Topic: TV show reviews
+Anonymous A — 3.4 years ago #62,311
Stitchers
The general blurb made it sound like a combination of Sci-Fi and police procedural, so I was hoping for something along the lines of "Fringe". While that wasn't entirely off-point, this was a short-form series (10 eps per season) and 4 out of the 6 title credit characters are millennials so there was lots of ever-shifting relationship drama which only served to reinforce my preference for prime-time network shows which are targeted at mature, stable adults. It is interesting that it happens to be the only show I've encountered which centers around the NSA.
I also found it to be somewhat inconsistent, as it's revealed that the MC acquired temporal dysplasia at the same time she became emotionally dead, but while she later discovers that she feels emotions again after a certain event, the dysplasia apparently remains.
And then of course they use the last 10 seconds of the series to throw a cliffhanger that will never be resolved.
Overall it wasn't bad, but there was definite room for improvement.
The general blurb made it sound like a combination of Sci-Fi and police procedural, so I was hoping for something along the lines of "Fringe". While that wasn't entirely off-point, this was a short-form series (10 eps per season) and 4 out of the 6 title credit characters are millennials so there was lots of ever-shifting relationship drama which only served to reinforce my preference for prime-time network shows which are targeted at mature, stable adults. It is interesting that it happens to be the only show I've encountered which centers around the NSA.
I also found it to be somewhat inconsistent, as it's revealed that the MC acquired temporal dysplasia at the same time she became emotionally dead, but while she later discovers that she feels emotions again after a certain event, the dysplasia apparently remains.
And then of course they use the last 10 seconds of the series to throw a cliffhanger that will never be resolved.
Overall it wasn't bad, but there was definite room for improvement.
+Anonymous B — 3.4 years ago, 40 minutes later[T] [B] #629,851
you are a piece of shit!!
+Anonymous C — 3.4 years ago, 2 days later, 2 days after the original post[T] [B] #629,932
The Orville is the best new Star Trek series since TNG.
Brave New Worlds comes in a close second.
Brave New Worlds comes in a close second.
·Anonymous A (OP) — 3.4 years ago, 10 minutes later, 2 days after the original post[T] [B] #629,933
Reflective* review: Castle
(*'Reflective' because I'm reviewing a show which I watched in the non-immediate past, and so my memory of details may be hazy or lost, so take it with a grain of salt. Although it's been less than 2 weeks since I finished Castle, so this one is still pretty fresh.)
My first impression of the show was "ABC loves their sexy". Granted, it's not uncommon to use sex to draw people in to a series, but most of the contemporary series I've watched are CBS productions which tend to be reservedly tasteful in their use of sex. Richard Castle starts off as a womanizer who has no filter and makes lots of passes at detective Kate Beckett early on. It's done humorously so it comes off as a character flaw rather than blatant sexism on the part of the writers. It's just a different attitude than what I'm used to, but he does change over the course of the series.
Overall the series was quite enjoyable. I thought it was unique that the it depicted the MCs working with 2 different medical examiners who alternated throughout the entire run, which I felt added a detail of realism that other shows neglect. It does have a bit of a tunnel-vision focus on Castle and Beckett though, leaving Detectives Ryan and Esposito as only moderately developed characters.
It did seem a bit odd to me that after Castle got his PI license, his daughter Alexis, who spends most of the series on the fast track to an Ivy League education, suddenly has lots of time to spend at his PI office working cases which he finds to be too mundane to take on. If memory serves, she does still mention classwork but it didn't feel like a realistic situation to me.
(*'Reflective' because I'm reviewing a show which I watched in the non-immediate past, and so my memory of details may be hazy or lost, so take it with a grain of salt. Although it's been less than 2 weeks since I finished Castle, so this one is still pretty fresh.)
My first impression of the show was "ABC loves their sexy". Granted, it's not uncommon to use sex to draw people in to a series, but most of the contemporary series I've watched are CBS productions which tend to be reservedly tasteful in their use of sex. Richard Castle starts off as a womanizer who has no filter and makes lots of passes at detective Kate Beckett early on. It's done humorously so it comes off as a character flaw rather than blatant sexism on the part of the writers. It's just a different attitude than what I'm used to, but he does change over the course of the series.
Overall the series was quite enjoyable. I thought it was unique that the it depicted the MCs working with 2 different medical examiners who alternated throughout the entire run, which I felt added a detail of realism that other shows neglect. It does have a bit of a tunnel-vision focus on Castle and Beckett though, leaving Detectives Ryan and Esposito as only moderately developed characters.
It did seem a bit odd to me that after Castle got his PI license, his daughter Alexis, who spends most of the series on the fast track to an Ivy League education, suddenly has lots of time to spend at his PI office working cases which he finds to be too mundane to take on. If memory serves, she does still mention classwork but it didn't feel like a realistic situation to me.
·Anonymous A (OP) — 3.4 years ago, 4 days later, 6 days after the original post[T] [B] #630,054
Baghdad Central
This was a miniseries apparently based on a novel. I thought it was quite good.
There was one scene which was a bit strange. A group of armed foreigners approach a neighborhood gate and all but 1 of the boys hanging out there scatter. The one remaining boy slowly turns around and is wearing a tiger mask and starts chanting the name of the local gang leader. I don't know if this is perhaps culturally significant, or something which was explained more informatively in the book, but it seemed a bit odd the way it was done. (I only became aware that it was the gang leader's name later, but it's entirely possible that I simply missed associating the name when it was brought up earlier, as tends to happen with minor characters when I'm watching shows.)
I don't really know what else to say because it was so short.
This was a miniseries apparently based on a novel. I thought it was quite good.
There was one scene which was a bit strange. A group of armed foreigners approach a neighborhood gate and all but 1 of the boys hanging out there scatter. The one remaining boy slowly turns around and is wearing a tiger mask and starts chanting the name of the local gang leader. I don't know if this is perhaps culturally significant, or something which was explained more informatively in the book, but it seemed a bit odd the way it was done. (I only became aware that it was the gang leader's name later, but it's entirely possible that I simply missed associating the name when it was brought up earlier, as tends to happen with minor characters when I'm watching shows.)
I don't really know what else to say because it was so short.
+Anonymous D — 3.4 years ago, 4 days later, 1 week after the original post[T] [B] #630,194
Brady Bunch (1969 - 1974)
Old gay dude fucks a bunch of kids behind the scenes. Bunch of heartwarming shit happens, along with occasional child rape. That opening music - how could you not love it??
8/10
Old gay dude fucks a bunch of kids behind the scenes. Bunch of heartwarming shit happens, along with occasional child rape. That opening music - how could you not love it??
8/10
·Anonymous D — 3.4 years ago, 3 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[T] [B] #630,195
Happy Days (1974-1984)
AYYYYY!
4/10
AYYYYY!
4/10
+Anonymous E — 3.4 years ago, 2 days later, 1 week after the original post[T] [B] #630,227
Do one on The White Shadow.
·Anonymous A (OP) — 3.4 years ago, 2 days later, 2 weeks after the original post[T] [B] #630,266
H.H.Holmes: Original Evil
This is actually a documentary rather than a series.
The intent is to separate fact from fiction regarding who H.H. Holmes was and what he did. On that much it seems to have achieved what it set out to do. Most of the visual content seemed to consist of period illustrations, stock footage, early-mid 2000's video game style 3D renderings, and not-directly-related historic footage. Sequences were recycled several times throughout the 66 minutes, presumably due to lack of budget and/or amateurish editing. It is narrated in a British monotone, with somewhat long auditory pauses where (likely stock) music plays and nothing is really happening visually either. I honestly found the use of visuals somewhat confusing and disjointed and think this would have been better suited for the podcast format, or perhaps a PowerPoint slideshow. Actual information about the so-called 'murder hotel', the reason for which I chose to watch it in the first place, was quite lacking.
