TV you've just watched

[vol.2]

Alas, haven't seen Fargo the show yet. I watched the movie two or three times it was so good though.

And yeah, Zahn is fucking cool. I've caught him in a couple random things over the years, but didn't really pay much attention until this. He plays the caretaker/uncle figure of Cox and appears in a few episodes so far.

[GaijinPunch]

Alas, haven't seen Fargo the show yet. I watched the movie two or three times it was so good though.

I'm jealous - would love to watch it fresh again. Even the weak link (Season 4) is better than most shit.

[emphatic]

Yeah, Fargo the show took many by surprise, I think. High quality shit.

[Mischief Maker]

Goddamn, just finished season 4 of The Wire. What a punch to the gut!

[vol.2]

Watched the first episode of the Beatles doc.

That's 2 and half hours of my life I'll never get back.

[GaijinPunch]

Goddamn, just finished season 4 of The Wire. What a punch to the gut!

1 season to go. And as it appears you have HBO Max, I can't imagine your next show not being The Deuce.

[neorichieb1971]

I assume The wire is a must watch by what i'm reading.

[BIL]

Indeed. Television at its most literary.

[GaijinPunch]

I assume The wire is a must watch by what i'm reading.

Very curious what rocks you dudes have been living under for the last 20 years.

[Mischief Maker]

Been watching Doom Patrol.

Season 1 is great. As far as superhero subversion shows go, I'd put it below The Tick animated but above The Tick live-action and waaaay above The Boys.

Season 2 is still watchable, but the loss of a key character gives the show some real post-Laura-Palmer original-Twin-Peaks vibes.

Also it falls into that same trap so many intentionally weird and anarchic shows seem to fall into where all the really popular one-off plot devices from earlier seasons come back to... pretty much do the same thing as first time, only darker this time!

[neorichieb1971]

I assume The wire is a must watch by what i'm reading.

Very curious what rocks you dudes have been living under for the last 20 years.

I watch TV shows that trend or get recommended or just binge the next netflix or Amazon prime offering. There are so many streaming services now that if something comes out on a service I can't get or one that I don't know about I won't watch it. If thats the case I usually go to the dark web if something is recommended enough.


Walking dead S11 - 1-8

One thing about the Walking dead for me is how it regurgitates the same old shit over and over. It has one of the worst cases of plot armor i've ever seen over the past 10 years. Eps 1-8 in the most recent season had me laughing out loud in places. I almost guessed every outcome before it happened.

But what really irks me is this belief that the main characters are so stupid, shouldn't be scared of the dead anymore. In one scene in a railcar about 15 of our gang are attacked in a bottleneck passageway. We know a knife in the head kills them and the dead have to traverse the railcar down the centre aisle where their numbers count for nothing. So what happens? Instead of taking them out with knives they use what little ammo they have and then finish off with a hand grenade. It might look good, but anyone who's watched "300" know you can be more smart about such situations. Its a zombie TV show for people of an IQ of about 80. Its got the GOT war tactics down to a tee, its so stupid it made me laugh.

But for some reason I keep watching it, like "the Watching dead".

[vol.2]

Been watching Doom Patrol.

Season 1 is great. As far as superhero subversion shows go, I'd put it below The Tick animated but above The Tick live-action and waaaay above The Boys.

Season 2 is still watchable, but the loss of a key character gives the show some real post-Laura-Palmer original-Twin-Peaks vibes.

Also it falls into that same trap so many intentionally weird and anarchic shows seem to fall into where all the really popular one-off plot devices from earlier seasons come back to... pretty much do the same thing as first time, only darker this time!

i would agree with that. i watched it last year (1&2) and the lead-up was remarkably well done. the second season material wasn't handled very well and felt convoluted. very similar to legion, which i thought was great in the first season, okay in the second season, and basically unwatchable by the end of the third.

[GaijinPunch]

10 Year Old Tim on HBO. Hilarious... and I don't watch most adult animated shows. This one is pretty good, as was the creators original show Tom, which I was recently shown.

