The TV Series discussion thread

I enjoyed season 1 of Westworld for all its twists and turns and great acting, but for some reason I'm not really interested in the second season. Do I care what happens to the characters? Not really. The trailer didn't grab my interest particularly either. Looked expensive and everything, but it feels like it was an interesting concept for a contained story rather than an ongoing series. Ah hell, I'll probably watch it at some point I guess, but I'm not enthusiastic at the minute.

I don't watch movies/series trailers.

Games trailers only if those aren't "gameplay". I don't want twitch.

Pongo said:

I enjoyed season 1 of Westworld for all its twists and turns and great acting, but for some reason I'm not really interested in the second season. Do I care what happens to the characters? Not really. The trailer didn't grab my interest particularly either. Looked expensive and everything, but it feels like it was an interesting concept for a contained story rather than an ongoing series. Ah hell, I'll probably watch it at some point I guess, but I'm not enthusiastic at the minute.

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The trailer definitely grabbed my interest, but I understand what you're saying. That first season of Westworld was so above and beyond most television dramas that I think it'll be nearly impossible to create another season that's on the same level. They could have ended it with that final episode and I would have been perfectly satisfied.

I've tried to get through the first ep of westworld a couple of times, never made it haha. But i'm gonna continue, i'm sure it's just me who's not been in the mood and that it will get interesting.

Watching Spartacus S01. I did complete S1 when it was new but not the rest.. kind of enjoying it, the effects are really cheap and actually quite terrible, it's almost like its 50% computer game / 50 movie it's a series that probably does better the shittier resolution and TV you have.. on a 4K OLED you see all the terrible, fake details.

I plain adore rants from all of you with 4K screens.
Especially on TV shows that are, what, filmed in 4K? Right.

JDR13 said:

That first season of Westworld was so above and beyond most television dramas

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By "most" is perhaps true if you concentrate only on Hollywood production. Worldwide however I find Akta Manniskor vastly superior experience. Didn't watch it's remake though, apparently it tells a bit different story so I'll try to find it.

Westworld wasn't bad, they did it right by making something completely different from the movie masterpiece thus dodging spits from movie fans (me included ofc). But that show is hardly a groundshaker like Hulu's Handmaid's Tale. Shows more tits though. Yea, I'll watch the second season, not just because of nudity ofc but because it was promising unlike most of Hollywood products.

Westworld didn't underestimate the audience, it's treats a viewer as a smart person who can enjoy some "detective work" with past/present jumps and twists. It became a thing only because the competition makes rotten products aimed at low IQ audience.

I love ranting i don't care too much about bad effects in series though, i can still watch series made in the 90's with (by today's standards) terrible effects (far worse than in Spartacus). It does take perhaps two episodes before i get accustomed to it..

I remember really enjoying the first episodes of Westworld the tv series, then it sort of plateaued for me. I will hope that the second series can sustain the momentum this time.

I'm planning to re-watch the first three episodes of Counterpart later today, now that is a show to watch! I've not been so hyped for more content in a show since Twin Peaks. Hopefully they keep dribbling out crumbs about life on the other side a bit more often.

JDR13 said:

The trailer definitely grabbed my interest, but I understand what you're saying. That first season of Westworld was so above and beyond most television dramas that I think it'll be nearly impossible to create another season that's on the same level. They could have ended it with that final episode and I would have been perfectly satisfied.

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Yeah that's it, exactly. I'm currently watching Season 2 of Stranger Things (six episodes in), and it is just as beautifully shot and well acted as the first season, and still has great characters and dialogue. Its good television. But the overarching narrative just seems to have been lost. The first season was driven by a really strong plot point (finding Will) which gave everyone motivation. They could absolutely have wrapped the entire thing up at the end of that season. But it did well, so hey let's make more of it. The new season? Basically, stuff is still happening. You start to doubt that anyone has a clue where they're taking the story, just that the writers know they need to keep making more episodes. I'm not saying it isn't good TV, just that I think some stories work better in a shorter arc (like the way each season of Fargo is self-contained, for example).

Westworld season 2 could still be ace though, in which case I'll take all of this back. As you say, season 1 was fantastic, so fingers crossed.

I didn't really care for Westworld. I was enjoying the first episodes, but then the whole lab technicians storyline to release the droid was so painfully stupid that I couldn't continue watching.

wolfing said:

I didn't really care for Westworld. I was enjoying the first episodes, but then the whole lab technicians storyline to release the droid was so painfully stupid that I couldn't continue watching.

