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

[TheMysteriousGX]

Still Rewatching Stargate SG-1, on to season 6. Still holds up. In the era of short burn binge content, I'm loving the 45min episodes with 20 episodes a season. You get more characterization that way and I like that the show isn't laser focused on a single plot. Refreshing

Doesn't really dip into the post-9/11 paranoia thing beyond one instance of the "wow, your government collects all thing information?/Yeah, but we only use it in emergencies" thing. If anything, they lean more heavily into the "if you lie to people or fuck them over to Do The Right Thing it's gonna come back to bite you in the ass" trope. Due to Current Events they had a still applicable comment about how defense technologies become offense technologies when you use the to launch attacks from.

Corin Nemec is still a better name for an alien than Jonas Quinn, which is still funny to me, Christopher Judge still continues to be a slept on actor.

The numbers for explosions have gotten more reasonable but the numbers for money are laughably low in Modern Era: the entire Stargate Program, including developing a ground/space fighter and interstellar cruiser to launch them from, still has an operational budget that compares to the F-35. Although, with a war happening and another on the way, it would be easier to hid the high number of casualties involved.

Hilariously, we are in the brief period of time between SG1 making P90s cool and running out of cartridges to make the blanks because of The War On Terror, requiring them to drop the gun and going with something where you can't see the bullets.

 

[Gordon_4]

Still Rewatching Stargate SG-1, on to season 6. Still holds up. In the era of short burn binge content, I'm loving the 45min episodes with 20 episodes a season. You get more characterization that way and I like that the show isn't laser focused on a single plot. Refreshing

Doesn't really dip into the post-9/11 paranoia thing beyond one instance of the "wow, your government collects all thing information?/Yeah, but we only use it in emergencies" thing. If anything, they lean more heavily into the "if you lie to people or fuck them over to Do The Right Thing it's gonna come back to bite you in the ass" trope. Due to Current Events they had a still applicable comment about how defense technologies become offense technologies when you use the to launch attacks from.

Corin Nemec is still a better name for an alien than Jonas Quinn, which is still funny to me, Christopher Judge still continues to be a slept on actor.

The numbers for explosions have gotten more reasonable but the numbers for money are laughably low in Modern Era: the entire Stargate Program, including developing a ground/space fighter and interstellar cruiser to launch them from, still has an operational budget that compares to the F-35. Although, with a war happening and another on the way, it would be easier to hid the high number of casualties involved.

Hilariously, we are in the brief period of time between SG1 making P90s cool and running out of cartridges to make the blanks because of The War On Terror, requiring them to drop the gun and going with something where you can't see the bullets.

Shows like that - in hindsight - should have looked at stuff like the HK G11 or Styer ACR, written some technobabble shit and made them the new weapon of choice for the SGC.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

Shows like that - in hindsight - should have looked at stuff like the HK G11 or Styer ACR, written some technobabble shit and made them the new weapon of choice for the SGC.

I mean, the P90 is a pretty cool looking future gun, but they did absolutely make some silly fake guns

Micro 16 assault rifle

The Micro 16 assault rifle, also known as the "Carter Special", is a custom-made carbine size assault rifle developed and used by Samantha Carter during the Stargate Program's seventh year of operation. She used it prior to switching back to the FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon. (SG1: "Avenger...

stargate.fandom.com

 

[Gordon_4]

I mean, the P90 is a pretty cool looking future gun, but they did absolutely make some silly fake guns

Micro 16 assault rifle

The Micro 16 assault rifle, also known as the "Carter Special", is a custom-made carbine size assault rifle developed and used by Samantha Carter during the Stargate Program's seventh year of operation. She used it prior to switching back to the FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon. (SG1: "Avenger...

stargate.fandom.com

I don't disagree, but the 'Carter Special' by the article's own admission is a gun that can theoretically exist. Its a base carbine that they've just gone all tacticool on with readily available aftermarket parts. I'd be willing to bet many an SG1 fan who's also into firearms will have that as close as is legal.