Take aways:
This is actually a documentary rather than a series.
The intent is to separate fact from fiction regarding who H.H. Holmes was and what he did. On that much it seems to have achieved what it set out to do. Most of the visual content seemed to consist of period illustrations, stock footage, early-mid 2000's video game style 3D renderings, and not-directly-related historic footage. Sequences were recycled several times throughout the 66 minutes, presumably due to lack of budget and/or amateurish editing. It is narrated in a British monotone, with somewhat long auditory pauses where (likely stock) music plays and nothing is really happening visually either. I honestly found the use of visuals somewhat confusing and disjointed and think this would have been better suited for the podcast format, or perhaps a PowerPoint slideshow. Actual information about the so-called 'murder hotel', the reason for which I chose to watch it in the first place, was quite lacking.
Take aways:
- His childhood was normal
- He was a bigamist
- He was a liar
- He was a conman
- He was a serial killer
- He couldn't have been Jack the Ripper
- He was executed
·Anonymous A (OP) — 3.3 years ago, 3 weeks later, 1 month after the original post[T] [B] #630,832
Alias
This is an early to mid-2000's spy drama.
Most of the 'spy tech' is implausible for the time period, if not outright science fiction, but I suppose the implausibility is what makes it intriguing to most people. Of course the series ultimately revolves around a heretic prophet name Milo Rambaldi who foresaw (our) modern technological innovations, among other things, some 500 years ago, so science fiction is right at home here. I have to say the Rambaldi stuff intrigued me more than the action did, and I was disappointed that so much of it was left as a collection of baubles whose purpose was never discovered despite the fact that the CIA had an entire wing of the DSR running tests on them.
There's also the problem of Sydney's mother. She tells Sydney that 'truth takes time', but what she meant by this is never made clear. If it was really just a red herring to give Sydney false hope that her mother's life wasn't a complete lie, then she could have at least said so at the end. And it's also never explained why she planned to bomb D.C. and London. It's just resolved as 'phew, we stopped the missile launch'.
Also everybody is immortal. Seriously, I think everyone who had title credit recognition for more than half a season was killed at least once, except not really.
No, wait, Marshall Flinkman never died. I think he's the only one though.
Overall, a pretty good show, but the things which piqued my curiosity the most were not elaborated on enough to satisfy that curiosity, which was disappointing.
This is an early to mid-2000's spy drama.
Most of the 'spy tech' is implausible for the time period, if not outright science fiction, but I suppose the implausibility is what makes it intriguing to most people. Of course the series ultimately revolves around a heretic prophet name Milo Rambaldi who foresaw (our) modern technological innovations, among other things, some 500 years ago, so science fiction is right at home here. I have to say the Rambaldi stuff intrigued me more than the action did, and I was disappointed that so much of it was left as a collection of baubles whose purpose was never discovered despite the fact that the CIA had an entire wing of the DSR running tests on them.
There's also the problem of Sydney's mother. She tells Sydney that 'truth takes time', but what she meant by this is never made clear. If it was really just a red herring to give Sydney false hope that her mother's life wasn't a complete lie, then she could have at least said so at the end. And it's also never explained why she planned to bomb D.C. and London. It's just resolved as 'phew, we stopped the missile launch'.
Also everybody is immortal. Seriously, I think everyone who had title credit recognition for more than half a season was killed at least once, except not really.
No, wait, Marshall Flinkman never died. I think he's the only one though.
Overall, a pretty good show, but the things which piqued my curiosity the most were not elaborated on enough to satisfy that curiosity, which was disappointing.
(Edited 2 minutes later.)
·Anonymous A (OP) — 3.3 years ago, 3 days later, 1 month after the original post[T] [B] #630,888
Firefly
This is probably best described as a "space western".
It's set 500 years in the future, but aside from developing spacecraft capable of leaving the galaxy, most of what little tech is seen in the series resembles what was current around the time it was produced. Interestingly, the spoken language is English (with Chinese phrases peppered in occasionally, usually in places where a crude comment would seem to fit) however all writing is in Chinese. Also it is notably lacking any alien races. It's just humans all alone in the universe failing to solve the issue of haves vs. have-nots.
I was a bit surprised that it went with a 2-hour pilot episode and then ended after a single season. The final episode is fairly anticlimactic, so it's hard to tell whether it was meant to end there or if they were hoping to do more, but read the writing on the wall and decided it's better to end gracefully on your terms than to get cancelled on a cliffhanger (looking at you Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior). It did seem like there was more to reveal about the various characters.
My main issue was that it was short/cut short and also it looked like DVD source video being delivered over a streaming service. Now, The X-Files began airing a decade before this, and that streams at proper 1080p, but this looked like 480p (maybe 576p).
This is probably best described as a "space western".
It's set 500 years in the future, but aside from developing spacecraft capable of leaving the galaxy, most of what little tech is seen in the series resembles what was current around the time it was produced. Interestingly, the spoken language is English (with Chinese phrases peppered in occasionally, usually in places where a crude comment would seem to fit) however all writing is in Chinese. Also it is notably lacking any alien races. It's just humans all alone in the universe failing to solve the issue of haves vs. have-nots.
I was a bit surprised that it went with a 2-hour pilot episode and then ended after a single season. The final episode is fairly anticlimactic, so it's hard to tell whether it was meant to end there or if they were hoping to do more, but read the writing on the wall and decided it's better to end gracefully on your terms than to get cancelled on a cliffhanger (looking at you Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior). It did seem like there was more to reveal about the various characters.
My main issue was that it was short/cut short and also it looked like DVD source video being delivered over a streaming service. Now, The X-Files began airing a decade before this, and that streams at proper 1080p, but this looked like 480p (maybe 576p).
+Dead !Pool..v42s — 3.3 years ago, 1 hour later, 1 month after the original post[T] [B] #630,890
·Anonymous A (OP) — 3.3 years ago, 1 day later, 1 month after the original post[T] [B] #630,933
@previous (Dead !Pool..v42s)
So did I. But if just posted the name of every show I watch and said I liked it, there'd be no point to this thread.
Found
A crowd-sourced History Channel show about finding answers about items that regular people have found.
It was pretty interesting, although I'm a bit perplexed as to why there was only a single (cable-length) season made. I would think the crowd-sourced nature of something like this would make it easier to keep going.
So did I. But if just posted the name of every show I watch and said I liked it, there'd be no point to this thread.
Found
A crowd-sourced History Channel show about finding answers about items that regular people have found.
It was pretty interesting, although I'm a bit perplexed as to why there was only a single (cable-length) season made. I would think the crowd-sourced nature of something like this would make it easier to keep going.
+Dr. Chattanooga !q73styMLC. — 3.3 years ago, 1 hour later, 1 month after the original post[T] [B] #630,936
·Dead !Pool..v42s — 3.3 years ago, 3 hours later, 1 month after the original post[T] [B] #630,938
·Anonymous A (OP) — 3.3 years ago, 1 week later, 1 month after the original post[T] [B] #631,047
Murder in the First
A Steven Bochco police show.
My first impression is that this follows a similar formula to The Killing, but it's actually more akin to the first season of Hill Street Blues as the detectives work multiple cases simultaneously which are not always related*. You also see some cases all the way from commission of the crime to the courtroom verdict, which is rarer in procedurals.
It's 3 cable-length seasons, so not much time for character development, but it kept me interestested and usually wishing I had time for another episode when I didn't.
*It's been years since I watched The Killing but if memory serves, each case shown was eventually connected to the main case somehow. I'm a little fuzzy as to whether Hill Street Blues depicted detectives working on multiple unrelated cases, but I do remember that the first season drew cases out over multiple episodes rather than the 'crime of the week' format most shows use.
