TV Tuesdays Free Talk

We finished His Dark Materials last night, which was my favorite series of books growing up. I never used to cry at movies/TV/books, but I have become such a sap over the years that I was crying and then laughing at how much I was crying. I think the series does the books justice, as much as a TV show can. It’s a lovely coming of age story that has sentimental value to me, and I wasn’t disappointed with it.

So I just finished season 3 of The Boys and I have to say it's one of the best shows I've watched in many years. The sheer audacity of Tarrantino-esque violence and fucked up-ness is just a joy to watch and it feels original in a sea of quality shows that blends together in the same formats over time. You literally never know what's going to happen next and nobody's safe. The characters evolve slowly and authentic if they even do that and that seems to keep the show from falling in the usual traps of character development happening from one episode to another. The references to American society becomes clearer and clearer as the seasons progresses and I'm exited to see whats coming next both in real life and therefore also in the show.

I finally finished up the final season of Alice in Borderland.

It's been so long since I watched that first season that I honestly forgot a lot about it. I remember the first season being relatively introspective but the second half really goes in for a deep dive on how the characters think and the philosophies that drive them. This time around the games all seemed to be less set on having a clever trick than they were about understanding a piece of philosophy. And I also liked that the "bad guys" of the series were generally well defined characters who are fighting for what they believe in.

The end of the series does lean heavy into some tropes and honestly did rub me the wrong way in a few places, but overall I really like it.

I watched "Super Pumped" which is a dramamentary about Uber. It's fun. They don't immediately portray Travis Kalanick as a cartoon villain, they allow that aspect to build and develop over the show. I liked this more than the thing about We Work, and perhaps a touch less than the thing about Elizabeth Holmes (but maybe they're tied). I very much prefer watching Joseph Gordon Levitt than Jared Leto which may be influencing my ranking.

I am also re-watching The Newsroom to see if they predicted anything (they were right that the need for organisations like The Tea Party would diminish when the principles are absorbed into the party; they're a bit too supportive of traditional journalists and the whole "we only publish with two credible sources" thing, which may well be true in the US but is not at ll true in the UK.) I am finding it enjoyable if a bit earnest.