tv_talk | Speak Up Saturday

Half Man continues to be amazing! I'm in awe of Gadd and Bell's performances and chemistry. I was particularly impressed by Jamie Bell this week.

I also watched episode 2 of Beauty and the Beast (the Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman show) and didn't particularly like it, honestly. But hey, I'm looking forward to the rest of the show (at least the early seasons) since people do praise it.

I wasn't aware of Half Man, but thank you for bringing it to my attention! (Jamie Bell!)

You're welcome! I'm really enjoying it, but if you need any warnings let me know, because it can be a pretty uncomfortable watch.

This week's Half Man was something. I'm a bit surprised that The Scene lasted so long without interruption and it stretched my suspension of disbelief just a teeny tiny tad but other than that...

Spoilery comments

I mean, they were in a hospital, right? Surely Ruben's flinging of Niall everywhere would've called someone's attention somewhere? Maybe they just do things differently in Aberdeen, heh.

I have to say, though, the comedy in the latest episode was unexpected but very welcome. I knew that when Lori said "gay stuff?" and Niall said "don't say gay stuff" his response would be just that when she asked what happened and I still laughed out loud. Given the weight of everything else going on with Niall (the lad's certainly had a rough time of it since last week, sheesh), it was a very good moment and it let the audience breathe a little. I do wonder where we're off to after THAT ending, though...!

More spoilery comments!

Yeah, I get what you mean about the scene! I watched the episode with my friends and wondered just how empty that hospital was. It reminded me of one of the recent Scream sequels, where they were running away from Ghostface in a hospital and it was completely empty, lol.

And totally agreed on the humour! The Harrison Ford poster scene cracked me up the most, I think.

Another spoilery reply! :)

It was just weird that it was such a long and intense scene and they made such a ruckus but not a single nurse showed up to be like "hey, shut up", lol. But still, I think the fact that the characters really needed the talk (well, and everything else that happened) softens the strangeness of it. The quality of the episode certainly wasn't diminished by this!

"DID HE BUY THIS SIGNED HARRISON FORD POSTER TOO??" "Yes" [hesitates, puts it gently down], LOL. What a moment, Niall Kennedy.

I've not participated in this for the past few weeks because I didn't feel like typing out what I'd been watching. And now I likely can't remember everything that I've watched during that time. But I do remember the following:

All six series (seasons) of Grace, the police procedural starring John Simm based on the books by Peter James. Which maybe sounds like a lot, but each series has only 4 episodes (one had only 3 if I recall). Although each episode is 90 minutes long, so there's that. But anyway, I watched it all and it's really good.

Both seasons of Bergerac, the remake of the old Bergerac series from the 1980s that I never watched. Really enjoyed this one as well -- no idea how it compares to the original.

All of the 3rd season of Shrinking. The way it ended, I thought maybe that was it, but apparently there will be a season 4. Which is cool, I enjoy the show.

The series finale of Outlander. Which was... I don't know. It was fine. I mean, given that they ended the series before the final novel in the series is published, they did what they had to do. Everybody's story-lines wrapped up, but in an open-ended way because the story isn't over yet -- except on TV.

I'm part-way through season 4 of The Morning Show. I've started season 5 of Welcome to Wrexham. I'm loving the 6th edition of Race Across the World. Part-way through season 3 of The Capture -- as twisty as ever! I've also started Off Campus (Prime), which is basically hetero Heated Rivalry. Based on yet another book series I've never heard of because I don't do romance. But it's fun -- the leads have very good chemistry. Guardian review here: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/may/13/off-campus-review-hot-fun-for-fans-of-bums-boobs-hockey-and-heated-rivalry

Edited 2026-05-16 16:10 (UTC)

I suspect I have Grace in a watchlist somewhere, because it sounds familiar but I don't think I've actually seen it. Will check it out when I next get a chance.

Will be seeing Shrinking and Outlander's latest eventually. I hadn't realized Wrexham was back! Will start watching this week.

Finished Rooster S1, and it was as satisfying as the rest of the show. Meanwhile, the rom is com-ing in Filing for Love and My Royal Nemesis! Also loved this week's Taskmaster UK and Taskmaster AU. Absolute Value of Romance was a bit random this week, but I'm looking forward to what the preview promised. Widow's Bay remains wonderfully absurd, but to me, its greatest strength is Matthew Rhys.

Edit: I also watched one episode of Pop Culture Jeopardy!, mainly to test my own pop culture knowledge.

