Which television shows are you watching? Part III

[Estebonrober]

I liked TNG a whole lot. It still has one of the finest hours of television ever put to video tape (The episode: The Inner Light). Voyager, in my books, was not better than TNG or DS9, although it was still good in it's own right. I certainly didn't mind staring at Geri Ryan week after week. But all the new stuff is light years away from TOS in terms of quality, acting and special effects.

I don't get the hate for Discovery. I think the biggest gripe about the series for most people is that it doesn't look like TOS. "Oh, it's not canon! I can't watch!" I don't know about that. They are working in elements of the old show into it and the writing has definitely improved from the first season. As far as it being canon, I think they are addressing most of the changes quite well, if you can even notice them. The biggest change is the bridge technology, but they sort of have to do that or it would look so dated that there would be no point watching it. You have to suspend a little of your preconceptions and reliance on TOS to enjoy Discovery but it's well worth it for the most part.

Now, if they could just get rid of Michael Burnham.

The Inner Light is my favorite as well. Small world.

 

[Arakhor]

The Inner Light is one of the best TNG episodes they ever made, so it's hardly unusual for you to both like it.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Disney really borked the launch of Disney+. I saw all of The Mandalorian in a single month and, well, there's nothing else to be subbed for. Goodbye subscription.

Maybe by the time it's worth getting again they'll save my subtitle settings and save my watch history. That'd be cool.

I heard someone, I forget who, note that the subscriber model for streaming services may be contributing to Netflix's quick trigger-finger in canceling series. The thinking is that streaming services need new subscribers and a second or subsequent season doesn't draw new viewers. I'm the kind of guy who pays for Netflix every month, whether I watch a ton or hardly anything, which supports the theory. But your style of subscribing for a month to watch something and then bailing until the next season is available might encourage streaming services to renew popular series, in an effort to lure you back, so it may not be a bad strategy. Incidentally, I read somewhere that season 2 of The Mandalorian is expected next Fall.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

The second season of The End of the ****ing World was a real bummer. They exaggerated the girls meanness to an annoying level and overall the plot and suspense just wasn't there.

 

[Josu]

Started with The Witcher, 2 episodies seen, not liking too much

 

[EgonSpengler]

Started with The Witcher, 2 episodies seen, not liking too much

I've heard from multiple people that it gets better if you stick with it. I'm through 3 episodes myself. I feel like if you have to get through the equivalent of a feature film before anything is compelling or makes sense, it's not a successful series, even if it takes off later. But the rumors are to be believed, I've already gotten through the rough spots, so I guess it'd be dumb to quit now. If I get through all 8 episodes and I still don't like it, I'm gonna be mad at all those folks who told me to stick with it. I'm not binging it, though, I'm watching 3 or 4 shows simultaneously. I don't know if that's better or worse, with The Witcher. Maybe I'd enjoy it more if I just blasted through it in a weekend, but I don't like doing that, most of the time.

 

[Josu]

I liked the books and the videogame, I am giving the chance

 

[Snerk]

The second season of The End of the ****ing World was a real bummer. They exaggerated the girls meanness to an annoying level and overall the plot and suspense just wasn't there.

I saw the first episode (or two?) and it had none of the things that made the first season shine so I abandoned it. So s2 didn't get better as it progressed then?

 

[Synobun]

I saw the first episode (or two?) and it had none of the things that made the first season shine so I abandoned it. So s2 didn't get better as it progressed then?

Everything past episode two is basically more of season one. I liked it.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I'm half way through episode 10 of The Expanse so I'll go ahead and summarize what I thought of the season thus far:

Finished The Expanse tonight. I was worried about how they'd wrap it up, but they actually did so in a non-stupid way.

Not... super satisfied with the Bobbie arc.

Spoiler :

She existed solely to introduce season 5. I can see why they included her, I guess, but the season could have done without her.

I didn't dislike the story arc with Bobbie. I think maybe they didn't make it clear enough why she was doing it.

