TV The Television Show Thread

[Jammin]

My main issue with The Witcher was how unconnected each of the episodes felt - I mean, I can see why they focussed on the short stories, as it gave a good intro to the backgrounds of the main 3, but (as someone who has already read quite a lot of the Witcher series) I reckon the story would have been a lot better had they not focussed on the main story instead.

I guess it might have been a bit confusing, as many watchers might not have understood how Geralt and Ciri are related - but I reckon a single episode could have provided just enough of a background to that...

I dunno - I hear they are making a 2nd series, if so then this should be much more watchable.

Not that I disliked the series, just I feel it could have been better if the connection between episodes was a little more obvious


also, as an aside, Yennifer is one of my favourite characters in the books - especially her background, her interactions with the other mages, and her general raison d'être

The main reason I think people would be confused is the time jumping. Like I sort of wonder if it had been edited to be chronological it wouldn't have been a better show. Though the problem there is the Yennifer stuff would have had to be like the first 4 episodes. Which would have been aggressively dull.

Speaking of which did you think of their Yennifer plotline? Did that work for you?

--- Double Post Merged, Jan 8, 2020, Original Post Date: Jan 8, 2020 ---

And I should probably add the only part of the show I thought was legitimately bad was...

Spoiler

The Striga fight. Mainly because it was edited to split time with Yennifers transformation which pretty much ruined the scene. That was terrible.

 

[z.5]

Speaking of which did you think of their Yennifer plotline? Did that work for you?

I actually didn't hate the Yennifer stuff as much as you apparently did - but aye, it would have been better if they'd directed in a way to avoid what you put in the spoiler. It really was rather poorly executed.

 

[Jammin]

I actually didn't hate the Yennifer stuff as much as you apparently did - but aye, it would have been better if they'd directed in a way to avoid what you put in the spoiler - it really was rather poorly done.

I wouldn't say I hated it. That's a little stronger than I actually feel. I just felt, for much of the show, as if it was about her and the sorceresses. Which I did feel was the weakest part of the show. Like there were a couple moments in the Yen stuff I was very much into. Like her and the baby. And most of the stuff between her and Tissaia.

The problem was there was that there was soo much else. So much and I didn't care about any of it. It didn't even really worldbuild did it? Like it was mainly just Yen talking and thinking about Yen.

 

[FetherMan]

How was it not a whole new thing? You mean it not being focused on her as a masked vigilante? I think it worked as a good window back into the story because the most interesting thing about a new story in the Watchmen universe would be about the aftermath of what happened in the comics IMO.

If the show was called "Sister Night" and left out all the Watchmen stuff, it still would've been great. I mean, I just read "Doomsday Clock" the sequel to Watchmen, which was alright, too.

p.s., Does anyone know when "The Outsider" is suppose to begin, it's another Stephen King novel they've adapted for television and I believe, Ben Mendehelson is in it.

 

[oddsend]

I just started watching Infinity Train. I want to see a new cartoon series aside from Steven Universe.

 

[Jammin]

I watched the first episode of Picard....

--- Double Post Merged, Jan 30, 2020, Original Post Date: Jan 27, 2020 ---

I watched the second episode of Picard...

 

[Organizized]

Upright - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8765446/

Absolutely fantastic series. Just 8 episodes. Watch it if you get a chance.

That is all.

 

[FetherMan]

Hunters - 9 / 10

October Faction - 9 / 10

The Outsider - 8 /10
*Series is reaching it's conclusion in two weeks, but so far, this proves to be another great series based on King's works like "Castle Rock" or "Mr. Mercedes".

 

[Faust]

@xi0's boy did it again!

HBO's Watchmen is really good!

Lindelof's talent in making romances is really good. That Episode 8

Possibly an Unpopular opinion: Regina King portrayed the tough/badass side of Sister Night really well, however I wasn't convinced with regards to scenes of vulnerability for the most part she didn't look as devastated as she should be in my opinion. Probably because she's just a tough looking chick in general.

 

[Jammin]

Altered Carbon Season 2 was a solid B+ sci-fi show. Which washed a bit of the foul Star Trek Picard flavor out of my mouth.

Didn't have as strong a villain. Instead opting for a bunch of lesser villains. Sadly, that hurt the A plot a bit. But on the flipside the B plots were much improved and the cast overall was much stronger.

 

[xi0]

What was wrong with Picard? It seemed like any hype for it kind of disappeared when it was released. That bad?

 

[Jammin]

What was wrong with Picard? It seemed like any hype for it kind of disappeared when it was released. That bad?

