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

[Tommy]

Cobra Kai

This is great, why haven't I watched it until now?!

It's a great example, for me, of why you should try things out your comfort zone every once in a while. I went into it thinking it was a comedy about typecast actors (ie. Ralph Maccio and William Zabka struggle to get acting work and are actually much nicer/worse than their respective characters). Then after the first one I decided to stick with it and loved it. I have no idea if it's good or not, I just know I binged it and enjoyed it.

[Raid]

I discovered Cobra Kai at the start of this year I think, and the overwhelming opinion here seemed to be that it was in fact excellent, and it has 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.

They've actually just announced that a fifth season has been green lit. I thought the 4th was going to be the last.

[Sly Boots]

I guess I was slightly reticent on the basis that while I did see Karate Kid back in the 80s, it wasn't a big nostalgic touchstone for me. I thought it was ok.

But Cobra Kai is great. I really like the fact none of the leads (Daniel, Johnny, Robby, Miguel) is being built up as the villain, all being sympathetic in their way, it makes for more complex narratives, and I was therefore really happy when Daniel and Johnny started to bond and heal the wounds of the past, and genuinely put out when it inevitably came crashing back down again. I just want everyone to be friends

[Raid]

I hadn't even seen The Karate Kid before I started with Cobra Kai, although I decided very quickly that I probably ought to. I think the series holds up well enough on its own, but I got more out of it having watched the film. Without the benefit of nostalgia I thought the film was very average, I think family entertainment has come a very long way in 30 years.

But yeah, the fact that it shows the conflict from two differing but equally valid viewpoints is what makes it so good, and they manage to do it without fundamentally altering Johnny's personality from the film to make him likeable.

I'm tempted to re-watch the whole thing before I make a start on the new series.

[Tommy]

I hadn't even seen The Karate Kid before I started with Cobra Kai, although I decided very quickly that I probably ought to. I think the series holds up well enough on its own, but I got more out of it having watched the film. Without the benefit of nostalgia I thought the film was very average, I think family entertainment has come a very long way in 30 years.

But yeah, the fact that it shows the conflict from two differing but equally valid viewpoints is what makes it so good, and they manage to do it without fundamentally altering Johnny's personality from the film to make him likeable.

I'm tempted to re-watch the whole thing before I make a start on the new series.

Yeah, I've never seen Karate Kid.

The one huge blooper they've made is

Spoiler

the random fat comedy guy in Season Two.

. Other than that, very good.

Didn't know there was going to be a fifth season.

[Animalmother]

The Silent Sea
New Korean sci-fi series on Netflix. The planet is running out of water and is basically screwed. A group is sent to the Moon to an abandoned research station to locate some unknown experimental material.

After watching 3 episodes it's ok. Recognize some of the cast from Kingdom and Squid Game but it's nowhere near as compelling as either of those so far. The sets are top notch and the effects are pretty good but you definitely need to not question the science or logic of what's going on in places. I'll definitely be watching more and enjoying it.

[Rossell]

Schumacher

I got round to watching this. All I can say is, I miss him

[Animalmother]

Extinction
David Attenborough documentary on how the planets wildlife is circling the drain. Should have been called China Destroys Everything. Fuck it's depressing

[Animalmother]

The Book of Boba Fett
Watched the first episode and its fine. It's The Mandolorian with a different character so if you liked that then this will no doubt be worth a look. My main criticism is how low budget it looks, Disney has all the money in the world and yet the tv shows look like direct to DVD films from 10 years ago.

Spoiler

That Greedo chap very obviously called Boba a stupid motherfucker at one point Also DARPA Dogs!!

[Rusty]

I thought it all looked pretty good. In fact I thought that was th ebest shot of Mos Eisley. Really looked like a spawling den of villainy.

[Achtung Englander]

they kept the CGI were it was necessary. Mos Eisley here looked more in keeping with A New Hope than the Mos Eisley version we got with Phantom Menance and that alone gets my thumbs up.

I liked it a lot. I am a bit peeved they are only 40 min, as a complete hour would be better. Those speeder bikes - me wants one!!

[Raid]

Mos Eisley here looked more in keeping with A New Hope than the Mos Eisley version we got with Phantom Menance and that alone gets my thumbs up.

Funny given neither Phantom Menace nor BoBF visit Mos Eisley, they're set in Mos Espa.

I wasn't impressed really. It was half an hour of an old man either sitting around not saying much, or getting beaten up. The last ten minutes were decent, but the rest of the episode was just a little slow. I didn't think it looked particularly good either, but given that it's mostly set outside on a brightly-lit desert planet, I can't say the lack of interesting set design was all that surprising. What little we saw of the inside of Jabba's... Fett's palace was good though.

But it's just the first episode, and it took me a fair few to get into The Mandalorian too. It's got time.

[Raid]

Cobra Kai

I've finished season 4 now, following a re-watch of 1-3. I think it's the weakest of the four so far, primarily because it feels like they're stretching it out a bit now. Given what happens at the end of season 3, it seemed to be coming to a natural conclusion, but with the announcement of a 5th season before the 4th even started, I can't help but think they're milking it a bit. It's not bad by any means, the final two episodes are pretty good, I just think it introduces a few too many new plot threads while elongating the ones everyone was enjoying.

Full season spoilers:

Spoiler

The stuff with Kenny just felt a bit tacked on - Robbie didn't really need a new character to make him feel remorse. It also introduces a number of other new kids who seem to be made into karate champions with a few weeks of training (it's keen to point out that only a year has passed since the end of season 1).

But Johnny and Danny coming together at the end of season 3, only for them to fall out again almost immediately, just to come back together again for season 5, just felt like a bait and switch. That felt like the natural end to the story, the two squabbling factions teaming up to take on the greater evil, but it's been stretched out now and won't be quite as meaningful.

[Sly Boots]

We're still early in S2, so will take us a while to catch up. Still enjoying it.

We've also begun watching The Silent Sea, a new S.Korean series about a troubled lunar mission. The gist is the Earth is dying due to envionmental catastrophe and water shortage, and a bunch of astronauts and scientists are dispatched to retrieve mysterious samples (they're not told the nature of them) from a moon base that was abandoned after a disaster of some kind.

It's no Squid Game (although it does feature some actors from that, as well as Kingdom and Train to Busan), but it is very watchable and quite tense. Worth checking out.

[Achtung Englander]

The Book of Boba Fett ep2

Still liking it