A Steven Bochco police show.
My first impression is that this follows a similar formula to The Killing, but it's actually more akin to the first season of Hill Street Blues as the detectives work multiple cases simultaneously which are not always related*. You also see some cases all the way from commission of the crime to the courtroom verdict, which is rarer in procedurals.
It's 3 cable-length seasons, so not much time for character development, but it kept me interestested and usually wishing I had time for another episode when I didn't.
*It's been years since I watched The Killing but if memory serves, each case shown was eventually connected to the main case somehow. I'm a little fuzzy as to whether Hill Street Blues depicted detectives working on multiple unrelated cases, but I do remember that the first season drew cases out over multiple episodes rather than the 'crime of the week' format most shows use.
·Anonymous A (OP) — 3.3 years ago, 5 days later, 1 month after the original post[T] [B] #631,115
The Catch
Kind of similar to Alias, but without the gadgets.
I am again struck by the thought "ABC loves their sexy" as this series had quite a few romantic entanglements in its short run. The premise is that a female PI finds out her fiance is a professional con man (who wants to go straight in order to be with her). It's generally a game of cat-and-mouse with lots of sleeping with the enemy and skirting the law for arguably justifiable reasons. The pacing was faster than I'm used to but they balance it out by not having lots of revolving door characters.
I found the ending was somewhat disappointing as her fiance is forced to go on the run without her. Not really a bad-end, but I think they could have done better if they had another season to smooth out all the unraveling that happened in the last episode. Personally I prefer status quo endings like Elementary had, or moving up in the world like NYPD Blue.
Kind of similar to Alias, but without the gadgets.
I am again struck by the thought "ABC loves their sexy" as this series had quite a few romantic entanglements in its short run. The premise is that a female PI finds out her fiance is a professional con man (who wants to go straight in order to be with her). It's generally a game of cat-and-mouse with lots of sleeping with the enemy and skirting the law for arguably justifiable reasons. The pacing was faster than I'm used to but they balance it out by not having lots of revolving door characters.
I found the ending was somewhat disappointing as her fiance is forced to go on the run without her. Not really a bad-end, but I think they could have done better if they had another season to smooth out all the unraveling that happened in the last episode. Personally I prefer status quo endings like Elementary had, or moving up in the world like NYPD Blue.
·Anonymous A (OP) — 3.2 years ago, 2 weeks later, 2 months after the original post[T] [B] #631,497
The Last Ship
A military drama about the crew of a US Navy ship. (Based on a book).
I don't want to give away too much, but the initial premise is that a worldwide pandemic is decimating humanity and one ship is tasked with finding a way to stop it. Of course there are plenty of people who live by the adage of "never waste a good tragedy". Amidst long odds and many losses, the crew of the Nathan James pulls through in the end.
Now having gone through an actual worldwide pandemic just a few years after this aired, we've got a bit more firsthand experience with how things actually play out than what would otherwise be expected of the audience at the time, so of course some things will be obviously wrong, but other stuff was pretty accurate too, so I think it evens out.
Seasons 1-3 are more-or-less smaller parts of one larger disaster storyline, while 4 is somewhat tangentially related in a kind of sci-fi way which seems improbable. 5 is a more believable scenario, but a nearly identical one could also have taken place without the leading events of the previous seasons. The main issue I had was with the lack of lead-in/lead out in season 4 where you're just dumped into the new situation without any 'how we got to here' segment even though it's apparent that significant changes have taken place during the time gap. Then it pretty much just ends with the solution in hand but no deployment. Season 5 features another pre-season time gap, as well as fast-forwarding from the start of a war to the middle and then to the final battle. It's not so much the use of time-skipping, which is a common enough storytelling device, but that there was no catch-up and that it happened between episodes rather than mid-episode that made it seem jarring to me. The ending was also kind of bittersweet.
This series really kept me on the edge of my seat and I would highly recommend it.
A military drama about the crew of a US Navy ship. (Based on a book).
I don't want to give away too much, but the initial premise is that a worldwide pandemic is decimating humanity and one ship is tasked with finding a way to stop it. Of course there are plenty of people who live by the adage of "never waste a good tragedy". Amidst long odds and many losses, the crew of the Nathan James pulls through in the end.
Now having gone through an actual worldwide pandemic just a few years after this aired, we've got a bit more firsthand experience with how things actually play out than what would otherwise be expected of the audience at the time, so of course some things will be obviously wrong, but other stuff was pretty accurate too, so I think it evens out.
Seasons 1-3 are more-or-less smaller parts of one larger disaster storyline, while 4 is somewhat tangentially related in a kind of sci-fi way which seems improbable. 5 is a more believable scenario, but a nearly identical one could also have taken place without the leading events of the previous seasons. The main issue I had was with the lack of lead-in/lead out in season 4 where you're just dumped into the new situation without any 'how we got to here' segment even though it's apparent that significant changes have taken place during the time gap. Then it pretty much just ends with the solution in hand but no deployment. Season 5 features another pre-season time gap, as well as fast-forwarding from the start of a war to the middle and then to the final battle. It's not so much the use of time-skipping, which is a common enough storytelling device, but that there was no catch-up and that it happened between episodes rather than mid-episode that made it seem jarring to me. The ending was also kind of bittersweet.
This series really kept me on the edge of my seat and I would highly recommend it.
·Anonymous A (OP) — 3.2 years ago, 3 weeks later, 3 months after the original post[T] [B] #632,057
[Br]eaking [Ba]d
Everybody knows what this is about right?
I'll admit I'm probably one of the last people who hadn't watched it. In truth, I wasn't planning to since crime dramas aren't really my thing, but a few years ago my dad watched it and really liked it so he's been suggesting it to me ever since.
Unfortunately I don't have much to say since I don't really have any other shows to compare it to, except that it's a well-told story that draws you in. Now I understand what people mean when they say "this goes hard".
Everybody knows what this is about right?
I'll admit I'm probably one of the last people who hadn't watched it. In truth, I wasn't planning to since crime dramas aren't really my thing, but a few years ago my dad watched it and really liked it so he's been suggesting it to me ever since.
Unfortunately I don't have much to say since I don't really have any other shows to compare it to, except that it's a well-told story that draws you in. Now I understand what people mean when they say "this goes hard".
(Edited 16 seconds later.)
·Anonymous A (OP) — 3.2 years ago, 2 days later, 3 months after the original post[T] [B] #632,134
Godless
A gritty western miniseries.
I thought it was a good story. I could complain slightly about the technical aspects as the episodes vary considerably in length, and the entire thing is in cinematic widescreen despite being a Netflix original (and presumably exclusive) meaning it will most likely never be viewed without windowboxing, which I feel is wasteful.
More traditional western fans may not care for the inclusion of several strong, independent female characters, though.
A gritty western miniseries.
I thought it was a good story. I could complain slightly about the technical aspects as the episodes vary considerably in length, and the entire thing is in cinematic widescreen despite being a Netflix original (and presumably exclusive) meaning it will most likely never be viewed without windowboxing, which I feel is wasteful.
More traditional western fans may not care for the inclusion of several strong, independent female characters, though.
·Anonymous A (OP) — 3 years ago, 1 month later, 4 months after the original post[T] [B] #633,380
Marcella
Detective drama about a British policewoman who experiences violent fugue states.
I had initially started watching this many years ago with a friend of mine, but I was only partially engaged at the time so I had trouble following the story as this is not an episodic series. The first 2 seasons follow a single investigation from start to end. The 3rd does this too, but in a slightly different manner as Marcella is working as an undercover agent rather than as a traditional investigator, so there are fewer external elements being drawn together as the story progresses.
