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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 just finished season 2 of Severance today. I have mixed feelings about the show overall, which is a bummer because I really enjoyed season 1 but feel like this season was ultimately a step backward.
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Ultimately, this feels like a show that's way more interested in its intrigue than it is in any practical kind of reality.Which is weird, because it does feel like there's something that's underpinning the whole Lumon mystique, but the more the show refuses to actually engage with that, the less it seems like it's been thought out.
There are some interesting/exciting revelations toward the end of the season -- Harmony Cobel seems to be the true inventor of the severance technology, that's something! -- but it takes SO LONG to get to that point that I was almost disinterested in the reveal.
A couple things I really want to know that I think the show could discuss pretty easily:
I think my biggest frustration is the role Harmony plays in the season. She's the most immediate source of knowledge for the audience and for Mark and his sister, but anytime she's pressed for answers, she's evasive and says nothing of substance.
What she really needed to tell everyone was what Gemma thought she was getting out of this experience. It's not clear to me if she was tricked or if she agreed to this experiment, but she clearly understands that whenever it's over, she'll get to go back to Mark. That's the biggest question remaining for me that can tie the show together -- what's the purpose of all of this?
This is somewhat of an aside, but I really thought I missed something when Burt shows up in Irving's house and is talking about "not being a Lumon goon," and it really feels like he is or was a Lumon goon.
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Well maybe this is my failing, but I understood that she was there voluntarily -- you see her with those cards that they found in season 1 and she said it was something she signed up for. I think she got sucked into a cult and they said do these experiments and we'll do something for you in return.But it could well be that she was kidnapped and I just entirely misread the situation.
Which honestly is part of the problem. It wouldn't take long at all to give some clear answers about this, if they just took a step back and allowed someone to fill in a few gaps. Like Harmony!
I put every other show on hold and almost completely avoided YouTube last week to rewatch season 1 of The Last Of Us. Worth it! (I'm not a gamer and I have never played either of the video games this series is based on.)
I watched the first episode of season 2 and really enjoyed it. Seems like a lot of this season's problems were set up and I really liked some of the new cast: Kaitlyn Dever and Isabella Merced, especially.
I felt rather underwhelmed by Daredevil Born Again. As much as I enjoy the cast, it felt like a lot of retreading old ground, not to mention the cliffhanger ending which brought the season to an end without any satisfying resolution.
It was underwhelming and I didn't know that the season was only 9 episodes. The plot points were predictable, the stakes were lukewarm, there was no dramatic tension. It fell flat. The only thing it makes me want to do is watch the old series.
Who thought it was a good idea for a show called The Magicians to have a magic-free season 3? Sure, there are magical things going on, but most characters cannot do magic. This is so dumb. Like a full X-Men saga with no powers.
That is why I stopped watching the show, and now I see that I had a point.
I've watched through Severance, Dark Matter, Black Mirror, Wheel of Time, Reacher, and the new Daredevil. Also the first episode of The Last Of Us 2.
The only stand out was Severance which I enjoyed. I do like when they pay off the mystery but the show was compelling enough in general even though it was a bit light on that. The weirdness of the characters and the innie technology is all too cool.
Reacher was pretty good, but unless they do something interesting next season (if there is one) it's going to have overstayed its welcome. Seasons 1 and 2 were pretty good.
Dark Matter was worth the watch, and had an interesting, if ridiculous, premise.
The rest were meh.
Wheel of Time is far too convoluted for this format and I just don't feel connected to anything that is going on really.
Daredevil seemed a bit wooden and the "hero that can't be the hero due to reasons" is such a boring trope, especially to base an entire season on it.
Black mirror is not bad, but the shine is gone for sure.