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

[Hawki]

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.

You're right about The Other Boleyn Girl - the main character there is Mary Boelyn (not that Wikipedia thinks so, for whatever reason), and you're right that the main character is the one the work focuses on most. However, even leaving aside any in-universe rationale...is Moiraine the one the show focuses the most on? Because I don't really think so. She might have more raw screentime than the other characters, but the story isn't about her per se, nor is she the one who has a character arc.

To be clear, I don't think there's any one main character in the WoT show - not yet at least. But I wouldn't argue it's Moiraine, since it's not really her story. Her role is mainly to guide others in achieving their goals.

 

[Hawki]

Prisoner Zero (3/5)

Making this short, as this isn't the first time I've reviewed Prisoner Zero, even if it is the first time I've given it a "proper watch." Basically look up my old review if you want and be assured that everything I said then more or less still applies.

Main difference here is that what I didn't like then, I like less, and what I did like then, I like more. The series really picks up after its halfway point. But alas, what HAS changed since then is that there's been outright confirmation that we'll never get a second season. Because we can't have nice things.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Suspicion: S1 E1-7: Really Good / Great

After the son of an American politician is abducted by a gang of four people donning latex masks of the British royal family, four British citizens who all happened to be in New York at the same time for disparate reasons are suspected of the crime. Each is arrested, interrogated and released under surveillance, and the race is on to clear their names. Four suspects accused of the same crime, all claim innocence, all lie, and none of them trust each other, but they are literally all any of them have as the media assumes and broadcasts their guilt.

Really good, but convoluted. It's one of those series that gets off on misleading the audience and dragging it through some pretty far-fetched moments for suspense and intrigue. Each of the main characters is likeable and hateable at the same time (mostly for ineptitude or willing selfishness,) and ironically, you somehow find yourself sympathizing with the worst of them. Next episode drops on Friday; I really want to see how this pans out.

 

[BrawlMan]

Peacemaker -This is now my favorite live action DCEU show! Talk about making a great spin-off and sequel to Suicide Squad 2. John Cena is a riot, and his acting chops only continue improve. Been improving since 2013. The cast is pretty good, Robert Patrick almost always plays an asshole as usual, and Vigilante is a funny dumb ass. Think Deadpool-lite, but reality ensues of "this type a person would be annoying and a hazard to be around in real life". DCEU only keeps getting better and better, and is knocking out Marvel in certain regards when it comes to their TV series. If you love SS2, then you are going to love Peacemaker. I won't spoil anything. With that said, I did not expect the show to get introspective and real on certain levels. The show ain't afraid of politics and knows what it is doing.

​

 

[Hawki]

Peacemaker -This is now my favorite live action DCEU show!

As opposed to the...other DCEU live-action shows? 0_0

 

[BrawlMan]

As opposed to the...other DCEU live-action shows? 0_0

Exactly!

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty

I did not know Magic Johnson had AIDS. That's how little I know or care about basketball.

I like Succession and I like John C. Reilly. Like Succession it's produced by Adam McKay, who also directs the pilot, and scored by Nicholas Brittel. Even the intro sequence is cut like the opening of Succession.

But I don't give shit about basketball, and I don't care how portentous you try to paint all those backroom deals and business lunches, so I'm left sort of desperately clasping at the characters. Everyone who isn't Magic Johnson's unpleaseable born again mama is likeable enough but nothing to write HQ about.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Formula 1: Drive to Survive: S4: Ep1-10

It's true what long-time F1 fans say; Netflix does go out of its way to overdramatize the sport, but it's still a great show, and it has brought a lot of new fans along with it. Most interesting to me was the earnest coverage of my favorite driver's (Valtteri Bottas) transition from Mercedes to Alfa Romeo for 2022. Toto Wolff (Mercedes team principle) said it really was a toss up between Bottas and Williams' George Russell who ultimately got the seat, and it came down to a couple key mistakes mid-season that made Russell (along with his youth) a more promising choice. But part of the reason I like Bottas as much as I do is he respected the choice understanding F1 is a business, and sometimes business decisions aren't personal.

