Random TV Show Thoughts

[Z Buck McFate]

I keep seeing high praise for episode three of The Last of Us, and I'm not seeing it. I get that in an apocalyptic scenario the usual rules of healthy relationships aren't as much a priority, but the relationship between these guys is based a little too much on narcissistic need. Frank is exactly a bit too manipulatively pushy (in a sneaky ENFP way) from the moment they meet, and it reeks. It has sweet moments and they grow to genuinely love each other, but it's an unrealistic portrayal of how contaminated relationships evolve (especially if there's *no one* else around; it's the reason narcissists isolate their partners from friends and family).

I can't help but think this praise for the episode is really about praise for Offerman? He's really good. And the episode does a good job of portraying a gay relationship in rounded characters, instead of flat caricatures. But it's not a balanced relationship.

 

[Totenkindly]

I haven't caught up (only watched the pilot), maybe I'll catch up soon. Offerman seems a bit underrated. I loved him in DEVS.

I didn't play the game, so I'm not really aware of how the show is differing from the game either.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

How prosthetic penises in shows like HBO's 'Minx' reinforce existing stereotypes and taboos

Often described as a sign of progressivism and gender equality, they’re neither.

theconversation.com

 

[Totenkindly]

Most of phase IV has felt like queerbaiting and wealthy corporate executives hamhandedly trying to frame things from the opposite perspective of relatable and calling it "Zazz."

Oh look another example from the new Harry Potter game:

Hogwarts Legacy seemingly introduces Harry Potter 's first trans character amid J.K. Rowling controversy

Meet Sirona Ryan, a barkeep at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade.

www.yahoo.com

... The player interacts with Sirona while on a mission involving a goblin named Lodgok. While it's not explicitly stated that the character is trans in the context of the game, Sirona offers a line of dialogue that's highly suggestive.

"I've known [Lodgok] for years. We met when I was waiting tables here as a student — well before I bought the place," Sirona says. "He was cordial enough, but we weren't friends then. His mistrust of wizardkind ran deep... Hadn't seen him in years when he came in a few months ago. But, he recognized me instantly. Which is more than I can say for some of my own classmates. Took them a second to realize I was actually a witch, not a wizard...."

So brave. So bold. Now they won't do anything else with it. This is about on par as shipping Finn and Poe. Basically it feels like a really lame attempt to appease fans who are stonewalling the game due to Rowlings' transphobic rhetoric, without really just going for it and doing something substantial. Maybe this would have flown in the 80/90's as something subversive, but it just feels like pandering now.

At least WoW had the balls to explore Pelagos' backstory in more detail (where it's clear he was female during life, but showed up in the afterlife as a man) and then even made him the new Arbiter. He's also one of the Kyrian soulbinds (each area only offered three), so that was cool too. They didn't give a shit about what parts of the fanbase didn't like trans people, although there's a decent chunk as you'd expect who are fine with it.

(Some guy I ran a dungeon with last week closed out with a, "Have a great night, guys and gals... and any non-binaries out there." Turns out one of his kids is NBG.)

 

[Totenkindly]

Finished e2 of The Last of Us. I think it's better overall because it is more focused and doesn't have to establish a lot of world-building details or leap all over -- apart from the beautiful and painful cold opening flashback from 2003 Asia, it's just about Tess and Joel and Ellie heading out. I had a feeling about things and this episode just paid off in so many ways, there was one bit when I just burst out laughing incredulously for a minute because of Ellie's audacity, and then the whole ending was pretty heart-wrenching.

Acting is just superb, and production values as well. I like how this world seems covered by plants / falling into disrepair back to the wild in a way that TWD didn't feel. I think they basically benefitted from TWD going first, paving the way, but hopefully they won't get into this horribly redundant cycle like TWD did, where each episode just felt like the one prior. Also, the creatures actually feel different from TWD creatures.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Finished e2 of The Last of Us. I think it's better overall because it is more focused and doesn't have to establish a lot of world-building details or leap all over -- apart from the beautiful and painful cold opening flashback from 2003 Asia, it's just about Tess and Joel and Ellie heading out. I had a feeling about things and this episode just paid off in so many ways, there was one bit when I just burst out laughing incredulously for a minute because of Ellie's audacity, and then the whole ending was pretty heart-wrenching.

Acting is just superb, and production values as well. I like how this world seems covered by plants / falling into disrepair back to the wild in a way that TWD didn't feel. I think they basically benefitted from TWD going first, paving the way, but hopefully they won't get into this horribly redundant cycle like TWD did, where each episode just felt like the one prior. Also, the creatures actually feel different from TWD creatures.

