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

[09philj]

Fargo (Series 4)

Fargo has had diminishing returns with each series but this is the first one that's actually not good. First among its sins is that it's really not like Fargo; it plays a lot closer to a Tarantino inflected version of Miller's Crossing. Secondly, it's insanely unfocused. Previous series and the film were able to pick a core cast of civilians, career criminals, and law enforcement who all felt like they went on meaningful arcs across the series. Series 4, like Series 2, is about a gang war, but leans too heavily on the gangster perspective for it to feel like there's much in the way of human stakes. Also Chris Rock plays the leader of the black gangsters and is not good in the role. Francesco Acquaroli and Timothy Olyphant are very good as the mafia consigliere and a slightly unhinged Mormon US Marshal respectively, but aren't in it enough to really make an impact.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Lore (season 1)

Anthology that dramatizes nasty historical footnotes ("In 1892 a farmer exhumed and decapitated his daughter to fight consumption") with pseudo documentarian interest but really going for the carnie appeal of each story, which usually plays into explaining or contextualizing modern day folklore. It's like reading a mildly interesting Wikipedia article, or listening to a mildly interesting podcast. The show's based on one, so that figures. Apparently it also carries over the same narrator, who I have to say sounds a bit too casual and amateurish for the subject matter. He's got that carnie talk ("Imagine, if you will...") and has that Arrested Development cadence that makes it hard to take the show seriously.

 

[Hawki]

The Flash: Season 6 (3/5)

So, I've commented before that every season of The Flash is, apart from the first two, worse than the one before it. Good news is that season 6 bucks the trend, ending up somewhere in the middle. So if I'm ranking seasons, it would go 2>1>3>6>4>5.

Anyway, the season is divided into two arcs, and both, blissfully, don't feature a speedster as the primary antagonist. I mean, okay, season 4 and 5 similarly didn't do that, but for whatever reason, season 6 works. Can't really articulate why though - I think it might be because there's more time given for character development, and not just on the main ones.

Anyway, it's decent.

 

[Xprimentyl]

The Flash: Season 6 (3/5)

So, I've commented before that every season of The Flash is, apart from the first two, worse than the one before it. Good news is that season 6 bucks the trend, ending up somewhere in the middle. So if I'm ranking seasons, it would go 2>1>3>6>4>5.

Anyway, the season is divided into two arcs, and both, blissfully, don't feature a speedster as the primary antagonist. I mean, okay, season 4 and 5 similarly didn't do that, but for whatever reason, season 6 works. Can't really articulate why though - I think it might be because there's more time given for character development, and not just on the main ones.

Anyway, it's decent.

I gave up on The Flash long ago. Unfortunate case of great acting with piss-poor, uninspired writing. It got to the point where I felt it'd become condescending, and had to stop.

But speaking of speedster antagonists...

 

[Shy-Gamer]

I kinda gave up on The Flash around season 4, The Thinker arc just felt uninspired to me for some reason... I still check out some episodes out of curiosity, like the crossovers or the season finales (sometimes the mid-season one too). It's still somewhat fun when I watch, but there's also nothing really too compelling to make me a regular viewer again.

 

[Baffle]

Lovecraft Country. It's pretty good, enjoying it so far. Worth a watch.

 

[OblongYellow]

The Witcher and Psych. Simultaneously watching these together mainly because I can easily finish The Witcher with only 8 episodes. It sucks that season 2 is not yet out I hate cliffhangers! So on the side I decided to watch Psych which has a lot of seasons plus it's funny and the show actually has 2 movies

 

[Dalisclock]

Watched some stuff on TV this weekend we normally wouldn't watch because we were on a short vacation. EVIL, which is basically like the X-files but with Demons and shit. Basically the Catholic church hires private contractors to verify if "miracles" and "Possession" are actually the real deal or not, and a lady who works for the Queens DA's office as a contractor to determine if people are sane to stand trial is apparently being possessed by a demon and killed a bunch of people, so of course these two threads collide head on and she joins the team because of course she does. It feels really narmy despite the fact I think it's meant to be totally serious. While I'm not a legal expert, I'm pretty sure it's taking a ton of license with how legal proceeding how the legal system actually works and while the show implies all supernatural stuff could be real, it's approached from a very Christian perspective(with Latin Speaking Demons and all). I suspect the director/writer husband and wife team are evangelicals because it doesn't strike me as being particularly catholic(rather what Evangelicals think Catholicism is). Oh, and apparently the demons talk to each other on 4chan and such, so there's that

Honestly, nothing I really want to watch unless I'm going to mock it mercilessly with my wife(Or to borrow a term from Bob's Burgers, it would be subject to "The Burn Ward").