I kinda feel like they glossed over Abu Dhabi's controversial ending (a lot of fans started with the S4's final episode to see how Netflix would handle it,) but otherwise more of the same: rivalries exaggerated and editing that makes things sound more vitriolic than they actually are, but still a good series. You don't have to be a fan to appreciate it, and it might just make you a fan. But be warned, stating that DTS made you an F1 fan is effectively the same as this scene from Die Hard 3, i.e.: you won't make many friends in the F1 community...

 

[Hawki]

Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season 1 (4/5)

Hold onto your warp core, because truth of the matter is, this is now in contention for my favourite Star Trek series.

However, that comes with a caveat, in that I don't think this is what you can call a "real" Star Trek series, or at least, I find it hard ot believe to that Lower Decks takes place in the same Star Trek universe as everything that's preceeded it. Because ultimately, Lower Decks operates on the premise that (nearly) everyone in Starfleet is an idiot, and that even the best of the best get by through being slightly less idiotic than everyone else around them. Considering that it's using the aesthetic of TNG, this is ironic, because TNG operated under the principle of humanity being 'perfect,' of there being no intercine conflict, and its crews being elite. Lower Decks is the complete opposite approach. So on one hand, I can appreciate why Star Trek fans might detest this show (I'm sure some do, but I haven't seen much hate for Lower Decks, least not compared to Discovery, Picard, or even the Kelvinverse). On the other, as someone who isn't much of a Star Trek fan, this doesn't really bother me. I'll gladly take Lower Decks over TNG's insufferablenes (apparently that isn't a word...huh...)

Anyway, Lower Decks is funny at worst, and hilarious at best. It absolutely takes the piss out of the Star Trek franchise, but it easily stands on its own two feet. Characters are great, writing is great, pretty much everything is great. There's the odd exception, but not really worth getting into. However, the one thing I did notice is that while Lower Decks obstensibly has four main characters (Beckett, Boimler, Rutherford, Tendi), it isn't that common for them to be seen all together, or at least, deal with the same plot together. Usually Beckett and Boimler will get the A plot, and Tendi and Rutherford the B plot. This isn't a bad thing, but just noticable.

So, yeah. If you're a Trekkie who's super invested in the lore, this is probably a hard sell, but if you want good sci-fi comedy, I highly recommend this.

 

[Dalisclock]

Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season 1 (4/5)

Hold onto your warp core, because truth of the matter is, this is now in contention for my favourite Star Trek series.

However, that comes with a caveat, in that I don't think this is what you can call a "real" Star Trek series, or at least, I find it hard ot believe to that Lower Decks takes place in the same Star Trek universe as everything that's preceeded it. Because ultimately, Lower Decks operates on the premise that (nearly) everyone in Starfleet is an idiot, and that even the best of the best get by through being slightly less idiotic than everyone else around them. Considering that it's using the aesthetic of TNG, this is ironic, because TNG operated under the principle of humanity being 'perfect,' of there being no intercine conflict, and its crews being elite. Lower Decks is the complete opposite approach. So on one hand, I can appreciate why Star Trek fans might detest this show (I'm sure some do, but I haven't seen much hate for Lower Decks, least not compared to Discovery, Picard, or even the Kelvinverse). On the other, as someone who isn't much of a Star Trek fan, this doesn't really bother me. I'll gladly take Lower Decks over TNG's insufferablenes (apparently that isn't a word...huh...)

Anyway, Lower Decks is funny at worst, and hilarious at best. It absolutely takes the piss out of the Star Trek franchise, but it easily stands on its own two feet. Characters are great, writing is great, pretty much everything is great. There's the odd exception, but not really worth getting into. However, the one thing I did notice is that while Lower Decks obstensibly has four main characters (Beckett, Boimler, Rutherford, Tendi), it isn't that common for them to be seen all together, or at least, deal with the same plot together. Usually Beckett and Boimler will get the A plot, and Tendi and Rutherford the B plot. This isn't a bad thing, but just noticable.

So, yeah. If you're a Trekkie who's super invested in the lore, this is probably a hard sell, but if you want good sci-fi comedy, I highly recommend this.

I had more fun with the Lower Decks then any Trek Series since DS9. It reminded me I can like Star Trek but most of the recent stuff hasn't engaged me enough to care.

