TV You Have Watched

[fallenangle]

Have to mention that series three of The Great is being shown on C4 for the first time tonight (Monday 10.00pm and second episode 11.10pm).

Looking forward to that as the previous series have been a delightfully imaginative mix of comedy and 'loose' historical drama.

Also wanted to say that the BBC2 Prince tribute programs on Saturday were a welcome reminder of just how good he was and well worth catching on the BBC iPlayer.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0020zwg/prince-and-his-songs-at-the-bbc

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001mpgh/prince-and-the-revolution-live

[QualityChimp]

We've started S3 of The Outlaws (iPlayer), but it's pretty poor and haven't run back to it yet.
Instead, we've been enjoying the latest series of the ever-brilliant Taskmaster (All4).
I've been watching The Boys: Gen-V (Prime) and it's great. Initially, it has loads of dick jokes and gore, but it evolved into a series that had quite a lot to chew over, especially discussion of genocide and supremacy. I might rewatch S3 of The Boys again ready for S4.
Be aware that it doesn't have a solid ending, so there may be a Gen-V S2.

[Neon Ignition]

Race Across the World: Series 02
Decent watch, more scenic than the first series though I can't work out why they were all so averse to considering using a train

[Atticus]

I finished Mr Inbetween. The 3 seasons just fly by and the conclusion is a satisfying one. I was reading something about comparisons with Curb Your Enthusiam and I think there was some acknowledgement from the creator/star of the show. A comment in the thread read something like: Ray walks into the darkness of the tunnel / CYE music kicks in

[fallenangle]

Watched the first two episodes of new BBC1 crime drama The Jetty starring Jenna Coleman on Monday and last night then for want of some late night entertainment I decided to finish the two remaining episodes off on the iPlayer.

A bit of a mess I think - it took me most of the first episode to realise half the content was set in the past, 17 years earlier in the same odd British lakeside town. Coleman's character, then a 16 year old schoolgirl but now an unbelievably independent detective constable and young widow, is prompted, partly by her own demons, to re-investigate the disappearance and suspected murder of one of her near contemporaries at that time.

All sorts of red herrings, arson, a new murder and misdirection much of the drama seems to be a vehicle for attacking toxic masculinity and the male characters of all ages in this weird, seedy little town in general. They even shoe-horned in some revenge porn revenge which, like much of the rest of it, felt contrived and unconvincing.

Apparently the BBC thought the series was about sexual abuse of young-ish girls by nasty men so the inevitable end title help line information for anybody 'affected by these issues' was predictable. But whatever the intention of the drama was, those elements of the story were far from being depicted in such simplistic, black and white terms as that might suggest. I thought the 'greyness' and complexity of such matters was the message it was trying to deliver.

In short what it was trying to say was confused and confusing and as the core story didn't hold up to much scrutiny I'd lost interest long before the end and TBH wished I hadn't bothered.

Both Silent Witness and Waking The Dead do/did this sort of thing, usually, better and more concisely.

[QualityChimp]

Was curious about The Jetty when people said it was confusing, but I just thought it was people who normally watch Eastenders moaning, but it sounds like the whole drama doesn't work.

We've started The Traitors US S2 (iPlayer).
We're a sucker for this show and every series is so different from the others.
The games are the same or similar but the people make it so different.
We were recently blown away by the Australian version - we couldn't believe how it played out.
The UK S2 was amazing and feels the most "real" as it's normal people.

The American one gets in reality TV "stars", but I haven't even heard of some of the shows, let alone the contestants, however that does mean that it attracts a certain type of person, y'know pretty vain or overconfident people and it's delicious watching them turn on each other and implode.

There are two Brits, one who was on Love Island. She said something like "People underestimate me, thinking that I'm not clever, but I am because I believe in aliens and can do this with my arm (kinda bends arm a bit like everyone can)".

