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Random TV Show Thoughts

The Cat

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Still my favorite season of AHS

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This season and Season 2 are the ones I like the most. Witches started to go off the rails for me. I don't like gore. I know its fake but it makes my body burn wherever the gore is on the person on the screen and the girl who just cut on herself. Makes me itchy. I started to watch the circus season, but the clown killing that guy in the park where he was just straddling him pinning him down and stabbing the shit out of him. Flipped a switch for me. That switch was off. But the first season was objectively the best. It felt...possible.
 

Totenkindly

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So the MCU TV shows have been so bad that it stands as high praise that I'll say that Agatha All Along is still one of their better shows after three episodes, despite any weaknesses. its nowhere approaching the best TV shows out there, but at least it's watchable and competent, even if it's not everyone's cup of tea. (It's a show about a makeshift coven walking the Witches Road to gain power and is very geared towards females -- the only male is young and queer-coded, and there's been a lot of singing too lol.) This ain't gonna be a show that the male MCU audience will appreciate as much, most likely.

So they resolved that by including Aubrey Pilgrim, who is her own draw to that demographic despite the fact it seems very likely she and Agatha are a past thing and might get back together again. It also at least feels a bit unique, like its own thing, versus another cookie-cutter piece of Disney crap.

The overall value of the show will depend on where it goes and how it wraps up at this point. It's at least in play.

We might also get the villain we had hoped to see in WandaVision (aside from Wanda) or in DS2 MoM (err, also aside from Wanda). Sigh. Talk about shit character arcs, after building up Wanda's in a number of MCU films and then one TV show -- all trashed in a movie that wasn't even hers, after the director left because of "creative differences" because he didn't want the arc Raimi ended up using.

I'll let everyone know what I think of the second episode.
Apparently Netflix didn't think much of it.
 
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Still my favorite season of AHS

View attachment 31634
I prefer Asylum. I think the setting is so rich, and raises questions of who is sane and who is not. It plays with concepts of who is normal and who is deviant. Someone I used to date felt the aliens were out of place in the overall story, but I even like the way they obliquely reference Betty and Barney Hill (who I had no idea were an interracial couple back when I was reading stories about alleged alien encounters as a kid). I think I would probably like it even better now.

Coven spins its wheels for too long trying to get anywhere interesting, and kept undoing characters deaths. Also, we kept cutting to undead Evan Peters in the bathroom grunting, which reminded me that none of this was going anywhere. That is where I lost interest.

I'm operating the assumption that Murder House and Asylum are the only two good seasons, but if someone makes a convincing case otherwise, I might get one of the others a shot. I just can't get very interested in the idea of AHS: Hotel by itself, but if a good argument is made for it, I might give it a chance.
 
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Totenkindly

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So the MCU TV shows have been so bad that it stands as high praise that I'll say that Agatha All Along is still one of their better shows after three episodes, despite any weaknesses. its nowhere approaching the best TV shows out there, but at least it's watchable and competent, even if it's not everyone's cup of tea. (It's a show about a makeshift coven walking the Witches Road to gain power and is very geared towards females -- the only male is young and queer-coded, and there's been a lot of singing too lol.) This ain't gonna be a show that the male MCU audience will appreciate as much, most likely.

... The overall value of the show will depend on where it goes and how it wraps up at this point. It's at least in play.
Less in play after episode 5. It just tended to be poorly/confusingly written, so that even the big reveal at the end was lost of me for a minute and it just felt pretty jumbled. Like, where is this show going? What is its point? What is the central mystery?

About the only thing that saves this episode is the acting and a few zingers. Also, I guess the throwback to early 80's girls wear and hair styling.

And it is only the pivot episode -- (5 out of 9). While it has a revelation in it, do we care? I feel like I'm just watching characters float through a plot but it isn't really driving itself forward. Also, why should I care about any of these characters? They are also killing off characters needlessly.
 

SensEye

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I'm operating the assumption that Murder House and Asylum are the only two good seasons, but if someone makes a convincing case otherwise, I might get one of the others a shot. I just can't get very interested in the idea of AHS: Hotel by itself, but if a good argument is made for it, I might give it a chance.
On that note, I would say Hotel might have been my favorite season of AHS. However, I should also add I never really liked AHS that much in general. I considered it 'watchable but not great'. I persisted through the first 5 seasons, but couldn't get into Roanoke and never got back to watching AHS any further.
 
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On that note, I would say Hotel might have been my favorite season of AHS. However, I should also add I never really liked AHS that much in general. I considered it 'watchable but not great'. I persisted through the first 5 seasons, but couldn't get into Roanoke and never got back to watching AHS any further.
Wow, why?

I think Roanoke is the only one that I might consider watching. The legend of the Roanoke colony is pretty interesting; I believe Steven King took a stab at it, as well. Actually, I remember AHS already dealt with it a little in the first season.
 

The Cat

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Wow, why?

I think Roanoke is the only one that I might consider watching. The legend of the Roanoke colony is pretty interesting; I believe Steven King took a stab at it, as well. Actually, I remember AHS already dealt with it a little in the first season.
The Wraiths of Roanoake. Find it. Watch it. You'll like it.
 

