TC wrote: 31/05/23, 16:45:41 FUBAR - new arnold series on netflix. if you read the synopsis, you realize that on paper this sounds an awfully lot in the vein of true lies. you'd be right. it's a ridiculously over the top, tongue in cheek, self-referential, high action/family drama show. the thing is, it kind of works. similar to La Brea, which i've sang about here before, it knows exactly what it is and leans into it. it's silly, it's crazy, not at all realistic, but played entirely straight, and it just kind of works. starts slow and feels sort of stilted/tedious. your eyes will be sore from rolling them during the first episode. but either it settles in an gets better, or i surrendered to the rhythm of what the show was, but it started working for me almost immediately after that. again, it's goofy as fuck, but the humor fits and saves the show. i'd much rather see old arnie try stuff like this than try to pull off more "tough guy" stuff at his age (with the exception of King Conan, which should still absolutely be done so he can pass the mantle). it's trash TV and knows it. check it out.

s2 was more of the same, and i mean that in a good way. i thought it was quite entertaining. but, guess Netflix didn't agree, as the show has been canceled. so, you now have a two-and-done action comedy show you can check out if you like seeing Arnold's brand of fish-out-of-water humor.

TC wrote: 13/08/24, 16:47:35

TC wrote: 10/07/23, 08:29:31

wrapped season 2 over the weekend. man is this a great show. feels like it's really underrated. you should be watching this. so well written and well done all around. killer cast. even the mighty Pequod's Pizza gets a shout in this season. that ending was such a cliff hanger too! like fuck, we have to wait to see what happens now?? damn. love this show.

season 3 of The Bear was more of the same greatness for me. i saw a lot of people bitching that the show relies on gimmicks and shit like needle drops to carry it through, that it's not really a good show, it's an illusion, etc. i see that point of view, but i think you're missing the point - it's not about everyone developing as characters, and novel-era progression, it's about one guy of questionable mental health - who is therefore an unreliable narrator - trying to cope with not only who he's become but how what he does affects everyone around him. it's a fucking great show, and i thought this season, while more free-flowing and experimental-feeling, was at least as strong as the prior ones, just different (which was very welcome by me). don't believe the negativity.

whatever people thought of s3 should be erased with s4, which was fucking great. all the way around. feels like some of it was targeted at people that had issues with s3, but regardless, some very powerfully written episodes here, and the acting is off the charts. plenty of funny this season, but also plenty of heartbreaking moments. it's a really great show, believe the hype.

TC wrote: 04/04/25, 16:49:30 Squid Game - I thought I posted about s1 here, but can't find it, so maybe not? Anyway, s2 wasn't as good as s1 was, but was still pretty good. Curious to see where they go with this cash-grab extension. Done well enough to keep me hooked.

s3 was even worse. really fucking stupid. and the ending promises that it's only going to get more fucking dumb as it apparently moves to the US for some reason. they are going to milk this moment as long as they can, i guess. looks like the US version will star cate blanchett? weird.

TC wrote: 24/09/21, 13:30:57 Nine Perfect Strangers - wasn't sure where this was going so i haven't posted anything about it until it wrapped, but this was a really interesting show. essentially about a retreat using psychedelics as part of the treatment of various ailments. nicole kidman, michael shannon, bobby canavale, luke evans, regina hall, and melissa mccarthy in a not annoying role. stellar casting, well acted, and the last two episodes really change the pace of the show from "oh wow this is interesting" to "holy fuck, what the hell is happening" very quickly. stuck the landing, for the most part, though. recommended.

s2 of this show was really bonkers. really went for it in some ways, but some of the character plots were tiresome. i stuck in there, and the very ending seems to promise an extremely weird change of tone if it returns for s3. it was a big shrug of a season overall, even though i like the setting far better.

Going to go through a bunch more stuff, given my absence.

