The TV shows you've seen recently thread.

[toku]

Castlevania season 3 is

General writing quality seems better than what I remember from S1/2

very horny season

[CatsCatsCats]

Finished Locke and Key.

My partner was really into it, but I was a bit meh on the whole thing. Had some good moments, but overall, I spent most of it looking at my phone.

It had some interesting pieces but it doesn’t do anything too interesting with them, lots of dumb decision kid stuff, I’d watch further seasons in the background of doing something else

[Bebpo]

Finished Legion S2 last night.

I remember S1 being really good season of TV cinema. Between that and Fargo S1 Noah Hawley seemed on fire. S2 expanded to 11 eps kind of...lost the plot. Was really meandering, lots of psycho-babble, a lot of side stories that didn't have much point and then it ends with TWIST that it thinks is clever where

spoiler (click to show/hide)

David is really the villian

[close]

But it's handled very poorly and instead of being a cool twist that's been built up from the start with unreliable narrators and morally grey choices, it's literally

spoiler (click to show/hide)

We're following David and he's a pretty well intentioned good damaged guy up until like the final eps and then suddenly he rapes Syd (jumping the shark) and now he's the villian and she's the hero even though 30 mins earlier she was trying to kill him for something he might do in the future which made her more the villian prior to that.

It was just stupid. I read some reviews of the season after to see what critics thought and yeah basically they all harped on that jump the shark moment and we're like you can't really walk the main character back to redemption now that you had him rape the main female character. WHOOPS.

I saw an interview where Haley compared Legion to Breaking Bad and being like Walter White's descent into antagonist, but yeah no, Legion did not handle it that way at all. It could've, but it would've needed to be setting this up from the very first ep in season one because it really feels thrown in for season 2

[close]

Anyhow, S2 was kind of ehhhh, so wasn't sure about S3 but just finished the first episode with the time traveler girl and that was pretty good. Probably better than the whole S2. Also being only 8 eps instead of 11 eps potential gives it less time to fuck around, so maybe S3 will be good again like S1 and give it a strong finish like it had a strong start (fingers crossed).

Also the budget in this show is fucking insane for TV.

[BlueTsunami]

The opening of Ep.3 of DEVS was spooky as fuck

[BlueTsunami]

Just finding out about the Canadian show Mr.D. this shit is top tier.

[D3RANG3D]

I finished the third season of Castlevania didn't like it as much as S1/S2.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

The surprise buttseks 

[close]

On another note the second season of the Kingdom the Joseon/Zombie show is up on netflix.

[Nintex]

Better call saul is my comfy blanket show

[Joe Molotov]

I’m watching this Icelandic murder mystery show on Netflix called Valhalla Murders and they’re playing EVE Valkyrie. I wish Kara was alive to see this.

[Bebpo]

I watched Fleabag S1 yesterday on Prime because the trailer looked funny/witty and I like British humor.

Was alright, wish it were funnier. Main character is kinda aggravating. Will probably watch S2 since it's short at 6 eps / 30 mins.

[chronovore]

Designated Survivor s2 moves from being overly serious all the time to having some humor in it (good!) but also going a bit schmaltzy and less… realistic? Kirkman grows a spine and then becomes spiny and then tries to rebalance himself.

There's a "dirty bomb" scenario in s2 that only goes an episode or two; I thought it would drag on for a while, since it was the entire plot of 24 s1. Ideally, the series should end with Kirkman meeting a de-aged Kiefer Sutherland as the head of CTU.

Designated Survivor is fucking glorious trash, that can't decide if it wants to be the West Wing or 24, so veers wildly between the two and does not give a fuck at what a tonal mess it results in.

Finished this yesterday. The last few episodes, I feel like they finally get where they were trying to land with that West Wing/24 dichotomy you mentioned. The last episode turns the entire series into a kind of tragedy, but a surprisingly realistic reaction covering Kirkman's change from an unflinching and uncompromising idealist to a a pragmatic and practical POTUS who still has America's best interests at heart.

