tv_talk | Speak Up Saturday

Started watching Pluribus on Apple + finally. It's by Vince Gillian (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Terriers, and X-Files). And it is a satirical and subversively funny take on a viral zombie apocalypse. Imagine if a virus were to wipe out a third of the global population and turn the rest into a happy peace-loving hive mind that's soul purpose is to make everybody happy? No violence, no crime, etc. Except for about eleven to twelve people who were immune around the globe - that the rest are trying to figure out how to save and incorporate into the hive mind.
It's hilarious in places. Say what you will about Vince Gillian - but he's great at dialogue.

Example?

Carol: Why would you give me a frigging grenade? (Frigging is my word not Carol's)
Guy at hospital and part of the Hive Mind: Because you wanted one.
Carol: Why not make it fake grenade?
Guy: Did you want a fake grenade?
Carol: Would you give me a bazooka and the rocket it fires if I asked for it?
Guy: Yes.
Carol: Would you give me a ...tank?
Guy: Yes, if you wanted a tank...

I have seen every iteration on the zombie and alien invasion theme - but I gotta to say this is innovative and a new one. It's not clear that the hive mind is bad or good idea? We're in Carol's point of view - and Carol was unhappy to begin with.

**

Still doing the Buffy and Angel Rewatch, on Angel S3 and Buffy S6, both of which manage to make it clear that not only have the writers moved on from the Buffy/Angel relationship so have the characters. Although I could have done without the annoying love triangles on Angel that only serve to isolate Wes, Cordelia and Angel enough to cause the chaos that erupts in S4. Also, it's pretty clear to me at this point that everyone but Angel is doomed. Cordelia is definitely doomed. I don't know why the actress and her fan base didn't pick up on it? It's noir - they kill off the lead's love interest in this genre. Cordy was safe as long as she wasn't romantically paired with Angel, the moment that happened - she was doomed. Same with Buffy - I don't know why I didn't pick up on it when I original watched - but Buffy has fallen hard for Spike (against her better judgement) just as Cordy and Angel have fallen hard for each other. And Spike is doomed. He was safer when Buffy wasn't in love with him. Buffy's love interests don't tend to fare well. (As Angel and Riley can attest, not to mention Owen and Ford.)

BTW...it appears they've renewed Down Cemetery Road, and Stranger Things is getting a spin-off, Tales from Stranger Things (1985). Also Mare of East Town may get a 2nd Season sometime in 2027.

Wow, I had given up on Mare of Eastown ever having another season!

So had I. I stumbled across it on FB - from a cousin's post, and looked it up. Kate Winslet confirmed it was an actuality but not airing until 2027.

That's great news about Down Cemetery Road, yay!

the moment that happened - she was doomed. Same with Buffy - I don't know why I didn't pick up on it when I original watched

Ha, good point. The tropes become clearer with age. :)

I watched High Potential and Will Trent on Tuesday. Both were very good. Can't wait for the next one.

I loved High Potential.

Most people watch and complain about how she dresses. Doesn't bother me in the least, and I love Keradec. Is that how you spell it? You don't watch Will Trent. I just love it.

>> Most people watch and complain about how she dresses. Doesn't bother me in the least,<<

That kind of dress can come from different sources. Sometimes it's a nerd trying and failing to fit in. Sometimes it's a giant fuck-you to everyone. Other times it's genuine self-expression on purpose. It doesn't bother me either.

>> and I love Keradec. Is that how you spell it? <<

Detective Adam Karadec -- I looked it up.

>> You don't watch Will Trent. I just love it. <<

I am not much into police shows, unless there is something else in it that catches my fancy. I love Dark Winds, because of the Diné / Navajo content. Castle, mostly because Nathan Fillion. Long ago, I watched Reasonable Doubts for the sign language. But when you add up the shows that have that extra bit, there is a fair stack of them.

I love Dark Winds. I even loved Longmire because of all the native Americans in it. I like Will Trent because it’s very different. Not your usual run of the mill police show. And I love Nathan Fillion. He could be in anything and I’ll watch it.

The only new thing I watched this week was the 3-part docudrama Goolagong, about Australian world champion tennis player, Evonne Goolagong Cawley. It was very well done. Even if you're not a tennis fan, or sports fan in general, it's quite an inspiring story.

The highlight of my week, however, was this week's 3 episodes of The Traitors UK which were just absolutely bonkers. The UK series continues to be the jewel in the crown -- it's just the best by a million miles.

