Discuss and Rate the Last Thing You Watched (non-movies)

[Agema]

Archive 81 (Netflix)

Supernatural horror series. Dan (Mamoudou Athie) is a conservator who takes old media, chiefly tapes, and recovers and restores the media. He is asked to restore a old PhD dissertation recording by one Melody Pendras many years ago; upon doing so, the guy offering him the job asks him to retore her entire library. Melody was doing her project on the history of the Visser Building in NY, which was destroyed in a fire in the 80s, with Melody being one of the victims. And then things get steadily weirder. The show runs over eight episodes, and is split between Dan in the here and now, and Melody in the 80s. Melody uncovers strange goings-on in the Visser and Dan follows along from her recordings. Except the strange forces that affected Melody back then start affecting Dan, too...

This is a really superior TV horror, part of the renaissance that's being going on (think the "Haunting of..." series, or Midnight Mass). Pretty much everything about it is well done, and I heartily recommend it.

 

[Hawki]

The Wheel of Time: Season 1 (5/5)

Holy shit, this was good. Really good. Not perfect by any means, but really good. Not quite Game of Thrones good, and not good enough to be the "next" Game of Thrones, but still, after all that, this series gets a 5/5 for me.

Going to come out and say that if the TV series diverges from the books (as it apparently does), I don't particuarly care. I read the first three Wheel of Time books and the New Spring graphic novel, and didn't particuarly care for any of them, so for the most part, this show is its own thing for me. And on most fronts, it does a great job. The characters are great. The writing is solid. The costume design is beautiful. The landscape is beautiful (it's not New Zealand, but still, neat). The sense of world and setting is beautiful. How it handles channeling, visually and in execution, is great. The trollocs...holy shit, I've called them orc-knockoffs before, but I take it back, these things are outright terrifying. Really, I could sing this show's praises until the coming of the Fourth Age, but, yeah. This is really, REALLY good.

However, it's not perfect. If I did decimals, this would easily be a 4.5/5, because this show does have a number of issues for me. Most pressing is the worldbuilding. That's not to say the worldbuilding is bad (see above), but the problem is that WoT leaves things a bit too vague in a lot of instances. Watching this on Amazon Prime, there's even a "behind the history" animated series to fill you in on backstory. Now, this isn't the first show to do this - heck, Game of Thrones did it as well - but the difference is that I could watch GoT and "get" the world, without any animated backstory. WoT? Not to the same extent. What's really weird is that by the nature of the show, you have a perfect opportunity for Moiraine to explain things to Rand and co. without falling into "as you know" territory. You can argue that exposition isn't the best way of delivering worldbuilding, but it's still preferable to leaving things too vague. Two things, above all else, exemplify this. By the end of the season, not all of the ajahs have been named (despite characters like Egwene having every reason to ask what they are), and to another point, in a flashback, see Rand's mother (an Aiel) fighting Rand's adoptive father (apparently a man of Tar Valon). Why they're in conflict is never explained. WoT is in this weird case of understandably leaving some world elements vague, and at times to good effect (true to the lore, there's the sense that the world the characters are in now is in a much diminished state compared to what it once was), but at others, frustratingly vague.

There's also other things - I think Rand's confrontation with the Dark One is a bit...weird (why yes, the Dark One "is" wearing a business suit), to say the least, but honestly, what the show does well, it really does well. I really, REALLY hope that this series covers the full story of the books, because I want more. Maybe not every book, but the story as a whole? More. More!

 

[Hawki]

Also, some other stuff. Some of the more common complaints I've seen, and my response to them:

1: Why is Moiraine the main character? She wasn't in the books.

Answer: Having watched this, I don't think Moiraine IS the main character. Yes, she's listed first in the Wikipedia cast page, but while Moiraine has a lot of agency, the story doesn't really revolve around her. She's not the Dragon Reborn, she's not the one destined to save or destroy the world, her goal is to escort five ta'varen to do their thing, all of whom are more important than she could ever be.

