tv_talk | Speak Up Saturday

I started S4 of the Bear, which recently dropped on Hulu, on Friday - and ended up finishing it this morning. I was going to stretch it out - but it is so good that I could not help myself and devoured it eagerly. It's become a comfort show - it's hyper-realism, and much like The Pitt is to the ER, the Bear is to restaurants, and well family life in Chicago in general.

Four can be a series closer or a continuation - opening it up for new things. Not clear. While I can see Hulu and F/X renewing it - it's not clear if the writer/show-runner plans to continue, and the leads (Carmen, Ritchie and Sydney) are all heavily booked in future projects (their careers took off because of The Bear). I want it to continue - because it kind ends with some things unanswered?
But at the same time - I like open-endings because they are more realistic. It does have more closure than the previous seasons, and I can see this going on hiatus for a bit and coming back with a time jump.

Still rewatching Buffy, on S3, now. It's better than I remembered. In previous rewatches, I'd skip most of the episodes of S3, except for Lover's Walk, and as a result, I don't remember much of it. (My previous rewatches of this series - were usually Seasons 2,4,5,6 and 7, skipping over various episodes. And I often skipped 1 and 3. I like the characters better in the later seasons? Also the setting and issues better? I should probably state that I was 27/28 when the series started in the 1990s, and fell in love with it as a 30 something, not a teen? So much like the cast and writers - was relieved when it got past high school? The high school bit doesn't bother me - I don't remember high school, and I find most of it resonates on a more universal level? I think because those writing and working on it - were much older, and kind of just used it the horrors of high school for a metaphor for the horrors of live. Buffy isn't really a teen show, even though it was marketed in that direction. It was created by adults in their late 20s, early 30s, for a broad audience, and directed at teens, which is odd, I know, but there it is.)

Actually, I think S3 might be the best season that I've rewatched so far. They do a good job of keeping the real villain in the background - no one in the main cast realizes that he is remotely a threat until things kind of go kablooy. I think they learned from their mistakes in S1 - that less was more with a good villain.

Also unlike S2, the stand-a-lones are all watchable and well done. S1's problem was the Master being the main plot arc, and the stand-a-lones or episodic episodes were actually better than the main arc.
S2's problem was the opposite. With the possible exception of the Ethan Rain/Giles and John Ritter episodes - the stand a lones in S2 don't quite work and are skippable, they bog down the story. The main arc however, along with the main villains in S2, are wonderful.

S3 has figured out how to do both, and has finally gotten a good writing team that gets the process and the goals of the series.

Still to watch or complete:

Murderbot

Andor S2

Gilded Age

Sirens

Also complete Hacks and Ted Lasso.

And Iron Heart on Disney...

I'm also planning to watch the latest Hacks and Gilded Age but we cancel Apple on Saturday so I'm trying to get through stuff on there first.

At some point - I need to figure out how to do the revolving subscription bit. I'm being eaten alive by subscriptions to things, the publications I'll probably cancel - I got more than I can ever possibly read in one life time.

What I do once I subscribe is set a calendar alert two days before the subscription renews. This might be one month or two, or more depending on how long you think it will take to watch what you want. When you cancel they continue your access until the renewal date arrives.

I didn't hate S3 of The Bear, but it wasn't easy to get through. This makes me hopeful that I'll also enjoy S4!

Last year I would have said that there's no way the show won't get renewed, but it is not dominating awards anymore and the buzz online also seems to be down. So, it could go either way at this point. Of course, there's also the fact that the actors' careers have really taken off.

but it is not dominating awards anymore and the buzz online also seems to be down. So, it could go either way at this point.

Oh, no - it was dominating the awards last year for S3 - three people won. And it got best comedy.
Also they haven't done the Emmy nominations yet. Plus S4 got a perfect rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and high critical praise. So, not sure what you mean that it's not dominating awards or that the online buzz is down? It just dropped on June. 25, and people love it. You have to give folks time to see it to give it awards.

S4 is better than S3 in some respects - it's calmer, and each character resolves its main issues. There's less yelling. And the characters for the most part are in a much better place and accomplish their goals or have epiphanies that allow them to get there?

Edited 2025-06-29 23:16 (UTC)

ETA: I watched an episode of Poker Face S1 (which is a comfortable murder mystery series that's kind of Columbo meets the Fugitive by way of Murder she Wrote? And rather clever and subversive in spots.)
It's on Peacock. And the Second Season has popped up. I'm still in S1. You don't have to watch in order or binge - it's old school episodic television, with only really one continuous character (along with cameos by the guy pursuing her from the Mob - kind of like the Fugitive, except it's the Mob). So You need to see the first episode that sets it up, after that, you can meander. I'm watching in order, but I honestly don't think it matters.

It's parlor room mystery set up - the detective confronts the murderer, explains how they figured it out, then escapes before the murderer can off them, and finds a way to get justice, without taking any credit or getting in trouble themselves.

No serial killers, no graphic violence or torture (that I've seen), or any rape. So it's a nice comforting murder series - featuring a funky and scruffy female detective in her early 40s.

Also saw an episode of the Gilded Age - which was better than expected - S2, Episode 2, I think. It's hit or miss, can be slow at times.

And sigh, Andor, which is incredibly slow, and very little happens in it. It drags. It's also far too political for its own good and kind of hard to watch right now - because it is about resisting and kind of flailing at resisting Fascism. I mean Star Wars' universe doesn't really turn around until Star Wars : A New Hope. There's less torture and violence this season than last, but we do have an attempted rape sequence that I could have done without. I don't understand the love of S2. It's been putting me to sleep, and I had to keep rewinding to figure out what was going on - since my attention kept wandering. I'm on Episode 4. It's slow folks. And it keeps having time jumps.

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