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This Week: On the Fence about The Winchesters

What are you guys watching this week?

I'm in the throes of my Lost rewatch. Right now I'm at the point where Locke kept blowing things up and Hurley jump-started the old hippie van. Good times.

My daughter and I are about halfway through the original series Star Trek and also enjoying it. I'm looking forward to the Quantum Leap reboot, the new season of Big Sky, and the premiere of The Winchesters. How are you all feeling about The Winchesters? I will readily admit that I'm on the fence about it.

Adam Jones: I'm sad that, due to a busy schedule, I can't watch She-Hulk until Saturday. Hopefully I'll be busy enough that I won't see any spoilers. I have a... theory... and I don't want it ruined!

I only started Supernatural around the time it ended, and I am slowly making way through it. Castiel is my current favorite, because I love his habit of suddenly standing too close to Sam and pissing him off.

Panda: I actually rewatched the Supernatural pilot this week. I forgot how young the Js were!


I’m in the group that will need serious convincing that The Winchesters is a project worth exploring. I would hate the continuity to take a beating for sake of this series either.

Victoria Grossack: I watched Netflix's The Anthrax Attacks, a docuseries about the anthrax attacks in 2001 after 9/11. I enjoyed it; it was weird to see clips of a young Robert Mueller, and the turns that broke the case were satisfying. For example, one thing which led to a break was a huge improvement in genome sequencing. As this did not exist when the crimes were committed, the criminal could not have covered his tracks. But the great enjoyment was the search the FBI made of the main suspect's house. They didn't find anything suspicious. However, then they did something brilliant. The suspect knew his house had been searched. They watched to see exactly what he threw out the day after the search, and he put something in the trash that was the key to breaking the code of the letters sent with the anthrax spores.

I've also been watching Glitch, an Australian series about a set of people who crawl out of their graves. I have developed a penchant for series in which people come back to reclaim lives – I've recently watched The 4400, Travelers, and Manifest. The problem is they seem to lack coherence in the end. This, which started smaller, may actually achieve that. I believe the series is over but I'm not done watching it, so we'll see.


Billie Doux: Victoria, you always manage to come up with interesting-sounding serieses that I've never heard of. Good job.

ChrisB: So, I finished Station Eleven, the book. Not one that will make my Top Ten list this year, but I enjoyed parts of it a great deal. It was a bit odd to read about a massive pandemic just as we are (kinda sorta) emerging from one.

I forked out $14.99 for a month of HBO Max so I could watch the miniseries. I got through five of the ten episodes and gave up. There were too many changes from the book for my liking, some of which annoyed me so much I kept shouting at the screen. I decided that life is too short and moved on to...

Home Improvement, recently added to Hulu. One of my all time favorites in the 90s, I am enjoying spending time with the Taylors again. To be fair, not all of the humor has aged well, but I have laughed out loud more than once.

Shari: I know I'll at least watch the pilot of The Winchesters out of sheer curiosity. But Sam and Dean were the reasons why I cared about that world. It would take a lot to make me watch without them.

In other news, I finished Partner Track. Think Suits with more substance. It was entertaining but it's not going to win any awards. I've started watching C.B. Strike on HBO. It was a BBC series based on the Cormoran Strike mystery novels. I didn't know it existed until this week. I've watched the first four episodes which cover the first book and the first half of the second. They are faithful adaptations of the books. So if you enjoyed one you should like the other. Unfortunately, it means I already know who did it.


I'd also like to jump on the what I'm reading bandwagon. In keeping with my theme, I just finished The Ink Black Heart which is the latest Cormoran Strike novel (and the reason I discovered the show). In case you didn't know it's written by J.K. Rowling under the pen name Robert Galbraith. The only reason I mentioned it is because one of the things this book dealt with was how cruel social media can be towards artists. Draw your own conclusions as to how that theme popped into her head. I also read the dark academia novel Atlas Six, which I do not recommend. It's not that it was poorly written. It was just all style and no substance. So, as a palate cleanser I'm reading Ariadne. So far, so good.

