Topic: The TV Show Thread

@RogerRoger Yeah, the RE2 discussion made me think to ask. And honestly, even as I was watching the show, the thought came to me about how you might feel about it. I didn’t want to spoil anything for you, but it’s probably good that you did get a little warning ahead of time. And to be frank, the spider-like space creatures have just enough of a fantastical modification in appearance and design that maybe it won’t be so bad. The more distanced from reality the better, I would think.

@RogerRoger @Th3solution Being a fellow sufferer of arachnophobia, I did find it a bit of an uncomfortable watch. It was more to do with the smaller ones as the larger ones are too big to be realistic. And it didn't go on for too long either I thought. Nowhere near the worst episode for me, that would probably be the first few episodes of season one.

@RogerRoger I watch a Heavy Spoilers recap after each episode, it is neat that all these obscure throwbacks and Easter eggs are in there. One of the making of episodes for season 1 is purely about all that stuff. Most of it does go over my head though.

@RogerRoger It is certainly better integrated than in Episode 9!

@RogerRoger Thankfully it doesn't feel that I missed out on key plot points because I don't play Fortnite!

Filoniverse sounds... venereal.

I'm waiting to get Disney + again until I can watch the whole second season of Mando in a single month of subscription. I'm trying to avoid looking/reading to much about it but know everyone here is cool about not giving spoilers so I've seen a few comments. Am I right in thinking next weekend will be half way into the series so about right to pick it up?

@BearsEatBeets Yeah man, next week will be episode 4 of 8.

@JohnnyShoulder Cheers, might re-watch the first series to refresh my memory when I get it.

There was a lot packed into the latest, shorter episode of Mando. As much as I enjoyed the last two Monster Hunt style episodes, it was good to get the story back on track.

Regarding Mando, does every article I see have to display the newest person to show up in the thumbnail and have their name in the headline? I mean, I'm not even that big a fan but geez, can I watch it first?!

@JohnnyShoulder Yeah, I watched it last night and thought it was nice to see the story progress, even if it seems a little bit fan-fictiony. The other Mandalorian crew were really cool and if there’s one thing this show has done right it’s the costuming and art design. All the different Mandalorian helmets and unique get-ups are going to make for great looking toys in the eventual Hasbro action figure line up 😅. The story is a little bit of a wild goose chase - find this person or group so that they can tell you where to go next...Hopefully we get a little more depth to the narrative soon. I have a feeling that the entirety of Season 2 will end up being the quest to find the Jedi and then we’ll finally get there it will end. But I’m enjoying it nonetheless.

@zupertramp I had to tell Google I'm not interested in certain shows and films to stop spoilery articles showing up in my news feed and YouTube.

@RogerRoger The funny thing is I feel like I don't even seek it out. But I use aggregate news apps like Google and I always end up seeing something. And true, like @JohnnyShoulder says I could set things to make it seem like I'm not interested but that requires signing in and having them track my interests which I just won't do. That's a little on me I know but I still submit, your headline doesn't have to have a spoiler.

@zupertramp Yeah, I have a love-hate relationship with Google. Like you, I’m suspicious of the tracking they do. But when I’ve tried to use other search engines and other services they just don’t quite give me as good of an experience. But DuckDuckGo and Qwant are apparently some good options as far as being less nefarious in their data mining.

@Th3solution DuckDuckGo is good. They even have a browser app for Android that I use instead of Firefox. But the app is far from great and is probably too simple for most people. The search engine though, I have learned to prefer for most things but every now and then I have to resort to Google for certain searches.

What's really my Jack Twist though is Google News. Nothing else is as good. Not even close. I just can't quit it. And I've tried.

@Th3solution My only problem with DuckDuckGo is that the sort of people who insist on using it in Uni are the same sort of people who openly talk about ‘the Zionist agenda’ and ‘feminazis’. So I wouldn’t use it more out of an unfair death by association because they really haven’t done much wrong and I do support things like net neutrality. The way I see it, someone’s getting my data some way or another, I have plenty apps and loads of electronic appliances. Just makes me think of that kid from the Polar Express.

S-so uh, you use DuckDuckGo? Unlike Google it doesn’t silence conservative voices

@nessisonett I wasn't aware it had that reputation. Unfortunate.

On to the TV talk...
Been on the fence about whether to invest the time in Small Axe but I guess I should just do it.

As for what I am watching, Two episodes into Good Lord Bird and I was convinced it was gonna be the most brilliant thing I've seen on television all year... then I watched the third episode. Not sure how I feel about that depiction. I'm conflicted. But we'll see where it goes. It's still probably worth it for Ethan Hawke's John Brown, who I'd never have pegged as someone who could play John Brown but hey.

@zupertramp You should totally watch Small Axe, Mangrove was absolutely brilliant. I do wonder how it would translate to an American audience as it’s very much rooted in the whole Enoch Powell and Windrush stuff. Obviously race is a universal subject but in terms of media coverage, it does tend to be usually American in nature.

Toby Kebbel is in the new M Night Shyamalan series on Apple TV+ 'Servant'. Fingers crossed the stars are aligned on this one.