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Rate the last series/season you saw (TV)


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20 minutes ago, Yarbicus said:

Cakesniffer!

Carmelita is pretty much the worst. I was just cringing every time she was on screen. And I don't know what it is, but that insult just...idek, I just can't stand it.

It really is an excellent show, tho. And honestly, I probably would have found it less depressing if I'd spread it out a bit more, rather than slamming through it all over the last week or so.

Also, it occurs to me that between this and HIMYM, NPH has spent a lot of time, and done some excellent acting, playing characters who are horrible actors.

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9 minutes ago, WestRider said:

Carmelita is pretty much the worst. I was just cringing every time she was on screen. And I don't know what it is, but that insult just...idek, I just can't stand it.

I think they picked a great actress for it because she's the worst, but it is perfect for the character.

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3 hours ago, pretre said:

I think they picked a great actress for it because she's the worst, but it is perfect for the character.

Yeah, it's one of those superficially contradictory situations where I dislike something because it's done well, but the thing that is being done well is something that I really dislike. Definite props to Kitana Turnbull for her performance there.

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rry_Girls_Ep_2_2054%20Read-Only.jpg

Derry Girls (Series 1) 

A black comedy set in the 1990s in Derry/Londonderry during The Troubles, the show reminds me very much of Freaks & Geeks... Only it's set in Northern Ireland/the North of Ireland instead of a fictional suburb of Detroit. The show is a very unusual mix of black comedy, Nineties nostalgia, complicated politics, Catholicism, and potentially incomprehensible accents. I f---ing loved every minute of it, but I can see why a lot of people would either find it absolutely baffling and others might find it horribly offensive.

"Sláinte, muthaf--kaaas!"

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  • 2 weeks later...

Been watching Legacies

3/5

It's basically Buffy/Angel meets Harry Potter. I enjoyed Angel, so I kinda like this one. I'm definitely not in the target age group, but I filter out the teen crap pretty well.

Show is probably aimed a teen girls that live with their parents. No swearing, campy violence, it's basically Buffy's level of appropriateness.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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Just wrapped up She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Series 1). Yes, I watched the whole dang thing during slow periods at work (mostly my graveyard shift) and I gotta say it was pretty good... The show is definitely targeted at the "girls under 10" demographic, but unlike most shows targeting that demo actually has a lot of action-adventure elements, some genuinely spooky bits, and some very complicated character motivations. 

I was born in 1981, making me a prime target for the original Masters of the Universe toyline, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra: Princess of Power shows pretty much every day from preschool until first or second grade. I tried to re-watch them about 15-20 years ago, and yikes were they a lot better better in my hazy memories then they were in reality. This reboot is a heckuva lot more watchable. 

The basic themes and motifs of the original She-Ra is here in the reboot (minus any reference at all to He-Man, apart from Adora's power-up cry of "For the honor of Greyskull!") its a rainbow colored fantasy land with dashes of sci-fi technology, and it's all about self-esteem, believing in yourself,  and the magic of friendship.  Interestingly enough, it uses those same themes to motivate the villains just as much as it does the heroes. There's really some seriously good writing for main trio of baddies: Catra, Scorpia, and Person Not Named Because It Is a Major Spoiler. I don't think I've seen villains written this well in an American children cartoon since the Paul Dini/Bruce Timm Batman: The Animated Series.

It's a fun show... I'm not sure if its one I would recommend to other adults for solo viewing. But if you've got a daughter or a niece in the target demo, it's certain more fun for an adult to watch this with them than it would be most other shows targeting young girls.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Carmen Sandiego: I grew up with the computer games, so it was pretty much a given that I was going to get around to watching this at some point. Glad I did, it's good stuff. They take a different tack on the main character and her origin/relationship with VILE and ACME, but it definitely works, and gives us a three-sided set of heists which have much more potential for obfuscation and false leads than a simpler structure would, plus more points of view and a bigger cast of characters. I think my faves were a couple of Carmen's accomplices/sidekicks, a pair of siblings from Boston who vary wildly in competence depending on whether it's funnier for them to be good or bad at whatever they're doing in the current scene. Highly recommended for others with fond memories of the franchise.

Also, Inspector Devineaux seems to do about as well with ACME gear as Wile E. Coyote did 😉

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  • 3 weeks later...

The Umbrella Academy: Pretty good. If less of it had been about the main family's daddy issues, I'd call it very good, but that's a topic I always find boring. Lots of really good music in there, too.

I was actually really relieved when it turned out that Leonard was a villain, because he creeped me out from the start. Also, I hope that when they go back in time to save the world, Detective Patch gets saved as well, because I liked her.

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Renewed Netflix...