Billie Doux: I'm reading Fairy Tale, the new book by Stephen King. It's been years since I jumped on a new King book as soon as it came out and I'm enjoying this one, although I don't generally care much for fantasy. I've always made an exception for King because he's so good.

Josie Kafka: ChrisB, while you've got HBOMax, check out The Tourist, with Jamie Dornan. It flew under the radar when it came out, but was absolutely delightful in unexpected ways.

Billie, I finished Fairy Tale last week and really loved it!

I haven't been in a TV mood lately, and I canceled my Disney+ subscription a few weeks ago. They kept my access going just long enough for me to watch most of Thor: Love's Labour Lost or whatever it's called. I logged back in tonight to watch the last twenty minutes, found out that my access was done, and gave a massive "okay, dude" sigh. The movie was fine, but in a tedious way. I plan to re-subscribe in a few months to catch up on Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk; I'll probably finish Thor: Thunderstruck then.


(In an odd coincidence, my next-door neighbors, who keep their front door open at night to let in the cool breeze, were also finishing Thor: Love and Lightning tonight. I could have sat on my front porch and watched the movie by peering into their home, but I chose a different path.)

This is rather embarrassing to admit in a public forum, but I recently read Alice Walker's The Color Purple for the first time this week. I don't really know how I had never read it before. I absolutely loved it. It's so wonderful when you read a "classic" and say, "Wow, that actually is a classic."Apparently there's also a sequel, or at least another book that follows some of the same characters, so that's really exciting.

Sunbunny: Loved The Color Purple. I had to read it for school once if not twice. The movie is excellent too, if I remember correctly. I'm reading Stardust right now, the first novel I've picked up in I can't tell you how long and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Of the Gaiman books I've read, it seems the most concrete and realistic, which is kind of paradoxical since it takes place in a fairy realm. I'm going to watch the movie (also on HBO Max) the second I'm done.

Also everyone (but especially ChrisB because I know you like historical romances) should watch Belle with Gugu Mbatha-Raw on HBO Max. It is a charming film and I was so excited that they added it.

ChrisB: I, too, loved The Color Purple. And, sunbunny is right. The movie amazing, filled with actors you can’t stop watching.

Thanks for the HBO Max suggestions. I am feeling less regret about the $15!


So what are you guys watching this week? Any suggestions for us?

10 comments:

  1. Fairy Tale entered the New York Times Bestseller List at Number One this morning. I am not a fan of King, but to hit number one twelve days after the book is released means something. I am impressed.

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  2. I'm actually slowly making my way through Supernatural Season 4 for the first time and enjoying every bit of it. Such an underappreciated little gem of a show that effortlessly switches between horror, drama and comedy. Yesterday, I watched one episode where a suicidal giant teddybear tries to kill itself with a shotgun and afterwards one where Dean shares his deep emotional trauma from his time in hell. Stark contrast lol, yet it works! Of course, I always read Billie's perfect reviews afterwards!

    Since it's airing for the first time over here, I'm also watching the so-called "Wano Kuni arc" of my favorite super long-running anime One Piece. I'm actually not even a big anime person, but I love this series to death. There is going to be a live-action show adaptation by Netflix next year...I would love for it too be good and succeed, but live action anime adaptations, much like video game adaptations, do not have a very good track record.

    Finally, I watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 this week. For those not familiar with the first one, it's about this smalltown inventor that creates a machine that makes it rain food. What seems like a blessing for the town at first soon, as those stories inevitably always do, turns into a catastrophe. In the second one, the food becomes alive! Think watermelon elephants and a giant spider/T-Rex like Cheeseburger attacking people in the jungle. The first one is sheer creative insanity and very funny. The second one was still fun but less inventive, though the visuals were good. If you are in the mood for a fun animated movie, it would do the trick, but it doesn't reach Pixar quality.

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  3. Chris, I'm glad you're enjoying the Supernatural reviews. :) The suicidal teddy bear episode is a classic, one of my favorites.

