Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

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Animalmother
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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by Animalmother » Thu Aug 18, 2022 6:24 pm

Just watched that one. It was great, surprisingly heartfelt compared to what's happened so far. It's a show that's definitely grown on me the more I've watched.

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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by Lenny Solidus » Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:50 pm

Ally McSmash: Attorney at Rawr! S1 E1

Marvel really is a roller coaster these days, at one end of the spectrum they release absolute crud such as Doctor Strange 2 and Thor Love and Box Office Blunder and then at the other they give us the likes of say Moon Knight which I thought fantastic in no small part to Oscars performance. Tatiana Maslany, well she is far more likeable than I ever imagined she would be on both sides of the role. I was surprisingly greenishly entertained. Yes there's a lot of cringe, yep the cgi made me go what the fuck am I even looking at - is this a finished shot or no kind of awful looking but it's Marvels diving once again into a sitcom style that works and works extremely well, especially the lawyer/ legal department background.

Seeing the easily expected reactions from youtube channels such as The Drinker, The Quartering and Nerdrotic who were all already shitting all over it months before it even aired kind of made me glad I enjoyed it for what it was. It's also being heavily review bombed by non viewers because, because that overused misunderstood W word. Mark Ruffalo has never convinced me as a particularly impressive Hulk but I'm really liking him in this I have to admit and the way the show can do a good bit of self deprecation doesn't hurt either.

Rawr! No Rawr! RAWWWR! Nooooo!!! :lol:

6.5/10 Holds some promise. Hulk hands at the ready.
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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by Raid » Fri Aug 19, 2022 6:59 pm

Better Call Saul

I said on the previous page that I'd been a little disappointed by the second half of the final season. I suppose there's still an element of that having now seen the finale, even if I think that finale was damned near perfect, but I think that's arguably due to the way they decided to release it.
Spoiler
The last four episodes serve as a coda to both Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad, but the last six were released a good six weeks after the rest of the final season. You therefore get one of the most tense episodes of television I've ever seen, ending with the sudden, shocking death of a superb character, then six weeks of speculation as to how the rest of the season will go... and then they wrap up basically the whole story of the show in one episode, with another to tie up loose ends, and the remaining four feel like something of a reset to how the show was in the first season. I very much enjoyed those last four episodes, the quality never dips and I think the finale is really fitting, but there absolutely should not have been a six week gap in there. I envy the people who waited until the whole thing was finished before watching this final season, as I feel like that first episode after the hiatus lost a lot of the impact. Lalo Salamanca was an incredible villain, but his final episode should have carried on from the intensity and tension of the one before it that he made so incredibly memorable.

I loved the scenes that took place during the time of Breaking Bad. They used this same technique of having a flashback to add context, without those scenes ever feeling gratuitous or fan-servicey in the El Camino film, which was in my opinion a pretty lousy failure compared to BCS. The flashbacks feel as if they could have been filmed for Breaking Bad and left on the cutting room floor; the actors manage to resume their roles absolutely perfectly. It's the same in the brief scene with Chuck, and I'm so glad they had one with him in it too. Chuck was every bit as important to this story as Walter and Jesse were.

The finale was a masterpiece. It had that same slow-burn energy that the series started with, but I just loved the three flashback sequences that showed Jimmy's mindset. I couldn't actually place the scene with Walter in the timeline of Breaking Bad, but frankly the context was unimportant. I think I'd have preferred it if they'd ended the show one scene earlier, with Kim and Jimmy leaning against the prison wall smoking together as I think it was far more evocative than the one of Kim leaving the prison, but having read up on it, Gould wanted to make sure he showed them separated so as not to suggest Kim was in any way returning to the frame of mind she was in when they were a couple, and I can respect that decision.
Having now finished the series, I'm still in two minds as to whether this is better than Breaking Bad or not. I'm definitely leaning more in the "yes" direction, as it's better written and beautifully shot. I think I posted a year or two back that Better Call Saul was like a novel to Breaking Bad's comic book, and I think that comparison still holds. BB is more fantastical, the world is a little more colourful, but Better Call Saul has some of the best characters I've ever seen on TV, all of whom I became emotionally invested in. It's a phenomenal piece of television.

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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by eny » Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:26 pm

Great review, thoroughly agree.
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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by Mantis » Sun Aug 21, 2022 10:56 pm

Agreed. Really fantastic characters which the show took plenty of time to let breathe with so much unsaid between many of them.
Spoiler
I believe the scene with Walt was meant to be just after the Ozymandias episode where they were both forced to flee and assume new identities with the vacuum guy, however Walt changes his mind and we are privy to a few more scenes of him dealing with the aftermath after Saul had already gone before he is finally relocated to his cabin in the woods.