Short answer: Yes.

Long Answer: It may be called Star Trek: Picard but it's not Star Trek and Captain Jean Luc Picard isn't really in it. It's just a stupid CBS action drama with the Star Trek branding painted on the side.

Now I'm about to go off on long winded rant about this but you made the mistake of asking me; so you really only have yourself to blame.

The thing that makes Star Trek unique is basic premise that humanity has reached a utopian future where all of societies problems have been solved. This eliminates all cheap storytelling tropes for sci-fi. Like you can't have a class or race discrimination because those things don't exist anymore. Money doesn't exist anymore. Greed doesn't exist anymore. It is an aspirational franchise. There is very little cheap drama for this reason.

The Star Trek Picard showrunner is Alex Kurtzman. Known for such masterpieces as The Amazing Spiderman 2 and The Mummy(2017). So as you would expect this show is a fucking disgrace to everything Star Trek is. It tries to rip off things like Westworld with it's whole synthetic vs organic bullshit. It tries to mirror the modern day xenophobic refugee issues with a refugee crisis that makes no sense within the context of the Federation. It tries to emulate a Firefly style rebel action show with Patrick Stewart who looks like he's 95 years old. And it does all of this as badly as it could possibly done. Made worse by the fact all of that contrasts completely with what Star Trek is as a concept and who Jean Luc Picard is as a character. Cheap drama is the only thing this show has. And to make it even fucking worse there is a B Plot starring a spectacularly unlikable young girl "chosen one" type deal that is ripped from the pages of YA fiction.

This show is a nightmare. It is a poorly written violent ripoff of other better sci-fi series. The characters are shit. The dialogue is shit. The story is shit. Critics still love it because they think it's "Political" but it's really not. It's only real heartfelt message is "Subscribe to CBS all access".

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 5, 2020, Original Post Date: Mar 4, 2020 ---

In summary, for the love of god don't waste your time with this trash...

If you must know what happens watch the Red Letter Media synopisis. They're much more enjoyable. Because I'm pretty sure this show is going to drive Mike Stoklasa insane by the end.

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 5, 2020 ---

On a different subject. I watched the October Faction as well. I'd give that one a C+.

Like the concept and the storyline even if the ending got a bit wonky. The teenagers were pretty obnoxious though and the social messaging came on a bit strong for my tastes. I don't mind that stuff but it needs to fit into the story and character arcs in an organic way. They really just packed it all there.

 

[xi0]

Yeah honestly, when I saw previews for Picard it didn't really look like a Star Trek series to me. Could say the same thing about Discovery, but at least it seemed vaguely familiar. I saw it seemingly getting better reviews than Discovery though, so I wasn't sure.

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 6, 2020, Original Post Date: Mar 6, 2020 ---

Now this is some pretty crazy news. Mazin's work on Chernobyl was exceptional, so it seems like him working on a post-apocalyptic series would be right in his wheelhouse.

 

[Jammin]

Just finished season 3 of Castlevania. I'd give it a B-.

It's pretty definitely the weakest season yet. The style is still there but the plot very slowly goes more or less nowhere. It feels kind of the same way season 1 felt where it's entire purpose was leading into season 2. This does the same thing for what will presumably be season 4, it just does it over the course of 10 episodes.

Which is actually still ok when the fun characters like Simon and Sypha. That's still great. But when it's looooong indulgent Isaac sequences that go nowhere it's a bit harder to enjoy.

 

[destiny4ever]

I am currently watching Roman Empire and I am enjoying watching it a lot.

 

[Faust]

Recently watched Black Mirror Season 5.

SV > S > RJaAT

 

[Sanity Check]

The 100 season 6.

Debating on whether to drop it or finish the series.

 

[destiny4ever]

I watched some episodes of the series "Bolivar", it was a pretty good series. However, I still need to watch the beginning episodes and the ending episodes.

 

[desin24]

Recently checked out Community to see what the hype is all about and it is worth all the hype. I am not the type to watch sitcoms, never been into Friends or any other copy of it. Community is also not a sitcom per se. It's surprisingly deep and meta at times while still being very light-hearted and not taking itself seriously. Also, any fans of the MCU will probably like to see what got the Russo brothers their job as Cap America Winter Soldier directors. Plus so much creativity and chemistry between the cast.

Warning, if you shed a tear at the end of Season 6, I warned you.

Probably a strong 8/10 maybe even 8.5 out of 10 because they had A LOT of behind the scenes drama with the Studios and it sometimes shows.

 

[Sanity Check]

Mandalorian season 2 release date announced: october 30th, 2020.