The Outsider (HBO series)

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“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
Good thing I'm bad with names and don't remember who Hoskins is...





“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
Well, that was a filler episode. I mean it was a good watch, but it definitely feels like a stretching or whip as some would say



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
#7(?) really brought the mail. Man it was good. After last week, I was a little apprehensive, but it came back strong.

Erivo is something else, blows my mind to see her character compared to the other roles she has played.



They're all good, but man, very little has happened in the last few episodes. This could've been eight episodes rather than 10, easy, though I assumed that would be the case given how much happened early.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
I'm close to that but, surprisingly, I'm still totally good with the pacing. I kinda agree with DD on last week's episode too. Maybe these two could have been merged, but there's something mesmerising about it all that I don't get to the level of criticism I usually do with a lot of shows.

Like the opening shot of the bug to a waking and confused looking Ralph to the title graphic. That was just weird and neat!

Those shots of Ralph on the phone standing in a room framed by a doorway that's framed by another, closer doorway was really nice too. The shots are gorgeous. I can't get past that point to even begin to pick at anything serious really.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
WARNING: spoilers below
The last 3 minutes? Lovely. Perfect song for the scene. Perfect framing of Ralph's accepting face.



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
WARNING: spoilers below
The last 3 minutes? Lovely. Perfect song for the scene. Perfect framing of Ralph's accepting face.

Man, I feel like somebody's trying to get into my head, into my house, in the mirror staring back at me


That song creates a moment, a sweet, sweet moment and BenMen pays it off. Kinda like e3s1 of Dark, well, maybe not that good.



Maybe the show is getting kinda sloppy, but I think the adrenaline rush to conclusion covers the warts.




That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
Maybe the show is getting kinda sloppy, but I think the adrenaline rush to conclusion covers the warts.
sums it up well. thanks!
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“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
I hate it when I get something in my eye. Who got a hankie?


Love story within a story mode.



Totally agree with the rush/warts thing. This show managed to go from incredibly intriguing to incredibly rote. Very weird. It's clearly two episodes longer than it needs to be, and it crams way too much in the first couple of episodes. At first I really liked that because I assumed it meant a whole lot of story was left to come, but it turns out it was just really front-loaded and the rest was going to be padded.

I imagine there'll be some good moments next week, and maybe some cool revelation, but I'm way more certain of the former than the latter, and it's been treading water for 4-5 episodes either way.



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
They are already floating s2 in entertainment articles. God, I hope not.



The only way I can think of for that to make any sense is if they kill this thing and then Holly and Andy realize, duh, this isn't one-of-a-kind, there are others like it. Then they take their show on the road.

Which does not sound good, even though the season ending with that implication and never showing it sounds like a solid idea.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
How many episodes are left? one? two?

If there is going to be a season 2, I'd be more concerned with an uneventful cliffhanger. While I really liked how these last two episodes closed, I agree that they neither one held up to the standard the first half of the season offered (dumb brother, anyone? That was weak writing IMO). Still, I am enjoying it. I can see the creature getting away to continue the chase for a bit longer or the group discovering a lair that brings a new revelation by the end of S1, completely changing things for s2. Season 2 could add to the mix by filling out more of the creature's backstory introduced in the latest episode. Maybe they would give more of Holly's history that has been teased some. Or, go American Horror Story and show a completely different and unrelated community and time that this thing has terrorized, like maybe the town during the Spanish Influenza deaths.

I doubt any of that will happen, but there are options. While I busy myself hoping, I'll be picking up a few scratch-offs tonight after work. I feel lady luck is on my side.



The Adventure Starts Here!
Man, the last few episodes have felt like they're just trying to make it to episode 10 with something left... and then I watched the previews for that season finale (episode 10 next week), and I can't believe they're going to cram ALL THAT Into ONE episode.

Honestly, who was in charge of the pacing here?

Beyond that, around the midpoint the story started to feel like it's all Stephen King tropes piled higher and deeper. I can tolerate those things in his books because you get so much great in-the-character's-head stuff that is great fun when King writes it. But onscreen, the tropes quickly feel shallow, stupid, obvious, and predictable. Now that everyone's on board with El Cuco being real, let's just cut to the actual chase, shall we? (sigh)

Doesn't matter to me how lovely this or that camera angle is or this or that cinematography choice... if the story is looping in on itself and sounding like every other King book-turned-celluloid, then it's losing me. Let's see if it redeems itself in that final episode.

And there better not be a season 2. This has to wrap up with a nice tidy bow, or I'm going back to my original fears that Stephen King horror just doesn't translate to the screen.



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
But what about Mendelsohn's smoking? Doesn't that count for anything? So believable. That guy has definitely fired off a couple darts before. Arguably my favorite part.





That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
Mendelsohn's complete lack of eye contact keeps me on edge.
But yeah, I totally get and reluctantly agree with all the criticisms rolling out these last few days here. Things have drifted into writer's forcing poor decision-making into their characters a few episodes back. And while there are so many technical lovelies, those and the few episode highlights that there are do not make up for it (thanks, Austruck hammering that nail lol).

Fingers crossed for a solid finale.



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
At least Hoskins was spared having to watch the ending