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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've been watching The Americans for the first time (nearing the end of Season 5 now). When this was first aired, I sort of wrote it off as a generic action/thriller and didn't pay much attention to it, especially since my parents were watching it and I've found what they've enjoyed to be a fair bit shallower than this.
Anyway, I only gave it any attention after I watched The Patient and discovered the writers were the same ones behind The Americans.
Without going into spoiler territory, I really love the way this show never, or rarely ever, goes into expository conversations. It really trusts the viewer to follow along and try to piece together everyone's motivations, secrets, ambitions, etc. Plus they've made the stakes clear in a really explicit way time and time again. I'm anxious to see how the series concludes.
Okay, one spoiler for mid - late season 5
The last episode I watched, Elizabeth said she was ready to leave, which is a huge development considering how devoted she has been to the cause. But needing to execute that woman, whom they were told was a war criminal but was actually a young girl who was victimized and forced into an awful brutal situation, seeing how that broke Phillip -- it's understandable that she has been pushed the edge.
Oh man, this show was so good. I also wrote it off as generic spy shit when it first aired. I kind of assumed it would be anti-russian propaganda and not interesting. I watched it earlier this year. It is incredibly well written and acted.
Phillip is one of the most complex tv characters.... his whole life story broke my heart over and over again. Every time you find out more about these people you are just like.... damn. Elizabeth's devotion to the cause is so fascinating because you definitely see her go through transformative periods, and growth as a person, but there are some areas where you really see her hit a wall. Like where she is doing something she knows and believes to be wrong, and the way she justifies things to herself is so fanatical. Philip's real devotion is to Elizabeth, which is again heartbreaking so often. Watching them navigate their feelings for each other... it is honestly one of the most brutal shows, emotionally. And I love how much they leave it up to you to make sense of it. They show you context clues, but they don't flat out tell you what people are feeling. They have whole conversations about their love for each other without ever even MENTIONING the actual relationship. I am so impressed by the writing.
And the fucking next door neighbor FBI guy!?!? What a good character. Kind of made me feel a similar way to how I felt about Hank on Breaking Bad. Although I kind of pitied Hank, and I never pitied Stan.
Do you recomment the Patient? I don't know anything about it.
I really liked The Patient. It's absolutely NOT Steve Carrell's normal shit. Essentially the premise from the first episode is that Steve Carrell plays a Jewish therapist, and his new patient kidnaps him because he's frustrated that his therapy isn't working as quickly or effectively as he'd like, and then it devolves from there. It's heavy and bleak but well written. It's probably Carrell's best acting performance of his career, and Domnhall Gleason is great as he is in everything. It's only 10 30 minute episodes but I don't think it needed to be anything more than that.
Fantastic show. Been thinking abut watching it again. I really love how it ended.
The ending is so good! I rewatched it recently. It caps off the series perfectly. The climax of the episode is incredible. The acting is phenomenal!