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

[Xprimentyl]

Kindred Ep1-6 (Hulu): Good / Great

A black woman finds herself mysteriously pulled back and forth between present time and the early 19th century where she is assumed to be a slave. She inadvertently involves a very new love interest in a white man who gets pulled in with her and is assumed to be her master. They struggle to figure out why these transitions are happening, how to control them, but most importantly, how to survive when stuck in a time where their lives remain in constant danger.

As a black man in an interracial relationship with a white woman, this has been a tough but interesting watch. We've both been uncomfortable on a few occasions. But more interesting is how quickly the on-screen couple's relationship evolves. They literally have only known each other for a couple of days while their transitions to the past span years. I'm pretty sure were myself and my gf in a similar situation, I'd be dead within minutes.

 

[Baffle]

Witcher: Blood Origin. Terrible stuff I'm afraid.

 

[Piscian]

Alice in Borderland Season 2 (Fin)

So sorry if I'm spoiling anything, but the series ended with season 2. This is kind of a breath of fresh air - a Netflix series that actuals ended as apposed to being canceled, and a Mystery Box show that doesn't go on for 6 seasons. Think overall it got where it needed to go and was surprisingly cathartic. So much so that its the first show in a long time that I sorta want to go back and watch the first season of because several characters I'd forgotten about have important roles in Season 2. Granted its been what seems like at least 2 years since the first season came out. I recall with the first Season, I enjoyed the games, but largely did not care for the characters or stories some of which dragged. Season 2 has a much more frenetic pace and feels like there's always a goal in sight. Additionally characters feel a bit more three dimensional this time around, even the "cool" genius trope character feels more empathetic. Ironically, if I had a complaint this time it "didn't" drag as much as I would have liked. Specifically in one particular episode they do a montage of several games being finished rather than spend any amount of time on them, which was disappointing.

I think if this show suffers from anything it's that its japanese. Yeah I got real racist didn't I? Let me elaborate. Squid game, generally lauded as a compelling drama and better than AiB is Korean. If you know anything about Korean Cinema you know that they are jokingly branded as having their own special sub-genre of being depressing as shit. Your OldBoys, I saw the Devils, memories of murder. Even their contemporary film and TV focuses on character development and tragedy. They just excel at making you feel "feelings".

In the first episode of Season 2 of AiB a man, an adult human being, runs from gun fire with his hands in his pants pockets, literally like some video game character trope. In another episode theres a character who looks like a mad scientist and does math calculations by snapping his fingers. This is something distinctly Japanese, for better or worse they adapted these tropes from the manga, probably faithfully, but it severely undercuts the tension.

Unlike many other shows I've seen this one keeps the ridiculously tropes within reason and the ending is far more sensical and full of meaning than I expected. I don't want to get spoilery about it but it just makes the show feel far more inline with the empathetic drama of Squid Game.

If Squid Game was a 10/10 AiB was about an 8/10. It's very close to greatness, I just wish they'd have cut all the tropey over the top anime character shit and the empty platitudes you see so often in Japanese cinema that you think at first must be terrible translation, but no they actually said "blebbibidy-blah blah-sky-potato-self-I understand now" and said of being like "Damn, sorry I killed your mom in the last game."

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

The White Lotus - season one

Not the greatest comedy/drama but it brings decent social satire, occasionally delivered with biting commentary. It follows both staff and guests of the aptly named White Lotus luxury resort in their exploits as their various personal dysfunctions display themselves. The guy from the original Joy Ride (opposite Paul Walker) is here and works well in it. Also Stiffler’s mom, who manages to be only the second most annoying personality in the fold.

Just started season two and only two characters were carried over from the first. Guess who one of them was! One of the new guys is kind of a hoot with how zero fucks given his thoughts are on things like orgasm frequency, in a conversation with his son/grandson no less. The title sequence music is pretty cool this time too, and for now at least seems like something worth not skipping. But on top of that I’ve also read it contains hidden visual clues into the plot; kinda like Ozarks did but far more elaborate and artistically pleasant.

