Jan 4, 2018 22:02:09 GMT 🤯 said:

Jan 4, 2018 20:43:16 GMT mikec said:

I think I’ve said this a handful of times about The Deuce, but with Simon’s style I find that there’s just a lot of stuff missed by me as a viewer when I’m trying to figure out who everyone is. Season 4 especially with the kids I was astounded by how much I didn’t pick up on the first time through.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever sat through all of Breaking Bad but a lot of it holds up. I can’t say it was better because it relied on suspense and surprise way more than The Wire and some of that naturally slips away... but I’ve not lost my love of Breaking Bad on rewatch.

(Well except the finale because ugh)

It's been a minute, but refresh me on what was so bad about the ending? Should Jesse have died too? Or, rather, what would've been the preferred/perfect ending?

I’ll put it in spoilers just in case.

SPOILER: Click to show

I thought the finale was too easy on Walt. They gave him an implausible scenario of traveling the country in stolen cars to breaking into the rich couples home and getting Badger and Skinny Pete to pretend to be snipers, then he implausibly tampers with a stevia packet to put ricin in for Lydia, gets some form of forgiveness from Skyler, then he goes to kill off all the bad guys and free Jesse who goes riding off into the night even though there’s no way the world just lets him move on. The final moment of the episode before the finale was him calling Walter Jr. and having him tell him he hates him. That was brutal and I don’t think Walt deserved the basketful of hard to believe redemption/revenge plots in the finale.

Been rewatching Breaking Bad marathon on AMC...A lot of it still holds up really really strong. There were a couple of misses every now and then, S1 especially but that is typical of any AMC series. I do agree with Mike though, it did rely more on the suspense factor and when that is lost it takes off a little bit of the edge but it's still fine. I'm up to the end of S2. I forgot how awesome season 2 was. That episode with Jessie and Walter stuck in the desert was such a strong character episode for both and it really illustrated how their relationship would always be. Together one moment and at odds the next. Also I really like the stuff with Jane and our first appearance of Mike the cleaner was in this season as well. Also Hank sort of begins his more serious character arc in this season, he's still pretty much the goofball comedic levity but this season was kind of his start towards the bigger picture for him.

I'm done with the first 4 eps of S2 of Leftovers and that first episode was weird as fuck. Right off the bat you get the weird ass intro that maybe I missed something but I don't know how it connected to the main story other than location. Then I get a brand new theme song and the first thirty minutes are all based around characters we hadn't seen at all previously. It almost felt like an entirely different show for a moment but then the blending of the S1 characters came into play and as a whole I really ended up liking that episode despite all the weirdness. Eps 2,3,and 4 were awesome though. Each of these eps was a home run. I also didn't realize that Carrie Coon from Fargo was in this. I thought she looked familiar but it just hit me today watching it that it was her. She's great. Also I really enjoy the main score for this show. It's so haunting and fucking perfect for it. Kevin's struggles with being domesticated just strikes such a chord with me. Thus far I think this season feels a bit darker in tone. It's lightened up in some areas but the twins from season 1 brought a certain comedic levity and it's a bummer they aren't in season 2...yet anyways. I also miss Jill's best friend...who I thought for the first half or so of S1 that her and Kev were fucking. lol. I mean that is how it felt like the story was playing out to me. Maybe I was reading into things wrong but they seemed to be hinting at it but then just killed it...probably for the better. i think that would have made his character to unlikeable maybe.

SPOILER: Click to show

I loved the Breaking Bad ending, sure a bit far fetched here and there, but not too outlandish:

SPOILER: Click to show

it was never a show about people getting what they deserve, but of Walt being a brutal selfish bastard that got his way no matter who it destroyed in the process. That was true all the way to the final seconds, deserve's got nothing to do with it.

Just finished a rewatch of the last three seasons of West Wing. I will rewatch episodes of West Wing from time to time but almost exclusively the episodes from the Sorkin years. The thing that was most lost I think I’m the writing was how much the characters liked each other. In less caring hands it became easier to wring tension out of Leo and Bartlett fighting or Josh and Toby fighting and the fights got personal and mean and I can’t remember much of that from the first four seasons.

All in all it was like I remembered it. Not particularly good but had some strong moments. And I love Alan Alda.

