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

[Kyrian007]

The Slap (Prime)
Australian darkish comedy about a wealthy group of friends at a birthday BBQ that ends abruptly after one adult slaps another person's kid. Each episode is shown through the perspective of a different character, so it's rather pleasantly contained to a mini-series. Not read the novel it's based on, but I rather enjoyed this. Everyone's messy, full of flaws and selfish desires, all of which start unraveling once the kid gets it.

Should warn, however, that there's allegedly an American adaptation. An adaptation I am confidently willing to assume is the least good version so have no interest in watching to ethically compare the two. And cannot see the point in existing anyway, I mean like at least with foreign language entertainment there's an intended audience who just can't handle reading, or different cultures, or, dare I say it, a different melanin level to pander to. But this is Australian....they're still talking English! And mostly white! And rich! Whhhhhhhhhhhhy???

Anyway, avoid the American one cause I said so, the Australian one's right there. Just. Right. There. A single click to the left. I don't care that it has modern Spock in it!

Not surprised people don't remember the American version. The Slap was a 2015 adaptation that NBC was pushing like it was going to be THE next big "must watch" show. According to the marketing it was going to be Lost, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad...

And relatively, no one watched it. It flopped harder than some of their other epic hype/failure shows of the era did. The local affiliate here... bought outdoor advertising to push The Slap. Freaking highway billboards advertising The Slap. It was a disaster. They wound up running all 8 episodes, and the review aggregators are fairly nice to it (generally around mid 60s,) but figuratively... no one watched it.

 

[Piscian]

Moon Knight continues to be epic. Episode 3 continued to both expand the lore and race towards the big conclusion.

I'm starting to get the impression there's a reason why we got Moon Knight as apposed to something tied to the MCU.

For one it feels like someone actually wrote this. Like past-tense. Like they had the idea for the story first and the got Moon Knight green lit after. It feels much more cohensive and straight forward. Every other marvel show kept having diversions that almost felt like they were filling time, like the Larping in Hawkeye that really didnt add anything or the visit to Madripor in Falcon America. Really havent seen any of that, every scene is very tight and import for the story. the dialog isnt quipy or meandering like they aspire to be kevin smith or Joss wedon.

For another, so far, zero references to the MCU. NOt even a sigh joke about captain america or the 5 year gap. Nothing. Pretty odd for a Marvel franchise.

Id argue this benefits the show greatly. Its not pausing to pander to anybody. It clearly has a story to tell and its gonna get you there. Im really digging the mythology, with Konshus relationship to the god and the as of yet to revealed explanation for whats really going with between Marc and Steven. This is supposed largely based on a comicbook run that lays all that out but I dont want to spoil it for myself.

Every other Marvel show I've felt a little deflated around episode 3 thinking I'm at least mildly bored and praying theres a good pay off. This one I just havent felt that at all. I think Hawk-eye was pretty fun, but I'd still give it an 7-8/10. It was fun, but not perfect. This one I could actually see myself rewatching. I'm really sure how to put in words my issues with Loki, it just felt a bit haphazard in spots and it never quite payed off. Falcon America I absolutely hated. Low budget contradictory mess. They should have made it about Isiah Bradley passing the torch to Falcon. All the terrorist crap was trash. I would go as far as to say Id trade in a heartbeat for a show about strictly Isiah Bradley and Flashbacks to his story. Wandavision just had too much going on to describe. It was a mess.


Some thoughts after research. The show was pitched to Marvel by writer Jeremy Slater whos did a bunch of things, he was the original draft writer of the Fantastic four flop, but apparently FOX tore his script to pieces. Same with Netflixes Deathnote. He wrote and pitched both, but then had his worked yanked out from under him. Thats got to sting. Theres not a ton to note, but its interesting that they hired an Egyptian director as executive producer intentionally to make sure they didnt shit on eqypt. He went as far as to make sure egyptian actors and crew got hired as well as help with the mythology. the only telling thing I could find is that this was pitched to Marvel rather than as part of a corporately dictated schedule property. Its worth noting according to the wiki he wanted to use this show as a kind of pilot for Marvel Knights type deal where some shows would be much darker. Keige imbraced the idea and I can confirm theres a lot of stabby shootie in episode three. My nephew came by and I actually paused the show because it wasnt a particularly kid friendly moment.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Couple of firsts for me.

