tv_talk | Speak Up Saturday

- Bait: First episode. Despite all the promos I've seen, I didn't know it was a show about the race politics of a Riz Ahmed Bond casting. Very interesting.

- Big Mistakes: I enjoyed it a lot, and the family dynamics were my favorite part. Would love a second season.

- The Boys: I only really liked one thing about the first two episodes. At this point, I wouldn't care if most of the characters died, to be honest.

- Rooster: Currently watching and liking the newest episode.

Movies: Easter Bloody Easter was a bad movie, but it had a lot more heart and creativity than some of Netflix's latest horror trash offerings.

Looking forward to watching: The newest Taskmaster UK episode, Perfect Crown, Cocaine Crabs from Outer Space (only discovered this one after considering Cocaine Shark and Methgator)

Edit: Watched How to Make a Killing in the cinema. Very superficial and soulless movie.

Edited 2026-04-11 21:10 (UTC)

I'm (slowly) catching up on the episodes I missed the last 2-3 weeks. I started with the final two episodes of Paradise. The finale was a bit too dramatic at times and had some very convenient timing at too many points in the episode. I like that it leaned more into the sci-fi aspect though and sets up S3 to be more like that, as well. I went back to an old entry of mine and apparently I read somewhere after S1 that the showrunner has a plan for three seasons. That still sounds great to me.

Scrubs needs more Dr. Park. I really like the new interns, but he is an interesting new character that they aren't really doing anything with. I like his and JD's more antagonistic interactions, but I also loved them working together in My VIP.
They totally nailed the more emotional scenes in episode 6, too, just like the original run did. I'm sad that the season will be over next week. I honestly loved it.

Abbott Elementary still has a couple of episodes left this season.

Spoilers for episode 19

Janine and Gregory broke up, completely out of nowhere. I feel like there were no hints that they might be heading this way. I also feel like the reason and how it played out was not necessarily in line with their characterization. Gregory saying "We're going to Atlantic City. This is a compromise." makes no sense. One person changing the destination is not a compromise and he knows his. I don't think Janine would have just bought the tickets, but at the same time Gregory knows how she had to pay for everything with Tariq (mainly from how she handled moving in together), so it probably makes sense for her to just pay for something if she really wants it. I don't know. This whole set-up just doesn't seem that well-written.

I'm also catching up on Watson. I saw the ending of episode 15 coming a mile away.

spoilers for the ending of episode 15 and the whole season

or should I say twist? When Sherlock Holmes suddenly appeared again, alive, my first thought was "he is just in Watson's head." There were moments in previous episodes where I thought that he interacted with the world, but apparently that wasn't the case.
I was surprised they didn't save this reveal for the finale as a cliffhanger. Luckily they didn't with the show being canceled and all. There will probably be a cliffhanger anyway.

Next up is starting the second season of Daredevil: Born Again. I don't know why I'm hesitant to start it. I've only seen one (positive) comment about it so far.

The final season of The Boys has started, but that's not my top priority at the moment. The Testaments (sequel to The Handmaid's Tale) has also started which I thought was still months away. Again, not a priority, especially when you're immediately behind by three episodes.

We're still behind on Scrubs but I expect to see the whole season.

I think Daredevil depends on what you thought of its first season. I wasn't hugely enthused about it, but I was interested to see where a S2 would go. So far I'm satisfied with it.

The first season was a bit all over the place for me, but I liked it. I do want to know what happens next.

Finished the latest season of Love is Blind US and it was a trainwreck as usual, 99% of the participants at this point are only there for clout, but the reunion was satisfying lol It's still good for a backgroung noise while I'm doing stuff around the house.

Also watched XO, Kitty Season 3. For some reason I thought this was supposed to be the last season, but maybe I got it confused with it being their last year of highschool. I really like all the characters, so it was enjoyable watch and I'm glad that all the couples ended on a good note compared to last season finale. It still isn't renewed for another season, but I hope they give it one final season, it would be weird to end it in the middle of their final school year.

Other than that watched some single episodes from shows I've started, but can't seem to finish. Maybe one day.

Big Mistakes, Dan Levy's new show is next on my list. Schitt's Creek is one of my all time favourites and I'm sure I'll enjoy this too, the trailer was hilarious. Also looking for Half Man in a couple of weeks, the trailer definitely grabbed my attention.