Mad Men - I never did watch this show when it was on and ran out of shit to watch, so figured I'd give it a shot. We ran through the entire run very quickly. Goddamn this show is great. I don't really get the ending, it kind of fell apart in the last few episodes for me, but fuck this was a great show. Hamm was fantastic as giant piece of shit Don Draper, and most of the supporting cast was great. I had no idea Elizabeth Moss was in this show. She was in nearly every episode. I know I'm late to the game, but it will likely be on any list of "Best TV Shows" you will see.

Gangs Of London - don't know how I missed this show when it came out. maybe I just felt overwhelmed with London gang shit, given how great Peaky Blinders was (is?). I don't know why I didn't watch it, but went back and watched the first two seasons (s3 isn't out over here yet) and godDAMN is this show great. starts out a bit shaky, but quickly finds its footing. cast includes GoT alum, Peaky alum, etc., so really great cast. extremely well acted, mostly. very well written. takes place in modern London. only gripe is that there seems to be absolutely zero police presence in London. fucking murders all the time, bombs blowing up, no police. although, maybe that reflects actual reality lol. anyway, great show. highly recommended.

Surface - thought I posted about s1 before, but can't find it. sort of a drama/mystery set up in s1 that ramps up to eleven in s2. it's pretty flimsy on the plot side, but the acting throughout is really good. it's entertaining, disposable TV. if you're looking for something interesting to watch while doing other things, throw this on and see how you feel about it. don't know if it will be a season 3, but i'd continue watching if it did.

Bad Thoughts - not really a "sketch show", more a collection of short films, some very thinly connected, from the mind of Tom Segura. some are more successful than others, but all them are funny. the ongoing arc of the video game developer (starting Robert Iler) is pretty goddamn hilarious. the giant dick gym is great too. and of course the Steven Seagal bit. i am happy for Tommy it seems to have worked, look forward to seeing what else he has in mind.

The Studio - was on the fence about watching this as i've kind of had enough of Rogan, but goddamn am i glad i did. this show is fucking great. it's a thousand miles an hour from day one and really dives into the "how movies get made" side of things. so fucking funny, and right in my wheelhouse. it ten brief episodes, it felt too short. i cannot wait for more of this show. some of the cameos are crazy. if you didn't check this out, you absolutely should. anyone as into movies as we are will love it.

Dept. Q - wasn't sure what this was going to be but heard good things so i checked it out. i really dug it! yes, another UK cop show, but very interesting lens presented here. it was really engaging filled with clever writing and some very dry, dark humor in parts. flew through it and hope it gets another season.

Your Friends And Neighbors - yes, another Jon Hamm-led show. yes, another very good show. ensemble cast fed this one, though. gave Hamm many different angles to bounce off of. the ending sets up more, which should be fun. i quite liked this, even though parts of it were pretty hard to believe. rich guy in financial trouble inadvertently becomes an art thief is a reductive way to describe this show, but accurate. check it out.

Mobland - Tom Hardy? Pierce Brosnan? Helen Mirren? and that's just the beginning of the recognizable faces in this cast. extremely well done show. Brosnan's absolutely over-the-top, whacked out character and performance absolutely eats scenery, and Hardy is exactly what you would expect from him, which is why anyone watched this show to begin with. it delivers. ending sets up a bonkers s2, which i hope it gets.

The Mortician - 3-party doc about, well, a mortician that is an absolute slimeball. you see his stories fall apart on camera when he felt like the mics were off. stop me when you've heard this before. anyway, some really crazy twists and turns in this story makes you unsure of where it's going, and it ends up being way bigger than you thought it was. you should watch it!

Murderbot - started pretty strong, got kind of tired by the end. the very end was extremely weird, not sure where this is going (it's apparently been renewed). parts of it were very funny, which i believe was the intent, and parts of it were very violent, which i welcomed. but at the end, i wanted it to be more in some way. can't really put my finger on it. it was fine, and it was very tight - keeping the episodes to 30 min was smart - so i'll continue, but not sure how they elevate this.