Heaven Official's Blessing. A Chinese anime of a Chinese BL webnovel, so my first BL anime and first Chinese anime. The girlfriend is a huge BL fan, so we watched it together. Honestly don't see what she sees in it, and frankly even without the BL stuff there's not much to it, but it was a nice way to spend time together.

Business Proposal. A Korean drama based on a webcomic this time. I've "watched" plenty of Kdramas, but never in full and always over someone's shoulder. This was fun at first, as it was very comedic and campy. They indulged in all the cliches and stereotypes. But when the two leads actually get together, their relationship dynamic became hella boring. Still, on average, good fun. Korean food looks really good.

 

[Hawki]

The Flash: Season 7 (2/5)

Well, this is it folks. We've hit rock bottom. Now only is this the worst season of The Flash ever produced, but it's in the running for the lowest-ranked Arrowverse season, period. After season 6 improved things, I was reasonably hopeful that season 7 would do likewise, but nup, I got jizzed, and kicked in the balls.

So to understand why this season is a steaming pile of fecal matter, I'm going to look at each of its story arcs (sorry, "graphic novels"), and what each does well, and more importantly, what it doesn't. So on that note:

ARC 1: MIRROR MONARCH

This is among the best material in season 7, but the problem is that by all rights, it isn't really season 7, it's leftovers from season 6, ported over due to Covid shutting down production. I won't fault the writers for that in of itself, but it does generate issues in that we get payoffs to season 6 at the start of season 7, so the emotional climax isn't really here unless you're watching this straight from season 6 with no breaks. For instance, you have a character sacrifice themselves at the very start of the season that's really bizzare (character sacrifice tends to come towards the end of storylines, not the start), but when you remember that this is a season 6 ending ported over...okay, I can forgive that. The Mirror Monarch stuff from season 6 is resolved, and it's mostly decent. I say "mostly," because it was during this time that the CW decided to fire Hartley Sawyer (who played Ralph Dibney) for tweets made 6-11 years ago. Let's say, hypothetically, you agree with this decision. The result is that the character of Ralph Dibney is written out of the show effectively, and his only two appearances in the start of season 7 are of a rubbery blob, and wearing a DaftPunk-esque outfit with a new actor in it doing voiceover.

Bravo, CW. Bravo. You wrote out one of your best characters, couldn't even give him a proper sendoff, and you've shot yourself in the foot. Brilliant.

Anyway, I'm sure this season is just finding its feet. Season 6 has properly ended, and now we can get to...

 

[Hawki]

ARC 2: FORCES (a.k.a. Dogshit)

The Forces arc is, without a doubt, the worst writing I've seen in the Flash. Ever. That's not hyperbole, this arc is absolutely terrible, and what redeeming features it does have are tangental to the main plot.

I'm actually going to start with those issues. First, the character of Chester. He's perhaps the one bright spot that remains a bright spot in this entire season. Has similarities to Cisco, but he's not Cisco 2.0, and manages to toe the line between endearing and annoying, and for the most part, stay on the side of the former. Second, there's a sub-plot of Killer Frost being separated from Caitlin Snow (somehow, don't care), and being put on trial for her 'villain time,' despite having had more 'hero time.' I'd like to point out the irony that the writers expect us to side with Frost (and I agree that we should), but DON'T want us to side with Sawyer. That's right, the CW will sooner forgive someone for attempted murder than tweets. Or, the writers don't think that, and have to make do, and whatever, it doesn't matter. I will point out that the whole "metahumans rights" angle that the show is going for really doesn't work, because given that most metahumans in this series are criminals, and possess superpowers, it's hard to say that distrust of them is unwarranted.

