The TV Series discussion thread

Yep, I felt that Dark outstayed its welcome. I personally think that tales involving time travel (and any other godlike powers) need a strict beginning and end. When the story starts to drag on because the writers were notified that they had picked up for another season and they need to shoehorn in more and more contrivances, I quickly lost interest.

Case in point: I loved the latest Watchmen series because it handled Dr. Manhattan so well and the story & choices held up to scrutiny. And didn't get stretched out into nonsense for the sake of more seasons.

Originally Posted by danutz_plusplus
Yeah, that's what I intend.

Spoiler

I'm on episode 8, and they just introduced the second time interval, '53. I have a feeling this is going to get even more hard to track as to who, is who's who, in the far past, past, present.

For some reason, maybe it's the fact that they're german, but the for the longest time I've had issues keeping track as to who's who and who's who's. If they now intend on doing this with a second level, I feel it's gonna get messy fast.

But at least it keeps me on my toes.

You're not alone there. I had to rewatch some scenes for that exact reason. Overall I enjoyed it quite a bit though.

Originally Posted by Drithius
Case in point: I loved the latest Watchmen series because it handled Dr. Manhattan so well and the story & choices held up to scrutiny. And didn't get stretched out into nonsense for the sake of more seasons.

Really? I found Watchmen underwhelming. I'm a big fan of Zach Snyder's film, but I thought the tv series failed to capture the atmosphere that made the movie so good. Nevermind the obvious woke agenda that went along with it.

I really liked the first series of Dark, yet the second just didn't jibe with me. I punched out after the second episode. The Watchmen show, I really tried watching it, I bailed in the third episode. I love the books and the film, yet the telly show didn't work for me at all.

One more episode of season 1 of Dark, and man, to say this show is convoluted is an understatement. It really feels like it's being improvised as it goes. And I feel they're playing so losely with the rules of timetravel. Now that at least 4 or so people seem to be going back and forth, it's really loosing its charm. It feels like they're all timetraveling back and forth with no repercussion. Are they really going to say that anything disrupted by the people timetravelling was always meant to be part of the timeloop?

I'm kind of losing steam with it. And I also dislike the end of some episode scenes, where they're trying too hard to be edgy. So now Claudia is also travelling through time to give the scientist dude the schematics for building his timemachine? Are we really going to have timetravel at every opportunity?

I don't know, maybe I'm too tired. It does feel like time travel should not really be tacked in a tv series, unless there's a very deliberate and calculated plot that needs to unwind precisely. But this does not feel precise at all. It's like paradoxes can't occur in this universe?

I guess another thing I'm afraid of is that even if at the end they manage to pull it all together, it'll be such a clusterfuck of convoluted plotlines that it won't even have any significance. Or it'll be near to impossible to understand the significance.

It feels a bit like the plot of LOST, which I actually loved just sitting back and letting it all wash over me. Even as stupid as it got in the final seasons. It was just fun watching the characters. But I can't say the same for this. Maybe I'm overreacting and just tired at this moment. I'll have to see.

I'm sure I'm losing a lot of context because I don't understand german. I can't really value the acting as much, since I'm reading subtitles most of the time. So it's all 100% on the plot details.

I didn't realize time travel had rules. Is there somewhere I can view those?

Originally Posted by JDR13
I didn't realize time travel had rules. Is there somewhere I can view those?

It depends on the rules they setup. But the main rule that I know is that you can't cause paradoxes. Or if you can, they have to be taken into account someway. The way they've written this, using timeloops, theoretically they can do anything without any repercussions. That kind of reduces my enjoyment.

This same thing was present in Predestination, but the mind-bending plot made up for that, I guess. I'm either not getting what it's trying to do. Or It's trying to do too much, and it's getting convoluted.

Anyway, maybe I just need to give it more time. I'll see about it tomorrow when I've freshened up.

It's science fiction, and the rule you mention is part of that. If you overanalyze things, it's always going to reduce your enjoyment.

Watched the first couple of episodes of North Water - which is surprisingly good.

Colin Farrell is nearly unrecognizable in this, and he's very good. He's playing a pretty scary guy - I must say.

It's done very well and the cast is strong. It's a little one-note, though - and it's obviously some kind of morality tale about the flaws of male psychology and most likely our treatment of animals. I can't say I disagree with the message - but I probably prefer a little more subtlety in that sort of thing.

I do recommend it, though.

Originally Posted by JDR13
It's science fiction, and the rule you mention is part of that. If you overanalyze things, it's always going to reduce your enjoyment.

I know they mention that, when Jonas meets the hooded dude in 1986, but the fact that so many people are going back and forth, kind of goes against that. Theoretically anything could cause a butterfly-effect and cause a paradox. Or nothing, if they decide that it was part of the timeloop all along.