Recently been watching a documentary series called The Toys That Made Us. I'm sure some of you have already heard about it, but for those that haven't it's a show that explores famous toy lines and how they came to be. So far there's four episodes: Star Wars, Barbie, He-Man and GI Joe. I've only seen the He-Man episode, but it was a real eye opener. I was somewhat aware of it's history thanks to Screw Attack's Desk of Death Battle series, but hearing how certain characters came to be was a fun ride. I also think the show did a good job of explaining the appeal of the show. How it was all about market research and how they basically ripped off Connan The Barbarian and made a cool toy line out of it. As a kid, I never actually owned a He-Man toy, they had been phased out by the time I was into them and I was more likely to come across a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, a Street Shark, a Mighty Duck or a Spider-Man than a He-Man toy. It was a shame as well, because whenever I'd go visit my cousins, they had all the toys and I used to have a blast creating all these multi-verse scenarios with Aliens, Predator, American Gladiators and the like.

Should make a toy thread, take a trip down memory lane and see what everyone was into.

I seen that on Netflix but none of the toy lines particularly interested me as I didn't play with any of them growing up and I have some serious Star Wars fatigue for about 20 years now. I still might check out the He-Man and Barbie ones just because - I'm most well versed in Barbie these days with a 5 year old daughter and everything.

Hopefully it's successful enough that they come out with more , I'd love to see a Ninja Turtles one , along with old school wrestlers and a few other things I loved playing with.

I've been watching Slasher on Netflix. So simple and enjoyable.

Still plowing through the breaking bad marathon...shit this is even better than I remember it being once you get past the first half of season 1. S2 and S3 were incredible. Just started season 4.

As for the X-files opener....Oh man.  This is going to be  tough.  So the whole finale of last season was a fucking vision?  Oh fuck you.  I almost gave up watching right then and there. I might have to tap out and for me in my mind the show just ended with Mulder and Scully holding that baby at the end of season 7.

Yeah I wasn't feeling either of those first 2 episodes of the new X-Files season. The original show just had a certain style to it that they have completely failed to recapture with these newer episodes. First episode was kinda cool I guess(I liked them bringing up Cig Smoking Man's past and the fake moon landings), I did get a kick out of them mentioning the Lone Gunmen in that last one but I ended up falling asleep, I just wasn't feeling it overall. I think I'm about X-Filed out really after watching through the first 100 episodes(season 1 through 4) recently.

Ignoring the cliffhanger ending from the last season was so typical of the show though, as I was watching that cliffhanger ending to the last season in real time I knew that it would amount to nothing and they would jump right back into business as usual if they ever made another batch of episodes, I rolled my eyes at it.

Show really just got too wacky after that 5th season when they moved from Canada to Los Angeles, these new batches of episodes seem to be nostalgia cash grab lead ins to put over whatever new show Fox is trying to get over(Lucifer, 911).

Watched the first season of The Good Place on Netflix over the past three days and man oh man , where have I been on this show this whole time. What a great show , funniest I've seen on television since the prime days of Big Bang Theory. Not too mention it had a great story to follow with a clever twist at the end (even if I kind of predicted it) - I love the fact that it's not a show you can just pick up anywhere and know what's happening. It's a sitcom with a purpose , and that purpose is worth the ride. 

Kristen Bell was someone who I never really "got" for all these years. I get it now , she is so cute and charming as the lead of this show - her comedy timing is on point and by the end of the season she was just a dynamite character. I also love Chidi and their relationship. 

My one knock on the show is Jason/Jianu. I don't find his character that funny nor do I think he adds much to the show. I get why he's there but without him the show would probably be perfect. 


Kind of sad that I was late to the show because Hulu is missing the first four episodes of Season Two , might have to buy them off Amazon just to get all caught up. 

Season two is even better than season one and Jason becomes better too. “BLAKE BORTLES!”

Jan 14, 2018 16:59:39 GMT mikec said:

Season two is even better than season one and Jason becomes better too. “BLAKE BORTLES!”

I'm happy to hear it gets even better , I was a little sad we seemed to be starting over but still thought it was a neat idea. Jason could only get better , they wasted time working towards his jokes , especially once his and Janet's "relationship" started. Ugh. 

Not that I want to knock the show , because the rest of it was damn near perfect. 

Eleanor: Well, my first rule would be that no-one can veto my rules.

Chidi: Well that's called tyranny, and it's generally frowned upon.

Great quotes everywhere in that show. 

Jan 14, 2018 6:37:21 GMT shinobimusashi said:

Yeah I wasn't feeling either of those first 2 episodes of the new X-Files season. The original show just had a certain style to it that they have completely failed to recapture with these newer episodes. First episode was kinda cool I guess(I liked them bringing up Cig Smoking Man's past and the fake moon landings), I did get a kick out of them mentioning the Lone Gunmen in that last one but I ended up falling asleep, I just wasn't feeling it overall. I think I'm about X-Filed out really after watching through the first 100 episodes(season 1 through 4) recently.

Ignoring the cliffhanger ending from the last season was so typical of the show though, as I was watching that cliffhanger ending to the last season in real time I knew that it would amount to nothing and they would jump right back into business as usual if they ever made another batch of episodes, I rolled my eyes at it.