 

[happyninja42]

Watched some stuff on TV this weekend we normally wouldn't watch because we were on a short vacation. EVIL, which is basically like the X-files but with Demons and shit. Basically the Catholic church hires private contractors to verify if "miracles" and "Possession" are actually the real deal or not, and a lady who works for the Queens DA's office as a contractor to determine if people are sane to stand trial is apparently being possessed by a demon and killed a bunch of people, so of course these two threads collide head on and she joins the team because of course she does. It feels really narmy despite the fact I think it's meant to be totally serious. While I'm not a legal expert, I'm pretty sure it's taking a ton of license with how legal proceeding how the legal system actually works and while the show implies all supernatural stuff could be real, it's approached from a very Christian perspective(with Latin Speaking Demons and all). I suspect the director/writer husband and wife team are evangelicals because it doesn't strike me as being particularly catholic(rather what Evangelicals think Catholicism is). Oh, and apparently the demons talk to each other on 4chan and such, so there's that

Honestly, nothing I really want to watch unless I'm going to mock it mercilessly with my wife(Or to borrow a term from Bob's Burgers, it would be subject to "The Burn Ward").

The thing I love about stuff like that, is the implication that what the church or the vatican thinks about someone's possession, fucking matters at all. So why should I give a shit if they have some "spiritual task force" going around, confirming/denying their own mystical BS? It's not like it has any bearing in court. It's just dudes in robes jerking each other off (possibly literally) to their own importance.

 

[Dalisclock]

The thing I love about stuff like that, is the implication that what the church or the vatican thinks about someone's possession, fucking matters at all. So why should I give a shit if they have some "spiritual task force" going around, confirming/denying their own mystical BS? It's not like it has any bearing in court. It's just dudes in robes jerking each other off (possibly literally) to their own importance.

Apparently the vatican does have an office whose job it is to determine if miracles are legit or not.

The Science of Miracles: How the Vatican Decides

The Vatican uses a formal vetting process to determine whether miraculous events with no known scientific explanation have occurred.

www.livescience.com

The Vatican is changing how it verifies miracles

Changes to the regulations for confirming alleged miracles during the causes of saints aim to preserve the scientific rigor of the examination and maintain its distinction from matters of theology, it was announced Friday.

www.catholicnewsagency.com

But this show was going all over the place and trying to play it into the legal system as well. It would be one thing if the show was about them merely investigating supernatural stuff but it looked like demons are going to be the primary plot of the show. It would be really interesting if they investigated supernatural stuff from around the world or different religions and cultures, like one of the characters claims got him into this in the first place, but it's probably gonna be stigmata and demons all the way down.

 

[Agema]

It seems the show only gets worse after the first season though.

Yeah, I squeezed not very enthusiastically through season 1, and my interest thoroughly died part-way through season 2. Actually, it might have been season 3, but when you stop caring it's hard to remember.

 

[happyninja42]

Apparently the vatican does have an office whose job it is to determine if miracles are legit or not.

Oh I know that, they have to determine that stuff so they can canonize people as saints and whatnot. I just don't fucking care what magical spells and shit a bunch of volcels (i'm dubbing that for priests, voluntary celibates, in the hopes it will sound as bad as incels, because seriously, fuck priests...or don't I guess), do when wandering around talking to other delusional people who still believe in magic and spirits and demons. They could all circle jerk each other and I think it would be a more productive use of their time, at least it wouldn't be a child for once.

But this show was going all over the place and trying to play it into the legal system as well. It would be one thing if the show was about them merely investigating supernatural stuff but it looked like demons are going to be the primary plot of the show.

Well they have to establish their demon stuff as "real" otherwise it would be too close to actually being skeptical and critical of their faith and the shit they peddle to their flock. Because if they leave it all ambiguous, then any time the token skeptic/atheist character actually criticizes what they're doing, they will sound too reasonable. The skeptic is never right in those types of stories, and is only there to ever get a comeuppance in a supernaturally ironic way.

Let me ask you, the show, probably one of the DA investigators, is a skeptic right? Probably an ex-religious person, who is now bitter at god, probably because of someone they loved dying? That's the cookie cutter tv/movie atheist design.

 

[Dalisclock]

Let me ask you, the show, probably one of the DA investigators, is a skeptic right? Probably an ex-religious person, who is now bitter at god, probably because of someone they loved dying? That's the cookie cutter tv/movie atheist design.

Pretty much. Skeptical. Ex(Laspsed) Catholic. Totally doesn't believe in demons until one starts showing up as a night terror to taunt her and pee in the corner of her room while she's watching. (Also, demon does not speak latin, strangely enough but the other demon does).

It hits all the religious tropes to a fucking T.

Also, why the hell do Demons speak Latin? Latin is the language of the church and it's not even that old compared to Egyption, Sumerian, PIE(Proto Indo-European), etc. Hell, why not Enochian, or the Primal/Adamic language, or reverse latin? Something remotely interesting and original?

Oh, wait,I need to stop applying logic to these kinds of things.

 

[happyninja42]

Pretty much. Skeptical. Ex(Laspsed) Catholic. Totally doesn't believe in demons until one starts showing up as a night terror to taunt her and pee in the corner of her room while she's watching. (Also, demon does not speak latin, strangely enough but the other demon does).

It hits all the religious tropes to a fucking T.