I guess that might be my main beef so far. The fact that so many people have access to time travel trivializes things. For me at least. You'd think it's such a touchy thing that you'd want to do it as little as possible, and especially not be seen by anyone.

Anyway, I might be nitpicking. I'll shut up and try to enjoy it.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
Watched the first couple of episodes of North Water - which is surprisingly good.

The settings seems similar to The Terror? That's also a fantastic 10 episode miniseries.

The settings seems similar to The Terror? That's also a fantastic 10 episode miniseries.

Yep, somewhat similar - but this seems to be something other than horror. More like a kind of drama/thriller sort of thing.

I think with the time travel thing, if that were somehow possible, we'd be into the realm of unknown physics. I'd say anything goes in terms of possible rules, and it's anyone's guess how causality problems would be resolved.

Yeah, nevermind my nitpicking, season 1 actually has ended interestingly enough that I’m gonna continue watching.

I really just need to let it wash over me and enjoy it. I assume the creators were not dumbasses when they put this thing together, so who am I to nitpick.

Edit: in unrelated news, i hope this is wrong:
https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2021/0…nomy-rebounds/

Even the film and TV sector is thriving, as filming for the new HBO series based on the video game, The Last of Us, started this summer in Southern Alberta. Kenney has been told that HBO will be spending upwards of $200-million per year on the project, which could last as many as eight seasons.

8 seasons? Wtf. Say it ain’t so.
Are they planning on going further than the games? Because I can’t imagine the two games spread across 8 seasons.

Originally Posted by danutz_plusplus
8 seasons? Wtf. Say it ain’t so.
Are they planning on going further than the games? Because I can’t imagine the two games spread across 8 seasons.

I can. There are all kinds of time jumps in the games, some of them spanning years. There is plenty one could fill in all throughout the plots of the games.

Originally Posted by danutz_plusplus
This same thing was present in Predestination, but the mind-bending plot made up for that, I guess. I'm either not getting what it's trying to do. Or It's trying to do too much, and it's getting convoluted.

The plot in Predestination was pretty sick all right

It also ruins it a little bit for me when I see inconsistencies like that, but I guess we're a minority, film directors won't hesitate to bend things a little bit if that provides some drama in exchange. Look Interstellar for instance, they were very accurate regarding astrophysics thanks to the inputs of Kip Thorne, but Nolan still did a few weird things to time space (including time loops) for the sake of the plot.

It's a bit like they used a logic for the foundation of a clever plot but were not capable to follow this logic to the end. It really requires selective judgment skills to admire the correct part and disregard the wrong one.

I finished season 1 of Mr. Robot today. It was entertaining, but I wasn't blown away. I think my expectations might have been a bit too high.

I liked the first half of the season a lot more. Some of the twists in the second half were unexpected, but there was nothing particularly novel about them. I also don't find many of the characters likeable or interesting in any way, but hopefully that will change.

I know people who gave up after season 1 of Mr Robot, so it's very personal I think. I saw the first season about 4-5 times before I finished the whole series because I kept dropping off at certain points, and then had to restart due to wanting to have it all in one run. But on the 4 or 5th attempt I finished it. And absolutely loved it all. So, I'm not sure I have an objective view of season 1 anymore, after re-watching it so many times. But I know I liked it. Also, season 1 introduced me to the piano cover of the Pixies song. Absolutely loved that version.

About the characters, I know I absolutely loved Elliot. Darlene is the least likeable.

I'm curious what your verdict is after the follow-up seasons. I personally loved season 2. Liked season 3, with some very notable episodes that I loved. And season 4 is fantastic imo. All throughout, and the finale.

Of course, I could be negatively influencing your viewing experience by setting these expectations. But I was somewhat in the same boat, as I read multiple reports of people loving the ending. So I was also very skeptical. But in the end it delivered. Anyway, I suspect it is very much personal.

I tried watching Mr. Robot a while back and wasn't impressed. I guess I need to try again some day.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
I tried watching Mr. Robot a while back and wasn't impressed. I guess I need to try again some day.

The reactions seem to be very split. As I said, I personally know people that found nothing of interest in it, and didn't identify with the main character. As egotistic as it may sound, I found myself quite a bit in Elliot. His disappointment with society, his mental issues. While you could disregard them as "teenage angst" I believe it's much more than that. So I'm not sure what that says about me.

It's also hard for me to make strong statements recommending the series, since I'm starting to feel like I'm becoming defensive over it. And it doesn't really need defending. It can stand on its own, easily.

But I can easily see why the series never went mainstream, and is only loved by a small niche of people. But that is also comforting.

I couldn't get past episode 1 as I felt it was too slow…

Maybe I'll try again.