Discuss and Rate the Last Thing You Watched (non-movies)
- Thread starter Hawki
- Start date
Paradise, Hulu, ep.1-3
From the makers and star of This Is Us (a show we did not watch because everyone we knew kept telling us how great it was because the drama made them cry and we just were not interested) comes a political thriller with a sort of minor sci-fi-ish bent. Sterling K Brown plays a secret service agent who has to be the dude what investigates the Big Murder Conspiracy(ies).
I am asking folks to watch this show because after three episodes, I still don't know if this is good. Cast is good, direction is fine and all that, plot I guess makes some kind of sense but none of these characters feel like real people, or even pretend-real-enough-for-show human. I'll admit that a big part of it is that billionaires and political leaders behave somewhat rationally which is so opposite of current reality that I can't force my brain to shut up about it.
From the makers and star of This Is Us (a show we did not watch because everyone we knew kept telling us how great it was because the drama made them cry and we just were not interested) comes a political thriller with a sort of minor sci-fi-ish bent. Sterling K Brown plays a secret service agent who has to be the dude what investigates the Big Murder Conspiracy(ies).
I am asking folks to watch this show because after three episodes, I still don't know if this is good. Cast is good, direction is fine and all that, plot I guess makes some kind of sense but none of these characters feel like real people, or even pretend-real-enough-for-show human. I'll admit that a big part of it is that billionaires and political leaders behave somewhat rationally which is so opposite of current reality that I can't force my brain to shut up about it.
The Good Place: S1-2: Good / Great
Elleanor (Kristen Bell) wakes up in an ostensible waiting room and learns immediately that she is dead, and has earned her spot in the Good Place (effectively heaven.) Michael (Ted Danson,) the “architect” of her utopian neighborhood, shows her around and takes her to her new home where she is regaled with a video of her life and all of her good deeds that netted her a spot in the Good Place. The problem? The footage is NOT from her life. Elleanor is actually an unwittingly self-absorbed person who did very little good with her life, and there’s been a clear mistake in the supposedly infallible system of judgement. She attempts to fit in and skirt being found out to avoid being sent to her rightful spot in the Bad Place (effectively hell.)
Really good show. As ridiculous as the premise is, it’s a fun (and funny) ride. And much respect for the twist they managed to stave off until the final episode of the first season. Probably one of the better twists I’ve been subjected to as not only was I not expecting it, I wasn’t even suspecting I could suspect it. Recommended!
Elleanor (Kristen Bell) wakes up in an ostensible waiting room and learns immediately that she is dead, and has earned her spot in the Good Place (effectively heaven.) Michael (Ted Danson,) the “architect” of her utopian neighborhood, shows her around and takes her to her new home where she is regaled with a video of her life and all of her good deeds that netted her a spot in the Good Place. The problem? The footage is NOT from her life. Elleanor is actually an unwittingly self-absorbed person who did very little good with her life, and there’s been a clear mistake in the supposedly infallible system of judgement. She attempts to fit in and skirt being found out to avoid being sent to her rightful spot in the Bad Place (effectively hell.)
Really good show. As ridiculous as the premise is, it’s a fun (and funny) ride. And much respect for the twist they managed to stave off until the final episode of the first season. Probably one of the better twists I’ve been subjected to as not only was I not expecting it, I wasn’t even suspecting I could suspect it. Recommended!
The Good Place is good, and all the up to the end. Of course it gets a bit silly but never past the point of enjoyment and I think ends at just the right time in a nice way, something you can't really say about almost any other sitcom.
I think it's the pinnace of Michael Schur's work, which includes The Office and Parks & Rec. His most recent show is Man on the Inside which has its moments but it's like he said everything he needed to say on TGP.
I think it's the pinnace of Michael Schur's work, which includes The Office and Parks & Rec. His most recent show is Man on the Inside which has its moments but it's like he said everything he needed to say on TGP.
