Some Random Thoughts About Television... [R]

I know that, I mentioned it in my post (Robbie's brother was his wife's lover). But we know absolutely nothing about him other than being the origin point of the plot. He is just a cookie cutter "crazy biker". Even Perry has more breadth in his backstory.

 

Yep, again, there were stories to pursue there.

I suspect a second season with happen.

Interesting that the original choice for Tom was Michael Keaton, not Mark Ruffalo.

 

Broadcast comes roaring back in September, with football and the first handful of season premiers, up 3.2% from August and actually up 0.1% from September 2024. Cable dropped 0.2% from August. Streaming dropped a bit with Netflix and YouTube taking the biggest hits.

 

Started catching up on the Lowdown and greatly enjoying it.
I am perhaps one of the few TV lovers who still has to check out Reservation Dogs, in spite of having heard very good things about it. The Lowdown is clearly the show in which showrunner Sterlin Harjo gets to cash in the checks he earned though the popularity and critical acclaim of his first FX show.
Where this is most evident is in the true murderer's row of actors he managed to get for his follow up.
Besides lead Ethan Hawke, I have already seen the likes of Keith David, Kyle McLachlan, Jeanne Tripplehorne, Tim Blake Nelson, Tracy Letts, John Doe, Killer Mike, ... And I am just three episodes in. This is just a terrifically cast show in general. Not just among the familiar faces, but also the people who are newer to me, like the actress who plays the main characters daughter (Skeleton Crew's Ryan Kiera Armstrong) or his book store clerk Deirdra (Siena East).

 

Damn, the Peter Dinklage episode of The Lowndown!

 

Also, I am so used to his Mickey Doyle voice from Boardwalk Empire it took me until nearly the end of the episode to properly recognize Paul Sparks as the neo-Nazi pastor.

 

Summer Anime Round-up part 2


The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity ~ CloverWorks

A pretty straightforward high-school romance, but very well done. The conflict is that Rintaro and Kaoruko go to schools that hate each other. Can they find love together? Yes. They're both sincere, straightforward people, so as of yet, there isn't much conflict other than their friends finding out. That said, while a little over-dramatic at times, it's a sweet romance show with likeable leads. This was released on Netflix in Sept despite already airing in Japan, so not quite done yet. 8/10


Kaiju No. 8 - Season 2 ~ Production I.G.

Just kind of mid. It's perfectly okay, but never really does anything super interesting. 6/10

A bunch of stuff I started but didn't finish.

Gachiakuta ~ Bones

This isn't bad for a battle shonen. I'll still try to get back to this one.

Lord of Mysteries ~ B.CMAY Pictures

Chinese anime where a character isekai's into a vaguely steampunk 1800's Europe with magic. Just a little to dense on the exposition. Hefty CG backgrounds that I didn't really find that impressive, but it just wasn't enough to keep me invested.

The Rising of the Shield Hero ~ Kinema Citrus

Crunchyroll was pushing season 4, so I went back to start from the beginning and gave it more time than it deserved. Basic isekai to a fantasy world, but the MC gets framed for a crime and ostracized. Then spends every second thereafter being a petulant ass about it. He's just the worst.

 

Only Murders really turned things around with a good season. Interesting enough hook for season 6 as well.

 

There is going to be a sixth season? Everything about this season sort of felt like the last go-around.

 

Season Three of The Diplomat.

The story picks up exactly where the previous season ended (fortunately, we just binged season 1 and 2 in August).

The situation in the world gets really tense, but that does not mean that almost every character does not have time to have sex, including an idiotic subplot involving a British spy.

Oh, and, of course Bradley Whitford has to be in the show. "We need a sardonic older guy who is ultimately useless? Call Bradley Whitford."- the producers, probably.

Again, I don't want to give away spoilers, and so much happens that I could say a dozen things and not say a thing.

However the season ends on one hell of a cliff hanger.

 

I won't watch it until tomorrow, but tonight was the "mid-season" finale of High Potential. It was episode 7 of an 18 episode season. Most likely the next episode doesn't air until January 6.

That's asinine.

 

Probably watch tomorrow.
Show has lost it's steam, but watchable.

 

I'm only interested in the subplot about the dad now. The rest is okay, but the "creepy" chief thing is terrible.

 

Agreed all around.

 

Took a bit to get into this season of Slow Horses but really enjoyed the last half of it. Season 6 setup looks interesting as well.

 

I still enjoyed the season but this is the first time I bumped up against some of the sillier aspects of it.
I can accept that part of the central conceit is that Jackson Lamb and his collection of misfit and broken toys somehow always outsmart the people at the Park, due to Lamb's almost supernatural ability to see and understand things long before anyone else and his team's unlikely skills in crisis situations.

They are however stretching the limits of believability in terms of the frequent displays of incompetence of the servicemen and women at the Park.

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I think this was most keenly felt - for me - in the unwinding of the Lara story line. It is beyond absurd that they would send her into the field like that, to reconnect with her associates.
All they know for sure about her is that she honey trapped Roddy. The idea that she was coerced into helping the Libyan terror cell was solely based on her own claims and words. Obviously even a semi-competent intelligence officer would distrust anything she says.