I found the premise of a detective with a mental illness interesting. Lots of shows portray police alcoholism, but they rarely touch on other mental health subjects besides PTSD (at least with main characters). Although Marcella's condition may be classified as a form of PTSD, its manifestation as a fugue state was certainly unique as it not only interfered with her job, but actually made her a suspect in her own investigation.
I have to admit that the were times where I still got confused by details, but I was watching this while traveling and changing sleep schedules, so at times I was struggling to just get to the end of an episode so I could go to sleep, so I likely was missing details because of this. Overall it was a decent show but I found it to be a bit dry, even by British standards.
Detective drama about a British policewoman who experiences violent fugue states.
I had initially started watching this many years ago with a friend of mine, but I was only partially engaged at the time so I had trouble following the story as this is not an episodic series. The first 2 seasons follow a single investigation from start to end. The 3rd does this too, but in a slightly different manner as Marcella is working as an undercover agent rather than as a traditional investigator, so there are fewer external elements being drawn together as the story progresses.
I found the premise of a detective with a mental illness interesting. Lots of shows portray police alcoholism, but they rarely touch on other mental health subjects besides PTSD (at least with main characters). Although Marcella's condition may be classified as a form of PTSD, its manifestation as a fugue state was certainly unique as it not only interfered with her job, but actually made her a suspect in her own investigation.
I have to admit that the were times where I still got confused by details, but I was watching this while traveling and changing sleep schedules, so at times I was struggling to just get to the end of an episode so I could go to sleep, so I likely was missing details because of this. Overall it was a decent show but I found it to be a bit dry, even by British standards.
+Anonymous H — 3 years ago, 3 days later, 4 months after the original post[T] [B] #633,447
·Anonymous A (OP) — 3 years ago, 2 weeks later, 5 months after the original post[T] [B] #633,988
iZombie
A detective drama with zombie elements, based on a comic book.
The premise seemed silly so I wasn't sure how this would work, but in the end I think it did. Obviously the main character is a zombie and so she needs to eat brains. Having her medical degree derailed by her zombification, she becomes an assistant at the morgue in order to get them. A side-effect of eating brains is that she sees visions through the eyes of the person whose brain she's eaten, which reveals clues about how they died. In order to hide the fact that she's a zombie, she pretends to be a psychic in order to assist in police investigations.
I do feel like there was a little bit of Flanderization with how Liv behaved after eating brains, as the personality shifts seemed to be more pronounced towards the end. In a strange twist, I actually found the main baddies, Blaine and Don E., to be almost likable. There was definitely some current-events-being-examined-by-proxy in the series as well. The last season did feel slightly rushed, even though it was the same length as most of the others, but I thought the ending was satisfactory.
Overall a fun, quirky series. Strangely, it's given an overall rating of TV-MA on Netflix, even though it was broadcast on The CW and contains no FCC-triggering profanity or particularly graphic visuals.
A detective drama with zombie elements, based on a comic book.
The premise seemed silly so I wasn't sure how this would work, but in the end I think it did. Obviously the main character is a zombie and so she needs to eat brains. Having her medical degree derailed by her zombification, she becomes an assistant at the morgue in order to get them. A side-effect of eating brains is that she sees visions through the eyes of the person whose brain she's eaten, which reveals clues about how they died. In order to hide the fact that she's a zombie, she pretends to be a psychic in order to assist in police investigations.
I do feel like there was a little bit of Flanderization with how Liv behaved after eating brains, as the personality shifts seemed to be more pronounced towards the end. In a strange twist, I actually found the main baddies, Blaine and Don E., to be almost likable. There was definitely some current-events-being-examined-by-proxy in the series as well. The last season did feel slightly rushed, even though it was the same length as most of the others, but I thought the ending was satisfactory.
Overall a fun, quirky series. Strangely, it's given an overall rating of TV-MA on Netflix, even though it was broadcast on The CW and contains no FCC-triggering profanity or particularly graphic visuals.
+Dachan-da — 3 years ago, 2 hours later, 5 months after the original post[T] [B] #633,992
lol 10/10 bud
·Anonymous A (OP) — 3 years ago, 2 days later, 5 months after the original post[T] [B] #634,129
Bones
Forensic drama focusing on murders in which most of the flesh is badly damaged (or completely missing), making regular autopsies difficult. (Based on the life [and presumably novels] of Dr. Kathy Reichs.)
I followed this show religiously in high school, but dropped off when season 5 ended and didn't keep up after that. Part of it may have been the fact that season 5 fell into a bit of a shtick where people would die or be found in a way that somehow fit with a theme related to how they lived. Also at the time I felt like the pairing of Booth/Brennan as romantic partners made no sense. In retrospect I think I just didn't like romance complicating the relationships between main characters (I had a similar issue with House, another show I was following then, but not with Fringe or 24) because I was watching the shows from a fairly 1-dimensional perspective: namely that a show should be about one thing and not divert from that. Thankfully I've matured since then and can appreciate multi-dimensional storytelling.
Upon (re)watching the entire series, I felt that I had missed out by giving up on it. It was nice to see Dr. Brennan's personal growth as she learns how to be less of a robot through her interactions and eventual relationship with Booth. The shtick didn't bother me as much either, but it only lasted for the one season, so I suppose I might have felt differently if it had continued. I did notice a few scenes in the first few seasons which touched on social issues in a somewhat stilted manner that didn't really resolve anything but kind of left me feeling awkward that the writers would use a stereotype but not have it lead to any sort of further dialogue. I did find the rotation of interns to be mildly disorienting, though it would've been far worse if I had continued to follow the show live.
Amusingly, the show inadvertantly broke canon with the Sleepy Hollow crossover episode, as several seasons earlier Dr. Hodgins mentioned setting his DVR to record it. Also, the entire series is presented without ads on Hulu, even though I have the ad-supported subscription plan. (And I can confirm that this isn't a short-term thing, as I watched Sleepy Hollow 2 years ago and when I went to watch the second half of the crossover episode it played without ads then as well.)
Overall, I already knew I liked the show but was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed it more now that I've grown older, which I'd feared might have the opposite effect. Definitely worth watching if you like forensics.
Forensic drama focusing on murders in which most of the flesh is badly damaged (or completely missing), making regular autopsies difficult. (Based on the life [and presumably novels] of Dr. Kathy Reichs.)
I followed this show religiously in high school, but dropped off when season 5 ended and didn't keep up after that. Part of it may have been the fact that season 5 fell into a bit of a shtick where people would die or be found in a way that somehow fit with a theme related to how they lived. Also at the time I felt like the pairing of Booth/Brennan as romantic partners made no sense. In retrospect I think I just didn't like romance complicating the relationships between main characters (I had a similar issue with House, another show I was following then, but not with Fringe or 24) because I was watching the shows from a fairly 1-dimensional perspective: namely that a show should be about one thing and not divert from that. Thankfully I've matured since then and can appreciate multi-dimensional storytelling.
Upon (re)watching the entire series, I felt that I had missed out by giving up on it. It was nice to see Dr. Brennan's personal growth as she learns how to be less of a robot through her interactions and eventual relationship with Booth. The shtick didn't bother me as much either, but it only lasted for the one season, so I suppose I might have felt differently if it had continued. I did notice a few scenes in the first few seasons which touched on social issues in a somewhat stilted manner that didn't really resolve anything but kind of left me feeling awkward that the writers would use a stereotype but not have it lead to any sort of further dialogue. I did find the rotation of interns to be mildly disorienting, though it would've been far worse if I had continued to follow the show live.
Amusingly, the show inadvertantly broke canon with the Sleepy Hollow crossover episode, as several seasons earlier Dr. Hodgins mentioned setting his DVR to record it. Also, the entire series is presented without ads on Hulu, even though I have the ad-supported subscription plan. (And I can confirm that this isn't a short-term thing, as I watched Sleepy Hollow 2 years ago and when I went to watch the second half of the crossover episode it played without ads then as well.)
