#tv thoughts

[failedazaleas]

sometimes i'm having a chill moment and then i'm reminded of how the umbrella academy made me wait 2 years so they could commit a full character massacre and make me watch one of the worst endings to a meaningful story i've seen in years

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

I watched Squid Game season 2. From what I’ve seen, it’s interesting to see how the angle of the story has shifted. What I mean is that Season 1 was about how capitalism as a system destroys people. It’s a system that is inherently unfair and in order to be successful in it, you have to climb over everyone else.

Season 2, while obviously still focused on capitalism, feels like it’s more about human nature. S1 was “the system is cruel and unfair”. S2 is “while the system is cruel and unfair, people will nevertheless take part in it and even embrace it”.

We kinda saw that in S1 with Sang-woo and Deok-su. But in S2, it’s a lot more focused in the story. Thanos the rapper got screwed over by the crypto guy, but it was his fault since no one forced him to invest in the coin. Despite being screwed over, Thanos had no problem screwing other people over in order to get the money. The people keep voting to continue the games despite all the deaths. Tribes were formed based on who wanted to keep playing and who wanted to live. The old fucker (forgot his name) saying he has no problem letting everyone else die in order to win the money. And, of course, In-ho taking part in the games to ruin Gi-hun’s plans.

I feel that In-ho’s role in the story is what defines S2. Despite having lived through the horror of the games, he clearly believes in the games and what they represent. He’s the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” phrase personified. He was in debt, he won his own game, and now he’s got power and wealth. That’s what makes his rivalry with Gi-hun so interesting, it’s the capitalist versus the socialist. And I do think the socialist description fits Gi-hun since his character canonically was fighting for workers rights and his main focus is taking the system down.

I’m curious to see where they’ll go with S3. I can see it going two ways. We could get the happy, Hollywood ending where Gi-hun wins and the entire game gets shut down. I can also see a darker, more realistic ending where Gi-hun might succeed in taking down In-ho and the VIPs but the games somehow continuing. Because ultimately, you can’t destroy greed, selfishness and people’s capacity to be cruel to each other. That’s what season 2 established.

[nkatr84]

Agatha All Along Theory!

Guys! Guys! Guys!

Okay I know the two big theories are that Teen is either Billy Kaplan/Romanoff or Agatha’s son Nicholas Scratch BUT what if he’s…

Or rather he’s her powers? So we know ever since the first Thor movie that the MCU explains magic as just a science we haven’t discovered yet.

See? Anywho when Wanda “died” at Wundergore her magic had to go somewhere. Because one of the main scientific principles is that energy cannot be created nor destroyed. It’s only transferred. It’s how Agatha stole magic for centuries. So while Wanda’s magic might have gone somewhere to resurrect her later, Wanda still had Agatha’s magic. And Agatha’s magic had to go somewhere. Maybe it tried to return to Agatha but since she was still under Wanda’s spell, it went into the nearest vessel it could find. A kid from Eastview. Her magic helped resurrect this kid who might have died in that car accident in Eastview that Agatha kept referring to in Episode One and that’s why he was able to break the spell and seems so naturally adept at magic. Because Agatha was technically breaking the spell on her own in Episode One. She was no longer a quirky sitcom neighbor. Her own personality which is curious and likes to solve mysteries altered Wanda’s spell so she became a gritty tv detective. She just needed the rest of her magic to sever the spell completely. And she can’t hear his name or backstory because her magic is preparing her for the Witches Road. Because it’ll probably turn out that the only way to get her magic back is to sacrifice this kid and if she knows his name or story she’ll be less inclined to do what she needs to do. And thus conflict. And you know that symbol that comes up whenever he tells Agatha his name? How everyone says it’s a w or m or both? It could also be AAA…

😁

[arandomdai]

I don't think Crystal did it... It was a scheme Todd set up lolol. No, but seriously, I feel like the golf course guy devised a plan to set them up and I feel like after Jacob said something's to the school board at the meeting (the Valentine's Day episode), it went downhill from there (with Ava being worried about getting caught to the school board being suspicious of Abbott).

And No... I don't think Manny had anything to do with it ( I just hate that he had to be the one to fire her 😔). You can tell that he didn't want to do it but he had no choice, he was literally the little dog in the fight. And I feel like The district asked him to come along because he defended them. And only for him to be hurt to fire someone he liked. Also (a theory) this is probably a deja vu moment from when his mother used to work in Abbott and see how she and other teachers were treated back then.

[katrani]

BoonBoomger stuck the landing and I am so fucking happy

Like, that was peak hype, from normal opening (SO YOU KNOW. WHAT IS COMING.) to Chashiro taking on Grantz (do wish we got more with him, glad our support boy finished Spinder's support boy) to the "we're going to change the world" to Boondorio tanking a shot for everyone

The final, FULL roll call

And we didn't even finish with a giant robot battle! Because this show values the emotional payoffs more, and it was more important to see Boondorio and Taiya take on Spinder then for Boondorio to try and reach out to him (the same way Taiya is still reaching out to Naito after his arrest)

I have some quibbles about the epilogue (what do you MEAN the goons are taking off on their own instead of helping Sakito as a BoonBoomger b-team or something) but in a "oh i guess!" way instead of a "that sucks..." way.