Edited 2026-05-16 16:58 (UTC)

What did you think of Pop Culture Jeopardy? I planned to check it out when I next get Netflix.

If you have Prime Video access, there seems to be a season there as well (not available in my country, but the host mentioned it). I've never watched the original Jeopardy, so I cannot compare, but it was a lot of fun to guess.

Huh, well will be getting Prime at some point too, so thanks!

Agree about Rooster. :D

Absolute Value of Romance was a bit random this week, but I'm looking forward to what the preview promised.

I haven't got my hands on this week's episodes yet, but I'm looking forward to it! :D

Kept up with Jeopardy and caught up on The Floor, which continues to try new ways to get people to play instead of hiding out from challenges. I also this morning tried out The Greatest Average American, which was a bit like Family Feud but simpler. It's alright, and I plan to keep watching it as exercise fare.

Also delighted to see that President Obama took the Colbert Questionnaire! And that Strike Force Five all showed up. It seemed at times during David Letterman's appearance that he took Stephen by surprise with some of the things he did, which was amusing. Wondering now what they've got planned for his final week.

I wrote about two new watches this week, both winners: Matlock and Suffs.

We finished Cobra season 3, and it looks like there will be a S4 given how it ended. Also watched the movie The Duke, based on an actual story. I liked it well enough.

I'm also about to complete Ancient China from Above which has proved quite interesting, as satellite imagery has made such a difference for archaeology. Particularly impressed with the work being done at Shimao, uncovering the sort of structures and artwork from 4000 years ago that are striking in their development. Also never realized China's Great Wall was only the latest in several iterations going back much much farther in history.

Also about to finish Aerial Africa which is pretty generic but has some wonderful scenery and enough facts and stories that anyone not well versed in its featured countries will likely learn something.

Speaking of documentaries and learning things, we also saw Making Life On Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure, which was timely given his birthday. Remarkably, I don't remember ever hearing about the series at the time it originally aired, even though it was clearly a hit in many places (and very influential on wildlife documentaries generally). So all the various clips were new to us and we enjoyed learning about it (that poor novice cameraman and the endless wait on birthing frogs!)

Finally, we are on the last episode of S1 in our Mandalorian rewatch. I realized I still didn't care much for the prison ship episode, but I do appreciate they were trying different things during the season. It was a definite mix of "job of the week" and season arc.

Edited 2026-05-16 16:51 (UTC)

I caught up The Boys just in time for the finale. I'm really not feeling this season. The show has kind of become what it was making fun of in S1. It is also just not fun in today's political climate and knowing where Bezos is putting his money. In a way I'm definitely happy it's over.
It's been more than twenty years since I've seen Jensen Ackles on screen for the first time and he still manages to be a) the best-looking person in the cast to me and b) a very captivating actor despite the fact that he doesn't have much screentime.

Interview with the Vampire is ramping up its marketing for S3 and I have finished my re-watch of S1. I'm actually excited to get to S2 since I know that this is when I got really into it lol
Still, there are so many things that I only remembered from the gif sets afterwards, I'm glad I got around to watching the first season again.

The Punisher: One Last Kill was an interesting(?) special. Not sure what the purpose really was. If you are really invested in the character, this might be for you? It was pretty much a bit of character development/background and a lot of butchering people. It felt a bit like a video game.
I expected some MCU cameos though, but it really just focused on Frank.

I just finished the "third season" of Good Omens. Despite the Neil Gaiman of it all, I wanted to see how the show ends. I kinda stupidly spoiled myself a bit though. I'm not sure why this needed to be called a season when it's a movie/TV special (like The Punisher one really). Then again, it does feel like a whole season crammed into a long episode (which isn't even that long when you look at some other streaming shows *coughs*Stranger Things*coughs*).
When I say crammed, I really mean that. While some shows like to draw out things unnecessarily, this episode really sped through what should have been 3-5 episodes. Some of the writing was dumbed down with at least one reveal that could have been satisfying if the story took place over the course of several episodes. Here you get the set-up, main characters figuring it out, and reveal within a couple of minutes with hints that are absolutely not subtle. It makes it less fun and less satisfying. There are hints of interesting storylines and the episode finale would have been pretty neat if it was set-up nicely during a proper season. So in the end that is how I feel about The Finale: not that satisfying. It gives closure for the main characters, but barely adds anything beyond that.

Good to know about Punisher. I saw the promos for it but I never watched the original series, in part due to the violence. Will pass.