Show really just got too wacky after that 5th season when they moved from Canada to Los Angeles, these new batches of episodes seem to be nostalgia cash grab lead ins to put over whatever new show Fox is trying to get over(Lucifer, 911).

It really doesn't feel like the same show.  It feels extremely dated which I guess it is. lol.  I read that the ratings dropped sharply for the second episode of the season, by a whopping 30%.  Ouch.  The older fans of the show I think are just burnt out and tired of getting fucked with and for newer viewers it's kind of hard to just dive in all of a sudden to a tv show that is in it's 11th season that took about a decade off. 

Dec 22, 2017 5:50:11 GMT Michinokudriver said:

I think I mentioned this on the old board, but I wasn't super into Stranger Things S2. It felt like Season 1, episode 9. Ultimately, it didn't contribute greatly to the mythology, we didn't learn anything more about the Upside Down or anything about anything, it was more of the same. Which is fine enough for what it is but doesn't make me super hyped for S3.

Something I never thought I'd say: I powered through Riverdale S1 and I am ALL ON BOARD. I have a friend who tried ep 1 and didn't dig it, so maybe you have to know who the Archie characters are to really get into it. It doesn't reinvent the characters too crazily IMO, but... take Betty, for example. In the comics Betty is the perfect girl next door, Riverdale sort of touches on what it takes to be the perfect girl every moment of the day and what sort of toll that takes on you. It pushes Riverdale as a small-town, big secrets sort of place.

Not an Archie comic fan but loved Riverdale.  Cannot wait to see this expand with Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Did not look super close at the thread, but did not look like The End of the F***ing World was mentioned yet.  Amazing short TV series with a nice tight plot, great characters and a killer soundtrack.  Curious to see if it gets a second season as it ends slightly differently from the comics but still leaves open the door for a sequel.

Agents of SHIELD has been fantastic this season. They have really upped their game. The image of the earth having been litterally ripped in half is quite powerful. I know it is a bit of a reach but that Inhuman kid could end up somehow healing the world with his rock moving powers... I dunno, maybe anyway. Bit suspect that the world is broke and now they have introduced a character who just so happens to be able to throw rocks about with his mind.

I love the Good Place so much, a half hour sitcom that's still able to have these great little emotional moments, this last episode was a kick right to the feels.

Jan 14, 2018 16:59:39 GMT mikec said:

Season two is even better than season one and Jason becomes better too. “BLAKE BORTLES!”

Catching up on season two now , it took me awhile but I just ended the episode where the apparently "team up" so I'm now back in 100% as that should be great. 

Started the Resident last night. Love it.

I'm digging Lucifer this season with Tom Welling as Cain

First episode of Counterpart was damn good, anchoring a series with JK Simmons is just smart business, I really look forward to where it heads.

Completely caught up on The Good Place now , I really do love this show and am happy to be current. I think there were some GREAT episodes , and it's been great for Michael - who is the brightest spot of this season like Eleanor was in Season One. mikec was right , even Jason becomes at least bearable BLAKE BORTLES!

I'm curious if they are running a longer season though because a few episodes did seem a little filler (Derek) , but then again I could of just not been a fan because I really dislike Jason Mantzoukas as an actor. I'm dying to see where it goes next though and it's so rare to say that about a sitcom.

I'm still going with Lucifer but i'm getting concerned they're never going to pull the trigger on Chloe learning he's the actual devil.

Jan 27, 2018 22:59:51 GMT UT said:

Completely caught up on The Good Place now , I really do love this show and am happy to be current. I think there were some GREAT episodes , and it's been great for Michael - who is the brightest spot of this season like Eleanor was in Season One. mikec was right , even Jason becomes at least bearable BLAKE BORTLES!

I'm curious if they are running a longer season though because a few episodes did seem a little filler (Derek) , but then again I could of just not been a fan because I really dislike Jason Mantzoukas as an actor. I'm dying to see where it goes next though and it's so rare to say that about a sitcom.

I believe there’s only one or two left this season.

Finished my second viewing of the Breaking Bad series. So good. So so good. Sure some of the suspense it taken out of it but still, it hit all the notes for me. So sad to see how things end up between Walt and Jessie as they both seemed to care so much about each other, hell they both killed for each other and put their ass on the line for each other. They did perfect with making Walt both sympathetic and hateable all at at once, especially in the final season. The scene where Walt Jr. finally sees his father for who he is gave me chills. I will say the finale itself is still pretty much what I thought of it the first time. Just a bit slow at the start but I think Walts end was perfect. I thought it was awfully cruel to Jessie to kill off Andrea but meh, it was what it was. I would have preferred she live and we see Jessie drive to her and Brock and then drive off into the sunset.

