TV You Have Watched

[fallenangle]

Watched the second episode of BBC 1 Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light on Sunday 9pm - has me hooked just like the first series. Properly good historical drama with Mark Rylance outstanding as Thomas Cromwell with co-stars and a cast of exceptional actors in all the roles. Can't think of a single duff performance and the whole production is pure class.

Followed that by a BFI documentary on BBC2 fronted by Hollywood movie director royalty Martin Scorcese: Made In England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger.

It focused on his love of their work and how some scenes in his own films were directly influenced by them. An in depth, fascinating and worthy homage to, arguably, the finest film makers the UK has ever had.

[QualityChimp]

All of the episodes of Jonathan Creek are available on the iPlayer now.
It's a show I wasn't interested in at the time (1997), but it's got the elements I like in a cosy murder that I quite like these days, especially as it's something I can watch with my lovely wife.

Watched the first episode and it was silly, but fun and seeing Creek deduce what had happened was great.
It doesn't feel massively dated, just things like phones and smoking inside seem strange.

[Neon Ignition]

Perfect Wife
A three part true crime documentary on the 2016 abduction of a small town American woman and the twisting tale of what happened to her. A fascinating story and another reminder of how public and online judge and jury mindsets are poorly equipped for the world of criminal investigations.

[Neon Ignition]

Staged
All three seasons are eay to plow through at a rough 15 minutes each. It's a fun show that creaks heavily as they attempt to go increasingly meta, relying on self acknowledgement being a get out when really the playing themselves format of the first run is the show at its best.

From: Season 03
Still love this and whilst there's still some wheel spinning I think we're going to be seeing it start to steer towards its end in the next run

[QualityChimp]

I might invest some more time in "From" is there's an ending planned. It's got strong "Lost" vibes, which was one of the best shows I've ever seen, but also one of the most infuriatingly strung out ones too.

Watched a bunch of Jonathan Creek (iPlayer) and part of the fun is guessing how the absurd crime was committed. Can't help but feel that Caroline Quentin's character is a bit off with Creek.

Also watched the first 3 eps of Cross (Prime) and it's quite a roller coaster. There's a lot going on. I like that Cross is very troubled and still processing grief, but it does follow the usual trope of maverick cop breaking the rules to save the day. Well worth a watch if you like stuff like Bosch.

I guess it's why I liked Ludwig - he was just solving puzzles, rather than busting the DA's balls for a warrant to bust a perp.

[Neon Ignition]

They've previously said they're aiming for 5 seasons with From, the fourth isn't airing till 2026 though so you've got plenty time to catch up

[Atticus]

Currently on S1 of Daredevil on D+ (formerly on Netflix). It passed me by bitd. Glad I gave it another go though. It's so good. Up there with the best comic book tv shows.

Also watched the first 2 eps of (the Goonies inspired) Skeleton Crew on D+. It's nice easy watching with a pleasant nostasgic vibe.

And started a casual rewatch of The Last of Us. Partly because S2 is coming in a few months. Partly because it's amazing and I couldn't wait to dive back in.

[Neon Ignition]

Sweetpea
This would get absolutely shredded if its lead was male instead of female, it's kind of heavy handed how much of an incel the character is and in broader strokes the show is basically a retread of Dexter but without much of the intelligence behind it. That sounds damning and the show actually isn't that bad but much of it rests on Fallout's Emma Purnell as the lead to heavy lift the rest of it, not sure how much mileage there is in it

[Neon Ignition]

The Office: Australia - Season 01
It's obviously not as good as the other versions but it's not that bad either, there are some loose nuts and bolts to build on here so it depends on how a second season pans out. the main issue the show faces at the moment is that not enough thought has gone into the set up. If you are launching a new version today you really need to acknowledge the existence of the other versions. Not in terms of cameos etc but purely in terms of how widely known they are. You have the same core four character types in the lead roles which is something you just can't get away with anymore without making them distinct somehow. Given the US version is the leading one in terms of global reach - Hannah is Michael Scott, very similar in many ways and the actress is very good at it. There's a slight attempt to deviate from Scott's neediness and instead infer that Hannah may have real issues with depression but we don't really go enough down that hole. Lizzie is Dwight and whilst fine there's not much else there, there's a Jim/Pam dynamic which is very played out too. The IT guy is a possible decent addition but other than that there's a lot of non-entities where the rest of the cast needs fleshing out. Potential to the show but it needs to breath out and mark its own space in the next run like the US version did.

[Brad]

Landman

Currently the greatest show on TV. Billy Bob Thornton being himself / a 'fixer' for an oil company. Another winner from Taylor Sheridan, highly recommended.

Bad Sisters

Really good. Like Season 1 thought not quite as good.

[MartyG]

Watched the first couple of episodes of Secret Level - think it's a bit meh so far. The stories are so short that by the time they've introduced anything they're over and end without any real conclusion. I'll watch the rest of them to see if there are any stand outs.

If I were to liken them to gaming, it'd be a cut-scene trailer. Nice graphics but little substance.

[Finsbury Girl]

Next couple of episodes of Lioness - it so good.

I'm also re-watching Daredevil S1 - and you are correct Atticus it's good, it's damn good!

[Neon Ignition]

Knuckles
Took a long time for us to get through it but with the last ep rolled it's just about fine enough. Really it's more of a baseline to show how well the films have managed to pull off their tone and execution because this looks fine mostly but the quality isn't there.

[Tobal]

Also gave Secret Level go, must like the recent Star Wars Visions, there is not much to it, to little to care what happens in 10-19 mins of an episode... maybe something there if someone is attached a franchise. Armour Core one surprised me with the actor in it and the Space Marine one made them look like badasses.

The Pacman episode is one of the worst pieces of crap i've ever seen, 360 Bomberman energy dialled up 100% on the edgy cringe.

[Neon Ignition]

Evil: Season 04
The show has long leaned on hokey humour a bit too much but this final season fails to deviate at all from it. They were given 4 extra episodes to wrap things up and it's time poorly used also with them clearly not being given the budget for it and it ending in a very 'non'-ending as well making it feel a bit pointless.