tv_talk | Speak Up Saturday

Hacks: oh, man, there's only one episode left! This week's episodes were really good, but seeing people's theories out there is scaring me. I'm not sure if the show is renewed or not yet, but I hope there's a season 4 because I love it.

Blake's 7: I just finished season 2 last night! This was the first season with an episode that made me cry (you can try to guess) but there were also some stinkers. What the hell was with "The Keeper"? Still, I enjoyed it very much. I'm a bit sad that I've already watched half of this show. I don't want it to end!

The Atypical Family: Finally finished episode 6. If there isn't some surprising Dong-hee reveal in the second half of the series, I'm not sure why the writer even included her character. We know next to nothing about her backstory (except for that one dream) and the show barely focuses on her powers, how she felt about losing them, or why it even got to this point. Other than that, I like everything, even Da-hae's shady "Mom".

Personal highlights of this episode: I-na and Da-hae, Mom Bok and Da-hae's "Mom" circling each other, Da-hae looking amazingly beautiful at the end, Gwi-ju's happy smile. I also can't wait to see future!Gwi-Ju revisit this memory.

Destiny: Didn't finish the first episode because it felt like a bad soap opera without the entertainment value necessary to make it work.

Frankly Speaking: Sorry, GYP, but I'm giving up. The episode 8 review on Dramabeans left me completely cold and I simply couldn't care less about the central conflict. I wish they had stuck with the show's original premise or, at least, something akin to an actual plot. All my other complaints would be indirect spoilers.

The 8 Show: Binged it all in two days. Excellent!

The Fortune Hotel: Watched the first episode for Stephen Mangan's handsome face. Won't watch beyond that because I already got spoiled.

The GOAT: Disappointed by the last elimination.

Messo mo Nai (Seven Orifices): Had to check it out for the absurd premise. Unfortunately, the show doesn't center on those strange orifices but on eight people documenting their life stories before each enters one of the titular orifices. The first backstory was filmed in a way that made some parts of it look like a theatre performance. Not terrible but if I wanted to watch a show about people, why would I go for this one?

Taskmaster UK S17: A true delight! I don't want this season to be over. On the upside: I hope they post the new seasons of Taskmaster Australia next.

Movie: I watched American Fiction. Managed to completely misread the summary but still enjoyed it. Great cast, and very funny in places.

Edited 2024-05-25 15:02 (UTC)

I've watched a couple of odd documentary series this week.

Imposter: The Man Who Came Back From the Dead, which is a 4-part true-crime documentary about the story of a Covid patient in a Glasgow hospital who in 2021 woke from a coma to find himself accused of being one of the FBI’s most wanted criminals: Nicholas Rossi, a US citizen and registered sex offender, who had faked his own death after several rape charges.

American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders, the story of a journalist’s (Danny Casolaro) mysterious death in 1991 while investigating a shadowy conspiracy he called the Octopus, a network of mostly former intelligence officers who used their contacts not only within the intelligence sphere but the criminal underworld.

I also finished watching the new Rebus series, which I greatly enjoyed. Outlander's Richard Rankin plays Rebus and he is very, very good in the role.

On the lighter side, I've also been watching a new UK reality show called The Fortune Hotel, which the Guardian proclaimed was a "fiendishly addictive mix of The Traitors and White Lotus." Well, it's not nearly as good as The Traitors, but it is still a fun-enough watch. (Comparing it to White Lotus wasn't really a selling point for me -- I watched the first season and thought it was OK -- didn't love it, haven't bothered with subsequent seasons.)

Otherwise, it was my usual weekly stuff, of which there are fewer and fewer as shows come to their season end. Which is fine -- I have a few shows backlogged on Apple+ that I will now be able to turn my attention to. No tennis this week, but the French Open kicks off tomorrow, so that will be grand.

I just finished the second - and last season available on Disney+ - of Abbott Elementary today. Now to find something else that's light and short!

If you are open for recs: Have you watched Not Dead Yet? I thought the first season was cute.

I watched a few episodes of it when it first came out, and wasn't grabbed by it. Thanks for the rec tho!

I watched all of The New Look, and had mixed feelings about it. Might write up a post next week.

Also glad about the return of Welcome to Wrexham which continues to be delightful, with or without musical numbers.

Tried out Palm Royale but it wasn't for me.

Have started watching Constellation but am forwarding through a good bit of it because it just takes a lot of time with things like walks down long hallways and other suspense build ups that always annoy me.

We've started up the next seasons of Loot, For All Mankind, Foundation and Slow Horses but I think this is going to proceed very slowly.

