What’s on TV?

[Huntn]

Station Eleven
HBOMAX
10 Episode Miniseries

Based on the 2014 book by Emily St. John Mandel (won the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2015).

What I love, is it's a story about the post-apocalyptic future due to a flu-like pandemic, but it's not about the post-apocalyptic future due to a flu-like pandemic ...

Just fantastic and beautiful, it's has way more in common with The Leftovers and Lost than in does with Walking Dead or Contagion.

I think this is a pretty perfect summary of the whole show, from the review of the series finale (via AVC):

Station Eleven- I expected conflict, I had to acclimate, especially after watching many seasons of the Walking Dead, because my first reaction was "I get the picture, move on", but this was mostly what the story was about, human relationships, and after acclimating to it, it kind of became epic while remaining subtle and I recognized how great this was, except for one huge teaser, when they end an episode when the bad ass girl with a knife is surrounded by 5 bandits intent on killing her, and later it's over and done with, and a just a comment is made about the outcome. Damn them, lol. I hate getting my nose rubbed in an expectation.

I did not read the book, but have read that the consensus seems to be that this series handles story elements better than the book did.

BTW, I loved Lost too.

 

[DT]

Station Eleven- I expected conflict, I had to acclimate, especially after watching many seasons of the Walking Dead, because my first reaction was "I get the picture, move on", but this was mostly what the story was about, human relationships, and after acclimating to it, it kind of became epic while remaining subtle and I recognized how great this was, except for one huge teaser, when they end an episode when the bad ass girl with a knife is surrounded by 5 bandits intent on killing her, and later it's over and done with, and a just a comment is made about the outcome. Damn them, lol. I hate getting my nose rubbed in an expectation.

I did not read the book, but have read that the consensus seems to be that this series handles story elements better than the book did.

BTW, I loved Lost too.

I haven't read the book either, though somewhat tempted now. Yeah, I've seen a few reviewers talking about the differences (series vs. book), and it sounds like there were some improvements (though I'd have to read to really compare).

We loved Lost when it first aired, and it was the first show of its kind, where there was all this additional content and information outside of the show, where there was obsessive analysis of characters, symbols, heck, I think the discussions and fan theories were actually more interesting than the show

We weren't thrilled with the ending, but it worked at the time, and it's not a show we'll probably ever revisit (we tried a couple of times).

I'd highly recommend The Leftovers, it sounds very high concept, but really it's about loss, grief, love, finding purpose with needing to know "why?" It's beautifully acted and filmed, amazing score by Max Richter, it takes some wild surreal detours that are pretty amazing.

 

[Edd]

The Leftovers kind of remade itself into a different show each season. Pretty wild, I enjoyed till the end.

 

[Edd]

The first episode of Somebody Somewhere on HBO Max was excellent. I almost cried at the end, which is not something I’m prone to do.

 

[Alli]

The first episode of Somebody Somewhere on HBO Max was excellent. I almost cried at the end, which is not something I’m prone to do.

What’s it about?

I just finished season 2 of Raising Dion. Decent story and the kids are so cute!

 

[Edd]

What’s it about?

I just finished season 2 of Raising Dion. Decent story and the kids are so cute!

Main character is grieving over the loss of her sister and a work friend offers help. Seems a bit of a bummer at first but delivers at the end. Feels promising. I notice the characters aren’t TV pretty; more realistic in that way.

 

[Thomas Veil]

Murderville (Netflix). A reality/murder mystery/comedy hybrid that matches a celebrity (playing himself) with a fictional detective.

Ehh. A couple of mildly amusing lines, but nothing that’d make me return for episode 2.

D+. I at least give them credit for trying something novel.

Side note:

Should we merge this thread, with the binge worthy TV thread? In my head, they're the same,

Works for me if anyone else is on board.

 

[Alli]

Works for me if anyone else is on board.

What’s on tv could be a show with a new episode each week, where binge-worthy suggests you can watch an entire season at one sitting.