Gave up on the x-files reboot.  It truly is horrible.  So the show ended with Mulder and Scully holding that baby at the end of season 8...I think it was.  I mean it's not just bad, it is shockingly bad.  The alien conspiracy storyline just went so off the walls bonkers.  Then throw in that baby William wasn't even Mulders but the Cig Man's...Oh fuck you!  You did it Carter, you successfully killed off the show the first time, then you brought it back to life just to piss on it some more before you kill it again.  This is maddening.  Is it any wonder why this guy never really had any work since the x-files ended? 

With ER finally on Hulu I’m taking a tour through some of the best episodes. I remember watching Loves Labor Lost from season one back when it aired and knowing I was way too young to be watching a show this intense.

Like I figured, Damnation didn't make it past the first season, pity, it was solid, but I can see the slow pace putting people off. Bizarro Tom Hardy just can't catch a break yet, every time I see him, it's on a series that gets cancelled.

Finished up the new season of Peaky Blinders, still so damn good.

JK Simmons is superb in Counterpart, perfectly playing both ruthlessly cold blooded, and a meek office pushover. The two performances contrast amazingly, all the way down to mannerisms and the tone in which the two characters speak.

Logan Marshall Green is bizzaro Tom Hardy. LOL. I like the guy though, aside from getting saddled with the shit show Promethius, he's been in some solid films. My favorite of those being the extremely underrated The Invitation which for my money was one of the top movies of that year.

So just finished up season 2 of Leftovers...fucking loved it. Overall a more consistent season than the hit and miss variety of season 1. I thought it ended so damn beautifully and honestly they could have ended the series there and i'd be ok with it. So onto the third and final season we go.

Also been watching Waco. Awesome! LOVE Michael Shannon. The story of Waco was always a fascinating one to me growing up and seeing it play out on tv. Taylor Kitsch as David was actually a great choice. He nails it.

Also watched the first three episodes of 9-1-1 and it's quite enjoyable.  Cast is great and even though it's got Ryan Murphy's named attached to it, it doesn't really have his signature style on it...which is a good thing in this case.  Also it's already done well enough in the ratings to secure a S2 so at least having that horrible X-files reboot as a lead in hasn't hurt it that badly. 

Feb 3, 2018 0:42:52 GMT mikec said:

With ER finally on Hulu I’m taking a tour through some of the best episodes. I remember watching Loves Labor Lost from season one back when it aired and knowing I was way too young to be watching a show this intense.

I just caught an episode a few weeks back.  Shane Wests character was banging a young Kat Dennings...who was in middle school in the story.  That was one of Shane West's first character arcs. HAHA.  In fairness to his character, she looked way older and had a fake ID so it wasn't as scummy as it sounds and he broke it off with her when he found out but it was just an odd choice that one of his first big storylines is unknowingly committing statutory rape.  I will say though that I liked his character and I really liked where they eventually went with the story with him and Neela. 

I still prefer the lesser known John Wells creation Third Watch to ER though as a whole.  ER just went on to damn long.  Third Watch had a 6 season run and as a whole is easier to digest in binge watch form in comparison to ER.

Started Black Mirror, solid premises, and great casts...lack the oomph of stuff like Twilight Zone though, just a few episodes in, but they just kinda end. Entertaining one offs that don't really leave me with much of an afterthought.

Feb 3, 2018 23:34:00 GMT vendrell said:

Logan Marshall Green is bizzaro Tom Hardy. LOL. I like the guy though, aside from getting saddled with the shit show Promethius, he's been in some solid films. My favorite of those being the extremely underrated The Invitation which for my money was one of the top movies of that year.

So just finished up season 2 of Leftovers...fucking loved it. Overall a more consistent season than the hit and miss variety of season 1. I thought it ended so damn beautifully and honestly they could have ended the series there and i'd be ok with it. So onto the third and final season we go.

Also been watching Waco. Awesome! LOVE Michael Shannon. The story of Waco was always a fascinating one to me growing up and seeing it play out on tv. Taylor Kitsch as David was actually a great choice. He nails it.

Also watched the first three episodes of 9-1-1 and it's quite enjoyable.  Cast is great and even though it's got Ryan Murphy's named attached to it, it doesn't really have his signature style on it...which is a good thing in this case.  Also it's already done well enough in the ratings to secure a S2 so at least having that horrible X-files reboot as a lead in hasn't hurt it that badly. 

Leftovers Season 3 is even more consistent for me than season 2. Ends wonderfully.

I watched The Toys That Made Us, over the weekend... interesting little documentary series.