Overall, I already knew I liked the show but was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed it more now that I've grown older, which I'd feared might have the opposite effect. Definitely worth watching if you like forensics.
+Anonymous J — 3 years ago, 2 hours later, 5 months after the original post[T] [B] #634,130
I am watching 1899 now & you are discuss about drama history? 🤦
·Anonymous A (OP) — 3 years ago, 11 hours later, 5 months after the original post[T] [B] #634,158
Paranormal Cops
A reality miniseries about a group of Chicago police who investigate paranormal incidents in the area.
I wasn't expecting much going in, but figured since it was short I'd be done with it pretty quick if it was too over-the-top. I was surprised to find that it generally handled things in a professional manner without much sensationalizing. They don't claim to be ghostbusters or anything, they just investigate and try to put people at ease regarding what they've experienced.
I do have to say that nearly all of the EVP needs to be chalked up to a case of hearing what you need/want to hear, because to my ear it was all far too indistinct to discern as anything more than general noise. Of course I have to take it all with a grain of salt because it is a show being produced for entertainment purposes, so I can't be certain that anything they recorded wasn't fabricated.
If you're like Fox Mulder and want to believe, give this a watch.
A reality miniseries about a group of Chicago police who investigate paranormal incidents in the area.
I wasn't expecting much going in, but figured since it was short I'd be done with it pretty quick if it was too over-the-top. I was surprised to find that it generally handled things in a professional manner without much sensationalizing. They don't claim to be ghostbusters or anything, they just investigate and try to put people at ease regarding what they've experienced.
I do have to say that nearly all of the EVP needs to be chalked up to a case of hearing what you need/want to hear, because to my ear it was all far too indistinct to discern as anything more than general noise. Of course I have to take it all with a grain of salt because it is a show being produced for entertainment purposes, so I can't be certain that anything they recorded wasn't fabricated.
If you're like Fox Mulder and want to believe, give this a watch.
·Anonymous A (OP) — 2.9 years ago, 3 weeks later, 6 months after the original post[T] [B] #634,877
Madam Secretary
Political drama about an apolitical public servant.
I had seen most of the series already, but once I had caught up with what was available on Netflix I decided that I'd rather wait for the entire next season to be available rather than follow it live and deal with cliffhangers. (I'm not sure why I was worried about this, because it actually didn't do that much at all in the seasons I'd watched.) Anyway I took a long break from Netflix and during that time the series ended. Anyway, watching it now I saw a lot of parallels to stuff that was really happening that I hadn't been cognizant of or made connections to before.
I think the show did a really good job of portraying how the US government ought to function. Unfortunately it's kind of depressing to look at how things could be, and then know how badly broken they really are. The idea of an independent winning a modern presidency is pure fantasy if we don't change things, and there is zero incentive for the 2 parties to change that.
Political drama about an apolitical public servant.
I had seen most of the series already, but once I had caught up with what was available on Netflix I decided that I'd rather wait for the entire next season to be available rather than follow it live and deal with cliffhangers. (I'm not sure why I was worried about this, because it actually didn't do that much at all in the seasons I'd watched.) Anyway I took a long break from Netflix and during that time the series ended. Anyway, watching it now I saw a lot of parallels to stuff that was really happening that I hadn't been cognizant of or made connections to before.
I think the show did a really good job of portraying how the US government ought to function. Unfortunately it's kind of depressing to look at how things could be, and then know how badly broken they really are. The idea of an independent winning a modern presidency is pure fantasy if we don't change things, and there is zero incentive for the 2 parties to change that.
+Anonymous K — 2.9 years ago, 7 hours later, 6 months after the original post[T] [B] #634,895
didnt read lol
+Anonymous L — 2.9 years ago, 3 hours later, 6 months after the original post[T] [B] #634,899
·Anonymous A (OP) — 2.9 years ago, 2 days later, 6 months after the original post[T] [B] #634,980
@634,877 (A)
I'd like to amend this as I forgot some things.
Madam Secretary (addendum)
I found the use of the bedroom as a place for serious conversation, rather than just sex to be refreshing. Although perhaps this only worked because 2 of the main characters are married, and in most shows only one half of a married couple is a main character. During these scenes, Elizabeth McCord is frequently seen wearing band t-shirts (3 different Peter Frampton, 2 Red Hot Chili Peppers, and 1 Grateful Dead). It was a nice change of pace to see a positive character who is also a fan of rock & roll, as most modern series seem to relegate rock to the domain of baddies or one-off mentions by good characters.
I'd like to amend this as I forgot some things.
Madam Secretary (addendum)
I found the use of the bedroom as a place for serious conversation, rather than just sex to be refreshing. Although perhaps this only worked because 2 of the main characters are married, and in most shows only one half of a married couple is a main character. During these scenes, Elizabeth McCord is frequently seen wearing band t-shirts (3 different Peter Frampton, 2 Red Hot Chili Peppers, and 1 Grateful Dead). It was a nice change of pace to see a positive character who is also a fan of rock & roll, as most modern series seem to relegate rock to the domain of baddies or one-off mentions by good characters.
·Anonymous A (OP) — 2.8 years ago, 3 weeks later, 6 months after the original post[T] [B] #635,935
Blindspot
Kind of a mix of law enforcement drama + spy drama with puzzles thrown in too.
This is another one I had started watching but didn't get to finish because it was still ongoing at the time. Strangely I made it most of the way through season 3 but missed the last 3 or so episodes.
Basically a naked, tattooed woman shows up in a duffel bag in Times Square with the name of an FBI agent prominently featured on her back, but she has no memory. The FBI soon discovers that the tattoos are puzzles pointing to various criminal conspiracies. As Jane Doe and the FBI try to figure out who she is and why she has these tattoos, she begins to remember things.
I felt like the introduction of new tattoos for season 3 was jumping the shark a bit since there were plenty of them which had not been touched on during the first 2 seasons. Additionally, the interaction between original and new tattoos seemed like a stretch to me from a planning standpoint since I tend to look at the big picture with something like this and the amount of information that would need to be gathered *years* ahead of time in some cases is just not feasible. It also didn't make much sense that Roman got ZIP poisoning before Jane even though she was dosed first, and with a much higher dose than Roman.
Also, after Kurt Weller gets shot at the end of season 3, he spends the first half~ish of season 4 with an unkempt appearance reminiscent of someone who wakes up on the couch at noon with an empty bottle in their hand, although the story makes no mention of him drinking to excess during this period.
I liked this show a lot, although I wouldn't recommend it to hardcore puzzlers (such as those who do the NYT crossword on a daily basis) because you don't really get much of a chance to solve the puzzles yourself because each episode's plot generally starts off with the explanation of some tattoo's solution which then triggers an investigation.
As a side note, Bill Nye plays himself in seasons 4 and 5.
Kind of a mix of law enforcement drama + spy drama with puzzles thrown in too.
This is another one I had started watching but didn't get to finish because it was still ongoing at the time. Strangely I made it most of the way through season 3 but missed the last 3 or so episodes.
Basically a naked, tattooed woman shows up in a duffel bag in Times Square with the name of an FBI agent prominently featured on her back, but she has no memory. The FBI soon discovers that the tattoos are puzzles pointing to various criminal conspiracies. As Jane Doe and the FBI try to figure out who she is and why she has these tattoos, she begins to remember things.
I felt like the introduction of new tattoos for season 3 was jumping the shark a bit since there were plenty of them which had not been touched on during the first 2 seasons. Additionally, the interaction between original and new tattoos seemed like a stretch to me from a planning standpoint since I tend to look at the big picture with something like this and the amount of information that would need to be gathered *years* ahead of time in some cases is just not feasible. It also didn't make much sense that Roman got ZIP poisoning before Jane even though she was dosed first, and with a much higher dose than Roman.
