TV Show Discussion

[TheFlyingGerbil]

Who won in the fight? 

 

Also, I need to give Rick and Morty another try - I couldn't get in to it when I first gave it a go but it maybe got better as it went on as I don't remember everyone being so overwhelmingly positive when it started out.

[Mister Jack]

I just watched all six of the currently available episodes for Amazon's version of The Tick.  I like this franchise in general.  The comics are really funny, I remember liking the old cartoon, and I even bought the short-lived Warburton series on DVD.  This new version is an interesting departure from the norm.  It is still a comedy, but it feels like they're trying to take it more seriously, probably as a result of the popularity of the Marvel and DC movies and tv shows.  Tick himself is still a complete buffoon without a doubt, and is the closest to his original version. Unsurprisingly, he's also the funniest.  Arthur is still the straight man, but the show seems to put more focus on the negative impact the superhero business is having on his life and his relationships.  

 

Spoiler

Unlike previous versions, Arthur has no interest or desire to actually be a hero.  He's a conspiracy theorist trying to find proof that the supervillain who killed his father, a villain everyone thinks is dead, is actually still alive.  Tick forces him into the hero life by stealing the moth suit (which is a lot more high-tech than previous versions) from a villain group and giving it to Arthur because he believes DESTINY IS CALLING COLLECT AND ARTHUR MUST ACCEPT THE CHARGES.  Of course, bringing the suit to Arthur's apartment means putting a giant bulls-eye on his back, which gets him tangled up in a huge mess.

 

There aren't many other comic characters so far, but I like the new original heroes and villains they've come up with.  Ultimately, the biggest difference between this version and previous versions is that while before, The Tick was one part of a crazy world full of loonies.  Here, the world is treated fairly realistically outside of the presence of heroes and villains, but The Tick himself is just as goofy and invulnerable as ever.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

Is it an improvement over the pilot from a while back? I think I remember being disappointed by that as I like Peter Serafinowicz

[Mister Jack]

I'm not sure what you didn't like, but I thought it was decent. It is an Amazon show so it's important to keep your expectations realistic, but I enjoyed it. It definitely improved after they introduced the edgy Punisher parody.

[Zeo-Gold92]

On 27/08/2017 at 10:09 PM, TheFlyingGerbil said:

Who won in the fight? 

 

Also, I need to give Rick and Morty another try - I couldn't get in to it when I first gave it a go but it maybe got better as it went on as I don't remember everyone being so overwhelmingly positive when it started out.

I was a bit like that when it was first airing, I think the reason I couldn't get into it entirely was I tend to lose my focus and interest in shows when I'm waiting week to week or whatever the wait may be. It wasn't till I went back and bought the first season that I absolutely loved it. I blitzed through it so quick. Recently I finished a run through for the original Twin Peaks, I enjoyed it but did find season 2 after a certain point a bit of a trial to get through. Will be jumping on the revival soon, also gotta get back to Fringe and Preacher too xD.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

I watched the first season of Fringe, bought the second but never watched it. Not sure why as I enjoyed it, I think it started getting to conspiracy-laden by the end of the season? A bit like what happened with X-files - it was more enjoyable when it was just investigating one off strange phenomena so I didn't want to go down that rabbit hole. It's a distant memory though now so may give it another try.

I'm watching Preacher at the moment, halfway through the first season and can't decide if I'm enjoying it or not.

[deanb]

Rick & Morty starts off as a bit of a parody of sorts on existing sci-fi, which has dropped a lot since as it became its own thing and I'm not sure if I'd like it to go back to some of the earlier parodying tropes. It was somewhat inventive with some of them (e.g Inception meets Nightmare on Elm Street).

 

As for Fringe it's worth watching just for the fan service of the final series. Always good when shows get to know ahead of time that they're ending.

Jon Noble is great. Though if you're only into series 1, which he's good in anyway, I can't really expand on that too much. (and the above clip btw doesn't really give anything away, especially lacking context).

 

Also it has Lance Reddick in it.