The Order (Season 1)

So if you saw that this one is about students at a magic school and immediately compared it to The Magicians, you'll be disappointed. If, instead, you treat it as that semi-decent teen fantasy/supernatural show that seems to come out every few years (Like the first season of Buffy), it's not bad. Target audience is definitely people that liked Twilight and harry potter. 

Regarding child appropriateness, show has both swearing and gore, but oddly no nudity or sex (kissing is as far as any of them go). I personally like the lack of sex focus in my fantasy shows, as I feel it derails the focus. 

The show and all the previews really try to make this one sound epic, but it's basically about a guy that has been put on the revenge path and also becomes a wizard and also becomes a werewolf and also get's the girl (who is very much a damsel). Previews describe it as a "war" between wizards and werewolves, but its really 4 werewolves vs about 60 student wizards and no one ever has a battle plan. 

I enjoyed it, but it's nothing special. Perhaps further seasons will make it good or even great, but I'll give it a 3/5 for this season.

As an aside, this is probably one of the first new shows I've seen in a while with zero homosexuality and white main cast. Also a heavy focus on male protagonists. On the one hand, I'm rather tired of every show putting into focus sexism/racism, but on the other hand it does seem like a modern show should field a bit more diversity - though I suppose, lack of diversity in the main cast is a rather harry potter/twilight theme... If they do get another season, I'd expect them to diversify a bit on those fronts. 

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The Punisher (Season 2)

3/5

Watchable. Not as good as season 1. Not as good as the Dare Devil season where the punisher premeres. 

There was sort of a moral problem in other seasons where The Punisher was one of the more moral super heroes, which is a problem in that he's a grey hero at best. Previous season made him bright grey, which is kinda a problem because of how dark the other super hero shows have been (you can't have dark white and bright grey in a lineup together...). Focus of this season seems to be in painting the Punisher as true grey hero he is. 

That said, the bright grey punisher made for a more enjoyable show, so this season was worse because of that.

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That time I got reincarnated as a Slime

4/5

Anime. There's 1 episode that hasn't aired yet, but I think I've seen enough to rate it.

So it's a weird show in the respect that there's no real conflict. The protagonist is super powerful and everything just works out for them. Makes for a relaxing show to watch, sort of a feel good show. Doesn't even try to surprise the audience with plot twists. Not a pervy anime either.

Without giving too much away, protagonist is an Ooze from D&D that somehow has intelligence and is just a really nice, easy going person that doesn't mind fixing things for others and prefers to make friends rather than enemies. Neutral Good Protagonist.

It's subbed, but otherwise kid friendly.

 

Probably the first gender neutral protagonist I've seen, too. It's an ooze...

 

EDIT:

Watched the last episode. It's a recap of the series with commentary by the Veldroa and Ifrit who have been apparently watching the who time while playing shogi.

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The Umbrella Academy

3/5

Difficult to rate. It goes back an forth between being very good and very bad. Sometimes I love the acting and the script, and other times it's terrible. The end in particular, without spoilers, is that the protagonists learn to work together....And that's what they accomplished this season.

Anyway, it a super hero show with time travel and dysfunctional protagonists. I feel that the show tries to ride off the success of many other successful films, in a hodgepodge of plots that only kinda fits together. Some characters are great, others are the entirely lacking. Maybe season 2 will make it great, but until then, I'll average it to a 3/5 rating.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Mob Psycho 100 (first season)

4/5

This one's been out for a while, but I avoided it due to a misunderstanding in the title. I was was thinking psycho in the title meant it was about a mentally ill character, but it's actually "psychokinesis" shortened, so it's about characters with psychic powers.

Written by the same person that did One-Punch Man. Anime. It's very similar to one-punch man, but focuses on ESPers, rather than super heroes. Over-powered protagonist that is a good person. One-Punch Man is definitely better, but this one is good too.

Season One is 12x ~20min episodes. Second Season is out in japan, but hasn't aired in english yet.

 

I will note that this one really doesn't give females any room to shine, very male oriented cast with highly limited time given to female characters. Hopefully season 2 fixes this. One-Punch Man was also limited in this respect, but was much better than this one.

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The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Part 2, Netflix)

3/5

The first season was great. It had a lot of bits that stuck me as offensive, but was good despite them. This season/part fixes most of the problematic bits, but creates lots and lots really bad new ones. This "part" if release with the other part, probably would have killed it there, but since it was in pieces, this season get's a mediocre rating and I'll watch next season in hopes it get's better.

In particular, the first half of this season lacks a clear direction. Unlike the first season which featured a clear overarching plot. That's probably the biggest flaw. This season feels rushed or just poorly edited. There's some really good bits, and then it just loses focus again. 