But that's not what thsi arc is about. Oh, no, it isn't. You see, dear reader, in Arc 1, the Speed Force was recreated, but three new forces were created with it. The Strength Force (take a guess), the Still Force (time manipulation), and the Sage Force (psychic powers). These three forces all find their own avatars, but are at odds with the Speed Force for...reasons. Actually, there's a bit more to it than that, but I'll say off the bat that I actually like this idea in concept. What I don't like is the execution. Because not only is the Speed Force's avatar now a regular character (whacky hijincks as force of nature learns to live as a human, yay!), but the season pushes this really weird angle about family. The idea being that because Barry and Iris 'birthed' these forces through their recreation of the Speed Force, these forces are their...children? Um...okay...I could see some level of logic towards that. I...oh. Oh. These forces have bonded with human beings that are just as old as our protagonists...and the language you're using is to describe them as your 'kids'...um...

Okay, stop. Just stop. At best, this is stupid writing. At worst, it's kind of ick, considering the lack of age difference. When you have Barry and co. calling adult individuals their "children," and these adults calling Barry and Iris their "parents," I...ugh. The arc is attempting to have this theme of 'family,' but the writing's so hackneyed that it doesn't work on any level. And it ends with Barry and Iris finally deciding to have children, because...fine. Whatever. It can't get any worse than this, right?

ARC 3: Filler (a.k.a. "Fine, whatever")

Arc 3 isn't really a arc, just a handful of what's effectively filler episodes. These are...fine, I guess. Cisco gets a proper sendoff with an episode effectively dedicated to it, so that's nice. Also, Sue appears for two episodes (sans Ralph, because we can't have nice things), but that's nice. Anyway, filler aside, I'm sure we can get back to the main course and...

Oh. Nora's back. That's...weird. And I-

 

[Hawki]

ARC 4: GODSPEED (a.k.a. "oh God(speed), kill me now")

Arc 4 is terrible. In some ways, it's worse than Arc 2. In fact, now that I'm writing this, I'm tempted to revise my statement that Arc 2 is the worst writing ever, because...fuck it, I'm going to finish this review even if it kills me.

First, I'm going to deal with Nora and Bart - Barry's children from the future, and draw heavily from season 5 in my problems here. Season 5 is my second worst season (season 7 is the worst, obviously), but Nora was the one bright spot there that remained bright throughout the entire time. Her end, and final message, literally erased from the timeline as she's crying in her parent's arms before fading away, is, in my opinion, one of the best/saddest moments in the entire series. The 'rules' of time travel have long since been broken in this show, but as things stood (as I understood it) was that there's nothing to stop Barry and Iris from having a daughter, but whoever she is, she won't be the same person that Nora of season 5 was. Hence why Nora's final message is so powerful, because no matter what timeline/multiverse shannanigans happen, the memory of that alternate Nora will always endure. So, when we're face to face with Nora 2.0, this Nora being played by the same actress, and having the same powers, and having the same personality, and...I'm sorry, am I missing something?

 

[Hawki]

I'll be clear, there's nothing objectively wrong with Nora here, but it's just so...shallow, in my mind. We spent season 5 with Nora 1.0 (for lack of a better term), slowly learnt about her, how she got her powers, etc.), then we have Nora 2.0, who has to have the same character development (or lack of it) in a measly 4 episodes. She's identical in every way to Nora 1.0 (except she's a physicist rather than forensics expert now), how she got her powers is never explained, and the only mention of Nora 1.0 is (paraphrased) "oh yeah, you told me about Nora 1.0, she served as an inspiration."

That's it. That's all we get. No clever takes on timeline changes, no butterfly effect of personality, no crisis of conscience as to whether you can love an alternate version of a person who DIED IN YOUR ARMS...nup. Nothing. For God's sake, that the Speed Force's avatar is identical to Barry's mother got more emotional unease. I'm arguably making a mountain out of a molehill, but this really, REALLY bugged me.