Invincible S3E4
Covers issues 54 and 55 in the comic series, and pretty much a faithful adaptation. No complaints here
Covers issues 54 and 55 in the comic series, and pretty much a faithful adaptation. No complaints here
I thought Jason would getting annoying as most "dumb" characters tend to do when the joke gets tired, but I find myself not experiencing that with him. That, and the constant jokes at the Jacksonville Jaguars' expense; they feel like the should be topical and age poorly, but have turned out to be timeless for the foreseeable future. Makes sense Jason would be a mindless, die-hard fan.
My wife laughed at the Borltes/JAX jokes and knows as little about football as she cares about it. But the combination of the performance and many our general weariness of Florida made them jokes land every time.
Finished Dexter: Original Sin, aside from it perplexingly seeming to be set up for another season. Which surely there can’t be prior to Resurrection’s debut in June. Eh…anyways it was an overall a pleasant way to flesh out Dexter’s backstory a bit, even if it added almost as many questions as it answered.
The White Lotus S3E1
My favorite wine aunt show is back! Starring an incestuous family sired by Jason Isaacs and Parker Posey (the kids are all smacking their lips for each other), a trio of passive aggressive MILF besties and a very grumpy Walton Goggins. On the side of normalcy, Belinda from S1 is back on an exchange program.
My favorite wine aunt show is back! Starring an incestuous family sired by Jason Isaacs and Parker Posey (the kids are all smacking their lips for each other), a trio of passive aggressive MILF besties and a very grumpy Walton Goggins. On the side of normalcy, Belinda from S1 is back on an exchange program.
The Good Place: S3-4: Great / Great
Yeah, I finished it, and I'm forking sad. Great show: wholesome, charming, silly, funny, oddly spiritual, intellectual, and in the end, so damned bittersweet. I need a Michael in my life to wipe my memory so I can watch it all over again for the first time. *sigh*
My sister watched the last episode of Falcon and the Winter Soldier while we had lunch, and good lord, it is embarrassing how much better it looks than Brave New World.
The Man On The Inside: Ep. 1-8 Good / Great
A widowed retiree is is conscripted by a private investigator to infiltrate and investigate thefts in a retirement home. At first amused and excited by the idea of doing something different with his idle time, he begins to form bonds with the residents, and his primary mission becomes secondary.
Y'know, I never gave Ted Danson much thought (never seen a single episode of Cheers,) but between this and The Good Place, the man has cemented himself in my heart. He's incredible. Between these two shows, the overlap of cast, and the nod to "The Neighborhood" as the memory care wing of the retirement community, man, I just couldn't help but tear up a bit. Can't help but believe Charles from this show IS Michael from The Good Place in some capacity!! Fucking touching show. It hints at another season, but it really doesn't need one. Like, at ALL. It ends on the perfect note of finality that automatically makes more of it feel disingenuous.
I think I might be more depressed than I thought; these feel good shows are hitting hard. Might watch Deadpool and Wolverine or a couple John Wicks again to remind myself that I'm not a single, middle-aged woman who can sit on the couch in her bathrobe with a bottle of red wine, and make crying an unintended hobby.
A widowed retiree is is conscripted by a private investigator to infiltrate and investigate thefts in a retirement home. At first amused and excited by the idea of doing something different with his idle time, he begins to form bonds with the residents, and his primary mission becomes secondary.
Y'know, I never gave Ted Danson much thought (never seen a single episode of Cheers,) but between this and The Good Place, the man has cemented himself in my heart. He's incredible. Between these two shows, the overlap of cast, and the nod to "The Neighborhood" as the memory care wing of the retirement community, man, I just couldn't help but tear up a bit. Can't help but believe Charles from this show IS Michael from The Good Place in some capacity!! Fucking touching show. It hints at another season, but it really doesn't need one. Like, at ALL. It ends on the perfect note of finality that automatically makes more of it feel disingenuous.
