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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 was waiting for this to be posted so I can talk about season 2 of The Rehearsal, which just ended, and it was fantastic.
I started watching Nathan For You a little after it ended, so I was familiar with Nathan Fielder's work before Season 1 of The Rehearsal, which just built upon Nathan For You, with his Nathan persona having the HBO budget now to carry out his ideas into execution - which was putting so much effort into helping people rehearse for something that starts off small (but still, big considering the first set they make) and then ends up in such a different place from where it began.
With Season 2 and even more of the HBO budget, he went even bigger and it's just amazing to see the effort from him and the rest of the cast and crew that goes into making something like this happen, with this arc through the episodes with everything that ties in at the end so well.
I know that's very vague, but it really is best watched without any context. It also happens to be hard to explain considering there's so much in it and there's a lot of it to interpret. It's funny, it's poignant, it's everything.
I just watched the episode where he relives/re-enacts that one person's life himself and... yeah. Wow. That was when I finally understood just how wild this season really is.
And it gets much, much wilder if you can believe that. I did already know the direction of it because of some information I had come across and even then I didn't anticipate what happened in the finale.
I finished The Rehearsal, and went looking for a discussion. What a wild season!
By the final episode, I was so engrossed in the...
spoiler
...plot of him becoming a real freaking large aircraft pilot (i mean, wtf?)......that I'd already forgotten about the...
spoiler
...subplot of the singing contest. I died laughing after the plane landed and the focus went abruptly to the final contestants, and then *again* with the song being Evanescance (which I should have seen coming).I don't even love awkward comedy, but both seasons have been such surreal, bonkers rides, what a riot.
So I did already know about the first from something I came across online, but I did not expect
spoiler
that his flight license would go all the way to a 737, and then he would fly a plane full of actual (actor) passengers. So, that was still a big surprise.spoiler
that Evanscence song, tied into the the Sully episode, but also the autism diagnostic test with the lyrics 'How can you see into my eyes, like open doors' and then the zoom in to Nathan's eyes. I knew the performance would happen, because it would make a good finale moment, and I had also seen someone who had taken part in the Wings of Voice auditions (who turned out to be the winner) post that there's something she couldn't talk about until the season aired.And even after the finale, Nathan's still going with his appearances on Jimmy Kimmel and also CNN (both spoilers).
spoiler
John Goglia also appeared on CNN with Nathan, which was nice to see. They also discussed a statement FAA made about the show.He really does commit.
So I started Severance yesterday and watched six episodes. Goodbye to my life this week. This show is amazing and this show is fucked. It's a complete mind bender and I'm glad I started it. I held off for so long because the people that described the show to me did so poorly and did not indicate this show would be something I'd actually be interested in. So yeah, I'll likely finish season 1 tonight or tomorrow and then watch season 2 over the next week.
I have just a few episodes left in Season 2. It's pretty wild, but I like it. I can't say I've watched anything else recently that felt as completely new as it does.
One thing I cannot get out of my head is the vibe that this whole thing could be happening within the context of the FBC from the video game Control. Obviously there are differences, but you have The Board and the overall idea that no boundary should be left unpushed no matter what the consequences, and it leaves me with a strong feeling of connection.
I finished season 3 of The Bear.
I think most of the episodes were very good. Particularly, episode 6 "Napkins" which is probably my favorite episode of all the seasons. But the overall arc of the season was disappointing.
Spoiler about this season's story arc
There were 4 main plot points in the season:Only the first one was resolved. The others were left as cliffhangers for next season. They were dragged out the entire season and not resolved. It's annoying that that they took a whole season and barely advanced the plot.
Another show I watched recently is Skeleton Crew. I had very low expectations for this. It was fine. It reminds me of a typical family show that would have been popular in the 90s or early 2000s. I heard that it hasn't done very well which is odd. I think maybe it had a high budget and they thought it would be a huge hit or something.
Also watched Andor. It's in the top 5 shows that I've ever seen. But there's a whole thread about that show today so I won't say much else.
Re The Bear:
Spoilers
I don't know if I missed it or it just wasn't clearly marketed, but apparently the plan the whole time in season 3 was to do a two-parter between season 3&4. That explains a lot about the pacing to me, where season 3 was really just setting up a lot of stuff for season 4. I didn't like that, especially with a full year between seasons.The first episode of the season actually made me angry honestly lol I LOVED seasons 1 & 2, but EP. 1 of season 3 honestly felt like a satire of the show. It was a full episode of elevator music and little vignettes of cooking. It didn't do a single thing to set up story for the season. I'm hoping season 4 can land the ship, but I honestly can't say I'm too excited about it after season 3.
I actually liked the “elevator” music in S3e1 and I looked it up. I was surprised that it was by Nine Inch Nails. Then I remembered liking some similar music in The Watchmen HBO series that was also NIN. It’s not music I would normally listen to but I like its use in these shows.
I like a lot of the music used in The Bear, like Eddie Vedder and REM.
The music itself wasn't the problem, but how it was utilized and the fact that that was the entirety of the episode lol
I can probably count the shows/films/books/video games that I've rewatched/reread/replayed in my entire life with two hands and have fingers to spare. Having said that, this past week I watched Shogun (2024) for the third time. It is SO damn good. I'm now struggling to decide between this and Dark for the best series I've ever watched.
This rewatch was the first time that I looked up any online discussion for the show. In doing so, I got an even higher appreciation for how nuanced both the writing and the performances were, seeing people try to determine just how much of the plot's events were planned by Toranaga. I also only just found out a few days ago about all the awards the series won, and I'm not at all surprised.
I've also been intrigued enough by commentary that I've seen from people who preferred the 1980 miniseries that I'm about to watch that next. I don't at all expect that it will be better, but I'm interested to see another flavor of the story.
Yeah, I understand that both the book and the miniseries are products of their time... like I say, I don't expect the first adaptation to top the newer. My post from my first watch of the 2024 series kinda alluded to similar concerns as you.
I reckon the things we would find problematic are likely more a function of ignorance than outright racism, but I don't personally want to be the one to split those hairs. There's a "Making Of" documentary on the BluRay of the 1980 series that you might find interesting if you haven't seen it before - available here on a Shogun-centric YouTube channel, which looks like it's run by none other than John Daub, Mr. Only In Japan! I'd like to think that fact is a small testament to the impact Clavell must have had in opening the West up to Japan, so to speak, in such a different era. My guess is that's what he ultimately wanted to do.
Doctor Who series finale aired today, and it was a lot. More than the usual "I can't wait to complain about this next season." RTD always swung for the fences during his finales and wrote checks that the show couldn't check, but for the people who wanted the return of the show they knew from 2005, they got it and they didn't, I suppose.
Pee-Wee As Himself is an excellent documentary and absolutely worth the ~3hrs. Its in two parts and covers everything.
The finale of The Rehearsal was... well, Fielder has a way of absolutely surpassing expectations and I love the ride. It'll be interesting to see if anything comes of this.
EDIT:
John Mulaney's show is unbelievable. If you arent watching it, get on it right away.