 

 

Preacher S2 its great. And I totally have a new episode to watch today. Sweet.

 

[Hot Heart]

I finished the new version of The Tick on Amazon. It's pretty good. There's no real individual structure to the episodes (more like a comic book in that way) and it doesn't really cover a lot of ground in terms of plot, but it does a great job of establishing the world and characters and the hero's "call to action". Serafinowicz is a fine Tick, Griffin Newman works really well as Arthur and a lot of the side characters are played well (Ramses, Ms. Lint). It's even got Buzz from the Home Alone films.

 

Also, the dialogue with the flow of it and the little throwaway jokes is really good, too. Which you might expect from writers who worked on Firefly (Edlund and Molina). Or there's just simple stuff like a villain attacking The Tick unsuccessfully:

"Why won't you die?!"
"I... don't... wanna..."

[TCP]

Twin Peaks: The Return (massive spoilers)

Spoiler

 

Episode 17 was everything I wanted it to be. I figured, oh Laura got sucked into the lodge to age her up. Just enough time to bring her back to Twin Peaks, take on Sarah/Judy, and figure out what the fuck is going on with Audrey. Nope. Lynch had to make this message about how Laura and Twin Peaks should have stayed dead. "Oh you're invested in this scifi story after 17 hours? Well fuck you, nerd." 

As a set up to season 4 I have 0 problem with episode 18. But as a series finale, it's a punch in the gut. 

 

 

[toxicitizen]

2 hours ago, The Cowboy Poet in English said:

Twin Peaks: The Return (massive spoilers)

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Episode 17 was everything I wanted it to be. I figured, oh Laura got sucked into the lodge to age her up. Just enough time to bring her back to Twin Peaks, take on Sarah/Judy, and figure out what the fuck is going on with Audrey. Nope. Lynch had to make this message about how Laura and Twin Peaks should have stayed dead. "Oh you're invested in this scifi story after 17 hours? Well fuck you, nerd." 

As a set up to season 4 I have 0 problem with episode 18. But as a series finale, it's a punch in the gut. 

 

 

 

 

"It was great watching the first episode of season 4" is the most generous take on episode 18, I think. As a setup for what happens next, I'm with you, I have no problems with it. The thing is it can work as a setup for more, but it can also work as a series finale that's unsatisfying on the surface while being pretty sound thematically.

So here's my take on it. Going back to Fire Walk With Me, it really stuck with me how Phillip Jeffries says something along the lines of "We're living in a dream" because, while it can be ignored as the raving nonsense of a clearly deranged man, the implication is actually pretty damn creepy. IIRC, that line was reiterated at one point during season 3 and again during the finale. That tells me it's pretty important.

So, episode 17. Everyone gathers in the Twin Peaks sheriff station and BOB is defeated by fucking One Punch Man, a literal superhero. Then, Cooper goes back in time to fucking save Laura Palmer. I can't help but be reminded of the Tanker Chapter in MGS2. It's everything you want. It's the perfect happy ending to Twin Peaks. That's when Lynch pulls the rug from under you, which is where I felt there was a bait and switch.

Here's where it gets a bit weird. Throughout a large portion of the sequence in the sheriff station, Cooper's expressionless face is superimposed on the entire thing and at one point he actually repeats the "We're living in a dream" line. His blank expression was almost identical to when he was sitting in the red room. Then episode 18 starts and we get a repeat of the scene when he exits, only this time there's no Dougie or Mr. C to fuck with the process. I can't remember any specifically off the top of my head but IIRC there have been hints that Cooper might be the dreamer. So basically the entirety of season 3 never happened? Who the fuck knows.

The next part is mostly my own interpretation and theory. Cooper finds himself back in the "real world" where he's actually Richard, not Dale Cooper . But there's some residual Cooper left in his mind, so he still thinks that's who he is. I feel like the diner scene reinforces the idea of being back in the "real world" or non-dream world because the tone shifts pretty abruptly. Cooper violently takes out 3 dudes in a way that's almost reminiscent of Mr. C. Because they're not separate entities here. They're just different parts of the same person, Richard. 