2: Why did they alter the Prophecy of the Dragon Reborn so it could be man or woman? In the books, it was obvious that Lews Therin would be reincarnated as male. Damn SJWs!

Answer: I think this really works actually. Yes, it's a change from the books, but it keeps the viewer in suspense. We have five characters, all of whom could be a chosen one, instead of just three of them (in principle, I forget how the first book actually handled things). I mean, I know going in that the Dragon Reborn is Rand, but it does a great job. There's little hints that the penultimate episode recontextualizes to show how the hints were there all along, but if you were going into this blind, you'd easily be forgiven for thinking that the Dragon Reborn is one of the other four. I mean, look at Egwene and Nynaeve (who, now that I'm mentioning her, gets what I'd argue is the most beautiful and awesome moment - search "like a blazing sun" if you want some beautiful music).

So, yeah. I'm fine with the prophecy being altered. It's a change that helps the story without changing the overall plot. It's not swapping out Rand with not!Tauriel for instance.

 

[Hawki]

3: Why are the people of Emmond's Field diverse? In the book, it was established that they're an isolated group, so they should all look the same.

Answer: I don't think this is really a problem, but it does tie into something I really noticed in the show, namely everyone, everywhere, does look the same. As in, in real-world terms, you have people from all over the real world mixed together in every location, regardless of that location's cultural inspiration. For instance, Emmond's Field is your stock Medieval European village, while Fal Dara is clearly based on East Asian architecture/culture, while Tar Valon is not!Minas Tirith, but the people of one place look the same in another place. So far, the only distinct human group that's been named are the Aiel.

I could see this becoming weird down the line, but at least for now, for me, it's a non-issue. Though having browsed the wiki to check on things...well, it's kind of weird that Malkier was changed from not!Camelot to not!feudal Japan, so, um, yeah. The Emmond's Field thing more or less encompasses the approach the show has taken - clear cultural differences in locations, but similarly multi-ethnic in all of those locations. Whether that's good, bad, or irrelevant, is up to you.

4: Why is this show changing itself to ape Game of Thrones?

Answer: It isn't. No, really, it isn't. If it is, please explain how, because there's hardly been any sex, or nudity, and Wheel of Time is still a close cousin to Lord of the Rings rather than A Song of Ice and Fire, where tropes and even terminology are listed wholesale. You really need to explain this claim, because I'm not seeing it. Obviously changes have been made, but I can't attribute any of them to aping GoT.

Anyway, yeah. Great show.

 

[Agema]

1: Why is Moiraine the main character? She wasn't in the books.

Answer: Having watched this, I don't think Moiraine IS the main character.

She is, in the sense the series revolves around her in a way the book maybe does not: she displays the most agency, and more colour and narrative relates to her than it does any other character. Rand Al'Thor (the supposed main hero), for instance, spends most of the season as little more than a whiny teen, and is completely overshadowed.

In a way, it makes a lot of sense. Season 1 is a tale about her plan, her hard work, the things she knows and her background (e.g. White Tower). In comparison, the main heroes are just a bunch of peasants dragged from their life of stultifying rural tedium following her around.

 

[Breakdown]

The issue with the Dragon Reborn potentially being female ties into one of the big flaws in WoT in that the series never clearly establishes the importance of the Dragon Reborn.

In the distant past, a bunch of men went insane and killed millions of people with magic. Since that time, men who show signs of channelling have become figures of terror who could lose their minds and kill everybody around them at any moment. But according to prophecy the Dragon Reborn is going to use magic to defeat the Dark One and save the world. So the Dragon Reborn is simultaneously a figure of great hope and great fear. And it ties in to the role of the Aes Sedai - by capturing and gentling men who can use magic, they've saved countless lives. But there's always the possibility that at some point they caught the real Dragon Reborn and have inadvertently doomed the world.

If you establish that the Dragon Reborn could be female you then lose that sense of duality. If it turns out to be a woman, so what? The Aes Sedai can be manipulative or intimidating to be around, but they're not actively feared by the general population as ticking time bombs.