Untamed - eric bana vehicle, costars a chick from the oft-praised La Brea. another show that's ultimately about grief. they kept it tight at six episodes, and some of the twists you probably won't see coming (some you absolutely will), but i'll ultimately give it a "pro" here. i'd watch more, although i am pretty sure it was one and done. the setting of untamed Yosemite (while actually being filmed in BC) is the star here. just beautiful and sucks you right in. anyway, interesting twist on a detective show.

The Waterfront - i saw people saying this was the new Ozark, which was phenomenal, so i gave it a shot. couldn't make it past 10 minutes. it's fucking awful, with character writing that sub-daytime soap opera level. if any of you have seen this, somehow made it through, and can tell me it does inexplicably get good, i'll try again, but holy shit was what i saw bad. real fucking bad, and not in an enjoyable way, like the aforementioned La Brea.

many months of TV to get caught up on, again:

The Red King - limited series, heavily and shamelessly influenced by The Wicker Man. i expected to hate this, but was pleasantly surprised. it was really quite good. well done.

The Agency - political intrigue/spy action/drama. Fassbender rules. the show was very, very good. hope there will be more.

Smoke - egerton vehicle. pretty silly, predictable, but somehow still moderately enjoyable.

Wayward - i tend to love toni collette, so gave this a shot. it's interesting on paper, really not good in execution. suggest passing.

House Of Guinness - this was pretty great. sort of Succession vibes with touches of Peaky Blinders but with the Guinness family. period drama, great costuming/set design. hoping for more of this, not sure that's a thing that will happen.

Mr. Scorsese - this was a great docuseries. brought up parts of marty's history that i had no idea about. feels like he was very forthcoming, didn't hide anything/much. highly recommended if you are a fan.

Task - vehicle for retarded douche ruffalo that somehow manages to be pretty good. he is not, but the writing is, provided you can tolerate the fact that every story, main or side, is injected with preachy social virtue signaling. watch it if you have absolutely nothing else to watch.

The Lowdown - ethan hawke seems like a pretty chill dude most of the time, questionable motives sometimes, but i do like him. i mostly watched this for more keith david. was quite entertaining, if you can get past the ridiculous idea that every single person in the worst parts of tulsa is a beautiful, wonderful person that loves everyone and means no harm.

Death By Lightning - the story of james garfield, docudrama here. i was on the fence, but the absolutely stacked cast of killers got me. was not disappointed. very, very well done. recommend checking it out.

The Beast In Me - claire danes is scared and cries: the series. that being said, good well-written mystery/thriller, and even beyond her mannerisms, she is a great actress here. matthew rhys and jonathan banks are fucking great. i dug it.

Malice - david duchovny and carice van houten lead this show of 100% hateable, very stupid, very rich people. falls into the subgenre lead by The White Lotus, i guess. really stupid show.

The Chair Company - absolutely wild surreal comedy series that leans very heavily into the surreal. i flew through this, loved it, until the final episode, which felt very unnecessary as the show had already resolved. very odd. but man, lou diamond philips was a nice surprise here. really, this show will have you laughing and guessing the entire way. i was hesitant as i figured it was more hipster "comedy" bullshit, but it really is a surreal series. check it out.

The Last Frontier - "hey, it's that person": the series. taut, fairly well-written (until they start talking about "hacking") action/thriller series. toss it on if you're in the mood for that, it won't disappoint. even knoxville is somehow in this.

Down Cemetery Road - this is essentially the female-led version of the mighty Slow Horses, with a smaller lead cast. no surprise, as it's written by the same person. wasn't sure this would be for me, but boy was i wrong. not quite as good as Horses, but it's very good. quite enjoyable. hopefully they will have further on-screen adventures.

Pluribus - vince gilligan finally has a new show, starring rhea seahorn to boot. i was very hopeful of this show, went in with high hopes, and was rewarded. believe the hype on this. it's very chaotic, leaves you wondering what the end game is, but happy to report it's what we have come to know as typical vince gilligan tier sci-fi.

His & Hers - red herring: the series. i like bernthal, so checked this out. it's utter nonsense, but somehow kept me engaged enough to finish. marin ireland steals every scene she's in, if you coudn't see that coming by watching Sneaky Pete. other than that, this is quite a silly show.

