What are you watching and enjoying?

[You Know Who]

Shaka Zulu

[dc20willsave]

I just finished Season 1 of Mr. Robot. This might be one of the best series I have seen in recent history. The first season is only 10 episodes long, there are only a couple of plot holes I can think of, definitely worth your time. Oh, it's also all streaming on Amazon Prime.

Also, for the record, go in without knowing anything. You won't regret it.

[Dan]

Stranger Things: What if 1983 Steven Spielberg directed a TV miniseries based on a Stephen King novel? This is pretty terrific. It took a couple of episodes to reel me in, but once it did, I really enjoyed it. It's scary how accurately it gets the look and feel of mid-80s event miniseries like V or It; what's scarier is that it does so without relying on the soundtrack or obvious fashion disasters. The setting, the editing style, even the film stock and choice of credit font do all the work. But what's really remarkable is that after an episode or two, you stop noticing that and just pay attention to the story. The actress playing the young girl is doing a hell of a job with a difficult character, and I can tell you that they have mid-80s tweenage nerds pretty much dead on.

Also, the opening credits are the dictionary definition of literal perfection.

[Donomark]

Meant to post this earlier, but I gained the Complete Series of Rocko's Modern Life. It's a show that holds up pretty well, mainly in its third and fourth seasons. The random use of sound effects really make it timelessly funny.

[Stavros]

Been throwing on random DS9's a lot lately. It's the little things I'm starting to appreciate now. Like in the episode Facets, I never thought much of Jake but there was a great shot of him reacting as Nog walks away, he raises an eyebrow and rocks on his heels exactly like his dad does. It's such a nice subtle touch. The episode is littered with little cues related to Dax that her past hosts gave her, but it's nice to see that theme echoed in unrelated scenes.

Edited July 27, 2016 by Stavros

[You Know Who]

Penny Dreadful, Season 1 - Not as much as I hoped I would. The Frankenstein, Vanessa, and Ethan story lines are good on their own, but the main plot didn't grab me. The sex and gore just seem gratuitous. Good music and performances, though, especially from Dalton, Green, Kinnear, and Piper. May return for Season 2.

[Dread]

Megan and I just power-watched season one of Veep and, fuck it's good.

[Gareth]

wrong thread

Edited August 10, 2016 by Gareth

[dc20willsave]

Last night's Mr Robot was one of the most tense hours of television I've watched in months.

[Dread]

I've watched six episodes of Stranger Things over the past two days, and I am fucking loving it.

[Davedevil]

The Night Of - I was really digging it, I enjoyed all the characters and performances (well, almost all, that one woman made everything feel like it was grinding to a halt), but then the ending came. I can understand wanting to be vague plot-wise and focus on the characters, but a little more of an answer could've left some goodwill.

[dc20willsave]

I've been catching up on The Great British Bake-Off. It's an oddly refreshing competitive show and I'm not quite sure why I enjoy it as much as I do but I do. Maybe it's because I never realized some of the differences between British and American approaches to baking. Mainly since American tends to be oddly similar to the rest of Europe at times. Maybe it's also that I've been insulting British cooking for years only to see, "Okay, baking wise, British cuisine has some merit. Some."

[Stavros]

The Shannara Chronicles on netflix.

It's so confusing because it's not just your classic fantasy setting, it's very specifically referencing Lotr between makeup, clothes, the fact it's shot in NZ and uses Lotr actors. And look, it's kinda crap. It's Lotr fanfic (yes I know it's based on 1970s novels) cast with sexy young people and CW type character actors. It's made by the people behind Smallville. I'm certain there weren't as many shirtless moments in the novels. And yet every time I want to dismiss it as light fluff it pops up production value that's actually damn good for a show that airs primarily on MTV of all things. It's not Games of Thrones but it does look great for what it is, and in those moments I can't help but respect the effort. 

It really does feel like someone got the scripts from midrange D&D sessions though. There's a ton of potholes and the entire attractive wing of the cast is perpetually horny to make up for the weak ass knockoff story.

[Dread]

Because the 50th gave me a hankering for a rewatch of DS9 (and because of the way my brain works) I watched TNG's Best of Both Worlds first. Having rewatched them, you absolutely do not need to watch them for DS9 context even though in my memory they were very closely tied. However, looking past a lot of TNG's faults, I'm amazed by how much they were able to get done in this two parter without feeling like we were missing out. The only gripe I really have story-wise is the lack of weight to the moment when they discover the dead Federation fleet. Other than that, solid TV.

Looking forward to diving back into DS9.

