Random TV Show Thoughts

[The Cat]

^^ I agree regarding that episode.

1. Chang (an Asian guy) is typically clueless and does lots of things that could be perceived as offensive whether or not they are. In this case, he crashes the D&D group and is the only person to cosplay his character... and I thought they picked characters in the session, so he decided ahead of time what he wanted to play which is SO much more intense than the other casuals in the group -- and he picks a rare Drow race character (traditionally an "evil" culture, although that's been changing nowadays), who all have black skin and white hair, and so he cosplays it as such although no one else is cosplaying. it's no different than someone cosplaying the film version of Mystique or Nightcrawler from the X-men films. As noted, Chang seems oblivious there's even a potential of a controversy though, so that's part of the ridiculousness.

2. Shirley (a black woman) who is normally over-the-top reactive conflates cosplaying a Drow with blackface and calls it a hate crime. But she's constantly making extreme and inaccurate comments in this show because she is typically entrenched in her very personal viewpoints.

3. It's like 2 minutes of the episode if that because Chang's character is quickly unceremoniously killed by Hawthorne, who was excluded from the group on purpose because of the reason they were playing and he's considered too much of a dick to be supportive. He decides he's going to crash the game and ruin everyone's experience, in retaliation.

4. The entire episode is focused on bullying -- an overweight student named Neil has been bullied because of his weight (people refer to him as "Fat Neil") and the gang decides to cheer him up when they find out he has a high-level D&D character. The bullying is compounded by how Neil came to this college to escape bullying and we discover it was Jeff who actually coined the nickname and started the bullying cycle anew because of his general callous nature. Meanwhile Hawthorne (who is typically a world-class a-hat in most episode) bullies Neil incessantly and even steals his character's most hard-earned weapon, all to ruin the game.

5. Neil manages to get his magic sword back and miraculously defeats Hawthorne... but instead of bullying him back or excluding him, has grown through the experience and invites him to play again, which takes Hawthorne aback.

As noted, the Drow cosplay is a very small segment of the episode, and the lessons about bullying -- its impact and yet constructive ways to deal with it -- is far greater than any controversy over the Drow cosplay -- yet the streamers all pulled the episode.

It's a great episode and I paid for it off Vudu so I'd have it.

yeah its a series I have on D&D pulling it is the kind of well thought out descision that led to firing dan harmon and telling the replacements to make the season like harmon would have then wondering why it just doesnt seem the same...

 

[Totenkindly]

yeah its a series I have on D&D pulling it is the kind of well thought out descision that led to firing dan harmon and telling the replacements to make the season like harmon would have then wondering why it just doesnt seem the same...

Yeah, it basically started tanking after Season 3 when Harmon left.
I've watched the first few episodes of Season 4, then just quit because it wasn't really as enjoyable.

 

[The Cat]

Yeah, it basically started tanking after Season 3 when Harmon left.
I've watched the first few episodes of Season 4, then just quit because it wasn't really as enjoyable.

it was odd, things didnt get back to normal till season 6 and then of course it was done

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Yeah, it basically started tanking after Season 3 when Harmon left.
I've watched the first few episodes of Season 4, then just quit because it wasn't really as enjoyable.

I feel like all the characters are one-dimensional in season 4. All Annie does is be obsessed with Jeff. All Abed does is complain about Star Wars prequels. I'm sure you can apply that to everyone but those were the two who stuck out.

That's why I laughed when in 5 or 6 they referred to the "year with a gas leak". I think 5 had the Fincher-esque Ass Crack Bandit which was solix.

 

[The Cat]

I feel like all the characters are one-dimensional in season 4. All Annie does is be obsessed with Jeff. All Abed does is complain about Star Wars prequels. I'm sure you can apply that to everyone but those were the two who stuck out.

That's why I laughed when in 5 or 6 they referred to the "year with a gas leak". I think 5 had the Fincher-esque Ass Crack Bandit which was solix.

That was a nice call back to what it really did feel like. I just wish we could have gotten more of Frankie and Elroy

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

That was a nice call back to what it really did feel like. I just wish we could have gotten more of Frankie and Elroy

I felt like they were a better fit than Mike from the Breaking Badiverse.

 

[The Cat]

I felt like they were a better fit than Mike from the Breaking Badiverse.

Yeah I feel like they got Jonathan Banks and were like..."So we've got Jonathan Banks...now what?" I think he was supposed to be a foil for abed, but it doesnt make any sense...

