The Head. This is a closed circle mystery where a group of people in a research station in Antarctica are getting bumped off one by one. It starts off really well, lots of good international actors, very moody and tense. Unfortunately in episode 4 a piece of information is revealed that immediately makes you realise who the killer is and why they are doing it, and then you have to sit through another 2.5 episodes waiting for the characters to catch up to where you are.
@Hatorian Just hearing that from someone the other day made me go and watch a bunch of episodes. I’m still in love with it. “Sleepytime” might be the loveliest thing I’ve ever seen - I was a bit of a crying mess at the end of that one.
Oops, I just realised days later this reply was meant for @asmallcat. Getting my adult Bluey fans confused!
I binged Hacks the other day thinking it was only 6 episodes, and then realised when I was looking something up while watching episode 5 that it’s 10. That was annoying.
Anyway, Jean Smart is amazing but the nepotism kid opposite her is not. I can’t stand that Aubrey Plaza jaded millennial (yes, yes, I know she’s a zoomer) thing, and this woman is a perfectly fine actress but when you’re playing a two hander with Jean Fucking Smart you need to be better than perfectly fine.
Also, the character is not funny. At first I thought that was meant to be the point - that she thinks she’s funny but isn’t and look at this legend you think is dated but still has it. But no, we are supposed to find her funny. I feel like I’m missing something.
It’s starting to drag for me too - I watched episode 7 and 8 last night and they both seemed kind of pointless, save a few moments.
Hacks - still really good! New episode had a lot of Kaitlin Olson as Deborah's daughter, there was one part in particular involving a piano that had me laughing hard.
How To With John Wilson - This show is incredible. Most of it is random footage he shoots around NYC while talking about a relatively mundane subject which is funnier than it sounds, and he follows whatever thread the episode leads him to interviews with eccentric people or people with interesting jobs. He asks simple questions and lets people talk, it can come off Borat-ey in that it seems like he's trying to get them to say something insane but it feels a lot more honest than that and he's not tricking anybody. It has a lot more heart than I was expecting and even though he's obviously playing up a character there are some moving segments like his relationship with his landlord. My highlights were the foreskin advocate interview, the ref dinner, and the quest to overcome nicotine addiction by seeing how high of an altitude you have to go to pop a bag of chips. I hope they make more of this. It has heavy Nathan For You vibes and I believe Fielder was a producer so if you like that show this is for sure worth checking out.
I will triple sign the above. I knew it was going to be bananas when Nathan Fielder was producing. I loved Season 1. I can't wait to see what else to they can mine from this format. The first season is only 6 episodes and 30 minutes each. It is fantastic.
Speaking of shows that I dropped off of (but am happy to be getting back into), I started Season 3 of Mr. Robot. Season 2 of Mr. Robot left such a bad taste in my mouth...not that I hated it. It is a technical marvel. It looks and sounds great. But Esmail really let some of his ego take the reins. It became bloated and almost incomprehensible by the end (at least to me). But the season premiere does a masterful job at setting the stage to remind the audience what has happened and introduce the new story they will be telling. I am a fan again.
Oh man, seasons three and four are so, so good. Just go on media blackout and don't read any articles or anything and try to keep an open mind, especially in season four.
I'm ready for it. I somehow managed to avoid most things with that show. I attribute that to it just not being the most-watched show on TV and also a show that is hard to boil down to specific plot points. I was looking for BM coverage (Overcast only goes as far back as Season 4, for some reason). But on second thought, this is a show that I find I enjoy more without hearing other people dissect or predict
I wrapped up Season 3 last night. Good god, talk about a comeback season!
I just finished Breaking Bad. Six years ago, a year and a half after the show ended, I decided I would watch it. And I loved it. Too much, in fact. So much so, that when I got to Hank on the toilet, I chose to take a break because I didn't want it to be over. Figured I would watch The Wire, maybe The Sopranos, some other prestige TV that was out circa 2015, and then get back to BB. One thing led to another, I kept choosing other shows to watch, kept putting BB off, and years went by. I watched The Sopranos a couple years ago, then told myself I'd watch BB. Then COVID hit, I watched Mad Men and then finally thought, "All right, I've seen all of the other best of the Golden Age, time to finish BB."
