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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 binged Shōgun after seeing an episode Friday night. Fuji is my favourite character, she was so strong and immovable, one could say, in her duties as a woman in this world. The whole thing was visually impressive. I know Blackthorn is loosely based on a real character but i could never shake the feeling that the fish out of water guy was necessary to make white people comfortable with this piece of fiction. Its why i never read the book either and leaned towarda the Tale of the Heike.
I really felt like i was edged with Ochiba being that scheming, brilliant voice in the man's ear that Japan loves to have in stories. Like, there were moments where she seemed almost demonic/possessed, great. But they really let off the gas when she just kind of... gave up. We didnt even get to see her internal battle on the topic of her friends death so the side switching felt a bit shallow.
All in all, i liked it. Mainly for the costumes, sets, landscapes, and general immersion. It was neat.
FYI, Blackthorne is actually based on a real person, William Adams, who was the first Englishman to reach Japan, and really did become hatamoto to Tokugawa Ieyasu (who Toranaga is based on) during his rise to shōgun. The story of the Tokugawa shogunate could be told without mentioning the white guy, I suppose, but he was rather important and later even went on to form a dual government with Tokugawa Hidetada (Ieyasu's successor).
Their full sentence addressed that, but I think they're right about why this is the story that gets told.
Whoa, weird... my brain somehow didn't register the first part of the sentence. :/ I'll leave my comment up for posterity's sake, but sorry about that, @countchocula, I misread your comment.
I know we've talked about Dropout here but since it's a more niche streaming service, they released a trailer recently and I thought I'd share!
Happy Birthday Dropout!
I am halfway through M. Spade on Netflix and enjoying it. Clive Owen is doing a killer hard boiled turn in the role made famous by Bogart without feeling like he's doing a Bogart impression.
I'm also halfway through season 4 of Only Murders In The Building and I'm less entertained. So far this feels very half baked and the decision to just add a bunch more famous people into the mix is turning out much worse than S3's additions of Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd. No matter how this turns out, I'd prefer they look back to S1 and the small role Tina Fey played as a model for future seasons.
I watched the first episode of The Penguin and I liked it a lot less than everybody else. I really dislike the kid's portrayal. Too modern and real world. Colin Ferrell was ok as the Penguin but he kept losing his accent throughout the episode. Christin Milioti was ace. I'll watch the next episode.
on recommendation, i gave Mayor of Kingstown a fair shake. not a fan of Yellowstone or its prequels, but i respect Taylor Sheridan for putting together compelling television, especially season 1. season 2 was a massive drag for me, it felt like half the scenes were simply someone to tell the titular "mayor" to get something done for them, and him saying "i'm taking care of it". season 3 fared a little better, but i don't know if i'll be continuing it. it already feels like it's hit season 3-4 of Sons of Anarchy, which i gave up for similar reasons, namely characters making the same mistakes, off-camera plot resolution, and generally lazy writing. if you're a fan of ridiculously tense cop dramas, it's a fun take—the prison COs and police are treated the same as any other gang wanting control in the town.
Did you feel like every episode of Mayor of Kingstown was 'you gotta fix it, Mikey!' --- then he goes and fixes part of it...?
I had to give up on it.
What has Taylor Sheridan really done? He seems to be the airport thriller writer of television. Hell or High Water and Sicario were good.. but the rest of it is hot garbage.
I'd throw Wind River on his worthwhile list.
tough to go wrong with that cast. i get that he makes bank, but he should stick to film :)
yes, that exact sentiment, and the reason he doesn't fix it is someone else that needs fixing takes up a whole two-minute conversation telling him he's doing a bad job of fixing their thing too and he needs to fix it faster…maybe Taylor Sheridan doesn't trust viewers to remember he's a fixer?
I don't watch any of his TV shows besides this. I stopped watching, but while I was in, I really liked Aidan Gillen and a lot of the characters. Taylor Handley would make for a great prequel Anakin Skywalker knock-off., too.
All in all, the whole thing is so sloppy. Big Love got into that unending mess of problems that are all happening at once bullshit during the fourth season (I think) -- its so lazy.
I mentioned it last week's thread, but I figure its cool to mention it again since that was on Sunday: my mom and I watched the pilot for the new Matlock series, and it exceeded my general expectations for reboots.
It's refreshing to have a reboot center around an older person rather than a young relative of the original protagonist. On that note, it's also cool to have the original Matlock be a show in-universe, and Madeline Matlock is a formerly retired lawyer who coincidentally had the same name. Kathy Bates did a great job in the role, she's really likeable and charismatic. Emphasis on charismatic: she's great at getting people to open up and give her what she needs, and it's clearly deliberate rather than just her being nice enough to get people to be willing to talk like I usually see. She's still nice, but she's also cunning and knows what she's doing.
And other than that... It actually REALLY surprised me. This show turns out to have an overarching plot rather than being episodic, though naturally the pilot focuses on a single case as she joins the firm as a research assistant after not practicing law for years. I highly recommend checking it out if you like law shows.
I wish they had just cast Paul Ben-Victor for The Penguin. I love Colin Farrell and his performance is great, but he's buried in prosthetics... and came out looking like a heavier Paul Ben-Victor.
I’m still continuing my first watch of Deep Space Nine. I’m now on season 6 episode 3 or 4. GOOD LORD shit has hit the fan. This show is just fantastic. It holds up super well and I’ve been fully invested during my entire watch. Even the “bad” episodes are still entertaining enough for me to not skip them. It’s almost unbelievable they were able to make 7 seasons of this without it ever feeling stale while TNG and Voyager were also going on!
I’m planning on watching Voyager (also for the first time) afterwards, but maybe with a bit of a break in between so that I’m not just watching 14 straight seasons of trek with nothing to break it up. Then again, I’ve not been bored a single time in the full 5 seasons of DS9 I watched in just a few months, so maybe I’ve found my “comfort food”.
I think Voyager has a slower pace - due to being back on a ship - but is a blend of the story of the week and the more overarching plotlines. I think you'll be more inclined to pace yourself with it so a show to alternate with can be good.
If you haven't already seen it, I highly recommend Babylon 5. It has similarities to DS9 but it's a very different overall vibe. The effects are cheesy but were cutting edge at the time.
I’ve had a handful of people recommend me B5 since I started watching DS9. It’s definitely going on the list! I super do not mind dated effects. After all, I love DS9, TNG, and even TOS!
I started watching Person of Interest Loved it. Almost finished 2 seasons of it. Yes it old series but I somewhat like watching series with more seasons and a good story line.
One of the newest release Shogun is also great. The production and the character development is top notch. Much awaiting it's second season. Those who loved shows like Vikings, Outlander should definitely try this out.