Then they get to the Palmer house and the women that answers the door just feels completely off. At this point I was already committed to my theory so my first thought was "Her delivery's just awful. That's not an actress and that's 100% deliberate." Well, guess what. That lady is the actual current owner of the Palmer house!

I've read some other theories about how Cooper basically fucked with the timeline by trying to save Laura and some people even think the inhabitants of the Black Lodge played a part in it. I don't think my theory is necessarily better or right but that's the impression I got from the whole thing. I'm sure there's plenty of evidence both for and against that I missed entirely, anyway. The only thing that still bugs me is the very end. "What year is this?" and the scream that ends the universe.

 

Edited September 4, 2017 by FLD

[Mr. GOH!]

The Vindicators episode is the weakest of a great season of Rick and Morty, so far. Pickle Rick was one of the series' best episodes.

[toxicitizen]

Did you forget about the Mad Max episode or was that just a bad fever dream I had?

[deanb]

Oh yeah Rick & Morty: 

So here's me on Monday night all "so there's no Game of Thrones today, but at least I can watch Rick & Morty". Only for Americans to think they're allowed some kind of holiday off making TV for a week. Like...what does "Labour" even mean to you guys. "sit around all day not doing any work". What the hell.

 

I had to read a book!!

[TCP]

On 9/4/2017 at 11:24 AM, FLD said:

 

  Hide contents

"It was great watching the first episode of season 4" is the most generous take on episode 18, I think. As a setup for what happens next, I'm with you, I have no problems with it. The thing is it can work as a setup for more, but it can also work as a series finale that's unsatisfying on the surface while being pretty sound thematically.

So here's my take on it. Going back to Fire Walk With Me, it really stuck with me how Phillip Jeffries says something along the lines of "We're living in a dream" because, while it can be ignored as the raving nonsense of a clearly deranged man, the implication is actually pretty damn creepy. IIRC, that line was reiterated at one point during season 3 and again during the finale. That tells me it's pretty important.

So, episode 17. Everyone gathers in the Twin Peaks sheriff station and BOB is defeated by fucking One Punch Man, a literal superhero. Then, Cooper goes back in time to fucking save Laura Palmer. I can't help but be reminded of the Tanker Chapter in MGS2. It's everything you want. It's the perfect happy ending to Twin Peaks. That's when Lynch pulls the rug from under you, which is where I felt there was a bait and switch.

Here's where it gets a bit weird. Throughout a large portion of the sequence in the sheriff station, Cooper's expressionless face is superimposed on the entire thing and at one point he actually repeats the "We're living in a dream" line. His blank expression was almost identical to when he was sitting in the red room. Then episode 18 starts and we get a repeat of the scene when he exits, only this time there's no Dougie or Mr. C to fuck with the process. I can't remember any specifically off the top of my head but IIRC there have been hints that Cooper might be the dreamer. So basically the entirety of season 3 never happened? Who the fuck knows.

The next part is mostly my own interpretation and theory. Cooper finds himself back in the "real world" where he's actually Richard, not Dale Cooper . But there's some residual Cooper left in his mind, so he still thinks that's who he is. I feel like the diner scene reinforces the idea of being back in the "real world" or non-dream world because the tone shifts pretty abruptly. Cooper violently takes out 3 dudes in a way that's almost reminiscent of Mr. C. Because they're not separate entities here. They're just different parts of the same person, Richard. 

Then they get to the Palmer house and the women that answers the door just feels completely off. At this point I was already committed to my theory so my first thought was "Her delivery's just awful. That's not an actress and that's 100% deliberate." Well, guess what. That lady is the actual current owner of the Palmer house!

I've read some other theories about how Cooper basically fucked with the timeline by trying to save Laura and some people even think the inhabitants of the Black Lodge played a part in it. I don't think my theory is necessarily better or right but that's the impression I got from the whole thing. I'm sure there's plenty of evidence both for and against that I missed entirely, anyway. The only thing that still bugs me is the very end. "What year is this?" and the scream that ends the universe.

