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TV Tuesdays Free Talk
Have you watched any TV shows recently you want to discuss? Any shows you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.
Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.
I wasn't going to bother with The Boys --- how much more can they really do? Well, I watched the first episode and I'm back in it. Its a funny show... even though it can go in circles at times.
I'm on S01E17 of LOST. Its the one where Michael freaks out at Jin yada yada yada. I am loving this LOST rewatch, though. Of all things, I'm really impressed by the amount of time they took to fully introduce The Others -- even Mr Friendly on the boat... or even the discovery of the hatch. S01 was so patient.
Has anybody been watching Top Chef? The finale is tomorrow and I'm excited. I wasn't sure this season was going to be very good, but the first guy that got eliminated decided to just go home and not to Last Chance Kitchen (losers bracket with a few paths back to the show) -- that threw a big wrench into things in a good way. Suddenly mid-season an alternate, who won LCK, entered the main competition and was doing really well.
This, added to a new host who won season 10... and her having her own side show, The Dish with Kish, it really feels like Top Chef has found its format. Also, unlike other seasons, the quickfire no longer gives immunity and your performance in that can play in to the overall elimination. Long story short, every week there's just over an hour of solid Top Chef content.
The Acolyte is... a bit of a snooze, but I am foolishly optimistic.
We have been watching Geek Girl on Netflix. It's charming and the characters are very relatable. They haven't acknowledged that the main character is not neurotypical, but it seems like she must be.
I remember reading one of those Reddit AMAs by one of the people who had his car pimped. Few huge surprises; there generally doesn't seem to be a lot of reality in reality TV.
This video makes me kinda feel bad for Xzibit, who gets much of the blame and got little of the reward, but the research and sources feel a bit too superficial to take at face value.
I stumbled upon Dark Matter last week. I read the book a year ago and I have never watched a show/movie that was so close to the book and it's honestly amazing. It's hard to be objective about the quality of the show when every scene you created in your head when reading the book is transformed perfectly. For me at least. I wish more authors were this involved in adaptations. Granted the book reads as a screenplay and maybe this was the plan all along but it works.
Generally I've been watching more and more Apple+ because the quality generally is just higher and much better than Netflix/Max/Amazon/whatever. I love that I can put on a show and know while it might not be for me at least the quality is there. Something especially Netflix and now sadly also HBO(Max) have lost some time ago. That's not to say you can't find great stuff on these streaming platforms but I get tired looking for it.
I've been rewatching the first season of House of the Dragon before starting season 2 that I didn't even realize is now starting to come out and season 1 is much better than I remember!
My only regret is that I've been binging it too quick. Game of Thrones still has such a sour taste in my mouth so I just don't care enough to rewatch it - as much as I would love 8 seasons of fantasy TV to binge, I can be patient enough for more great House of the Dragon and Wheel of Time that's getting better, plus more Rings of Power too! Hopefully there's more fantasy to come, too, in the next years!!
House of the Dragon season 1 spoilers below:
I think I watched it week by week when it initially came out. Maybe that's why I feel it's better this time? Or maybe because I was prepared for the replacing of the actors in the middle of the season. I still feel it wasn't very well done. Especially Rhaenyra's character was so much better portrayed by Milly Alcock than what Emma D'Arcy does. I like them, don't get me wrong, but the former was way too striking for such a significant change.
It's also strange to me that they change up young actors for actors that are also still young-ish. The "older" actors are only around about 10 years their senior. They could have easily aged up Alicent and Rhaenyra's actors a little bit, and went with actors that are maybe like 40+ because there are going to be more time jumps, right?
That's really my only gripe with this show, and I do know that it's probably a me problem. So while I do feel it's too bad and a shame, I won't let it get in the way of my enjoyment of the show because it's a really great show! So many incredible moments, for example the one with the kids in which the one boy gets cut in the face and loses the eye - the tension in the scene in the Driftmark throneroom where Alicent very literally demands an eye for an eye.. so good!
Wife and I are watching Three Body Problem on Netflix. We are at the 4th episode. Certainly an interesting premise for Sci-Fi, I'm not sure I've run into a show about the same concept before. It's paced pretty well, if a bit confusing, but certain things are starting to connect now and make more sense.
Also watching Dark Matter, and we are caught-up to the most recent episode. Great acting in this one, although not surprising as Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly have always been great in whatever I've seen them in before. I think this show is interesting from a thought experiment, "what-if" point of view that you can enjoy having conversations about with friends.
I still miss Shogun though. Been a little over a month later and I still think about it.
I finished it a month ago, but I haven't seen any discussion of Sugar on Apple TV+. I liked it, but I am guessing that it won't get renewed for a second season. It plays pretty well for a miniseries, if anybody was on the fence about watching it.
Currently watching Hacks and The last season of Curb. Curb going out on a high note, Hacks has been a little up and down.
In the hour long category, I'm watching Ripley and The Sopranos. Through 2 episodes Ripley has been extremely slow burn. Andrew Scott is great, like Dakota Fanning, everyone else is fine. I'm not convinced by the choice to exhibit in black and white. The sharpness is jarring. I just don't think it does what they were going for.
Rewatching The Sopranos for the first time since I watched it 25 years ago and it has been a completely different experience. Still an amazing show, highly recommended.
ok, did you find that Sugar was one thing and then took a dramatic shift that stripped a lot of the class or magic out of it? I really liked it, but I liked it more in the first half
Oh yeah, very dramatic twist. I liked it though. I felt like it was a cheeky way to explain his physical prowess, among other things. Also, if it gets renewed, it gives the producers an incredible pivot. Imagine what wild show they could make for the second season?
I really liked how it cut back to scenes from older films. If it does come back, I hope they lean in hard and bring him forward to Rambo (not really)
Anybody watching The Sympathizer? North Vietnamese spy ends up in the US doing deep cover infiltration after Saigon falls in the 70s. And it's Park Chan-Wook (Snowpiercer, Oldboy) directing!
The cinematography is excellent – the camera feels nervous but not anxious, which reinforces its noir feel. Acting is great and often really funny (after episode 1). Robert Downey Jr shows up…several times. Not sure how else to say that without spoilers, but it's done in a fun way.
Shogun is still on my list, and I'm likely going to rewatch The Bear before season 3 drops on the 27th.
The Sympathizer was an excellent book. I will look out for it
I have been watching Dark Matter and The boys. I finally binged season 5+ of Suits. I don't like what they did with Donna. Louis deserves all that he is getting. I liked Harvey better with Paula.