Also, Bart's irritating. That's it. He suffers from the same problem as Nora 2.0 though, in that his character development has to be compressed into four episodes rather than an entire season. But hey, I'm sure Godspeed, his "Thawne," will make up for it, right? I mean, a hero is only as good as his villain and-

Godspeed sucks. He's terrible. The writing tries to make it seem like it's been building up to a final confrontation, but four episodes is not a buildup. And even if you take Godspeed as being the main villain of the season as a whole, he's still terrible. He's the fourth major speedster antagonist in the show (which means that out of 7 seasons, 4! of them go the route of "evil speedster,"), but while Thawne, Zoom, and Savitar each had their own 'thing' that made them unique, Godspeed doesn't. The writing builds him up as being the equivalent of Thawne in terms of emotional impact, but it violates the "show, don't tell' rule. All the evil things Godspeed supposedly did in the future are never seen, and his motivation boils down to "I want organic speed, and I want to be a god, and I'm evil!" He's...terrible. Not as in a terrible person (which he is), he's a terrible character, period. And when the characters are talking about his clones fighting a "war" in Central City...no. Just no. Street brawls are not a "war," and I don't automatically become more invested in the stakes just because you call it one.

So, Godspeed is defeated with the help of Thawne, who Barry brings back...somehow...and they fight using lightsabers (sorry, bolts of lighning used as swords), and Godspeed is defeated, and Thawne runs away, and Barry and Iris renew their vows, oh, and Cisco is back. Yeah, that emotional sendoff mid-season? None of it mattered, he's back now. Oh, and Jay Garrick still exists despite Crisis on Infinite Earths, and fuk it, I don't care.

 

[Hawki]

FINAL THOUGHTS

The season sucks. The writing sucks, the characters suck, even the effects suck - there's a general feeling of cheapness that pervades the whole thing. And comparing the writing here to season 1...it's like night and day. Both seasons use a speedster antagonist, but while season 1 draws out the Thawne/Wells mystery over 20 plus episodes, season 7 tries to do the same thing in four episodes and fails miserably. It's arguablly telling that this is the only season that doesn't have any kind of clifffhanger element, as if they knew there was no guarantee of season 8. And while season 8 does exist, honestly, the show could end here. I don't know if you could run it into the ground any further.

Anyway, ranking the seasons as they stand, it now goes:

7: Season 7

6: Season 5

5: Season 4

4: Season 6

3: Season 3

2: Season 1

1: Season 2

Suffice to say, the trend in the show's quality is clear, and it isn't a good one.

 

[Piscian]

I've been watching "severance" the last couple days I'm on episode 4 or 5. The plot is almost too difficult to describe without you seeing it for yourself.

Essentially this megacorporation, in a supposed effort to maintain security, hires people and "severs" their work life from their home life using an chip implant. When you're chipped, upon entering the office you are a brand new human being, no identity or knowledge about yourself. Your skillsets are largely intact, but you have no connection to the you that exists outside work. When you enter the office, youre now this office person, when you leave the last thing you remember is entering work that morning. Same with the office person who only ever remembers waking up at work and leaving work.

Its really difficult to describe what that sensation looks like without seeing it for yourself and the mental schism that creates. As you can imagine all the office people are a little crazy because they have no home life or remember sleep even, they are just always awake at work. NO joy other than what happens at work. The people outside the office would also seem like theyd be super happy because they never remember being at work, but that also could cause a schism because thats 9 hours a day you just lose and often our work identity is an integral part of who we are.

So far the show is complete insanity. Its a drama with a lot of Bioshock untertones. Id go as far as to say it takes a lot of inspiration from bioshock in the sort of gleeful sinister "everything is about to break" subtlety. Its main cast include John tutoro and christopher walken so you cant go wrong. Walken is amazing. Im so happy to see him on screen again.

