tv_talk | Speak Up Saturday

Quite a number of things ended this week.

1923 - saw the final ep and I am so mad. SO MAD. Thats pretty much all I am going to say about it because if I get started on it I won't stop.

The Pitt - This show was so good. So realistic. I really loved it. I'm looking forward to season 2 and I am wondering if its going to be Day Two, or if there will be a time skip to a future day. I'm very curious as to what will happen with the teen in the 72 hr hold, so I'm kinda hoping it will be within that time span.

YellowJackets - we finally have some answers to big questions. I was still kinda disappointed with the episode though. Not sure why. Just... meh? It was interesting to hear Shauna's thoughts though as she wrote them down. But none of it was really a surprise. I guess thats was wrong with the ep, everything felt predictable and unsurprising for a finale. I wasn't even surprised by who Pit Girl turned out to be. And it didn't feel like the story moved forward much, if that makes sense.

The White Lotus - I binged season 3, but the last ep was this week. It was very good, but I don't think it was as good as other seasons, although the setting was amazingly beautiful. As always I liked some characters more than others, but one or two of them actually disappointed me with their actions. and I was so glad that something in the final ep didn't happen. I'm hoping we might see some of the characters again in a future season should there be one.

Black Mirror - I binged the whole season. On the whole I enjoyed most of the episodes and thought some were better than those from other recent seasons. My favourites were "Common People" (ep 1) which was completely terrifying (and also ironic considering it was on Netflix), "Eulogy" (ep 5) which had Paul Giamatti in it and he was amazing. Not sure if I liked how it ended or not though. And "Hotel Reverie" (ep 3) which I loved for the romance, but I had issues with the tech.

Other shows:

Will Trent - LOVED the disco dance scene. that was so awesome and fun! Although a little sad because of what it bought up for Will.

The Handmaids Tale - first three eps. I have no idea how June hasn't just completely lost it on Serena Joy yet. June is a much better person than I am, I would have done her in a long time ago, let alone after what happened on the train. Was super cool to see June reunite with [redacted] and have a small break though!

Matlock - Finally someone knows about Maddy's secret and what she is doing there! I still don't think the person who stole the file is the same person they think it is. That seems like too high a personal cost for someone. Its got to be someone else. I have some ideas, but we'll see. Also, I still can't figure out if her name is Maddy (Madeline) or Matty (Matlock), and can't remember if they clarified that in the show.

Hacks - Season 4 started with a bang and I am there for it. Jean Smart is so good in this. Love these women and their relationship! I love the way they clearly care about each other, even when they are trading barbs. Also like the new assistant Kayla and Jimmy hired.

Next week:
Looking forward to the new season of The Last of Us, Season 2 of an Aussie show called Scrublands, new show Sherlock & Daughter, a british mystery called The Stolen Girl, S3 of Leverage Redemption, and Law & Order Organised Crime Season 5

and Season 5 of YOU in two weeks!!

So much TV!!
Honestly, sometimes it feels like 'too much' and I'm frozen with indecision, but I 100% appreciate there is so much more variety and so many more stories being told these days. <333

Of this list, I plan on checking out (eventually?, someday?, when I have that particular streaming service?) The Pitt and The Last of Us season 2. Season 1 gutted me in a good way and I'm sure season 2 will be more of that.

ha! yes, I had nothing on this week so just watched a LOT lol

I totally get the indecision thing though, I sometimes feel like that when I have a lot of things on my to watch lists. I go through periods where quite a lot sits on there for ages because I just can't decide what to watch, or need to be in a certain mood to watch some things.

100%
I have weeks like that where I watch a lot of episodes. The cold and rainy weather has helped facilitate that for me lately.

This is me. I end up only watching stuff with other people because when I’m by myself I have too many choices.

Feel much the same way. Too much TV, and I'm also frozen with indecision.

That is exactly how I felt during everything going on on the train! Everyone else was against Serena, that would have been June's chance to just let it happen...then again, June's reactions seemed a bit inconsistent? Sometimes she felt far too soft, but then changed back to not wanting to be touched.

yes! and for a moment it seemed like she might let it happen, but then she changed direction again. It really bugged me earlier too, Serena being all like "but what if they take my child away from me?" to June, who had her child taken away from her, and June not saying anything.

