I love how, at the end of episode 8, when you see the person drive up to where Bullet is (a diner?), you think to yourself "Meh, this is just a red herring. It's obvious that nothing is going to happen to her." and then episode 9 rolls around and BAM.
Watching The Returned, two episodes in and it's good. Although characters withholding information for no reason really bugs me, and it has happened quite a bit so far.
Also watched the first episode of Hannibal, beautiful show.
Been watching all 10 episodes of the Blacklist, man I love James Spader. His role as Alan in The Practice / Boston Legal was amazing. And his role in the Blacklist is awesome too.
The only thing that bothers me is the following ( SPOILERS ):
is it me or was it pretty damn clear within the first few minutes that Red is the father of Keen?
Also working my way through The Returned. I like it.
Much praise for Rectify and Top of the Lake as well. May have to dig into those.
I should probably also watch Hannibal before season 2 starts, as people seem to love that show. I'm always wary of getting invested into something that's on NBC.
In the middle of season 4 of Mad Men and holy fuck, this show is on another level right now. Just watched the episode where
it's Peggy's birthday and she stays in the office with Don all night as they drink, work on the Samsonite deal and get closer with each other. In the process Peggy turns away both Mark and Doug, essentially putting her work over personal life at that point as she sides with Don (who is particularly bipolar with how he treats her, usually fluctuates with his drinking) and in the final seconds of the episode you see Don and Peggy hold hands after she comforted him when he found out of Stephanie's death. Also this episode featured the callback to the Sonny Liston/Cassius Clay fight, which I loved.
Just truly fantastic television right now. Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss are absolutely killing it.
My updated TV ratings as I go (series I've completed unless I say otherwise):
Breaking Bad > Mad Men (s1-midseason4) > Game of Thrones > Boardwalk Empire (s1-s3) > Justified > Homeland (s1) > Lost
Just finished S8... sigh. I've always defended Dexter against the "don't watch after season 4!" brigade, because while season 5 is a mixed bag season 6 is actually pretty great. And if it wasn't for Jennifer Carpenter's rather limited skill season 7 could have been great too. She just couldn't bring the emotional depth that the story required, the story itself was pretty great imo.
Then there's season 8... while season 7 sometimes challenged my suspension of disbelief, in season 8 it went right out of the fucking window. The whole premise is just lame and as the season drags on it gets worse and worse and then we get that ending... what in the fuck. So yeah, I'll say it: don't bother watching after season 7.
The Office (UK)
Finally watched it. Interesting to see Martin Freeman's beginnings. While the US version is more on the funny side this is defninitely biased towards cringe and pity. Enjoyed it, thought it was brilliant.
Maybe it's because I always watch two episodes at once but a lot of episodes felt repetitive and kind of long. But still great season. The first and last three episodes were great, the middle was kind of meh.
Never thought I'd feel sorry for Clay but that ending... damn. Also Opie That was certainly a shock so early in the season. you don't expect that. And I fucking hate Jax, what a fucking idiot pissing on everything. And my poor waifu Tara..
Just watched the pilot of Friday Night Lights. I don't know shit about american handegg but damn if that wasn't a good pilot. Makes me want to continue watching it.
been watching a lot of boardwalk empire. just started season three.
i tried to follow this show when it first aired but it didn't stick with me and ended up giving up after a few episodes, maybe something to do with buscemi's lack of gravitas in the lead compared to say don draper, tony soprano, walter white etc. this time though i'm really enjoying it, maybe because i gave it more time or because i focused more on the supporting cast this time.
i'm not normally a person that goes in for plot much, especially on tv, it's very rarely that i enjoy something out of a 'what's gonna happen', i like that stuff to step behind things like character and mood and help drive them instead of provide the hook, but this show is just masterful when it comes to plotting an ensemble show. the way it slowly introduces these sprawling elements across the city and then floods you with all these strands coming together in the final few episodes is superb. the slow buildup means that the show isn't a soap opera where so much happens but nothing actually matters because that's just the norm and the final few episodes of the second season are almost intoxicating with how much happens in each episode yet every scene feels deeply significant and so tense, yet it's earned through the buildup instead of manufactured to create an event season finale.
the other thing i find brilliant is the cinematography. there's an attention to detail and skill in the framing of so many shots that's very nice to see and helps enrich what it's trying to say about the characters with visual metaphor. i'm a bit fidgety so i normally like to watch tv while knitting or having a sports match on the side, but with boardwalk empire i feel drawn to watching it very closely because it looks so good.
i guess the main problem with binging a show like this is that you get used to being overwhelmed by the end of the season then it resets back to slow buildup now i'm starting season 3. also (s2 spoilers)
it's a bit disheartening that they killed jimmy who was far and away my favourite character
why is this thread in community and the movies thread in OT? can we move this back to OT please. this isn't a community it's just a thread to discuss TV shows that you watched recently.
why is this thread in community and the movies thread in OT? can we move this back to OT please. this isn't a community it's just a thread to discuss TV shows that you watched recently.
That was certainly a shock so early in the season. you don't expect that. And I fucking hate Jax, what a fucking idiot pissing on everything. And my poor waifu Tara..