“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.
Amy Sedaris is amazing. They can’t help but torture her tongue.
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 :)
The Last Kingdom is fantastic. I love the Bernard Cornwell book series, which is far more detailed than the show, but I think the writers and show runners have done an excellent job adapting the books to television so far.
The thing with Uthred is that he straddles the line between two worlds. Born a Saxon, but raised among the Danes and eventually accepted as one of them (at least by his adoptive father Ragnar’s family), Uhtred has a loyalty to both cultures while at the same time not really committing himself fully to either. He is mercenary, especially at the start, playing every angle he can to achieve his end goal, the return of his real father’s castle and lands to Uhtred’s control. Alfred is a King, but a king in desperate need, and Uhtred see that as a huge advantage he can exploit to get rewarded with both the men and the royal blessing needed to take back his own castle. However the road to this goal is very long, and Uhtred is very impatient, and thus there is a constant struggle to stay the course. It does not help at all that Alfred is very pious, and wants Uhtred to become Christian as part of the bargain, and Uhtred is constantly finding ways to skate around that subject while he helps Alfred’s forces achieve their goals.
While the situation doesn’t really “get better” as the story goes on, it is the main catalyst in nearly everything that happens, and without spoiling anything I will tell you that eventually the relationship between the two men, Uhtred and Alfred, grows into a grudging respect and eventually a sort of brotherly love as their fates become more and more intertwined. There are also several other characters in the series who are very likable and play major roles in the fates of both men.
TL;DR - Stick with it, it’s really quite good, gets better written/acted/directed with each season, and the payoff by Season 3 is pretty powerful. The Bernard Cornwell stories behind this show are fantastic, and there are lots more of them, so you won’t see a Game of Thrones style dropoff anytime soon.
I’ve read all the Saxon Tales books by Cornwell and highly recommend them.
Uhtred is an interesting character. He muses about the Romans and wonders why the Saxons hundreds of years later can’t approach anything like the Roman’s abilities to build durable structures and roads from stone. It feeds into his worldview that the world is stumbling to chaos.
His take on Christianity is interesting, as he ages he gains a grudging respect for the Christian’s “nailed God” as he sees the Saxons slowly pushing back the encroachments of the Danes. And he fears that the power of the Old Gods is fading. He does enjoy having one over on the gullible Christians, the bit in the books about finding the saint’s arm is a hoot.
And, Uhtred grows older with each book and his perspective changes as he ages. As someone who is pushing 60 and works hard to forestall the ravages of age, I enjoy when Uhtred through experience, cunning and endless practice overcomes some young upstart through battle or machination. And I like how some of his foes are persistent and with some of them his relationship changes with time.
I bailed on the second season of the show when it went off the rails with Uhtred kidnapping Alfred. I don’t know how long that lasted but I switched it off at the point when Uhtred had a sword to Alfred’s throat and was dragging him through the castle.
That never happened in the books and it ran quite afoul of Uhtred’s character and his relationship with Alfred.
Maybe this is well known, but up until WWI Alfred the Great was the top banana, but because he was a Saxon and all things German were verboten during the war, Alfred fell out with the public and the Arthurian legend supplanted Alfred. Cornwell was trying to right this and restoring Alfred to his more rightful place was one of the motivations for writing the books.
I thought the show got better and better with the subsequent seasons, but i also enjoyed season 1 (as did most here as you can see) so maybe the whole thing isn’t for you.
Very much agree. One episode in and looking forward to more. Thanks for pointing this one out.
Waiting for Glow’s next season. Really excited for the wrestling to take place in Vegas.
Is that coming really soon? I was on Netflix last night and went to the show’s title card assuming it would show the Season 3 premiere date on there, and it didn’t say peep about it, even though I’m pretty sure it had just recently.
Yes, official date for S3 is 8/9 according to Den of Geek.
Cool, thanks.