    And ChrisB, thanks for the update about Fairy Tale. I just finished it and liked it, didn't love it, but it was worth the time. King still has it. I would have read the whole thing just for the dog, Radar. I'm a sucker for an animal story.

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  4. "Tea parties? Is that all there is?"

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  5. It's a week of rewatches for me...

    I've been rewatching Castle... Got about halfway through the 5th season and stopping there. There are a couple episodes after this that I would enjoy but for the most part it gets a bit tedious. It's always annoyed me that the writers - despite making obscure references to literature and trusting the audience to get it - feel like they have to spoon feed the revelations to the audience (ie 15 min after showing us the killer had a red cloak, they see a picture of someone in a red cloak "look, they have a red cloak on in this pic" "Hey, wasn't the killer wearing a red cloak? ") - or have them act out of character to make the story work - and that gets worse as the seasons progress.

    Sorry, that is my pet peeve lol... very much enjoyed the clever cases and watching the relationship develop again!

    Now back to finishing my rewatch of The Good Place! Just starting the last season and am looking forward to it :)

    Thinking I might watch Community after this. Never have...

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  6. Nonei -- I love your comment about Castle. I loved it for so long, but wow did I run out of steam when the same stories were happening week after week after week.

    I was also very disappointed in how it all ended with the women losing their jobs first. Sigh --

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  7. Watching both Rings of Power and House of Dragons. Enjoying Rings of Power more. And to those white fanboys who are whining about elves of color...it's fantasy, get over yourselves.
    Re-watching season 2 of The Witcher. This is currently my favorite show. I just have fallen in love with the characters.
    I just finished Caroline Kepnes "Providence". I have not read her other books, as that genre isn't what I usually read. I don't even know why I picked this one up at the library. I loved it. Reviews were mixed. Mostly people who didn't like that it was different from her other 2 popular books. Anyway, the story and characters are still with me days after finishing.
    My guilty pleasure has been Never Have I Ever. Why an old woman like me is watching this teen coming of age show...got me, but I've enjoyed it. Anything to get me away from the shit news about shitty people in my increasingly shitty country.

    -Sooze

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  8. Yes, 'The Tourist' with Jamie Dornan was an unexpected delightful surprise. Great stuff.

    I'm currently watching all the movies that won an Oscar for Best Picture. In random order. It's a fun project and interesting to see how movies have changed over time. Many movies are disappointments, but there are some unexpected surprises in there too. So far, 'All about Eve' is my favourite. What an amazing movie! And it's from 1950! Prior to this, I don't think I have seen any best pictures winners before 1980 so it's kind of unknown territory. I heard about a lot of them of course. I'm halfway through so I have a long way to go yet.

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  9. Just finished watching "Oxygen" (Netflix 2021 French w/ Eng. subs). A woman wakes up alone in a coffin like box hooked up to medical equipment. She has no idea where she is, why she's there, or even who she is. From there the film goes in some surprising directions. Highly recommended unless you're claustrophobic.
    Coincidentally I'm about to start Andy Weir's "Hail Mary" which starts out much the same way. An "AloneFest"? Also finishing "Being You" by Anil Seth. Of all the neuroscientist/philosopher books on consciousness this one may be the best.
    Currently watching (or getting around to): Big Sky, the Quantum Leap releap, Handmaids Tale.
    And then there's The Rings Of Power (100's Of Millions Of Dollars!). So far, beautiful to look at, but to watch... I admit I'm not a big fantasy, sword, and sandal fan (except for LOTR) so I'm being patient to hopefully get into something new. Will keep watching.
    On tap: another MonsterFest double feature, 1932's "Freaks" and Lynch's "The Elephant Man" (1980).
    Looking forward to "The Peripheral" in mid October.

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  10. I've just watched The Winchesters. It's no Supernatural but it's entertaining enough.
    Hard to say what I find most interesting about it without spoilers, so I won't. :)

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