 

[Ezekiel]

Didn't even know Bud Bundy was in college until this last episode where his teacher has the hots for him. Just assumed he wouldn't go to college because of how poor Al is. Different times. Still enjoy the show towards the end of this sixth season, even if it's more over the top and silly now. Peggy and Marcy's pregnancies in the first few episodes was weird, though. Peg disappeared for a couple of episodes as the actress was presumably having her maternity leave and then the show just pretended it was all a dream. Not a big deal, though. It's basically a cartoon.

 

[Gordon_4]

Star Trek Picard, season 2, episodes 1-2.

Solid start to a series, although for some reason Allison Pill is still stinking up the joint with her presence. Fortunately everyone else is still as likeable as ever - hell Paramount; give Captain Rios his own show after this - and their chemistry remains very charming.

Spoiler

Speaking of charming, John de Lancie you magnificent, hammy son of a ***** you have lost nothing about being Q in the intervening decades. You wear the character like he’s an old, worn in and well preserved suit

It’s also nice that this one is lighter on the cameos than season one, with Guinen’s appearance very obviously not being mere fan service.

With all that said, I feel very confident indeed that episode 3 is going to (if it hasn’t already) send a fair amount of the Internet into tirade. There’s no way it can tell the story of what is functionally the Mirror Universe without pissing people off.

Also, not only is Hikaru Sulu’s OG USS Excelsior NCC-2000 still in service (though obviously refit several times) but her ballsiest Captain ever got a ship named after him. Fuckin’ aces.

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

Seems like a fair enough non-exploitative, matter-of-fact style short journey through their lives. Though some text isn't given much time to finish reading before it moves on. And I can only imagine the short clippets of actual music is down to the awful copyright reality the eternally corrupt music industry has successfully foisted upon us all. A workable middle ground looks to be found.

 

[Dwarvenhobble]

The Boys Presents: Diabolical

Rating: Surprisingly good but not quite managing great

Premise: A series of side stories all revolving around the world of The Boys and the Vought corporation

Thoughts: The show is uneven and hit and miss but at ~15 minutes (with intro and credits) per episode it's hard to hold it against the show as if you don't like one episode then another will be up soon enough. The best way I can talk about it is talking about the individual episodes.

Laser Baby's day out - What happens when a Vought lab experiment escapes with the help of a scientist who has grown attached to one of the test subject children and wants to be her father? Well It's a classic style caper cartoon as the Scientist tries to save the baby from all kinds of misadventures while being perused by Vought who wants her killed off for being a failed experiment. It's a really enjoyable kinda silly episode that works well with the old whimsical animation style that juxtaposes well with the violence and gore going on.

An Animated Short Where Pissed-Off Supes Kill Their Parents - The Obligatory more Rick and Morty esc episode with similar kind of humour to said show. It's silly over the top and pretty nihilistic but a decent enough premise basically explained in the title but it's about a home for reject Superhero kids who end up with crappy powers and their parents abandon them. So think the hospital stuff from Season 2 but with kids not adults.

I'm Your Pusher - The Most "The Boys" episode here, apparently taken straight from the pages of the comics and it is brutal and messed up but so on point. My only criticism is it really does show the difference in continuity with the comics vs the show with some different characters and slightly changed round powers. Worth watching for how screwed up it is.

Boyd in 3D - You obligatory "Message" episode that goes "Yes we also watched Black Mirror and wan to do something like it as our own version". It's actually pretty good as a concept as Vought tests our Compound V cosmetic creams that modify a subjects body to match how they feel or wish to be on the inside turning a dweeby dog walking and his unlucky in love neighbour into a social media influencer power couple and shows the dangers of living a social media life.

BFFs - Personally I found it an initially interesting concept that goes weird fast and ends up with a lot of wasted potential. The premise is a new girl in school is ending up dragged along with some of the popular girls who want her to help score them weed. Due to things happening the new girl ends up with a vial of compound V and ends up drinking it with unusual results that may fit into the world of The Boys but felt like a waste of the new girl with no friend story set up and the potential for the whole idea of the popular girls trying to use her more.