That was always a lot on the original show and this special is pretty much Frank's PTSD and him killing people.

On Jensen Ackles? He was so popular - that Tracker is trying to get him to become more of a regular and do a spin-off (he's more interesting than the star). I'm tempted by The Boys - just to see Jensen, but I couldn't get through the third episode of S1. Too violent.

On Good Omens? Gaiman pulled back and was uninvolved. The estate of Terry Prachette came forward and took what was filmed and through it into a movie format or a shorter season - to provide the characters and audience with closure. (I got this from another source.) Gaiman isn't a complete monster believe it or not? He genuinely cared about the folks he was working with - and didn't want his bad behavior to hurt them any longer, so offered to pull out completely. He also doesn't use the funds to further negative projects. The guy is more complicated than people want him to be apparently. That said, I admittedly found it impossible to watch Sandman II after all of that came out, and not sure about watching Good Omens, even though I know he's not involved.

but I couldn't get through the third episode of S1. Too violent.
This show really isn't for you. While S1-3 are pretty good, the show is always violent and gross.

Neil Gaiman is credited as a writer of the episode itself which is already more than what I expected when it was announced that he wouldn't be involved.
I am with you though. TV shows and movies are so much more than one person. It took me years to understand that hundreds of people are involved in producing a TV show. That's just for shows that are shot in one country.

Also, crediting someone as a writer - doesn't always mean they were that involved. I found that out a while back - that people can be credit as a writer for just having the initial idea. And even if he was involved - it's not relevant nor has any bearings on horrible things he did nor promotes those horrible things in any way. The two are separate.

Finished season 2 of Deadloch, which was great. All of season 4 of The Lincoln Lawyer (I really liked this season). Some Cheers. The first two episodes of White Collar (bit of a blast from the past, there), and some Bluey.

In Asian dramas, I gave up on The Red Sleeve -- too much palace intrigue -- in favour of To My Beautiful Thief, which is enjoyable. A friend has pointed out that Kdramas these days are using face filters (a kind of digital botox), and now it's really bothering me, so I might watch some older shows next.

I started The Spirealm (Cdrama), but I'm not sure I can handle the horror elements.

And a friend came over this week to resume our slow watch (rewatch for me) of Love Scout. This office romance drama shines. It's both dorky and grown-up, and the two leads make an amazing team. They really seem to respect and like each other. The chemistry is so good.

I finished Love on the Turquoise Land, and I think it's an overall rec. There's a very annoying trope two eps from the end, and lampshading it did not make me happier about it. But apart from that, I enjoyed the show. I had expected a bit more sexytimes between the leads, it being very clear that they were going to be a couple from early on, but there wasn't much. Just a few kiss scenes. But the general mystery and fantasy vibes were great.

I also finished the Chinese BL Feel What You Feel and regret that very much. I already complained last week about it being annoying, and that worsened in the last three eps. It feels like it's written by a 12-year-old, side characters giving the leads banal advice about relationships one after another, and it never comes together into a coherent whole. Just save your time and don't watch this.

I started Soul Mate, Ok Taecyeon's new BL on Netflix that I've been waiting for for over a year. So far so good, I liked ep 1. I don't know how BL-y it's going to be, and it starts with kill your gays, too. But I had to laugh at the fact that one of the leads is an ice hockey player. It's going to attract some second-hand Heated Rivalry fame for sure. The other one is a boxer. I like the language mix in it a lot. The first ep is set in Berlin, one of the leads is Japanese, the other is Korean (but can speak Japanese), and the background noise is in German and the leads speak English to some other characters. I'd watch it for that alone.

I started on the Disney+ quest and watched two movies: Wall-E, which I'd already started last week but didn't get through in one sitting. I thought it was supremely illogical, but had some sweet moments. I like robots in general, so it wasn't a complete waste, but it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Then we watched Coco, and that one blew us away. I loved the colors, the hero's journey involved some believable twists and turns, the skeleton animations were simply adorable, and I loved Pepita. A++, thanks for the rec.

I don't know if you have time left on the Disney+ subscription but if you liked Coco I think you'd like Moana. I wasn't that taken with the sequel but the first film was lovely.

I've watched Wall-E twice. Mainly because I thought I missed something the first time. It's the one Pixar movie that feels very overrated to me. Some others are just not for me, like Turning Red, but I can see why people like and relate to them. Wall-E is not one of those movies.

Coco on the other hand is awesome. I also love the way it looks. The colors ♥

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