Exactly! Sometimes it felt like June forgot that Serena was a huge part of that. Serena controlled her a lot by threatening her daughter. She was the one that paraded Hannah around in the purple robes on television, so that June could see it when she was in Canada. I get the sentiment, but it's not like Serena is the ideal mother and the baby wouldn't necessarily go to the Wheelers, just because that would be the case in Gilead. I feel like June was far too sympathetic at times.

I'm looking forward to season 2 and I am wondering if its going to be Day Two, or if there will be a time skip to a future day.

They've already stated that it will take place during the 4th of July weekend, so not Day Two. Looking forward to various fire cracker-related injuries...

I had no idea Leverage Redemption has a 3rd season. I loved the original but still haven't watched Redemption. I really need too.

I had my doubts about the sequel and put it off until a friend posted a link to the free videos on ElectricNow's YouTube page. You can get all of seasons 1 and 2 there, and they definitely did a FANTASTIC!!!! job!! <3 <3

I'm so excited. I need to watch it. I miss them.

You really do!! <3 I honestly don't think you'll regret it!!

I am watching nothing truly current. I'm working through shows on Hulu at the moment so I can cancel and move on to another streaming service - I may not get to everything I'm interested in on Hulu before I move on, but such is life.

The Orville season 1 was much more charming than I expected. I'm watching season 2 now.

I've also been catching up on Abbott Elementary, which is a comfort show that reminds me of feel-good shows like Ted Lasso in tone and vibe, only set in a Philadelphia elementary school instead of ~~(soccer)~~ football.

Next up would be season 2 of The Bear and possibly Shogun.

Non-Hulu shows I'm re-watching are Andor season 1 in preparation for season 2 coming out and Rebels as I'm following along with Pod of Rebellion podcast in which three of the main cast are watching and talking about the show. I'm a couple of episodes behind, per usual, but that just means I'm not out of podcast episodes, right? heh.

I finished re-watching The Last of Us S1 and have started a re-watch of Andor S1. We'll see if I manage to finish the latter before S2.

Since I was behind in the previous week, I had quite a lot of stuff to catch up on. Two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again for example. I still like it, I just don't love it. Muse is kind of there without making a real impact. It also feels as if some of it just got going properly and now the finale is next week. At least we know there will be more.

The Handmaid's Tale is back and while I'm not sure this show really needed six seasons, I'm still invested and feel "give me more now!" at the end of the episodes. Starting the season by releasing three episodes also works well to get me into it again.

The most recent episode of Ghosts was so meh to me. I hope that this is really the end of the "Sass is a virgin" jokes. He is one of my favorite characters and I hate how they reduced him to this one joke during this season.

I'm also still enjoying Grosse Pointe Garden Society, but I doubt we'll get more than one season. Still having my fingers crossed we'll at least get most answers in the finale.

I'm uncertain if I'll manage to rewatch The Last of Us before season 2 or not. I'm all in on Andor though, so I'm sure that will eat my brain for a bit.

I confess to be waiting for The Handmaid's Tale to be completely finished to see how people feel. Does it stick the landing?
I hear the show is wonderfully done though, and Elizabeth Moss is such a good actor. I hope it ends in a satisfying way. *crosses fingers

S1 of The Handmaid's Tale covers the book, but it does make sense to continue.
The whole cast is really good. I hope we'll get a satisfying ending.

Seconding the wish for Ghosts. I feel like the only thing I've noted about it since the Xmas special was that I want the writers to stop with the virgin jokes. Having to hear how sad and pathetic and horrible not having sex is, and how virginity needs to explicitly be fixed, is just grating. It's well past the point where I could entertain the possibility for a sensitive introduction of ace identity in a parallel to Isaac getting to claim his homosexuality in a different era, and I just want some other type of joke.

Just caught up on Ghosts US and want to third this wish. I'm getting tired of it as well, it's such a one-note joke and repeating it over and over does not make it funnier.

I wanted to write that it doesn't help the "Americans are obsessed with sex" (especially in sitcoms) stereotype, but Thor isn't even American...

I read somewhere (TV Line?) that it was the actor's initial idea to add Sass' virginity as a plot point, but I doubt he wanted THAT.

Like I said below, American sitcoms can be quite obsessed with sex, but this is kinda taking it to another level. They did such a good job of writing about Isaac's sexual identity, but really failed here. Having Flower has a sex positive character embrace an asexual ghost would have been nice and would have additionally added depth to two characters.