 

[Deleted member 215]

@Edd @DT

The Leftovers is one of my all-time favorite shows, and I view it as underrated so I'm always glad to see anyone speak positively of it. I'd also recommend Yellowjackets to anyone who liked Lost and The Leftovers, though it is a bit more graphic and horror-oriented than those.

 

[Huntn]

The Long Song (2021 Masterpiece Theater PBS/Streamed on Amazon)- The final days of and after slavery was abolished in first part of 19th century Jamaica. The story focuses on the life of one woman. It’s a sad story, but it is the reality of slavery in general and in Jamaica under the British, it’s ugly.

​

Of note after the British took over the Spanish Colony of Jamaica, the Spanish freed their slaves and fled to Cuba so the new slaves were imports from Africa.

The true story behind The Long Song

The powerful story about the British slave labour trade in Jamaica starts tonight - here's the true story behind Andrea Levy's novel

inews.co.uk

 

[Alli]

Having come to the end of Midsomer (until they release season 23), we started Reacher last night. Great cast. It’s a fun show. I never read any of the books or saw the movie(s) so I can appreciate it as it is.

 

[DT]

Holy hell, hahaha, Peacemaker S01E06 was amazing, that ending montage (and the choice of using a song by Finnish rock band Reckless Love was genius).

Final two episode (7 and 8) titles:

Stop Dragon My Heart Around
It's Cow or Never

 

[Pumbaa]

Finished The Book of Boba Fett.

The final episode of the first (and only?) season, yikes! It was like a bunch of complaining “fans” from Reddit had been promoted to writers and given free reins…

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Watching Monsterland on Hulu. I avoided it for months because the name sucks and from the description, I thought each episode was going to cover different monsters of lore. It’s actually good and one of the most disturbing series I’ve ever seen. The monsters of lore actually serve as an analogy to the very real human monsters each episode covers, from the extremely selfish and narcissistic to the morally weak or compromised.

The last episode I watched dealt with being in a relationship with somebody with serious mental health issues which is something I’ve had a recent experience with and how the stable person thinks they can just love their way through the challenges, something I can relate to. Like with my relationship it dealt with honesty about the mental illness throughout. This isn’t some undiagnosed “she’s a crazy bitch!” situation. That relationship has ended for me, but the episode shows an extreme of where things could lead if you choose to stick through it with the view from both involved. It’s both sad and horrifying.

 

[Eric]

Holy hell, hahaha, Peacemaker S01E06 was amazing, that ending montage (and the choice of using a song by Finnish rock band Reckless Love was genius).

Final two episode (7 and 8) titles:

Stop Dragon My Heart Around
It's Cow or Never

Just finished the last episode and won't give anything away but this is one of the best shows ever IMO, from start to finish it was funny, sad, action packed and thoughtful.

 

[Edd]

Just finished the last episode and won't give anything away but this is one of the best shows ever IMO, from start to finish it was funny, sad, action packed and thoughtful.

I’m 4 eps in on Peacemaker. I can’t believe how entertaining it is. John Cena has leveled up. He’s showing a gift for delivering casually vulgar lines. Cracks me up.

 

[Herdfan]

Ted Lasso Season 3 is in production.

 

[Alli]

We’re on season 2 of Beforeigners. Intriguing show.

 

[Huntn]

I watched a few minutes of Episode 1 of Peacemaker and was immediately reminded of just how bankrupt the world according to DC comics is when brought to live action. Of course they started it with scenes from The Suicide Squad, which I barely got though and have no desire ever to watch again. So I made a snap judgement this show is not for me. No retaliatory comments requested.

So far, we have laughed our way though Season 2 of Space Force. I despise 30 minute episodes as a rule, yet am able to tolerate this show, and the good thing is that if an episode sucks at least it is short.

Season 4 of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, an excellent story and show. After the Shy Baldwin incident, she seems to be flailing, but not far enough into this season thanks to Amazon now dribbling out episodes weekly.

 

[Herdfan]

Of course they started it with scenes from The Suicide Squad, which I barely got though and have no desire ever to watch again.

Then do not, I repeat do not, even attempt to watch Suicide Squad 2. It's worse.