General Television Thread

[Adam]

I will watch because it used to be my favourite show, and also out of morbid curiosity, but unless they retcon all the horrid decisions made in the last two seasons I'm not sure what they're going to do. Spoilers below:

Spoiler

Who is still alive besides Dexter? Hannah took Harrison, and then there's...Angel and Masuka? Rita's kids?

Maybe he'll just kill people in the woods for ten episodes.

[GoGo Yubari]

Honestly it should just be Dexter, with zero other returning characters. The more divorced it is from nearly the entire show post-Trinity Killer the more likely I am to watch it.

[DFF]

I suspect it will be just Dexter in another part of the country. 

[FLiam]

We finished Haunting of Bly Manor last night. 

I'm surprised at the mixed reviews it got, mainly because people seemed to assume it will be a true "horror" like Hill House was, but clearly it's a completely different type of series. I really enjoyed it, the last three episodes in particular were up there with the best episodes of TV I've seen in quite a while. 

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

3 hours ago, Liam Mk2 said:

We finished Haunting of Bly Manor last night. 

I'm surprised at the mixed reviews it got, mainly because people seemed to assume it will be a true "horror" like Hill House was, but clearly it's a completely different type of series. I really enjoyed it, the last three episodes in particular were up there with the best episodes of TV I've seen in quite a while. 

Spoilering some thoughts.

Spoiler

I think that was exactly my issue. I thought it was good, but I thought I was going to watch something with a lot more jump scares. The only thing that got me was the dress.

There was a lot that they left unsaid though. They did nothing with glasses guy after we found out who he was. Why did the little dolls that Flora had stand up straight when they fell? How were they connected to the house? Were they spiritual or no? 

I heard someone say it wasn't a ghost story but more of a lesbian romance with ghosts, which I think is true. I did think the acting was brilliant. 
 

 

[Gabriel]

3 hours ago, Mx. Canadian Destroyer said:

Spoilering some thoughts.

  Hide contents

I think that was exactly my issue. I thought it was good, but I thought I was going to watch something with a lot more jump scares. The only thing that got me was the dress.

There was a lot that they left unsaid though. They did nothing with glasses guy after we found out who he was. Why did the little dolls that Flora had stand up straight when they fell? How were they connected to the house? Were they spiritual or no? 

I heard someone say it wasn't a ghost story but more of a lesbian romance with ghosts, which I think is true. I did think the acting was brilliant. 
 

 

Spoiler

I was actually really happy at the lack of jump scares. When a movie or show is effectively scary without them, they can definitely add to the experience, but I find that they are more often than not used as a crutch to falsely make something feel scarier than it is.

Glasses guy, they revealed who he was and then wrapped it up by having the main character finally move on from him by burning his glasses, which was the last remaining item tying him to her. He was never a ghost. He was the pain and embarrassment she felt from having to hide her sexuality. When she finally embraced it and burnt his glasses, he was no longer an issue.

Flora's dolls were explained as a way for her to protect everyone in the house from the spirits that were trapped at Bly Manor. She believed that they worked, but it was fairly clear that they didn't and were just things that made her feel better about the situation.

I'd have to watch Hill House again to better decide which was scarier, but the sense of dread that flowed throughout Bly Manor only intensified for me throughout the series and hit me like a gut punch at the end of it when the main character is fighting the idea that the spirit will eventually take her. Of course, that was so effective for me because of my personal experiences with the supernatural/mental illness, but for me, it accomplished exactly what they set out to do.

 

[Ruki]

Really good finale for Lovecraft Country. 

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

I think Lovecraft Country was a show that was really well acted but missed the mark on almost all of its plot points.

 

[GoGo Yubari]

I'm two episodes behind. My overall take on the show is that I deeply loved most of the stuff it was going for even if the actual core mechanics of the plot itself meant next to nothing for me at least half the time.

[Maxx]

On 12/10/2020 at 11:31, apsham said:

Hey so, what does everyone think of watching X-Files in 2020? It's a series that missed me entirely as a kid, I don't fully know why - and while I've watched an episode here and there I haven't really committed to a sit down. I know there's a lot of talented writers involved and I like Duchovny and Anderson as well... plus my interest in the supernatural kind of puts it in my wheelhouse.

What does everyone think? Does it hold up?

The monster of the week stuff is still great.  The huge conspiracy that runs through the whole series gets super convoluted and messy the longer it goes on though.  But there's multiple good to great episodes every season.  I want to say its either Hulu or Amazon that has the cleaned up remastered episodes as well.

[DFF]

On 19/10/2020 at 20:39, Maxx said:

The monster of the week stuff is still great.  The huge conspiracy that runs through the whole series gets super convoluted and messy the longer it goes on though.  But there's multiple good to great episodes every season.  I want to say its either Hulu or Amazon that has the cleaned up remastered episodes as well.

I tried giving X Files a bash a few months back and I really struggled. I don't think it has aged well at all. Just came across like a 90s daytime fluff TV show with relatively shoddy acting and dialogue throughout.

[Lint]

 

I'm kind of hopeful

[K]

anyone watching Queens Gambit on Netflix?

Set during the Cold War era, orphaned chess prodigy Beth Harmon struggles with addiction in a quest to become the greatest chess player in the world.

[FLiam]

19 hours ago, K said:

anyone watching Queens Gambit on Netflix?

Set during the Cold War era, orphaned chess prodigy Beth Harmon struggles with addiction in a quest to become the greatest chess player in the world.

We watched the first episode last night. Enjoyed it for the most part, I'm hopeful it continues in a similar vein.

[K]

39 minutes ago, Liam Mk2 said:

We watched the first episode last night. Enjoyed it for the most part, I'm hopeful it continues in a similar vein.

its great. im gonna watch the last episode tonight

[GhostMachine]

They're coming out with a Golden Girls cookbook.

So....37 different cheesecake recipes, plus Sophia's all day cook spaghetti sauce?

[GoGo Yubari]

For Halloween I usually watch an episode or two of a show that's horror-related or at least horror-adjacent so I finally finished off Lovecraft Country last night. The Tulsa massacre episode is an amazing showcase for Michael K. Williams. The last episode is a reminder that the actual core plot of this show was by far the least interesting part so there were one or two beats that really worked for me and otherwise I felt like I was watching it just to say I've seen the whole thing.

[Lint]

I'm 3 episodes into The Haunting of Bly Manor and...does it get better?  So far I'm finding it really "meh" compared to The Haunting of Hill House and the kids are really annoying.  I'm about to start doing something I rarely do and read spoilers to see if I like how it goes

[FLiam]

4 hours ago, Lint said:

I'm 3 episodes into The Haunting of Bly Manor and...does it get better?  So far I'm finding it really "meh" compared to The Haunting of Hill House and the kids are really annoying.  I'm about to start doing something I rarely do and read spoilers to see if I like how it goes

Personally, I really enjoyed it. It's a slow-burn sort of story but would agree the beginning is fairly slow.

Don't watch it expecting the horror that Hill House gave as it's a totally different show.

[Jimmy]

I've been on more of a movie binge recently, but been enjoying The Third Day, it's a bit Wicker Man lite, but absolute appreciate what it's trying to do and there's some incredible stuff in there. Always loved David Kelly for his work on Utopia (plus my pal spent about 6 months of his life working on this) so would definitely recommend trying it. 

I need to catch up with Lovecraft Country but part of me just can't find the energy. I really liked the book and the casting is great, but I found that second ep a little underwhelming and have had a hard time coming back from that. Gonna make myself do it cos I think I'd regret otherwise.