I just watched the 5th episode of 3-Body Problem, which happens to be the highest scored one - 8.8 on IMDb.

Man, this is becoming embarrassingly ridiculous. I could name a few examples of big science problems only in this episode, like the instantaneous discussion with someone 4 lightyears away, the entanglement of something as large as the sophons and how that could be used to transmit information, the multi-dimension gibberish, the optic fiber slicing anything like butter, the sophons interacting with particles (apparently everywhere at once?) without any problem, ... But fine, not everyone remembers the lessons from school.

Not only the science is completely ludicrous, but the plot itself doesn't make any sense at all. For example, the way they decide to get the 'harddrive' (do people still call them that?) by destroying the whole ship, risking to destroy the drive - which, by the way, inexplicably comes from the San-Ti, who are 4 lightyears away. Also, why they directly see the unique, big file as a level they haven't seen before (and where are the other levels, then?). Or how the 'sophon level' can be used by all the simulation hardware miraculously retrieved from the ship which has been completely destroyed. Or why doesn't Auggie see the countdown any more? Oh yes, because the San-Ti don't protect the people on the Judgement Day any more (but why don't they stop the physicists, since they intent to sabotage the science?!).

Those goofs were not too serious in the previous episodes, but this is beyond silly. Are those events related like that in the books, too?

I'm even more amazed that people find it fantastic. I'll probably keep watching just to find all the blunders. :D
 
I caught up on Invincible last night and man, often I forget just how violent the comics and show are, it's enough to sober me right up quickly. Yeah it's a cartoon and all that yet...it can be daunting at times.

I see the second series of American Rust is coming to Amazon so I might have to re-watch the first series before plowing into the second. That might be a weekend goal.
 
Redglyph said:
I'm even more amazed that people find it fantastic. I'll probably keep watching just to find all the blunders. :D
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I watched another episode, and I'm still not impressed. I can't see how this is costing 20M per episode. I know CGI is expensive, but this just doesn't feel like something with that kind of budget to me.
 
JDR13 said:
I watched another episode, and I'm still not impressed. I can't see how this is costing 20M per episode. I know CGI is expensive, but this just doesn't feel like something with that kind of budget to me.
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I can't really estimate those budgets. Maybe there are more effects later? There were definitely more in episode 5.
 
We finished watching season 3 of Spartacus and either 1 or 2 episodes of season 4. We both are still enjoying the show and though season 3 wasn't as good as season 1 or 2 it was still really good. Season 4 is looking to be better than 3, or at least started better. For some reason I assumed the show was cancelled without finishing but it's looking like season 4 will wrap things up.
 
Redglyph said:
I just watched the 5th episode of 3-Body Problem
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I'm also 5 episodes in now as well, and you're right, it's pretty ridiculous. I'll finish the season since it's only 3 more episodes, but I'm not expecting much at this point. Even if you ignore all the things you mentioned, it's still not very good anyways imo.

I was particularly disappointed by that 5th episode because I had heard about how visceral and disturbing a particular sequence was supposed to be. Maybe I was expecting too much, because I didn't find it all that powerful.
 
JDR13 said:
I'm also 5 episodes in now as well, and you're right, it's pretty ridiculous. I'll finish the season since it's only 3 more episodes, but I'm not expecting much at this point. Even if you ignore all the things you mentioned, it's still not very good anyways imo.

I was particularly disappointed by that 5th episode because I had heard about how visceral and disturbing a particular sequence was supposed to be. Maybe I was expecting too much, because I didn't find it all that powerful.
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FWIW, I thought the following episodes were better, so that gives me some hope for the next season. Let me know what you think when you have finished.

Are some of the elements of the 5th episode in the books, or are they a pure invention? I mean slicing a boat to get a disk, or the VR headsets?

I suppose the high praises for that episode are due to the big revelations and the CGI. But visceral or disturbing is stretching it.
 
Redglyph said:
Are some of the elements of the 5th episode in the books, or are they a pure invention? I mean slicing a boat to get a disk, or the VR headsets?