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Yeah I feel like they got Jonathan Banks and were like..."So we've got Jonathan Banks...now what?" I think he was supposed to be a foil for abed, but it doesnt make any sense...

I don't even remember that. Just that his intensity seemed out of place. A bit like James Spader in the Office; not a fan of that, either.

 

[The Cat]

I don't even remember that. Just that his intensity seemed out of place. A bit like James Spader in the Office; not a fan of that, either.

Im from the 80's I enjoy James Spader in everything. It's part of my base code. I thought the office was much better after Michael Scott left. His misadventures were like if a horror movie was a comedy. I keep screaming for him not to go in the room, but he keeps going into the room. It's like he wants Creed to kill him. Pretty cool there were two serial killers in the office the whole time and only the scranton strangler was caught.

 

[Saturnal Snowqueen]

I love Different Strokes, and I forget how long abortion was legal for the whole U.S. It's sad, that in 1983, Kimberly suggests that her friend could get an abortion, yet she wouldn't have the same rights in 2023. At least they were rich upstate folk, but still. It's interesting to see a wholesome 1983 show bring up abortion so seamlessly(which it should be), only for Roe vs Wade to be overturned some time later.

 

[The Cat]

I love Different Strokes, and I forget how long abortion was legal for the whole U.S. It's sad, that in 1983, Kimberly suggests that her friend could get an abortion, yet she wouldn't have the same rights in 2023. At least they were rich upstate folk, but still. It's interesting to see a wholesome 1983 bring up abortion so seamlessly(which it should be), only for Roe vs Wade to be overturned some time later.

It's been really wild seeing things becoming more and more like a 70's dystopia movie with how forward progressing television has been becoming through our whole lives...its a real mind bender. We don't even get Max Headroom...

 

[Totenkindly]

I just watched "Remedial Chaos Theory," which I might have missed somehow before.

Absolutely hilarious -- and I caught on the "flaw" in the six-sided die solution and was just waiting for Abed's final observation on the matter, so that was cool. I was laughing so hard on the Darkest Timeline sequence where everything goes to shit that I almost started choking. And then of course the credit sequence focusing on that was great too.

The best episodes of "Community" always make me so happy for 21 minutes.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I just watched "Remedial Chaos Theory," which I might have missed somehow before.

Absolutely hilarious -- and I caught on the "flaw" in the six-sided die solution and was just waiting for Abed's final observation on the matter, so that was cool. I was laughing so hard on the Darkest Timeline sequence where everything goes to shit that I almost started choking.

That part has made for a classic GIF or two.

 

[The Cat]

How beautifully haunting. Robin Williams playing himself meeting the Robin Williams he plays for people.
I guess he finally learned how to say no.​

RIP you were a sage in a world who needed what you had to teach. May you finally have the peace which eluded you in life.

 

[Totenkindly]

Finished my second full pass through Dark, am done now for awhile.

Opinion never changed, such a stellar show -- and this time I could catch things I missed on first pass that explained more of the connections and story... it's just hard to do it all on first pass when you don't know what is happening. Its complexity reminds me of the puzzle box film called "Primer" -- except this has much more emotional resonance (rather than being so detached), the budget is much higher, and all the complexity actually is in support of the story's main point, which is basically an embodiment of Samsara and Moksha (along with some Schopenhauer thrown in -- "We can do what we want, but we can't choose to want what we want").

There are many interpretations of the word "Dark" and the show does a really great job in showing what life is like when one is lost in this darkness of cause and effect and reestablishing the meaning of darkness in the show's last ten minutes in a more emotionally satisfying way.

I will talk more about it here. Note that the show is really based on the human relationships and interactions; while it has some philosophical moments addressed as such, it's much more about showing rather than telling. However, it's amazingly reflective of some known spiritual and philosophical ideas:

The whole idea of cause and effect being a kind of darkness and hell reflects some of the Merovingian's dialogue from "The matrix reloaded" -- "You think you [know why you are here] but you do not. You are here because you were sent here, you were told to come here and you obeyed. [Laughs] It is, of course, the way of all things. You see, there is only one constant, one universal, it is the only real truth: causality. Action. Reaction. Cause and effect.... Choice is an illusion created between those with power and those without.... What is the reason? Soon the why and the reason are gone and all that matters is the feeling. This is the nature of the universe. We struggle against it, we fight to deny it; but it is of course a lie. Beneath our poised appearance we are completely out of control. Causality. There is no escape from it, we are forever slaves to it. Our only hope, our only peace is to understand it, to understand the why. 'Why' is what separates us from them, you from me. Why' is the only real social power, without it you are powerless. And this is how you come to me, without why,' without power."

