The TV Shows Thread

I've been watching "Severance" recently. I had no idea to expect, just read the tagline. It's basically about a biomedical tech corporation trying to usher in a dystopia, kind of reminds me of Black Mirror. It might just be the darkest thing I've ever watched. It's absolutely sinister beyond anything you could imagine.

GodfatherPartTwo said:
Last recommendation on The Penguin. The last episode came out last Sunday. It's a 10. The writing is tight. The acting is supernatural. Colin Farell and Cristin Milioti deserve all the awards. 8 episodes is a short run, but they were going for quality over quantity. There's not one throwaway line or wasted thread. I didn't want to give the show a chance, didn't believe in the premise, but I was proven very wrong. If you have HBO/Max, definitely give this show a chance. It is probably now my favorite miniseries.
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The Penguin was fantastic...honestly my favorite show since Breaking Bad, even had similar character arcs/archetypes...
 
Batman said:
The Penguin was fantastic...honestly my favorite show since Breaking Bad, even had similar character arcs/archetypes...
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I wasn't thinking too much of Breaking Bad but I noticed it had a lot of similarities with The Sopranos, which also inspired BB. Both shows are heavily influenced by Oedipus Rex. Can't wait for season 2 and Batman 2, but wait I must.

My favorite episode was 3, followed by the finale. When they played this during the credits the light flipped on for me:
 
yeah, i can see both, and he definitely reminded me more of Tony Soprano. i thought it was just a mini series slated for 1 season only?
 
Currently binging Halt and Catch Fire, an AMC series about people in the tech industry in the 80s and early 90s. I'm on season 3 of 4 and it is absolutely fantastic. Some of the greatest writing and acting in any show I've seen. It's amazing how few people were aware of this series - myself included, I only found about it while watching a documentary on Compaq computers - because it is simply stellar.
 
cheapchampion said:
Currently binging Halt and Catch Fire, an AMC series about people in the tech industry in the 80s and early 90s. I'm on season 3 of 4 and it is absolutely fantastic. Some of the greatest writing and acting in any show I've seen. It's amazing how few people were aware of this series - myself included, I only found about it while watching a documentary on Compaq computers - because it is simply stellar.
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I've been meaning to watch the rest of this series which I started back when it first came out. Tuned out because there was too much Leftist nonsense going on and I didn't like the direction they took the series in season 2 or 3...forget which.

At some point I'll get back to it just to see how it ended.
 
Maddox said:
I've been meaning to watch the rest of this series which I started back when it first came out. Tuned out because there was too much Leftist nonsense going on and I didn't like the direction they took the series in season 2 or 3...forget which.

At some point I'll get back to it just to see how it ended.
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I haven't felt the show has any real political leaning especially the more I see it. Certainly there is the inclusion of (potential spoilers I guess) the two key female characters in the industry and one bisexual guy. But personally I've felt everything is just organic, and that the characters find contentment when there is a balance of home and work life. The women hit an emotional wall without their husband and children, men feel inadequate when not leading the household, kids go out of control when their traditional family setup is destroyed. Even the bisexual man, a phenomenal character in my view, isn't presented as an LGBT promotion. I'd say it's almost more a cautionary tale. His true love and joy is found in romantic relationships with women and his (very occasional) foray into homosexual acts are more a slip from the norm.

On the other side, it does show that it's good to allow people to breathe, at least until they find their footing. Cameron, the main female lead, reminds me so much of my ex, right down to the short blonde hair and being from Texas. Cameron is a punk rock girl and somewhat androgynous who simply loves tech and in particular video games. And that love for them causes her to want to create things that she would enjoy. My ex died of an overdose almost two years ago and I wonder while watching sometimes that maybe she would have benefited from immersing herself in a similar job for at least a while. She had too much free time and wasn't able to channel her creative interests, largely leaving her as just a consumer.

There's a fine line in storytelling between pushing an agenda and just trying to present complex humans in an honest way. I'm not saying the show doesn't ever cross into an agenda, just that, at least early into season 4, it seems to me they've mostly stuck with the latter. I love this show - an all-timer for me.
 
Is it worth watching Lost? I watched the show when it aired back in the day, but I think I stopped around late season 3 or season 4 and never rewatched it since.
 
Batman said:
Is it worth watching Lost? I watched the show when it aired back in the day, but I think I stopped around late season 3 or season 4 and never rewatched it since.
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Full Disclosure: Lost was my favorite show during the years it aired. That being said, I am well aware of its flaws. I would answer your question with “conditional” yes. The big problem is the finale.

