TV Tuesdays Free Talk

Better Call Saul

I feel like this is one of the weaker seasons, but this show is so great that even the weaker seasons are good. And last week's episode was excellent, I think it will be one of those stand-out episodes that everyone remembers years after the show has ended.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Is it just me, or has this show been very uneven the last few seasons? I've now watched season 13, and it hits some pretty high highs and low lows. The Superbowl double episode was great though. The clip show episode was a fun riff on a concept I've never liked, although it did feel a bit too similar to that Rick and Morty episode with the memory parasites. And the Time's Up and Bathroom episodes felt like throwbacks to the early days of Always Sunny, where they would take up serious real-world issues and "solve" them in their own hilarious way.

Outlander

I've just started watching season 4, which takes place in what will in a few years be the USA, so I assume the American Revolution will play an important part this season. The show remains as good as always, and there was a surprising turn of events at the end of the first episode which I'm curious how will play out, so I'm looking forward to watching the next episode tonight. I wonder if we'll get to see more of Brianna this season.

Mr. Robot

I know I'm late to the party, but I've been watching season 1 of Mr. Robot. At first, I really liked it. The vibe is a lot like the first act of The Matrix, so the whole show was kinda "what if Neo had never met Morpheus?". The hacking in the show seems more real than anything I've seen in TV shows or films before, which is cool. There's a bit of an unreliable narrator going on, with everyone referring to E Corp as Evil Corp, because the protagonist sees it as evil.

I think my main criticism of the show is that it seems like the creators just pilfered whatever they liked from all their favourite shows and films (and even the news). The Matrix is clearly a heavy inspiration, and the protagonist (Elliot) breaks the fourth wall and speaks (or rather; thinks) directly to the audience, not unlike in the hit series House of Cards which debuted two years before Mr. Robot. The hacktivist collective fsociety has some striking similarities to real-world analogue Anonymous (or maybe more specifically the offshoot LulzSec, which got a lot of media attention for several high-profile hacks in 2011), not least with how it inspires entire crowds to wear matching masks. And then there are the plot twists.

I do think the show deserves most of the praise it's received, but every time there's another moment of "wait, haven't I seen this before?" I lose some of my interest, so I'm not sure if I'll ever finish it. On the other hand, according the IMDb's episode rankings, the middle of season 1 is the weakest part of the whole show, so if it gets even better from here, who knows.

As a side note; it's interesting to hear Scandinavian languages in an English-language show. The two main antagonists are a psychopathic married couple from Sweden and Denmark. I wonder if English-speaking viewers pick up on them speaking two different languages? The continental Scandinavian languages are mutually intelligible, but as a Norwegian, I understand the Swede easier than the Dane, so I have to rely on the subtitles whenever she is speaking.

Westworld

They really should have stopped after the first season. It was basically perfect, had a good ending that wrapped most things up neatly, and had plot twists that were so great they cannot possibly be topped (Shyamalan syndrome). But the show became a hit, so now they have to keep making it for the foreseeable future.

I'm losing interest, and the main reason I keep watching is because I discuss the latest episode with a co-worker on Tuesdays. In this week's episode something happened that most writers would have saved for the season finale, so I am a bit curious what will happen next to keep suspense up for the rest of the season.

I've just found out that Limmy has a new show so I'm about to watch it. It's comedy, but it's pretty intense. There's an overwhelming sense of bleakness which doesn't sound great for a comedy but I like it.

Here's an example from his new show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k3tsb2owY8 And here's an example from a few years ago (there's a whole series of FalconHoof videos on YT and you have to watch all of them for the full bleak experience) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzKo1JPNf4s

Here's a link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m000h5mf/limmys-homemade-show

Just started watching Home After Dark. It's a "based on a true story" show about a 9-year old girl whose family moves back to the father's home town. The father is a reporter for a paper in New York, and the daughter wants to be a reporter, too. Years earlier there had been a child abduction case in the town, and when they arrive the daughter decides to look into it. We've seen 2 episodes and we're enjoying it.

Quiz

It's a three part series on ITV on the Who Wants to be a Millionaire fraud. Would definitely recommend watching - I find it quite interesting seeing behind the scenes in places like that. It's on ITV Hub for the next month.