Otherwise, it was new episodes of returning shows, e.g. High Potential, and the new season of other shows, such as Will Trent and The Pitt.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy starts this coming week, but I'm not exactly excited about it. It's not a Trek initiative I've been interested in or wanted, and it's set in the Discovery era -- and I've never finished watching Discovery (but maybe that doesn't matter). Also, from the trailer, I can't tell if it's supposed to be more of a "young adult" kind of show? I mean I'll check it out, and maybe it will be really good, but it's not the Trek I really want to see. A new season of Idris Elba's Hijack also starts this week -- that should be a lot of fun. I'll likely start watching Girl Taken first, however.

Edited 2026-01-11 01:33 (UTC)

>> Star Trek: Starfleet Academy starts this coming week, but I'm not exactly excited about it. It's not a Trek initiative I've been interested in or wanted, and it's set in the Discovery era -- and I've never finished watching Discovery (but maybe that doesn't matter). Also, from the trailer, I can't tell if it's supposed to be more of a "young adult" kind of show? I mean I'll check it out, and maybe it will be really good, but it's not the Trek I really want to see. <<

Parts of the trailer look promising, others look pretty cringe. I'm not a big fan of contemporary Star Trek -- too often it misses the mark. I loved Prodigy and Lower Decks though. I skipped Discovery, but rather liked Strange New Worlds. Academy? I'll watch the first episode and then decide if it's worth continuing.

Discovery started off OK, but then it just kind of went... somewhere. Like, I get why they catapulted it way into the future -- to free up story line options without having to worry about established timelines/events, but it just felt like it was trying way too hard. And as I said, I've yet to watch the final season. Lower Decks was fun, I bailed on Prodigy because it's a kids show -- just didn't do it for me at all. But Strange New Worlds I adore. It's my fave Trek, surpassing even DS9.

I'm still waiting for someone to do a colony Star Trek show. Think how many episodes were "rescue colony from danger" or "everyone is dead." They show up all shiny and excited to start a new life, then spend the next 6 seasons just trying to survive.

I'd love to see something like that.

Well, there's always fanfic. Star Trek is hands down the best canon for "Are you going to eat that? No? Then I'm having it."

We just finished watching "Love Death + Robots" Season 4. It featured two of the all-time-greatest speculative fiction portrayals of cats: "The Other Large Thing" and "For He Can Creep."

We've been tossing in random bits. Last night was the surprisingly theatrical "Dancing with Birds." I've been film of birds of paradise before, but I didn't realize how many of them have such bright colors on the insides of their mouths. :D

Our next planned show is The Great Pottery Throw Down.

Oh, the inside of their mouths! Never realized that either.

I found a few references:

https://www.birdsofparadiseproject.org/color/gallery/#mouths

Yellow:
https://i.pinimg.com/474x/03/22/67/032267a391b57fdeed55206a553b6975.jpg

Green:
https://birdingfrontiers.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/mag-bop-2-pk.jpg

I'm chugging along with The Walking Dead. I've now reached Negan, which is as far as I've ever gotten, so I'm excited to finally finish the show so I can check out the spin-offs.

I have watched so much TV this week. For exercise, still on regular Jeopardy and have watched several episodes of Dark Side of the 90s. Some of it I was already familiar with and skipped. Other episodes focused a lot on certain things, like the rise of the FOX network, the appearance of teen TV, Baywatch, and Netscape as the leading company in the dot.com era.

Colbert and Daily Show are back so we've been watching those, which can be a relief given the news.

Otherwise have been very focused on Netflix content. Started Wallace and Grommit: Vengeance Most Fowl, should finish it tomorrow. Saw The Sandman Death High Cost of Living for Colin Morgan. I liked it, they did a great job casting Death.

Saw S1 of Black Doves and really enjoyed it. The relationship between Helen and Sam is great, but it's a lot of good performances all around, and I liked the writing. Glad there will be a S2.

The film House of Dynamite was really well done though I wasn't a fan of the ending. Would recommend for sure though.

Have gotten several episodes into S3 of Squid Game and expect to be caught up this week. Also watched all of Monsters Menendez, which I think would be difficult to do any better given how much tabloid fodder it was.

Finished the latest season of The Witcher and it was my favorite one. I really liked the team building aspects of it. Also, great showdown among the witches.

Saw all of The Beast in Me, which is not a genre of thriller I particularly care for. However the writing was good as were the performances and I found I wanted to finish it.

Managed one more episode each of Diplomat and Stranger Things but as I'm watching it with my partner we'll do well to get through a season of each this month.

Ah, I meant to rewatch Black Doves over the holidays -- thanks for the reminder! :-)

Mostly just The Guest (horror Kdrama with lots of possessions and exorcisms). We have one episode left.

