What TV SHOWS are you watching?

The Expanse - Season 4 dropped and the first couple episodes are good so far. I was worried there would be budget or cast changes (different actor playing Avaswearala's husband is all I noticed) where the show wouldn't feel the same but they nailed it. Looking forward to watching the rest of the season as I find time.

The Kettering Incident - This show from a few years ago is sort of like X-Files and Twin Peaks had a baby that they dropped off to live in Tasmania and it's fantastic. An eight-episode season and the local mysteries are solved by the end but there is a sci-fi element you're left to ponder in the same way the movie Annhilation's ending isn't fully explained. I can see myself theorizing about it for years and will probably run through the season again at some point.

I finally decided to give Watchmen a try. I was disappointed by the movie, which managed to capture everything on the surface about the comic and yet somehow miss much of the meaning. And while Damon Lindelof is no Zak Snyder, I have been hating on Lindelof since he botched both Lost and Prometheus. But all the buzz about Watchmen has been very positive, and Lindelof recently said that there are no immediate plans for a second season, so he intends to wrap up nearly all the mysteries by the end of this season. That spoke directly to me, because I have really come to hate the Mystery Box storytelling of Lindelof and his old boss J.J. Abrams.

Five episodes in so far, and I am surprised and delighted by Watchmen. It has wildly exceeded my expectations with unusual respect for Alan Moore's original work combined with bold storytelling with great new characters. I am especially happy about the use of certain recurring symbols from the original comics. The casting has been great, and the story is compelling. If Lindelof manages to stick the landing, I will finally forgive him for Prometheus and Lost.

I really enjoyed the season (series?) finale of Watchmen. Nice twists and everything felt appropriate.


Also started a re-watch of Bloodline on Netflix. This is as great as I remember it, and remains the best thing Netflix has ever spent money on, in my opinion.

I thought the Watchmen finale was great. The bad guy plan was maybe a little pedestrian, but the way we got there was fascinating and compelling. Definitely one of the most unique TV shows I've seen in a long, long time. I was pretty skeptical going in, given Lindelof's track record, but this was really great, thoughtful TV.

Episode 6 of The Mandalorian was another entertaining one-off adventure. This show feels like such a throw-back! Everybody is telling long, complicated, ongoing stories on TV these days. This show very intentionally has gone back to a seemingly old-fashioned mode of storytelling, when shows were almost entirely one-off adventures. It feels almost quaint. I love it. And come on, Clancy Brown as the devil-horn-wearing alien muscle in a group of mercenaries? I'm down for that. At this point, I'm content to enjoy the ride, and I don't really care if they ever "resolve" the Baby Yoda story.

Watchmen was a great show that got a great ending. It was like the opposite of the mystery box crap that Lindelof used to do, especially when working for Abrams. All the mysteries got explained, all the storylines got some kind of resolution, and it was all done without clunky exposition. Though Lindelof recently said that there are no specific plans for a second season, there is room for more story. I would also be pleased if they just left it at this one great season. My only real complaint is that a few of the song choices were distracting because they were wrong, especially towards the end of the final episode.

Finished the latest season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. It's frustrating. So many of the elements are tops. The sets, the costumes and cinematography and long takes are all great, pretty well worth the cost of entry on their own. I have to imagine the dialogue is polarizing, but you already know whether you like it or not. I'm fine with it but am getting tired of four-odd characters shouting about different things and spending the whole scene trying to catch the other characters up on their tiny little thing without getting distracted by somebody else. Sterling K. Brown was a great addition to the cast in his minimal screen time. He just had a delivery that made his lines his own and stick.

I just wasn't burning to watch the next episode night to night. I didn't particularly care about any of the characters. The general douchery on display somehow went up since last season and the interminable stay in the Catskills. Abe and Rose were absolute dicks to Moishe and Shirley who were letting them stay rent-free in their house, but Joel's parents had to have their coarseness dialed-up to 11 to make everything Midge's parents do seem charming rather than pathological. Not that self-centered characters are anything new for the series, but the show couldn't hide behind interesting storylines. Joel's club? Jane Lynch's Broadway play? Abe and the beatniks? Who cares? The only scenes that left an impression on me this season were Joel and Midge's phone call in the first episode and Zach Levi's return.

It's Scrooge-y of me, but I think my preferred ending to the series at this point is a flash forward thirty years on. Esther meets up with her mom before some late show screening and just unloads on her crummy parenting for thirty minutes.

The Witcher - Two episodes in and its okay I guess. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not watching a long video game cutscene. Everyone is stiff and dead serious all the time. I can see potential though.

ChristopherMD wrote: The Witcher - Two episodes in and its okay I guess. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not watching a long video game cutscene. Everyone is stiff and dead serious all the time. I can see potential but between this and Carnival Row, I don't have high hopes for Amazon's Lord of the Rings series.

Since I played and liked The Witcher 3, I don't mind its long video game cutscenes. I'm 4 shows in, and I'm enjoying the dumbed-down GoT vibe that I'm getting from it.

The Witcher got better as it went along. The first season is based on the only two of the books I've read so far and they covered them well enough but I do think they could have done better with the Borch Three Jackdaws story. Also, unpopular opinion but I thought the Toss A Coin song was garbage. I'm in for season two though.

Lost in Space season two was an improvement on the first season while still being mostly more of the same. Production still looks stellar and Dr Smith is still the weakest link but I found her more tolerable this time.

Got my wife an Acorn TV subscription for Christmas, so we watched the first episode of the third season of The Detectorists. I missed this show so much. Everything is just so lived in and comfortable and natural, the relationships, the pacing, everything.

It is such a gem.

ChristopherMD wrote: The Witcher got better as it went along. The first season is based on the only two of the books I've read so far and they covered them well enough but I do think they could have done better with the Borch Three Jackdaws story. Also, unpopular opinion but I thought the Toss A Coin song was garbage. I'm in for season two though.

Lost in Space season two was an improvement on the first season while still being mostly more of the same. Production still looks stellar and Dr Smith is still the weakest link but I found her more tolerable this time.

Is it an unpopular opinion? The songs are awful. Thankfully, Dandelion is limited to a bit player.

We are looking forward to LiS. I'm happy to hear it has improved.

Just finished season 1 of The Witcher. Hmm... very mixed feelings on this. Overall, I enjoyed it, but mainly because I really like the character of Geralt, and I think Henry Cavill's portrayal of him was great.

I have to wonder if they knew they would be doing a season 2 from the start, because this show does NOT stick the landing at the end. I also wonder how people who didn't already know about the ways of the Witcher would feel about the show.

I think the show improves as you go along, really hitting stride in episodes 5 and 6, but then drops off again. Still, I will definitely watch the inevitable season 2.

Also, content warning, this show is LOADED with nudity. Also the occasional decpatitation.

I was hoping for a little more from the Battle of Sodden Hill given how much it is seems to play in Blood of Elves and Marigold's interaction with Ciri. It should have had more punch, especially for people new to the series.

This certainly seems like a prelude season with the expectation of a season dedicated to Ciri's growth and the real focus of the series.

I finished The Witcher, season 1. The Monster of the Week was better than the story arc; the story arc fizzled a little bit at the end. I'll be watching season 2 when it comes out, though.

I also binge watched The Expanse, season 4. This show has gotten better with each season. Even Jim Holden has gone from nails-on-a-chalkboard to a solid meh. If you like hard SF I'd recommend it.