Caught up on Jeopardy and Colbert. Daily Show appears to be off this week.

We're finishing our Moonlighting rewatch, only 2 episodes to go. Not much fun given the clear desperation by the writers to get something on screen. Have been watching High Potential and have several more episodes of that to go as well. It's growing on me.

Watched another 2 episodes of 1923 and of Resident Alien. Am caught up on Daredevil.

Watched the movie Unholy Trinity. It did pretty well in not being really obvious where it was going (except I'm not sure there's such a thing as a western without a shootout).

Began a documentary about Anita Pallenberg, about the Oceans with David Attenborough, and of wild Ireland on PBS. Overall TV watching has been slow due to being busier than usual this week.

I watched season one of Big Mistakes. I liked it very much. I love Dan Levy. It wasn't what I expected at all. This can be found on Netflix.

Has anyone seen RJ Decker? I love the darn show. Check it out if you get a chance. You can find it on Hulu.

Edited 2026-04-12 05:41 (UTC)

There seems to be a really good response to Big Mistakes! Will have to try it when I next get access.

Two cdramas: I finished The Company and didn't like the ending. Pity, because the rest of the show was amazing and much better than I'd expected. I think I would still rec it, despite everything.

Another ep of Our Times, the retro Wu Lei show. I'm mostly watching for the leads (Wu Lei and Hou Minghao), but I also like the setting. I haven't seen a show this focused on opening up of the business sector in China, and it's actually a period I know a bit about already, so that's interesting to see.

How did it take me so long to find out that Jon Steward has a podcast on youtube? I'd decided a while ago that I can't watch political comedy anymore because it feels way too much like sitting in a burning house cracking jokes at this point. But the podcast? Awesome. So good to see smart people talk about politics in a smart way. I watched the ep with Heather Cox Richardson, and it gave me hope. It's here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwX9wC6Ov2Y

Oh, and while we're on smart people, I also found Cannonball with Wesley Morris last week (linked from a Heated Rivalry fanvid, lol, thank you, Youtube algorithm, *for once*), and he had a newspaper editor as a guest, and both of them are evidently very smart (I think it's the only time I've ever heard anyone use the word 'valence' outside of a classroom setting), and talked about sex in a normal, analytical, intellectual way. I enjoyed it very much and will likely watch more of his content: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCauo9pRUHQ

I remember hearing about Stewart's podcast but hadn't seen it. From your description I assume it would be a replacement for his Apple+ series. I watched all of it but found it a bit of a mismatch between the intro monologue and the interview and panel he had later. It really didn't work well. I assume his new one is just straight interviewing?

I honestly didn't know it was a mixed format before. The one I watched was on youtube, and it was only podcast/interview, no standup. The only thing he did in the beginning was to introduce the guest and clarify his motivation for inviting them.

There was no tone change/mismatch, which is what I think you didn't like, and I agree I wouldn't have liked that either.

(There was a product endorsement shtick in the middle, but I guess those are normal these days.)

Yes, the Apple+ show had an opening comedic monologue, and then a panel discussion, usually with three people, which was so abbreviated that sometimes one person barely got to say anything. And then there would be an interview, all on the same topic.

So it usually felt like cramming stuff in and yeah, to some degree it was a tone mismatch. But I also felt he just wanted to take a stand on a given topic, and the panel and interview was there for cover. Maybe it just had to be a transition point for him personally, to move from commentary to open advocacy. But I don't think he could get funding for a show that didn't trade on his background and more comic popularity.

With podcasts, of course, you can make the format whatever you want and there's no question it's a very advocacy oriented format.

It was a slow TV watching week for me. The only new thing I watched was a new reality competition show from the UK called The Hunt: Prey vs Predator. The Guardian described it as appealing to fans of The Traitors, but it's nowhere near as entertaining. It's more Survivor-like than Traitors-like. But it was short (8 eps, I think?) and I pretty much binged it over the weekend.

Otherwise, it was more eps of the same shows I've been watching over the past few weeks. Did managed to finally finish season 4 of Dark Winds, at least. Have watched more than half of the first season of Berlin Station, but the episodes are all close to a full hour and I struggle to handle the length and plot complexity in the evening on work days, so slow going on that front. Not sure what I'll tuck into next.

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