Speak Up Saturday

[feurioo]

Welcome to the weekly roundup post! What are you watching this week? What are you excited about?

Comments

[shadowkat]

Finished Dark Winds S3 on NETFLIX by way of AMC. (AMC appears to be dumping all its series on Netflix after it's aired a few times on AMC.) This season was harder to follow than the past two, and not as compelling - partly because it had four mysteries going on at the same time, Chee was barely in it, and the focus was mainly on Bernadette doing her thing at the border, and Leaphorn wrestling with his demons, along with Emma, the FBI Agent, and a couple of mysteries.

It also did the dreaded dream episode, which television loves to do, but rarely well. This was okay, but drug and took a while to get to the point.

Also finished Buffy S4 and Angel S1 rewatch, which were a mixed bag. Both hold up rather well, with a few issues here and there. (It's blatantly obvious that they don't have any POC characters, and token ones from a lawsuit by the NAACP in the late 1990s early 00s. But still better than other series that aired at that time, so...) Buffy S4 had great stand-a-alone's, Xander was likable and relatable, Spike, Anya, and Tara excellent additions. But the plot arc doesn't work. Nor does the Buffy/Riley romance, and can Riley be any more stupid? Angel S1 was better than I remembered and much more noir than I remember. It's arc episodes were better than the stand alones.
Also, the characters really grew on me, and I discovered I liked them better than I did on Buffy.

Now, watching, finally, the limited series This is Going to Hurt on Netflix (also via AMC). It's the BBC hyper-realistic dramedy about junior doctors on an NHS maternity ward in London, focusing on their personal lives and professional lives. Kind of similar to ER and The Pitt, except I like the Pitt a bit better. This stars the brilliant Ben Whinslaw, and is rather brutal in places. Also, kind of bloody. It's gritty and realistic. And based on Dr. Adam Kay's memoir, and the series is created as a limited series by Adam Kay, with a definitive ending. There's only 7 episodes, no more than that. On the second episode currently.

[yourlibrarian]

I've never watched medical dramas, unless one counts Silent Witness, which is more of a detective procedural (and has done less and less pathology as the series progressed). Perhaps my aversion is not just the bloodiness but the fact that being in a medical situation is a very likely thing for many of us (much more so than being involved with the police in a crime). So it's curious to me that it's becoming so popular to make them ever more realistic. I guess I prefer more escapism.

[shadowkat]

I find them oddly comforting? Mainly because they are trying to save lives, at least I'm not doing that for a living, most of the time the people live and do well, and it gives me insight as to how doctor's think, why, and their struggle.