"s3 spoilers"

• I was pretty tired of the Aaron Shore/Isi arc, with her being a judgemental and unsupportive partner then being surprised when Aaron goes elsewhere for comfort -- and in the end it's actually how she cannot accept that Aaron feels his work as the VPOTUS is more important than hers as the White House Deputy Chief of Staff: angry. Angry at something that can actually be shown on an Organizational Chart, or taking a fucking moment to realize that Mars appointed her as a matter of personal choice, whereas the nation had to vote to give Aaron his VP role. Sit the fuck down and have a chat with reality, Isi. Jesus.
• Emily's arc is tragic, as she has essentially lost both parents by the end, her real mother dies from cancer and her surrogate father turns out to be imperfect. It was a really well-handled ending.
• It was interesting that they kept the story beat in for Lorraine's uses of "Israeli military-grade spyware" against Cornelius Moss; it leaves the door open to a s4 that will never happen, and they had to know that when they were only making 10 episodes. Odd that they kept it in, except that I guess it shows that Emily is still attempting to regain a moral integrity which had slipped from her, even as she expects that Kirkman will never have lost his -- in a way, it's a story about the two of them growing apart, as Kirkman matures into the leader he needs to be, and she struggles with seeing her surrogate father as human and flawed.
• Hannah Wells - RIP, but it's appropriate that she got ganked while ONCE AGAIN investigating something insanely dangerous while operating SOLO. Kirkman remarks at her funeral that "I didn't know her all that well," and I think that's the major flaw with her character. Basically, she WAS THE JOB. She was an investigative tool, but we never had an idea of her flaws or what made her tick other than "I joined the FBI to piss off my father." She had a military background, there was a chance for some interesting character development, but all she ever did that showed vulnerability was to bone Bad James Bond.

[close]

[Potato]

I watched Fleabag S1 yesterday on Prime because the trailer looked funny/witty and I like British humor.

Was alright, wish it were funnier. Main character is kinda aggravating. Will probably watch S2 since it's short at 6 eps / 30 mins.

I watched season 1 and had the same general reaction. Not sure I care enough to watch season 2.

[Transhuman]

Westworld turning out to be ZZZzzzzzzzz

Everything disappoints me in the end.

[team filler]

about 20 mins in and here go marshawn lynch 

[thisismyusername]

Holy shit. This episode of Better Call Saul.

Kim. Is. PISSED.

[Tripon]

[Don Rumata]

Kingdom season 2 pretty cool, i didn't like it as much as season 1, but the finale sets up a fun potential season 3.
They kind of rushed the resolution of all the shit they built up though.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Oh, all the hordes of zombies outside the royal palace? Nvm, they just got rid of them off screen, anyway 7 years later. 

[close]

Better Call Saul finally getting good again, with this episode.
Kim & Jim anyway, because Mike's plot line feels like complete filler at the moment.

[BlueTsunami]

Holy shit. This episode of Better Call Saul.

Kim. Is. PISSED.

Pissed Kimberly

Dom me mommy

 

[Don Rumata]

Holy shit. This episode of Better Call Saul.

Kim. Is. PISSED.

Pissed Kimberly

Dom me momma

 

No, that scene gave me sweaty palms.  :'(
But then... 

Although i'll move a critique that going to the "bad guy does bad thing to 'protect' female love interest" well again, after it was a major narrative in Breaking Bad, is a bit lame on their part.

[Ghoul]

Tiger King is absolutely insane, well worth the watch.

[Ghoul]

when tiger king is the most normal person you really gotta ask yourself wtf.

Carole is the worst out the three then followed by "dr" sexx cult

[Joe Molotov]

Tiger King is absolutely insane, well worth the watch.

A great Oklahoma hero.

[Tripon]

Man vs Food is back with a new fat fuck.

[Nintex]

This episode of better call Saul 

[team filler]

"he's a shonda for the bald" 

[BlueTsunami]

Watching Made in Abyss

I was expecting some truly uncomfortable shit to wade through but man if this is what makes grown men uncomfortable, some androgynous shirtless anime character, then I don't know what the hell I expected. It simply does not feel sexualized, just some 'heres an uncomfortable scenario between the two mains' scenes. There's absolutely no intended titillation to it (that I can discern), thank God, cause I would have punched out.

I'm really enjoying the adventure. Watching it feels like you're privy to all the intrigue of a dungeon crawler without the tedium.

[Don Rumata]

Speaking of animated stuff.
I can't get past the first couple of episodes of Castelvania S3.
S2 was already shit, but this writing is so abysmal, wtf. 
and now even the cool animation is (mostly) gone.