 

[Kyrian007]

The issue with the Dragon Reborn potentially being female ties into one of the big flaws in WoT in that the series never clearly establishes the importance of the Dragon Reborn.

In the distant past, a bunch of men went insane and killed millions of people with magic. Since that time, men who show signs of channelling have become figures of terror who could lose their minds and kill everybody around them at any moment. But according to prophecy the Dragon Reborn is going to use magic to defeat the Dark One and save the world. So the Dragon Reborn is simultaneously a figure of great hope and great fear. And it ties in to the role of the Aes Sedai - by capturing and gentling men who can use magic, they've saved countless lives. But there's always the possibility that at some point they caught the real Dragon Reborn and have inadvertently doomed the world.

If you establish that the Dragon Reborn could be female you then lose that sense of duality. If it turns out to be a woman, so what? The Aes Sedai can be manipulative or intimidating to be around, but they're not actively feared by the general population as ticking time bombs.

Not really. The way the Prime series is playing it the only real difference is a shift from simply hoping the Dragon himself will be a "good" guy and not kill everyone, to hoping the Wheel spins out the Dragon as a woman, because she won't go mad and kill everyone. That actually could work out better, better explain some of the hard "anti-Rand" stances some people take throughout. One of the biggest problems with the books; eventually everyone who is working against Rand is either outed as a darkfriend or Forsaken, or is being manipulated by them (I'll allow the exception is Gawyn, but his motivations aren't hard to figure out.) This change adds the possibility that someone with completely altruistic motives could be working against Rand. This actually makes it possible that the Reds... are right. Their "gentle every dude who can channel" attitude was always slightly insane in the books considering one was destined to be "the chosen one." Almost as if their leaders were following the orders of the Shadow. Because it made no sense otherwise. Now, in the Prime series... it does make sense. That would make it an even bigger surprise if, say... (wild speculation here) it turned out the Reds' leaders were darkfriends. Because its possible they were just trying to make the best of a bad situation. In the books that isn't possible, its almost inevitable there is some connection there. Rendering it no surprise to find out about that... were it to happen just as an example.

That's actually an example of a change that makes the story more, rather than less interesting. It fixes a flaw in the original series. But its still up to the writers to take advantage of said opportunity... and they haven't yet. Still could down the line. We'll have to see.

 

[Kyrian007]

3: Why are the people of Emmond's Field diverse? In the book, it was established that they're an isolated group, so they should all look the same.

Answer: I don't think this is really a problem, but it does tie into something I really noticed in the show, namely everyone, everywhere, does look the same. As in, in real-world terms, you have people from all over the real world mixed together in every location, regardless of that location's cultural inspiration. For instance, Emmond's Field is your stock Medieval European village, while Fal Dara is clearly based on East Asian architecture/culture, while Tar Valon is not!Minas Tirith, but the people of one place look the same in another place. So far, the only distinct human group that's been named are the Aiel.

I could see this becoming weird down the line, but at least for now, for me, it's a non-issue. Though having browsed the wiki to check on things...well, it's kind of weird that Malkier was changed from not!Camelot to not!feudal Japan, so, um, yeah. The Emmond's Field thing more or less encompasses the approach the show has taken - clear cultural differences in locations, but similarly multi-ethnic in all of those locations. Whether that's good, bad, or irrelevant, is up to you.

3: Non-issue to me too. And frankly easy to explain considering that it is post-apocalypse Earth and it wouldn't be surprising to see multi-ethnic settlements and potentially less diverse settlements both form after said apocalypse.

 

[Xprimentyl]

The Afterparty: S1:E1-4, Alright / Great

Following their 15th high school reunion, several people meet up for an afterparty at the luxurious home of Xavier, their most successful alum, and as things wind down, he is murdered. Tiffany Haddish *exhausted sigh* is the detective dispatched to the scene to interrogate the remaining party-goers to uncover the killer.