I think I might be more depressed than I thought; these feel good shows are hitting hard. Might watch Deadpool and Wolverine or a couple John Wicks again to remind myself that I'm not a single, middle-aged woman who can sit on the couch in her bathrobe with a bottle of red wine, and make crying an unintended hobby.
Agatha All Along
Disney +
Rating: Good
Tagline to get you to real me talking about it more: A surprisingly uneven road to Marvel trying to find a better direction.
Synopsis:
So coming from Wandavision Agatha Harkness is powerless oh and the Salem Seven the children of Agatha's original coven members whom she killed are now coming. So with the help of a strange Teenager who help free her Agatha sets out to build a new coven to open the path to the legendary Witches Road a place it's said Agatha is one of the few who have ever completed before and which offers to reward those who complete it with what they believe they are missing and or want / need.
Thoughts:
So I quite liked this show. it has it's issues it could do with some-one fixing the pacing I mean did we really need a full episode on the teens backstory when it could have been a 15 minutes of spaced out flashbacks? Or the first episode which is nearly an hour long riff of police procedurals. I do like the physical sets even if a couple of times it did feel very low budget 90s TV in places like the very plasticy looking earth and glowing roots sections while other times it looked brilliant like something off a polished HBO series. I'll applaud Kathryn Hahn for her performance as being close to the level of Nicolas Cage or William Defoe going full on over the top chewing the scenery in a very entertaining way which honestly toned down like 30% could see being quite an imposing serious villain rather than over the top one. I'll also applaud
Patti LuPone whose performance feels like it elevates the material such that she's doing it like Shakespeare rather than a kinda silly magic show in a superhero franchise. The Episode focussing on LuPone's character is I'd argue one of the best episodes of the show and best pieces of hiding plot elements in plain sight I've seen a show pull off in a while which must have taken real writing talent to pull off as seemingly random nonsensical moments all come together to form a story arc.
I think it's worth saying I liked the fact this show felt like Marvel was self aware of some of the criticism of it with people on about how female villains were all tragic figures in Marvel mostly who were in control or had their reason and how Marvel as a whole has kept trying to do more sympathetic villains who are villains of circumstance rather than evil because they want to be for power or control or status, the show very much have you wondering if this is going to be about how Agatha is a victim of circumstance and to tell you if she truly is now requires me to go spoilers which will spoil more
Disney +
Rating: Good
Tagline to get you to real me talking about it more: A surprisingly uneven road to Marvel trying to find a better direction.
Synopsis:
So coming from Wandavision Agatha Harkness is powerless oh and the Salem Seven the children of Agatha's original coven members whom she killed are now coming. So with the help of a strange Teenager who help free her Agatha sets out to build a new coven to open the path to the legendary Witches Road a place it's said Agatha is one of the few who have ever completed before and which offers to reward those who complete it with what they believe they are missing and or want / need.
Thoughts:
So I quite liked this show. it has it's issues it could do with some-one fixing the pacing I mean did we really need a full episode on the teens backstory when it could have been a 15 minutes of spaced out flashbacks? Or the first episode which is nearly an hour long riff of police procedurals. I do like the physical sets even if a couple of times it did feel very low budget 90s TV in places like the very plasticy looking earth and glowing roots sections while other times it looked brilliant like something off a polished HBO series. I'll applaud Kathryn Hahn for her performance as being close to the level of Nicolas Cage or William Defoe going full on over the top chewing the scenery in a very entertaining way which honestly toned down like 30% could see being quite an imposing serious villain rather than over the top one. I'll also applaud
Patti LuPone whose performance feels like it elevates the material such that she's doing it like Shakespeare rather than a kinda silly magic show in a superhero franchise. The Episode focussing on LuPone's character is I'd argue one of the best episodes of the show and best pieces of hiding plot elements in plain sight I've seen a show pull off in a while which must have taken real writing talent to pull off as seemingly random nonsensical moments all come together to form a story arc.