[BlueTsunami]

Speaking of animated stuff.
I can't get past the first couple of episodes of Castelvania S3.
S2 was already shit, but this writing is so abysmal, wtf. 
and now even the cool animation is (mostly) gone.

The whole convent of women vampire scenes were ugh. The entire season felt like 80% exposition 20% action, mainly contained on the back end. Was not as satisfying as the former seasons.

[Don Rumata]

Speaking of animated stuff.
I can't get past the first couple of episodes of Castelvania S3.
S2 was already shit, but this writing is so abysmal, wtf. 
and now even the cool animation is (mostly) gone.

The whole convent of women vampire scenes were ugh. The entire season felt like 80% exposition 20% action, mainly contained on the back end. Was not as satisfying as the former seasons.

This is mainly what's killing me, even though the banter is also pretty weak shit.
Every other dialogue is just stilted, not-so-subtle way to explain some pointless world building or obvious development.
Season 1 worked well with only 6 episodes, if getting more meant to just add this shit.

[toku]

it was definitely a setup season

[Ghoul]

finished Tiger man.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Carole is a bitch and killed her husbband
And he got set the fuck up by those snitches for sure.

[close]

[Don Rumata]

it was definitely a setup season

Well i'm out, anyway.
On that note, i watched two episodes of a Netflix anime called "7Seeds".
This is possibly the worst anime i've ever seen or close to it. It's fantastic, can't stop laughing at all the constant nonsense and bullshit and horrid animations/drawings.
Highly recommended.

[Joe Molotov]

Cannon Busters is a good Netflix anime.

[Nintex]

I like how in this season of Homeland I can't tell if Jennifer Rubin or John Bolton wrote the script

[toku]

I enjoyed s3 of castlevania. The first 2 or 3 eps are a total waste though. Isaac and Lorena saved the season for me. Just watch the last 2 or 3 episodes.

[BlueTsunami]

The Plot Against America is some good shit 

David Simon does it again

[team filler]

just started ep 5 of saul and it got me wishing this would turn into some alternate reality where things go well for jimmy and kim 

[Don Rumata]

just started ep 5 of saul and it got me wishing this would turn into some alternate reality where things go well for jimmy and kim 

Part of the show is post-BB.
It could be that they reconnect and bang. 

[GreatSageEqualOfHeaven]

I think the best case scenario for a Saul happy ending is that the tough guys that tracked him down at the start of this season in his cinnabon life are PIs working for Kim that she hired after seeing what went down on the news.

Saul getting a happy ending would feel a little like a cop out though, tbh

[Bebpo]

Found out I have hulu (ad version), started watching Castle Rock S2. It's good so far. Same good cinematography as S1, good directing, same great acting, more straightforward horror thriller. As a fan of Salem's Lot, this being a sorta sequel is neat. I'm glad between the connections to Salem and Misery the series is being more let's use the actual Stephen King IPs and less let's do an original story and vaguely hint at King stuff.

Really hope S3 gets renewed. There's a huge treasure trove of material between all of Stephen King's characters/locations that you can do a ton of fun fan fiction if you want (which is basically what S2 is, HQ fan fiction, but that's fine and entertaining).

Since The Dark Tower cinematic universe is fucking DEAD with Wizard and Glass's pilot getting canned at Amazon, I'd love for them to work some Dark Tower elements (characters, locations, objects) into a future season.

I actually wonder how the IP rights work for Castle Rock. Like I assume King has sold the rights to various stories/characters to different studios in their movie adaptations, so not sure if Castle Rock has to basically work with scraps that have expired or whether King somehow retains the rights to his whole universe and Castle Rock can pull from anything.

[Dickie Dee]

I think the best case scenario for a Saul happy ending is that the tough guys that tracked him down at the start of this season in his cinnabon life are PIs working for Kim that she hired after seeing what went down on the news.

Saul getting a happy ending would feel a little like a cop out though, tbh

Didn't the flashback with Kim and her Mom also take place in Nebraska? They gotta be going somewhere with that

[BlueTsunami]

Been watching Tales from the Loop on Amazon. It's like Stranger Things but far more understated and more Twilight Zone adjacent as it seems to be different stories of characters from the town. I really like its meditative vibe.