Small amounts of Cashero (superhero Kdrama) and all of Mr Heart (very sweet/slight sports BL Kdrama).

Three episodes of Heated Rivalry, which is not really for me. I liked the Kip/Scott episode, though.

A few episodes of Fringe season 3 with my sister.

Honestly, I get that. Heated Rivalry does not seem like the kind of show everyone likes. I am surprised by how big it got and how quickly it became mainstream.

which is not really for me.

Fair enough.

Although I feel like if you've gotten through the first three eps, you might as well watch the other three as well? It slows down considerably after the fourth and the ending contains all the domestic romantic payoff (which might be more your thing than the all-the-plot-is-told-through-sex of the first two eps?).

I watched the final episode of Stranger Things S4 and it did not need to be this long. I also think there was a great opportunity to cut the episode around 50 minutes in. An episode does not need to be 2.5 hours long. S4 ends in a pretty bad place, but the characters are all reunited which I suspected would happen right from the start of S4. I don't think they knew that the show would be renewed at this point, although it was probably a safe bet. I feel like all other seasons didn't end on such huge cliffhangers.
I watched a review of the season afterwards and apparently there was a ton of speculation who from the main cast would die and that there were hints throughout the entire season that nobody is safe. Well, I didn't get those hints (or knew about the rumors). That is one upside to watching the show so late. I knew which actors are doing press for the show.
After a one-week break, I have started S5 and I'm now three episodes in. Again, very different vibe. They have been living with this situation for a while obviously and are looking for Vecna. We are kind of thrown in after a while, like cutting all the boring bits, but showing enough that we understand what is going on.
So far this season feels kinda modern? The 80s vibe aren't really there anymore for me when it comes to the military/lab stuff. Apart from the clothes and music, this could be set now.

I finally started watching Fallout S2. Only the first two episodes, so I can't really say anything. It's fine?

Abbott Elementary was fun. I like it when they leave the school. However, why did we get mean Ava again? I find her characterization inconsistent. Doing the whole "one step forward, two steps back" ten times isn't great writing for me. And again, why is she with O'Shon?

I watched:
Idol I: The OTP is slowly growing on me, but I dislike everything about the case/investigation.

Learning to Love: I wasn't entirely convinced by the first episode, but the show OTP quickly drew me in with its cuteness. Still, this was way more melodramatic than I would have liked, even until the very last minute. In general, I would have preferred a more grounded approach to the ML's learning disability. Would it have been so hard to dedicate screentime to ML's struggle for proper disability accommodation? No, let's instead focus on giving two of the shittiest male characters in the show their own semi-happy ending.

Love and Fortune: Risqué subject matter but presented in a great, slice-of-life tone and gorgeous cinematography. I just don't get the reviewers who say this is a love story. I, for one, don't see any romance here.

People We Meet on Vacation: The perfect rom-com for when it's cold outside, and you're rolled into your favorite blanket with a steaming cup of tea in your hands. Loses a lot of its humor and steam in the second half, still a solid movie with a pretty cast, beautiful vacation shots, and a nice soundtrack.

Spring Fever: Disliked the promo pictures, but the good reviews made me curious. The first episode was very funny and directly delivered on the spring promise in its title/the FL's name. So far, I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but all the pieces seem to be carefully placed.

Your Turn To Kill: An interesting meta-take on the murder mystery premise (I think!).

Spring Fever

Haha I was briefly confused. This is the name of a chinese m/m movie from... idk, ages ago, starring Qin Hao. :D This is not that Spring Fever. :D

No western shows at all for me (again) this week, just more of my cdramas:

I started The Demon-Hunters Romance and watched five episodes. While I like the idea of it, and the demons were both good and bad and extremely different in size and shape, the character details put me off. Too many identical demon fights (the same demon is fought more than once too), relatively one-note secondary characters (her cousin and his nemesis, the policeman), both leads have stupid sidekicks, and both leads love to not speak up when asked (even when they were clamoring for attention a second earlier), instead they just pout and make the other run after them. So annoying! I gave up.

Seven episodes of Love on the Turquoise Land, now on 26/32, and it's so good! A lot of tension, a lot of whump, great execution of well-planned operations. I like the plot much more than I thought I would.

Two more episodes of The Long Ballad (46/49), I'm almost done and I don't want it to end. It's winding down towards the final confrontation now. The show continually does the right thing when it comes to the main relationships - both MLs and FLs are defering to their respective partners and supporting their decisions. No stupid "I'm doing what's best for you" crap here. <3

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