The other Brit is John Bercow, yup the "ORDEEEH! ORDEEEEH!" guy from PMQs.
I love him as he's anti-Brexit and anti-Farage, but he's so out-of-place on this, it's hilarious.

Yeah, if you've seen the other shows and love it, get stuck in!

Oh yeah, we're also watching SAS: Rogue Heroes (iPlayer).
Bit of an odd one as it's about the formation of the SAS based on a book I've read.
Now, the book isn't stale, but it's pretty matter-of-fact in its delivery, then this series comes along and is all bombastic with freeze frames an AC/DC tracks like it's a Guy Ritchie movie.
We're really enjoying it, but the whole time I'm wondering how true it is, because it feels like it doesn't want truth to get in the way of a good story.

[QualityChimp]

Blimey, we proper binge watched The Traitors US S2 (iPlayer)!
Loved it!
Different vibe with it being packed with either reality TV or gameshow celebrities... and John Bercow.
Different alliances were formed and it was fascinating to see how that bond transcended logic and reasoning.

Seriously good TV.

[fuse]

Honestly not sure what to make of the third season of The Bear (D+). At its best: still some of the best TV going, while at its worst, it very much overindulges its capacity for celebrity chef cameos and becomes an arse-rim-a-thon with weirdly stunted dialogue. It is very obvious that a lot of these people are not actors. The opening episode being one big anxious montage scored entirely by Ghosts-era NIN worked for me, quite a few other episodes fell very flat.

Whenever it was on originally I watched S1 of The Mole (Netflix) by myself, so started in a similar fashion with S2 while my partner was away, before managing to sell it to her in passing. So, I stopped - two episodes from the end - and we went back and watched all of S1 together. It was interested revisiting that knowing who was playing what role, seeing what stuck and what slid, but this just adds to the likelihood of feeling doubly stupid when I have a second run through S2 and still don't figure it out before the reveal.

Also watched the latest season of The Boys (Amazon), too. Still enjoying it, but feel we're still continuing on the trend that the message gets less subtle and the gross-out stuff becomes more prominent, and that it's a weaker show for it. I probably said this last season too, but I am stunned that there are alt-right chuds who have made it this far into it and have only just realised they're in the show's sights.

[Dogg Thang]

Yeah, season 4 of The Boys was almost too on the nose. Any subtext became plain text. I felt this season lacked direction. I still enjoyed it overall and it has plenty of good moments but I felt like they didn't really know what to do with it.

[QualityChimp]

Have you read the comics, Dogg?
Feels like the TV show is going in a different direction.

[Neon Ignition]

I wonder whether the bluntness is directly because of trying to shake off those alt-right morons who need a sledge hammer approach to get it through their heads that the show isnt' their friend

[Dogg Thang]

Have you read the comics, Dogg?
Feels like the TV show is going in a different direction.

No, the comic series has never really been on my radar. Have you read it?

[QualityChimp]

No, the comic series has never really been on my radar. Have you read it?

A while back, but basically there's a lot of grey area about who is good and bad and it just feels like a sliding scale of how bad everyone is, rather than how good they are.

[Dogg Thang]

A while back, but basically there's a lot of grey area about who is good and bad and it just feels like a sliding scale of how bad everyone is, rather than how good they are.

Ah okay. I'm kind of glad that, as flawed as they are, we have some good guys in the show. I'm not sure I could handle it if it was completely nihilistic.

[QualityChimp]

Yeah, it's not a particularly "happy" ending, but it builds to a crescendo with a glimmer of hope.
It'll be interesting to see how it diverges from the comic. Probably best not to Google it in case of spoilers if it is pretty similar.

I agree that the excessive gore was an attraction at first, but feels like it's a distraction from the story now, but I've yet to start the latest season.
I remember getting into Spartacus: Blood and Sand because of the bewbs and violence, but bu the final series, I was literally fast-forwarding the rumpy-pumpy to get to the plot. Those first couple of Spartacus series were fantastic telly, by the way.