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

[Tom Sawyer]

Ascension - 5/10

This show starts out really good. It's about a ship full of astronauts taking a century long trip to a new planet. They're 50 years in and the people on it now know that they will live and die their whole lives inside of the ship and never see the destination which their children will colonize. Then they throw in what is one of the coolest twists I have ever seen in a TV show (for those who've seen it, I'm taking about the thing at the end of the second episode).

However, instead of sticking with that and having themselves a really frigging awesome concept for a sci-fi show, they then go and throw in another twist (the thing with the little girl), which makes the entire thing just fall off a cliff ... and then hit the ground, roll a bit and fall off another cliff.

 

[TSwizzle]

Planet Earth II, 10/10; The BBC doing what it does best. Beautifully filmed nature program narrated by David Attenborough. There are some weird creatures out there. Very enjoyable.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Ascension - 5/10

This show starts out really good. It's about a ship full of astronauts taking a century long trip to a new planet. They're 50 years in and the people on it now know that they will live and die their whole lives inside of the ship and never see the destination which their children will colonize. Then they throw in what is one of the coolest twists I have ever seen in a TV show (for those who've seen it, I'm taking about the thing at the end of the second episode).

However, instead of sticking with that and having themselves a really frigging awesome concept for a sci-fi show, they then go and throw in another twist (the thing with the little girl), which makes the entire thing just fall off a cliff ... and then hit the ground, roll a bit and fall off another cliff.

You didn't think that Season 2 cleared that all up for you?

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Ascension - 5/10

This show starts out really good. It's about a ship full of astronauts taking a century long trip to a new planet. They're 50 years in and the people on it now know that they will live and die their whole lives inside of the ship and never see the destination which their children will colonize. Then they throw in what is one of the coolest twists I have ever seen in a TV show (for those who've seen it, I'm taking about the thing at the end of the second episode).

However, instead of sticking with that and having themselves a really frigging awesome concept for a sci-fi show, they then go and throw in another twist (the thing with the little girl), which makes the entire thing just fall off a cliff ... and then hit the ground, roll a bit and fall off another cliff.

You didn't think that Season 2 cleared that all up for you?

When Netflix gets season 2, I'll let you know. If I bother to watch it after the horrific tripe that season 1 turned out to be.

Also, there's not something to "clear up". It's not like the plotline was somehow difficult to understand. It's that the choices they decided to take with the story made it worse than it was before they made those choices. If the little girl and the whole sub-plot which went along with her had been written out of the show and they went with everything else they had there, it would have been a frigging awesome concept for a sci-fi show. Instead, they made her plotline the big focus of the season finale and sidelined the other stuff that was actually good, which was the focus of the first half of the season before the little girl's stuff really started.

Now, it may be that they go for another change in direction in the next season which rectifies that and changes my opinion of the show, but the first season as it stands by itself is a failure for me - and a disappointing one, given how impressed I was by the beginning of it.

 

[Shadowy Man]

You didn't think that Season 2 cleared that all up for you?

When Netflix gets season 2, I'll let you know. If I bother to watch it after the horrific tripe that season 1 turned out to be.

Also, there's not something to "clear up". It's not like the plotline was somehow difficult to understand. It's that the choices they decided to take with the story made it worse than it was before they made those choices. If the little girl and the whole sub-plot which went along with her had been written out of the show and they went with everything else they had there, it would have been a frigging awesome concept for a sci-fi show. Instead, they made her plotline the big focus of the season finale and sidelined the other stuff that was actually good, which was the focus of the first half of the season before the little girl's stuff really started.

Now, it may be that they go for another change in direction in the next season which rectifies that and changes my opinion of the show, but the first season as it stands by itself is a failure for me - and a disappointing one, given how impressed I was by the beginning of it.

I agree with you, I was just being snarky. Is there even a season 2? I only stream these days, so I'm typically unaware if a show has any more seasons than are available on Netflix or Amazon Prime.

I generally dislike when a movie, show or book starts as one story then morphs into another in the middle.

 

[KeepTalking]

Is there even a season 2?

Nope. SyFy announced they were not going to produce any more episode shortly after the mini-series aired. Really, the writing was on the wall before airing, when they moved it to a December launch, with two episodes a night over three days, instead of a normal series run of one episode a week starting in October. At the time they cancelled Ascension, they said they were concentrating on other upcoming series', which no one believed they would ever get right until The Expanse came along.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Is there even a season 2?

Nope. SyFy announced they were not going to produce any more episode shortly after the mini-series aired. Really, the writing was on the wall before airing, when they moved it to a December launch, with two episodes a night over three days, instead of a normal series run of one episode a week starting in October. At the time they cancelled Ascension, they said they were concentrating on other upcoming series', which no one believed they would ever get right until The Expanse came along.