Succession: I can't tell you anything you've not read. Very good.

Twin Peaks The Return: I went to Europe to visit friends in the Fall. In exchange for room and board I introduced a dear friend to Twin Peaks. Was a trudge but we got through it. And now I have someone to send Lynch memes to, so loving that.

Current stuff which is still running
- Curb: good quality. Not every episode is a slam dunk but hasn't lost it.
- Station Eleven: Just watched the first 3 episodes. Not sure if I love it (I might) but I will finish it for sure.
- Landscapers (one episode in - man what a couple of weirdos)

Probably gonna rewatch something that I do back flips over. Just not sure what. I did Watchmen earlier in the Spring and it was better the second time. Twin Peaks the Return above I probably enjoyed more than anything I'm currently watching. Dunno... maybe Fargo 1-3 or The Leftovers. Hmm....

[Randorama]

Re: Doom Patrol and The boys.

I have read the source materials: Garth Ennis' comic series (2004-2009?and Grant Morrison's run (1989-1993?).
I don't like super-heroes, but these authors have created great comics outside this genre, so I tried out both series.

Ennis' series was his attempt at creating an epic, brooding super-hero tragedy a la Watchmen. Ennis dislikes the genre, though he can be a great writer when he puts his mind to it.
The comic ended up being a combination of his favourite tropes (conspiracy theories, deep characterization hinging on very long dialogues, random political commentary, toilet humour...etc.).

I watched one episode of the tv series, and it felt like they toned down the more extreme aspects, maintained the overarching plot, and overall created a vaguely deconstructionist, mellowed-out take on the most trite, washed out genre around.

Morrison's run was a Vertigo comic in embryo. Morrison was given free rein to combine any ideas from any domain (and lots of literary devices) while at the same time maintaining a Jack Kirby-esque core: a group of misfits has handicaps that also double as superpowers, and can somehow save the day (from who, though? Anyhow, Morrison always called the Doom Patrol "handicapped people", PC be damned).

Morrison's run was perhaps deconstructionist in some ways (hey, it was the '80s!), and he himself was someone already well-versed with the conventions of the genre, when he wrote the series.

I watched a bit of the tv show (2/3 of the series? Enough for my patience), and it adapts VERY liberally many of Morrison's ideas, but the writers also try to capture the spirit of the run.
Cliff Steele's monologue in which he mentions that he has "phantom body pain" is one example; Crazy Jane's 64 personalities (each with their own super-power!) should be another example.

The impression I had is that they tried to create a more subversive show, while also mellowing out many aspects (Rebis is...more complex, in the comics; The brotherhoood of Dada may be the right guys for everyone; there is a mention to recursion/recursive functions every other issue; Gianbattista Piranesi; and so on). So, the show also felt like a vanilla take on what is "smarter" material from 30 years ago.

The "we return a second time... but weirder" is also a Morrison trope, so I guess that the tv show followed his lead on this.

It's TV and it's not anime, so liberal adaptations make sense, especially when the source materials were at times extreme (e.g. Ennis really likes gore and shit, and pointless political rants).
My general impression, though, is that in both cases the TV writers had to cut considerably, so the results were...not perfect.
But hey, I watched next to nothing about them.

[Mischief Maker]

Been watching Doom Patrol.

i would agree with that. i watched it last year (1&2) and the lead-up was remarkably well done. the second season material wasn't handled very well and felt convoluted. very similar to legion, which i thought was great in the first season, okay in the second season, and basically unwatchable by the end of the third.

Yeah, I just jumped ship halfway through Doom Patrol season 3. It's even more unfocused than season 2, making it equal parts boring and frustrating. Oh well!

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

I just checked out the first episode of Wheel of Time. Seems to be really awful and extra terrible so far.

[Mischief Maker]

The Witcher season 2

If you're interested in starting The Witcher on Netflix, I would actually suggest starting with Season 2 first. Season 1 had all kinds of weird overindulgent timeline stuff and a severe lack of expository dialogue laying out the rules of the setting, which Season 2 works overtime to fill-in.

