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Howards End Mini Series

This was lovely. The acting and the chemistry between the cast was perfect. The cinematography as well. I didn't like the ending, but that's hardly the show's fault considering it's a book adaptation.



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
Outer Banks or How to Fix a Drug Scandal, anyone?


The OB pilot was great and H2FABS is too crazy.





People loved this British tv show that ran for 3 seasons. Lesley Manville very good as per usual, but rather a meh show. Most of the characters were ill-drawn & not believable. Lots of very cheap laughs & gags. Bailed out in season 1.
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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.





Ozark (2017-)

I noticed this on Netflix a while ago, and heard people talking about it, but it stayed in the basement of my mind collecting dust. On an impulse I decided it was time to wipe off the dust and check it out. The moment I started watching I was hooked. The psychology of lying, detecting, and manipulating was realistic, and the way they came up with situations for the characters to outwit was consistently clever and fascinating. I get so absorbed in the show that I loose track of time. I ordered food delivered. Normally I would meet the delivery guy outside as he arrives, because they tend to go to the wrong door and disturb my neighbors even though I put a note for which door to go to. I was so engrossed in the show that he called when he was at the door and I forgot to check the GPS tracker. I'm on episode 5 of season 3, and I've been binging it non-stop. This is the best work I've seen from Jason Bateman, but the entire cast is excellent. My favorite person on the cast so far is Julia Garner.




⬆️ Brilliant series. Many of us here think so. Just saw Julia in The Assistant & it’s a terrific little movie in which she stars.



Just got back to Endeavour after almost two years. It was a tough watch, I remember so little of the characters and where season 5 ended!
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⬆️ That’s the problem with many serial shows. So much time lapses between each season that one can hardly remember what went before. Three years between series is not unheard of. And now that lapse could be even longer due to the virus.



Well it's not that they were not releasing it every year. It's just that I missed watching it and staying up to date. Endeavour had a season 7 in February. And I was only stuck on season 5.


That is why I only stick to these one episode one story kind of a thing, even if I ditch it, I don't have to lose out on the whole story. My TV viewing is erratic at best!



I have seen British TV shows which run for a long time, have odd seasons, especially during the end. Main culprit being being Prime Suspect (absolutely loved it). Started in 1992, ended in 2006. But only had like 8 or 9 seasons. Even Morse was like that. Poirot too. In the end Poirot just hobbled over the finish line. Not sure if it's funding or actors not finding time or drop in popularity in the local market.



That is why I only stick to these one episode one story kind of a thing, even if I ditch it, I don't have to lose out on the whole story. My TV viewing is erratic at best!
Or you can always watch series that are completed already. I would highly recommend Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and Smiley's People. They're BBC miniseries based on John le Carre's novels. Smiley's People stars Alec Guinness who is brilliant in it.

And I'd also recommend Freaks and Geeks if you haven't' already seen it.



That is why I only stick to these one episode one story kind of a thing, even if I ditch it, I don't have to lose out on the whole story. My TV viewing is erratic at best!
Mine too. I found serial drama to be a challenge in following because of my (previously) constant lack of time.

It took me two decades, but recently, I've been catching up with three '90s TV series:
  1. The Simpsons
  2. The X-Files
  3. And Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I've caught up to season 3 for all of them, and now I'm watching s4 of Simpsons.

Had a really great time with Buffy S3, especially with "The Prom" episode. That particular episode's recognition of Buffy's heroic acts over three seasons is just the kind of experience only serial dramas could pull off, and it teared me up quite a bit watching it.

Unfortunately, this is also where the good times are over for at least two out of those three shows. Simpsons still have a while to go before its peak seasons, S6-9 (AKA "The Golden Age of The Simpsons"), but Buffy and X-Files peaked at S3, and the rest just aren't as polished... or at least, that's how other viewers have put it. I'll still need to verify for myself if this is true.

I heard Buffy S6 is not bad, particularly with what happened to Willow and the whole Spuffy deal, but honestly, I'm liking Bangel a lot more than what I could imagine of Spuffy in the future. I just don't really dig the whole "bad boy" romance between Spike and Buffy, especially when I've heard about the controversial event in that potentially toxic relationship.

As part of my binge watching, I'm also watching the Angel spin-off alongside Buffy S4 in the future, which I'm looking forward to since I heard it deals with a lot more "adult" issues than Buffy. My other future plans for serial drama includes Whedon's other famous work, "Firefly" and also the other famous adult-demographic cartoon, "Futurama", and if I ever have the time for it, maybe I'll try to catch up with classic Twilight Zone with Rod Serling, and maybe also some classic Star Trek if the mood fits, but that's really, really far down the road.



Betaal Season 1

An Indian horror series on Netflix. I've got an impression it hasn't been too well-received, and while I agree that it isn't particularly good it's still moderately entertaining (at times in a campy way). It's pretty much Aliens and Bava's Demons mixed together with some Indian mythology as a topping (I guess you can see some The Fog influences too). It's also childishly political, clumsily written and directed, not too well-acted, and just plain illogical. Somewhat decent campy horror in the 80s style.