 

[Phoenixmgs]

Alice in Borderland Season 2 (Fin)

So sorry if I'm spoiling anything, but the series ended with season 2. This is kind of a breath of fresh air - a Netflix series that actuals ended as apposed to being canceled, and a Mystery Box show that doesn't go on for 6 seasons. Think overall it got where it needed to go and was surprisingly cathartic. So much so that its the first show in a long time that I sorta want to go back and watch the first season of because several characters I'd forgotten about have important roles in Season 2. Granted its been what seems like at least 2 years since the first season came out. I recall with the first Season, I enjoyed the games, but largely did not care for the characters or stories some of which dragged. Season 2 has a much more frenetic pace and feels like there's always a goal in sight. Additionally characters feel a bit more three dimensional this time around, even the "cool" genius trope character feels more empathetic. Ironically, if I had a complaint this time it "didn't" drag as much as I would have liked. Specifically in one particular episode they do a montage of several games being finished rather than spend any amount of time on them, which was disappointing.

I think if this show suffers from anything it's that its japanese. Yeah I got real racist didn't I? Let me elaborate. Squid game, generally lauded as a compelling drama and better than AiB is Korean. If you know anything about Korean Cinema you know that they are jokingly branded as having their own special sub-genre of being depressing as shit. Your OldBoys, I saw the Devils, memories of murder. Even their contemporary film and TV focuses on character development and tragedy. They just excel at making you feel "feelings".

In the first episode of Season 2 of AiB a man, an adult human being, runs from gun fire with his hands in his pants pockets, literally like some video game character trope. In another episode theres a character who looks like a mad scientist and does math calculations by snapping his fingers. This is something distinctly Japanese, for better or worse they adapted these tropes from the manga, probably faithfully, but it severely undercuts the tension.

Unlike many other shows I've seen this one keeps the ridiculously tropes within reason and the ending is far more sensical and full of meaning than I expected. I don't want to get spoilery about it but it just makes the show feel far more inline with the empathetic drama of Squid Game.

If Squid Game was a 10/10 AiB was about an 8/10. It's very close to greatness, I just wish they'd have cut all the tropey over the top anime character shit and the empty platitudes you see so often in Japanese cinema that you think at first must be terrible translation, but no they actually said "blebbibidy-blah blah-sky-potato-self-I understand now" and said of being like "Damn, sorry I killed your mom in the last game."

I stopped watching season 1 like 4 or so episodes in because it was so bad, the straw to break the proverbial back was the episode they're all crying fucking constantly. The characters were so one dimensional and trope-y, it was unwatchable for me. I really hated how they drug out the drama of the games so long when there's a time limit and characters are just taking forever to open a door (the apartment complex game episode). The show mainly came off a wish fulfillment fantasy for the writer. A main protagonist not seen as being successful member of society is suddenly thrown into a world where his very specific skills are now key to survival and success!!!

 

[Hawki]

The Walking Dead: Season 9 (3/5)

Without a doubt, this has got to be one of the strangest seasons of TV I've ever seen (in terms of pacing).

I should elaborate, like a lot of people, I lost interest in The Walking Dead at some point during its run. For me, it was season 6, I struggled through season 7 and 8, and really stopped caring around then, and in a sense, had already started to stop caring by season 5. Borrowing season 9 was just a "sure, why not?" moment. So I should stress that like most seasons, this isn't a "proper watch" (in that it was on while I was working), but that said, well, this season is weird.

I'll start with what I actually quite liked, and that's the concept of it. If everything from season 1 to 6 (8 at the very latest) is post-apocalypse, season 9 is post-post-apocalypse. Walkers are still around, but individually are pushovers, and even herds can be easily dealt with when diverted. A lot of the season is focused with the emergence of what could genuinely be called new societies - towns/hubs connected by trade, mutual defence, fairs are held, a constitution is drafted, etc. We've gone from season 1, which starts a few weeks (or a month or so, I forget) from the start of the outbreak to what's functionally a new world. This is even reflected in the level of technology - at the start, the characters could burn through ammo easily, now, guns are rare, bows and spears are common, horses are used instead of cars, etc. There's nothing unique in this kind of regression in fiction, but it's certainly rare to see this kind of regression play out in real-time over the course of a series. Season 9 feels like a soft reboot in a number of ways, but if nothing else, its portrayal of the setting is kind of neat. You could even argue that this plays in thematically with the Whisperers - while I call BS on how they function (zombie masks hide them from walkers, but in season 1, the characters needed to drench themselves in blood to do that, and even then, it didn't always work), thematically, we can see the divide between civilization and savagery. I know those are loaded terms, but you've got the protagonists trying to make something good, while the Whisperers represent the worst of humanity. Hardly that deep, but I'll give credit where it's due.