How different is it from the Mandalorian? Besides the setting, of course?

 

[Totenkindly]

How different is it from the Mandalorian? Besides the setting, of course?

Well, it's kind of the opposite if you are talking about Pascal's character.

he plays a father figure in both (or, will).

In Mando, he seems more benign and just doesn't want to be baggaged with the Child, but he never seems to really have animosity per se -- and he seems to warm up to the Child much faster.

In TLOU, he's far more bitter and jaded due to what you see in E1 and he's actually become kind of an edgy jaded asshat in some ways, only looking out for himself and eking out a living, barely trusting any, mostly angry and unhappy. Whereas the Mando is honorable and generally is trying to aspire to something, Joel has nothing to aspire for and just looks out for his own survival. When Ellie shows up (and she's kind of edgy/aggressive herself), he's equally aggressive and antagonistic towards her until they are pushed together, and even then he's kind of a jerk to her most of the time although he's trying to ease up.

So Mando is kinda of "neutral" and as Joel he's pretty negative. It'll be interesting to see what kind of experiences might lead him to make room for her, aside from what happened in the first two episodes.

 

[Totenkindly]

Caught up on The Last of Us finally -- there's four episodes out in total, I think the fifth is airing on HBO Max before the SuperBowl starts, to avoid a conflict.

It's a nine episode season, but the pilot is I think 1:20 and episode 3 is like 1:15 or so, so there's still about as much material as a 10 episode season.

I had heard a lot about episode 3. I was kind of affected, kind of not, through much of it, but yeah by the end it's pretty moving. Here's irony in that the Vulture assigned recap author gave it 5/5 stars, but then the site also published another review (a second opinion?) just totally ripping it to shreds and demeaning it, to the degree that the Comments section was full of angry viewers dunking on the guy. He might have had small points in there -- enough to make you think -- but was just such an asshat about it that it came off as his own baggage, not the episode per se. Anyway.

Joel is warming up a bit to Ellie. Ellie is actually quite funny, and it's not just her book of really terrible puns. There were so many times that generated LOL moments for me, in e4. There was also a pretty horrific/uncomfortable moment in e4, just kind of mind-blowing.

Melanie Lynskey is an actress I like. I'm not sure yet how I feel about her casting in e4, but I'll go with it and see how it plays out.

It was sad hearing Linda Ronstadt's voice. Maybe sad isn't the right word, because it's hard to be sad when you hear that beautiful voice belting out a tune -- just more sad about the temporal nature of it, due to her PSP (something similar to Parkinson's) and it contributing to the loss of her voice control, so she no longer sings but has found other fulfilling things in life to do. She was absolutely amazing, with the diversity and strength and control of her sound, and I wish more people talked about her. But I guess that is also part of the temporal nature of the show; humans once had a thriving culture until the fungi mutated, now that culture is fading and only remaining in memory.

 

[Luminous]

I love Natasha Lyonne.

 

[Z Buck McFate]

Finished e2 of The Last of Us. I think it's better overall because it is more focused and doesn't have to establish a lot of world-building details or leap all over -- apart from the beautiful and painful cold opening flashback from 2003 Asia, it's just about Tess and Joel and Ellie heading out. I had a feeling about things and this episode just paid off in so many ways, there was one bit when I just burst out laughing incredulously for a minute because of Ellie's audacity, and then the whole ending was pretty heart-wrenching.

Acting is just superb, and production values as well. I like how this world seems covered by plants / falling into disrepair back to the wild in a way that TWD didn't feel. I think they basically benefitted from TWD going first, paving the way, but hopefully they won't get into this horribly redundant cycle like TWD did, where each episode just felt like the one prior. Also, the creatures actually feel different from TWD creatures.

I didn't play the game, so I'm not really aware of how the show is differing from the game either.

I'm really liking it. But I do feel like there's probably something I missing, because I generally avoid the zombie genre like the plague (no pun intended), nor have I played any video game created after 1992 (too many fucking buttons on controllers nowadays!* ). I remember when Unbreakable came out, and people kept saying you 'have to be a comic book fan' to 'get' it. I happened to love the movie without being a comic book fan, but it seemed like an interesting point nonetheless (like it made me think maybe I'm just an unrealized comic book fan). I do wonder if ep 3 didn't hit me the same way it hit others because I'm not familiar with the characters, or maybe even just some general je ne sais quoi about video game storylines.