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I'm about to watch the last episode of Waco, and I'm really excited. Although the show was nearly as good as Ozark, it was pretty good. And I just noticed that Space Force launched on Netflx! I can't wait to check that out.





Waco (2018)

The commune of the Branch Dividian cult came under siege by the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms), and FBI in Waco Texas in 1993. This six episode miniseries was based on the book Waco: A Survivor's Story. One of the authors of that book, presumably the main author, was survivor David Thibodeau, who was portrayed in the movie by Rory Culkin. Culkin, as Thibodeau, played a pivotal but secondary character. The movie focused on David Koresh, played by Taylor Kitsch, the leader of the Branch Dividian cult, and FBI investigator Gary Noesner, played by Michael Shannon. Julia Garner played Michelle, the woman that Thibodeau was in love with. Unlike many movies that focus on cults, this one was a lot more moderate and sympathetic. Their sermons were pretty superficial, and their prophecy's quite liberal in their interpretation of Scripture, but it was still more reasonable than some actual churches I've been to. Overtaken by religious zeal they wouldn't take the reasonable course of surrendering to the authorities, and the show did a decent job of showing the complexity of the situation from both sides. I enjoyed the scenes that focused on Culkin and Garner the most, and even wished they would have been the central focus instead. As I'm now quite the fully committed fan of Julia Garner this show felt like it just didn't have enough of her in it. She had some really touching scenes though that did make it all worth it, and overall the show was pretty solid. It's kind of crazy to think the government can come down this hard on its own citizens for things that really don't require such a level of force.






I'm about to watch the last episode of Waco, and I'm really excited. Although the show was nearly as good as Ozark, it was pretty good.
Waco is excellent. Huge fan of Taylor Kitsch.



Binge-watching this mindless entertainment. The worse the world becomes the more this kind of thing is relaxing.




“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
Binge-watching this mindless entertainment. The worse the world becomes the more this kind of thing is relaxing.

I admit to watching the original show. Probably just because John was such a toolbag.

And the haircut. Kate’s hair lets you know immediately, that she is all business.



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
Doom Patrol

There is so much wrong here, namely the guy playing Cyborg. Just how?☹️

It is like Umbrella Academy, it is lacking a lot of times, but then they hit a sweet spot and I’m back in.






The Americans (2013-2018)

I only watched this for Julia Garner. The first episode of season 1 didn't hook me, so I skipped to Season 3 where Garner first appears. I didn't watch the whole season, only the episodes she was in. First off I'm going to start with a criticism. A couple of things threw me off of the series, the cinematography, and the plot. The story was good, but the plot was terrible. The worst thing about the show was the scene transitions. The sense of the passage of time was all over the place. Some scenes would cut to later in the same day, and other cuts were weeks or months later with little indication. The only ways to tell, from what I could gather, were some hints dropped by dialogue where they would reference things from weeks or months prior. It was like being thrown a curve ball, very disorienting, and this would happen pretty much every episode. I don't think the writers knew how to convey a sense of time passing. The other thing that felt disorienting, which combined with the passage of time, was the way the main characters wore disguises. I sometimes couldn't tell if it was them. They would hint at something they were doing later, and then suddenly it would cut to them in a different situation with a weird disguise. I found myself wondering if it was them or not.

Julia Garner's scenes were really good. I liked her subplot a lot, and found it weird how many episodes it was between. It was hard enough waiting for one or two scenes an episode, watching only her episodes. I can't imagine watching the whole show, as her episodes were spread over three seasons. It was painful enough having to wait to see her scenes. I can't imagine waiting multiple episodes in between.

The show's cinematography was terrible. It was the worst case of over the shoulder dialogue shots, straight on shots, and typical shots, with almost no creativity. Very boring camera work for a show.






Dirty John (2018-2019)

Julia Garner played a very different character from anything else I've seen her in. She played a rich spoiled brat. The show was eight episodes long, and based on a true story. There's a second season, but from what I can tell it's totally different, with a different cast. I only watched the first season, which Julia was in. The story follows an older woman, Connie Britton, who does some online dating until she meets a charming man, Eric Bana, "John." When she hooks up with him her daughters, played by Juno Temple and Julia Garner, don't like him. It turns out he's a total creep, but Britton gives John a lot of chances to prove he's alright. Eventually even she has to admit he's total scum. The last episode was sensational. What really struck me by Garner's performance was how annoying, but real her character was. Even though she was a spoiled brat, I still liked her. I don't want to give anything away, but the last episode blew my mind. It was so intense. Overall the show wasn't anything special. I wouldn't have watched it if I wasn't a Julia Garner fan.




I admit to watching the original show. Probably just because John was such a toolbag.

And the haircut. Kate’s hair lets you know immediately, that she is all business.
I thought Jon was okay. Kate was such a balls-breaker, any man would crack.

Yes, Kate’s hair deserves its own series.