Discuss and Rate the Last Thing You Watched (non-movies)
- Thread starter Hawki
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I think there's two ways of looking at the internal logic issue. FIrstly, season 4 has both time travel and magic, so that's twice as much inconsistency!Everyone's entitled to my...sorry, their opinion (ha!), but in regards to the above points:
-Legends has always suffered from a lack of internal logic. The time travel rules really seem to fluctuate based on what the plot demands them to be. They make even less sense when contrasted with The Flash (which also has the same problem of "time travel operates as the plot demands). If anything, it's easier for me to buy that magic has no rules than time travel, because the rules of time travel have been emphasized from day 1 (and conveniently forgotten) whereas magic has never really had that same limitation inside the Arrowverse.
-Didn't have a problem with Sarah and Ava. IMO, it's one of the better relationships in the show. Especially with the purgatory/bed warranty stuff.
-I'm not really going to defend Mona. She's not bad, but I really didn't connect with her. Doesn't help that the werewolf effect looks awful. FFS, how do you go from a creature of folklore that looks like this:
Image Interpretation of a dream «Werewolf» #10
weknowyourdreams.com
And instead present something like this?
Secondly, it just feels the inconsistency in season 4 is down to lazy writing. At its best in season 2, the show was about a group of dysfunctional characters travelling through time solving time aberrations with the subtlety of a sledge hammer. They would identify a problem and then eventually come up with a way to solve it in a way that would feel authentic to the character's strengths and motivations.
In season 4, it feels like the characters are told what the problem is and then told how to solve it through magic, so it feels like the characters are just going through the motions to get to the ending that the writers want. It doesn't feel authentic to the characters or play to their strengths (literally, in that they never get to use their skills or powers). For example, why would they decide to sing to the minotaur to put it to sleep? Wouldn't it be easier for Ray to shrink it, or for Sara to stab it to death, like Theseus did?
It just seemed like the writers were obsessed with the crazy set pieces, and didn't care about anything else.
So there is a tv show with Alan Tudyk playing an alien pretending to be a human! This is a thing!!
So...yeah. I mean, I love me some Alan Tudyk. Like pretty much everything he's been in, he's been the thing I've enjoyed the most. And now a show where he is the main character instead of just a supporting role? Fuck yes.
So...yeah. I mean, I love me some Alan Tudyk. Like pretty much everything he's been in, he's been the thing I've enjoyed the most. And now a show where he is the main character instead of just a supporting role? Fuck yes.
- Feb 7, 2011
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Glad to know my choice to turn it off 8 minutes into the first episode was correct.
Not quite.
The rules of time travel have been mentioned in both Legends and Flash, so when they're broken, it's jarring. In contrast, magic has never had rules established. So while both time travel and magic operate as the plot demands, the difference is that the former at least had lip service paid to its limitations.
I understand the complaint, I just feel it's in the season's strength. Legends is at its best when it goes bonkers, so I figure hey, roll with it.
Season 1 is, uniformly awful. Season 2 has some clunkers but also some good ones. By season 3 most of the rough edges have been filed down and it’s smooth sailing. Free advice though, if after your first episode with Lawaxanna Troi you find her unbearable, read ahead to skip her episodes because she largely doesn’t change. I mean I love her but she’s a love or hate character.
Battlestar Galactica: The Original Series (3/5)
I'm going to get one thing out of the way first - the re-imagined series is better than the original. There's, like, no way that this is a contestable fact in my view. Like, I can buy someone preferring the original, but looking at things objectively (well, as objectively as possible), the reboot is better. That said, I'm going to try and minimize references to the rebooted series and look at the original series on its own terms.
Chances are you're familiar with the premise of BSG, but that aside, if I was to describe its TOS incarnation, it would be a mix of Star Wars and Star Trek. For the former, it definitely has its influences on its sleeve - the cinematography and terminology have a clear inspriation from the original Star Wars trilogy. The turbolasers, the targeting computers of the Vipers, the blaster pistols, the existence of "Red Squadron" and "Blue Squadron..." if we're going by archtypes, you could even say that Apollo and Starbuck are to BSG what Luke and Han are to Star Wars - the noble warrior and the hotshot rogue. That said, BSG is in no way a Star Wars rip-off. Inspired, sure, but not a ripoff. But the other flipside of this is it taking inspriration from Star Trek - maybe not as blatantly, but there's the ensemble crew, and at least in the first half of the series, the 'planet of the week' format. BSG at least has an excuse as to why it encounters humans so much (whereas TOS, so many aliens looked identical to humans), but, yeah. Plus, we start getting our own captain's log format in the latter half of the series.