I just. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

idk i feel like i should have something more *solid* to say but for now this'll do. I'll poke at it a bit here and there.

[willowmosby]

So I watched the first 3 episodes of the new CBS show Watson and it's ok. Like I will probably keep watching cause it doesn't require much attention and the set is kinda cool.

The dialogue is very clunky in episode one but since that's already starting to smooth out a little I will give it some grace. It's still not Shakespeare or anything but they are actually trusting us to infer a bit so it's not constantly exposition. I also need to remember that there are plenty of shows that I recommend to people that have rough or different 1st seasons it's just been a while since I've watched one live and stuck with it( I guess that's still TBD for this as well).

I'm not sure how sustainable some of the choices are. like the twins being played by one actor makes it hard to balance the subplots of all of the underlings (like I already know way more about Stevens then Adam, and I imagine it's hard to do full cast scenes when they have to do edits for him to be two people) and the Moriarty stuff feels like it will get used up pretty fast. I also feel like Watson is a hard character to get right without Sherlock as so much of his stuff is about working with Sherlock.

On top of that squeezing in both medical and criminal cases in every episode is going to be rough. I love crime procedurals and I've watched enough medical ones to know i usually passively enjoy them. But I'm honestly not sold on the mixture that's happening here, like pick a lane but maybe it will grow on me.

That being said I am living for Bisexual Mary and Morris Chestnut is creating a compelling demeanor for Watson even if I'm not completely sold on the show's writing choices. The show has done a good job of making me care as I was really worried about Watson off his meds and the reveal Sasha not actually being engaged was pretty sad ( although not surprising as it feels like they are setting up her and Stevens).

I am also not a Sherlock Holmes purist so I'm not against trying big swings with the characters.

Update: Episode 4 kinda slapped- huge violation of HIPPA but hey it still kinda slapped.

[soinlovewith]

RANDOM DBDA Thoughts:

Have you noticed the dbda gifs on WhatsApp? They’re pretty cool.

I need dbda Icons on @netflix and obviously season 2, 3 & 4 💁🏼‍♀️

Dead Boy Detectives is the show with the most hidden details I have watched.. it’s a masterpiece!

And after rewatching a hundred times .. I think there is still more to discover. What would season 2 be like ? I am hooked.

[cameronlockhart]

In addition to being entertaining, The Penguin has also introduced me to another celebrity crush in the form of Cristin Milioti. I’ve never heard of this actress before, but let’s just say Sofia in this show isn’t ONLY frightening me. 😉

[ericeffiorg]

it’s taken me 3 seasons to realise this but the only people on ted lasso that are allowed genuinely complicated stories are the white characters and it’s been the case the whole time, this third season just kind of confirmed it.

as nice as sam’s story felt, it was really nothing more than surface level and just felt like a replica of what we’ve already seen in the media. portraying real stories is what can makes television really compelling, but when the televised story is basically a cut and paste of a news article or a documentary without giving the characters depth and long-term storytelling, then what is the point? it was a surface level story to get the clicks and the viral moments that can capture the heart of people who watch a random clip on tiktok or twitter and don’t need any more context, because there isn’t really much else needed. unlike the build up of jamie and roy’s hug, ted’s panic attack, keeley’s first kiss with a woman, or ted being betrayed by nate, sam’s story can literally be chopped up into a single clip at a time and no more context is needed to get what’s going on because it really wasn’t given any detailed aspects. and to be honest that’s what sam’s character has been this entire time.

the notion of the show is to fight evil with kindness and that works when your friend is being mean to you or your mentee betrays you like it is with ted’s stories. but it doesn’t work that way with someone like sam. his role in the show since the beginning has been “the good immigrant” that fights violence with kindness, despite being confronted with more violence than anyone on the show. he was told to stop speaking about his people by the prime minister and his restaurant was vandalised, yet it only made up to no more than a 1/3 of the episode. other much less important moments had more screentime in an episode that depicted a very real scenario that we literally saw happen a year ago. and even then, ted got to interrupt his moment with his dad and steal the shine, and then it was made about the entire team coming together rather than the deadly discrimination against immigrants and violent racism.

