The TV Series discussion thread

I'm about halfway through the first season of Better Call Saul, and it's starting to drag. I expect it picks up and gets better later on, for the praise it's been getting.

So far Jimmy McGill's arc si about what I expect, but there were only 1 or 2 actually exciting subplots with him, especially the one involving Tuco.

But the whole battle with the other lawfirm is starting to lose me.

I'll keep watching, as I expect it'll pick up, but it's a huge difference to the powerhouse start and premise of Breaking Bad. That gets you hooked right from the start.

I have watched the series The Right Stuff (2020), which only has one season since the 2nd one has been cancelled by Disney, sadly.

The series focuses much more on a few chosen personalities than the 1983 movie, and has a narrower scope since it starts with the Mercury programme and stops after Shepard's mission. It has many elements that were not in the movie, the personalities are presented quite differently, even, which makes me think that movie was just vanilla praise (I still like this movie for some reason).

It's based on Tom Wolfe's book, The Right Stuff, which is allegedly accurate. I haven't read it so I can't tell how much they deviate from it, but I'm tempted to read it in the near future.

The fact it's limited to one season doesn't really hurt the story. Of course we miss the other missions, but there are no cliff-hangers and it's self-contained. It's definitely worth watching if you like this style of historical space exploration theme.

It comes with a 90' documentary called The Real Right Stuff. Anyone interested should also check HBO's excellent documentary From the Earth to the Moon, on the Apollo programme.

Originally Posted by Myrthos
Great! Thanks a lot Pibbur.

There is also "Fremvandrere" ("Beforeginers") on HBO, but I don't know if that one is available in Norwegian outside Scandinavia (There is an English version). But if it's available there is one good thing and one bad thing from a Norwegian learning aspect.

The bad: Some of the dialog is in Old Norwegian which of course will be difficult.
The good: The main actress is Finnish, and cana't speak Norwegian. So she memorized every line and pronounciation, which she does quite well. She speaks slowly, so it may be easier for the untrained ear to get what she says.

thessi mathr er einn pibbuR

Originally Posted by a pibbur
thessi mathr er einn pibbuR

Is that old Norwegian?


Finished the second season of Snowpiercer, which wasn't very good. The whole show only has one story, with no real sub-plots, which keeps things simple but it also results in the story dragging on, as 10 episodes are just too much to tell that story.

And, given the ending, there will be a season three. I'm not sure anyone needs that.

I don't know how Better Call Saul could ever seem to drag, imo it's the best show currently on air, and has been for a while. If you're watching the show for explosions and running gun battles, that's going to lead to disappointment, yet I'd advise sticking with it. You might be surprised by how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Originally Posted by Carnifex
I don't know how Better Call Saul could ever seem to drag, imo it's the best show currently on air, and has been for a while. If you're watching the show for explosions and running gun battles, that's going to lead to disappointment, yet I'd advise sticking with it. You might be surprised by how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Why would I be watching for explosions and gun battles? Is that why I watched Breaking Bad?

I meant, the first 4-5 episodes just didn't have the same pull that Breaking Bad did. And most of the highlights so far were emotional connections back to Breaking Bad, not something Better Call Saul did on its own. The premise is totally different imo.

Anyway, I expect it will pick up. Finished episode 5 and it seems Mike is starting to get a more prominent role, which I'm glad.

Ok, episode 6 was genuinely a great episode, focusing solely on Mike. I’m happy I have more of this to see.

And you've but touched the surface, mate. It truly gets even better, relax and enjoy, just never get too comfortable! -p

Originally Posted by danutz_plusplus
I'll keep watching, as I expect it'll pick up, but it's a huge difference to the powerhouse start and premise of Breaking Bad. That gets you hooked right from the start.

I've only seen the first few episodes of Better Call Saul, and it definitely starts out a lot slower than BB.

Once the McGill brothers get rolling together, it really gets beyond awesome. I could be somewhat biased because I quite enjoy both Odenkirk and McKean, and the ways they play off one another. You can be overwhelmed by the sheer acting chops wielded by most of this cast.

Anyone watch The Slap?

It's an Australian show about a bbq gone wrong because one parent slaps someone else's child.

It's quite good.

Originally Posted by Myrthos
Is that old Norwegian?
…

Yes. At least it's an attempt. The words are correct, but I'm not entirely sure atbout the grammar. I learned old Norwegian in school, but that is a loooong time ago.