I'm kinda torn on Season 1 vs Season 2. 2 had the clearer plot that was easier to follow, but it was kinda bland in comparison. Season 1 definitely had the lower low points, but also the higher high-points.

Someone in the writing room must have said, "Oh shit! We did, like, zero expository dialog in season one!" so season 2 goes turbocharge with explaining the Witchers, Witcher signs, and the conjunction of the spheres.

Shades of Matrix 4, there's a meta scene where a guard critiques Jaskier's ballads, "It wasn't until the fourth verse that I realized you were doing multiple timelines," and Jaskier gets himself into an unnecessary jam by clapping back.

The fight scenes were better in Season 1. And we got WAAAAY too much of other Witchers. Either Geralt has plot armor, or all the other Witchers suck shit at their jobs because every time a monster shows up, half the witchers get their faces ripped off.

I enjoyed Season 2, I did, but honestly it just makes me want to rewatch Season 1 with all the weirder shit going on there. Also season 2 distinctly lacks a "Toss a Coin to your Witcher"-tier viral song.

Spoiler

Ugh, I need something to take my mind off putting my poor dog to sleep. Let's watch something unrealistic and fantastical to distract. How an episode of The Witcher?

*episode starts with Geralt mercy-killing his mortally wounded horse while whispering to it reassuringly*

Goddamnit!

[BIL]

Wow, I never thought I'd wish death by AIDS on a dwarf.

I think some people really did want a happily-ever-after ending, even though “Game of Thrones” told us it was not that show from the very beginning.

"They wanted the pretty white people to ride off into the sunset together."

I'd never seen a production die of sheer laziness before GOT. I get into currently-airing shows very, very rarely (Breaking Bad being the prior I can recall), always expecting things to go to shit. Even my blackly cynical heart was stirred momentarily at just how shit a job they made of GOT's final season. The writing itself is not my issue; I thought it was serviceable enough for the show's drastically lowered quality as of Season 7. The issue is cramming two full-length seasons' worth of storyline into barely half. Absolute pants-shitting, shit-running-down-leg, limping-off-stage disgrace. Slapdashery.

And no, GRRM's fat, rich, lazy ass isn't to blame. Had the latter four seasons maintained source fidelity, they'd be just about getting to the middle of the newest book. Maybe. Assuming annual seasons of twelve full-length episodes apiece. And even if GRRM's constipation persisted, there are stacks of sidestories to adapt. Tales of Dunk & Egg would've been good for at least two seasons; actually I think the three existing stories would work well as a feature film apiece. Guaranteed, people would love both characters, and many more besides. Baelor Breakspear, what a mensch. The Princess and The Queen, meanwhile? Holy fuck. Absolute fucking metal. There is a series to go balls-out on the CG magic warring with. Three seasons' worth, easily. Then the Blackfyre Rebellion, already sketched out more than sufficiently by GRRM. Again, Daemon Blackfyre would be a sure fan favourite. Two seasons, easy.

"Buhhh, but D&D and [actors] were sleepy and wanted 2 stop" Fuck them. Hire hungrier talent. These lazy cunts certainly didn't earn their keep in Season 8. "MUH KWEEN" yeah, ok pal. Seriously, burn the entire roster. Sounds unthinkable, I'm sure. Probably like the thought of Othello not being played by the reanimated bones of the first guy to tread the boards ca 16xx, right? Quality beats familiarity every time.

I'm a lazy fucker myself. So it REALLY chafes my fucking balls when I see others playing at the same racket, you know?

I like to think a couple decades from now, assuming GRRM ever gets this log out, we'll see decent adaptations of ASOIAF's latter half.

[vol.2]

RE: Witcher

I thought both seasons are decent and fun. Better than a lot of other Netflix fantasy shows. They are both short enough that it's nbd to finish them.

Biggest complaint for season 2 is that it really stops in an awkward place. I would strongly recommend waiting for season 3 to watch any of it or, at the very least, don't watch the last episode of season 2; the second to the last episode ends in a much more natural spot.

