The Glass Teat, or 'Television'

[OhBollox]

Book of Boba Fett. It’s okay. I’m underwhelmed by it, much like the Mandalorian. Temuera Morrison, an incredible actor, is lumbered with an odd role as Boba Fett, a bounty hunter down on his luck, teaching desert tribes how to desert tribe. This is not great, quite frankly, and stinks of white saviour nonsense. In this case, glaringly white, like an advert for skin cancer, as Fett traipses about the desert without any kind of protection against the sun. In the future, he’s a successful crime lord, and in the tragic situation of having a supporting character more interesting than he is, played ably by Ming-Na Wen.

I think part of the problem is Star Wars properties tend to have quite soft edges, and the difficulties in depicting an underworld and a protagonist who is a crime boss in it, complete with assassinations, extortion, racketeering, and so on, and there’s no real grittiness to it.

[Hustlertwo]

Can’t agree about Mandalorian, but I will say Boba is leaving me a bit off too. The future segments are more captivating than the Tusken flashbacks, and yet it feels like the latter are the majority of the show. And I would like it to be at least a tad less predictable.

[Mirefox]

I’m watching Boba with my family and I just don’t care about it in the least. I’ve been bored by it and I nearly fell asleep last episode. Maybe I’m just old.

[kennfusion]

Nah, it’s a little boring, it’s not you. I have to say that Disney+ has been very good so far with originals, it was inevitable we would get something on the weak side.

It’s not unwatchable (I guess unless you are asleep) and has potential with a good cast in Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen who hopefully can turn it around in later episodes. Also, David Pasquesi is very entertaining.

But yeah…I am being hopeful, but unlikely this will turn around.

[OhBollox]

Dexter: New Blood. This is, dare I say it, good. Initially more restrained, but it promises a return to the usual form, and thankfully it looks like it will only be a short series, so they will be unable to milk it to death.

Silent Sea. I was enjoying this to begin with, especially the set design and overall visual look, but setting aside one terrible CGI shot in the first episode, I was hoping it would do something different, but this tale of a crew sent to investigate and retrieve a MacGuffin from an abandoned moonbase incorporates too much Alien/Alien Covenant for its own good. Never take your helmet off, people.

Peacemaker. After one episode, this is better than every Punisher series. An anti-hero with an eagle sidekick, fresh out of prison, in a show that’s openly self-aware. His low-rent existence, bigoted father, and right-wing authoritarianism, linked up with scummy work killing people alongside a small team of rejects, is perfect fodder for the series, and Cena plays it absolutely straight.

“Fine! That’s a good point, I will trust white people less in the future, and kill a higher percentage of them.”

Perfect.

[js619]

The Expanse, season 6.

Naomi is still the most annoying character in the history of television, don’t @ me. They should’ve killed her off last season when everyone was cheering for it. Type “Why is Naomi Na” into google and tell me you’re not surprised at the first result.

Holden is doing his best to steal the title from Naomi whilst also making his best attempts to seem dark and gravelly. Or is it his newly found and at best described as facial hair? Who can tell. Give up on the Emmy dude, it’s not gonna happen.

Amos, I used to care about you. You were kinda cool. A good drinker, hard brawler. I appreciate that in my space opera, they all need someone like you. But say goddamn Peaches one more damn time, I dare you.

Avasarala, you’ve fallen far, just like this shithouse of a show. I liked you better on Earth where you knew you were the best thing ever. Now you’re blundering about in space leading combat ships as the UN Secretary General? Hold on while I attempt to make attempts at believing this nonsense.

Alex, you chose well. Gtfo while the gtfo’ing on this garbage show was good.

Other characters, you all still suck in your own special way. Seriously, I don’t care about any of you, but it’s not me, it’s you. Your acting sucks, your script really sucks, and I don’t want to see anymore of your feelings floating about in zero gravity.

More boom boom, less talk talk.

Tl:dr, The Expanse should’ve ended two seasons ago. S6 is barely watchable.

[Mirefox]

I’ve enjoyed the series but I did feel pacing was way off for season 5. We spent waaaaay to much time with Naomi and Drummer. I haven’t watched s6 yet but I am in such a sour mood from Wheel of Time that I’m sure I will be a bit more favorable towards The Expanse.

[js619]

Ugh, 5 was such a slog

[rinelk]

All those complaints about The Expanse and nothing for the Pet Sematary intros?