I highly recommend it, but its on apple tv so I suggest pirating it, just to add an ironic tinge to the whole proposition.

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

Outer Range - (Prime. 2 episides available)
Hmm, No Time to Die or whatever this is with a sad looking cowboy Josh Brolin looking off to the distance? The genre tags are being coy though. Wait. Is this...

Spoiler: Is this...

Lovecraftian???

Ok this is a good start, plenty of atmosphere, distrust and weirdness. Not saying anything more to spoil but highly recommended for anyone looking for something dark and different. Soundtrack also very on point!

Hopefully the trailer should provide a hint of the mood;.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Suffice to say, the trend in the show's quality is clear, and it isn't a good one.

So is the show even still going? Crazy to think it's been 7 years since I started on Season 1.

OT: Old Enough on Netflix. Basically, Japanese toddlers are sent on errands "alone" by their parents, while a film crew follows them to document and ensure their safety.

You know how fucking cutesy and "moe" kids in anime can get? Well, apparently, it's no exaggeration, Japanese kids are just that cute. Hell, cuter even. Each episode consists of 15 minutes of pure wholesomeness and humor that Japanese reality TV is known for. These kids have no filter and are just so genuine, it's impossible to not have a good time. I learned recently that sending small children on solo errands is a pretty big thing for families to do in Japan, as they believe it builds character. Which is funny, because if we did that over here, 1 in 3 children would never be see again. Definitely worth a watch if you need something to pick yourself up after a bad day.

 

[Hawki]

So is the show even still going? Crazy to think it's been 7 years since I started on Season 1.

Season 8 is airing now, and season 9 has been confirmed, though there's rumours that it'll be a final and/or truncated season.

Honestly, I'm kind of just past caring at this point. Every season prior to 7 has had at least something to recommend it, and season 6 did buck the trend of an overall decline, but season 7 is just bad. Like, REALLY bad. And whatever positive aspects it has are incidental to the overall quality (or lack of it). Fittingly enough for a show based around the Flash, it feels like the series is just running on momentum at this point, rather than any kind of drive.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Season 8 is airing now, and season 9 has been confirmed, though there's rumours that it'll be a final and/or truncated season.

Honestly, I'm kind of just past caring at this point. Every season prior to 7 has had at least something to recommend it, and season 6 did buck the trend of an overall decline, but season 7 is just bad. Like, REALLY bad. And whatever positive aspects it has are incidental to the overall quality (or lack of it). Fittingly enough for a show based around the Flash, it feels like the series is just running on momentum at this point, rather than any kind of drive.

If they've already adapted the Forces and Godspeed storylines from the comics, I really question what the fuck they could possibly do for their last two seasons. I guess they could make up their own stuff, but that sounds horrifying.

 

[Piscian]

Regarding flash I stopped at 3 or when it started feeling dumb and repetitive. Well..increased exponentially. I watched a video a while back summarizing whats happened since and why the show sucks, confirming my clairvoyancy. How people could stand to watch that show for so long us beyond me. Id rather dig holes on a chain gang.

 

[Breakdown]

I stopped watching the Flash during season six, but out of curiousity I watched the first couple of episodes of season 8, part of a big story arc called Armageddon with appearances from a bunch of characters from the other shows. Both episodes were pretty rough. The cast looked either tired or bored, the script was bad, and everything just looks really cheap. Like there's a vision of a dystopian future and you're supposed to know it's really messed up because there's one car on fire in the middle of the street and a handful of people running in random directions like they always seem to do in the arrowverse shows.