I’m not spoiling anything, but it was fairly divisive and remains so according to many viewers. It’s made several lists of “worst finales”. A lot of people found it hokey, and the method used to save the world after all the buildup does come across as a bit too simple. One thing that’s helped is that there have been many finales far worse since then (Game of Thrones for instance) that made Lost’s ending look at least passably decent by comparison. It’s also worth mentioning that it was one of the last big shows with a “diverse” cast where it actually made sense and wasn’t done to check off quotas.

All that being said, I’d say that the show as a whole still holds up in most respects. I’ve thought about rewatching myself a few times. I might get started on it one of these days.
 
Update: just completed my binge of Halt and Catch Fire. I absolutely loved this show. The final few episodes are extremely moving and by the end everything is wrapped up perfectly. Straight-up, it's my favorite drama series of all time.
 
I'm one episode in to The Penguin after watching The Batman the other night and really love it.

But want to give respect to The Batman first, what a great film. I love how sincere they were with the narrative. The film is so consistent with the mood and the characters it's a joy if you're willing to commit. Never sappy or emotional just always moody and some really brilliant action scenes. They really did their own thing.

As for The Penguin, shout out to @GodfatherPartTwo who from memory said it reminded him of The Sopranos (my favourite show) or something along those lines. I'm only one episode in but if you know you know - yep - and thanks for the recommendation. You are bang on.
I see more Chrissy than Tony, but Penguin's character is certainly a mixture of all - including Paulie. Colin Farrell is brilliant and clearly influenced, but i'm only one episode in just to say it's a breath of fresh air with TV.

Not sure if any of you liked Fargo (FX) on TV but it certainly has the same vibe.
 
Murdock said:
Full Disclosure: Lost was my favorite show during the years it aired. That being said, I am well aware of its flaws. I would answer your question with “conditional” yes. The big problem is the finale.

I’m not spoiling anything, but it was fairly divisive and remains so according to many viewers. It’s made several lists of “worst finales”. A lot of people found it hokey, and the method used to save the world after all the buildup does come across as a bit too simple. One thing that’s helped is that there have been many finales far worse since then (Game of Thrones for instance) that made Lost’s ending look at least passably decent by comparison. It’s also worth mentioning that it was one of the last big shows with a “diverse” cast where it actually made sense and wasn’t done to check off quotas.

All that being said, I’d say that the show as a whole still holds up in most respects. I’ve thought about rewatching myself a few times. I might get started on it one of these days.
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I started it but once it became clear they were just dragging it out with no idea where they were going (the mystery box method JJ Abrams used on his movies as well) I switched off.
 
Kiwi said:
I'm one episode in to The Penguin after watching The Batman the other night and really love it.

But want to give respect to The Batman first, what a great film. I love how sincere they were with the narrative. The film is so consistent with the mood and the characters it's a joy if you're willing to commit. Never sappy or emotional just always moody and some really brilliant action scenes. They really did their own thing.

As for The Penguin, shout out to @GodfatherPartTwo who from memory said it reminded him of The Sopranos (my favourite show) or something along those lines. I'm only one episode in but if you know you know - yep - and thanks for the recommendation. You are bang on.
I see more Chrissy than Tony, but Penguin's character is certainly a mixture of all - including Paulie. Colin Farrell is brilliant and clearly influenced, but i'm only one episode in just to say it's a breath of fresh air with TV.

Not sure if any of you liked Fargo (FX) on TV but it certainly has the same vibe.
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Excellent. Let us know what you think when you finish it.
 
cheapchampion said:
I haven't felt the show has any real political leaning especially the more I see it. Certainly there is the inclusion of (potential spoilers I guess) the two key female characters in the industry and one bisexual guy. But personally I've felt everything is just organic, and that the characters find contentment when there is a balance of home and work life. The women hit an emotional wall without their husband and children, men feel inadequate when not leading the household, kids go out of control when their traditional family setup is destroyed. Even the bisexual man, a phenomenal character in my view, isn't presented as an LGBT promotion. I'd say it's almost more a cautionary tale. His true love and joy is found in romantic relationships with women and his (very occasional) foray into homosexual acts are more a slip from the norm.