The thing is, however, humans are incapable of totally understanding the "why" of things. Desire itself seems to be innate and we can't want what we don't want; we can only want what we already want. "Why" is difficult if not impossible to determine, and the only "why" we can typically get to is through a chain of cause and effect, which only suggests that we are still the product of our past and the forces that were acting on us.

Dark acknowledges some general aspects of Buddhism, like life is suffering, and suffering comes from desire, so the end of desire is the end of suffering. Buddhism also offers the eightfold path (tents that make righteous living and avoid responding mainly out of desire in life), but Dark is more focused on the things people will do to either find life or end suffering, and how it typically just generates more suffering in the process. How this process of samsara and life recreating itself anew only perpetuates the cycle of rebirth into an endless cycle of misery and pain, rather than providing the relief that is being sought.

moksha is the liberation from this endless cycle of pain primarily by releasing the notion of an internal consciousness or permanence. It is also reflected a bit in Chidi's description in "The Good Place" of what happens when the soul is released from a cycle:

It kind of blows me away how much "Dark" embodies this concept. Hand it to the Europeans who seem much more willing to explore and embrace these ideas, compared to USA audiences and creators. I was rather surprised how well "The Good Place" did in our market considering it was Philosophy Lite and challenges basic "Christian" conceptions some times.

I noticed during the promo period for Guardians of the Galaxy 3, James Gunn was talking about how he selects actors who have something true with their eyes. This wasn't the quote I was looking for but was similar: "I hate falseness in an actor's eyes. There are many big time movie stars who hurt movies for me because I can see the lying in their eyes - replacing acting with boasting, or thinking about themselves & what they're going to do next. I'd much rather work with [actors] who seem to always be present as a baseline: actors who have stopped seeking & started being."

What's amazing about Dark is that almost the entire cast feels real; some are better than others, but it's the way the directing focuses on their faces must of the time, and especially that the cast is acting with its eyes. You get a lot of nuance and emotion conveyed just by the look on their faces, especially with the less overt characters like Jonas (Louis Hoffman). Some of them act more through their eyes and facial expression that by over emotional display. this is reflected in how the episode lengths run a little long, but it's primarily to give room to breathe to the scenes and the cast. And as myself being part of a USA audience, these are all German actors speaking German; I had no familiarity with any of them previously. But all generally top tier in their ability to hold a scene. There is also a decent matchup among cast playing particular characters -- a few aren't great, but most of them you can see alternate versions of the same character and recognize the person.

EDIT: I meant also to mention the quantum entanglement issue in the macroverse in Season 3 (so HUGE plot spoilers, I would only read if you've seen the show):

So what really is clear, and there's even some direct teaching cold-opens late in the season, is that along with the two worlds in plays (World.A and World.E, for Adam vs Eva's world respectively), a few characters arrive at the realization that there's a moment where the chain of causality is broken, namely right when the explosion occurs, and that's when you are free to act / create a dual state. Multiple timelines can in effect be created at that junction. Eva seems to figure it out first and creates an additional Marta so that everything can be maintained, the origin can be born, but then that version of Jonas can be expunged, while meanwhile Adam is able to expand a Marta in his world, etc.

Adam never really figures it out on his own and is locked in viewing everything as the battle of dualities -- which is where the audience is also positioned -- until Claudia figures it out. How does Claudia figure this out? We realize in Season 2 that she is the figure known as The White Devil.

[There is basic Christian allegory in this series: The figures of Adam and Eva are central, although here both revitalize the world (in this case, the time loop) while also bringing about its destruction, an endless cycle of life, death, and rebirth, one representing light (Eva) and one representing shadow (Adam), one trying to maintain the loops and thus life, he other trying to destroy it and thus bring relief. Both act out of love of a sorts, Eva is trying to keep her child alive, while Adam is trying to spare everyone the prolonged torment of bondage to the chains of causality. Claudia play her part in this allegory as "the devil" because, just like the three worlds being represented in the Trifecta image, she becomes an outside and opposing force to Adam and Eva. Note that she also has Heterochromia, a rare eye condition that not only allows her to be recognized by characters even in her different age progressions but also perhaps to show she has a foot in each world and is even unique in herself.]