 

[Hawki]

So I added season 7 to my Arrowverse rankings:

Spoiler

21) The Flash: Season 7

20) Black Lightning: Season 2

19) Black Lightning: Season 1

18) The Flash: Season 5

17) Arrow: Season 3

16) Legends of Tomorrow: Season 3

15) The Flash: Season 4

14) The Flash: Season 6

13) The Flash: Season 3

12) Supergirl: Season 1

11) Arrow: Season 5

10) Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1

9) Legends of Tomorrow: Season 2

8) Arrow: Season 6

7) Supergirl: Season 2

6) The Flash: Season 1

5) The Flash: Season 2

4) Arrow: Season 4

3) Legends of Tomorrow: Season 4

2) Arrow: Season 2

1) Arrow: Season 1

Bear in mind that it's been close to a decade since I saw some seasons, but, yeah. Rock bottom.

 

[gorfias]

I've been watching "severance" the last couple days I'm on episode 4 or 5. The plot is almost too difficult to describe without you seeing it for yourself.

Essentially this megacorporation, in a supposed effort to maintain security, hires people and "severs" their work life from their home life using an chip implant. When you're chipped, upon entering the office you are a brand new human being, no identity or knowledge about yourself. Your skillsets are largely intact, but you have no connection to the you that exists outside work. When you enter the office, youre now this office person, when you leave the last thing you remember is entering work that morning. Same with the office person who only ever remembers waking up at work and leaving work.

Its really difficult to describe what that sensation looks like without seeing it for yourself and the mental schism that creates. As you can imagine all the office people are a little crazy because they have no home life or remember sleep even, they are just always awake at work. NO joy other than what happens at work. The people outside the office would also seem like theyd be super happy because they never remember being at work, but that also could cause a schism because thats 9 hours a day you just lose and often our work identity is an integral part of who we are.

So far the show is complete insanity. Its a drama with a lot of Bioshock untertones. Id go as far as to say it takes a lot of inspiration from bioshock in the sort of gleeful sinister "everything is about to break" subtlety. Its main cast include John tutoro and christopher walken so you cant go wrong. Walken is amazing. Im so happy to see him on screen again.

I highly recommend it, but its on apple tv so I suggest pirating it, just to add an ironic tinge to the whole proposition.

Apple TV is like $5 a month! Binge it. Get some $ to the people making this stuff!
I watched it as it rolled out, having to wait a week per episode, which was tough! Binge worthy!
Almost every episode has a terrific surprise and they just keep upping the stakes.
Directed by Ben Stiller. James Cameron is one of the producers.
A.

Outer Range - (Prime. 2 episides available)
Hmm, No Time to Die or whatever this is with a sad looking cowboy Josh Brolin looking off to the distance? The genre tags are being coy though. Wait. Is this...

Spoiler: Is this...

Lovecraftian???

Ok this is a good start, plenty of atmosphere, distrust and weirdness. Not saying anything more to spoil but highly recommended for anyone looking for something dark and different. Soundtrack also very on point!

Hopefully the trailer should provide a hint of the mood;.

OK. It has my attention. Dang it, next episode drops on Amazon Prime next Friday.

 

[thebobmaster]

Moon Knight continues to be epic. Episode 3 continued to both expand the lore and race towards the big conclusion.

I'm starting to get the impression there's a reason why we got Moon Knight as apposed to something tied to the MCU.

For one it feels like someone actually wrote this. Like past-tense. Like they had the idea for the story first and the got Moon Knight green lit after. It feels much more cohensive and straight forward. Every other marvel show kept having diversions that almost felt like they were filling time, like the Larping in Hawkeye that really didnt add anything or the visit to Madripor in Falcon America. Really havent seen any of that, every scene is very tight and import for the story. the dialog isnt quipy or meandering like they aspire to be kevin smith or Joss wedon.

For another, so far, zero references to the MCU. NOt even a sigh joke about captain america or the 5 year gap. Nothing. Pretty odd for a Marvel franchise.

Id argue this benefits the show greatly. Its not pausing to pander to anybody. It clearly has a story to tell and its gonna get you there. Im really digging the mythology, with Konshus relationship to the god and the as of yet to revealed explanation for whats really going with between Marc and Steven. This is supposed largely based on a comicbook run that lays all that out but I dont want to spoil it for myself.