GOT: haven't watched it. i'm aware of the rift with the books because GRRM wasn't prepared to finish the story quickly enough for the show to be completed. now that he's gotten off his ass and the next book is going to be released (or so he claims), i wonder how different it's going to be? i've always been kind of a stickler for reading the book before watching the show when it's something i really care about. i'm thinking at this point i'll refrain from watching the show until he finishes the last book, assuming he does.

[BIL]

Honestly I would bet on ASOIAF going the way of Berserk. 3: Dead author and dubious licensed fanfics ahoy.

I'm not usually a pessimist with these things, but it's gotten a bit ridiculous - going on a decade since his last book. He's also got tons of other interests, and fair enough... I couldn't blame him if he just called it a day and enjoyed the sudden later-life windfall. I certainly wouldn't give the guy grief personally. But it's also kinda cheeky to complain (as he sometimes does) that all people want from him is more ASOIAF. Why don't they like NIGHT FLIERS and WILD CARDS?! ]:

Yeah chief. >_> Nobody gave a shit about you until ASOIAF, and globally not until GOT. That's kinda yer lot! More than 99.9% of authors ever get! And I'm not knocking his other stuff. Night Fliers has one helluva Scanners headsplosion - fondly referenced in aforementioned ASOIAF side tales, to wit:

Some say that Alys Rivers merely raised a hand, and Ser Regis began to scream and clutch his head, until his skull burst apart, spraying blood and brains.

Yooo Just what is going on with that CRAZY BITCH ALYS And many other questions! WHAT IN SWEET FUCK happened with Balerion and Aerea?! And you gotta do more Dunk & Egg too, those are your best stuff (especially THE MYSTERY KNIGHT: Homo Vibes Daisakusen). And fuuuck, the first and fifth Blackfyre Rebellions need a TV miniseries each. Get off your fat fuckin ass! Or get ON it rather! Pls don't keel over George.

The books are very decent mid-fantasy stuff. George can do epochal panorama and gutter grit equally well. Can't recommend 'em though, not with the state of things.

According to Eustace, Lord Jasper's sobriquet "Ironrod" derived from his unbending attitudes to matters of law - but Mushroom claimed it was from the stiffness of his member.

Oh George! I can never really quit you. 3;

The TV show's first four seasons are generally excellent, staying close to the books and mostly changing for logistical reasons only. Some dumb changes, but entirely acceptable. Sharp dropoff from there, as the two jackasses who stumbled into the showrunner position with their mouths firmly affixed to their own cocks were forced to Just Make Shit Up over the remaining four. From roughly "worse, but relatively good for TV" to "categorically inferior, but same" to "this is worrying" to Season 8, where it shat itself and died. It's a hard show to recommend - I would suggest putting the time on Fargo instead. ;3 (Fargo S2 is legit a better dynastic struggle than anything in the latter half of GOT).

[vol.2]

That's a good rec. I still haven't watched Fargo and I'm stuck inside for NYE with the only other person I was infected by. Hopefully she hasn't seen it and our evening is set.


Like I sed, going to wait to see if he releases the next book. I bought the first one way the fuck back when in the 90s to read at the beach and I wasn't exactly captivated by it, but i gather it picks up steam after the first one. GRRM has indicated that the next book is coming soon, so if he delivers on it, I'll go back and catch up on the books before I mess with the mess that is the show. I watched one of my coworkers devolve into a simpering idiot during the 7-8th seasons of GOT and I know that kind of hell too well as a fan of LOST.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

I finished GOT not long ago and I just don’t see what everyone is so up in arms about with season 8. Yeah it is a mad dash to finish line and Danny goes a little out of character. I don’t like Snow’s ending either. But how was it supposed to end? I think everyone is just upset because they wanted Danny to win everything. I don’t think it’s that bad of an ending honestly. What else could he do?

[BIL]

Like I said, I don't mind the overall trajectory. It wouldn't surprise me at all if, in very broad strokes, that's how Dany ends up in the books.