Claudia W.A is the primary Claudia operating as "The White Devil" here, first supporting Adam's causes but then going rogue as she learns independently and being viewed as an enemy by him to the point where he has her murdered (with her awareness, and she plans for her own death). Her most important, most heinous act is when she is visited by herself from Eva's world -- Claudia W.E -- to get information. So she's originally conspiring with her other-world version... until she realizes that she is being manipulated (which is true, by Eva) and also that none of this will keep her daughter Regina alive, who seems to die of cancer regardless in both worlds -- cancer presumably spawning from proximity to the nuclear power plant.

She actually murders herself, her Eva world counterpart -- Claudia W.E -- and then pretends to be her other self in Eva's confidence and comes to the realization that not only is there a "blip" at the moment of destruction/rebirth where the time loop is born, but also that there is also a third world that she calls the Origin World, where the incident actually occurred. In that world Regina might survive, and the two worlds everyone is fighting over are only both fragmented worlds themselves.

Note the split reality trick has to happen because everything is already fixed in time and has to be maintained. You can't change what you did... but you can add another layer

So the White Devil splits out a version of herself to go to Adam and fill him in, so that he can also use that same moment to send a version of himself to break the stalemate of the infinite loop, sending young Jonas and Marta to the origin world to change what they can.

it's a brilliant play, but I really like the thought of Adam and Eva basically locked in this endless struggle, both with potential positive goals but resulting in being directly opposed to each other, which locks them in a miserable existence, and how the spoiler/devil figure basically has to provide the knowledge and means to knock them out of the infinite loop. Just like the characters in the story, the audience has to have their own awareness expanded and realize there is another dimension to what is going on, and then buy into it.

 

[Totenkindly]

Disney's on a roll.

Secret Invasion Receives Lowest Rotten Tomatoes Rating Among MCU Shows

Marvel Studios' Secret Invasion lands with the lowest Rotten Tomatoes rating among all MCU shows, signaling a mixed reception for the series.

movieweb.com

Typically I also think the RT tv show scores are inflated based on the pool of reviewers who are interested in watching the show, it's not great when it logs in so low. I mean, even some of the crappy shows in Phase 4 were still getting stuff in the mid-70's.

 

[Totenkindly]

Watched the first 15 minutes of Secret Invasion today.

I'm kinda, whatever. it's not bad, not great. Just there.

I figured out the first twist within two minutes, wasn't surprised. Chase sequence was pretty generic.

I guess we'll see.

I do have trouble understanding Ben Mendelsohn's accent because I'm just awful.

I will say despite my indifference to the series, I think the antagonism directed towards the opening credits sequence isn't entirely fair. It's supposed to be experimental and distorted -- the images waver throughout on purpose, sometimes features will morph on purpose, because it's reflecting the green world of the Skrulls. Whether they are successful or not is of personal opinion, I think the actual criticism should be saved for the episode.

EDIT: Finished this episode today. Basically, it feels better / less fluffy than the Phase 4 TV shows, but I find myself markedly indifferent. It's not on Andor level despite being a thriller series (in effect), and even with one of the shocker events of the ending, I feel almost nothing when I watch it. I hope it becomes more compelling. It all still feels kind of same-old to me.

It is nice to see Emilia Clarke, though. And with brown hair, even!

 

[Totenkindly]

Started watching From today. Might watch the entire first season, I have not decided yet.

The majority of the cast aside from Harold Perrineau I do not recognize. Jack Bender (also from the Lost production/directing crew) is involved heavily too.

The show looks great, it's almost prestige TV. They frame and color everything nicely -- at least on par with The Walking Dead sets and cinematography and possibly better, it visually looks as good as anything out there. I think the big weakness so far is the scripting and some line delivery by the cast -- the dialogue is average, currently, and like I said I don't really recognize anyone in the cast. So that's where my primary concern is.

I actually laughed quite often during the pilot, when I don't think I was supposed to be laughing, because things were either a little reedic or a scripted line (or its delivery) was particularly bad. However, the premise is interesting, some of the drama is okay, and there's some visually shocking elements so far.

I'm curious to see how it plays out.

 

[SensEye]

I find From becomes more like Lost with every episode. Still enjoying it but hope the writers don't go too far down the rabbit hole of "we'll just introduce this whole new thing completely out of left field" every time the survivors appear to be getting a grip on things. They appear to be going down that road so far.

 

[The Cat]

Lost's biggest problem was that they were uncomfortable leaving elements that would have been better off un named and unexplained.