Yes, I did like the episode where it turned out Flower knew what Hetty and Trevor were up to. I felt like it made the character less one-note. But I agree that she could use more development.

With Sass my main question is how the oldest ghost manages to be the most current with 21st century life and lingo!

Sass probably hangs out a lot with Jay in his dreams. Or maybe he takes on more from watching TV than the others.

I watched the first ep of MobLand and quite enjoyed it - have the second ready to watch this weekend, hopefully after I get the 3rd, so I can binge a little. very dark & violent (just as a mob drama should be) but interesting & entertaining so far

I was interested because of the cast but am not into mob stories. Will be interested to hear how it goes secondhand 🙂

New watches were the Brokenwood Mysteries, saw 2 episodes. They were alright, I liked them mostly for the New Zealand angle. Figured out both of the mysteries well in advance, and in fact figured out why we were having various elements introduced in E2 and how they fit into the resolution.

Also new, Name That Tune has passed the exercise test. I do often recognize a song but will then generally struggle to remember the name (or exact name). What I notice I do better on is looking at them as a trivia question. For example they had 2 TV theme clues in the last episode I watched and I got them both immediately.

Newish, in that I'm watching S3 of What If? and enjoying it so far. Have 3 more eps to go.

Still trudging through S7 of L.A. Law but about to finish it. The show's interest in Gwen mystifies me. Her character was alright as a recurring guest but as a main I don't think much of the actress.

Also watching the nature doc Life in Zambia, halfway through that. Trudging through Moonlighting S4 and can totally understand the stars' boredom with it. Probably the long production gaps in new episodes at the time helped hide it but the show feels SO repetitive when watched daily. Have caught up on the latest season of Ghosts US.

1. Finished The Pitt (on HBO MAX in the US) - and apparently there's a lawsuit from the Michael Crichton Estate (basically his widow) against the creators of the Pitt, for ER. " A judge has allowed the estate of Michael Crichton to pursue its lawsuit over the Max show “The Pitt,” which the estate argues is an unauthorized reboot of “ER.” Crichton’s widow, Sherri, sued Warner Bros. in August, alleging that the show bears unmistakable similarities to “ER,” which Crichton created, and that the studio had cut her out of the deal in violation of his contract." Before you feel sorry for her? A bit of back story? Michael Crichton came up with the concept for ER from his days as a intern at a hospital in Boston back in the 1960s and 70s and pitched it. Crichton wrote the two hour pilot, nothing else. But made millions off it in revenues based on the executive producing credit and creator credit (he came up with the idea). Then died of cancer fourteen years later. Wells however was the show-runner and executive producer and ran the series not Crichton, and basically all the episodes after the pilot are Wells and his writing team, Crichton was not involved. Crichton was a science fiction and thriller novelist known for : Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, Westworld, Disclosure, The Great Train Robbery, Rising Son...he was known for a lot of the thrillers made in the 1970s and 80s. ) The lawsuit annoys me for multiple reasons. I re-watched the original ER after watching the PITT, and they aren't that similar. Outside of the fact that they are both Emergency Room dramas. The PITT is better, and a little less - melodramatic and navel gazing. Also each episode is one hour of an emergency room shift, while ER was over an entire shift, and didn't have a clear time frame. Also ER didn't focus as much on a series of interns, just one intern. The PITT feels a bit more like This is Really Going to Hurt - the UK medical drama. And, ER borrowed heavily from various medical dramas prior to it - including St. Elsewhere. Add to that? Crichton has been dead for a long time, his creative input in ER was limited at best, and his widow isn't adding anything creatively. Ugh. I hope this doesn't kill its chances for a second season.

Anyhow, apparently it was originally supposed to be an ER reboot, and they decided to go in another direction, and Crichton's widow sued them for it. [Note, a lot of film studios and television studios buy full creative rights, and insist the writer get residuals only, if that. This is why Joss Whedon doesn't own the rights to Buffy, and has no say on how or if it gets rebooted, while Whedon actually was the showrunner of it, and is still alive. While Crichton held onto the rights to ER, and creator rights and refused to sell them - he was savvy in regards to the business, having been involved with it since the 1960s.)