But look at these fucking things. Are you telling me they couldn't do an episode that's basically reverse engineering a Zat Gun and turning it into a rifle with these? I mean they could even have used the excuse of getting all the prototypes from the ACR Program's leftovers.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

Oh, they definitely could have. The more I watch, the more I get the feeling they were deliberately keeping human weapons and alien weapons distinct as a design choice. Like, we keep with the bullets, missiles, and bombs; the gou'uld keep the energy zoots and zaps, etc. Helped keep the frame of reference grounded and blanks are probably cheaper production wise than cgi energy blasts

 

[Gordon_4]

Oh, they definitely could have. The more I watch, the more I get the feeling they were deliberately keeping human weapons and alien weapons distinct as a design choice. Like, we keep with the bullets, missiles, and bombs; the gou'uld keep the energy zoots and zaps, etc. Helped keep the frame of reference grounded and blanks are probably cheaper production wise than cgi energy blasts

Okay that's fair....but the big ships had railguns. They could have bullshit their way to making these Mass Effect style man portable ones......sorry I just love the ACR and wanna see it in more things

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

Foundation (Apple)
Only 2 episodes available for now, but this is hitting expectations pretty surprisingly. Will be very much following the series to the end. Good work!

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Nine Perfect Strangers

Mom thriller from hack writer Liane Moriarty. Nine people sign up for one of those bullshit California wellness centers run by a shady New Age guru played by Nicole Kidman, who likes to fuck her staff (2 of the paltry 3 people running what should be an operation of at least a few dozen goons) and drug her patients without their knowledge or consent. The idea that any of this would work towards healing traumas, or that anybody would tolerate it for any amount of time, I don't buy it for a second. Now the show isn't entirely on the side of the crackpots but to even entertain the suspense of whether we're going to learn an important lesson about knowing better is ridiculius ridiculous.

Recently watched another show that's similar in premise but infinitely more interesting and entertaining - The White Lotus. Here it's about 8 tourists arriving at a tropical holiday resort. It builds on a similar central mystery - someone, we don't know who, has died in the first scene - and that alone is more gripping than "Who's texting Nicole Kidman?", which doesn't develop at all until it's revealed. The characters are almost identical - there's a flashy newly wed couple, a middle clads family with a blowhard dad and a surly mom, a lonely woman constantly on the edge of breaking down - but White Lotus is way better at writing how specific these people are and realistically how they would relate to each other.

 

[Hawki]

Watched some stuff:

Mega Man: Season 2 (3/5)

More of the same from season 1, you can see my comments there. Doesn't even have a seasonal or series conclusion. Still, least Proto Man's an enjoyable dick.

Castlevania: Season 1 (4/5)

This is the second time I watched season 1, but the first time I did a "proper watch." Ergo, it's slipped from a 5/5 to a 4/5. I say this because towards the end, things get unnecessarily convoluted (the whole Sleeping Soldier myth), including how Alucard's plan is nonsensical (I'm going to fight the person who wakes me to see if they can help me kill Dracula - if one of us kills or even seriously kills the other in the process, I guess we're boned), and the final battle at Grisit feels like a plot convolution as well. I appreciate that Trevor can rally the people (who five minutes ago wanted to kill him) and use tactics, but, um...well, I don't have time to explain why the tactics really don't make sense, but like I said, convoluted.

On the other hand, everything else is solid. Writing is solid, animation is solid, blood and gore is solid (or liquid, I guess), characters are enjoyable, and special credit for adapting a NES game that barely has any story (that I can tell at least) and making it somewhat compelling. So nice job.

Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness (3/5)

This is a weird one. It's an anime series that really feels like a movie stitched together. It's simultaniously more down to earth than RE games that occurred after RE4, but it can't avoid some of the silliness. The animation is excellent, but keeps slipping into uncanny valley territory. It's got genuine horror moments, but has an ending that feels ripped from an RE videogame. It feels a bit like a 'bridge' in the series (taking place in 2006), but it feels so weird to have that bridge now, considering that RE is kind of in its 'third era,' so to speak, as of RE7. It's highly critical of US foreign policy with not!Afghanistan featuring, but ends with a cheesy, patriotic speech, after the president rejects a speech that, if you zoom in, is based straight on Trump.