It's always a shame when something starts off well but then gets ruined. This one looked like they had ideas for two completely separate shows and then tried to bundle them together and neither worked as a result.

 

[JCS60]

First Take rate it 1/10

Suppose to be a show debating current sports topics. Not much debating, mostly just contrasting opinions.

 

[Underseer]

Just saw episode 4 of Legion, and it's still excellent.

Show

We finally find out for sure whether or not a character is real, and it turns out the dog wasn't real? Seriously? The dog? Buh?

If Lenny is Benny, who is Lenny?

They dropped more hints that the devil with the yellow eyes might be the Shadow King. I'm glad they didn't spell it out whatever it is and are keeping us guessing. If he is the Shadow King, this is the most terrifying version of that character ever!

If you don't know who the Shadow King is, but are reading spoilers anyway, the Shadow King can be thought of as a telepathic virus who used to be a person. Pure nightmare fuel.

 

[Jayjay]

3%
93% out of 100%

A Brazilian Hunger Games on Netflix. Shows that you can do ok-ish scifi on a shoestring budget. The premise is that world (apparently consisting of one city in the Amazon) consists of two kinds of people: those living in a slum in some hole, and 3% elite who live on an island off the coast. The Elite is selected with an annual contest called "the process" where every 20-year old from the hole-in-the-ground-ville can apply. And of course, there are those who want to sabotage the process or cheat their way through, and scheming and politics among the 3-percenters themselves to keep things interesting. The ending is a bit of a let-down, but I guess they had to have a setup for season 2 and couldn't kill off all of the characters.

 

[DolphinDynasty]

I just got done with the entire Black Mirror Series, and now am on Unforgotten, another Brit TV show. I'm not much for American TV anymore, except Big Bang Theory. I'm not even sure of the current line up, or what recent shows in the past few years were decent so I keep checking this thread but inevitably jut go back to Japanese, Korean, or Brit shows. The budget are smaller, but I never understood having massive budgets for non-film tyype entertainment, unless it's all tied to the actors' pay.

 

[Jayjay]

Homeland
? / 10

Started watching from season 3, three and a half episodes in. Very confusing. From what I can tell, it seems to be a show about the failings of mental health care system in America on a backdrop of some terrorist attack.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

You need to start watching from the beginning. Then you'll see it's about the failings of the US anti-terrorist system with a backdrop of some attacks on mental health care.

 

[Underseer]

Powerless
4/10

The premise has so much promise, but fails to live up. The touching parts didn't touch me, and the humor parts didn't make me laugh.

 

[blastula]

Curse of Oak Island - The show is always on, so it is hard to miss it. The best parts are when they really want you to stay tuned after the commercial to find out that they haven't found shit... again *changes channel*. If you like watching people waste a lot of money looking for nothing and trying to look professional about it, this could work, but otherwise, it is 22 minutes of commercials wrapped around failure.

0 of 4

I read about that as a kid, was really intrigued by the story. I like that memory so I think I'll pass on this.

 

[Underseer]

I just finished episode five of Legion. I'm more convinced than ever that...

Show

...the yellow-eyes man is the Shadow King. I'm still not sure about Lenny and the creepy big-headed angry boy, but they do seem in cahoots with the Shadow King.

Oh, and I still have no idea what the dog is.

 

[barbos]

Anybody mentioned Big Bang Theory? It's worse than early y seasons but still pretty 8/10.
Hope for another Star Trek series.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Curse of Oak Island - The show is always on, so it is hard to miss it. The best parts are when they really want you to stay tuned after the commercial to find out that they haven't found shit... again *changes channel*. If you like watching people waste a lot of money looking for nothing and trying to look professional about it, this could work, but otherwise, it is 22 minutes of commercials wrapped around failure.

0 of 4

I read about that as a kid, was really intrigued by the story. I like that memory so I think I'll pass on this.

It is intriguing, but it really reads like a con on a con on a con, that got out of hand.

 

[Underseer]

Ajin
Season 2
4/10

Season one kept my interest because despite the wooden 3D CGI, the premise was wild. The protagonist was a psychopath who happened to be doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. The antagonists had a genuinely just cause, but were in their own way as evil as the protagonist.

I gave up on season 2 after a few episodes. I just can't get into it, and I don't care about what happens to any of the characters.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Suits - 7/10

A legal drama with an interesting twist. The main character is a genius who got kicked out of university for selling test answers. While in the middle of selling some weed to make some cash, he's on the run from the cops and hides out in a conference room where this lawyer is interviewing recent Harvard graduates. One thing leads to another and the lawyer ends up hiring him and half the plotline is their having to hide the fact that their firm is committing fraud by having one of their people practice law without a degree.

It's quite well done and an enjoyable show to watch if you like the legal procedurals.