 

 

Yeah I'm inclined to believe your theory over time travel non-sense. The more time I've had to process it, the more I'm OK with the ending.

[Mister Jack]

I just finished binging on season 4 of Bojack Horseman. 

 

Spoiler

Damn, this season probably hits even harder than the last one, especially with the stuff involving Bojack's mother.  I never thought I'd sympathize with such a terrible mother but holy shit her backstory is horrific.  Despite how dark it gets, possibly darker than any season before, it still has enough levity in hope in it to not let the heavy moments be too overbearing. I finished episode 12 feeling pretty good.

 

Still my favorite Netflix show, and one of my favorite shows currently airing on tv period. Also still the show with the most realistic portrayal of depression, despite being a show about talking animal people.

[toxicitizen]

On 9/6/2017 at 1:13 AM, The Cowboy Poet in English said:

 

Yeah I'm inclined to believe your theory over time travel non-sense. The more time I've had to process it, the more I'm OK with the ending.

 

Honestly, I don't even know what the fuck I believe anymore. At this point I've read maybe half a dozen theories, some of which are either more interesting or account for more things than mine. Bonus points if they don't invalidate the series' entire mythology lol.

 

Just finished reading this one and it's my favorite by far. As far as I can tell, it accounts for pretty much every little detail. So far I've remained unconvinced due to how these theories are mostly 100% interpretation with very little obvious evidence to support the claims. But this one has me almost convinced. This one actually makes me okay with not getting a season 4.

[TCP]

 

5 hours ago, FLD said:

 

Honestly, I don't even know what the fuck I believe anymore. At this point I've read maybe half a dozen theories, some of which are either more interesting or account for more things than mine. Bonus points if they don't invalidate the series' entire mythology lol.

 

Just finished reading this one and it's my favorite by far. As far as I can tell, it accounts for pretty much every little detail. So far I've remained unconvinced due to how these theories are mostly 100% interpretation with very little obvious evidence to support the claims. But this one has me almost convinced. This one actually makes me okay with not getting a season 4.

Fuck that's so good. That erases all my disappointment with the finale so I'm going to just choose to believe that was what Lynch decided to do. Thanks for sharing FLD. 

[Mister Jack]

I know I've had my reservations about season 3 of Rick and Morty, but that last episode was easily the best one so far.  No bullshit drama with Beth, Jerry, or Summer.  In fact, no Beth, Jerry, or Summer at all.  Just RICK AND MORTY A HUNDRED YEARS RICK AND MORTY FOREVER AND EVER A HUNDRED TIMES RICK AND MORTY!

 

Spoiler

And Evil Morty!

 

[deanb]

I knew it was coming, but still pretty pleased.

[deanb]

Oh yeah, it's currently the 25th anniversary of Batman TAS

 

Almost Got Him is a pretty dang fun episode.

"I threw a rock at him!"

[TheMightyEthan]

Greatest show in TV history.

[Mr. GOH!]

Yes, Deadwood was indeed the greatest TV show ever.

[Mr. GOH!]

The Ricklantis Mixup was some goddamned brilliant television. Rick and Morty continues to impress me with its central cohesion amidst zany chaos. 

 

Also, the new season of BoJack Horseman is phenomenal, at least through episode 7.

[Mister Jack]

2 hours ago, Mr. GOH! said:

The Ricklantis Mixup was some goddamned brilliant television. Rick and Morty continues to impress me with its central cohesion amidst zany chaos. 

 

Also, the new season of BoJack Horseman is phenomenal, at least through episode 7.

 

Have you not watched the rest of it yet or did you not like 8-12 for some reason?  Because I thought the last few episodes of Bojack were incredible.

[Mr. GOH!]

Just haven't wretched them yet. My wife also loves bojack but she won't watch more than three episodes a day, so I didn't binge them all over the weekend.