Also, after Kurt Weller gets shot at the end of season 3, he spends the first half~ish of season 4 with an unkempt appearance reminiscent of someone who wakes up on the couch at noon with an empty bottle in their hand, although the story makes no mention of him drinking to excess during this period.
I liked this show a lot, although I wouldn't recommend it to hardcore puzzlers (such as those who do the NYT crossword on a daily basis) because you don't really get much of a chance to solve the puzzles yourself because each episode's plot generally starts off with the explanation of some tattoo's solution which then triggers an investigation.
As a side note, Bill Nye plays himself in seasons 4 and 5.
·Anonymous A (OP) — 2.7 years ago, 1 month later, 8 months after the original post[T] [B] #637,777
Homeland
Spy drama about a CIA agent and her mentor.
I had started watching this a few years back but it was ongoing so I was stopped at the end of season 5. Similar to Marcella, Homeland also has a main character who is dealing with a mental illness, as Carrie Mathison is bipolar. Unlike Alias, Homeland is much more realistic as it doesn't rely on technological magic and the conflicts are much more current (seasons 6&7 especially, which deal with hyper-partisanship, fake news, and abuse of office).
The truth is, I'm having trouble coming up with anything to pick apart with this one. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I suppose I could pick on the fact that they failed to portray the greentext on 4chan as greentext, and the conversation threads looked more like reddit, but it's still miles ahead of every other show I've watched that has ever featured a web page (whether real or in-universe). I guess I'll take an aside here and point out that lots of shows will mention real websites- until they have to show something onscreen- at which point they invent an in-universe clone. I'm pretty sure the 4chan homepage was an actual screenshot. I know I recognized the anime girl and the 'what is 4chan' blurb. It wasn't Yotsuba though, so maybe they had to edit it for copyright reasons?
I suppose I could also mention that unlike in Criminal Minds where Garcia claims to use Linux for security reasons but it's clear whenever her screen is shown that it's just a generic screen mock-up, Carrie actually uses Arch Linux on her PC laptop. (It's not shown very often though, she also has a MacBook when she's not at home.) I guess I found it refreshing that all the props were 'real' rather than fake brands like you see in most modern (US) network TV series. Of course Showtime is a premium cable channel or whatever so maybe that's why.
Lastly, the show isn't formatted for commercial breaks, however Hulu presents it with them (at least with the ad-supported plan), although most of the time the ads aren't actually queued and it's just a 5-second black screen. And when the ads did queue, I'd just exit out and then resume and I'd usually get the 5-second countdown on retrying.
Sorry this is mostly autism and not very informative, I'm physically exhausted right now and I'm prone to severe writer's block on a good day.
Spy drama about a CIA agent and her mentor.
I had started watching this a few years back but it was ongoing so I was stopped at the end of season 5. Similar to Marcella, Homeland also has a main character who is dealing with a mental illness, as Carrie Mathison is bipolar. Unlike Alias, Homeland is much more realistic as it doesn't rely on technological magic and the conflicts are much more current (seasons 6&7 especially, which deal with hyper-partisanship, fake news, and abuse of office).
The truth is, I'm having trouble coming up with anything to pick apart with this one. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I suppose I could pick on the fact that they failed to portray the greentext on 4chan as greentext, and the conversation threads looked more like reddit, but it's still miles ahead of every other show I've watched that has ever featured a web page (whether real or in-universe). I guess I'll take an aside here and point out that lots of shows will mention real websites- until they have to show something onscreen- at which point they invent an in-universe clone. I'm pretty sure the 4chan homepage was an actual screenshot. I know I recognized the anime girl and the 'what is 4chan' blurb. It wasn't Yotsuba though, so maybe they had to edit it for copyright reasons?
I suppose I could also mention that unlike in Criminal Minds where Garcia claims to use Linux for security reasons but it's clear whenever her screen is shown that it's just a generic screen mock-up, Carrie actually uses Arch Linux on her PC laptop. (It's not shown very often though, she also has a MacBook when she's not at home.) I guess I found it refreshing that all the props were 'real' rather than fake brands like you see in most modern (US) network TV series. Of course Showtime is a premium cable channel or whatever so maybe that's why.
Lastly, the show isn't formatted for commercial breaks, however Hulu presents it with them (at least with the ad-supported plan), although most of the time the ads aren't actually queued and it's just a 5-second black screen. And when the ads did queue, I'd just exit out and then resume and I'd usually get the 5-second countdown on retrying.
Sorry this is mostly autism and not very informative, I'm physically exhausted right now and I'm prone to severe writer's block on a good day.
+Anonymous M — 2.7 years ago, 2 days later, 8 months after the original post[T] [B] #637,839
Who is watching tv nowadays?
+Anonymous N — 2.7 years ago, 21 minutes later, 8 months after the original post[T] [B] #637,845
@previous (M)
What should op have said instead? "Series review" ?
Anyway try the tv show "the patient" where Michael Scott plays a psychoanalyst that's abducted by a serial killer
What should op have said instead? "Series review" ?
Anyway try the tv show "the patient" where Michael Scott plays a psychoanalyst that's abducted by a serial killer
·Anonymous A (OP) — 2.7 years ago, 2 weeks later, 9 months after the original post[T] [B] #638,353
@637,777 (A)
In my exhaustion, I failed to mention 2 things I had wanted to.
Homeland (addendum)
I found the opening sequence for the first few seasons to be a cinematic work in its own right. I also enjoyed the integration of Carrie's preference for jazz music into the show's scoring. I'd actually select to watch the closing credits just to hear the outro music.
In my exhaustion, I failed to mention 2 things I had wanted to.
Homeland (addendum)
I found the opening sequence for the first few seasons to be a cinematic work in its own right. I also enjoyed the integration of Carrie's preference for jazz music into the show's scoring. I'd actually select to watch the closing credits just to hear the outro music.
·Anonymous A (OP) — 2.7 years ago, 4 days later, 9 months after the original post[T] [B] #638,551
Quantico
A law enforcement drama about FBI recruits and their post-academy work. I had already seen the first half of the series.
Seasons 1&2 tell parallel stories with one set in the present and another set during the recruits training experience at Quantico. The action rubber-bands back and forth between time periods. Season 3 starts off as a more traditional case-of-the-week format, but builds into an all-consuming plot during the second half. It also appears to have been done by a different production company or something.
It was a bit odd how the seasons were handled, as each mid-season involved a certain amount of cast changes, and story shift in season 2. Season 3 is 9 episodes shorter so there isn't really a mid-season break I don't think. Overall it was decent, but I think it came off a bit disjointed because of the cast shift and the heavy focus on young people meant that the stars weren't really able to serve in any sort of producer role like older leads tend to do when the original producer leaves. Of course this is just my impression, I have no idea if the producer actually left or what happened.
Final verdict: as a whole it just doesn't quite achieve the level of 'good', but it's not bad. Better than Stitchers, maybe on par with The Catch.
A law enforcement drama about FBI recruits and their post-academy work. I had already seen the first half of the series.
Seasons 1&2 tell parallel stories with one set in the present and another set during the recruits training experience at Quantico. The action rubber-bands back and forth between time periods. Season 3 starts off as a more traditional case-of-the-week format, but builds into an all-consuming plot during the second half. It also appears to have been done by a different production company or something.
It was a bit odd how the seasons were handled, as each mid-season involved a certain amount of cast changes, and story shift in season 2. Season 3 is 9 episodes shorter so there isn't really a mid-season break I don't think. Overall it was decent, but I think it came off a bit disjointed because of the cast shift and the heavy focus on young people meant that the stars weren't really able to serve in any sort of producer role like older leads tend to do when the original producer leaves. Of course this is just my impression, I have no idea if the producer actually left or what happened.
