The TV Series discussion thread

ilm said:

Wait who is Welsh ?

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Eve Myles.

ilm said:

Finished homeland season 3.

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A friend who pretty much understands my tastes is trying to persuade me into that show for years now. Seems I'll have to give it a shot. Man… If I only had enough time…

ilm said:

I'm getting excited for sense8 again after reading the imdb reviews so that will be next. Also the fact that the Babylon 5 guy is involved has something to do with it, b5 is the second best sci-fi show ever. The explicit homosexual scenes did put me off a little, can't help it.

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That show evolves around seemingly new idea that's not really new. Not at all. The concept is more than a century old but was never properly researched:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_consciousness
What you won't see in wiki short article is something else. There is a known phenomenon, also not properly researched, where small kids claim they're someone else who died and are giving out details about their "past" life. These subjectional experiences of a deceased person are usually verified and proven to be correct.
Why is it mentioned here? Because it happened that at the same time two kids were saying they're one the same peron from the past! A splitsoul case? May be. But it also may be that what we call a soul in the end ends up in a collective conscience waiting to be picked up by a sensitive person or more of them.
Interesting stuff, right? Well, the show introduces some fictional and not really existing basis where certain number of people can connect among themselves for whatever reason and also for an unknown reason they're being hunted. A mystery plus conspiracy, a good old proven recipe to make something people will want to watch.

About sex scenes, perhaps those show too much but honestly all are filmed well and I didn't feel uneasy even on the virtual orgy. I admit I watched that one alone, but I think there is nothing "disturbing" or something in series.

Apart from pointing out to lack of research one of the biggest mysteries of human mind and to some probably too much of sex on the screen , this show is actually a hymn to smoking habits. That's instantly 10/10 from me and high recommendation.

No. No. Sorry. 9.5.
They should have put Martha Jones (whovians will know who's that) as a lead role, not reprising her sidekick role! She did a great job, ofc, but damn. Now I can't decide who was my favorite character in series. It's either her or smoking martial arts godess!
Sorry for writing so much of text.

Poor Hannibal got da axe. Ahhh well, I look forward to seeing what Fuller does with American Gods.

Was going to start the new season of True Detective but I think I will wait until I can watch a three or four in a row to get a real feel for it.

Did anyone watch it Sunday night?

CelticFrost said:

Was going to start the new season of True Detective but I think I will wait until I can watch a three or four in a row to get a real feel for it.

Did anyone watch it Sunday night?

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I just finished watching the replay.

I'm trying not to judge it based on a single episode, but it definitely didn't grab me immediately the way the original did.

You just knew that first season of TD was going to be something special by the time you finished watching the pilot. I'm not getting the same feeling with this one.

Carnifex said:

Poor Hannibal got da axe. Ahhh well, I look forward to seeing what Fuller does with American Gods.

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Yeah, my kids - especially younger son - were total fans and are quite disappointed. I can't say I was a huge fan, it regularly made me fall asleep on the couch, something that rarely happens.

JDR13 said:

I just finished watching the replay.

I'm trying not to judge it based on a single episode, but it definitely didn't grab me immediately the way the original did.

You just knew that first season of TD was going to be something special by the time you finished watching the pilot. I'm not getting the same feeling with this one.

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Similar thoughts here as well. Season 1 pilot just grabbed my attention right from the begining. It felt quite mysterious. The opening episode and the whole season in general had this surreal quality. A bit like twin peaks, but in a less obvious way.

Season 2 seems more ordinary and traditional. Ofcourse it is too early to say anything certain where this will go, but this pilot didn't convince me in a same way as s1 pilot did. Even the crime was quite ordinary. The murder of some corrupt city manager just doesn't compare to the ritualistic murder-rape of a young girl seen in s1 pilot.

And the main characters aren't just as intresting as Cohle & Hart. Hopefully there is more than meets the eye in these stereotypical main characters. So far we have a violent alcoholic bad cop with a messy divorce, good independent strong female cop with daddy issues, a gangster who wants to go legit and a suicidal cop with repressed homosexuality. Hopefully writers find a way to break these cliches in an intresting way.

However if comparing to other tv series, s2 pilot was still quite enjoyable. It just did not have the same impact as s1 pilot IMO.

I enjoyed the first episode of the new True Detective series, but I'd agree that the first show wasn't as powerful as the last years first one. Still good however, vastly better than most network shows. I'm hoping it improves.

Going through Game of Thrones #5. Starting episode 7 tonight. The last two episodes have been surprisingly weak imo. I guess the Ramsay Bolton character isn't working for me. He's evil like Joffrey, but Ramsay's depravity does not make for interesting viewing. At least for me.

Having read only the first two books, the current series is new material for me. However, the foreshadowing in season 5 is so obvious and telling, I went ahead and read the synopsis for 7-10, and sadly not much was a surprise.

Nice start to season 2 of True Detective, and indeed, not as good as season 1.
Surprisingly, Vince Vaughan is pretty good. I was most worried about his performance.
Colin Farrel was also the best character in the episode. I loved the scene where he beats that kids dad right in front of the brat. It was something that was really coming to all self-entitled spoiled brats.