Every other Marvel show I've felt a little deflated around episode 3 thinking I'm at least mildly bored and praying theres a good pay off. This one I just havent felt that at all. I think Hawk-eye was pretty fun, but I'd still give it an 7-8/10. It was fun, but not perfect. This one I could actually see myself rewatching. I'm really sure how to put in words my issues with Loki, it just felt a bit haphazard in spots and it never quite payed off. Falcon America I absolutely hated. Low budget contradictory mess. They should have made it about Isiah Bradley passing the torch to Falcon. All the terrorist crap was trash. I would go as far as to say Id trade in a heartbeat for a show about strictly Isiah Bradley and Flashbacks to his story. Wandavision just had too much going on to describe. It was a mess.


Some thoughts after research. The show was pitched to Marvel by writer Jeremy Slater whos did a bunch of things, he was the original draft writer of the Fantastic four flop, but apparently FOX tore his script to pieces. Same with Netflixes Deathnote. He wrote and pitched both, but then had his worked yanked out from under him. Thats got to sting. Theres not a ton to note, but its interesting that they hired an Egyptian director as executive producer intentionally to make sure they didnt shit on eqypt. He went as far as to make sure egyptian actors and crew got hired as well as help with the mythology. the only telling thing I could find is that this was pitched to Marvel rather than as part of a corporately dictated schedule property. Its worth noting according to the wiki he wanted to use this show as a kind of pilot for Marvel Knights type deal where some shows would be much darker. Keige imbraced the idea and I can confirm theres a lot of stabby shootie in episode three. My nephew came by and I actually paused the show because it wasnt a particularly kid friendly moment.

I agree with you about how good Moon Knight is, just wanted to add a couple of things. There are actually a couple of MCU references in Moon Knight, but they are both so brief as to be easily overlooked (there's a bus in Episode 2 with a GDC logo, and in Episode 3, that black market guy's bodyguard mentions that he hasn't seen Lalya "since Madripoor"). Also, one thing that really stands out to me is that Jeremy Slater is a fan of Moon Knight, and has admitted to trying to fit in as many Moon Knight memes as he can get away with without actively forcing the plot to service them, which is a great balance.

Finally, you didn't mention, IMO, one of the best elements of Moon Knight: Arthur Harrow. He is such an interesting villain to me, because he seems legitimately sure that what he is doing is right, what Khonshu/Marc/Steven are doing is wrong, and anything he does in service to Ammit is for the ultimate good of all. It's not like he's trying to justify evil acts, as he admits that in his past, he enjoyed dealing out pain, and lists that as his biggest sin. He's legitimately convinced that what he is doing is not evil in the first place. Plus, Ethan Hawke brings such an unsettling charisma to the role. I really buy him as a cult leader.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Finally, you didn't mention, IMO, one of the best elements of Moon Knight: Arthur Harrow. He is such an interesting villain to me, because he seems legitimately sure that what he is doing is right, what Khonshu/Marc/Steven are doing is wrong, and anything he does in service to Ammit is for the ultimate good of all. It's not like he's trying to justify evil acts, as he admits that in his past, he enjoyed dealing out pain, and lists that as his biggest sin. He's legitimately convinced that what he is doing is not evil in the first place. Plus, Ethan Hawke brings such an unsettling charisma to the role. I really buy him as a cult leader.

Although I do more or less agree with you, I think Steven pretty much tore apart Harrow's belief system in episode 2 with a couple of lines that were basically jokes. I have to actively not think about how stupid Ammit's pre-emptive justice is to take Harrow seriously. I wonder if they're going to explicitly show why Ammit is bullshit and the way Harrow has been judging people is flawed or basically a lie of some sort.

 

[thebobmaster]

Oh, I'm sure they will. I'm saying what's interesting is that Harrow himself seems to have drunk the Kool-Aid, as it were. I didn't say he was actually right, more that he is actually convinced he is right rather than justifying a wrong.