On the other side, it does show that it's good to allow people to breathe, at least until they find their footing. Cameron, the main female lead, reminds me so much of my ex, right down to the short blonde hair and being from Texas. Cameron is a punk rock girl and somewhat androgynous who simply loves tech and in particular video games. And that love for them causes her to want to create things that she would enjoy. My ex died of an overdose almost two years ago and I wonder while watching sometimes that maybe she would have benefited from immersing herself in a similar job for at least a while. She had too much free time and wasn't able to channel her creative interests, largely leaving her as just a consumer.

There's a fine line in storytelling between pushing an agenda and just trying to present complex humans in an honest way. I'm not saying the show doesn't ever cross into an agenda, just that, at least early into season 4, it seems to me they've mostly stuck with the latter. I love this show - an all-timer for me.
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I will say that season 1 was pretty damn good, albeit for one or two homo scenes. I especially liked the Zork reference as I used to play that game all the time.
 
I'm wrapping up Cobra Kai's last season and, while the earlier seasons were cheesy fun, these last few have been pretty terrible. It's gotten so bad it makes you wonder if the show was actually ever good. The writing has become incredibly lazy. I feel like they actually had an idea of how to integrate and develop some of the characters from the movies in the first couple of seasons, but as the show went on, they lost the plot. Poor character development, too, and those they do try to develop make you wish they had just left alone. Johnny Lawrence marrying and having a child with a Latina immigrant (although for an older actress she is not bad on the eyes). Really? Most importantly, his adversarial relationship with LaRusso was what a lot of viewers enjoyed and they kind of dropped it. I understand that it was unsustainable over so many seasons, which is why I feel like they should've wrapped it all up by Season 3 or 4 (but the cast and crew want to remain employed for as long as possible, so I get it). LaRusso's daughter was cute in the first season, but she got more pudgy with each season; we're supposed to think this girl not just practices karate, but is competing and placing in competitions? One of the biggest surprises of the show, though, has to be LaRusso's wife: a lot of fans would've wanted him to end up with Ali or something (which is unrealistic and silly, but nostalgia is a powerful drug), and I think she made the most out of her (rather underwritten) role: you get why he married her.

Anyway, not really in a rush to get to the last episode.
 
FrostBITE said:
I'm wrapping up Cobra Kai's last season and, while the earlier seasons were cheesy fun, these last few have been pretty terrible. It's gotten so bad it makes you wonder if the show was actually ever good. The writing has become incredibly lazy. I feel like they actually had an idea of how to integrate and develop some of the characters from the movies in the first couple of seasons, but as the show went on, they lost the plot. Poor character development, too, and those they do try to develop make you wish they had just left alone. Johnny Lawrence marrying and having a child with a Latina immigrant (although for an older actress she is not bad on the eyes). Really? Most importantly, his adversarial relationship with LaRusso was what a lot of viewers enjoyed and they kind of dropped it. I understand that it was unsustainable over so many seasons, which is why I feel like they should've wrapped it all up by Season 3 or 4 (but the cast and crew want to remain employed for as long as possible, so I get it). LaRusso's daughter was cute in the first season, but she got more pudgy with each season; we're supposed to think this girl not just practices karate, but is competing and placing in competitions? One of the biggest surprises of the show, though, has to be LaRusso's wife: a lot of fans would've wanted him to end up with Ali or something (which is unrealistic and silly, but nostalgia is a powerful drug), and I think she made the most out of her (rather underwritten) role: you get why he married her.

Anyway, not really in a rush to get to the last episode.
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I'm about halfway through the last season myself, and I agree, the show feels like it's overstayed its welcome.

I still think the writing is pretty good, and they've managed to make the most out of the romantic subplots. But I believe it's those love triangles that are the most tiresome part of the series now. And yeah, Sam has gotten pudgy, lol. She's still bangable, but apparently diet is not a big part of the Miyagi dojo program because she could stand to lose a few lbs.

At times it almost seems like they have too many characters on the show and it becomes a juggling act on getting everyone screen time; namely Larusso's son who doesn't seem to have a reason to be there in the first place. They gave him a small subplot with that black kid and then he just disappeared. You'd think the writers would've made him more interesting, maybe in conflict with his sister or his father somehow. But no, he just pops his head in from time to time to remind you that LaRussa also has a son.

One thing I will say is this last season's tournament is maybe the best of them all. I was surprised at what happened, how the producers threw us a curve, and I can appreciate that we are not getting the ending we all thought we were getting.
 
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