Alright, enough positivity, time to get into what I didn't like. Like I said, this season is weird in terms of pacing. Episodes 1-5 take place 18 months after the end of season 8, then we jump into the future a whole 6 years, the timeframe of which lasts until the penultimate episode, then we jump again a few months into what feels like the start of a season, but is in fact the ending of this one. Less than one season, season 9 feels like one short season, one average season, and the episode of season 10 thrown in. What's even stranger is that the first five episodes still have Rick as the protagonist, but they're boring as fuck, and it's only after jetissioning Rick that the season starts to come into its own. After that, stuff happens, but it's really hit or miss as to which episodes are good or not. For instance, episode 14 is just a waste of time, whereas episode 15 is one of the best, most tragic episodes in the season overall. On one hand, there's a number of characters that are likable - Judith is a precious cinammon bun, prisoner!Neagan is fun, Lydia's a good character, but on the other, there's so much dull conversation going on elsewhere that it ends up dragging things down. Mainly at the start of the season, so things get better, but you've got to take the good with the bad.

So, yeah. I'll leave my ranking down below, but overall, while the season isn't the worst in the series, it's probably the messiest. Liked some stuff, disliked some stuff, really don't care enough to seek out season 10 anytime soon.

RANKINGS

9) Season 6
8) Season 9
7) Season 8
6) Season 5
5) Season 7
4) Season 2
3) Season 1
2) Season 4
1) Season 3

 

[Dalisclock]

Witcher: Blood Origin. Terrible stuff I'm afraid.

So don't bother then?

I watched Season 1 of the show and no more so I'm kinda behind on the show.

 

[bluegate]

Star Trek Prodigy

A fun little show taking place several years after the conclusion of Voyager with tons of references.

I especially liked the references to Voyager and how the show is more optimistic than the doom and gloom of recent Star Trek.

 

[Gordon_4]

Sharpe, series 1-3 which covers the stories: Sharpe's Rifles, Sharpe's Eagle, Sharpe's Company, Sharpe's Enemy, Sharpe's Honour, Sharpe's Gold, Sharpe's Battle and Sharpe's Sword.

This is very masculine television. Soldiering in the Napoleonic age made for hard, hard men. However, there's also a great deal of softness in Sharpe and most of the Chosen Men, its just not there all the time but when the emotions hit, they hit hard. The two most potent examples are

Spoiler

The death of Sharpe's first (and in my view best) wife, Commandante Teresa Moreno at the hands of his most hated enemy and the death of Perkins who is the youngest (18) of the Chosen Men to a traitor.

. That combined with some of the romances in the show, makes this far less obnoxious than one would assume based on the premise.

Each episode has Sharpe, alive despite wounds that lets be honest should have killed his ass ten times over - its oft joked Sean Bean's many deaths are the balancing of karmic scales for surviving Sharpe - look forlornly over his shoulder at the field of battle and on certain occasions, a grave, while the somber tones of John Tam (who plays Chosen Man Daniel Hagman) singing a verse and chorus of a slightly older war song "O'er the Hills and Far Away".

Acting, costuming and casting are all top notch: like James Bond before him, Sean Bean's portrayal of Richard Sharpe caused author Bernard Cornwall to retcon the book original from being a Londoner born and bred, to born in London but spent time enough in Sheffield to pick up and keep the accent. Lots of soon to be famous faces show up here such as Mark Strong, Daniel Craig, Alice Krige, Emily Mortimer, Elizabeth Hurley, James Purefoy, Paul Bettany and Pete Posthlewaite. And some others I may have not yet seen or missed.


Less enthusiastically though not completely to the show's detriment, is that the budget turns what would have been rather epic setpieces in a film (and indeed the books they're based on, both fictional and historical) into rather small scale skirmishes and uh, well the shooting stuff is fine and easy. But as soon as swords are drawn, shit gets a little silly. Like one duel Sharpe fights he very obviously 'stabs' his opponent by thrusting the prop sword between his body and arm. And people fall and die from being whacked across the shoulders with little to no effort to show the blade even cutting the clothes never mind the man wearing them.


All in all though, the series is a strong 9/10 but some of the adaptations are better than others. Sharpe's Gold for example, by my understanding, bears sod all resemblance to the novel from which it takes its name.

Here's forty shillings on the drum, for those who'll volunteer to come.......

 

[mirbrownbread]

Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders

A strong 8/10

Witty, exciting, and utterly hilarious!

"Holy citric acid, Batman!"

 

[Thaluikhain]

Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders

A strong 8/10

Witty, exciting, and utterly hilarious!

"Holy citric acid, Batman!"