Nubian vs Nubian - What happens when a Superhero couple are planning divorce but their daughter is determined to stop it? Well this episode that explores the manipulation and framing of superheros that Vought does to style them and orchestrate things. Showing just how fake the world sometimes can be.
It's actually a sort of follow up to a scene from a previous episode (If anyone catches which one please tell me as I'd kind of like to watch what is the set up to this episode again) where one Superhero accidentally shoots another in the balls with a lightening blast.

John and Sun-Hee - An elderly man tries to save the life of his wife as she is close to succumbing to cancer by stealing some compound V. A surprisingly touching tale about the idea of the natural order of the world and consequences of trying to fight it. I'd say this is the best of the bunch

One Plus One Equals Two - A short following Homelander joining the 7 and posing the question "Was Homelander always evil and screwed up or did Vought set him on an inevitable course due to what was done to him such that he was always a ticking time bomb who was too powerful but too naive and inexperience to truly do good well."

 

[Dwarvenhobble]

Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season 1 (4/5)

Hold onto your warp core, because truth of the matter is, this is now in contention for my favourite Star Trek series.

However, that comes with a caveat, in that I don't think this is what you can call a "real" Star Trek series, or at least, I find it hard ot believe to that Lower Decks takes place in the same Star Trek universe as everything that's preceeded it. Because ultimately, Lower Decks operates on the premise that (nearly) everyone in Starfleet is an idiot, and that even the best of the best get by through being slightly less idiotic than everyone else around them. Considering that it's using the aesthetic of TNG, this is ironic, because TNG operated under the principle of humanity being 'perfect,' of there being no intercine conflict, and its crews being elite. Lower Decks is the complete opposite approach. So on one hand, I can appreciate why Star Trek fans might detest this show (I'm sure some do, but I haven't seen much hate for Lower Decks, least not compared to Discovery, Picard, or even the Kelvinverse). On the other, as someone who isn't much of a Star Trek fan, this doesn't really bother me. I'll gladly take Lower Decks over TNG's insufferablenes (apparently that isn't a word...huh...)

Anyway, Lower Decks is funny at worst, and hilarious at best. It absolutely takes the piss out of the Star Trek franchise, but it easily stands on its own two feet. Characters are great, writing is great, pretty much everything is great. There's the odd exception, but not really worth getting into. However, the one thing I did notice is that while Lower Decks obstensibly has four main characters (Beckett, Boimler, Rutherford, Tendi), it isn't that common for them to be seen all together, or at least, deal with the same plot together. Usually Beckett and Boimler will get the A plot, and Tendi and Rutherford the B plot. This isn't a bad thing, but just noticable.

So, yeah. If you're a Trekkie who's super invested in the lore, this is probably a hard sell, but if you want good sci-fi comedy, I highly recommend this.

Honestly,

I personally found Lower Decks Season 1 to be fine, if maybe below average. It felt like a lot of "Member Berries" moments a lot of the time and lacked teeth outside of the movie episode on the Holodeck. I much prefer the Orville (I mean it's a similar premise, the whole "We're not the best ship and crew leading the fleet" . I mean it was better than Picard season 1 by miles though.

I'll say this. Season 2 is far better for Lower Decks. I'd say ranging from acceptable to good, still no The Orville but it shows far more "Teeth" in terms of the shots its willing to take while fleshing out characters more while also being willing to correct some of what I'd say were issues the first season had.

On the whole "TNG and humanity being perfect" it's worth pointing out that TNG is meant to be the the adventures of one of the main flagship of StarFleet filled with the best of the best. There was an episode that where Q showed Picard how his life could have been different with him being a lower ranking member of the crew at best. Lower Decks even makes jokes about this with the whole thing about how some people get to serve on elite ships while the Lower Decks ship and crew end up with a lot of grunt work that keeps the Federation and Starfleet going that the more prestigious ships don't have to deal with.

 

[gorfias]

The Dropout on Hulu:

Saw the 1st of 5 episodes released so far.

I knew the story of Elizabeth Holmes who started a billion dollar medical company, Theranos, that turns out to have been BS. She appears to be a complete psychopath but the 1st episode does give you a glimpse of who she is and how she came to be. Also, the series would have you believe this crazy person is quite brilliant. If so, what a terrible waste. B+

 

[meiam]

The Dropout on Hulu:

Saw the 1st of 5 episodes released so far.

