TV You Have Watched

[Atticus]

Currently watching season 3 of You on Netflix. It's always been a nice easy watch with a bit of a Dexter vibe.

[fallenangle]

BBC2 are repeating an over-looked top quality drama they originally broadcast (iPlayer too) in November 2019: Vienna Blood. Series 2 is apparently going to be aired "this winter" so this repeat showing of Series 1 presumably precedes that.

On the face of it a police procedural/forensic investigation series set in pre-WW1 Vienna. Apart from the exquisite location photography the thing that sets this apart is the background theme that threads its way throughout the main stories: the simmering anti-Semitism just beneath the surface in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the capital in particular at that time.

So along with it depicting the then new idea of applying scientific methods to criminology and radical cultural changes challenging the suffocating conservatism of the Viennese ruling classes it deals cleverly with that 'difficult' subject. It is suggesting that this undercurrent of anti-Semitism was present and entrenched long before the Nazis came to power in the 1930s. They just tapped into it. Remember pre-WW1 Vienna was where Hitler was a student.

Good script, interesting characters and generally well acted - worth watching if you didn't catch it before.

[QualityChimp]

Finished S1 of Only Murders in the Building (D+).
It's a fun little cosy murder mystery show.
Not perfect and a couple of filler episodes, but Steve Martin is brilliant.
Great watch with the missus, but not with kids around as there's effin' and a jeffin'.

[kryss]

Another Life season 2 wrapped the show nicely

[fuse]

Soulmates is a series set in a not-so-distant future, where a private company have developed a scientific method to accurately and conclusively identify someone's soul mate. Each episode is a separate story, featuring different people in different sets of circumstances who each wrestle with the idea of whether to take the test, and the various impacts of that decision. First few are bogged down a bit in getting you familiar with the central concept and featured all kinds of really unconvincing partners, and if anything I was getting more out of the conversations it inspired in us as an audience rather than what it was doing on screen. Last couple were definitely my favourites and started to explore some more out there ideas, even if still quite predictable. Not great, but watchable.

[fuse]

Got recommended Clickbait a while back, finally tried it this last week. A seemingly normal family man is abducted and becomes the subject of a confession under duress that's posted online, with the claim that he'll be executed upon it hitting 5m views. Massively unsuitable and generally rubbish title that does it absolutely no favours, but the "oooh, crime... but on the internet" edge is just convincing enough to not distract from an otherwise capably written, decently acted thriller. Particular mentions go to Zoe Kazan as the sister of the abductee, and Phoenix Raei as an aspiring missing persons detective. Worth a shot, this.

[Finsbury Girl]

Navy Seals - I am actually shocked that I'm liking it so much. Series 2 has had some actual great story lines with a bit of depth. I started watching it as a bit of late night get ready for bed type of thing but myself (and now the missus!) have ended up binging over the past couple of weeks. Still a few episodes to go so will be interesting to see how s2 ends.

[Atticus]

I quite enjoyed new Dexter. The Alan Wakey winterland is a fun setting for this new direction. And the set-up of dating

->Open Spoiler<-

a cop

is going to deliver a large amount of the fun (Dexter was always at its best when those close to him are the ones investigating his crimes). Interested to see where it goes.

[fallenangle]

Trying Valley Of Tears on More4, I think, an action/drama series set during the chaos of the 1973 Arab/Israeli war.

Can't say it is grabbing me; well enough acted with the action scenes competent, if very predictable. Problem is the characters are either totally unbelievable, blandly anonymous or unlikeable so when someone gets horribly killed (burned to death in tank), wounded or there's a fight where virtually everybody on both sides end up dead, it is difficult to care. That's a bit of a fail in a war film which was apparently meant to be aspiring to be something along the lines of the epic WW2 series Band Of Brothers.

Pacific the sister series of Band Of Brothers failed to inspire the same level of involvement for much the same reason too but was still notably better than this.

[Neon Ignition]

Doom Patrol: Season 02
Shorter run and I'd put it off for a long time as the first season became a bit of work because it went too far on trying to be kooky etc. This was a simpler and tighter run though with plenty character development. Only slight issue would be that the end cuts off without really delivering on real stakes but better overall.

[fuse]

Homecoming is a funny old thing. It's about a facility designed to help veterans transition back to civilian life, and while the story goes in a variety of directions, it's probably most remarkable for the way in which it's presented. That, and Julia Roberts. Episodes are short and jump about in time, and often change up how they look with shifts in framing, regular use of split-screen, and some long lingering and yet very stylish shot choices. Music is used almost constantly to try and steer your response to every scene. It's all very Hitchcock-y, and roughly 10 seconds of research afterwards was all it took to confirm that this is comparison is one they were hoping for. It's not always totally successful, but I did enjoy it. Curiously, the second season dials back a lot of the stylistic choices, but still pushes a mystery angle.

[buster_broon]

cowboy bebop - Netflix

didnt know this was coming and only just started watching it, this is one of my all time favourite animes, so interested on how it does

John Cho isnt a good choice for Spike, fight sequences seem very wooden and the costume is brilliant, so far im not sold on him

[MartyG]

The Wheel of Time (Amazon) - this is well worth watching. It's like a cross between Dune and Game of Thrones. Seems to be keeping reasonably faithful to the books and they've clearly put a lot into the production of it (maybe some of the FX aren't quite up to GoT). Totally recommend this one tho.

Cowboy Bebop - glad to say this one is in keeping with the anime and is nicely done.

So that's two good streaming series to look out for.

[charlesr]

Wheel of Time was OK. Acting was a bit pants. Promising though

[Asura]

cowboy bebop - Netflix

didnt know this was coming and only just started watching it, this is one of my all time favourite animes, so interested on how it does

John Cho isnt a good choice for Spike, fight sequences seem very wooden and the costume is brilliant, so far im not sold on him

I thought the Jet actor was the most interesting part, in how the guy has managed to reproduce the tone and cadence of the anime English dub Jet voice-actor so closely it's uncanny.

On the wider show, I'm not so sure what it is, but after watching 1 episode I'm just not driven to watch any more.