Oh yeah, that was a great modern animated version of the Adam West. They get captured and are on the conveyor belt exactly one episode length into the movie, where they'd have a cliffhanger. And the big cameo fight scene where they could bring back all the old villains for one last time was great.

Though, after this they brought Adam West back for another animated film which just wasn't very good, shame to end on that note. Also, that bit where Catwoman makes Robin promise not to sexually assault her when she's unconscious, and then after drugging her her looks at her like he's tempted...um, what?

 

[gorfias]

The White Lotus - season one

Not the greatest comedy/drama but it brings decent social satire, occasionally delivered with biting commentary. It follows both staff and guests of the aptly named White Lotus luxury resort in their exploits as their various personal dysfunctions display themselves. The guy from the original Joy Ride (opposite Paul Walker) is here and works well in it. Also Stiffler’s mom, who manages to be only the second most annoying personality in the fold.

Just started season two and only two characters were carried over from the first. Guess who one of them was! One of the new guys is kind of a hoot with how zero fucks given his thoughts are on things like orgasm frequency, in a conversation with his son/grandson no less. The title sequence music is pretty cool this time too, and for now at least seems like something worth not skipping. But on top of that I’ve also read it contains hidden visual clues into the plot; kinda like Ozarks did but far more elaborate and artistically pleasant.

You'll have to let us know when you finish Season 2 and what you think of it.

So don't bother then?

I watched Season 1 of the show and no more so I'm kinda behind on the show.

I liked Season 2 but a thing that bothers me.

Spoiler

They kinda wanted this to be Game of Thrones with all the lusty scenes such a property might have. Now, anyone with Internet can see anything that is legal these days, for free. What you see or not is not in and of itself the issue. In Season 2, they go out of their way to avoid female nudity. The effort, in an R rated offering, feels hostile. Further, the Witcher himself feels like a co-star in a show named after him. I think this had something to do with Caville leaving the show. I think there is going to be a Season 3 and I'm almost afraid to watch. I hear one reason he left was that the writers of the show actively hate this property and its fans. If so, how do such people get these jobs to begin with?

 

[Baffle]

So don't bother then?

I watched Season 1 of the show and no more so I'm kinda behind on the show.

I liked S1 well enough and S2 less so, but this one is a spin-off that seems to have pretty minimal relation to Witchering.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

You'll have to let us know when you finish Season 2 and what you think of it.

I liked it more than season one overall. It was fun watching gramps, dad and junior independently lust over those escorts and then look at each other and the light bulb goes on. The whole thing with Tanya getting resolved was kinda fun too with the black humor angle. There’s also a pretty intriguing theory out there about Greg. I also like how there was a bit of mystery and misdirection at play here, and that the season was basically bookended by the floater. The young couples were really getting annoying though, especially with the trust issues. I almost started preferring the family in the first season.

I like how the show isn’t afraid to push the explicit content envelope a bit too, as well as delve into the human psyche and let loose with some pretty raw social commentary now and then. Curious to see where season three ends up. Hints point to somewhere in Asia.

 

[gorfias]

There’s also a pretty intriguing theory out there about Greg. ... Hints point to somewhere in Asia.

Agreed about the couples. I'm not sure I really understand their ending and do prefer what happens to the young son in Season 1 to their story. Interesting theory about Greg! Thanks for sharing.
Noted above,

Spoiler

I have to think there were some last minute changes for reasons we'll never know re: Tanya and Greg. There is a pre-nup keeping Greg from Tanya's money. If the plan had was to kill Tanya and get her cash, I think it would have been done much simpler. Instead, they wine and dine her and get her to have sex, I assume on camera. This works in a world where they would now help Greg prove adultery. Pre-nups often have clauses that punish the unfaithful ala Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones. Tanya would have been in a lot of trouble were that the case. Instead things were quickly wrapped up. It was a terrific scene though.

Show creator hints we will likely see Greg in Season 3.
As for the 3 generations of the boys, they may never learn.

 

[mirbrownbread]

Also, that bit where Catwoman makes Robin promise not to sexually assault her when she's unconscious, and then after drugging her her looks at her like he's tempted...um, what?

Agreed, that bit was odd and completely unnecessary.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Been watching a bunch of long form YouTube videos.


When I was maybe 13 years old, my siblings and I went on our very first and probably last trip to Disneyland on our own. My older sister refused to use the Fastpass since she thought it was paid, and so we went on just a handful of rides. When we learned it was free, we spent the next decade or so teasing her about it.