The Seven Dials Mystery - aka Agatha Christie's Seven Dials. netflix dug up a female-led agatha christie story and put it on screen. was three episodes that felt like it should have just been two, or you know, a movie. but very clear by the end that they hope to continue making this an ongoing series with the same lead. speaking of which, mia mckenna-bruce looks like she's maybe 14. the character is supposed to be a college-aged young adult. it's quite unbelievable that she can possibly lead the further adventures hinted at. whatever. helena bonham carter and martin freeman are great, but this overly-long mystery just didn't do it for me. most of the characters are either incredibly stupid or have supernatural intelligence. full disclosure, i have't read the source material on this, so maybe that's true to it. don't know. but as much as i usually like films based on christie's works, this as a 3-part show didn't work for me.

Steal - sophie turner vehicle about a cyber heist gone wrong. she's fine in it, jacob fortune-lloyd does a lot with what he was given, peter mullen is fantastic in the scene he's in, but as interesting as this starts, by the midpoint it starts feeling very convoluted and then just kind of falls apart at the end for me. if you like shows about social justice hacktivism sprinkled with casual murder and involvement at the highest levels of (english) government, this is for you i guess.

Free Bert - i expected to hate this. and as is very evident from his first scene, bert cannot act. however, he surrounds himself with people who can, and writers who are smart. this show was actually very funny, kind of in spite of him. it's disposable comedy, not generational, but it works for what it is. easily digestible. check it out and decide for yourself.

TC wrote: 14/11/23, 13:44:40

TC wrote: 18/03/22, 14:57:09

well, we did get a season 2, it dropped last week, and it started immediately following the events of s1. easy binge watch as it's 7 episodes of around 30 min/ea. it's a really good show. amazing how much the lead guy looks like tom cruise. i recommend the show. don't know if s2 was as good as s1, but they set up a nice s3. i hope they get it.

binged s3 over the last couple days. as with before, easy run-through as most episodes are around 30 min. it frequently enters eye-roll territory with the cutesy shtick, but then deftly handles deadpan, straight-man humor in the next scene. so yeah, pretty much the same show it's been for two seasons. felt like less meandering this season. in fact, the jump made between episodes 6 and 7 made me wonder if somehow there was an episode 6.5 that we skipped. but just decided that it really doesn't matter, let's just ride with this and see where it goes. lots of head exploding this season, which was fun. wasn't as funny as it clearly thought it was, but still amusing. if you cared at all about the first two seasons, i'm sure you'll watch this and feel the same. nothing new, but a decent continuation. apparently setting up a season 4, don't know if they'll get it.

finished the abbreviated season 4. feels like they really didn't know where this was going or how to wrap it up, so the just threw this together. still fine, nothing great, but at least they got an ending i guess. shrug. i still contend this was a good concept and it does manage to be mostly funny.

TC wrote: 12/09/23, 11:29:41 Twisted Metal - caveat up front: i didn't play the game so can't comment on that. but saw the cast for this and trailer that looked nuts so checked it out with low expectations. was very pleasantly surprised. a couple folks from Brooklyn 99 here as well as Falcon in the lead makes this quite amusing. Sweet Tooth is fantastic. the last episode is pure chaos, and as i understand it, pretty much like the game. some goofy moments throughout (meaning, unintentional goofy moments) but buttressed by some wild kill scenes and pure gallows humor. recommended for a quick, entertaining, throw-away viewing.

season 2 was more of the same. it's ridiculous, over the top, and knows what it is. i'll keep watching as long as they keep making it. that being said, started to feel like Beatriz was mailing this in. not sure she really wants to do this anymore.