I also watched the film Luck which was cute but not a must-see in my book.

I started a rewatch of Galavant this week. Man, what a fun show that was! I dearly miss it.

Abbott Elementary's season 3 finale was cute and fun, as can be expected from that show. Is it just me, or did ABC underpromote this season? Between pushing back the season premiere to February to the shorter-than-usual episode count, I feel like ABC didn't really give this season much of a chance.

Smartypants on Dropout continues to entertain, although the every-2-weeks release schedule always leaves me wanting more! This week's themes were Why swing music should have another revival, How to write an email like a white lady, and Why the U.S. should bomb the moon.

My general impression is that ABC has wasted a lot of opportunities for marketing Abbott.

Galavant is just such a clever, fun show!

Great icon! 😁

Aww, Galavant! Love that show. <3

Abbot is so good too; that's super disappointing about its limited/under-promotion.

I'm also very charmed by Smartypants! I've gotta catch up with this week's episode. ;D

Evil Season 4--unfortunately, Paramount is only releasing one episode at a time so I can't binge, but it looks to be bonkers as ever.
Great American Baking Show 2 on Roku. I swear, every time they change up it gets worse but it's still dependable comfort viewing.

A new series of Mcdonald and Dodds on Britbox. It's set in Bath, so that's different.

Taskmaster.

Will Trent which over for the year.

I watched two shows on PBS, Guilt which was very tense and I liked a lot, and Maryland, which I thought was very cliched and I made up dialogue in my head as I watched. But I liked the cast.

Another episode of The Big Cigar. Good, but more serious than we hoped. And then we slipped and fell into Veronica Mars season 3 (my sister lent me the DVDs), and it's not great, and I could do without the tenor of the central mystery, but we know the characters and it's easy viewing. We'll probably finish. (My sister also lent me the movie.)

Other than that, a bit more Turning Point (doco about the cold war and the bomb), which is excellent. I think that's all.

Evil: super excited this is back but also sad that its ending. Loved this weeks ep, especially when Leland tried to taunt Kristen about the baby and she just laughed and laughed like it was the most hilarious thing (which it kinda is).

Hacks: has been sooooo good this season. I'm hoping we will hear of a renewal soon. But I think maybe it might end this season. Everything is resolving. Unless something big happens in the next ep...

Stargate SG1: continuing my rewatch. Up to season six. I'd forgotten just how good this show is. It holds up well for a 20+ year old show.

Otherwise not really watched much this week.

Haha, still Bridgerton. :D

Season 1 again this time. The current round at

retro_icontest requires one to rewatch a show and make icons for every episode. I chose Bridgerton (season 1), intending to not actually rewatch but use the caps I already have to make those icons from. But it turns out I don't have many caps from season 1 at all, so I was 'forced' to rewatch after all! Omg Anthony is such an ass in season 1. Knowing what I now know from season 2, it's very relatable, though. He really flounders so much trying to fill his father's shoes.

Anyway, I got up to ep 3 and am enjoying myself a lot! I don't really *want* to get back into the older pairings, but I think I'll be powerless against the romance. Again. :D

I watched another ep of To Ship Someone. I feel like it's getting a bit better again now, the focus having shifted from the fangirly meta to Ji Shu's personal problems, and her no longer trying to cheat herself into his life. I'm about halfway through now.

Since I'm on a Nicola Coughlan spree, I tried Derry Girls. The humor is way too ott for me, though, so I bounced off of it twice already. I'm not giving up yet, though. Made it through the first episode and hanging on for now.

Oh, and one more ep of Spy X Family. They're getting a dog! \o/ I love them all so much. :D The dog reminds me a bit of the dog on Gintama, but just physically. I'm sure he has a much nicer personality. ;)

I started Julia, a dramedy about Julia Child getting her TV show off the ground. It's entertaining, and gosh, Sarah Lancashire's performance as Julia is truly captivating! Also really enjoying Bebe Neuwirth as Julia's friend Avis DeVoto.

I'm watching some of the Jdramas currently airing. The hot theme seems to be amnesia right now - three of the weekday dramas centre(ish) around it. I like that they're mainly about self-discovery rather than romance though, which is probably why I've kept up with all of them.

Otherwise, I am still watching Shogun. This isn't a show I can binge-watch, so I've been doing about an episode a night or half an episode a night and then doing other stuff after. I found it extremely confusing at the start because I was trying to find the historical equivalent of each character before realising that it's not an exact retelling so to speak, and have found that my brain overheats a little less as I go through the remaining episodes. Will probably grab a copy of the book after I finish.

Speak Up Saturday

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject