Topic: The TV Show Thread

@LN78 Yeah that's one of my favourite things about Better Call Saul - they've taken their time with it, where other shows may have been compelled to rush. It has allowed events to unfurl nicely.

To be honest I've struggled to fill the void since the latest season finished. I started watching Ozark, which seems like a perfectly good show, but it just doesn't compare. Hugely unfair, I know.

@LN78 I forgot about Narcos, cheers. That's the problem with having a to-watch list which exists solely in my head

I reached the end of season 5 of The Clone Wars with the Ahsoka arc and I'll admit, I had a tear in my eye. I thought it was great story telling and adds so much more towards Anakin's turn to the dark side.

I like Star Wars I do.

@ApostateMage Glad it wasn't just me who, er... suddenly had something in his eye during that episode (yeah, honest, that was it). I've been hearing great, spoiler-free things about the new episodes they've been releasing on Disney+ of late, and they're due to conclude on May 4th so I'll finally be subscribing and catching up. Getting properly hyped; wasn't that bothered, but now I can't wait!

@RogerRoger Yeah, I've heard real good things about it too. I'm gonna thoroughly enjoy these last two seasons then move on to Rebels.

I gave El Camino a watch. It was quite different to what I expected, but still rather enjoyable. I'd say it's worth watching for those that enjoyed Breaking Bad. It follows on from the events of Breaking Bad, so don't watch it unless you've seen all of BB.

Finally got me some Disney+ and watched the twelve brand new Star Wars: The Clone Wars episodes.

My reaction was mixed, to begin with. Possibly didn't help that my so-called "smart" television refused to download the Disney+ app, meaning I had to access the service through my PS4 which just added to the lack of picture quality. Once I'd gotten used to the below-HD resolution, however, I settled in and started to enjoy the conclusion to one of my all-time favourite shows.

Of course, with me carrying such weighted expectations, there was always gonna be an element of "yeah, I'd have done it differently" and I'm not arrogant enough to sit here and criticise it on that basis. What I will objectively say is that, if you've only got twelve episodes to wrap up five-and-a-half seasons of unresolved characters and storylines, there isn't time for padding. It's therefore a shame that one or two instalments fall into this category (especially when you consider the final season of Star Wars: Rebels, one of the leanest and most laser-focused adventures in the franchise's history).

The first arc is a touched-up quadrilogy of unfinished animatics from before the Disney takeover, and it's solid stuff, if a little unremarkable. It's nice to be back with Rex, Cody and the lads, and the introduction of Clone Force 99 is the kind of excellent nonsense the show thrived on before.

After this, the focus shifts to Ahsoka Tano, the show's breakout star. The second and third arcs, rounding everything out, are all about her, and are brand new. That's understandable in hindsight and context, given what's happened since The Clone Wars was cancelled by Disney, but it means some of the greatest arcs are now forever left without closure. What about Boba Fett's character development? Where did Cad Bane go? Whatever happened to Barriss Offee?

Even with the material it presents and stuff it does cover, corners are cut, leaving me wishing they'd been given budget for a full 22-episode season rather than a paltry twelve. Maul is splashed all over the marketing, so it's no spoiler to say that he shows back up, but we last saw him writhing on the floor, screaming in agony as Darth Sidious ominously stated that he had "other plans" for him. I was fascinated to find out what those "other plans" were; no such luck. Instead, we're given an inconsequential line of throwaway exposition which skips all of that, and conveniently hits the reset button to return him to Mandalore's throne. It's a stark reminder of what we've lost, and how brilliant the show could've been if it was left to thrive in its sixth and seventh seasons.

This is bordering on that aforementioned "yeah, I'd have done it differently" territory, so I'll quit whilst I'm ahead and nevertheless conclude that the third and final arc, those crucial last four episodes, are as close to perfect as possible. There are bold choices in direction and musical score, and real meat is added to the bones of the prequel trilogy, in particular Revenge of the Sith. These four episodes overcompensated for any lacklustre moments in the previous eight, and delivered some of the best Star Wars either side of the Disney takeover. No hyperbole. They're stunning. I cried. Twice.

The whole thing promised a seamless conclusion to The Clone Wars and yet, everything felt slightly different from before. Perhaps it was always going to, no matter what. It felt like listening to the world's very best tribute band; close your eyes and you could believe you were experiencing the real deal but then, alas, open them and you'd see strangers on the stage.

It's wonderful that we got it, and I'm glad to have it, but I can't quite bring myself to surrender to the giddy highs of those last four episodes. Not entirely, anyway.

Oh well. The Mandalorian is up next. Let's see how Mr. Filoni handles live action.

I'm watching Last Man Standing then going to watch Two and a Half Men then The Big Bang Theory.

Finished Justified tonight. 6 seasons in only a few weeks and I loved every minute. I honestly can’t stress how good a watch it is, especially binging it. The ending provided a perfect conclusion and wrapped up basically every loose end in the whole series. I’d totally recommend it to anybody if they’re looking for something to watch in lockdown.

@nessisonett Agreed. How good were Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins? I kinda wish I watched all of the series closer to each other, as I watched the final season a couple of years after and had forgot most of what had went on before.