I also hope it turns twisted in some way.

I quite liked the first episode of TD2.

It wasn't as powerful a beginning, but I'm genuinely intrigued. The one thing that worries me is that it's a little bit too edgy/dark just because. It feels as if they want to drown everything in sorrow - much like Walking Dead or Game of Thrones want to drown what could have been great shows in excess of their particular gimmicky brand. Walking Dead being endless hardship with "shocking" violence, and GoT being killing people you care about except the obvious writer favorites.

But I like all the actors, and I think they all did a great job.

Also loved that song in the bar

Not actually a TV series, but still a series of programs: The Antique Roadshow on BBC.

I'm not particularly interested in antiques, but there are two things I like about the series (the UK shows):

1. Will we see something really valuable?
2. I always like to watch people who really knows what they're doing, perform. Estimates are not exact, but the way the experts know/find out what, who, when and where about the things they're shown is … interesting. (Admittedly there may be a number of pieces they can't say anything about, and therefore not shown).

pibbur who supposes one of the reasons why he likes the shows is that he's becoming an antique himself, although of no extraordinary value.

Antique Road is a great show. My wife was addicted to it until we found out about HGTV. We probably haven't watched it in over 5 years.

Just finished episode 7 of Season 5 of Game of Thrones. WOW!!!!!!
The meeting of Tyrion and Daenery, my two favorite characters. Jon Snow and the Wildings battling the army of the dead. Cerci suffering. One of the top episodes of the series. Just Wow.

Ok, I didn't quite feel it in the second episode of TD2.... Vince Vaughn displayed some awkward acting - and I don't know. It's not really engaging me at this point.

DArtagnan said:

Ok, I didn't quite feel it in the second episode of TD2…. Vince Vaughn displayed some awkward acting - and I don't know. It's not really engaging me at this point.

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I thought it was decent enough to make me want to continue watching for now. I find Farrel's and McAdams's characters somewhat interesting. Nothing close to MM in the first season though.

Vince Vaughn has been the weakest link from the beginning, but that's exactly what I expected. He's never had much range as an actor, and his mannerism always seems to be the same regardless of the role.

JDR13 said:

I thought it was decent enough to make me want to continue watching for now. I find Farrel's and McAdams's characters somewhat interesting. Nothing close to MM in the first season though.

Vince Vaughn has been the weakest link from the beginning, but that's exactly what I expected. He's never had much range as an actor, and his mannerism always seems to be the same regardless of the role.

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No, I'd have to agree with that. I've only seen him in comedy roles - but I thought he was decent enough. But it seems like he can't really handle this one.

JDR13 said:

I thought it was decent enough to make me want to continue watching for now. I find Farrel's and McAdams's characters somewhat interesting. Nothing close to MM in the first season though.

Vince Vaughn has been the weakest link from the beginning, but that's exactly what I expected. He's never had much range as an actor, and his mannerism always seems to be the same regardless of the role.

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I would have to agree I watched both episodes now and it good not great. I might just hold off and watch it later.

Watching Halt and catch fire and Humans right now. I am very surprised no one else here has commented on Halt and catch fire as it is into its second season.

Humans is a new show "In a parallel present where the latest must-have gadget for any busy family is a 'Synth' - a highly-developed robotic servant that's so similar to a real human it's transforming the way we live."

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4122068/

CelticFrost said:

I am very surprised no one else here has commented on Halt and catch fire as it is into its second season.

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Why surprised. I haven't even heard about that one.

CelticFrost said:

Humans is a new show

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It may be new, but is not a new show.
Humans is yet another silly Hollywood remake of certain scandinavian artistic masterpiece. A new unnecessary remake.
Luckily, there are enough unique and really new shows out there I don't have to waste time on remakes.

I'll revive another one at the table. It was mentioned in many posts before so won't quote any, but I did ignore it back then.
Person of Interest. I thought is's an utter crap because it's Abrams behind it. But it's not.
Caught it on TV while I was travelling when I didn't want to have anything with internet, and just continued watching it.
It does have a fair share of dialogue holes, but deep down evolves around the question of privacy. While I would be thrilled if it demonized facebook, sadly, it's not that kind of a show, but it does raise questions about treating personal info as a merchandise and working material. Why it wasn't banned or cancelled by governements yet, dunno.
Interesting story and substories, didn't grow into repetitive boredom (at least in first 3 seasons, still waiting for the 4th). It's not a must watch, but if someone has a time for another show to squeeze in, do check this one.

Yeah ... Vince Vaughn ... not sure what you're expecting from someone like that. I honestly cannot think of a single movie where he is a lead that I would rate above mediocre. And even then I find his presence to detract from the potential.

txa1265 said:

Yeah … Vince Vaughn … not sure what you're expecting from someone like that. I honestly cannot think of a single movie where he is a lead that I would rate above mediocre. And even then I find his presence to detract from the potential.

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I don't have that problem pre-judging actors. I'm old enough to remember how Tom Hanks was a silly comedy actor (Bosom Buddies, Bachelor Party, etc) and then very successfully moved into more dramatic roles, so I always give actors a chance when switching themes.

To the director: if the answer is Vince Vaughn, you're asking the wrong question.