TV shows you're currently watching.

I absolutely think it's worth it (though it could afford to trim an episode, I think). The season does end on a bit of a cliffhanger - but oh boy, the last few episodes are relentless. Still a puzzlebox, but you gradually see how big and intricate, and unstable, a box it is. Definitely keep at it.

Matthew Goode has a big speech on this week's episode of The Offer where Robert Evans tries to convince Gulf+Western not to sell Paramount that at the very least should wrap up an Emmy nomination. It's fantastic.

I just binged We Own This City. Some good work from several folks (including a bunch of Wire alums) but even without them it'd be worth watching for Bernthal alone.

Just started The Lincoln Lawyer on Netflix after hearing it recommended, should we have watched the movie first? Hits the ground running in terms of having an interesting protagonist and lots of bustle.

Watched the first episode of the new season of STRANGER THINGS and man alive it's great to have these characters and this show back.

We've been watching the new season of Stranger Things as a family. Only one episode left to go! We've had a blast with it so far. I haven't dipped into the thread on here about it, but will once we finish. I know some online have complained about the episodes being too long, but given how big the cast is - plus the fact that some new characters have been added - I love that they have more time to just left everything breathe. Given every character an arc and a bunch of choice moments. Plus it's allowed more time to develop the villain, which is nice. Obviously it could whiff the ending still (especially since that doesn't drop until July 1st), but at the moment, I'd put this season ahead of 2&3 and right behind 1.

Once we wrap it up, we plan on finally starting Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Beyond that, I'm still watching The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs as it airs every Friday night.

Just started Dark, on Netflix. Seems pretty intense.

Anyone else seen The Thief, His wife and The Canoe? Four part series tells the story of this British couple that decide to fake his death to get out from under massive debts. On the surface it seems like simple stuff, but the film makers have done a terrific job with setting and character to turn it into a fascinating narrative about this couple and how everything went wrong.

I keep meaning to give Dark a go. Thanks for the reminder! I might save it for after we watch the final two Stranger Things S4 episodes in early July though.

Wife and I started THIS IS GOING TO HURT the Ben Whishaw medical show from the BBC. It's good. He's a watchable ass - the cynical, overworked doctor trying to hide his true self (he's gay) - but it really hammers into his mindset. Plus, Whishaw is just fun to watch and his occasional quips to the audience are a nice touch. Worth a look if you got it.

I usually have a somewhat "easy-watching" show I throw on while doing other stuff in the kitchen and lately it's been Yellowstone.

I'm halfway through S2 and can report that it's cowboy melodrama up the wazoo, very soapy, very mopey, almost entirely humourless - but I keep going back to it. As they are in everything, Kevin Costner, Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly are all watchable AF in it, and the rest of the cast do enough to keep them doggies rolling.

Aside from that I'm still crawling through S5 of The Wire. Crawling not because it's a slog, but because I love the shit out of it and don't want it to end. Sometimes I'll watch scenes twice just to savour it.

Despite some of the mopey soapy writing, YELLOWSTONE works for me threefold...

1. The cast. It has a fucking great cast, from the leads down to the supporting players.

2. It rarely spins its wheels, instead opting to just plow through plot like a cattle stampede.

3. It's not afraid to really fuck up its characters, be it killing them, maiming them, and/or psychologically gutting them. It has a real mean streak and I dig that, especially since this could easily have been an easy lay-up show where nothing of consequence ever happens to the leads.

Which reminds me that I need to finally start Season 4 soon, as well as check out the Old West prequel series. I'm also still in awe of the fact that we're getting a second period piece spinoff show that is going to star Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren. Just...WHAT?!?

I'm itching to start Yellowstone (just rewatched Open Range so I've a hankering for more Western Costner) but it'll have to wait until after I manage to watch Barry S3, The Boys S3, and Stranger Things S4.

Dock Fight wrote:

I'm itching to start Yellowstone (just rewatched Open Range so I've a hankering for more Western Costner) but it'll have to wait until after I manage to watch Barry S3, The Boys S3, and Stranger Things S4.

Just finished Barry season 3 last night.

Great stuff.

The Schlocketeer wrote:

3. It's not afraid to really fuck up its characters, be it killing them, maiming them, and/or psychologically gutting them. It has a real mean streak and I dig that, especially since this could easily have been an easy lay-up show where nothing of consequence ever happens to the leads.

I've written off YELLOWSTONE as "that show that everyone in my life over 50 and no one under 45 has told me to watch, and I probably never will." But this bit intrigues me. My main gripe with how entertainment has been trending over the last 5 years or so is an increased tendency to coddle its precious baby characters and make sure they are never hurt too bad or (gasp) actually in the wrong, and I had sort of figured that the show would just rely on Costner to be an infallible font of homespun wisdom and the core cast would always remain safe.

Series finale of THE OFFER this week and it's just been a pure joy. The scene last week where they show the finished GODFATHER to Colombo's crew had me grinning from ear to ear. And Matthew Goode gets another showstopper of a scene.