I think it's worth saying I liked the fact this show felt like Marvel was self aware of some of the criticism of it with people on about how female villains were all tragic figures in Marvel mostly who were in control or had their reason and how Marvel as a whole has kept trying to do more sympathetic villains who are villains of circumstance rather than evil because they want to be for power or control or status, the show very much have you wondering if this is going to be about how Agatha is a victim of circumstance and to tell you if she truly is now requires me to go spoilers which will spoil more
OK I'll say I saw part of the ending coming and the ending revelation is the Witches Road is all fake, made up by Agatha to get groups of Witches together with her in the promise of whatever they desire only to claim clearly they weren't very strong witches and suck because the door to the road never appears only for them to start to blast her and Agatha to absorb their powers. Which she's done for a long time killing other witches by absorbing their power to amplify her own, because Agatha is not a good person, she is a villain and is evil. Not even Loki can be redeemed evil but mad cackling, power hungry, throw others under the bus evil and it is fun because it's fun to have a character you look at as evil and don't feel sympathy as such for them but want to see what just amoral thing they're try to do next. It works well in the context of the idea Agatha is trying to have to force herself to worth together with the others to complete the Road which Agatha knows is fake but also wants to see where the hell it all goes too because it may be fake but it seems to be operating by the actual rules the tale of the road has had built up over the centuries since she first made up the song and tale herself.
I really liked the story arc with Aubrey Plaza's character Rio too who is revealed to be Death, as in the personification of Death in the Marvel universe whom it's implied has a thing for Agatha and Agatha has made some kind of deal with Death which now makes me kind of sad Marvel didn't go with the Thanos comic motivation of trying to seduce Death by wiping out half of all life with Plaza playing death. It also sort of feels like some of those elements are brought over to this series only it's more Death having a thing for Agatha then the other way round.
Oh and on the whole "The gayest Disney show to date." There's 1 gay kiss and 1 lesbian kiss. That's basically it. Teen who is actually Wiccan / Billy Maximoff is a gay Jewish teenager and his relationship is mentioned once and shown in his backstory episode and but only in a small enough amount it could easily be cut for audiences in areas of the world where said content isn't acceptable. Also getting to see a near topless Aubrey Plaza, I do have to ask was that fanservice for lesbians or just those of us dudes who decided to give this show a try?
Being honest it's a shame it ends with Agatha becoming a ghost because I'd like to have seen the MCU do some kind of thing with Agatha as an actual big recurring villain or something
I really liked the story arc with Aubrey Plaza's character Rio too who is revealed to be Death, as in the personification of Death in the Marvel universe whom it's implied has a thing for Agatha and Agatha has made some kind of deal with Death which now makes me kind of sad Marvel didn't go with the Thanos comic motivation of trying to seduce Death by wiping out half of all life with Plaza playing death. It also sort of feels like some of those elements are brought over to this series only it's more Death having a thing for Agatha then the other way round.
Oh and on the whole "The gayest Disney show to date." There's 1 gay kiss and 1 lesbian kiss. That's basically it. Teen who is actually Wiccan / Billy Maximoff is a gay Jewish teenager and his relationship is mentioned once and shown in his backstory episode and but only in a small enough amount it could easily be cut for audiences in areas of the world where said content isn't acceptable. Also getting to see a near topless Aubrey Plaza, I do have to ask was that fanservice for lesbians or just those of us dudes who decided to give this show a try?
Being honest it's a shame it ends with Agatha becoming a ghost because I'd like to have seen the MCU do some kind of thing with Agatha as an actual big recurring villain or something
Ted Danson is great.
I recently caught a bit of Cheers while channel flipping local TV stations, a show I haven't seen in years, and he really did play the charming, cocky but at times vulnerable rogue really really well. That swagger and doofiness. Cheers also holds up really well I think, once you get past the laugh track.
But full disclosure I'm in full "things were much better back then" mindset at this point, so
Becker is worth a watch then, if only the first few seasons before Terry Farrell left.