Personally, I still enjoyed it. But I can’t complain about any of your criticisms.

[kennfusion]

This synopsis of an upcoming Netflix show is cracking me up:

Exposed as an ex-Russian spy, an American single mom must juggle family life and unique shape-shifting skills in a battle against an insidious enemy.

[OhBollox]

Women live full lives these days, thanks to modern sanitary towels.

[OhBollox]

[OhBollox]

Hit-Monkey. It’s not as out there as some of the stuff DC has done, but it’s still a much better series for daring to be different. A macaque picks up the skills of an assassin and goes on a quest for vengeance, accompanied by a ghost. Some wonderful violence and good, almost Archer-ish lines.

[OhBollox]

All of Us Are Dead. Once again, the big draw for me is not the zombies, but the sheer amount of practical stunt work and action carried out; while not all of it is perfect and there are often fumbles, there is an undeniable immediacy to the scrambling and running in a familiar school environment, including some great action set pieces that make minimal use of CGI, and the sheer amount of people just absolutely eating floor in some of the falls shows some real dedication. The plot is also resolutely on a downward spiral; I was worried it might be a little comfy catastrophe, but there is a relentless entropy to the events that allows you to hope and takes it away repeatedly. Solid watch.

Peacemaker continues to be excellent. Really nothing more to say, and the series looks like it’s going to have an impressive finale. Four more seasons, please.

Attack on Titan. Now this anime lost me part-way through, and it was only via some great action scenes and interesting characters that I stayed on board. And I’m glad I did. This last season is shaping up really well, there are some obvious limitations to how it’s been adapted, and I think some events are just too vague and need actual named characters behind them, but overall I am still emotionally invested and glad to be watching. One of the few series to instil a genuine dislike for certain characters in me.

Bonus Brexit reference.

[kennfusion]

I am glad to hear that All of Us Are Dead is good. We just started Doom Patrol on HBO, but either this or The Silent Sea were going to be next on our list…after Season 2 of Raised by Wolves though, since that just came out and we just watched Season 1 this past month.

We started Peacemaker, but my wife did not like it, so it will be something I will have to carve out time to watch on my own. We tend to sync on about 75% of our watching. Like I hate Ozark and she is watching the new season of that now.

Attack on Titan is also on my watch list. I tend to watch Anime mostly on long cross-country flights. I have a couple upcoming, so this might make it this time. I watched Arcane on the last business trip.

Speaking of Arcane, I thought it looked fantastic, but I actually found the story quite boring.

[rinelk]

I watched Bordertown without my wife a while ago, and am now revisiting it with her. It still makes me want to learn Finnish, mostly because I adore the sound of the language, but a little bit because I have some suspicions about the translation. It makes Finland, near the Russian border, look constantly cold, but beautiful, and I definitely find myself wishing for a country that’s more invested in social support.

It’s weird what strikes me as salient about TV these days. Give me a mystery set someplace lovely, with lots of establishing shots of pleasant scenery and a pleasing soundscape, and the mystery kind of recedes. That feels weird; like I’m just confused about “background” and “foreground”.

[OhBollox]

SPOILERS.

The Book of Boba Fett 1985

[OhBollox]

Reacher. I’m surprised I gave this more than an episode, given the entire idea behind it (an infallible investigator who never loses a fight), but in fairness, some of the cast are good, the plot is hackneyed but has some small, interesting parts, and there’s also a touch of real brutality to the fights, shootings, and murders. The flashbacks are dire, and should have been burned or replaced with static. Alan Ritchson has a lot of goodwill earned from Titans, and he manages to bring some character to the role of the world’s biggest Mary Sue. There is very little about the setting that stands out, too much of the production is generic; compared to the likes of Sharp Objects, the town is Nowheresville. You have half a dozen good actors and some decent lines carrying the rest of it.

[rinelk]

I’ve watched seven episodes of Reacher, and just had to check whether I’d finished the series or not because it has no stakes. Reacher can’t lose, and they only sort of tried to make how he wins clever enough to be interesting. So far, my favorite characters are the Settlers of Catan-playing girls who have basically no lines. It’s … blandly watchable.

But the subtext is fucking fascinating. I feel like, if I could get my head around what it means that this character speaks to people, I would have a far stronger insight into our culture and human nature. The particular limits within which he’s allowed to be wrong or look silly alone encapsulate so much about the masculine ideal.

[Mirefox]

You had me at Settlers of Caran-playing girls.