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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 finally watched True Detective Season 1 and enjoyed just about everything about it. The two main characters are very well written and acted, the side characters were realistic and the storyline had a very Seven-like feel, all of which made it very compelling.
I had read that Season 2 is generally considered worse and not as many people enjoyed it, and 3 episodes in and I don't really care enough to finish all 8 episodes. There are twice as many main characters to follow and I find them all pretty standard and not particularly interesting. The writing seems less focused and the setting does not pull me in like the Louisiana bayou did.
My questions for anyone who has watched all 3 seasons:
Is Season 2 worth finishing? Does the storyline get more interesting in the second half of the episodes?
How is Season 3 comparatively?
I watched all three seasons relatively recently (about 3 months ago). Season 1 is by far the best.
Personally, I'd recommend not bothering to finish season 2. I watched the whole thing, and it definitely doesn't improve. When I finished watching it, my main comment was something like, "I mostly just don't understand how this was even supposed to be the same TV show as season 1". I have no idea how or why they ended up creating something that felt closer to some kind of generic cop/gangster/spy movie. It wasn't terrible, but it also wasn't the show I thought I was watching.
Season 3 is better. It's not as good as the first season, but I think it's at least worth watching.
the trouble with season two is that it had too many characters. Skip it for now, but revisit it in a few months so you don't watch it in the context of S01. I really liked S03 and felt it captured the spirit of S01 again.
The second season was rushed, but as a standalone property, it's still great television and storytelling.
I saw the series premiere of Lovecraft Country and I was excited to see the collaboration of Jordan Peele and JJ Abrams come together with an HBO Sunday night show again. For those who aren't aware, it's based off of a novel that intertwined H.P. Lovecraft's cosmic horror alongside addressing racial tensions in mid-century America. The supernatural elements tend to be more of a background element to the show, and it's not always clear what is "real" or a dream, but it does seem to pay a homage to the genre Lovecraft created while simultaneously rebuffing his unquestionably racist stances. In the end, it's the humans who provide more horror than the elder gods.
For those of you who were a fan of HBO's Watchmen and how it tackled race relations in America, this series seems to be gearing up to be in a very similar vein. It also has quite a few references and Easter eggs that I had missed upon my initial viewing.
I'm excited to see where the show goes, although somewhat wary that it might lose some coherence as the plot moves quickly and seems to miss some exposition that could have been left on the cutting room floor. It doesn't seem to be as heavy handed as season 1 of the Twilight Zone reboot, though, so it's got my initial approval.
Speaking of Twilight Zone, I completed Tales From the Loop which is Amazon's take on sci-fi stories. It doesn't operate as a pure anthology, and it leaves more cryptic interpretations for the events that transpire, but overall it scratched the itch for me. I think ultimately it left something to be desired, however, as it never fully explained what "the Loop" actually is, and was a little too melancholic to be a fun adventure series. It could have promise, though, so I will keep an eye out for next season, but it could also go the way of "Lost" and have all the elements of sci-fi but without an elegant way to tie them all together.
I recently wrapped up seasons of a couple shows I've been watching:
edit: added spoiler tags
Stranger Things Season 3
Finally went back and finished up season three. It was okay. Billy was a great villain. I liked how they sniped El's powers so she's not such a deus ex machina all the time. The entire Russian thing was so over the top 1980s red scare that is was kind of farcical and distracting. Weirdly nationalistic. Hooper's ending was very unexpected! It was pretty good, nothing sensational. I don't know if I'll go out of my way to continue watching season 4. Season 1 was amazing. Season 2 struggled to compete. and Season 3 was just pretty good.
Cursed Season 1
Finished Cursed the other night. It was good, I liked it. On the one hand, it's kind of like, oh another retelling of the Arthurian legend? But on the other hand, it was really well done! Outstanding final scene. Couldn't hate Iris more. The most petulant, punchable face. Started to see some leadership from Arthur the conman, so it was good to see him start to kind of come into his own. Merlin getting his magic back was as epic as I had hoped it would be. Didn't really feel Nimway's corruption that much, but her fall was tragic. Loved the final seen between Gawain and Percivel. Powerful. Five stars.
Umbrella Academy Season 2
So friggin good! Season 1 was awesome, and season 2 was just as good. Diego and Klaus and Alison all looking so good with long hair. Vanya grappling with her memories and coming into her own. Cool time travel shenanigans. Expanding of powers: vanya, hello. The season long promise for No. 5 to learn micro scale time jumps. Hated Lila when I met her, but ended up being a delight. Hargreaves. The Swedes. Carmichael. The Handler. Just all so, so good.
I actually have, since watching, made a D&D character based on Klaus from this season: a reluctant/apologetic hedonistic irresponsible cult leader.
The spouse and I were looking for something new to watch and a friend of hers suggested Down to Earth with Zac Efron. It's ridiculous. We've only made it through 2 episodes and don't plan to watch any more. It's hosted by frat boy actor Zac Efron and his "health guru" Darin Olien. It's ostensibly an eco-conscious exploration of the planet. But mostly it's Zac acting gullible and childish in different parts of the world.
In the 2nd episode they talk about water. It starts with Zac joining his friend, actor Anna Kendrick, at a water sommelier in Los Angeles. The entire time Anna keeps voicing her opinion that she's pretty sure she's being punked and this whole thing seems like a joke. The sommelier tells them not to ever drink any water that's been purified, and they kind of nod in agreement with their eyes glazing over. 10 minutes later they're in Paris talking about how awesome the tap water is there and learning about how it got they way by talking to the people at the water treatment plant where they purify it and filter out chemicals! They are not at all self aware of the contradiction they've laid out between the 2 scenes.
We also started watching the new season of the Danish show Rita on Netflix. If you liked earlier seasons, you'll probably like this season. I'm not sure it needed another season, but so far it's decent.