I suppose the high praises for that episode are due to the big revelations and the CGI. But visceral or disturbing is stretching it.
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Yeah, that sequence is in the book. I've only read a synopsis, but it was mentioned. So is the VR element.

Another thing about that episode that irked me was how the San-Ti AI (or actual San-Ti if that's what the woman in the VR world is) shows them and explains the whole sophon thing before putting it into action. Why? I guess the showrunners felt it needed to be explained to the audience, but it was just silly and implausible that it would reveal their plans like that.
 
JDR13 said:
Yeah, that sequence is in the book. I've only read a synopsis, but it was mentioned. So is the VR element.

Another thing about that episode that irked me was how the San-Ti AI (or actual San-Ti if that's what the woman in the VR world is) shows them and explains the whole sophon thing before putting it into action. Why? I guess the showrunners felt it needed to be explained to the audience, but it was just silly and implausible that it would reveal their plans like that.
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Weren't the sophons already in place and acting for a while? I understood that it was what messed up the science in the particle colliders (in the first episode) and displayed the countdowns in some people's head.

It doesn't change that it's silly for them to reveal that information, and I agree. They can't lie, but they can lie by omission since they didn't reveal it earlier.
 
One of my brothers suggested I check out Letterkenny, especially since I spent some time in the great white North. I'm rather picky about comedies and yeah, there are parts of this show that I don't care for, yet the first two episodes had me laughing at parts so I'm going to continue on.
 
I've started Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War, a documentary relating the changes in Russia after WW1, WW2, the development of the atomic bomb, how the Cold War settled in, and the development of intelligence in the US. So far, it's a pretty good documentary, which isn't always the case on Netflix. I can't judge the accuracy of everything, but it's objective enough to question what was done on both sides of the wall (which doesn't seem to please everyone).
 
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Carnifex said:
One of my brothers suggested I check out Letterkenny, especially since I spent some time in the great white North. I'm rather picky about comedies and yeah, there are parts of this show that I don't care for, yet the first two episodes had me laughing at parts so I'm going to continue on.
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The first few seasons are pretty solid in general - agree there is some stuff I don't care for as well (same for my wife). Later seasons feel like 'cashing a check' running the same patter and hanging out together - my wife tapped out second to last season, I didn't start final season.
 
After taking a short break from the series after the third outing, I've started season four of Spooks. Wham-bang and it's off with a start, the break-neck speed on this show is unreal. I'm glad I took a minor vacation between the body counts, lol.
 
Carnifex said:
After taking a short break from the series after the third outing, I've started season four of Spooks. Wham-bang and it's off with a start, the break-neck speed on this show is unreal. I'm glad I took a minor vacation between the body counts, lol.
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Spooks is one of the rare series that maintains a very good quality across all its seasons - all 10 of them.

Starting from season 4, I found it looked a little more streamlined, with more ambitious plots than the domestic affairs of the first seasons. I liked both seasons 1-3 and the following ones equally, though. Let me know if you also find them a little different, later.

There's also a movie, Spooks: The Greater Good, which isn't as good as the series but still a nice complement.
 
The X-men animated show continues to be good, I'm sticking with it. I've also started re-watching American Rust, as I barely recalled what was going on and, with a new series out, I plan on continuing once I've completed the first again.
 
I finished Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War, a very good series if you're interested in the Cold War and today's Russia, or if you'd like a little more insight about the war in Ukraine, even though there's probably more to tell about Putin's motives by going further back in Russia's history.

If you watch it, you can safely ignore the intro/previews on the Ukraine war that they put in front of each episode, as it disrupts the narrative and is present again in the last episode in its rightful context.
 
I've started The Gentlemen, the new Netflix series. It's a mix of comedy and action in a background of aristocracy and criminality. It's well balanced and a lot of fun so far.
 
Redglyph said:
I've started The Gentlemen, the new Netflix series. It's a mix of comedy and action in a background of aristocracy and criminality. It's well balanced and a lot of fun so far.
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That's been on my watchlist for a few weeks. I also heard good things, hinting at something similar to other Guy Ritchie mobster films. I still haven't seen the movie either.
 
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