About the only thing interesting about this show so far is that each episode, told to Haddish from the different perspective of each suspect, has a slight bend towards a different genera of film, i.e.: action, comedy, horror, etc., but each maintains an air of humor. Thankfully, Haddish is relegated to "present day" moments while most of the show focuses on the past events. I'll finish it if only to find out how it ends, but it's nothing to write home about. Junk food.

The Afterpatry: S1: E5-8, Meh / Great

We finished this miniseries, and while it was mostly entertaining enough from minute to minute with cheap laughs and absurdity, I can't recommend it in good faith. Tiffany Haddish is just exhausting and her "police work" so incredible (in the literal sense) you can't buy it in any appreciable sense despite the myriad genres it jumps through. I mean someone has been murdered, and the suspects (of which there are several) are just left to wander about the house tampering a crime scene while she interrogates them one by one? I get they were going for comedy, but that's just dumb. Plus, Haddish doesn't act; she's just herself in everything she does, and "herself" is grating after only a few minutes; that this series dragged us through several hours of her over the course of a month... just no. There are other, genuinely interesting/entertaining characters, but they don't do enough to elevate the whole. Bonus points for casting Ben Schwartz; his portrayal of the obnoxious, pop culture caricature Jean-Ralphio Saperstein in Parks & Recreation will forever give him a special place in my heart.

The concept of a miniseries that spans multiple genres episodically was a cool one; it's an idea I'd like to see more try. Something about one episode being a version of the story as a psychological thriller, and the next being an animated comedy was intriguing, so more bonus points for trying something different. Watch if you want to; there's worse stuff out there, but I think anything Tiffany Haddish is in should come with a warning label.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Murderville

Murder mystery comedy starring Will Arnett as a homicide detective, with the hook that he gets a new partner every episode in the form of a guest star playing themselves - except they don't have a script, so they have to improv their way through scenes (most of them have them interrogating a suspect or going "undercover" with Arnett telling them what to say through an earpiece, Dennis Quaid-in-Starbucks style).

It's a fun premise and starts off with a great episode guest starring Conan O'Brien - which sadly turns out to be the peak of the show. The other five episodes vary wildly between ok and hmk. The problem is that half the guest stars aren't even comedians, and are therefore unwilling to embarrass themselves for a laugh (or don't know how). And half the fun in improv is basically inconveniencing the other actor, who has to run with it whether they like it or not. Only Conan knows how to develop a situation thrown at him without seeming like he's trying to make it funny.

Also Will Arnett's great in it and carries the rest of the show to the best of his ability. Dude just looks funny. The intro alone with pictures of Arnett looking jaded cracks me up.

 

[Hawki]

The Legend of Vox Machina: Season 1 (3/5)

So I finished the first season of this show. And I cannot, for the life of me, understand why it's so popular. If I was rating this purely on level of enjoyment, it would get a 2/5, but being more objective, I can admit that it's just bog standard average.

So, anyway, this show has a DnD party that's at the bottom of the barrel, and is hired by the king as a last resort to deal with a dragon...which is a premise that lasts the first two episodes, and is then quickly jettisoned for a much darker, character focused story, where our former bunch of idiots instantly transform into hyper-competent mercenaries. I...what? We can debate whether the bait and switch is good storytelling or not, but what ISN'T good storytelling is having your characters start off as pathetic, and have them switch to being hyper-competent at the drop of a hat rather than anything resembling character development, or, y'know, levelling up. Even if you make excuses for the storytelling under the premise that "this is based on DnD, storytelling isn't the main focus," it still fails at aping RPG mechanics, because again, there's no bridge from A to B.

But fine, okay. The show starts off being one thing, then becomes another, as the characters detail with the undead who've taken over a town, with one of the characters having personal history. Cue character drama, cue over the top spectacle, cue every...single...tired...cliche...under...the...well, not under the sun, the sun never seems to rise here, but Christ, I was just so tired of it by the end. I'll come out and say it, I honestly prefer the 1980s DnD cartoon to this. Yes, it was silly, yes, the characters were simple, yes, the animation was just as simple, but it at least didn't imagine itself as being more than what it was. This is sadly earnest writing that honestly thinks it's deep, but instead just goes for tired cliches and tropes. Oh honey, you can't do that...

