Billie Doux: I just finished all four seasons of Ozark quickly... except the final seven episodes, which will arrive on Netflix at the end of April. Shows about organized crime tend to be all about guys, and I've realized that one reason why I find Ozark so compelling is...
...that the strongest and most interesting characters are women. Laura Linney in particular took the lead away from Jason Bateman, Julia Garner continues to steal every scene she's in as young local Ruth Langmore, Janet McTeer is chilling as the cartel's lawyer Helen Pierce, and Lisa Emery kicks amazing butt as the impulsive and deadly poppy grower, Darlene Snell.
After a two-year covid-related absence, Outlander returns this Sunday! This season will only have eight episodes, but as a fan of the books, I can guess what it will be about and I bet it's gonna be good.
And Star Trek: Picard just returned on Thursday, yay! Have I ever mentioned that I ran into John deLancie at an art lecture at my workplace while I was living in Los Angeles? Okay, pointless, and not nearly as cool as Josie running into Titus Welliver at Trader Joe's. Picard will help me bide my time until Star Trek: Strange New Worlds arrives in May. As I've mentioned more than once, I haven't been this excited about a new show in years, and I'm very worried that I'm expecting too much.
Samantha Quinn: So I got to the first Bobbi episode on Agents of SHIELD before it was unceremoniously yanked from Netflix. I know it's on Amazon, but I really don't want to pay for it. I really need to watch the next episode of Boba Fett, but I'm procrastinating. On the bright side I'm going to see The Batman on Friday and hopefully a review will follow soon after that. From all the buzz it sounds like a Batman themed version of Chinatown... and it's three hours long. Well, I guess if I made it through Eternals three times in the theater, I can do this one.
So, is Killing Eve worth it? Because I really like Jodie Comer after watching the surprisingly good Free Guy. I really have no idea what it's about. Thirty-two episodes isn't too steep a commitment.
Mikey Heinrich: I think they just announced that all the Netflix Marvel shows will be on Disney+ mid March, with Agents of SHIELD showing up there shortly thereafter.
Mark Greig: Fortunately AoS and all the other Marvel shows in Netflix are doming to Disney+ March 16th and uncut. The first season of Killing Eve was amazing, but the next two weren't as good, but it is worth watching simply for Jodie Comer.
Mark Greig: Doming?
Sunbunny: Daredevil rewatch coming in two weeks to a screen near me!
Mikey Heinrich: I was thinking that about Jessica Jones. That first season was just so good.
Joseph Santini: I totally miss Jessica Jones. Got me started on the comics and a lot of good stuff there too. Purple Daughter was awesome.
Victoria Grossack: I've been watching the second season of Space Force and the first season of Travelers. But I am also traveling and visiting the other grandkids, so I haven't had much time for TV.
Joseph Santini: I am sick as a dog with an allergic reaction that’s blown up my face so I spent last night distracting myself with BritBox. We tried reviewing one of their shows before so I still had the app. I’m rather entranced with the Sister Boniface series. It’s like Father Brown combined with Dorothy Sayers and the main character is a scientist nun with some mystery to her background (why did she become a nun after her war experience instead of joining the MI-5 for example?) Overall the show is presented as a sort of comedy though, and the cast of characters in the town and police force is entertaining enough to keep me going. The pilot was pretty simple and focused; episode two was almost too much, but was a heck of a lot more fun. Anyone else check this out?
Sunbunny: Sister Boniface (and the most recent season of Father Brown) are at the top of my watch list. My mom and I like to watch British murder mysteries at night. It’s become our routine since the pandemic. I finally saw Encanto. Now I know why “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is such a big deal. If only they’d submitted it for an Oscar. I’m also looking forward to watching West Side Story on Disney+ in the coming days. No one hate me, but I’m not a huge fan of the original so it’ll be interesting to see if I like this one better. I’ve heard great things about Ariana DeBose.
Josie Kafka: A new series just premiered on HBO Max: The Tourist. Jamie Dornan has amnesia in the Australian outback. Clues about his dark backstory are gradually emerging. I've only watched one episode so far, but it was good.
Lamounier: I'm happy that the Marvel shows yanked from Netflix are already headed to Disney+. I was in the middle of Daredevil season two when it vanished from Netflix. I never watched the third seasons of Daredevil and Jessica Jones, so I'm looking forward to getting there. I'm also hoping there will be a fourth season of those shows, especially Jessica Jones.
This week I finished watching the first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that, though I still haven't watched the next two seasons, this is one of the best fantasy stories out there. The details, the mythology, the worldbuilding, I'm in love with all of it. The lead characters and the main villains are all charismatic and well-developed. There was a lot of filler episodes, but that didn't detract my enjoyment of the season. And the finale was epic. What a way to go out.
Sunbunny: Yessss more converts to ATLA. Be sure to watch Legend of Korra after you’re done. I actually like it better.
Mark Greig: Second what Sunbunny said. ATLA and Korra are two of the best TV shows of the last two decades. Avoid the live action movie, though. It is horrifically bad.
