Random TV Show Thoughts

[The Cat]

 

[Totenkindly]

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Uh just one more thing. Just one more question sir

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

YOWZA

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

 

[Totenkindly]

So I finally watched the "Blink" episode of Doctor Who today and found it pretty decent for a bottle episode that seemingly had a low budget. It was satisfactorily interesting + also creepy AF. Better yet, I was delighted to realize as it started that the star was Carey Mulligan, very early in her career -- that bit cracked me up. But you can see how she was always a solid and commanding presence on screen even at the beginning. It looks like it lost a script award that year to the very noteworthy "Pan's Labyrinth" by del Toro (which is literally in my top five films I've ever enjoyed).

I'm kind of a schlunk. I don't really watch Doctor Who, although I know a decent bit about from hanging out in geek circles and reading about the show, and the only bits I've really seen are the transformation sequences. Yes, I'm the loser who just watches the last moments of each incarnation to see who is coming next, lol. So that's how i ended up watching BLink -- I watched the final moments of the current Doctor and then figured I might as well watch Blink, which had been recommended to me.

My "watch list" is pretty long at this point, but I'm mulling over starting with the new run starting with Chris Eccleston and finally catching why people are into it. It just feels like a bit of a commitment.

 

[Z Buck McFate]

I think Blink is the "timey-wimey" episode?

I liked Eccleston's DW most, of all the recent doctors. The Empty Child is another good episode (Eccleston). There are also a couple more weeping angel episodes after Blink, that I thought were good, starring Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont in GoT).

I watched until the second or third season of the third doctor (Matt Something?). It was a fun thing to watch with my son when he was younger. My interest petered out when his did. There are some really fun episodes, though.

 

[Totenkindly]

I think Blink is the "timey-wimey" episode?

Well, one of them but yeah David Tennant definitely uses the "timey wimey" phrase multiple times.

I watched until the second or third season of the third doctor (Matt Something?).

Matt Smith -- aka Daemon off HotD.

 

[Synapse]

I watched Sirens a dark comedy on Netflix recently as my partner wanted to watch it.

It was okay, it stars Kevin bacon and Julianne Moore. And the lead is definitely gonna get more roles.

But the ending was so disappointing. So gonna spoil it. It was actually ridiculous. All of a sudden in the last 10 mins of the last episode the lead hooks up with husband with an age gap beyond while kicking out his wife for holding a photo of him with someone else as insurance for blackmail. So she ends up leaving the mansion where she was organising social events that were cult like. Only to end up on a boat befriending the sister of the girl that hooked up with her husband.

Well made yet it didn’t actually have enough substance.

 

[The Cat]

Eccelston, Capaldi, Tennant, Smith. That's my order of preference.

 

[Totenkindly]

Blew through the last 5 episodes of Season 2 The Last of Us this past weekend.

I have a lot I could say. I think most of the arguments about it must result from disparities between the game plot/characterization vs the show, because if you don't have any game knowledge, I think the show is kind of remarkable and pretty morally complicated and viscerally gruesome at times. It looks like large portions of it match up, so I don't quite get the fan squabbles occurring. I suspect the game Ellie is a bit different in the show Ellie simply because it's Bella (who is autistic) playing her, but Bella is just nailing this role -- I think she is just doing it differently than expected. I think she's colder/flatter than game Ellie, but in the moments she has to break and show strong emotion, she just totally nails it. It gives more of a sense she feels things very deeply but often hides behind a belligerent / indifferent attitude.

(I will take a moment to say the closest I can guess is the disparity between book Katniss and film Katniss from The Hunger Games -- Jennifer Lawrence is far too likeable and emotive to reflect the book Katniss, who is kind of unlikeable and distant from everyone, SO internalized emotionally, but the two different mediums kind of demanded a more engaging Katniss since you aren't being told what's in her head all the time but you have to have Lawrence emote it somehow. I think both versions work, but they are notably different.)

The show also benefits from casting experienced actors in smaller roles. I won't list them all there, but these are people who can take a few minutes and totally nail a character by pure acting skill rather than a long narrative build-up or a lot of script. Some really well-known faces in here who I didn't realize were in the season. I will say that Catharine o'Hara is perfect for a new character added to the story, she's just so great.

The show hasn't really gone in the directions I had expected, but another thing I appreciate is how characters aren't "dumb" in order to further the plot. I think Jesse in S2E7 is an example of that. A lesser show has people be oblivious to things to allow a plotline to go in a desired direction, whereas Jesse is decently aware.

The production values are excellent. When e6 dropped, it could be labeled fan service in a way (because fans really wanted this), but it also is organic and feels natural and provides a lot more depth to past events. Just a really wonderful episode. There's also a lot of intense and terrifying moments.

I think in this sense TLoU has benefited from being tightly scripted and having a less meandering plot. Nothing feels extra. It's not like TWD, which often felt meandering and repetitive because they were trying to pad out 20+ episode seasons for network TV, yet then again the comic book was rather meandering as well. There was a show that needed to be a LOT tighter to remain effective. TLoU isn't having that issue. The content all matters.

 

[SensEye]

I was disappointed Season 2 ended on Episode 7. Too short.

I was not thrilled with fade to black cliffhanger ending either. I understand season 3 is going to rehash the same timeline as season 2 but from the point of view of Abby. Which means I am going to have to wait well into season 3, maybe all the way to the end, before I find out all the details of the encounter.

Those who know the outcome from the video game might be OK with this wait, but my patience is being tested. I think a better break point for the end of the season could have been found.

 

[Totenkindly]

Yeah I wasn't thrilled with the fade to black either. I haven't played the games so I have no idea what happened.

 

[Totenkindly]

It's a nice trailer.

 

[SensEye]

I'll definitely add this to my watch list.

 

[Totenkindly]

VIZ seems to be taking promotion seriously. That's a good thing. edit: It's coming to Hulu on July 5.

 

[Totenkindly]

Sad news. The guy deserves to be remembered after musically branding one of the most widely recognized TV shows of the 90's.

 

[Totenkindly]

Wooo! Kerry announced today that RWBY vol 10 is in the early stages of writing and planning.

They wouldn't have announced anything if they weren't going to proceed or needed more solidity, so this is pretty great news.

this vid did a pretty good job of highlight how somehow RWBY has managed to survive a lot of the pitfalls of Rooster Teeth and even the company's demise last year and is still maintaining goodwill and pushing forward. This video came out before today's announcement that Vol 10 is being worked on in early stages.

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One thing nice about the Hulu version (rather than the Vudu seasons) is that you watch episode by episode. If you want to binge a season as a complete story, Vudu is better because it only runs the opener once, then the season end credits at the very end; if you want to actually see the end credits to each episode with the background matte art, however, you need the Hulu or disc versions.

Here was a cool piece of concept art used in the end credits for one episode:

Also:

 

[The Cat]

TIL: Vincent Price had a cooking show.
​

 

[Totenkindly]

Emmys 2025: Full Nominations List

The complete nominations list for the 2025 Emmys. Click to find out how many noms hit shows like The Studio, Severance, and The Pitt received!

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