It was an excellent scene that really nailed everything about Walt's character despite being so short. Just like the fly episode of Breaking Bad, he just couldn't help but turn that minor dripping inconvenience into an awful racket in an attempt to fix it. And just when we're getting a glimmer of regrets where Jimmy might be actually willing to open up a bit about his choices, Walt shuts him down. This is a day after his brother in law is shot and he loses his fortune and his partner to the Nazi group and when asked if he had any regrets Walt still mentions the Gray Matter deal which he flaked out on during college. Even after he has lost it all he shows that he's still that same terrible person. Letting his founding partners buy him out was the defining moment of Walt's bitter life and he held onto his pride right to the end even when his arrogance brought it all crashing down.

I liked the fact that ultimately Saul gave up his 7 year deal because he'd heard that Kim had confessed. Even though they were a terrible influence on each other together and she was the driving factor behind the Howard plot, she was still the one thing that made him want to be good and better. He negotiated an 85 year sentence down to 7 just to prove that he could and then gave it all up because even after everything that happened she still made him want to show her that he was capable of being good and if she had faced her past then so could he.

The scene with Chuck was a great little unexpected addition too. So much unsaid between the two brothers because neither one of them knew how to really put their history together behind them regardless of how much they wanted to. Really tragic how they both could never quite figure out how to reconcile and ultimately one caused the others death.

Such a fantastic show.

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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by Sly Boots » Mon Aug 22, 2022 6:53 am

Yup, fully agree with all that has been said about the BCS finale. One of the best TV shows of all time.

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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by Wrathbone » Mon Aug 22, 2022 6:57 am

I suspect that coming off the back of such excellence, House of the Dragon is going to be like plunging into a septic tank. :lol:

I’ll probably give it a go today. Hopes are not exactly high.

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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by Sly Boots » Mon Aug 22, 2022 7:04 am

It's getting good reviews tbf, both professional and user on IMDB.

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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by eny » Mon Aug 22, 2022 10:29 am

Wrathbone wrote:
Mon Aug 22, 2022 6:57 am
I suspect that coming off the back of such excellence, House of the Dragon is going to be like plunging into a septic tank. :lol:

I’ll probably give it a go today. Hopes are not exactly high.

That made me giggle for all sorts of reasons! :lol:
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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by Raid » Mon Aug 22, 2022 1:36 pm

Mantis wrote:
Sun Aug 21, 2022 10:56 pm
Agreed. Really fantastic characters which the show took plenty of time to let breathe with so much unsaid between many of them.
Spoiler
I believe the scene with Walt was meant to be just after the Ozymandias episode where they were both forced to flee and assume new identities with the vacuum guy, however Walt changes his mind and we are privy to a few more scenes of him dealing with the aftermath after Saul had already gone before he is finally relocated to his cabin in the woods.

It was an excellent scene that really nailed everything about Walt's character despite being so short. Just like the fly episode of Breaking Bad, he just couldn't help but turn that minor dripping inconvenience into an awful racket in an attempt to fix it. And just when we're getting a glimmer of regrets where Jimmy might be actually willing to open up a bit about his choices, Walt shuts him down. This is a day after his brother in law is shot and he loses his fortune and his partner to the Nazi group and when asked if he had any regrets Walt still mentions the Gray Matter deal which he flaked out on during college. Even after he has lost it all he shows that he's still that same terrible person. Letting his founding partners buy him out was the defining moment of Walt's bitter life and he held onto his pride right to the end even when his arrogance brought it all crashing down.
Ahhh, yes, that makes sense. The scene worked without the context, but with it it's just perfect. Damn this programme was well written.

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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by Wrathbone » Mon Aug 22, 2022 2:26 pm

Sly Boots wrote:
Mon Aug 22, 2022 7:04 am
It's getting good reviews tbf, both professional and user on IMDB.
Well… it’s not a disaster by any means. I’m not yet convinced of its potential for greatness or longevity, but the first episode has at least convinced me to keep watching. As a fantasy political drama it’s fine on its own terms - the problem is when you compare it to the phenomenal start that GoT had, as it’s night and day. GoT’s first episode poured so much into an hour without feeling rushed or too complicated, and it drew you in with mystery and wonders, compelling story hooks and magnificent performances. House of the Dragon is competent mediocrity in comparison. I was left with little wonder, few questions and no specific complaints with the writing or acting.

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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by eny » Mon Aug 22, 2022 5:01 pm

The other nuance regarding Kim is that I think Jimmy always knew she wasn't the sort to be a criminal and that she got caught up with the excitement and peril Jimmy brought to her life. I believe it weighed heavy on him that she was corrupted by who he was rather than her character itself.
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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by Snowy » Wed Aug 24, 2022 4:57 pm

Sly Boots wrote:
Mon Aug 22, 2022 7:04 am
It's getting good reviews tbf, both professional and user on IMDB.
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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by Lenny Solidus » Sat Aug 27, 2022 11:20 am

Building the future, and keeping the past alive - are one and the same thing.

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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by Sly Boots » Sat Aug 27, 2022 11:36 am

Thank god, I made it through 4 episodes of that tripe, and that was enough for me. Apparently it got even worse from then on...

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