@JohnnyShoulder They were both brilliant right up until the end. I couldn’t believe just how great a show it was for binging, sometimes shows that aired normally on TV aren’t particularly suited but the pacing was excellent. The final scene is right up there with some of my favourite endings to a TV show. I’d probably rate either the 2nd or 4th seasons as the best ones but they were all great, the guest stars really made the show. Especially Jeremy Davies, who played Dickie Bennett and is also The Stranger in God of War! It’s kinda sad how some of the criminals end up since they’re sorta lovable by the end but I guess that’s what is to be expected.

Spent all day watching The Mandalorian (which gives some clue as to what I thought of it).

Cracking stuff, worth the wait.

UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie (Amazon Prime Video) - Early 00's harem anime that centers around high schooler Kazuto, whom is running his grandparent's bath house (a bit of a passion project, as it's not very profitable in today's world). His world is thrown upside down whenever Valkyrie (an alien princess on the run) crashes into the place killing him. After giving him half her soul he finds himself looking after her (the process de-aged her into a child, though she's able to briefly transform back into an adult via a kiss), and soon a variety of other women come into his life as well (such as a jealous childhood friend, and a Valkyrie's sisters, hunting her down).

It's a pretty run of the mill, typical harem of the era, but I remember liking shows like Dear S & Girls Bravo way back when (though the excitement of sneaking them in late at night on the family computer as a teen probably played a part), so I figured I'd give it a try. I liked the quintessentially Japanese setting of the bath house, but otherwise it's pretty unremarkable though it elicited a few chuckles along the way. Luckily it managed to avoid representing her child form in a reprehensible way (which I was a bit worried about going in), so I guess it gets credit for that. Amazon only has season 1 on Prime, but I don't feel like I'm particularly missing out on much not having part 2.

Content Guide:

Sex/Nudity (High) - All the princesses have a transformation sequence of some sort (I'm pretty sure Valkyrie's adult transformation plays at least once per episode) where their clothes disappear during the metamorphosis, which is the source of like 80-90% of the show's nudity. The other 10-20% is just a scenery shot of random women in the bath house that's replayed ocassionally.

Violence/Blood (Mild) - There's some slapstick stuff, but as a comedy there's nothing heavy (even a big space battle or two during the climax is relatively low impact, with a group of space pirates successfully fleeing their hideout before it explodes, for example). The bloody nose trope that tends to show up in this genre a lot is even totally absent.

Language (Mild) - Just the PG/PG-13 level stuff you hear in your average Shonen series.

@RR529 Did you see that there’s going to be an anime sequel to InuYasha? Seeing your avatar it would be interesting to hear your thoughts!

@nessisonett, I actually hadn't heard about about it yet, so thanks.

I'm shocked as I honestly never thought it'd happen (I've read interviews where Takahashi's said she doesn't like going back to series she's completed, and Urusei Yatsura & Ranma have never had follow ups), but excited all the same, even if a bit worried (don't want them ruining the happy ending of the original to create the drama for the sequel, similar to what happened with Eureka 7).

@RR529 I had no idea it was the same author as Urusei Yatsura and Ranma 1/2! I really have to finish off InuYasha and a sequel series gives me a perfect reason to go back to it. My tastes are basically SoL/romcoms. I’m really not a big fan of the major shonen shows so I’ve been binging Bakuman and keeping up with Kaguya-sama while patiently waiting for OreGairu to come back and hoping for 3-Gatsu no Lion to get another series

@nessisonett, yeah, Takahashi actually likes reusing character designs, and if you pay attention Lum, Ranma, InuYasha, and Rinne (from Kyokai no Rinne) have the same design, just alternating from long & short hair (and the switch to male after Lum. After learning about UY the first thing that struck me was that she looked exactly like a female InuYasha). Ranma & InuYasha even have the same voice actor in both the Japanese & English versions.

Haven't watched The X-Files in quite some time so I'm gonna start rewatching the series. Gonna be skipping the government conspiracy main plotline episodes this time around though.

One of the only shows where i feel that the filler/monster of the week episodes are generally better then the main story beats and arcs (Well aside from "Space" which is utter garbage )

Eve is one of my favourites from the few I've seen so far (Though Squeeze is another great episode and Ice is pretty decent too).

Harriet Harris (Better known as Bebe Glazer from Fraiser) does a wonderful job of playing 3 "different" characters. The girls playing the twins are pretty understated too! Shame there wasn't a sequel episode though I'm not entirely sure what it'd be about either...

Onto Fire next... Wonder what that's all about? 😉 (I do like the very simple episode titles in the first season)

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Bebe Glazer is one of the best characters in Frasier, she's outstanding and Harriet Harris plays her to the hilt. I've never seen her in anything else, though; knowing she pops up in X-Files, even briefly, could be enough to get me started.

@RogerRoger it’s great to hear that Clone Wars at least hit a stirring conclusion, even if it sounds like it stumbled toward the finish line a little bit before getting it’s last stretch kick. I still need to start that series.
Speaking of Disney+, I have watched 3 or 4 episodes of The World According to Jeff Goldblum though, at your recommendation. It’s funny seeing him as himself and realize the characters he plays in the movies aren’t a far leap from his own personality. I liked it pretty well what I’ve watched so far. I’ve seen the documentary style musing of mundane daily things done better, but JG adds a charisma that can’t be matched. 😄
Glad you appear to have liked The Mandalorian! It was an intriguing ride and I can’t wait for season 2. I figured you’d like it, but wasn’t sure.