I ended up dropping Yellowstone 2 or 3 eps into S3. For as much as I like cowboy stuff in general, and for as adorable as the Kelly Reilly/Cole Hauser thread of the story was, pretty much all the other stuff ended up suffocated by the melodrama. In the end there were just one too many goofy scenes played straight for it not to become unintentional comedy.

Yes, it's worth watching. There are some revelations coming up that will suddenly make everything click in terms of what is going on. The last two or three episodes, it all takes off...all of the setup from the first 6 episodes suddenly make sense and holy shit does it get wild.

Two episodes into THE OLD MAN on Hulu. Absolutely no surprises but the joy here is in how the story is told rather than the story itself. And it's done with amazing confidence, patience, and quality (in terms of production value). Bridges is, unsurprisingly, a delight, and the strong supporting cast doesn't fail him.

There's a minor mystery regarding Bridges' character's daughter - I have my own theories - but the show has actually given the viewer a lot of information in the first two episodes but doesn't feel like it's run out of story or ideas.

I'm also disproportionately happy they simply used younger actors to portray Bridges' and Lithgow's characters in the past, rather than going the CGI de-aging route. The actor portraying younger Bridges does AMAZING work here and thanks to genetics and hair & wardrobe, is eerily convincing as the late 30s version of the character.

Slowly making my way through Our Flag Means Death with the missus. It's a good time.

Also finally catching up on Ashin of the North, the movie length prequel to Kingdom (the 16th century Korean zombie show, not the 21st century Frank Grillo MMA show). The whole series is worth watching for the awesome costumes alone, although the top notch performances and epic action are also effin' splendid. My favourite zombie thing of the 21st century so far.

Judas Booth wrote:

Yes, it's worth watching.  There are some revelations coming up that will suddenly make everything click in terms of what is going on.  The last two or three episodes, it all takes off...all of the setup from the first 6 episodes suddenly make sense and holy shit does it get wild.

S3 of Yellowstone?

I did note that it was the best reviewed season on RT so far (100%!!!), I just don't know that I care enough about any of the non-Beth/Rip characters to pick it up again.

Now that I'm done with OBI-WAN, STRANGER THINGS, and THE LAST DRIVE-IN, I've turned my attention to THE BOYS. I'd watched the first half of Season 1 awhile back, but had fallen off due to various reason that had nothing to do with its quality. I decided to just start the show over and I'm having a blast. I somehow forgot how damn good Eric Kripke is as a showrunner.

Unfortunately, my wife is hooked on it now too, so I have to wait for her to watch further episodes, instead of just plowing through it!

Schwartz wrote:

The Schlocketeer wrote:

3. It's not afraid to really fuck up its characters, be it killing them, maiming them, and/or psychologically gutting them. It has a real mean streak and I dig that, especially since this could easily have been an easy lay-up show where nothing of consequence ever happens to the leads.

I've written off YELLOWSTONE as "that show that everyone in my life over 50 and no one under 45 has told me to watch, and I probably never will."  But this bit intrigues me.  My main gripe with how entertainment has been trending over the last 5 years or so is an increased tendency to coddle its precious baby characters and make sure they are never hurt too bad or (gasp) actually in the wrong, and I had sort of figured that the show would just rely on Costner to be an infallible font of homespun wisdom and the core cast would always remain safe.

It definitely doesn't coddle its characters. And while Costner's patriarch does have some homespun wisdom, he's predominantly a cold-hearted bastard.

FINALLY digging into Barry S3, with The Boys S3 next on the list.

Yellowstone is after that.

UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN on Hulu is excellent. Murder amongst the Mormons, essentially. Very well done, very well acted.

Barry S3 effing ruled. Huge step up for the show after an often-humdrum first couple of seasons that left me not caring about what happened to any of the characters. Honestly wouldn't even have watched S3 if Frame Work didn't force me to, and it turned out to be probably my favourite TV thing of 2022 so far.

Also finished Our Flag Means Death. Also a good time.

Also finally been making my way through Bojack Horseman. Into S3 now and it's mostly living up to the hype. Also the first show I've ever binged for which I've never once hit "Skip Intro". That theme tune is MY JAM.

BOJACK is really the goods. But the outro song is the real jam.

I started watching THE OFFER on Paramount+. I'd initially shrugged the whole thing off as probably being some vapid & lazy biopic blandness, but after a month or so of people praising it, I finally bit the bullet. Color me shocked, but it is incredibly engaging. The mob subplot is the worst aspect and even it is decent. The cast is pretty much firing on all cylinders across the board too, particularly Matthew Goode (Robert Evans), Miles Teller (Al Ruddy), Juno Temple (Bettye McCartt), Burn Gorman (Charles Bluhdorn), and Dan Fogler (Francis Ford Coppola). I've managed to tear through two thirds of the miniseries in two days now and will probably finish the rest of it by this time tomorrow night.

Goode is so damn (heh) good as Evans that if Ben Affleck's proposed THE BIG GOODBYE flick about the making of CHINATOWN doesn't carry him over as Evans, I'm going to be mad.