So it was a pretty wild ride to see a groundbreaking innovation (invented by a fellow industrial engineer) that brought so much value to people for free become corrupted by one of the most corpo corporations out there into a classic capitalist shitfest. Great production quality, and goes above and beyond simply reading out history or going on rants like so many other long form videos.

Really enjoying long form these days. There's some downtime at work so I can actually afford to have something playing in the background.

 

[Phoenixmgs]

The Peripheral S1 - 7/10

This is a show that I really should be way more into than I am but I'm not for whatever reason. I can't really say any specific thing was done bad or poorly, it just doesn't quite gel as good as it should I guess. The show is a bit too cryptic about the plot and factions so you never feel you have a great hand of all the moving parts but Severance is even less forthcoming about that stuff and it hooked me in. The show has a really interesting sci-fi premise where the main cast of characters is set in a "stub", which is basically a parallel universe created by people in the future to be able to test things (drugs and technology and whatnot) and the main character having basically a VR connection to the real and future universe.

---

Doctor Who - Series 1 - 7/10

I bought quite a few seasons of Doctor Who on Blu-ray over Black Friday (Eccleston, Tennant, and 2 Capaldi seasons) and started re-watching through them. The 1st season is pretty solid, albeit pretty campy at points (but it works), and you can tell their special effects budget was pretty shit or the special effects team they used wasn't too good. I'm also surprised at how many 2-parters these seasons have so far, there's kinda of a 3-parter in season 1 even. I do really like Eccleston as Dr. Who though. There's some really solid episodes in here like the Dalek episode and time dragons episode.

---

Doctor Who - Series 2 - 7.5/10

Tennant is pretty great as Doctor Who as probably everyone knows. I never really cared for Matt Smith's Doctor as he was too similar to trying to Tennant's version and his seasons just aren't very good. Pretty solid season overall and we get the Daleks as the big baddie again, which is a bit disappointing. Some interesting stuff with the parallel universe. I'm not sure if the special effects budget just got quite a bit bigger or they switched to a different team, but it's much better than season 1. Also, Doctor Who faces off with literal Satan, pretty awesome.

 

[Ag3ma]

Jack Ryan season 3 (Amazon).

The first thing that astonishes me about this is that Jack Ryan is still in the CIA. As a spoilerific recap of season 2, at the end he led an armed assault on the presidential palace of... Venezuala or some other Latin American state, without official sanction. I'm very aware that the USA launching coups in other countries is not exactly unheard of, but I am sure these are decisions made at the highest level, with a great deal of consideration, because the ramifications are pretty massive and can give your state a diplomatic crisis. So how the fuck he's not been cashiered and even put in prison for a few decades escapes me. However, despite causing/ risking a major intentional incident without apparent sanction in season 2, in this season, they burn him in the blink of an eye, because of a typically childish Tom Clancyesque pop at "politics" in the military / intelligence services.

Jack Ryan is nonsense. Utter, flagrant nonsense from start to finish. A lot of it isn't even good nonsense. The plot is by-the-numbers spy caper with pretentions, and often really quite dull. It should also end two episodes earlier (and why not save yourself the pain and just stop with a sufficiently wrapped-up plot?) but trudges on for another hour and half of superfluous trash. Anyway, this season appears to be set with 90s geopolitics but 2020s technology and is something to do with Russian plot to restore former glories with a nuke plot and whatever. It doesn't really matter.

Jack Ryan himself is ridiculous: he's supposed to be analyst so he's super clever, except he's also a top field agent, because no-one loves heroes for being clever. And has the skills of a spec ops hero, but peculiarly only when needed, because he's not supposed to be a violence solves all problems kind of guy, even if he solves most of his problems with lashings of violence. Eyerolls, please. The whole thing is dumb. Like the fact that everyone becomes conveniently stupid, just so Jack Ryan can look clever. They just stumble around in the dark or sit around waiting for Jack Ryan to tell them the answers. It's full of stupidness where you have to determinedly switch your brain off. Like the point Ryan is on a hill in remote countryside trying to contact his allies on the phone, no response, he looks worried, and then suddenly their helicopter rises right behind him. How the flying fuck did he not hear it??? Helicopters are really loud.

As you might have guessed, I hatewatch this show, it's kind of my "Emily in Paris". Roll on the next season of Reacher, because that's superb nonsense.

 

[Thaluikhain]

As a spoilerific recap of season 2, at the end he led an armed assault on the presidential palace of... Venezuala or some other Latin American state, without official sanction

Well, that does seem to be in vogue, at least domestically.