A few comments.

There are special characters for the "th" sound, but those don't present themselves well on this site. The first one is the "thorn" character (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorn_(letter) which is pronounced like "th" in "three". The second should be the "eth" character (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eth), pronounced like "th"! in "this". (The characters were also used in Old English according to W).

"pibbuR" should actually be written "pibR". "uR" entered the language later, and is how it's now written in Icelandic. The capital "R" is used because originally (old Gertmanic) the terminal "r" was pronounced 'z'. But it changed to "r" later, in old Norwegian. Additionally, it is possible that I in this case should omit the 'r|R' because a terminal 'r' indicates that the noun is the subject of the sentence. In this sentence "pibbur" is the object, which usually omits the terminal 'r'. So maybe I should have written"pib". But I preferred to write my nick close to how I use to write it.

an incarnation of pibbur who now would like to change his nick to "pibbuR".

PS. To keep the post on topic (to some degree). I've finished watching "Katla", and I really liked it. DS.

Originally Posted by a pibbur
an incarnation of pibbur who now would like to change his nick to "pibbuR".

I can make that happen if you want.

Thanks for the background information. I like stuff like that, but as you mentioned, wrong thread

So I also started watching the last season of Van Helsing. I don't know why I bother though. The show started out OK, but went downhill in the later seasons. I'm watching it while exercising so it is manageable. Although I already can see Jack has to fail because it is something that probably needs to be resolved in the last episode of this season and series. Not sure if I manage 11 more episodes.

Originally Posted by Myrthos
So I also started watching the last season of Van Helsing. I don't know why I bother though. The show started out OK, but went downhill in the later seasons. I'm watching it while exercising so it is manageable. Although I already can see Jack has to fail because it is something that probably needs to be resolved in the last episode of this season and series. Not sure if I manage 11 more episodes.

Good to know! Always such a disappointment when a series has a good start then turns out badly.

Originally Posted by Myrthos
I can make that happen if you want.

Thanks. I'd like that.

Thanks for the background information. I like stuff like that, but as you mentioned, wrong thread

I can move it to the language thread.

…

an incarnation of pibbuR

Myrthos, I also gave Van Helsing more than a fair shot, and decided after four or five episodes that it just wasn't my cuppa. I knew some folks that raved about it, which only goes to show the whole different strokes for different folks philosophy.

I'm still keeping up with Lois and Superman, I've dropped all the other CW superhero shows that I used to view. I find the children rather annoying for the most part, yet the adults hold their own and some of the different bents the show takes are fairly intriguing. It's certainly not a perfect show, yet I find it oddly compelling, I especially enjoy the casting, as I think the bloke playing Clark Kent is the best in the role since Chris Reeve, and the lady from Grimm playing Lois is also quite good.

Great Caesar's ghost, Line of Duty is frikkin brutal. And soooo good! I'm plugging along in the fourth series, and they've just revived an old case from the first series that I honestly thought they just plum forgot about. If you like serious police dramas and haven't seen this one, I'd suggest checking it out.

P.S. It's time for someone other than Stephen Arnott to catch a beating on the show. I've seen this bloke struck by professionals, tortured by degenerates, and now beaten with a baseball bat by a civilian and then dumped down several flights. Every time he shows up on the screen now I feel a wince coming on!

Finished season 2 of Better Call Saul, and man is it slow. It's on a constant of pretty good, with some great moments, but still not close to Breaking Bad. Hoping it picks up more in season 3.

Breaking Bad was also slow, but I didn't really feel it as much. I think it's because much more consequential stuff happened, and a lot sooner/faster. This is really taking its time.

EDIT: Nevermind, S03E01 seems to pickup. I love Mike centric episodes. And I love how they tell a story with as little dialogue as possible. Took me a moment to realize what Mike was doing with the trackers inside gasoline container caps.

You're on season 3 already? Must be nice to have that much time to binge.

I downloaded the first season of Mr Robot. Not sure when I'll have time to get into it though.

It's only 10 episodes per season. So around 20h so far. Not that much.

It kind of makes me think of when tv series used to average around 20-25 episodes per season. I think X-Files was the last one of that magnitude that I saw. 9 series of around 25 episodes, I think. That was enormeous to get through.