2. Daredevil Born Again - (Just quick FYI- in case you are wondering why DeNight and Goddard who created the Daredevil series on Netflix aren't suing, or Frank Miller isn't or anyone else? Marvel doesn't allow writers of its comics, television series or creators to hold onto any rights to those characters, plotlines, or story concepts, any more than Disney does. So they can't sue them if they choose to play with the characters in other ways. They are work for hires. In short, Disney cleverly avoids making deals with writers like Crichton, all it's works are works for hire.) This series is actually getting a little better? It is woefully uneven, but I'd argue it was always uneven? Some episodes are better than others. The previous television series or first three seasons, were slow in the middle. This one is actually picking up speed, and was more slow to start? Although I liked the first two episodes better than most. I also liked last week's episode and this week's. I may have to re-watch the one with The Punisher, because I kept falling asleep during it. (I'm not a fan of the Punisher, never have been, the character doesn't quite work for me.) While I liked this episode quite a bit, the weak links in it are Heather Glenn and Kirsten (Matt's partner) - both are annoying and making me miss Foggy and Karen, also Electra. They need to beef his partner up a bit and give her an actual character arc and personality. Glenn doesn't quite make sense to me - why she's not picked up on certain things about both Matt and Fiske, being a trained therapist, is odd. That's the uneveness of the writing. Vanessa, Fisk, Bullseye, Cherry, BB Ulrich, Matt, and all the other characters work. It's just Kirsten and Glenn that don't quite play. Maybe that will change in future episodes? I wish they'd done more of a slow build on the Heather Glenn/Matt Murdoch romance. I felt like they were dating and then blink, they had moved in together and were sleeping together. And I'm not sure if it's at her place or his? I think it's his? But why? The writers skipped that stuff - and it's kind of important - or I have troubles caring? There was more build up between SheHulk and Matt in SheHulk's series, and that's saying something. I'm hoping this episode might break that relationship wide open? Right now, it just feels like another way to bring Fisk and Matt together, and it just makes me miss Karen, all the more.

3. The Residence (Netflix in the US and not to be confused with the medical drama - The Resident, which is also on Netflix, and I kind of did at first) - this is a hilarious parlor room mystery series that takes place in the White House, but manages to circumvent political satire, or it winks at it, without quite going there? I was avoiding it because I thought it went there - but it just winks at it. Scandal, it's not. It's actually funnier than Scandal. Reminds me of Knives Out, except with a Black Woman detective (in the Daniel Craig role) and in the White House.

Example Dialogue?

Hollinger: You have the CIA, the FBI, the Secret Service, Homeland Security, and the National Park Service at your disposal and you called the MPD? I wouldn't call the MPD to find my dick.
National Park Service: Uhm Captain Dokes from the MPD is here. (points).
MPD Captain Dokes: You can't find your dick?

That's the first episode. It's from Shonda Rhimes and it's hilarious.

4.) Doctor Who - I don't know which season we're on? But it's the first episode of the current one, and on Disney. (Oh, RT Davies came back to write and show run it when he discovered Disney was taking over the production, and felt the need to protect the product. I'm not sure who he is protecting it from at this point? Disney or the BBC, possibly both. And he dragged his buddy, Stephen Moffat with him. So now we have decent writers. Plus a cool doctor, and a cool companion. Go team. And for once both the Doctor and the Companion are POC, and not white. The Doctor is also bisexual and wears whatever he wants.) This episode was uneven, a bit on the confusing side, and apparently following a trend towards "INCEL" plotlines that I've been seeing lately. This is probably just me. I admittedly have been re-watching old Buffy episodes from the 1990s, and they trend towards INCEL horror tales. At least in this one, they are obvious about it. Belinda even calls the villain an INCEL. I liked aspects of it? Mainly Belinda. But I wasn't keen on the rest, and thought it was a wee bit too much on the nose about AI fears.

Can't decide if they have new Andor episodes yet?

The Residence (Netflix in the US and not to be confused with the medical drama - The Resident, which is also on Netflix, and I kind of did at first) - this is a hilarious parlor room mystery series that takes place in the White House, but manages to circumvent political satire, or it winks at it, without quite going there? I was avoiding it because I thought it went there

Oookay! I would have had all the same reservations you did, but the fact that it's not going there, and that it was made by Shonda Rhimes totally makes me want to watch this now. :D Thank you!

You're welcome! I hope you enjoy.

Interesting.

Sorry my cuts for spoilers didn't work for some reason.

Looks like the coding was off. It should be lj-cut="Spoilers" within the brackets.

Why "Lj" - usually I can just do "cut text="spoilers", LJ is well specific to Live Journal?