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Your loss. That particular sub-plot turned out to be a lot different than what you assumed.

Carnifex said:

Of course, the best thing of all on television yesterday was the awesome defeat of the Cheatriots. Great job, Eagles, you are now my second favourite team of all time!!! I bet Philly was quite the raucous place to be last night.

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I have no idea what are you talking about.
Then again, I also don't watch LoL streams.

Watching Altered Carbon. I thought the first couple of episodes were expensive but average, but I'm glad I stuck with it - I'm now half way through and it has definitely improved. The writing feels a bit tighter than in the opening episodes, which has made the characters more interesting, and they're exploring some of the themes in enjoyable and (for me) unexpected ways. I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would.

Pongo said:

Watching Altered Carbon. I thought the first couple of episodes were expensive but average, but I'm glad I stuck with it - I'm now half way through and it has definitely improved. The writing feels a bit tighter than in the opening episodes, which has made the characters more interesting, and they're exploring some of the themes in enjoyable and (for me) unexpected ways. I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would.

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Likewise. At first I had mixed feelings about it, but now I'm halfway through and looking forward to watching the next episode (I don't binge watch shows, I watch them an episode per day).

Watched only two first episodes of it and can't shake the feeling I've seen/heard/read something similar before, but it definetly wasn't titled Altered Carbon.
Superb visuals yet my personal taste doesn't find any of characters, main or side, interesting at all. The main story and substories feel more like a filler to waste time than something that should hook a viewer to watch more. First two episodes.

But I won't drop it.

While so far it didn't provide enough of food for my brain, it can still redeem itself by taking a wild turn and exploring wide variety of monstrous species behavior. Us.
The reason I expect that shit could hit the fan is basically pay2win garbage reserved only for the richest - in this show it's a wireless backup of consciousness. I need it to die, I need to see it destroyed - but it's sci fi and not only it's supposed to stay and eat any opposition for breakfast, it should become even more evil.
Will the show turn into Jodorowsky's distopic society manipulated by abominable personalities or it'll force a whodunnit lemonade where in the end we won't care about who, why and how but will eagerly wait for boredom to finally finish, we'll see.
Maybe it's yet another forgettable mediocrity, on the other hand it can still turn into a show of the year.

How's everyone getting on with Altered Carbon? I think the quality has dipped in the later episodes. It's like they can't settle on which cool feature makes the series interesting, so rather than focussing on one idea they just keep throwing more stuff in. They could still pull it all together in a satisfying way, I think, but so far I'd say it was average at the start, good in the middle, and drifting back towards watchable but average towards the end.

Finished second watching of Westworld. Now I get the milk reference. The writers and directors did a splendid job playing with the story line. There were just a few small hints at plot turns but for the most part they did it all right.

Altered Carbon was just a fun show. I hated that some of my favorite side characters got killed off but whatever. It's funny but the deaths hurt more in the TV series than the book. And speaking of the book, it is a trilogy. And while the first book was a blade runner film noir type, the second book is supposed to be more a military science fiction. (Broken Angeles)

In the middle of the new X-files. They are blending the X files mythology with contemporary politics and it's kinda scary and troubling. The latest episode I watched was a comedic one that I felt was well done. It kinda had the same tone as that StarGate SG1 episode (Citizen Joe) where Dan Castlelaneta was claiming O'Neil ruined his life because he was seeing everything Jack O'Neil did. In any event we are enjoying the show. We watch a new episode of the Simpsons before X-files to make the trip back in time complete.

Next up. I have 6 new episodes of How the Universe Works, ready to go on my DVR. I Love Astronomy.

Tried watching ten minutes of the new Stargate. Oh dearie me...

It was a festival of cheap production, awful writing, and bad acting. And then "ze Chermans" turn up in the most painfully stereotypical mode. Dire.

@Ripper; - I had considered watching the new stargate mini-episodes...but I suspected it would be shite. Thanks for sparing my eyes.

Watched Altered Carbon and ended up quite enjoying it - I read the books, and liked them, but that was ages ago, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The only thing that irritated me was the frequent mumbling by Takeshi Kovac's character and the accent of the female cop, which was hard to understand at times.

Ripper said:

Tried watching ten minutes of the new Stargate. Oh dearie me...

It was a festival of cheap production, awful writing, and bad acting. And then "ze Chermans" turn up in the most painfully stereotypical mode. Dire.

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There's a new stargate?

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