I remember being really angry at that show because I was such a big DS9 fan and Farrell leaving really messed up its last season. To this day I still use the term "the wrong Dax" to refer to something failing to stick a landing.
Kaos: Ep1-8 Decent / Great
Set in a modern-day version of reality where worship of the ancient Greek gods has persisted, several of said gods are plotting to secretly end the reign of Zeus, the hedonistic, selfish, cruel, and insecure "king of the gods." How so? With an elaborate plan using three mortals in varying stages of life and the afterlife and "fate."
A dark comedy, imho, but I also admit I've yet to be able to put my finger on exactly what that means. It's clearly intended to be funny or a parody at times, but too much serious shit with dire implications goes down to pass it off as just plain comedy. Think The Boys, but Greek gods instead of superheroes. Not nearly as overtly violent or incredulously raunchy, but certainly the gist is the same when viewed from far enough above. All of the gods are terrible persons with little regard for the humans that worship them, but not necessarily irredeemably so. There are a few arcs wherein a god or two, in service of their end goal to bring Zeus down, sides with humanity, risking themselves, but you can't help but think humanity is little more than a means to an end.
Not bad; I'd recommend it, but it falls a little flat at the end. For the last episode, when everything is supposed to come to a head, it basically just ends leaving all of the interesting consequences to your imagination while the credits roll. The final episode is honestly the weakest of the eight. Even if a seasons 2 was planned (and apparently scrapped according to Google,) it really petered out in a way that doesn't leave you intrigued so much as annoyed and wanting to get to the next season.
Set in a modern-day version of reality where worship of the ancient Greek gods has persisted, several of said gods are plotting to secretly end the reign of Zeus, the hedonistic, selfish, cruel, and insecure "king of the gods." How so? With an elaborate plan using three mortals in varying stages of life and the afterlife and "fate."
A dark comedy, imho, but I also admit I've yet to be able to put my finger on exactly what that means. It's clearly intended to be funny or a parody at times, but too much serious shit with dire implications goes down to pass it off as just plain comedy. Think The Boys, but Greek gods instead of superheroes. Not nearly as overtly violent or incredulously raunchy, but certainly the gist is the same when viewed from far enough above. All of the gods are terrible persons with little regard for the humans that worship them, but not necessarily irredeemably so. There are a few arcs wherein a god or two, in service of their end goal to bring Zeus down, sides with humanity, risking themselves, but you can't help but think humanity is little more than a means to an end.
Not bad; I'd recommend it, but it falls a little flat at the end. For the last episode, when everything is supposed to come to a head, it basically just ends leaving all of the interesting consequences to your imagination while the credits roll. The final episode is honestly the weakest of the eight. Even if a seasons 2 was planned (and apparently scrapped according to Google,) it really petered out in a way that doesn't leave you intrigued so much as annoyed and wanting to get to the next season.
Considering how poorly treated Terry Farrell was on DS9, I don't blame her in the slightest for going and doing something more relaxed like a network sitcom.
Invincible S3E5
Kinda crap episode, NGL. It covers some of the most boring subplots in the comics, and comes dangerously close to being an anime filler
Invincible S3E6
And now everything is so much better, as we cover the Powerplex arc. The usage of title screen was hilarious here. Rex/Ray relationship continues to be an interesting one, as it's a completely original, but plausible situation in this universe.
Powerplex himself is rather a facinating villain, as he is one of those deranged morons who is angry for all the right reasons.
The Next episode is gonna be Invincible War, and shit is gonna get messy
Kinda crap episode, NGL. It covers some of the most boring subplots in the comics, and comes dangerously close to being an anime filler
Invincible S3E6
And now everything is so much better, as we cover the Powerplex arc. The usage of title screen was hilarious here. Rex/Ray relationship continues to be an interesting one, as it's a completely original, but plausible situation in this universe.
Powerplex himself is rather a facinating villain, as he is one of those deranged morons who is angry for all the right reasons.
The Next episode is gonna be Invincible War, and shit is gonna get messy
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