Exactly my reaction. I don't think they made it clear at all why she abandons her honor/integrity and joins Esai, especially after she tried to report his activities both to her supervisor and the police. It's like they knew where they wanted her character to go, but didn't have a plausible way to get her there without a sharp left turn that's glossed over. I didn't mind her story, I just didn't think it was very logical.

I agree with all of this.

Spoiler :

If I didn't read the books, I probably would have been just fine with Bobbie's arc with the caveat that as you all say, they did not do a good job of framing/contextualizing her actions. She just went rogue with no reason, after having been court martialed for no reason. Well I guess that's reason enough to go rogue but they did not portray her as acting out of a sense of butthurt but rather she was just pulled in via extortion. But there is no explanation why she stuck with the criminal life, even when Esai gave her an out.

Having read the books, the arc was pretty frustrating. It was just so out of character for her.

As is necessary, things moved very fast and so much is lost from the great detail in the books.

I honestly think they did the book an injustice

Spoiler :

I think they got the core ideological struggle on Ilus right, but they skipped so, so many details that would have made the season more interesting. Naomi was captured in the books which led to a couple of cool space battles that were entirely missing. They also I felt did not do a good enough job with pushing the ultimate mystery of the ring-builders forward. That was one of the saving graces of Cibola Burn - you find out quite a lot about the ring builders and yet are teased with even more knowledge that isn't revealed. You only get small glimpses of that with Miller's character.

As it was, I felt this season was kind of boring and some of that is on the writers for dropping a lot of the plot from this book to weirdly feed-forward future books. In the end, it was an ok season and truth be told, this was the weakest book of the series so the show was always going to struggle with it.

Anyone notice they gender-flipped one of the main anti-heros of the season? In this season, Lucia was the bad guy of her family

Spoiler :

She didn't want her daughter to leave and she was the one who planted the bomb on the landing shuttle pad at the beginning. In the book, it was her husband who did these things.

So, Silicon Valley is over.
Can't say I liked the last episode, but I can understand why they did it.
Unsatisfying, but totally understandable.

I feel this post now that I've seen the finale as well. It was kind of a sad ending but it fits with the idiot theme this show had going for it throughout its run.

 

[tjs282]

Finished Black Lagoon S3 and Iron Fist S1 a couple of weeks back. Now about halfway through both Defenders and Avatar:TLA S2 (and nearly all the way though iZombie S2), and watching Luther S3 with wifey (the ending of Ep.3 was a gut-punch, wasn't expecting that).

(She watched a couple of episodes of The Witcher on the train-journey down south just before Christmas, but lost interest after a couple of episodes, so I'm not sure if I'll bother; on the homeward leg, she started on Lost in Space S2, which I have zero interest in -- I watched S1E1, but thought it was pretty badly written, so I didn't watch any more).

Also a wee bit jealous of you folks watching The Expanse S4 (I've pretty much only needed to skim most of the last 10[?] pages of this thread!) -- but at least I (now) have all the books up to Vol.8, which is some compensation.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Also a wee bit jealous of you folks watching The Expanse S4 (I've pretty much only needed to skim most of the last 10[?] pages of this thread!) -- but at least I (now) have all the books up to Vol.8, which is some compensation

Book 9 should drop this year. It is supposedly the last book in the series. They may continue doing novellas on the side though.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I'm half way through episode 10 of The Expanse so I'll go ahead and summarize what I thought of the season thus far: I agree with all of this.

Spoiler :

If I didn't read the books, I probably would have been just fine with Bobbie's arc with the caveat that as you all say, they did not do a good job of framing/contextualizing her actions. She just went rogue with no reason, after having been court martialed for no reason. Well I guess that's reason enough to go rogue but they did not portray her as acting out of a sense of butthurt but rather she was just pulled in via extortion. But there is no explanation why she stuck with the criminal life, even when Esai gave her an out.