Anyway, it works, but could have been better.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Mare of Easttown

Pretty good. Winslet's great, Evan Peters too. Show reaches its high point about 2/3 of the way and the ending's kinda weak/overdrawn/a little too sentimental for me.

 

[Hawki]

Castlevania: Season 2 (3/5)

Well this was a letdown.

Not to say it's a bad season, but after season 1, it's a step down. It's double the no. of episodes, but it feels stretched out, with most of those episodes simply being Trevor, Alucard, and Sypha being in the Belmont Estate, and the antagonists in Dracula's castle double-dealing, planning, and scheming. This isn't bad in of itself, there's plenty of works of fiction that are carried solely by dialogue, but the dialogue and plot simply aren't engrossing enough to carry a whole season. Season 1 was half the length, but I'd argue, even more plot.

That said, there is a high point, namely when our hero trio storm Dracula's castle, which gives us the best action in the series, followed by the most emotional moment (when Dracula breaks down in front of Alucard), but even then, the last episode feels drawn out as well. By this point, Trevor and Sypha are a 'thing,' but the season has barely done anything to build up to it.

So, yeah. Season is a massive step down. Good news is that I've started season 3, and it's a massive improvement, but we'll see if that lasts.

 

[Hawki]

Castlevania: Season 3 (3/5)

Season 3 is an improvement over season 2, but it's still flawed, and not up to the standards of season 1. The weird thing is, seasons 2 and 3 have opposite problems. Season 2 has poor buildup with solid payoff, while season 3 has good buildup with poor payoff. Furthermore, this pattern applies to almost all of the characters, since the season has split up into what's effectively four different plotlines.

Anyway, summary and thoughts:

-Alucard's Story: Alucard, originally letting isolation get to him, is approached by two vampire hunters, Sumi and Taka, who escaped from a vampire court in Japan, and now want to learn how to fight vampires. Okay, solid premise, and the flashback to Cho (the vampire) taking on a samurai vampire hunter is excellently animated. However, this ends with the two sneaking into Alucard's bed, having sex with him (in what's pretty much softcore porn), then trying to assassinate him because "the world sucks, and we can't trust anyone, and you're hiding stuff from us, and now we're going to kill you." Only Alucard kills them first, and stakes their bodies outside his castle, mimicking his father, and indicating that he's going down the same path Dracula did. It's a nice idea, but the penultimate step to that is so bizzare and comes out of nowhere that it sours the experience. Thing is, I could understand if their motivations were "we hate vampires, and you're half vampire, so we're going to kill you," but nup, the season can't manage that.

-Trevor & Sypha's Story: This takes up the majority of the season, where the duo, at first high from killing numerous monsters that were scattered after Dracula's castle fell, now solve a mystery in a small township. The bulk of this is solid, but the ending is a downer. Basically, the heroes fail, everyone around them dies, and not even the villains actually achieve anything. This kind of averts the issues with the other stories because the downer ending is kind of the point - that after a few months of being dashing adventurers, now Sypha's in Trevor's world, and that worlld is cruel.

-Isaac's Story: Isaac's a bit of an interesting fellow, but IMO, is a tad overrated. Maybe that's from not seeing season 4 yet, but his journey here is basically one of revenge - travelling from north Africa to eastern Europe to take revenge on Hector for killing Dracula. Along the way, making some friendships, while also killing numerous people (who in fairness attack him first). On the other hand, Isaac isn't a good person, and given the size of his army by the end of the season, I'm inclined to believe that he killed a lot of innocent people as well.