TC wrote: 16/09/23, 08:30:07

TC wrote: 22/11/21, 11:33:41 Foundation - watched the first 6 episodes of this then took a long break to watch other things. it was just soooooo slow, sooooo full of setup with really not much happening. i have not read the source material, but reading the reviews online from people that worship the source material, seems some very extreme changes were made that are antithetical to the entire point of the source material. that being said, i did eventually come back to it and finished s1. the last few episodes paid off some of the extensive setup and building of the first few pretty nicely. don't know if it's getting a season 2, but i assume the rights were expensive and the production of this was very expensive, so i have to assume it will. without spoilers, i'll just say that a lot of the characters we were introduced to in the first half and a ton of time spent with them were ultimately non-consequential in the back half, making the first half seem even more draggy than it needed to be. it's like the first half wants to be star trek without any pesky action and very few characters you actually give a shit about, and the second half wants to be star wars. very kind of odd show. again i'll say they seemed to find their footing in the last few episodes, which were by far much more effective than the prior episodes, but i don't know that i can recommend this show to anyone that doesn't know the source material. and again, even so - it seems the show really betrays the source material, so i'm not sure who this show is for. shrug.

Ok, so season two of Foundation was fantastic! All that setup paid off with in a ton of ways. Yes, there are obvious Dune rip-offs that Isaac took, but he’s not alone in that, and once again, I have not read the source material so I’m assuming what is on screen here is in the books, but even so, it’s forgivable as the elements taken are kind of core space travel/sci-fi tropes at this point and I’ll go ahead and assume necessary for space travel in some capacity. Anyway, s2 really made me want to go back and re-watch s1, as I assume a lot of the setup would now make more sense. I plowed through s2 in just a few days and was wanting to keep watching the next episode. This is top-tier hard sci-fi for anyone into it. My advice - if you start s1 and find it to be slow and slogging, maybe even a bit of a chore, stick with it as s2 is great. Now I really can’t wait for s3. Huge setups here, and it certainly seems like s3 will wrap things up, even though it certainly wouldn’t have to. I could see these arcs going for maybe 5 seasons if they wanted to and took their time. So yeah, please watch so we continue to get great world building that pays off. Recommended!

goddamn s3 was great. the show keeps getting better, somehow. massive stakes, Day being stoned for a lot of it, fantastic acting all around, all of that made for an excellent season. if nothing i said above has gotten you to watch it, nothing i say now will, but i'm here to tell you it has yet to level or drop off. keeps climbing. great stuff!

TC wrote: 12/07/23, 07:48:52 Platonic - pretty amusing show. the finale was underwhelming. felt like yet another show that didn't have any kind of ending in mind. but hey, maybe they get a second season. anyway, it was amusing and worth the watch if you are in the mood for a comedy.

i was correct. s2 was very fun and funny. rose byrne continues to be fucking fantastic in just about everything. seth rogan is essentially himself, i assume. the acid at the wedding was great. really, this is a fun, funny show that you won't remember and it doesn't matter if you don't. it's funny. watch it.

TC wrote: 05/10/22, 14:16:59

TC wrote: 27/09/22, 18:27:25

I should also add that Jennifer Lynch directs a huge chunk of the episodes, and it shows. Those are stylistically and noticeably superior to the others. Check it out. Oh, and buy a bunch of orange soda first, as it is heavily featured in this show to the point of wondering if it is a sponsor (along with AB for excessive Budweiser consumption). You’ll be craving one, the other, or both by the end.

i'm now becoming very annoyed with this show because of people's reactions to it. i feel like i'm witnessing history being re-written in real time. people think this was a documentary. no one bothers to go look up what really happened, they just watch this and boom, now that's history of what really happened. the sassy, know-it-all, hero neighbor? didn't exist. the scene with him offering the sandwich to the non-existent neighbor? didn't happen. the cops doing the prank phone calls to the laotian family? never happened. et cetera. i mean holy fuck people, relax. like we need more fuel thrown on the race fire right now. goddamn people are stupid.

talk about more shit that didn't happen, i watched the latest season about Ed Gein. holy shit was that just massively exploitative with zero substance. murphy at the peak of his poorly-used powers. oof is this a shit fest. wow. believe the anti-hype on this season. really stupid, as the truth is actually fascinating and would have made for a fine season. this however is what would happen if a teen karen obsessed with serial killers took mushrooms and skimmed fifteen books about them, then wrote her take-aways. complete waste of charlie hunnam and laurie metcalf's abilities.

