmer as you stopped pedaling. That would have been a nice touch. Oh, and the music wasn't quite right. Not for 1983. At the end of the one episode they played Bangles Hazy Shade of Winter. That was 85.


Jeez, am I being that guy right now? I guess I am.

Other than that, good show so far. I'm going back to watch the rest.



p.s. good move casting Winona Ryder as a woman on the edge of losing her mind.


Edit: Just checked IMDB. Turns out the walkie talkies were also 1985 vintage.

 

[Playball40]

just discovered Stephen Universe. nice cartoon, postmodern but it does include moral lessons, without being preachy. concept: a family of superheroes, well, three sisters and their baby brother, save humanity from their beachside crib.

My kids love this show. It leaves me going "huh"?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

The Man from High Castle - Finished Season One. Was bitterly disappointed to find out that Season Two which appeared only includes a teaser trailer.

The first season was pretty good. My suspicion about the underlying foundation was confirmed, but the end just gives you a bare glimpse. I have absolutely no idea where it is going from here, and it could be real cool or it could fall flat.


Battlestar Galactica (original series) - I used to watch the show a long long long time ago, and was curious to the beginning of the season in comparison with the Sci-Fi reboot. I found it a bit comical. In the Sci-Fi reboot, the colonies are absolutely toasted and nuked. Meanwhile, in the original series, a bunch of small craft machines destroy the colonies.

Show

Of course, you are never left to ask how Baltar survived the attack in the original series... and never get the question answered!

 

[Archimedes]

Although Netflix has not yet made an official announcement, the actors and creators have made several statements that indicate a season 2 is in the works. It will supposedly pick up the story a year after the end of the first season, to make up for the fact that the kids are getting older in real life. One example is that the voice of the actor who plays Dustin has dropped in register considerably since the first season was filmed.

which is really a shame, because i personally think it would be way better if this were an American Horror Story type scenario where each season is a totally different set of tropes and cliches and atmospheric callbacks, just with the same general aesthetic and proficiency.
or, instead of following the same group of kids, i was thinking it would be awesome if this were basically a season-long "mystery of the week" version of a show like Eureka - each season being some other weird ass thing happening around the town and the sheriff having to deal with it, and having him be the glue that binds each season to each other.

Yeah, I'm disappointed they're doing a sequel series. Too much TV is dragging out a premise for too long, especially when it has or otherwise should have been wound up. Stranger Things was a great series that wound everything up nice and neat by the end and the ending should just have been left as an implication that the story wasn't over, not as an excuse to drag the plot out even longer.

If they want to continue it for more seasons they should either do as you suggest and have a different Twilight Zone-esque premise for each season in the same town with some recurring characters, or just do an anthology season with a brand new setting each season. If they want to do the retro thing they can pick different eras and genres to get their nostalgia on with.

I'll be fucked if I'm interested in watching a second season dragging out the same plot further than it really needs to be.

 

[KeepTalking]

which is really a shame, because i personally think it would be way better if this were an American Horror Story type scenario where each season is a totally different set of tropes and cliches and atmospheric callbacks, just with the same general aesthetic and proficiency.
or, instead of following the same group of kids, i was thinking it would be awesome if this were basically a season-long "mystery of the week" version of a show like Eureka - each season being some other weird ass thing happening around the town and the sheriff having to deal with it, and having him be the glue that binds each season to each other.

Yeah, I'm disappointed they're doing a sequel series. Too much TV is dragging out a premise for too long, especially when it has or otherwise should have been wound up. Stranger Things was a great series that wound everything up nice and neat by the end and the ending should just have been left as an implication that the story wasn't over, not as an excuse to drag the plot out even longer.

If they want to continue it for more seasons they should either do as you suggest and have a different Twilight Zone-esque premise for each season in the same town with some recurring characters, or just do an anthology season with a brand new setting each season. If they want to do the retro thing they can pick different eras and genres to get their nostalgia on with.

I'll be fucked if I'm interested in watching a second season dragging out the same plot further than it really needs to be.

From the interviews I have read, the creators fully intended to do multiple seasons from the beginning. Netflix has announced season 2, it will be 9 episodes this time, and apparently most of the episodes are already written (they all have titles, anyway). Everything was not wrapped up in the first season. There are at least three big mysteries left open:

Show

1) Will coughs up some kind of creepy bug into the bathroom sink a month after he is rescued, and thought to have recovered. What happened to him in the Upside Down that caused this, and what will happen as a result?
2) Chief Hopper is picked up by someone in a mysterious black car, but most of the Hawkins Laboratory personnel were killed by the monster, presumably including Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine), but I have a feeling Brenner will be back.
3) At the very end, Hopper is seen leaving Eggos (Eleven's favorite food) in a box in the woods, indicating that Eleven is still alive, and Hopper knows it.