Characters are fine. Archtypes, but generally likable. Not all character development is equal, but it's at least there. On one end of the spectrum, we have characters like Starbuck. Yeah, he's an archtype, but it's an archtype that does have layers revealed over time. On the other end of the spectrum you have characters like Boxey - not excruciating, but he's a kid character, and like almost all kid characters in these stories, mostly unneeded. Somewhere in-between are characters like Baltar - evil and cackling, but fun to watch. "Fun" is certainyl a word that can be used to describe BSG at least, even if there's holes in a lot of things. For instance, it really has no understanding of how the universe works, as the fleet has passed through two galaxies by the series' end on their way to Earth, yet apparently, reaching light speed is a chore. So unless the speed of light is radically faster than we believe it is, something is up. Similarly, there's no shortage of habitable planets the fleet find on their way to Earth. Now, this is kind of explained as being due to colonists going out from the Twelve Colonies, or in the case of Terra, an offshoot of the Thirteenth Tribe. What isn't as well explained is why the fleet doesn't just settle down on one of these planets rather than keeping heading on towards Earth.
Something I'll stress is that the series does kind of hit its stride after the Pegasus duology, where it becomes less planet of the week and more internal conflict inside the fleet. It's also where the log format starts to be introduced. I've heard it suggested that the shift was due to budget reasons, or the showrunners working things out, but whatever the case, it does work out overall. But that said, this isn't deep writing. For instance, similar plot points are used to the re-imagined series (food contamination, near slave labour on a ship), but these are plot points resolved neatly and tidly within an episode, and usually with pew-pew-pew stuff.
So, yeah. The show was enjoyable enough. It holds up surprisingly well actually, including the effects (even if it's obvious that these are models, though if you dislike CGI, maybe that's a good thing). Again, the re-imagined series is much better, but there's still fun to be had here.
I'm going to get one thing out of the way first - the re-imagined series is better than the original. There's, like, no way that this is a contestable fact in my view. Like, I can buy someone preferring the original, but looking at things objectively (well, as objectively as possible), the reboot is better. That said, I'm going to try and minimize references to the rebooted series and look at the original series on its own terms.
Chances are you're familiar with the premise of BSG, but that aside, if I was to describe its TOS incarnation, it would be a mix of Star Wars and Star Trek. For the former, it definitely has its influences on its sleeve - the cinematography and terminology have a clear inspriation from the original Star Wars trilogy. The turbolasers, the targeting computers of the Vipers, the blaster pistols, the existence of "Red Squadron" and "Blue Squadron..." if we're going by archtypes, you could even say that Apollo and Starbuck are to BSG what Luke and Han are to Star Wars - the noble warrior and the hotshot rogue. That said, BSG is in no way a Star Wars rip-off. Inspired, sure, but not a ripoff. But the other flipside of this is it taking inspriration from Star Trek - maybe not as blatantly, but there's the ensemble crew, and at least in the first half of the series, the 'planet of the week' format. BSG at least has an excuse as to why it encounters humans so much (whereas TOS, so many aliens looked identical to humans), but, yeah. Plus, we start getting our own captain's log format in the latter half of the series.
Characters are fine. Archtypes, but generally likable. Not all character development is equal, but it's at least there. On one end of the spectrum, we have characters like Starbuck. Yeah, he's an archtype, but it's an archtype that does have layers revealed over time. On the other end of the spectrum you have characters like Boxey - not excruciating, but he's a kid character, and like almost all kid characters in these stories, mostly unneeded. Somewhere in-between are characters like Baltar - evil and cackling, but fun to watch. "Fun" is certainyl a word that can be used to describe BSG at least, even if there's holes in a lot of things. For instance, it really has no understanding of how the universe works, as the fleet has passed through two galaxies by the series' end on their way to Earth, yet apparently, reaching light speed is a chore. So unless the speed of light is radically faster than we believe it is, something is up. Similarly, there's no shortage of habitable planets the fleet find on their way to Earth. Now, this is kind of explained as being due to colonists going out from the Twelve Colonies, or in the case of Terra, an offshoot of the Thirteenth Tribe. What isn't as well explained is why the fleet doesn't just settle down on one of these planets rather than keeping heading on towards Earth.