TC wrote: 21/02/22, 09:20:48

TC wrote: 31/01/22, 07:20:57 Peacemaker - four episodes into this. gone is the tongue-in-cheek humor of The Suicide Squad, which i quite liked. it's been replaced with massively shoe-horned woke-ism every step of the way. cramming nearly every conceivable social issue into this show seems to be the goal. i'm blown away we haven't been lectured on trans-gender children, CRT, or voting laws yet. while i like gunn's stuff typically, this feels like it was taken over by people that are incapable of executing his more subtle humor and satire and replaced with the writers of far-left leaning blog sites. it's ultimately just disappointing, given the potential here. still watching as there are moments of humor and some great violent scenes, but it's approaching that line of just being so irritating i bail, like SNL of the last five years or so. ironically, what they're showing is in contrast to what they're saying - the black characters in the show are the ones who are deceitful, lying, manipulative, and two-faced. they spent several minutes of one episode furthering the myth that Louis CK exposed himself to random people. i just don't understand who this show is for. sad.

watched the last couple of s1 of this and am left with the same confusion. it's an entertaining show, some great humor and great kills. then randomly out of nowhere comes a super-woke comment, aside, or speech. gunn clearly has an appreciation for the type of humor that gets people canceled, given his past troubles on twitter, so seeing him buy so completely into a woke agenda is disorienting. then, seemingly conversely,

someone makes a big speech about climate change and how we're destroying the earth, and they get shot in the face.

so again, tone is oddly all over the place and not sure what this show is trying to accomplish with the speechy agenda moments. thankfully, they're few and far between in the back half of the season. also, the final episode cameos were pretty great. that was unexpected and well done with what they had. i guess there's going to be another season, so we'll see where that goes. also, cheers to gunn and holland on their engagement.

s2 was more fish-out-of-water, but the meta-verse-ness of it made for some pretty great humor. i actually found it funnier than the first season, and more violent. both of those are good things. we were trucking right along nicely, enjoying it, then of course the big left (pun intended) turn in the back half of the season rips the rug out of the enjoyment. just ham-handed horse shit here. the goofiness, violence, and awkwardness are all great. the shoe-horning of social issues is not. make of it what you will.

TC wrote: 12/01/24, 16:55:41 Gen V - this sister show of The Boys was way better than i expected it to be after watching the trailer. it has some wildly outrageous scenes, just like the main show, and does the tone of the main show proud. also, the ending ties directly into what i assume will be a major plot point for the next season of The Boys. yeah, there is some woke shit here, but it's not remotely preachy, outside of one or two brief scenes. if you like The Boys, you will like this. recommended.

season 2 was even more enjoyable, actually. other than the times when starlight showed up. her entire side quest felt very obligatory and added-on. but hey, gotten squeeze in some preaching/propaganda somehow i guess. some excellent gore/kills, great comedy, solidly-driven main storyline that essentially resolves... good stuff. don't know if there will be another season, but guessing maybe one more? who knows. i know the main show is plowing toward a conclusion.

TC wrote: 31/10/23, 09:46:33

TC wrote: 11/12/21, 10:54:03

Yeah, this went pretty well. I understand it got picked up for a second season, and the way s1 went, it is deserving. Pretty cool show, quite enjoyed.

we wrapped s2 last week. again, it was really good. there were some things i could have done without that felt a bit thin, but for the most part everything that happens builds to a worthy apex. very clearly setting up s3, which should be pretty fucking wild. love the design and construct of the "alien network", new aliens, the "portal" thing, etc. - not saying too much to avoid spoilers here. definitely do recommend checking out this show. it starts as a slow burn, and parts of s2 are a bit slow burn, but necessary to set up the payoffs. it's well done, will be curious to see how s3 goes. have to imagine it will be a 3-and-done show, which is a good thing in this case.

yep, s3 was in fact really good. mostly. some very dumb shit happens, but still pretty good sci fi/action/thriller here. not top tier, but pretty good, and the visual designs are very good. the warring groups of people are really, really stupid and felt forced. not sure we even needed that side story here at all. the pieces that moved the main plot forward could have been handled differently. but, that's what they wanted to do i guess. nothing so offensive as i would recommend to not watch, just characters being very, very stupid at times.

