What TV SHOWS are you watching?

I finished OZARK last night. While overall it was good, it followed the trend of shows like SONS OF ANARCHY and THE SHIELD where the plot twists and escapes by the characters got progressively more absurd. I think they stretched it a season too far.

And the constant grey/overcast/flat lighting is tiresome after awhile.

I've seen/heard a fair amount of Ozark, Sons of Anarchy, etc. because my wife watches them while I am on the computer in the same room. Anyway, my interest in such shows is basically non-existent these days, because of the constant escalation is so tiresome and completely pulls me out of it. They just have to get more and more extreme as time goes on. Tied in with the "one step forward two steps back" problem that forces characters to do more crazy things to get back to where they were before, I've just opted out.

I find I reach a point where I'm essentially watching for one character. All the other escalation, it's not just that it's too much, it's also that it's often driven by decisions of characters that seem out of character (initially, at least, ,until you realise that there is no character, just some vague sketch that changes over time to suit the plot). But often there'll be one character that is interesting, shows some development, and is well acted. I'm still watching the Ozarks because of Ruth and Ruth alone. Everything else is dumb and I hate the characters and wish they'd just hurry up and die as just desserts for their stupid stupid and often bizarre decision making.

Finished Ozark. Not the resolution I wanted, but it was an acceptable one. As someone theorized up thread, I think this show went 2 seasons longer than it should have.

Moon Knight in the end was ok. I know many people loved the psychological aspects of it, but in the end there just was enough of Moon Knight on screen for my liking, and way too much overanalyzing of the dynamic between Mark and Stephen. I really only liked the 2nd and 3rd episodes. First and last were just standard introduction and conclusion and the 4th and 5th really dragged and were dull.

My wife and I have been trying to binge Moon Knight just for the purposes of being "ready" for Dr. Strange 2. I've never watched one of the Marvel series this way, so it's been interesting to observe how much is plot padding (not all or even most of it bad in this case) there is, which is somewhat less evident watching week-to-week.

Samurai Jack (via HBO) is a much better cartoon than I remembered. The animation is deliberately a bit crude, about on the level of Ren & Stimpy or the Powerpuff Girls. And yet the animation is very stylized and evocative, and the writing is simple but vigorous. Sometimes there are long stretches without dialogue, where the animation is effectively telling the story without need for words. I only watched a few episodes back in the day because the setup seemed too limited for an entire season of a show, but now I see that the writers drew inspiration from everywhere and everything. One early episode channeled The Right Stuff, while another featured the evil overlord trying and failing to brainwash young children with old fairy tales warped into fascist propaganda.

Shellhead wrote: Samurai Jack while another featured the evil overlord trying and failing to brainwash young children with old fairy tales warped into fascist propaganda.

He should have aimed at middle aged deplorables with that fairy tale called the American Dream.

Star Trek Picard - I'm halfway through season two and pushed to get this far because I wanted to like it. Every episode has left me some amount of annoyed and confused. I think I'm done.

The good news is Strange New Worlds might be at least of Voyager or Enterprise quality, so fingers crossed.

Shellhead wrote: Samurai Jack (via HBO) is a much better cartoon than I remembered

If you have HBO access at the moment and you liked Samurai Jack, absolutely do not miss the creator's R-Rated newer series Primal.

Been watching an Amazon Prime series called Outer Range starring Thanos Josh Brolin. Takes place in two ranches and the local town. The main character finds a hole in his property that pierces time instead of space. It is mostly a character drama (struggling ranching family next door to greedy 1%er trying to take over the particular pasture, missing people, strange girl who asks to camp near the pasture and acts as an outside observer), but it is actually really good. The sci-fi aspects are low key but fundamental the current personality conflicts. Highly recommended.

Regarding Picard. Yeah, I gave up four episodes into the series. Couldn't stand it at all. My wife finished the first season and confirmed for me that it was garbage.

I really enjoyed Outer Range and thought the ending of season one was great. It's a more sophisticated and subdued Yellowstone with a touch of science fiction.

I finished Outer Range. I think it was mystery box nonsense.

They should take everything they have and throw it out the window, and THEN, write a show that is just Billy, leaving the family ranch to make his way in Nashville as a singer.