What TV SHOWS are you watching?

I finished The Leftovers last night & I'm still processing that impeccable ending. It left me in a headspace that reminded me of Terrence Malick but with a bit more grounding. There's obviously some metaphysical shenanigans throughout the series, but it was always cut with clearly motivated characters and some oftentimes bizarre humor (like the spy thriller Orpheus interludes, the actual character of God, or when they just wouldn't quit with the Perfect Strangers stuff, which was funny in the same way that Dougie Jones kept trolling the viewers in Twin Peaks).

Its approach in wrapping things up was disorienting in that engrossing way that has you checking for the remaining run-time like it's the edge of a map and you're getting some frisson at where it might leave you stranded.

It did feel like some of the character development could veer off into directions that hadn't quite been earned yet (e.g. Nora's first "fuck it I'm out" moment, or Laurie's perpetually obscure attraction to oblivion), or would just disappear entirely (e.g. Jill), but some of this capriciousness seemed to be intentional and in line with the uneasy questions about inner duality, hidden vs enacted belief, and what we do with these under the torment of our own private Book of Job when the tests are utterly arbitrary, at the whim of a deistic universe where God has left the building and occasionally returns to randomly kick some heads around. Is it psychosis? Faith? Sisyphean acknowledgement of the absurd?

This could get pretty overwhelming to watch at times, and implacable/crushing in a way that reminds me of some of Ted Chiang's stories like "Hell is the Absence of God" but the hopefulness and intimacy of the ending was that much more powerful for the journey. I don't regret any of the time I put into watching this.

hotseatgames wrote: 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.

I thought all the performances were fantastic, and yes, Billy was just the right mix of rich, stupid, and nice to draw me in as well. Edit to add: I loved the scene in the bank with Billy and Autumn.

I disagree on the mystery box nonsense comment since all the original questions from the first episode are pretty much answered without needing to resort to a reddit explainer.



This is not Lost where the writers are just making shit up before filming every episode. This isn't Game of Thrones where the story isn't finished and might never officially be. There appears to be an explanation for everything and the season is eight episodes because that is the right number to tell this particular arc of the story.

I understood the plot; I just didn't think it was worth my time.

Virabhadra wrote:

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.

Not only is Primal fantastic, but pretty much all of Genndy Tartakovsky's output is near genius (well, maybe the Adam Sandler related stuff is more of an acquired taste

His clone wars series (if you can find it) is stellar and I loved Symbionic Titan quite a bit as well. That he got a girl to twerk on a robot in a kids show past the censors is just...chef's kiss...

Watched a bit of Mike Myers The Pentaverate or whatever it is called on Netflix. It's gooooooood?? in a 90's kinda Myers humor on overload way. There are some genius bits (the transition from Canada to the US) along with a bunch of low key weirdness of Myers just doing his thing. Only a few eps in so not sure where it is going but it's different for sure.

jason10mm wrote: The good news is Strange New Worlds might be at least of Voyager or Enterprise quality, so fingers crossed.

After watching the first episode, I'm hopeful, but I've been hopeful before. At this point, I'm more or less OK if they see SNW as tossing the old-timers a bone. Anton Mount, who was actually mounted on a horse at one point in the premiere episode (and distinctly in danger of having his horse throw him, given the stupid shuttle landing near him), has enough charisma wattage to carry the show and maybe even its legacy on his shoulders. "Talk," "debate" . . . squee!

Anson Mount can definitely carry a show, he was great in Hell on Wheels.

One thing I love about Primal is that there are a few times where they play the design of Fang's big, dumb T-Rex face to humorous effect, and in those moments she reminds me specifically of Killface from Frisky Dingo.

A long time ago I watched the first few seasons of The Blacklist with James Spader but then quit after about three seasons when it got kind of ridiculous and it became obvious that they were just going to tease us with the mystery of James Spader's past until the show got cancelled. So the last two days I saw there were eight seasons on Netflix and assumed the show was finally over, and started watching the season finale from each season, because I am lazy and have no impulse control. Then at the end of season eight, which I thought was the final season, I discovered . I mean, the show is tons of fun to watch--it's like watching a heist movie at times--but it is also unbearably stupid and the writers are obviously making stuff up at this point.

Another thing I'm noticing in both Bosch and The Blacklist is male action leads over 50 who actually never run around or do anything that physical. Like, James Spader, like the rest of us, just gets a little stouter each year and his signature move, other than walking around and preaching his own flavor of epicureanism, is to quickly pull out his gun and shoot someone unexpectedly. Nobody can kill as much as this guy does without being a sociopath. But often James Spader is just obnoxiously delightful and fun to watch.

And then at the end of season eight they do this gauzy flashback of all the emotional scenes between characters (wait--did Lizzy get jiggedly with uptight Ressler?), morphing the show into a weird sort of WB (the Flash network?) relationship drama. With tons of killing. So if every comedy becomes a drama (MASH), then maybe every thriller becomes a soap opera.

It almost feels unfair to complain about The Blacklist because it has never pretended to be anything other than a goofy, Alias-style spy series. Or police thriller.



Spader makes a reported $300,000 per episode for a show that only gets three million viewers on a good night.

I watched that show for a couple of seasons back when it came out and my thoughts parallel yours. Felt like it was going nowhere. Can't believe it lasted that long.

I'm not feeling the second season of Russian Doll. It really seems like it should have been a limited series.

We watched the entirety of The Girl From Plainville, mostly because my buddy's uncle is Norbert Leo Butz (best known as the heavier brother, Kevin, in Bloodline) and we try to watch everything he's in.

Girl From Plainville had some interesting exploration of teenage depression and suicide, but ultimately wasn't worth the time.

Enjoying Peaky Blinders and Better Call Saul's latest seasons. I'm also watching the second season of the new Twilight Zone, which seems stronger than the first.

Bloodline remains the best thing Netflix has ever done.

Finished Netflix's Frankie & Grace. A fine series ender. I put this series forward as one of Netflix's finest gems.

hotseatgames wrote: Bloodline remains the best thing Netflix has ever done.

Apples and oranges - I've always considered The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt to be Netflix's crown jewel. I haven't had a Netflix subscription in years, though.

On the heels of sharing Studio Trigger's Kill la Kill, Des suggested we have a look at a/the foundational transformy magical girl anime she remembered from her very early childhood. Now we're two seasons into the original Sailor Moon and it's kind of perfect viewing while I have all this Warhammer flash to clean since I can follow the story without physically paying attention to the screen.

I watched the first installment of Russian Doll and caught the following undertone from the director -- "it takes place in New York! Everybody loves New York, right?"

First episode just didn't grab me. It had a lovely scene with the Brooklyn Bridge carefully framed in the background though.

Sagrilarus wrote: I watched the first installment of Russian Doll and caught the following undertone from the director -- "it takes place in New York! Everybody loves New York, right?"

First episode just didn't grab me. It had a lovely scene with the Brooklyn Bridge carefully framed in the background though.