Once again though, Isaac's story doesn't stick the landing. Towards the end, Isaac is directed to a city that a magician is building, having enslaved numerous people through some kind of magical mind control. From an animation standpoint, Isaac and his army storming the city is excellent. From a plot standpoint, it's rediculous. Not only are elements of the battle way over the top (even by the standards of the series), but it's a hard detour for Isaac's journey. The magician has no name, no character, and I don't think he utters a single word. Isaac taking the town has no plot or character relevance, and arguably, he's shooting himself in the foot by expending his forces, even if he can replenish them. It's a divergence that has nothing to do with what's led up to it.

-Hector's Story: Mixed about this one. Bascally, Hector is taken into Carmilla's custody, as she plans to make a vampire empire of sorts. To do that, she needs Hector's forgemaster skills, and for that, he needs to be on her side. For that, Lenore has to seduce him. I'll give credit where credit is due, Lenore slowly gets Hector on her side through small acts of kindness, so that by the end, when they screw each other, she gets to screw him over by making him her slave by tricking him into saying certain words during the intercourse. This is interspaced with the Alucard intercourse scene (among other things), but here, at least, there's buildup to it. That, and we get a sense of the vampire council dynamics between Carmilla and her 'sisters.'

Still, the ending bugs me, but this isn't the season's fault. Namely that I'm aware that people really like the HectorxLenore pairing, but by the end of season 3...sorry, Lenore's terrible. She's a sociopath, she arguably rapes Hector, and it ends in the knowledge that not only is Hector now a slave to the vampire sisters, but that Lenore intends to keep him as a sex toy. If the aim was to make Lenore an absolutely terrible person, congratulations, but I've got a sense that we're not meant to see it like that, and that this is something we're meant to go "aww" about. I'm sorry, what?

So, yeah. Mixed bag. Better than season 2, but not as good as season 1.

 

[BrawlMan]

Castlevania: Season 3 (3/5)

Season 3 is an improvement over season 2, but it's still flawed, and not up to the standards of season 1. The weird thing is, seasons 2 and 3 have opposite problems. Season 2 has poor buildup with solid payoff, while season 3 has good buildup with poor payoff. Furthermore, this pattern applies to almost all of the characters, since the season has split up into what's effectively four different plotlines.

Anyway, summary and thoughts:

-Alucard's Story: Alucard, originally letting isolation get to him, is approached by two vampire hunters, Sumi and Taka, who escaped from a vampire court in Japan, and now want to learn how to fight vampires. Okay, solid premise, and the flashback to Cho (the vampire) taking on a samurai vampire hunter is excellently animated. However, this ends with the two sneaking into Alucard's bed, having sex with him (in what's pretty much softcore porn), then trying to assassinate him because "the world sucks, and we can't trust anyone, and you're hiding stuff from us, and now we're going to kill you." Only Alucard kills them first, and stakes their bodies outside his castle, mimicking his father, and indicating that he's going down the same path Dracula did. It's a nice idea, but the penultimate step to that is so bizzare and comes out of nowhere that it sours the experience. Thing is, I could understand if their motivations were "we hate vampires, and you're half vampire, so we're going to kill you," but nup, the season can't manage that.

-Trevor & Sypha's Story: This takes up the majority of the season, where the duo, at first high from killing numerous monsters that were scattered after Dracula's castle fell, now solve a mystery in a small township. The bulk of this is solid, but the ending is a downer. Basically, the heroes fail, everyone around them dies, and not even the villains actually achieve anything. This kind of averts the issues with the other stories because the downer ending is kind of the point - that after a few months of being dashing adventurers, now Sypha's in Trevor's world, and that worlld is cruel.

-Isaac's Story: Isaac's a bit of an interesting fellow, but IMO, is a tad overrated. Maybe that's from not seeing season 4 yet, but his journey here is basically one of revenge - travelling from north Africa to eastern Europe to take revenge on Hector for killing Dracula. Along the way, making some friendships, while also killing numerous people (who in fairness attack him first). On the other hand, Isaac isn't a good person, and given the size of his army by the end of the season, I'm inclined to believe that he killed a lot of innocent people as well.