Something I'll stress is that the series does kind of hit its stride after the Pegasus duology, where it becomes less planet of the week and more internal conflict inside the fleet. It's also where the log format starts to be introduced. I've heard it suggested that the shift was due to budget reasons, or the showrunners working things out, but whatever the case, it does work out overall. But that said, this isn't deep writing. For instance, similar plot points are used to the re-imagined series (food contamination, near slave labour on a ship), but these are plot points resolved neatly and tidly within an episode, and usually with pew-pew-pew stuff.
So, yeah. The show was enjoyable enough. It holds up surprisingly well actually, including the effects (even if it's obvious that these are models, though if you dislike CGI, maybe that's a good thing). Again, the re-imagined series is much better, but there's still fun to be had here.
Erased
Like almost every other "miniseries" anime I've ever watched, 90% is a single, simple yet overdrawn situation and the final 10% is where most of the story actually (hastily) develops. Plot has a deadbeat pizzaboy travelling back in time in order to change future outcomes ala Butterfly Effect, the primary goal being to prevent the murder of 3 kids in 5th grade and uncover the identity of the wannabe killer (an innocent man is given a life sentence in the future). As exciting as the theory sounds I was never very invested in any of it. The identity of the killer is more than obvious (not that the show comes up with more than 2 suspects) so that bit of suspense is out. The clash of 29 year old protagonist vs 11 year old protagonist is numbed because, well, every other kid in his class acts like a grownup anyway. And his efforts to befriend victim #1 and stop her murder are more contrived than they really need to be. He tries all these things before doing the obvious stuff I came up with like 5 episode earlier. I dunno. Everybody is on his side, most things go his way and for all the grim subject matter about child abuse the conflict never felt on par. Could've used more dynamic rapport between the past and future scenarios, instead we spend the bulk of the show in anime Stranger Things.
Like almost every other "miniseries" anime I've ever watched, 90% is a single, simple yet overdrawn situation and the final 10% is where most of the story actually (hastily) develops. Plot has a deadbeat pizzaboy travelling back in time in order to change future outcomes ala Butterfly Effect, the primary goal being to prevent the murder of 3 kids in 5th grade and uncover the identity of the wannabe killer (an innocent man is given a life sentence in the future). As exciting as the theory sounds I was never very invested in any of it. The identity of the killer is more than obvious (not that the show comes up with more than 2 suspects) so that bit of suspense is out. The clash of 29 year old protagonist vs 11 year old protagonist is numbed because, well, every other kid in his class acts like a grownup anyway. And his efforts to befriend victim #1 and stop her murder are more contrived than they really need to be. He tries all these things before doing the obvious stuff I came up with like 5 episode earlier. I dunno. Everybody is on his side, most things go his way and for all the grim subject matter about child abuse the conflict never felt on par. Could've used more dynamic rapport between the past and future scenarios, instead we spend the bulk of the show in anime Stranger Things.
I'm eight episodes into season 8 of my rewatch of The X-Files. I know most fans didn't care anymore, but I would have watched another couple of seasons with Robert Patrick as Agent Doggett, with Duchovny wanting to try other roles at the time. There's still some really good episodic stories. Mediocre ones too, as always. It's great that they didn't just try to make another Mulder. He's more serious and a skeptic. The show is generally darker, befitting him. Do I like him as much as Mulder? No. But I liked him enough. The mythology story already lost its way, but I don't think those episodes were ever the best of The X-Files.