The cast is what pulled me in, in spite of not liking zombie shows/movies. They had me at Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, and Anna Torv, Offerman, and Melanie Lynskey were all delightful surprises. I'm sure there will be more I love. (Fun fact, in case it's not been mentioned: the daughter is played by Thandiwe Newton's daughter, Nico Parker). And yeah, the production values are pretty great too.

*My only foray into adventure video games was ET. My fifth grade self loved playing it.

 

[Totenkindly]

(Fun fact, in case it's not been mentioned: the daughter is played by Thandiwe Newton's daughter, Nico Parker).

Ah, okay. Yeah, she was great. Not surprised she's Thandiwe's kid, then.

 

[Totenkindly]

 

[The Cat]

How do you make an irreverent adult version of Scooby Doo that subverts expectations as a one off throw away episode of an actually good adult cartoon by people who actually have a soul in their art.

Essentially it comes down to if you're gonna do a show about a bunch of meddling kids who solve mysteries with a talking dog, you gotta make it about a bunch of meddling kids who solve mystery with a dog who at least can respond with a ruff when asked how the show is going. As it stands the only mystery Velma seems to have the audience wonder is how this happened. This show didnt get made in a vacuum did it, presumably people with eyes and a limbic system attached saw this at every step of the way and was just like:

Pretty sure they need to turn the simulation up at HBO Max. The Matrix is getting glitchy there...​

 

[Totenkindly]

Finished Season 1 of Yellowjackets last night. I have mixed feelings, which is odd to me.

I kind of like this show but also dislike it.

Typically I have no issues with dark stuff and in fact will go as deep as a show goes. And the idea of Yellowjackets is interesting to me, kind of a survival scenario with just women (mostly) and female dynamics at play.... and also showing that women can be as ruthless in their own way as men, even if it might play out differently in some ways. (I always loved the film "The Descent" as well -- although in general those women were far healthier emotionally than these.)

It also is really more of a show about trauma. It is not clear how many people survived that 18 month ordeal in the woods, but the main four survivors (the ones that we know survived) seem mostly okay on the surface but it quickly becomes clear they are all dealing with trauma 25 years later and are not really okay at all. That is my big takeaway: Whatever happened to them never got fixed and it is still eating away at them many years later and affecting all of their relationships.

The acting is great. I guess it's the writing/showrunning I'm a little unclear about. The thing is that it feels more depressing and fucked up, rather than necessarily insightful of the situations. It's odd because I'm not against things being a downer, it's just the show feels negative / mired down in it, versus any sense of direction working towards something (?).

As far as characters go, Shauna and Taissa seem the most "average" people -- just detached from relationships on some level and thus capable of acts of violence out of pure numbness. (Well, Taissa also has those momentary blackouts going on as well.) Natalie is a hot mess in general, with her brain partially fried through using addicting substances to curb pain. Meanwhile, Misty acts constantly cheerful and is capable, but she's also a complete sociopath with seemingly no actual empathy for others despite being a caregiver -- she's hilarious but also terrifying at once, and if I met someone like her in real life, I'd just run the other way. She's the kind of person whose radar you never really want to be on, lest you get enmeshed somehow, she's literally a nut.

 

[The Cat]

The thing is that it feels more depressing and fucked up, rather than necessarily insightful of the situations. It's odd because I'm not against things being a downer, it's just the show feels negative / mired down in it, versus any sense of direction working towards something (?).

As far as characters go, Shauna and Taissa seem the most "average" people -- just detached from relationships on some level and thus capable of acts of violence out of pure numbness. (Well, Taissa also has those momentary blackouts going on as well.) Natalie is a hot mess in general, with her brain partially fried through using addicting substances to curb pain. Meanwhile, Misty acts constantly cheerful and is capable, but she's also a complete sociopath with seemingly no actual empathy for others despite being a caregiver -- she's hilarious but also terrifying at once, and if I met someone like her in real life, I'd just run the other way. She's the kind of person whose radar you never really want to be on, lest you get enmeshed somehow, she's literally a nut.

I have a theoryish that this is happening in entertainment over the last decade, like a slow burn, you're pretty pop cultured have you noticed anything like this or am I just seeing Carol in HR when there is no Carol in HR?