Once again though, Isaac's story doesn't stick the landing. Towards the end, Isaac is directed to a city that a magician is building, having enslaved numerous people through some kind of magical mind control. From an animation standpoint, Isaac and his army storming the city is excellent. From a plot standpoint, it's rediculous. Not only are elements of the battle way over the top (even by the standards of the series), but it's a hard detour for Isaac's journey. The magician has no name, no character, and I don't think he utters a single word. Isaac taking the town has no plot or character relevance, and arguably, he's shooting himself in the foot by expending his forces, even if he can replenish them. It's a divergence that has nothing to do with what's led up to it.

-Hector's Story: Mixed about this one. Bascally, Hector is taken into Carmilla's custody, as she plans to make a vampire empire of sorts. To do that, she needs Hector's forgemaster skills, and for that, he needs to be on her side. For that, Lenore has to seduce him. I'll give credit where credit is due, Lenore slowly gets Hector on her side through small acts of kindness, so that by the end, when they screw each other, she gets to screw him over by making him her slave by tricking him into saying certain words during the intercourse. This is interspaced with the Alucard intercourse scene (among other things), but here, at least, there's buildup to it. That, and we get a sense of the vampire council dynamics between Carmilla and her 'sisters.'

Still, the ending bugs me, but this isn't the season's fault. Namely that I'm aware that people really like the HectorxLenore pairing, but by the end of season 3...sorry, Lenore's terrible. She's a sociopath, she arguably rapes Hector, and it ends in the knowledge that not only is Hector now a slave to the vampire sisters, but that Lenore intends to keep him as a sex toy. If the aim was to make Lenore an absolutely terrible person, congratulations, but I've got a sense that we're not meant to see it like that, and that this is something we're meant to go "aww" about. I'm sorry, what?

So, yeah. Mixed bag. Better than season 2, but not as good as season 1.

I'm the exact opposite. I still find Season 2 better than Season 3. Season 3 does have some stand out moments, but goes way too far in to dark territory with little pay off or wastes the viewers time. The thing with those stupid twins being entirely pointless. You can axe them out completely and nothing of value would be lost. Don't take my word for it; a majority of fans and viewers hate them wasting everyone's time. Season 4 makes up for most of these slip ups, but S3 was clearly the writers trying too hard to be dark and just running on steam not knowing what to do with many ideas.

 

[BrawlMan]

​

 

[Hawki]

I'm the exact opposite. I still find Season 2 better Season 3. Season 3 does have some stand out moments, but goes way too far in to dark territory with little pay off or wastes the viewers time. The thing with those stupid twins being entirely pointless. You can axe them out completely and nothing of value would be lost. Don't take my word for it; a majority of fans and viewers hate them wasting everyone's time. Season 4 makes up for most of these slip ups, but S3 was clearly the writers trying too hard to be dark and just running on steam not knowing what to do with many ideas.

For the twins, I'm mixed. I can't say I'm fond of their plotline with Alucard, especially how it climaxes (in more ways than one), but I can see some point to it. The parallels are pretty clear - the twins are to Alucard what Lisa was to Dracula. Like his father, he invites them into his life, only to be betrayed by them. That their bodies are on stakes outside his castle at the end is a clear similarity to what Dracula did to his enemies that Alucard himself comments on. How this pays off is something that season 4 will tell me, but I can at least see the arc there.

As for trying too hard to be dark and running out of ideas...I think there's some truth to the latter, in that the series has run out of game material to adapt, and it doesn't feel like a continuation perfectly in sync. On the other, too dark? I don't think there's much in season 3 that's really darker than what we've had before. Cities being destroyed, night creatures killing people horribly, corrupt priesthoods, etc.? About the only thing new in terms of 'darkness' is the borderline rape we see.

