TV Thread - beware, [expletive] can get spoilery

[thrill]

The guy who plays Dewey Crowe is probably one of my favorite recurring characters in TV history.

He's on a very good, not much talked about show called Quarry. Very dark show and his character is really great.

[ghostrunner]

The guy who plays Dewey Crowe is probably one of my favorite recurring characters in TV history.

He's on a very good, not much talked about show called Quarry. Very dark show and his character is really great.

Thank you. Was trying to figure out what to watch next and forgot all about that.

[Sutter'sBeard]

The Young Pope wrapped up last night. I really enjoyed the show and Jude Law was great. If you like dark comedies you ought to check it out.

Agreed! I wasn't so sure about it after the first few episodes but it just got better and better. Jude Law was better than great. I'm not catholic, nor religious at all and that show is so interesting.

[ghostrunner]

Only a couple episodes in, but The Expanse is a much better than average sci-fi show so far.


Finished up Quarry. Won't say too much but it does a great job conveying the era, and all the repercussions of Vietnam. Great music, including the "live" performances. Took me a few episodes to warm to the characters, but really enjoyed it up until the finale. Not sure how I feel about that. There's a well-done Vietnam flashback, but also a big revelation that has a strange superhero origin quality to it. After what goes down, I also feel less inclined to care about the main character, so I'm curious what season 2 looks like if they get to do it. Looking doubtful, from what I've read.

[ghostrunner]

Only a couple episodes in, but The Expanse is a much better than average sci-fi show so far.

Ran through 3 more episodes last night. This is a really good show.

The setup is it's 22something (200 years from now). Earth, the Moon, Mars, and the Asteroid belt are all colonized. Earth is run by the UN, which is now a real governing body. Sea levels have risen somewhat. Mars is independent and has an advanced military, and is constantly at odds with Earth. People on Mars think of themselves as very self-sufficient and think Earthers are spoiled and soft, and take their planet for granted. The show characterizes them as being on the brink of war. "Belters" live either in colonized asteroids, space stations, or ships. Ceres is the effective "capital" though the Belt seems to be run by Earth. Ore and ice are mined from the asteroids (and Saturn's rings) and Mars has commercial interaction with the Belt. Meanwhile there's a group called the OPA, considered terrorists by Earth and Mars, that wants independence and control of the Belt.

Lots of detail that I won't spoil but, for example - gravity is a big deal on the show. The ships and all the passengers are constantly having to strap in, put on gravity boots, etc whenever the ships have to power down or make maneuvers. They get injected with special drugs when they engage in high-G travel. People that grow up in the Belt grow up taller and thinner than those born on the planets.

Other details are spilled out about the world itself and the history between the different civilizations. Belters often speak "Belter Creole" which is a mishmash of different languages that evolved over time. Some gestures are important because they've grown up using spacesuits with limited communication. People have cybernetic implants. Certain tattoos have meanings. Communication between the planets takes a more realistic amount of time than in most space fiction. Takes a little while to catch up on everything because with brief exceptions this is all mundane to the characters.

Also really high production value for a SyFy show. Everything looks and feels real and lived in, and they don't skimp on the crowds or the props. Good cast too - Chad Coleman, Jared Harris, Thomas Jane, Shohreh Aghdashloo, plus all the unknowns.

[lukethedrifter]

Why is there so little conversation about The Man in the High Castle? Is ther too much good television?

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Why is there so little conversation about The Man in the High Castle? Is ther too much good television?

I really like it. But, I've spent a lot of time studying that time period and love the alternate reality type scenarios anyway, so not much of a critic here.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

spoiler from the end of season 2

[SHOW]

the plot is what it is, and it definitely doesn't lack in suspense or drama. But, the character development and the depth is superb, imo. Outside Juliana, everyone is extremely flawed and and extremely easy to root for. John Smith goes from super villain to savior of the world. All while his son is so brainwashed that he chooses to be exterminated instead of living a life in hiding. Joe...has morals, I guess, who also doesn't want to nuke the world over, but is easily sucked into the power vacuum and throws his child/family to the wind for his own selfish reasons. And, those are the Nazis that we end up rooting for.

The purest of the evil are obviously reinhardt and heusmann. But, in order to do so, they are portrayed as even more evil than Hitler. And, even Heusman comes off as likeable until the end possibly because he's just thrown through the light of a scientist....but not really.

The resistance is so crude and violent, obviously for necessary reasons, that they're willing to kill their own people and innocent others. It's tough to root for them even though they're the 'good guys'. But, they're only the good guys to those that want America to win.

There's certainly no black/white in the post-war era which I have always found interesting and appreciate. Even in the post war era as it happened, the power vaccum created an arms race between the allied powers that came extremely close to nuclear war and in a lot of ways mirrors the Japanese/German plots in the movie.

Like I said, maybe it's just because I'm a sucker for this sort of thing, but it's tough to imagine anyone watching and not being, at a minimum, impressed with the complexity of the characters and their plights.

[Swirls]

Only a few episodes in, but Iron Fist is pretty interesting so far. Marvel has taken a slightly lighter take on the Defenders gritty street-level hero vibe after doing the first seasons for the others.

My favorite so far was still Luke Cage, but right now (only about a third through the season on Netflix) I would put this one up there with Daredevil as my #2. Wasn't really a fan of Jessica Jones.

I suspect Punisher will be even more violent/graphic than Luke Cage was. We will see.

I'm excited to finally see everything come together with the full Defenders series though. I'd like to see Dr. Strange make an appearance somewhere, since he was more associated with them than the Avengers.

[lukethedrifter]

Why is there so little conversation about The Man in the High Castle? Is ther too much good television?

I really like it. But, I've spent a lot of time studying that time period and love the alternate reality type scenarios anyway, so not much of a critic here.

Have you read Philip Roth's novel The Plot Against America?

Btw I'm only just now wrapping up Season 1.