the people of colour on this show are only really used for quick gags and to show that men can be silly and goofy too and to have a big middle finger to toxic masculinity - which in turn is kind of just repeats the same toxic masculinity points because other than jamie and roy, the other men’s “anti toxic masculinity” messages are just covered in humour and never taken seriously. isaac’s journey to becoming the captain of richmond was all about roy and we never really saw his point of view other than a few scenes. and then it felt rushed. dani is just like sam, except the only time he ever speaks is to have a funny moment where his kindness is the butt of the joke. and even though he’s not a person of colour, colin’s coming out story has been so incredibly surface level that i don’t even know why they bothered to do it. nothing new was given, it was just a white man in the closet who has a boyfriend and gets caught. you can describe his story to a stranger and they could probably find it done on riverdale but with more screentime.

and nate’s redemption arc is about a white woman finally seeing him as a human despite the fact that he was never actually mean to her and just wanted to please his parents in a place he never really felt welcome. he was horrible to ted and richmond, but that jade lady was horrible to him from the get-go and we’re now supposed to see this as very sweet and sentimental.

the show is written for white audiences and doesn’t do anything daring, and i feel like it never actually did. maybe it was because it premiered during such a dark time and it was nice to see grown men in typically toxic environments be the opposite, but i don’t think the show is nearly as clever or as groundbreaking as it has gotten the credit for.

[shamelessfanturkeycreator]

What do you mean Saiki K season 2 doesn't have an English dub???

(yes I know I am probably very late to the party, but let me explain). I am someone who every so often will start watching a couple episodes of Saiki k, but I end up restarting it every time since I enjoy the season 1 episodes (so why not? you know). Since I have things to do, but must have something playing on in the background as I do it was the perfect background show (especially since I had already watched the pieces a couple times with my full attention).

But the part that really made it a good background show was the dub. I personally really like the English dub. So when I can't spend my time reading the subtitles for the Japanese audio I swap to the dub. The system was working great until now. I finally reached season 2 (mid-work). AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE IS NO DUB?!!! NOOOOOOOOO. I will still happily continue the show in Japanese, it's a really fun show and highly recommended if anyone hasn't watched it. BUT STILL THE SYSTEM!!!

Now I must find another background show, so if anyone has any recommendations I am open. Yes I am currently procrastinating my work by writing this post.

Also, I would like to note that I do not mean to diminish the show by calling it a background show. Most of the time I was just rewatching episodes I had already seen. Then when I actually have time I will go back and rewatch the show to see the scenes I missed as well as to hear how the Japanese actors voice the scenes.

[failedazaleas]

spoilers for daredevil: born again s1 ep5

never thought the day would come where i would watch daredevil casually defuse a bank robbery with ms. marvel's dad. never thought that would actually be an entertaining, enjoyable episode.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

It amuses me to this day that HBO managed to get away with producing “Tell Me You Love Me”. You know how it’s a joke that “Game of Thrones” can come off as porn at times? “Tell Me You Love Me” had scenes that were so explicit that people legitimately thought they were watching porn.

In case someone thinks I’m exaggerating how people reacted to the show:

[nkatr84]

Only Murders in the Building 4:6 Valley of the Dolls

Yeah this episode was filler but it was funny. The actors figured out what we all deduced is that the killer has been after them since season one. But! I don’t buy it being the Westies. Yes they took advantage of Dudenoff’s death to cash the checks and basically live in the West tower rent free. But that was their only crime. I’m sticking with my theory that Dudenoff was killed three years ago and the killer tried to stop the podcast to make sure they wouldn’t find out about Dudenoff. But Sazz wouldn’t let it go. And since they made two references to the script being full of plot holes I’m sticking to Marshall as suspect number one.

Meanwhile Melissa McCarthy was hilarious and really made me feel for her and Charles when they talked about their mom. Plus her fight with Loretta was funny as hell. And yay! She and Oliver are engaged!🥰🥰🥰

[searchforwondla6]

I was thinking about troupes in TV shows, and I started to think about when everyone in the A plot is going crazy/having a terrible time, cut to the B plot and everyone is literally or figuratively relaxing on a beach. My brother called it “A plot wild B plot mild”. I wonder if it’s an official thing.

[katrani]

Raise your hand if you were also personally attacked by BoonBoomger 45's opening credits

[ankh-morporkianpostalworker]

Man, the 90s and 2000s were the Wild fuckin West of TV sci-fi and fantasy, where the most batshit insane idea you've ever heard got at least a season to fuck around. The X-Files, Sliders, Quantum Leap, Farscape, Dead Like Me, Pushing Daisies, Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda/Earth Final Conflict, The Dresden Files adaptation, the Battlestar Galactica reboot franchise - not all of them were good, but holy shit did they exist and am I glad they did.

To be a bit more somber, I think that that's something we lost when we started to see the emergence (or, in the case of Star Trek, the re-emergence) of mega-franchises that dominate science fiction and fantasy. Sure, stuff like that is still out there, but it feels rare and rarer to find it.

That's it, really. I just had that thought and I figured it might be worth sharing. It'd be cool if you could recommend the weirdest stuff y'all are fans of since I'm always on the lookout for new, weird stuff.