Sunbunny: Don’t do what I did and watch the live action film just to see how bad it is. What a waste of time.
Mikey Heinrich: True to our discussion last week, I burned through the first season of Evil and loved it. I particularly liked how strangely fragile and brittle Michael Emerson's character is proving to be. I expected it to be much more traditional 'possibly demonic bad guy omnipotently pulling the strings in the background' and that's not what he's doing with it, and I'm here for it. I do find it odd for him to be on a show with another character whose name is Ben, because it causes odd Lost schisms. But that's probably a me problem.
In Star Trek watch news, I'm halfway through season five of Voyager. Did people generally like or dislike Scarlett Pomers? I'm kind of enjoying what they're doing with her. I did cheat based on second hand enthusiasm and watch the two part series premiere of Discovery, which I really enjoyed but mostly just thought 'Wow, I really, really love those opening credits.' At some point I'm going to take a brief Star Trek break and jump to one of the other shows on my Samsung list of shows I've meant to get around to watching. Either The Wire or Oz, I haven't decided. Points in favor respectively; Everyone seems to love it/Christopher Meloni's genitalia. Anyone have a compelling argument one way or another?
Oh, and I tried to watch Euphoria but started to feel super creepy about all the high school age nudity. (Yeah, I know the actors are older, but I still felt kind of skeezy watching it.)
Also, does it make me a bad person if I admit to hoping that this leads to this week's discussion being titled 'This Week: Christopher Meloni's Genitalia.'? Asking for a friend.
Billie Doux: Lol, Mikey. I might have to go with that.
If you're choosing between Oz and The Wire, please pick The Wire. It's one of the best television shows ever made. The drawback is that it's intensely heavy. But hey – young unknown Idris Elba with an American accent! And I was also having Lost schisms while watching Evil, so it's not just you.
Mikey Heinrich: Billie and I would like to announce that Lost Schisms is the name of our new emo band. Please support our Patreon.
Shari: I’ve caught up on both Star Trek Discovery and The Gilded Age. I had to check out The Endgame considering it stars a Firefly alum. It feels like a cross between season one The Blacklist and 24. Although every episode is a day rather than an hour. I find it hard to believe they’ll be able to sustain it for a full season. Then again, 24 ran for years, so what do I know.
I’ve also started working my way through Miracle Workers. Daniel Radcliffe as a miracle working angel and Steve Buscemi as God. What else do you need to know? So far, so hilarious. Fair warning – I’ve been told that each season has a different theme a la American Horror Story. Although, here the cast remains the same. I can’t wait to see how that plays out.
Mark Greig: It was all about anime for me this week. I'm slowly making my way through the second season of Attack on Titan. It can make for grim and gruesome viewing so I tend to take it one episode at a time rather than binge the whole thing.
I saved all by binging energy for Lupin III: Part 1. As well as being the first anime series based on the manga by the legendary Kazuhiko KatÅ, better known as Monkey Punch, this series is also notable for being overseen by animation giants Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, who would later co-found Studio Ghibli together. The series is something of a mixed bag as Miyazaki and Takahata didn't take over until halfway through, changing the tone of the show to make it more of a breezy caper series as well as removing a lot of the violence and female objectification.
I also started watching Sailor Moon just to get some idea of what it is actually about, but after one episode I'm still completely in the dark.
Next up season two of Demon Slayer and finishing off Lupin III: Part 2.
That's it for us this week. What are you guys watching this week? Any opinions to share on what we're watching?
Am sooooo looking forward to Picard!
ReplyDeleteHow is it already a week? I swear, I blinked twice and it was over!
ReplyDeleteI really only watched CSI:NY this week. Think I'm midway through Season 4. It's been fun. Excellent show to just have on in the background while I write.
Also I love the opening pic. I gasped when I first saw that monster in screen. So fun. Such a weird turn.
Oz might be more fun to watch after The Wire, just to see all the familiar faces. But please do watch it eventually... The Sopranos shouldn't be considered the first of all prestige dramas when Oz still exists, even though admittedly it's the better show.
ReplyDeleteI'm just gonna confess that I liked The Legend of Korra more than ATLA. Lol >_> I realized it pretty early, because despite the fact that pro-bending is a way lower-stakes thing than the thrust of ATLA's main plot and I vaguely recall people complaining about how that nonsense sport was eating up so much meaningless screen time early I just also found it way more engaging to watch. Korra's third season, probably my favourite out of both shows. I don't even understand how they suddenly got so good (and the 4th season was a forgivable drop-off).
So: Azula sucked ass, I hated her even more than The Final Boss and I'm irritated to know this was the character all my guy ATLA-loving friends were crushing over. What about Suki! The Kyoshi Warriors ruled! (Yes sadly this is pretty much my only take-away from the whole experience of watching Avatar... outside of general admiration at the themes they tackled for a freaking kids' show). I am glad I watched both though, and ATLA's 'The Puppetmaster' episode is easily the most complex thing I've ever seen done in a kid's show. *Megaphone* GRANNY LITERALLY DID NOTHING WRONG