Also, worldbuilding is practically non-existent. This is a minor point, as in, I get that this is based on the setting of Exandria in Critical Role, but if you want any worldbuilding in this show alone, you're not going to get it. Any development of setting is only hinted at, at best. For instance, over and over, we're told that one of the characters has to lead/go back to the "Air Ashai." Who they are, and why, are questions that are never answered. Now apply this to every single character and every single species.

So come the end, the king of Tal'Dorei (fuck, I actually remember that name) abdicates the throne to the council in what's meant to be a stirring move, despite the fact that there's been no leadup to this, in terms of plot or character, and both king and council have been almsot entirely absent from the bulk of the season, and then dragons turn up, and that's bad, and God I just don't care anymore.

To be clear, I'm fine with cliche and tropes if they're at least done well enough, or if the defecit in originality is made up for in other areas, but this just doesn't have any of it. And having just come off Wheel of Time, it's like comparing the sun to a light bulb. One of those things provides light, warmth, and beauty, the other is dingy, and burns my hand when I reach out.

So, yeah. Not a fan.

 

[Agema]

Brand New Cherry Flavour (Netflix)

From the title this might seem like a teen drama, but a quick look at the main promotional picture would accurately establish that this is a horror series. Perhaps along the way I missed or forgot some oblique reference, but generally I have no idea why it got that title, not that it matters.

It's an 8-part horror series about a Brazilian filmmaker called Lisa Nova who creates an awesome short, and goes to Hollywood to make it big with her debut picture. There she meets an apparently helpful producer, at which point things go awry. The producer betrays her, and she will take any steps to get revenge... including supernatural avenues, which become even more complicated due to a secret Lisa is fleeing. At this point, everything doesn't just go awry, it goes horribly downhill and perhaps we learn a certain something about the pitfalls of revenge.

This is another pleasingly effective horror series, although crazily offbeat compared to most of the stuff out there. It successfully manages to pull off the horror despite some wicked humour, although it doesn't always quite pull everything together. The lead (Rosa Salazar) and the rest of the cast do a sterling job, and it trots along with plenty to keep a viewer engaged. It's not unmissable level stuff, but it's definitely quality TV.

 

[Xprimentyl]

The Last Days Of Ptolemy Grey: S1: Ep1-2 Great / Great

Samuel L Jackson plays an elderly man suffering from rapidly on-setting dementia who is cared for by his great nephew. He lives alone, has hoarded a lot of stuff and his grip on reality is haunted by visions of his past and his diminishing ability to sort his present. At the behest of his uncle's doctor, the nephew schedules an appointment with another doctor who offers an experimental procedure that could restore his mental faculties and his ability to remember everything. When his nephew is killed, Jackson is placed in the care of a family friend, a young woman who reluctantly takes on the task, and discovers in the process of cleaning his apartment the appointment with the new doctor...

So far REALLY good. I don't recall seeing Jackson in such a dramatic role. It's heart-wrenching to see him and those who love him suffer as his tenuous grip on reality slips moment to moment. He pulls off his frailty and vulnerability very convincingly; it's almost hard to watch someone who epitomizes swagger and suave in such helpless distress, but the opening scene hints that things turn around as, in a foreshadowed moment of lucidity, he drops his signature "muthafucka" letting you know things go his way in the end. Can't wait for the next episode... but I have to. This trend of fucking miniseries is going to eat me alive.

 

[Gordon_4]

The Last Days Of Ptolemy Grey: S1: Ep1-2 Great / Great

Samuel L Jackson plays an elderly man suffering from rapidly on-setting dementia who is cared for by his great nephew. He lives alone, has hoarded a lot of stuff and his grip on reality is haunted by visions of his past and his diminishing ability to sort his present. At the behest of his uncle's doctor, the nephew schedules an appointment with another doctor who offers an experimental procedure that could restore his mental faculties and his ability to remember everything. When his nephew is killed, Jackson is placed in the care of a family friend, a young woman who reluctantly takes on the task, and discovers in the process of cleaning his apartment the appointment with the new doctor...