I knew the story of Elizabeth Holmes who started a billion dollar medical company, Theranos, that turns out to have been BS. She appears to be a complete psychopath but the 1st episode does give you a glimpse of who she is and how she came to be. Also, the series would have you believe this crazy person is quite brilliant. If so, what a terrible waste. B+

Holmes was no different than most successful founder, except that her product ultimately didn't work trough most likely little fault of hers. Most super successful company faked it till they made it, famously the first version of the iphone that was demoed was a complete fake and apple might not have been able to launch it for real. The big difference was Holmes was working in healthcare where failure isn't really an option, had she launch some other product (or had her company been sligthly luckier and her machine would have eventually worked) she'd probably still be revered.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Suspicion: S1 E1-7: Really Good / Great

After the son of an American politician is abducted by a gang of four people donning latex masks of the British royal family, four British citizens who all happened to be in New York at the same time for disparate reasons are suspected of the crime. Each is arrested, interrogated and released under surveillance, and the race is on to clear their names. Four suspects accused of the same crime, all claim innocence, all lie, and none of them trust each other, but they are literally all any of them have as the media assumes and broadcasts their guilt.

Really good, but convoluted. It's one of those series that gets off on misleading the audience and dragging it through some pretty far-fetched moments for suspense and intrigue. Each of the main characters is likeable and hateable at the same time (mostly for ineptitude or willing selfishness,) and ironically, you somehow find yourself sympathizing with the worst of them. Next episode drops on Friday; I really want to see how this pans out.

Welp, finished episode 8, and I must say, this one shit the bed. A very unsatisfactory ending that was not only hard to understand, but also not how anyone wanted it to end. I typically let a show stand on its overall merits, and for that it was still good, but this ending was so anticlimactic, it made me feel like I'd wasted my time the previous several hours. It's like "Lost" all over again in some ways: great at building intrigue, but but sucks at tying it all together in a finale.

 

[Hawki]

On the whole "TNG and humanity being perfect" it's worth pointing out that TNG is meant to be the the adventures of one of the main flagship of StarFleet filled with the best of the best. There was an episode that where Q showed Picard how his life could have been different with him being a lower ranking member of the crew at best. Lower Decks even makes jokes about this with the whole thing about how some people get to serve on elite ships while the Lower Decks ship and crew end up with a lot of grunt work that keeps the Federation and Starfleet going that the more prestigious ships don't have to deal with.

Yeah, but in the context of TNG itself, and in the context of its first two seasons? Even casting aside what I know of Rodenberry's guidelines and beliefs (e.g. crew wasn't allowed to have interpersonal conflicts), how we see life on the Enterprise seems to be indicative of everything else. For instance, it's not an actual Starfleet conspiracy, it's those worms. Those 20th/21st century stasis people, asking about money? "Barbarians!" Picard delivering his speech to Q in the pilot? "OMG, humanity's so awesome!" Maybe it's toned down after the first two seasons, but I wouldn't know. But as is, Lower Decks is a 180, far as I can tell. It's not just showing the lowly underbelly of a Starfleet ship, the entire bridge crew aren't much better, nor is anyone else in Starfleet. If anything, it kind of has more in common with Futurama ("even in the 31st century, humans are idiots,") more than TNG ("in the 24th century, mankind has evolved").

 

[gorfias]

Holmes was no different than most successful founder, except that her product ultimately didn't work trough most likely little fault of hers. Most super successful company faked it till they made it, famously the first version of the iphone that was demoed was a complete fake and apple might not have been able to launch it for real. The big difference was Holmes was working in healthcare where failure isn't really an option, had she launch some other product (or had her company been sligthly luckier and her machine would have eventually worked) she'd probably still be revered.

Just caught most of episode 2 (had to stop and watch the rest later). Holmes is trying to raise money and her device is not ready to even demo when a guy she is trying to raise money with tells her when demonstrating Oracle, the code was a complete disaster. Your words are prophetic about this sort of thing!

I think it was Windows 98 that crashed on Bill Gates during his big demo of it.

I don't recall exactly to what it was referring but it was something along the lines of great things coming from people with great ideas and not quite enough time to get them done.