TC wrote: 27/12/24, 10:41:22

TC wrote: 12/01/24, 16:55:41 Slow Horses - season 3 was just as brief as the prior two, clocking in a six episodes, which is the bad news. the good news is, this season was fucking fantastic, just like previous seasons. this is the most under-the-radar show currently airing. if you haven't watched this, you are missing out. i love this show so much. in a novel move, the end of the final episode shows the trailer for the upcoming season, which looks to be totally complete. not sure what they're waiting for, but looks like it's dropping maybe mid-year? i can't fucking wait. watching this show makes me want to seek out the books. after doing some research, it looks like each season maps directly to one book. there are currently eight novels and four novellas, so here's hoping this show gets to do all of them. gary oldman appears to be in his natural element here and is a national treasure. watch this show.

Slow Horses s4 was - for the fourth time in a row - fucking fantastic. this is probably my favorite show currently airing. once again a way-too-brief six episodes, and once again an extended teaser at the end for s5. watching the bonus materials, sounds like there is no danger of them not continuing to map a season-per-book route to the future, so we should have at least nine seasons here, barring something unforeseen, which is fantastic news for everyone. if you for some reason haven't watched this show yet, stop fucking up and do so immediately.

s5 was more of the same from top-tier TV Slow Horses. by that i mean absolutely fantastic casting, acting, writing, directing, etc. really, everything here is fucking great. my one complaint remains that the seasons are way too short. but perhaps that the reason it's so great - no time to fuck up with useless elements or side stories. just pedal to the metal from minute one. crazy that i don't hear more people talking about this show. i don't get it.

TC wrote: 14/11/23, 13:39:46

TC wrote: 22/11/21, 11:27:41
finished s2. ended stronger than it started. again, not essential by any stretch, but a really well done show. with all the hot-button issues taking place in this show, they somehow managed to not really be overly political or preachy. pretty deft accomplishment, really.

binged all of s3 over the weekend. found that i liked it more than the prior season. it just worked way better for me having the Steve Carell saga behind them, for the most part. also, feels like there is way less Jennifer Aniston this season, at least the first 3/4 of it. Hamm plays his role pitch-perfect. of course, they couldn't resist injecting pure narrative propaganda into this season, but thankfully mostly only in one episode in the middle of the season. if you can ignore/get past that, and the idea that any news people left in a major media company have an ounce of ethics, let alone enough to make them turn in the love of their life, it really is a great show. very well done.

s4 went full retard, with witherspoon spending most of the season in a foreign prison. the show got very, very stupid very quickly. still high drama and entertaining, but man did it get quite dumb. jeremy irons plays the foil for the social justice crowd, AI takes a front seat as a plot element, both of which play out as you would expect from this show. marion cotillard and billy crudup are standouts here, felt like cotillard's storyline should have been more present as her skills are kind of wasted, and that would have been far more interesting than the "reese witherspoon suffers in jail" maguffin. but, i do realize who produces the show, so i guess that's to be expected. they really need to up their game if they're going to bother to continue this show.

TC wrote: 27/12/24, 10:30:56 Tulsa King - another Taylor Sheridan production, this time as a Sly Stallone vehicle. i waited a long time to engage with this as it seems silly on the surface. well, it was silly, but in a pretty enjoyable way. at its core, it's the plot of Lilyhammer and sort of a mob show send up. great surrounding cast, with the likes of Domenick Lombardozzi (from The Wire), Dana Delany, Neal McDonough, Martin Starr, and others. it's part comedy, part comedic violence, part cartoon, and all pretty damn amusing. i guess it's coming back for s3, to the likely surprise of everyone involved. Stallone as the well-aware-of-his-age mid-70s mobster who somehow immediately "takes over" Tulsa after being exiled there is funny (sometimes intentionally, sometimes not), but the show could ease up on the "fish out of water" scenes. it gets pretty old. anyway, check it out and see if you can get into the tone. if so, it's an amusing past time.