Upload
Science Fiction Comedy on Amazon Prime about a near future where people can upload themselves into a digital world after their death. It follows a software developer who did exactly that after dying under questionable circumstances. As I mentioned it's a comedy, quite obviously inspired by fellow afterlife sitcom The Good Place, but with a futuristic twist. The underlying joke about Upload's setting is that it's technologically advanced enough that all human suffering could be ended immediately, yet the continued existence of the capitalist economic model means that that the fruits of that technological advancement are only available to those who can afford them. This is exemplified by the fact that the "afterlife account" of protagonist Nathan is technically owned by his awful rich fiancé and her awful rich family. Nathan, meanwhile, falls in love with his personal customer service representative (the show refers to them as "angels") and hilarity or... well, let's say, mild amusement, ensues.
Upload can be quite charming but even at its best it falls short of its potential. One gets the impression that the writers were afraid to acknowledge how messed up their premise actually is. It's a Cyberpunk series that's missing all the punk. There is nothing wrong with taking a comedic approach to those concepts, it's just that the series light-hearted tone does a disservice to what could, in more ambitious hands, lend itself to some very poignant satire. Uploaded mostly pussyfoots around social commentary in favour of stock sitcom and romcom tropes. It's quirky, in some respects likeably so, but also shallow. It futuristic trappings a gimmick to be sprinkled on top of an adequate romantic comedy, rather than something to be explored in any meaningful way.
The show takes some deeply uncomfortable ideas and spins them into comfort food. And as that already implies, it's an easy watch, in some respects even an enjoyable watch. It has its share of chuckles, if not very many laughs, emotional character moments, a murder mystery to tie it all together, it's perfectly decent for what it is. Sadly, "what it is" is a cutesy waste of good ideas. It's hard to particularly dislike and hard to particularly like. Is it watchable? Sure. Should you watch it? Eh...
Science Fiction Comedy on Amazon Prime about a near future where people can upload themselves into a digital world after their death. It follows a software developer who did exactly that after dying under questionable circumstances. As I mentioned it's a comedy, quite obviously inspired by fellow afterlife sitcom The Good Place, but with a futuristic twist. The underlying joke about Upload's setting is that it's technologically advanced enough that all human suffering could be ended immediately, yet the continued existence of the capitalist economic model means that that the fruits of that technological advancement are only available to those who can afford them. This is exemplified by the fact that the "afterlife account" of protagonist Nathan is technically owned by his awful rich fiancé and her awful rich family. Nathan, meanwhile, falls in love with his personal customer service representative (the show refers to them as "angels") and hilarity or... well, let's say, mild amusement, ensues.
Upload can be quite charming but even at its best it falls short of its potential. One gets the impression that the writers were afraid to acknowledge how messed up their premise actually is. It's a Cyberpunk series that's missing all the punk. There is nothing wrong with taking a comedic approach to those concepts, it's just that the series light-hearted tone does a disservice to what could, in more ambitious hands, lend itself to some very poignant satire. Uploaded mostly pussyfoots around social commentary in favour of stock sitcom and romcom tropes. It's quirky, in some respects likeably so, but also shallow. It futuristic trappings a gimmick to be sprinkled on top of an adequate romantic comedy, rather than something to be explored in any meaningful way.
The show takes some deeply uncomfortable ideas and spins them into comfort food. And as that already implies, it's an easy watch, in some respects even an enjoyable watch. It has its share of chuckles, if not very many laughs, emotional character moments, a murder mystery to tie it all together, it's perfectly decent for what it is. Sadly, "what it is" is a cutesy waste of good ideas. It's hard to particularly dislike and hard to particularly like. Is it watchable? Sure. Should you watch it? Eh...
Heheh, yeah. It leads into one of my favorite comedy films of all time. Have you seen Army of Darkness yet?
Right now. And I have been looking forward to this one the most.
I have seen Army of Darkness at last for the first time.
Was kinda shocked this movie wasn't rated R. The blood's been nerfed.
But it was still a fun ride. Also it did The Battle of Winterfell better less then 20 years earlier.
Was kinda shocked this movie wasn't rated R. The blood's been nerfed.
But it was still a fun ride. Also it did The Battle of Winterfell better less then 20 years earlier.
Danganronpa: The Animation - After seeing a playthrough of the game a couple months ago, I decided to marathon the 13 episode adaption. I have to say it's a good adaption overall. Yes, they rushed some scenes and there is not as much development as the original game, but the people some slack. They still leave enough clues for non-fans and non-gamers to figure it out without spoiling or making things to obvious. The dubbing by Funimation is awesome! I know the games and anime have different voice actors for all of the characters except Naegi (he the same one from the games), but everyone gave it their all. Some performances of certain characters I prefer over the other, but you can't say neither never tried. I give the show a solid B in my book.