And so I finally did. And it's spectacular. Nice to see an ending live up to the hype, particularly post-Game of Thrones. I'm sure nearly eight years on, we're getting the occasional thinkpieces that label the ending too crowd pleasing. Maybe there were articles that accused it of being so back then. But it's nice to finally see it. Looking forward to El Camino.
But before then, I'm on to Better Call Saul. Just past the first season and I'm really liking it. Though given the end of the first season and how the second started, I can see why a few seasons down the road, A.Ron gives up on its glacial pace. There's a bit of a reversal between seasons that feels like something of an artificial need to extend the story, especially knowing that the show goes on for six seasons rather than the three Jim and A.Ron were speculating it would last when they were covering it in season one. It'll be interesting to see if I agree more with A.Ron or with Jim and Alexis in the later seasons.
Oh man! Good for you! I can't imagine taking that long of a break after the first half of season 5. But I can imagine loving something so much that I didn't want it to end. El Camino is a masterclass in filmmaking, but totally unnecessary (in my opinion) and largely felt like fan-service (again, in my opinion).
You aren't wrong with Better Call Saul. But there are many parts of it that I like better than Breaking Bad. It just seems more meticulously plotted, quieter, and more psychological. You have some great stuff ahead of you. But again, you aren't wrong about them taking steps back here and there. However it is also only 10-episodes per season, and I like Jimmy so much that I was extremely happy to watch them take their time getting into full Saul territory.
Anyone else finish Hacks? I thought it ended very strong, and it got pretty deep in addition to remaining funny.
Yes, and I loved it! Definitely ready for Season 2. I like that the show's going on the proverbial road, and I hope we get to see Marcus and Ava have it out, because they're definitely due.
I binged the entirety of Schitt's Creek in 5 days (ultimate self-isolation madness). What a wonderful show that really spoke volumes about the potential for changes in individuals for the better, and a lovely queer romance that isn't weighted down by the need for a coming out plot (not that those are not important - it is fresh to see something like this work out so well). Love that the final season swept the Emmys last year and I got to binge YouTube clips of Dan Levy looking fire in his kilt and losing it 6 times.
Would recommend to anyone who is in for a binge-worthy snappy comedy (though I've heard complaints about season 1).
Oh and Catherine O'Hara is absolutely amazing. In fact the whole cast is amazing.
I knocked out the final three episodes of Mr. Robot this morning. Boy-howdy, what a ride. I really wasn't sure how Esmail could land the plane, but he did. It is going to be sitting with me for a good long while, and I am already craving a rewatch. What a confident show that had some missteps along the way, but also was totally fine with course-correcting. I loved it and really hope (though seriously unlikely) that we will get a 4K box set of the whole series.
I knocked out the final three episodes of Mr. Robot this morning. Boy-howdy, what a ride. I really wasn't sure how Esmail could land the plane, but he did. It is going to be sitting with me for a good long while, and I am already craving a rewatch. What a confident show that had some missteps along the way, but also was totally fine with course-correcting. I loved it and really hope (though seriously unlikely) that we will get a 4K box set of the whole series.
One of my favorite shows both because it's good but also because it did exactly what it wanted to do, confident is exactly the right word. A show any less confident would not have been able to pull off that ending and make it work as well as it does. S4E7 (the one shot like a play in a thunderstorm) so easily could have felt so exploitative but it felt genuine and shocking in exactly the way it intended as you start to realize what happened and previous events click into place. Just some of the most effective TV this side of The Leftovers IMO
I binged the entirety of Schitt's Creek in 5 days (ultimate self-isolation madness). What a wonderful show that really spoke volumes about the potential for changes in individuals for the better, and a lovely queer romance that isn't weighted down by the need for a coming out plot (not that those are not important - it is fresh to see something like this work out so well). Love that the final season swept the Emmys last year and I got to binge YouTube clips of Dan Levy looking fire in his kilt and losing it 6 times.
Would recommend to anyone who is in for a binge-worthy snappy comedy (though I've heard complaints about season 1).
Oh and Catherine O'Hara is absolutely amazing. In fact the whole cast is amazing.
Loved this show too! For any who are skeptical of season 1, the Chris Elliott character becomes less prominent as time goes on and that helped the show a lot for me.