here's another show that went full retard for the latest season. seems like they were smelling their own shit and loved it, so we get a 100% fully cartoon version of the already cartoony show. it's seriously the stupidest shit from what was already a very dumb show. this time, we also get brief shoehorned-in appearance from samuel l. jackson for the sole purpose of setting up his own spin-off show, which will likely also be very stupid. seriously everything that made the show enjoyable is pretty much gone in this season as sly's character basically becomes godfather rambo. so, so dumb and was a struggle to get through.

TC wrote: 13/08/24, 17:02:47 Mayor Of Kingstown - had heard this show was good but never watched it, and i was curious to see the first thing Jeremy Renner did after his horrific accident (which was season 3 of this show), so i went back and started watching from the beginning. wasn't really expecting to like it, but goddamn does this show suck you in. it could also be called any number of things, like "Jeremy Renner Drives 100mph Through The City While Smoking", or "Jeremy Renner Says Fuck", or "Jeremy Renner: I'll Be Right There", or "Jeremy Renner: I'll Fix It", etc. you almost always see him driving a million miles an hour through the city, usually while on the phone yelling at someone and smoking, or arriving at a crime scene only to have his phone ring, him yell a bunch then say "I'll be right there" and drive back across town at breakneck speed. it's pretty funny once you see the patterns. regardless, this is a really good, gritty, Detroit-area crime show. season 3 just ended, and while you can tell he is a little bit hurt early on as his gait has changed slightly, you forget all about it pretty quickly. amazing that he recovered the way he has. didn't miss a beat here, that's for sure. don't know how ready he is to be dragged by cables across the sky, but for this, he nailed it hard. very much recommend this show. with the way this season ended, s4 should be a doozy.

more of the same for s4, except he no longer smokes. guess he quit between seasons? they only mention it once, halfway through. weird. anyway, s4 was indeed a major banger of a season. renner very much back in full form. the season flew by. by the time it got to the end that you definitely saw coming and wanted, it felt like there should have been more to come. but nope, the ending of the arc aligned with the ending of the season. don't know if they are getting another one, but i'm here for this show as long as they keep making it. we probably could have done with more time spent on edie falco's storyline, seeing the back story of what exactly was going on with her. felt like they were going to do that, then completely bailed as someone must have noticed they were going to run out of time if they did, so her backstory just kind of stops being shown. felt like the writers room must have been going, "the audience is smart, they'll fill in the blanks". which, sure, but if you're going to bail, you could have removed it completely and spent that time focusing on any number of other storylines. whatever, not complaining too much, it's a very good show. underrated if you ask me.

TC wrote: 04/04/25, 16:49:30 Landman - Billy Bob carries this show about the world of oil drilling, both from the board-level intrigue/backstabbing, and from the field worker/backstabbing perspective. Didn't expect to like it as much as I did. Also, the return of Ali Larter and her boobs. Quite recommended, on all fronts.

wasn't sure where they were going to go with s2, but it's actually slightly sillier/more over the top, and the show is better for it. sam elliott joins the cast this season, and rules as you would expect. every episode of this show had at least one LOL moment for me, usually more. honestly, i think it's the funniest show on at the moment. obviously some very serious elements and beats that are far from funny, but they get handled well and quickly. even Billy Bob's Tommy sums up the show perfectly: "My life is one big tragic cartoon." yes it is, and i'm here for it. the show does not take itself too seriously...well, let me rephrase - it takes itself just the right amount of seriously, and understands the funny beats, taking full advantage of them. i hate saying it but the most distracting thing this season was demi moore. her mouth is fucking tragic. whatever they did to her face is so sad. don't know why she started in with the plastic surgery, but at this point, there has to be a way to reverse the terrible damage that was done to her, right? at least make it less glaring and jarring. anyway, great show. i keep expecting to hate it, but it always surprises.