So far REALLY good. I don't recall seeing Jackson in such a dramatic role. It's heart-wrenching to see him and those who love him suffer as his tenuous grip on reality slips moment to moment. He pulls off his frailty and vulnerability very convincingly; it's almost hard to watch someone who epitomizes swagger and suave in such helpless distress, but the opening scene hints that things turn around as, in a foreshadowed moment of lucidity, he drops his signature "muthafucka" letting you know things go his way in the end. Can't wait for the next episode... but I have to. This trend of fucking miniseries is going to eat me alive.

A Time to Kill, Changing Lanes, Jungle Fever and 187 are some very dramatic roles Samuel L Jackson has played: among many others I e forgotten or not seen. He is no stranger to it; despite his ability to effortless coast through other roles on raw charisma and screen presence.

 

[Xprimentyl]

A Time to Kill, Changing Lanes, Jungle Fever and 187 are some very dramatic roles Samuel L Jackson has played: among many others I e forgotten or not seen. He is no stranger to it; despite his ability to effortless coast through other roles on raw charisma and screen presence.

I said "I don't recall seeing Jackson in such a dramatic role," not that he's never done ANY dramatic roles. Unless you want to count Unbreakable, he's never appeared so frail and helpless, but even in Unbreakable, he was a mastermind with a grand scheme. Hell, even in Django Unchained where he's a slave and quintessential house nig... (well, I think "Uncle Tom" will pass the Escapist's filters more easily than that more common and derogatory term,) he still comes across as "Samuel L Jackson" in a weird way. In this new series, he's more vulnerable at a fundamental level than I've ever seen him, and he does it well.

 

[meiam]

3: Non-issue to me too. And frankly easy to explain considering that it is post-apocalypse Earth and it wouldn't be surprising to see multi-ethnic settlements and potentially less diverse settlements both form after said apocalypse.

Actually that makes things much worse, if you assume that there was an apocalypse that scramble people in random village, it means the village has strong racism and inter-culture/race marriage is non existent, otherwise in a few generations every race would have homogenized, depending on the population size of the village, that might require a lot of inbreeding.

As far as the dragon being potentially woman, it could work if the story would follow a route of "fuck, the dragon was reborn as male, we might be all fuck because of that" which maybe the prime show will do, but the story would be waaaaaaaaaay more boring if it turned out to be a women that reincarnated. That being said I'd love if Rand wasn't the dragon, cause boy is he boring.

Imo if they were going to change the story and dip into GoT territory, what they should do instead is explore the "break the wheel" aspect, the world story is said to constantly repeat itself. Considering this involved multiple catastrophic event it seems like a pretty good idea to stop the wheel from going the same story path, they could explore that aspect with people trying to purposely change the event (like what would happen if someone killed Rand?).

 

[Gordon_4]

I said "I don't recall seeing Jackson in such a dramatic role," not that he's never done ANY dramatic roles. Unless you want to count Unbreakable, he's never appeared so frail and helpless, but even in Unbreakable, he was a mastermind with a grand scheme. Hell, even in Django Unchained where he's a slave and quintessential house nig... (well, I think "Uncle Tom" will pass the Escapist's filters more easily than that more common and derogatory term,) he still comes across as "Samuel L Jackson" in a weird way. In this new series, he's more vulnerable at a fundamental level than I've ever seen him, and he does it well.

Oh I see what you mean now. That’s a fair assessment.

 

[Hawki]

She is, in the sense the series revolves around her in a way the book maybe does not: she displays the most agency, and more colour and narrative relates to her than it does any other character. Rand Al'Thor (the supposed main hero), for instance, spends most of the season as little more than a whiny teen, and is completely overshadowed.