[Missy]

The Battle of Wolf 359 plays a huge part of Commander Sisko's character in the Deep Space Nine opener, but then it goes away. While I get that he heals by the end of the extended episode, I do wish his anger towards The Federation / Picard would have a lasted a little longer.

[Dread]

The Battle of Wolf 359 plays a huge part of Commander Sisko's character in the Deep Space Nine opener, but then it goes away. While I get that he heals by the end of the extended episode, I do wish his anger towards The Federation / Picard would have a lasted a little longer.

Yeah, I would have liked more contention too, as I recall, but I also recall that Sisko soon had a lot more shit to deal with. 

[Dread]

The premiere of DS9 ("Emissary") is delightfully comprehensive. It takes its time and even gets VERY esoteric, which is a huge risk and I don't really like much. I appreciate the balls though. This is a Star Trek like no other and they're telling us this. Being an hour and a half helps, but this really could have been its own novel.

Interesting to see Sisko and his son, the weird eccentric black family that you don't really see on TV ever. Sisko's bizarre high pitch exultations and crazy but I love them.

I forgot how much of a stone cold fox Terry Farrell was and Jadzia Dax is a really amazing new kindof character for ST. 

Overall, the idea of the series is what wins. It's metapolitical, carrying on the tradition of ST and pushing it further. I know that the comparison to jump on easiest would be between Israel and Palestine (and that's DEFINITELY there), but I see it more as like "What If a United Nations-style organization stepped in to help India after the British Empire left?" It's the kind of thing that previous episodes of ST or TNG would cover, but to base an entire show on it shows incredible faith in the product and vision for the series as a whole.

I can't wait to watch more.

[Dread]

Watched "Babel" and "Captive Pursuit" (episodes 5 and 6 of DS9 season 1) last night.

-"Babel" is the first real "Star Trek-y" episode of the show. It has that feel and it's just better written than most. The way they weave so many damned characters into this story is pretty amazing. The best part: Quark and Odo teaming up to save the day.

-"Captive Pursuit" is another episode that feels like Star Trek more than the previous eps. Scott MacDonald is this series' first great guest star. As Tosk, he is so complete a character that it's shocking. The intricacies of his performance lay the groundwork for his culture and the reveal at the end. Fantastic.

Overall so far, the show is finding its footing. The characters are all so damn well-drawn EXCEPT for the Siskos. Jake is a pain in the ass, bu I guess I don't know a kid in Star Trek who isn't and the positive is that he barely gets any screen-time. Ben, however, SHOULD be the main character. He's not. The show portrays him as your asshole boss, but they can't decide whether he's smart, or just a good commander, or whether he has a sense of humor or not. It's a little surprising, actually.

My favorite character is O'Brien thus far, which is weird, because I've never liked him before.

[Missy]

O'Brien is the man, but by the end my two favorite characters were Garak and Nog. They do so much with those two, it's a true testament to the writing and acting.

[Dread]

O'Brien is the man, but by the end my two favorite characters were Garak and Nog. They do so much with those two, it's a true testament to the writing and acting.

If I remember, Nog is in the pilot and then comes back a while later right?

[Missy]

Exactly. He comes and goes before becoming a regular.

[dc20willsave]

My favorite character is O'Brien thus far, which is weird, because I've never liked him before.

In every series of Star Trek, there's one character that the entire universe seems to crap on more than anyone else. In DS9, O'Brien is that character.

[Missy]

That fact that

Really.

I mean it.

Here we go.

O'Brien Prime dies of radiation poisoning and is replaced by a paradoxical future version of himself was the biggest dump the universe ever took on him, and yet it was downplayed with a joke. The O'Brien we had followed since season one of TNG was dead and gone. Though his replacement had only a few different memories, it wasn't the same man. That should have been this big dramatic moment, but it was glossed over. 

 

 

 

[Stavros]

But didn't the same thing kinda happen to Picard in that two Picards incident? Plus I think that Miles has just as much claim to be the original as the other. 

For my money Miles should be WAY more messed up by the events of Hard Time. Like, he shouldn't have been able to reassimilate into society for years after that.   

[dc20willsave]

Then you have the time he got tortured and falsely accused of running weapons to the Marquis. Or when Starfleet decided that an engineer was the perfect person to infiltrate a dangerous criminal syndicate. Or that time his daughter went through a time portal, became feral, and, if not for incredible luck, nearly abandoned her back through the portal.

But no, Tom's right. Hard Times is probably the worst thing to happen to nearly anyone in Star Trek. At least when it happened to Picard, he got awesome flute playing abilities. Miles got suicide watch.