[Madrun Badrun]

Kims convenience is actually pretty good.

[Potato]

Holy shit. I know I'm late to the party here, but Tiger King is ridiculously good.

[toku]

s3 of Future Man is out. Hope it's better than s2. Hope it's just the Wolf show. 

[toku]

"You know how many times we've turned a death sentence into a life paragraph?"

Wolf-sempai

[Madrun Badrun]

Kim's convenience is a great feel-good show for right now.

[chronovore]

Enjoying Riverdale right now. I love that it's close to Twin Peaks without aping it (except that one shot of the Black Hood climbing over the couch, an obvious homage). The actors all do a bang-up job; not quite as much scenery-chewing as Peaks. Fun to see how many '80s teen stars have regular roles in it. I gotta say though, Molly Ringwald did not age like wine.

[Don Rumata]

Just wanted to reiterate how bad (good) 7Seeds is.
For real, just watch this instead Castelvania or whatever.

Every episode is a masterpiece, every scene is a showcase of incredibly, absurdly shit writing and horrid drawings. 

[Bebpo]

So I was watching Castle Rock S2 on my free Hulu w/ads that came with Spotify.

First ep or two was like one 30-60 second ad every 15 mins. Which is about what I remember cable tv being like when I was a kid. This was fine and I was like "hey, ads aren't that bad, I'm happy saving $13/month and just living with this"

but then by ep3/4, it changed to 60-90 seconds of ads every 5 mins. Which is fucking insanity and the ads are 20% of the viewing run time. I couldn't take it and couldn't finish episodes, so I ended up paying the damn $13/month for Hulu ad-free.

But yeah I just wanted to say how EVIL that is that they make it seem like ads are ok until you get a few eps in and are invested into a show and then it's like fuck you, got ads.

[Don Rumata]

Last episode of BCS was so weird, i liked it. 

[toku]

Future Man was good. Way better than s2, honestly about as good as the first.

[D3RANG3D]

Been watching Scooby Doo Mystery Inc. fucking great show but man the romance shit is garbage would be a 10/10 show if not for it, but then again we wouldn't have gotten the trap of love song out of it. 

[Tasty]

Eh it's mostly played for laughs, I was OK with it. They're teens.

[Bebpo]

Finished Castle Rock S2. That was a good season of HQ modern TV. The director/cinematography is great and gets really good performances out of the cast which is filled with excellent people. Pretty enjoyable story. Only downside is the tie-ins with Misery felt really forced and unnecessary. The main character being Annie Wilkes didn't really add anything and the same season could've been done with her as just a nobody original main character. The character relationships and drama, like S1, is good.

The whole thing being weird as King fan fiction with basically no involvement from King is still weird since these are established characters/settings being used but this doesn't really fit with any canon.

But I guess if you really want to make it work, the King universe has some easy outs with

spoiler (click to show/hide)

alternate dimensions.

[close]

If I'm going to try to place it in King universe canon, I think

spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Kid is one of the 12 or so disciples of the Red King

[close]

[GreatSageEqualOfHeaven]

But I guess if you really want to make it work, the King universe has some easy outs with

spoiler (click to show/hide)

alternate dimensions.

[close]

I'm not a big King 'verse expert, but doesn't the Dark Tower imply the universe gets regularly rebooted with minor changes each cycle?

[GreatSageEqualOfHeaven]

Fuck, Better Call Saul is soooo good.

[Bebpo]

But I guess if you really want to make it work, the King universe has some easy outs with

spoiler (click to show/hide)

alternate dimensions.

[close]

I'm not a big King 'verse expert, but doesn't the Dark Tower imply the universe gets regularly rebooted with minor changes each cycle?

Sure, but I mean most of King's stuff takes place in alternate worlds of Earth. Like The Stand is its own universe. So that works for Castle Rock being in its own alternate world of earth since things are similar but different as well.

It's one nice thing about the King universe is stuff like that basically lets you connect anything.

[BlueTsunami]

Been going through Community and Season 2 has been masterful. It's becoming more like a cartoon and I'm down for it.

[Crash Dummy]

romanoffs - weak second episode but otherwise 

[D3RANG3D]

Two new episodes of What We Do in the Shadows are up on Hulu.