I'll also note that they expanded the groups that should be offended by this one. First season was misrepresenting Satanists and Wiccans, this seasons misrepresents the Mormons. It's the kind of thing that is better suited for a tongue in cheek comedy, but this isn't that. 

They did continue their theme of women not being able to do anything without cheating, taking cheap shots, or otherwise relying on trickery to solve all their problems. On the other hand, they also continued their theme of men being evil tyrants over women OR being submissive/helpless. And, once again, all the lead roles go to white people.

 

Don't get be wrong, 3/5 despite the above is an accomplishment. On the offensive level, I feel that this is a drama version of Southpark (pushing the limits of offensive for the sake of pushing the limits).

Definitely not for kits. Probably not for adults either...

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The Tick (Season 2, Amazon Prime)

5/5

They did a great job this time around. Last season, you had to be a Tick fan to get the 5/5, this season was a good 5/5 without being a Tick fan. Watch it, it's very good. Some really good, thought provoking lines.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Dororo (2019 version, I guess there's a 1969 version too.)

4/5

Anime. Not fully released yet, but I liked it enough to review it now so others can watch it.

 

Anyway, show is about a swordsman who's father made a bargain with demons in exchange for power. His father got power, he lost 30+ Organs and is somehow still alive. The swordsman is now hunting for demons because slaying them somehow gives him back his lost organs. It's basically a violent version of Helen Keller, but with supernatural elements. Strange premise, but it's handled in an excellent way and is definitely worth watching.

4/5 instead of 5/5 because I don't think I'd enjoy watching it lots of times, but it's otherwise excelent.

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Black Summer

Holy [big bad swear word]. Whatch this. 

I know, I know. Another zombie production? A zombie show??

Imagine if the walking dead

1) wasn't terrible

2) had the writers leading the viewer on a journey, rather than the tail wagging the dog nonsense of WD.

3) had the fast zombies, intensity, and rapidly changing circumstances of 28 Days Later.

It's smart, it's brutal, it doesn't deal in tropes. It's really good. 

I would NOT recommend as a painting show. It's OFCC/tournament season and we all have painting to do. There is so little dialogue in the show (almost all of the exposition is visual) that you will have no idea what's happening.

8/10

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The Secret City (2014, 1st season, Amazon Prime)

https://www.amazon.com/Episode-8/dp/B07Q9Y4P9T/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Secret+City&qid=1556584544&s=gateway&sr=8-1

3/5

Russian with Subtitles. It's an Urban Fantasy, so secret magic society hidden in plain sight and so forth. Really campy, but in a good way. Villains are only a bit more complex than what you'd expect from power rangers. CGI is present, but more like what you'd expect from the 1990's special effect budget. I like the show, but I won't pretend it's high quality.

First season has 8 episodes, each 48 minutes long. Amazon has 2 more seasons, I'll watch those next. Nice to find another fantasy series that I've not seen yet.

Series oddly has zero wikipedia presence and is challenging to find in google searches or on IMDB. Series is based on a book series written by this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vadim_Panov

There is another series, also set in Russian, also called Secret City, which was made in 2016, but is a completely unrelated show.

 

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The Secret City (As above, but Season 2)

3/5

*Clearly* someone concluded that the show needed more bare muscular chests and cleavage. This season is more or less the same quality as the last, but there's clearly a push towards sex appeal. Not terrible, not amazing.

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  • 1 month later...

Lucifier (Season 4, Netflix)

4/5

No spoilers. It's good.

That said, it's the shortest season for the series (Season 1 is 13 episodes, season 2 is 18, season 3 is 26. This season is only 10 episodes)

 

Good Omens (Season 1, Amazon Prime)

4/5

No spoilers. I enjoyed it. I haven't read the book, but this little miniseries is good. Worth watching. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

So, I have been binging shows lately...

Westworld (Season 2) - 3/5 - It's not bad but it lacks the punch of the first season.  Season 1 managed to find a unique way to tell its story and include twists.  Season 2 had a theme that was present and introduced us to a complex subplot but it failed to have the spark as the first season, reusing some of the same tropes and trying to layer new twists on twists from the first season which made them seem old-hat.

Warrior (Season 1) - 2/5 - This one is nudity and violence for sensationalism with what could be a serious and gripping storyline that is ignored for the sensationalism.  The fighting has some decent choreography but it is sparse with most of the violence simply being attacks on untrained victims.  Season 2 has been picked up so maybe they'll do something with the foundation they have built but this one is not high on my list.

Mr. Robot (Season 1) - 4.5/5 - It's not perfect but I really enjoy the writing.  Rami manages to stay totally in character and still break the fourth wall routinely.  The twists are well done and the show manages to have a sense of humor and still cover a dark subject.

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