Also, I love the opening.
Also, I love the opening.
Star Wars: Resistance: Season 1 (3/5)
There's a tension in Resistance that I feel is summed up perfectly in its last episode. In it, Kaz gets to see the First Order's destruction of the Hosnian system, which means, among other things, he's lost his entire family in an instant. Such is his rage and grief, Torra needs to pull him back from engaging the stormtroopers. Five minutes later, he's cracking jokes with Niku and the destruction of the Hosnian system isn't mentioned for the rest of the episode.
That's the issue I have with Resistance, in that it's often on the verge of fully engaging with its subject matter, but it's still a children's show, and veered more to children than Clone Wars or Rebels. A lot of the time, the characters speak in a way that feels specifically geared towards children. Like, the dialogue in of itself isn't juvenile, but it's delivered in a manner that feels like it's geared towards a younger audience, whether it be exagerated delivery, or a lack of conjunctions. This tension goes straight towards Kaz himself, in that the show has to convey that he's a clumsy goofball who's pretty shoddy at being a mechanic, while also showing that he's an excellent fighter pilot that's had military training, and that he can throw down with the best of them. Sometimes it's a balance that works, sometimes it doesn't.
This even extends to the overall framework. I know Star Wars isn't the first franchise that comes to mind when it comes to searching for moral ambiguity, but there's a framework for something here. Like, we have an isolated station on the fringes of the Republic that has to deal with pirates, calls in the First Order, only they steadily clamp down (cue "this deal is getting worse all the time" meme), and Tam being supportive of them (tight control being the cost of defence) while Kaz is against the First Order, despite the New Republic apparently not doing jack. It hints at something, that maybe some people would prefer the First Order to the Republic, similar to how some might have preferred the Empire to the New Republic, but while this idea comes up indirectly more than once, it's never fully engaged with. I don't know if the writers didn't have the skill for it, or if Disney held them back, making sure it was still kid friendly.
I dunno. Overall, the season was still fun - much better than a lot give Resistance credit for. But it could have been better.
There's a tension in Resistance that I feel is summed up perfectly in its last episode. In it, Kaz gets to see the First Order's destruction of the Hosnian system, which means, among other things, he's lost his entire family in an instant. Such is his rage and grief, Torra needs to pull him back from engaging the stormtroopers. Five minutes later, he's cracking jokes with Niku and the destruction of the Hosnian system isn't mentioned for the rest of the episode.
That's the issue I have with Resistance, in that it's often on the verge of fully engaging with its subject matter, but it's still a children's show, and veered more to children than Clone Wars or Rebels. A lot of the time, the characters speak in a way that feels specifically geared towards children. Like, the dialogue in of itself isn't juvenile, but it's delivered in a manner that feels like it's geared towards a younger audience, whether it be exagerated delivery, or a lack of conjunctions. This tension goes straight towards Kaz himself, in that the show has to convey that he's a clumsy goofball who's pretty shoddy at being a mechanic, while also showing that he's an excellent fighter pilot that's had military training, and that he can throw down with the best of them. Sometimes it's a balance that works, sometimes it doesn't.
This even extends to the overall framework. I know Star Wars isn't the first franchise that comes to mind when it comes to searching for moral ambiguity, but there's a framework for something here. Like, we have an isolated station on the fringes of the Republic that has to deal with pirates, calls in the First Order, only they steadily clamp down (cue "this deal is getting worse all the time" meme), and Tam being supportive of them (tight control being the cost of defence) while Kaz is against the First Order, despite the New Republic apparently not doing jack. It hints at something, that maybe some people would prefer the First Order to the Republic, similar to how some might have preferred the Empire to the New Republic, but while this idea comes up indirectly more than once, it's never fully engaged with. I don't know if the writers didn't have the skill for it, or if Disney held them back, making sure it was still kid friendly.
I dunno. Overall, the season was still fun - much better than a lot give Resistance credit for. But it could have been better.