The Netflix TV Show Thread

It is indeed great. Sadly they just announced it was cancelled.

I tried getting back into Bojack Horseman yesterday. It was the third episode, in which a child actress that Bojack worked with 30 years ago is now on drugs and back into Bojack’s life, looking to him as a father figure.

I don’t know if I can do this guys. It got a chuckle or two out of me at the beginning, but then it keeps repeating the same jokes over and over about how much her friends are messing up Bojack’s house. And how he’s compensating for not being a good father figure in his younger days. And then it makes the same jokes again. And then again. They take a premise and then just keep repeating themselves so they can fill an hour long episode, or however long these things are (25 minutes? Feels like an hour).

It’s soooo dumb. I’m not going to go into all of it’s problems because it’ll be a waste of space and time, but I will highlight one crucial issue:

Why the hell didn’t they install fucking chairs with maybe straps, so they won’t fall on their faces every time their spaceship wobbles.

My guess is they got rid of Chairs with seat belts when they got rid of uniforms and ranks. The show seems determined to take everything annoying about present day culture, and present that as being our future.

Tried to watch the first episode last night. It is basically The Real World in Space, except the writing is worse. And the acting is worse.

The only exception to that is Katee Sackhoff. I have to admit, if it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t even have made it through the 1st episode. And yet, I continued on and watched part of the 2nd episode as well last night.

HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE??

Bojack really gets interesting about half-way in to season 1 - that’s when it goes from a generic comedy about a washed up actor to something more introspective.

I suggest skipping to episode 7 and watching a few more to what you think.

“Somewhat introspective” is very gentle commentary on one of the few shows that made me genuinely sad at the fate of some of the characters. For a show that starts off feeling like a comedy, it somehow can waver between funny/amusing and REALLY FUCKING DARK.

No kidding. I just watched a Princess Caroline episode in season 4 that will be with me for a while.

That said, I would watch Bojack just for the animal puns and wordplay The only albino Rhino gyno I know.

It’s worth it alone for the Courtney Portnoy tongue twisters.

And a background gag that cracks me up every single time.

Amy Sedaris is amazing. They can’t help but torture her tongue.

I think this one is my favorite:

We watched the available seasons of Las Chicas del Cable over the last week and have had fun. The soap-opera plot tropes get a bit tired, but the modernizations (women’s rights, LGBT rights, etc) and period outfits have been great.

We also watched Rim of the World and found it just painfully bad.

Diego

I had stayed away from this, just because the topic sounds so uninteresting to me. But then yesterday I noticed in the description that it’s by the documentary team that brought us The Square (about Tehrir Square, and the Egyptian revolution). That one was so good, so I started watching this.

I’d recommend it. It’s really well done, and it turns out there was a lot about this that I didn’t know, and that hadn’t shown up in U.S. media.

By the end of the documentary I was wondering, do I really have no interest in the topic of my personal data and privacy? Or is the apathy I have towards it somehow cultivated by tech companies without me knowing it?

I’ve been catching up on Our Planet. What an amazing show this has been so far. This morning I reached the coastal seas episodes. This is the first episode that was actually structured to be optimistic. In the other episodes it always ends on a down note, where you realize that because of global warming, a lot of what’s been shot in this series might be a historical archive for species and locations that will no longer be around in this form.

The coastal seas episode also looked like it was going to end like that, where they show a place jellyfish as far as the eye could see. This is our future, David Attenborough says. Seas filled with jellyfish. Fade to black. But wait! Then they showed us a couple of places that have recovered from overfishing in a surprisingly short time. So the end of the episode was very positive. Of course, what that ignores is that near the start of the episode they showed what warmer temperatures are doing to the coral reefs. So even with the preserved coastal seas, warming oceans are still going to have a pretty devastating effect. Of course, I’m glad they they put that near the beginning of the episode, not the end. This series is depressing enough as it is.

Has anyone watched The Last Kingdom? I watched the first season, and I am not sure I want to watch any more. I do not understand the main characters motivations and his loyalty to Arthur who constantly treats him like shit. Does it get any better in later seasons?

Love the Last Kingdom… the books are better. That’s King Alfred the Great, the only English king to get the moniker the great.

The show probably doesn’t explain things as well. Uthred is half pagan, and his overriding motivations are: getting laid, getting bebbanburg, and glory (respect). He needs silver to get warriors to get bebbanburg and respect. He’s talented, foolish, and a risk taker. He’s unrepentantly pagan and considers the Christian priests weak leeches. This last bit is somewhat white washed because Uthred is rarely cruel, he’s a “good guy”. He doesn’t kill babies or rape and pillage.

I loved The Last Kingdom. I think it’s a better Vikings show than “Vikings” (although Travis Fimmel was amazing as Ragnor). The thing is, I don’t think it gets any better - it’s just more of the same. I was gripped by the 3rd episode or so and it maintained my interest throughout. If you’re not enjoying it by the end of the first season then I don’t think it’s the show for you. I’d perhaps try something else - there is some great TV available at the moment :)