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

That moment when you realize that the Founders made the Jem Hadar and the Voorta instinctually mistrust and dislike one another so they would always be able to manufacture pyramids they were always on top of...devious. Also when you realize that Section 31 is responsible for whatever information comes from Star Fleet Intelligence, and what that organization likely means about how Starfleet acquires their intelligence...also devious. I maintain that a gritty section 31 series would be a feather in ST's hat, but it would need good writing as well as a fresh cast. Id like to see Bashir and Garak as a couple do a cameo though, or I'll allow for an Obrien because of his ties to Intelligence and the Orion syndidcate, but no one else really has much of a need to cameo ever, this should be a show more like Ds9 in that they have a stationary headquarters even if its a top secret blacksite. but dang this would be a good show. I would also really enjoy a show set in the mirror universe

I'm with you, if they do it, it needs to focus on a new cast and crew. My biggest complaint with nu trek might be the constant need to ride on nostalgia and feature preestablished characters. Disco starts out OK with a completely original cast and crew, but then by season 2 it becomes the Pike and Spock show.

Cameos and crossover appearances are cool and I'm not saying we shouldn't have those in Star trek, because they help stitch the smaller pieces into the greater quilt that is the trek universe, but I don't like it when the shows start to become more about those preexisting characters. This just tells me that the writers don't have enough faith in the new characters they've created, and that the producers are too lazy to focus on new worldbuilding. It's weak writing built around a lot of "oh that's cool, remember that person" moments. and once you get over the initial warm feels of seeing such-and-such make a cameo, you're just left with the poor writing and contrived situations. That said, I love plenty of visual cohesion, for instance seeing classic TNG era ship designs like the Sovereign class make appearances in Lower Decks and Prodigy gives me a slight erection.

Garak and Bashir would be welcome in a section 31 show, but they better not become the primary focus.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Even better, let's have a welcome back kotter style series with O'Brien playing the teacher to a bunch of misfit cadets. Or maybe a Lou Grant style journalist drama about Jake Sisko's job in a news organization

 

[Totenkindly]

Finished Season 2 of Vox Machina. Kind of some touching moments, and the last episode or two actually felt pretty tense. I like that they do focus on character arc/growth, considering all the stuff they had to boil down for about 6 hours in a season. The animation is decent, the voicing is good. Sometimes it does veer between silly and serious, but I'm used to that in my own gaming sessions.

The only thing that sucks is now waiting another whole year for Season 3.

 

[Z Buck McFate]

It also is really more of a show about trauma. It is not clear how many people survived that 18 month ordeal in the woods, but the main four survivors (the ones that we know survived) seem mostly okay on the surface but it quickly becomes clear they are all dealing with trauma 25 years later and are not really okay at all. That is my big takeaway: Whatever happened to them never got fixed and it is still eating away at them many years later and affecting all of their relationships.

The acting is great. I guess it's the writing/showrunning I'm a little unclear about. The thing is that it feels more depressing and fucked up, rather than necessarily insightful of the situations. It's odd because I'm not against things being a downer, it's just the show feels negative / mired down in it, versus any sense of direction working towards something (?).

The heaviness was getting to me at the halfway point (I think? I haven't seen it since it first aired), but then I liked it towards the end. The character Misty made it seem even gratuitously heavy. But at some point, for me, that heaviness turned into a realistic portrayal of trauma.

One of my favorite pithy instructions for meditation is: you are the sky, everything else is the weather. It's so effectively pithy that I wouldn't begin to know how to succinctly give an explanation, except maybe to say that there is an immovable core somewhere in the middle of every experience that's capable of looking at what you're experiencing without being helplessly blown around by it. If it feels like you're in some kind of emotional black hole, the best thing you can do for yourself is to find that core. Thich Nhat Hanh uses the analogy of discovering your house is on fire; the first impulse might be to chase the person who set the fire and make them pay, but the best thing you can do is attend to the fire first.

The point is, in trauma, the weather feels like the core, like it's just never going to end (and without help, indeed, it doesn't). A phrase that I've been seeing, regarding trauma, is "emotional memory" - it's meant to be a better way to describe what a "flashback" is. You may not remember exactly why a trigger brings up a certain emotion, but that's exactly what surfaces - a distressing emotion gets triggered again and again, and it's easy to lose sight of the fact that that's not all there possibly is to existence. And in this sense, I think, showing no light at the end of the tunnel is a realistic portrayal of what it's like being stuck inside of it. But I really hope it eventually turns around - for at least one of the characters - to show a light at the end of that tunnel, that it IS possible to experience something outside of it again. Or at least, I hope it's somehow made clear to the audience, that the "light at the end" is brought in for contrast somehow to give perspective. Because DAMN is it heavy.

 

[The Cat]

Speaking of Heavy weights one carries...​

SEE YOU SPACE COWBOY...​