Atheist Bingo! That was my last square to win!
If she has a dead loved one, they will probably do a callback to something that person said, as an inside joke/thing between her and Skeptic Girl, to make her go *gasp* "How do you know that?! Only my little girl ever called me Blah Blah! And she's been dead for 4 years!" "She's not dead Skeptic Girl, she's been watching over you, yadda yadda" *restored faith gasp* "I believe again! And through my renewed faith will be able to defeat this season's Big Bad Evil Guy!"

 

[Hawki]

Mighty Max: Season 1 (3/5)

Ugh. Y'know, I had a brief stint with Mighty Max in the 90s, collecting some of the sets, and watching some episodes of the cartoon, but...meh.

It's a 90s cartoon, and it knows it, with a touch of "EXTREME!" thrown in. Not too obnoxious - Max is a smartarse, and I had the odd chuckle with the dialogue, but this season has some problems. First, from an adaptational standpoint, you'd never guess that this was based on the toyline in question. Compare that to Transformers for instance, where the 'bots in question looked like their toy counterparts. Second, it kind of has a problem of "and then this happened," where it feels like the writers couldn't be arsed to write a clever plot, so instead have the villains be idiots. FFS, he's a kid, just shoot him!

Oh, and minor point, this has got to be the weirdest case of secret identity in the world. Like, usually when the protagonist is a hero, this is a 'hero status' that's kept secret from those around you. Only, Max's mother knows he's the "Mighty One," so do his two close friends, but how and when they found out is never addressed. And bizzarely, Max goes on more adventures with his mum than his school friends.

In spite of all this, I've resolved to slog through season 2. And by slog, I mean keep it on in the background while I'm working. And by working, I mean tidying up and keeping myself busy, because hey, lockdown.

 

[Gordon_4]

Mighty Max: Season 1 (3/5)

Ugh. Y'know, I had a brief stint with Mighty Max in the 90s, collecting some of the sets, and watching some episodes of the cartoon, but...meh.

It's a 90s cartoon, and it knows it, with a touch of "EXTREME!" thrown in. Not too obnoxious - Max is a smartarse, and I had the odd chuckle with the dialogue, but this season has some problems. First, from an adaptational standpoint, you'd never guess that this was based on the toyline in question. Compare that to Transformers for instance, where the 'bots in question looked like their toy counterparts. Second, it kind of has a problem of "and then this happened," where it feels like the writers couldn't be arsed to write a clever plot, so instead have the villains be idiots. FFS, he's a kid, just shoot him!

Oh, and minor point, this has got to be the weirdest case of secret identity in the world. Like, usually when the protagonist is a hero, this is a 'hero status' that's kept secret from those around you. Only, Max's mother knows he's the "Mighty One," so do his two close friends, but how and when they found out is never addressed. And bizzarely, Max goes on more adventures with his mum than his school friends.

In spite of all this, I've resolved to slog through season 2. And by slog, I mean keep it on in the background while I'm working. And by working, I mean tidying up and keeping myself busy, because hey, lockdown.

The only late 90's toy that was turned into a television show I'm familiar with that didn't turn into a complete shit show was Mainframe's Shadow Raiders: War Planets. I mean they nearly fuck themselves right out of the gate because the title is 50% nonsensical but the show itself? I rate it very highly; because science fiction that will present its concept with enough confidence that it demands the audience roll with it gets my thumbs up each time.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Finally started Succession. People kept recommending it. First episode is great and sets up a hell of a cast and the twisted dynamics that links it together. After just enjoying a bunch of disposable, easily forgettable shows Succession looks like an actually great one for a change.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Finished first season of Succession. It's a fantastic show, probably my favorite thing in years. The characters and the writing are terrific. Like Sopranos it does the thing that I like of alternatively being super funny or dramatic without being outwardly either and always reaching that point organically. There's always something super dark about the humor, and there's always something absurdly comedic about the more brutal character moments.

It's also pretty clever how every episode revolves around or builds up to a specific event (birthday, fundraiser, Thanksgiving, bachelor party, wedding, etc) that colors the narrative and makes it more memorable. It also keeps forcing and reuniting characters that by rights wouldn't be caught dead in the same room ever again. Tension's always high.

And I kinda love Kendall Roy, this continually abused human punching bag that makes a Coen Bros protagonist look comparatively lucky and effective. Watching him hit rock bottom and then continue to find new ways of falling lower - despite being the closest thing to a "good", responsible, well-meaning, moral character in the show - is my right cup of schadenfreude.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

So I just saw a clip of The Flash, where he fights Godspeed and Reverse Flash with... speed force lightsabers??? The hell happened to this show since I stopped watching...

 

[Hawki]

So I just saw a clip of The Flash, where he fights Godspeed and Reverse Flash with... speed force lightsabers??? The hell happened to this show since I stopped watching...

When did you stop watching?

TBH, having watched the first six seasons of The Flash, that doesn't seem out of place. The Flash has always been crazy, or at least since season 2.