In a way, it makes a lot of sense. Season 1 is a tale about her plan, her hard work, the things she knows and her background (e.g. White Tower). In comparison, the main heroes are just a bunch of peasants dragged from their life of stultifying rural tedium following her around.

Those are fair points, but even so, Moiraine is clearly in service to someone else conceptually, in-universe and out of universe, namely the Dragon Reborn, who's one of these three peasants she's escorting. Quite conspicuously, she isn't "the special" here. And considering that all five of said peasants are characters in their own right, I'm not sure if I can call Moiraine the main character.

To be clear, in the context of season 1, I don't think anyone can be called "the" main character. Certainly not Rand, who future plotlines aside, tends to play second fiddle to those around him. For instance, Egwyene and Nynaeve get a lot more character development than the boys. But still, wouldn't give it to Moiraine either.

The issue with the Dragon Reborn potentially being female ties into one of the big flaws in WoT in that the series never clearly establishes the importance of the Dragon Reborn.

In the distant past, a bunch of men went insane and killed millions of people with magic. Since that time, men who show signs of channelling have become figures of terror who could lose their minds and kill everybody around them at any moment. But according to prophecy the Dragon Reborn is going to use magic to defeat the Dark One and save the world. So the Dragon Reborn is simultaneously a figure of great hope and great fear. And it ties in to the role of the Aes Sedai - by capturing and gentling men who can use magic, they've saved countless lives. But there's always the possibility that at some point they caught the real Dragon Reborn and have inadvertently doomed the world.

If you establish that the Dragon Reborn could be female you then lose that sense of duality. If it turns out to be a woman, so what? The Aes Sedai can be manipulative or intimidating to be around, but they're not actively feared by the general population as ticking time bombs.

I don't think it changes that much contextually.

You're right in the lore behind it. One of the key issues with the Red Ajah, as brought up by Moiraine, was that every man they gentled was potentially the Dragon Reborn. And that the Dragon Reborn wielding saidin is an iffy prospect considering the whole madness thing.

However, how much does the ambiguity change in the TV show? Saidin is still corrupted, and any male who wields it is destined to go mad. The Red Ajah are still gentling males. The Dragon Reborn is still destined to save or destroy the world. The ambiguity, IMO, adds to it, since it means any character can be the Dragon, not just one of the three boys. In the end, Rand's still the Dragon, he still wields saidin, and he still fears going mad as a result.

 

[Agema]

Those are fair points, but even so, Moiraine is clearly in service to someone else conceptually, in-universe and out of universe, namely the Dragon Reborn, who's one of these three peasants she's escorting. Quite conspicuously, she isn't "the special" here. And considering that all five of said peasants are characters in their own right, I'm not sure if I can call Moiraine the main character.

The "main character" is simply whomever a work of art mostly focuses on. One would not, for instance, watch The Other Boleyn Girl and conclude the main character was Henry VIII because he is the character who has the most power.

 

[Agema]

Toast of Tinseltown (BBC)

Arguably, season 4 of surreal comedy series "Toast of London", but renamed as British stage actor Steven Toast (Matt Berry) heads off to the USA to take a role in the new Star Wars movie. For those who haven't seen it, Toast is a rude, pompous buffoon, in many ways hopelessly unaware of modern life and culture. He clearly gets enough work in theatre and voiceovers (the latter of which he clearly hates), but spectacularly manages to blow it every time he has an opportunity to hit the big time. Nevertheless, the viewer can maintain sympathy with and root for Toast, mostly because of the absurdities he faces and the even worse people he encounters.

"Toast of..." is past its peak and not brilliant, but it maintains enough quality to keep the viewer amused. It's got all the old running gags ("Yes I can hear you, Clem Fandango") in place. And I particularly like the conceit that instead of being somewhere else in the world obviously filmed around LA, as is common in US TV and movies, this is obviously filmed in the UK pretending deliberately poorly to be LA. Anyway, good fun.

I will just leave this clip from an earlier series of Toast, which is one of my favourite comedy clips.