Final verdict: as a whole it just doesn't quite achieve the level of 'good', but it's not bad. Better than Stitchers, maybe on par with The Catch.
·Anonymous A (OP) — 2.6 years ago, 3 weeks later, 10 months after the original post[T] [B] #639,690
Reflective review: Murdoch Mysteries
Forensic/police drama set in late-19th/early-20th century Toronto. (Based on a series of novels.)
I quite liked this one, although I will admit that it wasn't an edge-of-your-seat type of show. The characters were quite likeable, and the scientific innovations element was intriguing. It was neat to see the inclusion of various historical figures as well, although the actors who played Nikola Tesla and Mark Twain didn't particularly resemble them, in my opinion. It also dealt with some more modern issues like discrimination and inequality in a historical context.
In the beginning Detective Murdoch had a new invention of sorts at the start of most episodes which would come in handy in solving that episode's murder, but obviously such a mechanic would be impossible to maintain over the course of the entire series, particularly since the seasons were lengthened after the first few. It was also quite apparent early on that the two leads were meant to end up together, but they took quite a while to actually get there which was a bit frustrating.
I had thought the series was completed, but shortly after I thought I had finished the series, another season became available. The last episode of that seasons is titled "The Future is Unwritten", which I had hoped might be an allusion to the possibility of more episodes once Covid lifted, but now I'm beginning to think it was a cheeky reference to the fact that it's based on a book series that's set in the past. (I haven't actually checked its status.)
I should mention that the Halloween episodes are not technically canon. They follow the canon of character relationships according to their air date, but otherwise exist outside of the timeline.
Forensic/police drama set in late-19th/early-20th century Toronto. (Based on a series of novels.)
I quite liked this one, although I will admit that it wasn't an edge-of-your-seat type of show. The characters were quite likeable, and the scientific innovations element was intriguing. It was neat to see the inclusion of various historical figures as well, although the actors who played Nikola Tesla and Mark Twain didn't particularly resemble them, in my opinion. It also dealt with some more modern issues like discrimination and inequality in a historical context.
In the beginning Detective Murdoch had a new invention of sorts at the start of most episodes which would come in handy in solving that episode's murder, but obviously such a mechanic would be impossible to maintain over the course of the entire series, particularly since the seasons were lengthened after the first few. It was also quite apparent early on that the two leads were meant to end up together, but they took quite a while to actually get there which was a bit frustrating.
I had thought the series was completed, but shortly after I thought I had finished the series, another season became available. The last episode of that seasons is titled "The Future is Unwritten", which I had hoped might be an allusion to the possibility of more episodes once Covid lifted, but now I'm beginning to think it was a cheeky reference to the fact that it's based on a book series that's set in the past. (I haven't actually checked its status.)
I should mention that the Halloween episodes are not technically canon. They follow the canon of character relationships according to their air date, but otherwise exist outside of the timeline.
(Edited 2 minutes later.)
+Anonymous O — 2.6 years ago, 2 days later, 10 months after the original post[T] [B] #639,775
@630,194 (D)
Oh damn. You must of watched the cable version. We were to broke for cable just had the rabbit ear antenna.
Oh damn. You must of watched the cable version. We were to broke for cable just had the rabbit ear antenna.
+Anonymous P — 2.6 years ago, 21 hours later, 10 months after the original post[T] [B] #639,801
What do you think about the SC-FI new series ARC?
·Anonymous A (OP) — 2.5 years ago, 1 month later, 11 months after the original post[T] [B] #641,296
Scandal
Drama about a fixer in Washinton DC.
Admittedly this is not something I would have picked out based on the title, but a friend of mine was watching it while I was around and the strategy involved in spinning situations appealed to me.
The first few seasons revolve around case-of-the-week scandals while the backstory builds. Then it turns more towards a game of political chess as the characters become entangled in scandals of their own.
It wasn't quite edge-of-my-seat, but it keeps you guessing about the characters orientation as protagonists or antagonists. The last season in particular got pretty dark, but the ending was a bit confusing and anticlimactic. Rowan gives many impassioned lectures throughout the series, but the one before the select committee seems like the sort of thing that should have had repercussions, but it seems like everybody just gets off clean because of it.
Not quite as dramatic and turbulent as Trump's administration.
Drama about a fixer in Washinton DC.
Admittedly this is not something I would have picked out based on the title, but a friend of mine was watching it while I was around and the strategy involved in spinning situations appealed to me.
The first few seasons revolve around case-of-the-week scandals while the backstory builds. Then it turns more towards a game of political chess as the characters become entangled in scandals of their own.
It wasn't quite edge-of-my-seat, but it keeps you guessing about the characters orientation as protagonists or antagonists. The last season in particular got pretty dark, but the ending was a bit confusing and anticlimactic. Rowan gives many impassioned lectures throughout the series, but the one before the select committee seems like the sort of thing that should have had repercussions, but it seems like everybody just gets off clean because of it.
Not quite as dramatic and turbulent as Trump's administration.
+Anonymous Q — 2.5 years ago, 3 hours later, 11 months after the original post[T] [B] #641,298
@previous (A)> Not quite as dramatic and turbulent as Trump's administration.
Not quite as dramatic and turbulent as Trump's administration.
Not quite as dramatic and turbulent as Trump's administration.
(Edited 21 seconds later.)
+Anonymous R — 2.5 years ago, 5 days later, 11 months after the original post[T] [B] #641,477
now this is analysiso
·Anonymous A (OP) — 2.5 years ago, 3 days later, 11 months after the original post[T] [B] #641,602
Somewhat of a follow-up to @630,266, (A) but not really, because Original Evil is from 2018 whereas American Ripper is 2017.
American Ripper
Miniseries following H. H. Holmes great-great-grandson Jeff as he investigates his theory that Holmes was also Jack the Ripper. It's produced by the History Channel so I expected a bit of sensationalizing going in. It wasn't quite on the level that made Ancient Aliens a meme, and it was nowhere near the sort of all-in conspiracy stuff that Prometheus Entertainment makes, but the narration did softly reinforce the preconception the Holmes was the Ripper. It was far more interesting to watch, for sure and the investigator that Jeff teamed with did a good job of entertaining theories while not fully buying in at the first tenuous connection. (Although I think the editing does make it seem like she's more of a believer than she really is.)
For the most part I thought it made for a pretty compelling circumstantial case, but they didn't really get any hard evidence, aside from being able to confirm that Holmes was definitively executed and buried when and where he was said to have been. One thing that bothered me was the building up of the possible river dumping, but then it was dropped and never returned to, if even just to mention that the application to recover had been denied.* I kind of want to review what info was presented in Original Evil that explicitly ruled Holmes out as the Ripper. I vaguely recall it having something to do with the timeline, but I would think with the resources that come with professional funding by a network like the History Channel, they should have been able to find whatever the other guy found, but they didn't.
...But it's not on Hulu anymore so I couldn't subject myself to that slog again even if I wanted to.
*Not that they likely would have been able to recover anything useful. I recall an episode of Mythbusters where they tested the Jimmy Hoffa legend and encased a pig in cement as part of the investigation. I don't remember how long they left it encased before breaking it out, but it did decay. Although cement that is submerged in water for over 100 years might cause a difference in the rate of decay, I think it's still far too long for anything more than a basic skeletal exam to be possible.
American Ripper
Miniseries following H. H. Holmes great-great-grandson Jeff as he investigates his theory that Holmes was also Jack the Ripper. It's produced by the History Channel so I expected a bit of sensationalizing going in. It wasn't quite on the level that made Ancient Aliens a meme, and it was nowhere near the sort of all-in conspiracy stuff that Prometheus Entertainment makes, but the narration did softly reinforce the preconception the Holmes was the Ripper. It was far more interesting to watch, for sure and the investigator that Jeff teamed with did a good job of entertaining theories while not fully buying in at the first tenuous connection. (Although I think the editing does make it seem like she's more of a believer than she really is.)