 

Having watched the first two episodes of the fourth season of the Witcher, the first season without Henry Cavill as the titular character, and yikes.
The issue with this show was always primarily the writing, I thought the acting level was always rather solid, though with the exception of Anya Chalotra as Yennefer, I thought the best performers were actually found among the actors playing the secondary characters. Having said that, Cavill as Geralt at least imbued his Witcher with hints of an inner life and emotions. Through two episodes and it's mostly the blankness and blandness of Liam Hemsworth that stands out. I fear that the showrunner and her casting agent just got the biggest name they could get instead of someone who could actually do the role justice.
The writing issues are still there, with especially the season opener a jumbled and confusing mess stuffed full of expository dialogue.
My reasons to keep on watching are primarily:
1. Chalotra's work as Yennefer
2. Laurence Fishburne as Regis, an interesting bit of casting

 

Having finished the season, my thoughts on The Witcher season 4:

Liked Laurence Fishburne as Regis, as well as Anya Chalotra's work as Yennefer (she has been consistently good since season 1).
Liked some of the scenes with the Rats.
Strangely liked the fake Ciri subplot, as well as the actress who plays the fake Ciri.
Loved Leo Bonhart, great villain, perfect casting.
Hemsworth was passable in some of the action scenes, but very wooden in anything where he required Geralt to emote anything. I think the show largely was able to adsorb the lead actor cast change because its primary issues were always the clunky writing. Making Hemsworth's performance as Geralt pretty far down the list of season four issues.

 

Just a little comedy clip.

https://youtube.com/shorts/iAC9fosMiH4?si=Ms80sS5n2cU-XTAb

 

Just binged Season 6 of Strike (listed as Season 4 of C.B. Strike here in the US). It was released in January, but I only thought about watching yesterday. Ended up binging the entire season last night. Only four episodes, so not much.




The ever evolving tale of Carmoran Blue Strike's detective agency. Robin Ellacott is now a full partner in the agency and business is booming (more about that).

Starting in the second episode, Strike's leg is bothering badly, which is weird. If they so successful now, why doesn't he see a doctor and get a better prosthetic? It really hampers his ability to do his job.

The story is about an online cartoon and a subsequent knock off video game. The creator on cartoon, Edie Ledwell, is being stalked by the creator of the video game, known as Anomie. They seem to know everything about Edie. Edie goes to see Robin and asks for her to take the case and find Anomie. Robin turns them down, as the firm is not taking on new cases. Edie really wants Robin (not Strike) to take the case.
A short while later and Edie has been murdered and her collaborator seriously injured.

Strike and Robin are then hired by Edie's uncle and a film company to find Anomie. This time they take the case.

I won't go into detail, but far right wing terrorists, people with Myalgic encephalomyelitis, Highgate Cemetery, mail bombs, and cello playing are involved.

Really this entire show is the development of Robin Ellacott (played, as always, by the charming and gorgeous Holliday Grainger). Robin takes the lead on many of the investigations in the show. Tom Burke's Strike is really a secondary character for much of the season.

Now, more Holliday Grainger is always, always a good thing. She was terrific in The Capture (about surveillance and deep fake videos used by the British government) last year and she is good here. A decent actress and just flawless.


Oh, crap, I learned last night that JK Rowling wrote the novels. How did I not know this previously? I guess I didn't really care and Rowling used one of her male pseudonyms.
Well, I guess I like the series a little less now.

 

I liked the Lowdown. The season (series?) finale was a bit uneven.

Having said that, I am pretty sure that nothing on TV made me laugh even half as hard as Keith David's delivery of the "It's for cow pussy!" line. Great actor, great and possibly still somewhat underrated comedic actor.

 

Loved the first two episodes of Pluribus. Rhea Seehorn is so great, which isn't a huge surprise I suppose.
One other thing that stands out: between the sheer amount of locations and the production values, this thing must cost a fortune. Perhaps this is why Apple won out and Vince Gilligan did not return to his old home of AMC?

 

Two points.

1. Why have none of you fascists told me this thread existed, and,
2.

It'll be interesting to see which way they take it. I'm guessing it will become 'darker' as the pod people get closer to 'curing' her.

 

Fishburne was excellent, as usual.

Hemsworth had to play a man almost devoid of any emotions or humanity, which essentially meant just be himself.

I couldn't quite see how the Bonhart character, who looked to be 60 if he was a day, was so much better at fighting than the Witcher guy he fought at the beginning.

As you say, Cavell was better, but that's also because it was hard for me to separate his appreciation for the story from him playing it. Hemsworth just seems like h's there for the cash.

 

I agree with most of that but...

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I think the point was that Claue Whelan wasn't a competent security services operator and was out of his depth. That was kinda the point, wasn't it?

But I agree with the general thrust of your point: some aspects seemed to stretch credibility.

BTW, was it not Tara?