ETA: doesn't matter - the spoilers are very vague and difficult to figure out without having seen the episode or series and only really on Daredevil and Doctor Who.

Edited 2025-04-13 21:22 (UTC)

I’m with you on the lawsuit. Sorry, Michael Crichton(‘s estate) does not get to have royalties from every single emergency room TV series. Even if I have been going around saying The Pitt is “ER updated to the 21st century.”

Exactly. I mean yes, it has similarities? But so do about a dozen other shows. Also, that's what ER's are like? Honestly, is she going to sue anyone who comes up with a realistic Emergency Room drama?
And Noah Wyle is nothing like John Carter. The stories aren't the same. I know, I tried to re-watch ER recently. The old ER was a little less realistic, and not quite as focused on the ER.

We finished The Pitt, which was as great as everyone's saying, and now we're floundering around a bit, unsure what to watch next.

Watched episode 3 of Doc, which is fine but by-the-numbers, and suffers greatly in comparison to The Pitt. Still watching Krapopolis. Losing interest in Ghosts (UK), though it's interesting talking about why it isn't working for us. Oh, tried episode 1 of The Dope Thief -- but I was finding it way too stressful; I don't think I can continue with that right now.

A friend came over, and we watched the first episodes of Deadloch (a rewatch for me) and Jentry Chau vs the Underworld.

In Asian dramas, I'm watching Aoshima-kun Is a Bully on VIKI, a sweet Japanese m/f office romance with a 9-year age gap. The production values aren't super-shiny, but I like older woman/younger man stories so I'm sticking with it.

I watched Karma (meh - I disliked everything about the story arc of Shin Mina's character and since she was the sole female character of importance, I had hoped she'd be more interesting), the Yellowjackets S3 finale (terrible), the latest Taskmaster Australia episode, and the first three episodes of the new Black Mirror season (1 was okay, 2 was weird, and 3 was interesting but it didn't quite work for me).

Edited 2025-04-13 09:08 (UTC)

I missed last week's talk post, but nothing much has happened, anyway. So in the last two weeks combined, I watched

more Doctor Odyssey, which is doing weird tonal changes from week to week, but I'm okay with those, the show is more eye candy than serious drama anyway. I'm still loving the main relationship. The ratings are good, apparently, but they're having creative differences with the network, so... meh. I'm afraid the network doesn't like the main relationship, which is just sad. I'd absolutely love to see another season of that.

more The Pitt, and loving it. More from a nostalgic Noah Wyle on ER feeling than a need for realistic medical drama, but who cares. :D

I honestly spent most of my time following the SeriesMania event that took place in Lille, France, two weeks ago, which meant new pictures and interviews of my current HPI blorbos, Audrey Fleurot and Mehdi Nebbou. Only four more weeks until season 5! \o/

Hmm, not great about the network issues. I need to put this back on my schedule.

I’m watching Dope Thief with some people who are liking it better than I do. It feels chaotic to me and I am having trouble liking the characters. But we’re only two eps in.

I’m rewatching Person of Interest, Luke Cage, and KAOS and enjoying them all more the second time around. I’m so annoyed KAOS was canceled after one season.

I tried The Pitt again. I've made it to the 4th episode. 1. I don't want to see covid stuff anymore. 2. I can't understand half of what they are saying and when the refer to patients from just a hour ago... no idea. I'm going to keep going and see though.

This is the Zodiac Speaking. I like true crime and this doc on Netflix sounded interesting. It was okay. They gave compelling circumstantial evidence but nothing that was that convincing really. I mean is it possible this is the guy who was the Zodiac killer. Sure but they don't really have proof and I do believe a partial DNA sample has implicated a different guy. Granted it isn't like Jack the Ripper who they finally proved but closer.

Watched the movie Frozen Ground with John Cusack and Nic Cage. It was almost good but they through in stuff that was for drama only and not part of the case. Totally unnecessary because just trying to catch a serial killer is compelling enough.

Also watched Finding Your Roots. This one was about Laurence Fishburne who wanted to know who his bio-father was and the host Henry Louis Gates Jr who had a "wall" in his genealogy that Ce Ce Moore had to use DNA to get past. It was a great episode. Both had some amazing stories in their families.

G20 with Viola Davis which was action packed and good but it wasn't like great.

I'm with you on not wanting drama for drama's sake. Hard to argue with " Totally unnecessary because just trying to catch a serial killer is compelling enough."

Exactly!

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