For the most part I thought it made for a pretty compelling circumstantial case, but they didn't really get any hard evidence, aside from being able to confirm that Holmes was definitively executed and buried when and where he was said to have been. One thing that bothered me was the building up of the possible river dumping, but then it was dropped and never returned to, if even just to mention that the application to recover had been denied.* I kind of want to review what info was presented in Original Evil that explicitly ruled Holmes out as the Ripper. I vaguely recall it having something to do with the timeline, but I would think with the resources that come with professional funding by a network like the History Channel, they should have been able to find whatever the other guy found, but they didn't.
...But it's not on Hulu anymore so I couldn't subject myself to that slog again even if I wanted to.
*Not that they likely would have been able to recover anything useful. I recall an episode of Mythbusters where they tested the Jimmy Hoffa legend and encased a pig in cement as part of the investigation. I don't remember how long they left it encased before breaking it out, but it did decay. Although cement that is submerged in water for over 100 years might cause a difference in the rate of decay, I think it's still far too long for anything more than a basic skeletal exam to be possible.
(Edited 3 minutes later.)
·Anonymous A (OP) — 2.4 years ago, 1 month later, 1.1 year after the original post[T] [B] #642,817
Sleeper Cell
Thriller/drama about a Muslim FBI agent who goes undercover to infiltrate an extremist terror cell on US soil.
I got some wires crossed and thought this was a single-season of 18 episodes and was confused when things seemed to be wrapping up around episode 9. It struck me as unusual that most of the cell members were Islamic converts when the series is set about 5 years after 9/11. Maybe I was just too young back then, but I felt like American patriotism was still pretty prevalent at that point. But then maybe that's why radical Islam would appeal to young people outside of the Islamic world: they want to rebel against the mainstream. I don't know though, there was also times where I felt it was adhering too closely to our American stereotypes, such as the Frenchman who never missed an opportunity to complain about American culture.
Overall I'd say it was decent, although the ending was a bit of a toss-up.
Thriller/drama about a Muslim FBI agent who goes undercover to infiltrate an extremist terror cell on US soil.
I got some wires crossed and thought this was a single-season of 18 episodes and was confused when things seemed to be wrapping up around episode 9. It struck me as unusual that most of the cell members were Islamic converts when the series is set about 5 years after 9/11. Maybe I was just too young back then, but I felt like American patriotism was still pretty prevalent at that point. But then maybe that's why radical Islam would appeal to young people outside of the Islamic world: they want to rebel against the mainstream. I don't know though, there was also times where I felt it was adhering too closely to our American stereotypes, such as the Frenchman who never missed an opportunity to complain about American culture.
Overall I'd say it was decent, although the ending was a bit of a toss-up.
·Anonymous A (OP) — 2.4 years ago, 4 minutes later, 1.1 year after the original post[T] [B] #642,819
This isn't really a reflective review, I just forgot to post it after I wrote it up.
For The People
A legal drama centered around some brand new lawyers: 3 prosecutors and 3 defense.
This one is so short it felt like it was just starting to get going when it ended. The last episode does tie things up as an 'ending' I suppose, but generally it was a pretty anticlimactic one.
Each episode focuses on a few cases, but each one is new for that episode and there's not really any significant action with prior cases beyond their initial episode. I would nitpick that the case in episode 19 mentions a reciept being dropped during a bank robbery, leading to the identification of the perp due to the credit card number on the receipt. This practice was nearly extinct when I was kid, and that was 30 years ago. There's no way a restaurant operating in 2018 was still printing the full cc number on the receipt.
I liked the characters in this one, even though they were on the younger end. Maybe because they were being portrayed in a more professional environment, or maybe because they weren't trying to be caricatures of the obnoxious, self-absorbed, phone addicted millennial stereotype. With the exception of the aforementioned credit card caveat, the show was well-written in my opinion. I just wish it hadn't been so short.
A little aside, this and Scandal are both Shondaland series. One of the main characters in Scandal was Fitzgerald Grant (III, to be accurate). It seems a reference was snuck into this series as a "Grant Fitzgerald" is mentioned in conversation in one episode.
For The People
A legal drama centered around some brand new lawyers: 3 prosecutors and 3 defense.
This one is so short it felt like it was just starting to get going when it ended. The last episode does tie things up as an 'ending' I suppose, but generally it was a pretty anticlimactic one.
Each episode focuses on a few cases, but each one is new for that episode and there's not really any significant action with prior cases beyond their initial episode. I would nitpick that the case in episode 19 mentions a reciept being dropped during a bank robbery, leading to the identification of the perp due to the credit card number on the receipt. This practice was nearly extinct when I was kid, and that was 30 years ago. There's no way a restaurant operating in 2018 was still printing the full cc number on the receipt.
I liked the characters in this one, even though they were on the younger end. Maybe because they were being portrayed in a more professional environment, or maybe because they weren't trying to be caricatures of the obnoxious, self-absorbed, phone addicted millennial stereotype. With the exception of the aforementioned credit card caveat, the show was well-written in my opinion. I just wish it hadn't been so short.
A little aside, this and Scandal are both Shondaland series. One of the main characters in Scandal was Fitzgerald Grant (III, to be accurate). It seems a reference was snuck into this series as a "Grant Fitzgerald" is mentioned in conversation in one episode.
·Anonymous Q — 2.4 years ago, 1 hour later, 1.1 year after the original post[T] [B] #642,822
@previous (A)> For The People
What happened to For the People TV show?
On May 9, 2019, ABC canceled the series after two seasons.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_the_People_(2018_TV_series)
+Anonymous S — 2.4 years ago, 6 hours later, 1.1 year after the original post[T] [B] #642,855
·Memories — 2.3 years ago, 3 hours later, 1.1 year after the original post[T] [B] #642,858
@previous (S)
> https://youtu.be/olkx4-a4beU?si=WFNJ5gExiO_gJdag [play]
Cop Rock REALLY? - Back in the days post a divorce I dated a wide range of Gals. One was a Homicide Detective and back then it was rare for Females and this one was for real a true blonde - Carpet matched the drapes. She consulted on two TV Shows - Cagney and Lacey and Cop Rock.
So I had a chance to watch about 4-6 hours of one Cop Rock in progress of manufacture. It was so hard for me to NOT LAFF During the filming. Quality of the music was beyond expectations but mix that in with a show about police action - just CRAZY. I was a big fan of Bochco's NYPD Blue 1993–2005)
At that time I was in the Air from somewhere to some other place re work so it took a couple 3 VCR's with a programmer to copy those shows for later view.
From the getgo Cop Rock was destined to fail. The GF did not like my attitude re Cop Rock. I also was not keen on her having a gun under her pillow.
> https://youtu.be/olkx4-a4beU?si=WFNJ5gExiO_gJdag [play]
Cop Rock REALLY? - Back in the days post a divorce I dated a wide range of Gals. One was a Homicide Detective and back then it was rare for Females and this one was for real a true blonde - Carpet matched the drapes. She consulted on two TV Shows - Cagney and Lacey and Cop Rock.
So I had a chance to watch about 4-6 hours of one Cop Rock in progress of manufacture. It was so hard for me to NOT LAFF During the filming. Quality of the music was beyond expectations but mix that in with a show about police action - just CRAZY. I was a big fan of Bochco's NYPD Blue 1993–2005)
At that time I was in the Air from somewhere to some other place re work so it took a couple 3 VCR's with a programmer to copy those shows for later view.
From the getgo Cop Rock was destined to fail. The GF did not like my attitude re Cop Rock. I also was not keen on her having a gun under her pillow.
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