Having read the books, the arc was pretty frustrating. It was just so out of character for her.

I honestly think they did the book an injustice

Spoiler :

I think they got the core ideological struggle on Ilus right, but they skipped so, so many details that would have made the season more interesting. Naomi was captured in the books which led to a couple of cool space battles that were entirely missing. They also I felt did not do a good enough job with pushing the ultimate mystery of the ring-builders forward. That was one of the saving graces of Cibola Burn - you find out quite a lot about the ring builders and yet are teased with even more knowledge that isn't revealed. You only get small glimpses of that with Miller's character.

As it was, I felt this season was kind of boring and some of that is on the writers for dropping a lot of the plot from this book to weirdly feed-forward future books. In the end, it was an ok season and truth be told, this was the weakest book of the series so the show was always going to struggle with it.

Anyone notice they gender-flipped one of the main anti-heros of the season? In this season, Lucia was the bad guy of her family

Spoiler :

She didn't want her daughter to leave and she was the one who planted the bomb on the landing shuttle pad at the beginning. In the book, it was her husband who did these things.

I feel this post now that I've seen the finale as well. It was kind of a sad ending but it fits with the idiot theme this show had going for it throughout its run.

Yes and yes and yes.

Book 9 should drop this year. It is supposedly the last book in the series. They may continue doing novellas on the side though.

WTH! Book 9 is gonna happen! Great news.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

https://twitter.com/JamesSACorey/status/995190820675371008

@JamesSACorey



James S.A. Corey Retweeted Andrew ward
Book nine is the last book of #TheExpanse , and book eight comes out this year, so the end is in sight.

And then somewhere in this thread they mention the book is coming out this coming year but I can't find it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/TheExpanse...aham_monday_april_15_at_12pm/?sort=confidence

 

[EgonSpengler]

Now about halfway through both Defenders

That series ruined The Hand, for me, but it gave us a nice introduction to Daughters of the Dragon, which I suppose now we'll never get to see, and I loved Jessica and Matt together. I was hoping one of them would make an appearance in the other's show. I think Krysten Ritter's experience as a comedian was vital to that character. I think if she weren't funny, her character and show would be too oppressively gloomy. I don't remember which Defenders episodes these bits were in, but she killed me twice.

Spoiler :

"Nice ears."

Also, the scene where Jessica and Matt are talking to the girl in her living room. Matt knocks his shin against the coffee table and Jessica just rolls her eyes.

I was laughing so hard, I had to back up the video because I missed the next half-minute of the scene. I'm laughing now, just thinking about these.

Ritter also had one not-so-funny moment in Defenders that really struck me:

Spoiler :

When she took the beer from the sleeping guy on the subway, I thought, "Jesus, she's really an alcoholic." I mean, I know that's not news to anyone who'd already watched the first season of her show, but for some reason it really hit me in that Defenders scene. Like I say, that character would be incredibly depressing if the actor couldn't make her funny.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I'm half way through episode 10 of The Expanse so I'll go ahead and summarize what I thought of the season thus far:

I wish I had held off before writing that because now I'm done and holy cow was the ending to that episode dumb.

Spoiler :

So Ashfrod thought it was a good idea to board an enemy ship with 3 people, including himself? What was he thinking? Made no sense. And they didn't show what happened to his own ship after the failed raid either but I guess it is not important.

The set up means S5 is going to be lit

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Modern Family seems to have hit its stride with S3. It probably helps that I didn't see these episodes on original broadcast like I had with S1 & 2, so the jokes are fresh.

 

[Laurana Kanan]

Modern Family seems to have hit its stride with S3.

And, then by S08, it moved past it's "best buy date".

 

[Birdjaguar]

I just watched a Linda Ronstadt special on CNN. Quite a career. TIL she has Parkinson's.

EDIT: No, she has something similar with a long name.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

The twist at the end of S2 of You was pretty cool.

Lost in Space is so full of gaping plot holes that it is crazy.