Problem is stuff like the war against the dead being over and done in one comically plot-armoured episode (how many times did Jaimie and Brienne die pinned to a wall by a dozen armed Wights?), and Dany's vicious turn being handled with a similarly farcical lack of weight. They simply didn't give either plot arc the gestation time required, hence the season became a laughingstock.

(I knew things were going to choke balls when a leaker mentioned "the cast getting personalised dragonglass weapons." -_- Yeah, individual soldiers are going to be a great help against the largest standing army on the fucking continent, one made of infinitely disposable self-replenishing corpses. Oh wait, they'll probably just plot armour it into some retarded tower defense skirmish, aaand yep.

I really knew things were sunk at the Dothraki charge. I honestly expected it to reveal the zombies had just dug a fucking trench, and they and their horses had all broken their necks slamming into it in the dark. )

Also lots of stupid little things, like the execrable Show Euron, who Book Euron would have tied to a mast, gang-raped and glossectomised on the spot, and "Dany forgot about the Iron Fleet" (cue Dany conferencing with her generals about the Iron Fleet a couple minutes beforehand), and Varys and Tyrion becoming retarded, etc etc. Stuff I can forgive in earlier seasons (like Arya's most humiliating assassin chase ever - oh, the theories people were coming up with, for why she wasn't wandering about in the open like a retard ), since there's at least enough runtime for the threadbare plots to blossom however middlingly, and for the show's production values and acting (superb to the end, bar a certain MUH KWEEN) to take most of the edge off.

It was mediocre-to-poor material chucked into a particle accelerator of a rushjob. The latter's what really hamstrung it, and has ruined the show's standing in the long-term.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Yeah just forgetting about Euron is ridiculous. I guess the Dothraki weren’t important enough to get the dragon glass weapons? Like they could even make that many weapons that quickly. The battle against the army of the dead episode just made me exhausted afterwards. Too much going on in one episode. I didn’t really mind Arya fighting the night king instead of snow. But yeah it’s just too much going on for one season.

Regardless I’m still definitely interested in House of Dragons and is probably my most anticipated show by far.

[Mischief Maker]

Lindsay Ellis' GoT response videos are great...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hys_m3BPTS8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGr0NRx3TKU

...and I feel inclined to draw attention to them now that she's been chased off youtube forever by her anti-fans on social media.

EDIT: Whoops! Linked to the same video twice.

[BIL]

Oh jeeze, it's all coming back. I'm going to kill myself and upload the GIF 3:

brb

NLS 3;

Spoiler

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Oh jeeze, it's all coming back. I'm going to kill myself and upload the GIF 3:

brb

NLS 3;

Spoiler

You should try Vikings. I thought that was an awesome series. Really well done all the way through.

[GaijinPunch]

Finished up Station Eleven. A bit torn, but I feel it deserves it's 7.5 or so on IMDB. At it's core it's a character drama, and in that sense it's quite an interesting narrative. These people's devotion to Shakespear despite society crumbling is a bit hard to swallow though. Maybe the majority of people don't eat each other, figuratively, as in most end of the world stories, or literally, in the case of The Road.

[XtraSmiley]

Finished up Station Eleven. A bit torn, but I feel it deserves it's 7.5 or so on IMDB. At it's core it's a character drama, and in that sense it's quite an interesting narrative. These people's devotion to Shakespear despite society crumbling is a bit hard to swallow though. Maybe the majority of people don't eat each other, figuratively, as in most end of the world stories, or literally, in the case of The Road.

We are at the last two episodes now. I'll say it started too slow for my taste, but wife made us press, and by episode 3-4 I was hooked. The Shakespear stuff was my least favorite part (along with Tank Girl), but I love it now. Thinking about reading the book!

[GaijinPunch]

I won't post any spoilers... it did indeed start slow. But, I do like the multi-narrative. Glad I watched it in the end.

Also - just finished Season 5 of Search Party. Wow. That was... unexpected.