I binged the entirety of Schitt's Creek in 5 days (ultimate self-isolation madness). What a wonderful show that really spoke volumes about the potential for changes in individuals for the better, and a lovely queer romance that isn't weighted down by the need for a coming out plot (not that those are not important - it is fresh to see something like this work out so well). Love that the final season swept the Emmys last year and I got to binge YouTube clips of Dan Levy looking fire in his kilt and losing it 6 times.
Would recommend to anyone who is in for a binge-worthy snappy comedy (though I've heard complaints about season 1).
Oh and Catherine O'Hara is absolutely amazing. In fact the whole cast is amazing.
Loved this show too! For any who are skeptical of season 1, the Chris Elliott character becomes less prominent as time goes on and that helped the show a lot for me.
They also tone down the most annoying aspect of his character which is the gross humor. It seems like a lot of successful shows start out with one-note supporting characters and learn to tone it down and make them more interesting as time goes on. Brooklyn 99 springs to mind - Boyle's "thing" in season one was that he was clumsy. That was it. And Parks and Rec season one is ROUGH. Andy was basically an antagonist.
Loudermilk (3 seasons on Amazon Prime) - First two seasons were tightly plotted, smart, funny. Third season was still funny but it felt like the writers had used up their material and had to scramble for new topics, making the show a more generic comedy which usually has a moral in each episode. The songs, however tied to the characters, felt a bit like filler. I'm still glad I watched all of it.
Loudermilk (3 seasons on Amazon Prime) - First two seasons were tightly plotted, smart, funny. Third season was still funny but it felt like the writers had used up their material and had to scramble for new topics, making the show a more generic comedy which usually has a moral in each episode. The songs, however tied to the characters, felt a bit like filler. I'm still glad I watched all of it.
Yea. I was apparently the only person on the planet who loved Cutter and that storyline. And was seriously disappointed it went no where. I felt the seasons got worse but Mugsy was Jordan flu game for S3…
@Hatorian I didn’t mind the Cutter storyline, but it did go on a bit long.
S3 wasn’t as funny or zingy as the first two seasons, but I thought Mugsy’s story was really affecting, and I like that they didn’t shy away from showing the genuine messiness and fallout from an alcoholic relapsing.
@Hatorian I didn’t mind the Cutter storyline, but it did go on a bit long.
S3 wasn’t as funny or zingy as the first two seasons, but I thought Mugsy’s story was really affecting, and I like that they didn’t shy away from showing the genuine messiness and fallout from an alcoholic relapsing.
The Cutter storyline had its moments but was maybe too broad in comparison to the rest of the show.
Mugsy's relapse, while good, IMO could have been told without some of the buildup. If they wanted to tell a story about gender imbalances, they had Claire, no need for the filler golf/court/class material which 'woke' Mugsy. If Claire had done such a storyline maybe we'd have been spared the Roger/Bravies cringe.
Hacks- Two great leads, great setting... Just not for me. Felt formulaic and while there's a lot of good jokes/humor, the show often had characters supposedly genuinely laughing at material which wasn't as funny as other material in the same episode. Just felt a little odd for two supposedly gifted comedians to be laughing when I wasn't.
Just finished Hacks and liked it a lot. I get she needed to grow and was supposed to be sort of annoying, but Ava was just every entitled millennial stereotype shoved into a person and it was hard to watch at times. Jean Smart more than makes up for it though and almost all of the more minor characters I thought were great. The cliffhanger for S2 was kinda eh... but who knows maybe it'll be more interesting than what it looks like it's going to be.
Black Summer season 2 - Much, much better than s1. Still has some issues but the attacks of the (fast) zombies are well-staged and there are many scenes with incredible tension.
Comments
Haha yea not an Olsen sibling ... Must folks know her as Dee from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
It's on HBO Max
You aren't wrong with Better Call Saul. But there are many parts of it that I like better than Breaking Bad. It just seems more meticulously plotted, quieter, and more psychological. You have some great stuff ahead of you. But again, you aren't wrong about them taking steps back here and there. However it is also only 10-episodes per season, and I like Jimmy so much that I was extremely happy to watch them take their time getting into full Saul territory.
Would recommend to anyone who is in for a binge-worthy snappy comedy (though I've heard complaints about season 1).
Oh and Catherine O'Hara is absolutely amazing. In fact the whole cast is amazing.