An American Horror Story type series was never in the cards for Stranger Things. They would have wrapped everything up very neatly if that is what they intended. It is more likely that they were not sure how the series would be received, and Netflix only agreed to one season until the reviews/ratings came in. So, while wrapping up the major plot elements, they left several mysteries going to feed a second season if it did well (which it did).

The creators have also said in interviews that while writing the first season they came up with very detailed information on the Upside Down, how it operates, and it's connection to the real world, and they barely scratched the surface on it in the first season. The second season should explore more of the Upside Down, and I wouldn't be surprised if they spend most of the season there, which would make it quite different from the first season, even with the same cast of characters.

 

[prideandfall]

Dead Set: 9/10

BBC series. zombies. the rest is irrelevant.
this was everything The Walking Dead could have been and should have been. out of absolutely nowhere this was the absolute best zombie genre... fuck, *anything* (TV show, movie, etc)... i have ever seen.
seriously i think this is officially the greatest "serious" zombie thing of all time, it was just amazing.
i don't want to give anything away because i stumbled across it totally by accident and just went "huh, sure, okay whatever" and put it on and it blew my god damn mind.
it's on netflix, go watch it.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Game of Thrones - 9/10

An exceptionally well done television show based on the book series of the same name. It was really great seeing the characters come to life and the writers of the show made some great improvements over parts of the novels that really just dragged on and they kept the plot moving instead of being bogged down. Also, while I've always been a fan of zombie movies, I now realize that they've all been missing out on something by not including a giant who runs around smashing the zombie hordes with a tree trunk.

The book series has been spinning it's wheels for the past decade, even when the author bothers to put a new book out. At the end of season six, the tv show went the exact opposite direction and just sort of jammed everything together. Yara and Theon were on the Iron Islands and suddenly they were in Mereen. Varys left Mereen for Dorne and then suddenly was on a boat in Dany's fleet while she was heading over there. Arya was in Braavos and then suddenly turned up in the Riverlands. There was no sense of a scale of the time or distances involved. I realize that their not giving a shit about that and just putting everyone in position is preferable to the author's meandering around for thousands of pages with the plot going nowhere, but it was a bit rushed.

 

[KeepTalking]

Jessica Jones - 8/10

This is not your typical superhero fare. Without giving away too much, it is about a former budding superhero who quickly got in way over her head, and paid a very steep price for it. After getting free from the villain who made her pay that price, she then descended into alcoholism and self loathing. The series picks up at that point, and she is now a private detective, who begins to realize that the villain is still alive, and actively pursuing her again.

It is all very well done, as is expected from the current Marvel films and television, especially the Netflix series'. Though I was vaguely aware of Jessica Jones, mainly from her brief appearances in the Avengers comics, and her relationship with Luke Cage, I had never read the comics that delved into her back story. The plot never goes exactly where you think it will, at least not as of half way through the first season (only season so far). It is very dark, and obviously inspired by film noir. It's not dark humor, like Deadpool, and in no way can it be called a 'fun' series. The tones are very serious and depressing, though not without the occasional laugh here and there.

I delayed watching this for a while, as Jessica Jones is the one Defenders character that I never had that much interest in before. I really just wanted to watch it before Luke Cage is released later this month, as I knew he appeared in the series, and there would be a connection there. I was surprised by how much Luke Cage does appear in this series, it isn't just the occasional cameo that I had expected, he is really integral to the story and Jones' self loathing aspect.

Some may be turned off by the very mature themes presented. One of my co-workers certainly was. He is not quite as much of a comic book geek as I am, but we do tend to geek out together a lot. He is a bit more straight-laced than I, however, and tends to watch TV with his two teen-aged girls, so I can understand where he is coming from. Be warned, if you don't want to be confronted with themes of addiction, mind control, rape, lesbianism, and just sex in general, stay away. Otherwise, this is a great series, and highly recommended.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Once Upon a Time - 8/10

The premise for the show may seem corny: fairy tales are actually based on real events happening in alternative worlds and a curse has brought a large number of these fairy tale characters to a small town in Maine where there memories of who they really are have been erased. But it's reasonably well done and I do like shows that are less episodic in nature but rely on overarching themes that are played out across the season. Some of the casting seems a bit off, but there are couple of particularly good actors in it. I just finished netflixing season 5, and they kept on advancing the boundaries of their world and bringing new Disney characters into the mix. They managed to stay theme oriented and had lots of twists and turns that don't violate their world's rules too much. I found it to be very entertaining.