 

[BrawlMan]

As for trying too hard to be dark and running out of ideas...I think there's some truth to the latter, in that the series has run out of game material to adapt, and it doesn't feel like a continuation perfectly in sync. On the other, too dark? I don't think there's much in season 3 that's really darker than what we've had before. Cities being destroyed, night creatures killing people horribly, corrupt priesthoods, etc.? About the only thing new in terms of 'darkness' is the borderline rape we see.

I meant too dark in the case of screwing over or nearly scewring over either are protagonists and side characters in to worst positions. The rape and borderline rape counts too. Though I felt it really unnecessary in Alucard's case. The guy suffered enough already! Thank God, Season 4 happened! I won't spoil everything, but that season fixes all of the messes I had with S3.

 

[Bedinsis]

I just finished "watching" Det svenska spelundret, which if translated into English should mean roughly "The Swedish game-marvel", a five part documentary series about the Swedish gaming industry, available through the public service broadcaster SVT.

I've put "watching" within quotation marks since I've had it on in the background while doing the dishes for the last few weeks, occasionally heading to the computer if they started talking about a subject I found particularly interesting.

If I'd summarize the series in one word, I'd say that "gushing" best describes the experience. The format was basically separated into ~5 minute vignettes where they gave a brief overview of a studio and what games they had developed, and what level of success they had achieved and how. Not much focus was put on if the game in question was worthwhile from an artistic perspective, when they delved into such matters it was mostly on the technical front, like how Dice achieved early success by managing to have 64 simultaneous players online. And there was little focus on the toll of game development, although the interview with Iconoclasts developer Joakim Sandberg was a welcome one. This focus was actually acknowledged by one of the interviewees(I think it was the Hotline Miami developers) that when they have a success at their hands journalists from economic focused newspapers would call them up, but not from culture focused ones.

With this focus it somewhat felt like when I read the Game Developer Index from the Swedish industry organization Dataspelsbranschen.

Other than that: the above description was the feeling I had after watching the third and fourth episode, and hence I took some time to watching the fifth and last. The first two episodes were more interesting in that they showed were the industry got started in Sweden, and the response from the political establishment at the time.

They had an extra long vignette focusing on MineCraft, but I must admit I found it VERY odd how they told Notch's story without featuring him in any interview.

I also thought the presentation of how Massive would get to develop The Division was odd. One takeaway one could take from the interview was that that was a title they internally had brought up to Ubisoft as an idea they *really* wanted to make, even though it is part of the Tom Clancy franchise and therefore something Ubisoft most certainly wants to continue have titles in. They also spoke (very vaguely) about how its political themes was something that they thought was a sensitive question, which strengthened the image that they faced resistance in getting to make it, even though the image I've gotten is that the themes present and the choices made in The Division is hardly outside of mainstream video games.

I also enjoyed them bringing up legit nostalgia-game for me Backpacker. That was a success, but only a local one, so that is a story never told on English language Internet and hence new to me.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Midnight Mass


Its premise might’ve been easily spoiled online by now, but the how makes it worth seeing it play out. Definitely put a new twist on a tired genre trope, and did a good job of showing how literally self destructive cults and herd mentalities can be under the right wrong circumstances.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Watching Squid Game.

It's basically Battle Royale the Show, but the characters are very likeable and engaging, their motives are presented well, the acting is really good, the production values are terrific, and the storytelling is tense and gripping. All around a really fucking good watch. Haven't finished it though, still on Episode 5.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Watching Squid Game.

It's basically Battle Royale the Show, but the characters are very likeable and engaging, their motives are presented well, the acting is really good, the production values are terrific, and the storytelling is tense and gripping. All around a really fucking good watch. Haven't finished it though, still on Episode 5.

I hear the ending is disappointing. So hopefully now with lowered expectations, you might not find it so disappointing, if you do at all.

But yeah, I'm surprised more people on here aren't talking about it. Not my cup of tea at all, but its on its way to being one the biggest Netflix shows of all time, if it isn't already. And while Netflix makes about as many bad decisions as they have shows on their service, there's no way Squid Game would have been made it this far if it wasn't for them.