Totenkindly

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Agatha All Along -- Episode 6. So this clarifies a lot of what this show is about and a potential endgame is visible.

The writing has ranged from average to fairly decent, enough to overlook the low points. At least it feels like a show that is concerned about character arcs and development, compared with really disjointed shows from Disney in the last few years that either are not compelling or semi-incoherent and characters are at the mercy of the plot.

This is the first 'setup' of a future MCU story I have seen that actually feels justified + does generally follow along with an established character arc. This should have been the low bar for MCU shows after Endgame but instead sadly it's a high water mark that could be higher. Also, this show might redeem a bad moment or two from Wandavision and potentially might be battling over events from DS2 -- it's unclear right now.

I do like the show has kind of thrown caution to the wind and doesn't care if we like Agatha anymore. She doesn't care about others and doesn't care that others know she doesn't care.

I also like the replay of some scenes from Episode 1, where we see what actually happened, and it's very different from Agatha's warped perspective while trapped within Wanda's spell. It reinforces why Hahn's acting was a little extreme in that episode and pretty much was a result of the mind-warping chaos magic... and boy was she embarrassed and angry when she came out of it.
 

The Cat

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In general, I feel like we've gotten to a point that almost feels like a British comedy sketch about parents who are disappointed in their children but still want to be supportive parents.

How's (insert child's/movie/tv show name)?
"Oh, you know...they're doing their best."
"Not as bad as they could be doing, so lets thank god for that."
"Well it really could be so much worse, that's the important thing to remember when you see them."

I sometimes wonder how Bob Iger chooses what goes onto the refrigerator and what goes into the bottom drawer. It's so hard to pick favorites when your children are all...just so..."special". (His words).

Fans of Marvel, and Star Wars greet each other like we all met in Audiences Anonymous and we're all working the program as best we can. Yes. We are fans. Fans is what we are.
fight-club-quotes-6.jpg


In all seriousness I'm always glad anyone can find entertainment in what we have to chose from. I just wish it felt like the norm rather than the exception these days.​
 

Totenkindly

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Little AAA is moving forward slowly but surely, despite some trouble with her letters. We all know she will never be on par with our earlier born like Infinity War, they achieved great things and made us proud, but she is still a good kid and will be able to live a happy life.

.. The Acolyte and TBoBF? We don't talk about them or what a discouragement they have been to their parents. What did we do wrong? Did we make mistakes?
 

The Cat

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Little AAA is moving forward slowly but surely, despite some trouble with her letters. We all know she will never be on par with our earlier born like Infinity War, they achieved great things and made us proud, but she is still a good kid and will be able to live a happy life.

.. The Acolyte and TBoBF? We don't talk about them or what a discouragement they have been to their parents. What did we do wrong? Did we make mistakes?
There are three types of children. Those who get to go to Charles Xavier's school for the gifted... Those who don't dissapoint, but fail to impress. *glances pointedly at Ant Man movies.* And the children we keep in the basement of the shed and in the attic when we visit grandma.

The post credits bonus scene should not give one post nut clarity.
 

SensEye

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Wow, why?

I think Roanoke is the only one that I might consider watching. The legend of the Roanoke colony is pretty interesting; I believe Steven King took a stab at it, as well. Actually, I remember AHS already dealt with it a little in the first season.
Don't really have a good answer to this. Maybe just AHS burn out. As I recall I watched the first 2-3 episodes of that season and found them slow moving and never picked it up again.
 

Totenkindly

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So I'm five episodes into Season 3 of Vox Machina. Damn, this show just gets better and better. It was really unsettling in the Hell of Despath, like crazy-horrible, and then just gets into a hellish chase back to the portal -- and what happens in episode 5 is just absolutely bonkers in terms of a crazy fight sequence. Which, of course, means it was totally awesome including the ending. This is like the pure chaos craziness of RPG'ing come to life.

I'm aware something pretty awful will happen soon, as best as I can tell, although I'm not sure to who. I guess I'll find out in my drive towards episode 9.

--

Finished the currently released episodes through e9. The final 3 episodes of S3 will drop later this week.

Pretty much what everyone deserved -- just some really wild and crazy moments that felt so true to RPGs, and some actual character arcs had movement including a rather tragic one... except that it was actually a realization of the character's arc for three seasons so it made sense and felt fulfilling even if bittersweet -- and that loss then drove other arcs on the team, so it was a good decision.

Not really sure what's happening in the last three episodes but can it top the 7-9 arc? I guess we'll see!
 
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The Cat

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I watched seven seasons of Burn Notice and that was the best car commercial Ive ever seen. I would watch at least five seasons of a "live action" Wacky Races. It would be a fine car commercial but best? Idk.​
 

Totenkindly

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Agatha All Along Episode 7 is probably the best episode of MCU TV that has been made by Disney for a long time. I suspect it's the whole reason that Patti LuPone agreed to do this show in the first place, and she just carries the episode on her shoulders -- kinda why you hire someone like her to do this show. It's not perfect but on par with a real solid TNG episode. I actually cried at the end, I think the last time I did that for an MCU TV episode was at the end of Wandavision e8 and e9.

Also... dressing Teen as Maleficent for this was so deliciously queer.
I mean, it's all witches. it's been pretty queer so far... but glad they doubled down.
 
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