Topic: The TV Show Thread

@RogerRoger Agreed. It is also a TV show and the narrative has to last for the whole season. For want of a better expression, if it were to blow its load too early, the rest of the episodes would be in danger of feeling inconsequential and hollow.

@RogerRoger Idk, I'd argue Abrams' boxes aren't empty so much as they can never live up to the expectations people build up for themselves. But that's just me.

Personally I quite like a good mystery box and find that most of the time, the journey is the more important bit. So I'm fully okay with enjoying it for what it's worth along the way but, in regards to The Mandalorian, it does seem like there's quite a bit of interconnected buildup at the moment and I can't help but wonder if it'll ultimately fulfill everyone's expectations. I guess we'll see.

@zupertramp That's a fair point, regarding what Abrams puts in his boxes. He's definitely good at starting things, so I guess that's the downside of hooking an audience so effectively (particularly in terms of episodic television, where you're giving everybody weeks and months to think of something more awesome than what you've got planned).

And yeah, as @JohnnyShoulder rightly says, I'm sure Mando will feel different to those who save themselves and then binge the whole thing in a weekend (like I did for the first season). I think it's been good at walking the line between "casual comprehension" and "fanboy detail" thusfar, but then I'm somebody who's always appeased by the latter, so I might not be the best judge. I was nervous about how they'd integrate all the cameos this season, but I reckon they've all landed well enough. Ish.

Only two episodes left... and then we wait for the third season. Which will lead to the fourth. So yeah, I'm not expecting concrete answers to anything anytime soon!

@RogerRoger @zupertramp I've seen it too may times when tv shows reach the conclusion far too quickly, or go on far too long afterwards. I've watched whole seasons of stuff and thought to myself 'Yeah, this should have ended at the last season.' Fittingly, Abrahams 'Lost' fell victim to this. It is a tricky balance to get right, knowing when to stop when it feels right and not making more just cos it is really popular.

In terms of the episode, yeah that was a great one. Possibly my favourite episode of this season so far.

I've only skimmed the comments as still catching up The Mandalorian. I've now watched the first 4 and will probably be up to date tomorrow. Enjoying it so far, all the episodes have been entertaining . Almost surprised at the production values with the amount of action scenes taking place, they must really be throwing some money at this.

@JohnnyShoulder I’m at that point with Arrow. The current season I’m on is like really, really bad. I at least have the benefit of knowing that the show apparently pulls it together in the last two seasons but if I was watching weekly then I probably would have given up on it. That definitely fell victim to the ‘oh god, we need to continue the story but we wrote ourselves into a corner’ deal. Game of Thrones is the same, it got too popular for what is essentially based on the ramblings of a perverted old man. They ended up pleasing nobody with the conclusion which is actually kinda impressive when you consider how many people watched it.

@nessisonett Plus with GoT the two writers (or was it show runners, I forget now) got poached by Disney, which is one of the reasons the last season felt rushed and too convenient in places.

@JohnnyShoulder Let’s just thank the powers that be for the GoT showrunners’ new show Confederate never seeing the light of day 😂😂

@JohnnyShoulder @nessisonett When they were revealed to be doing a new Star Wars trilogy of films I was excited but by the time that fell through I was relieved. Maybe they should stick to adapting other people's work but maybe something that is already finished next time.

@JohnnyShoulder I'm, for the most part, an avid Lost defender but even I agree it went too long. Still, even that was on account of TV shows being planned differently back then, from what I understand anyway. TWD is another example of a series going on too long but it doesn't really have the excuse that Lost does.

@RogerRoger But yeah, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the way they are handling The Mandalorian to be clear. It's like you say, enjoyable enough for more casual viewers like myself who don't really get anything from all the names being thrown around. Lol, I don't know how many times I've had to turn to my wife and ask, "Wait so when is all this taking place again?"

Point is, show is fine but then I also really liked TFA more than any other SW film but kinda got the impression JJ ruined the franchise for "real" fans. (Until Rian came along anyway.) So I was curious how everyone was taking this slightly mystery driven set up. Then again, as mentioned, it is a TV series so perhaps it makes more sense.

I've been up all night and just feel like I'm rambling now so sorry for the long post.

@JohnnyShoulder As much as I love it, 24 fell into that trap. It shouldn't have lasted eight-and-a-half seasons, but it was popular so it ploughed on until the gimmick became stale and they were basically repeating themselves, hour by hour, with no established end in sight. When it finally arrived, I was overwhelmed, but not necessarily by the quality of its rushed conclusion; more that I just realised what a huge part of my life it had been, and how much I'd come to rely on it for emotional escapism.

And yeah, wasn't this week's Mando awesome? Can't wait to see where it's all heading! Glad to see that @BearsEatBeets is also enjoying the season (yeah, if this is where Disney are setting the bar for television production values, cinema is dead and all other shows are doomed).

@zupertramp Of course not, and it's interesting to see what works, what doesn't and how different creative talents can approach a similar construct. My partner doesn't care about Star Wars in the slightest, but he watches each episode with me because he's interested in the technical construct and showmanship of the whole thing... so yeah, I've been asked that same question more than once!

I think it's the key difference between movies and television which you've struck upon, so your ramble (which wasn't a ramble) was worth it. At least on a season-by-season basis, a television show has its story mapped out and an overall creative direction seeing it through, which allows for unanswered questions along the journey. When this stunt was pulled with The Force Awakens and (at that point, at least) Abrams seemed to be walking away, leaving the rest of the trilogy to others, it felt cheap and made a lot of people worry about the quality of the eventual pay-off. And then we got The Last Jedi. Yippee.

@RogerRoger You know it’s not good when somebody who enjoys The Phantom Menace doesn’t like The Last Jedi 😂😂

@nessisonett

But we've danced around that particular handbag far too many times before, so let's leave it there!

@RogerRoger Hey, it’s a much more enjoyable movie, I’ll give you that!

@nessisonett

Okay so I'm all up to date with The Mandalorian. Episodes 5 & 6 were probably the best of the series and lots of interesting stuff coming up.

Basically I think they're doing a great job so far and as some of you have touched upon I just hope they have a clear end point for the story they want to tell and aren't making it up as they go. Also I think it's a good thing that as it's made for a streaming service, the episodes are all random lengths and not creatively bound to fill a certain time frame. I assume this series will be 8 episodes much like the first?

@BearsEatBeets Sweet, glad you're caught up and loving it thusfar! I'm obviously in agreement. You're right, we've got two more chapters left in this second season.

@RogerRoger Seeing as I'm subscribed again I might give the series another go. Maybe I'll make it my breaktime watch at work. If I don't see it through I'll definitely take you up on your offer. I'll let you know.

@BearsEatBeets Of course. I've also got an "essential episodes" list knocking around somewhere, which I drew up for a friend who couldn't find the time for eleven whole seasons and a movie. Happy to help, but hopefully you won't need it, because you'll enjoy watching the shows!

@RogerRoger ELEVEN seasons! I thought is was five or six. I best get cracking then.