I have so very much enjoyed the Cougar Town hang aspect of Shrinking, and they'd set up plenty of reasonably sized personal issues to explore in a second season. But boy, you could see that ending coming after Jimmy's session with Grace, and as much as I hoped it wouldn't, there it was. *Sigh.* I trust you, Bill Lawrence, but don't blow it.
Lovely tribute to Lance Reddick. His loss leaves a big hole. I remember having to hunt for Fringe on the schedule because it was moved around so much. Keep sitting on my hands to keep from ordering the whole series for my very own.
His Irving Irvin was so much better than the cardboard character from the books.
So powerful and reluctantly giving us glimpses of his humanity on The Wire. Just a consummate professional indeed. Thank you.
Watched Swarm on Amazon Prime this week, it was quite good and does a nice job of feeling complimentary to the style and intent of Atlanta without being repetitious or derivative. Donald Glover has displayed a really impressive affinity for absurdity, horror, and parody on both this and Atlanta, and I'm excited to see what he does next.
As for the mandalorians' helmet rules, which are all fairly absurd (I have accumulated so many questions), the only way I can really rationalize it is that the mandalorians' culture represents a subtle jab at religious traditions, which can be initially adopted for rational reasons but become twisted in strident devotion to dogma. I'd like to believe that is what is happening here, but then the show repeatedly makes the mandalorians look pretty silly at best, or not very smart at worst.
If a large flying creature is repeatedly attacking you then maybe set a perimeter with guards watching the horizon to warn the huge crowd of potential dragon food when this giant flying beast approaches? If they had already established the creature's lair is out of the range of their jet packs, maybe find another way to chase it down? And definitely install some sort of fuel indicator on your jet packs rather than abruptly drop out of the sky (seems like an obvious design flaw). And if its been loudly and repeatedly established that you can't use guns or bombs against the dragon, why was Ragnar's Dad still awkwardly and laboriously dragging that massive chain-fed cannon up the mountain? It was useless and a threat to his son's life.
This show seems designed primarily for kids, last week's weird political detour and all the constant cold-blooded murder on this show notwithstanding, but they can at least expend a little more mental effort plotting the show and do right by the titular tribe and its religion.
I hated the end of Shrinking too. I did like the look back at all the clients, but I was hoping she would just walk away and tell him to Fuck Off (Succession call out)
The funniest part of the helmet rule on The Mandalorian is it's obvious that no one would be able to see a blessed thing wearing those helmets all the time anyway. Maybe that's why the dragons keep stealing their young.
The contrast between the old-school religious Mandalorians and Bo-Katan's dismissal of their ways has been pushed to the forefront this season. I have to think the show is going to deal with it one way or the other in the coming weeks.
And RIP Lance Reddick. Hard to think of another actor who came across with such intensity without even saying a word. I think I first saw him on Lost and thought, "Geez, I'd hate to be on this guy's bad side."
I am currently visiting my Dad so I let him know: new show has dropped in the Dadosphere! We might try The Night Agent tonight.
I didn’t read your recap but I am planning to watch Shrinking. I watched one episode and liked it but it was during a busy TV time so I need to get back to it.
I'm excited to see Beef! I do find it funny that your piece on the show came out 2 and a half weeks before the show premiered. Doesn't it make more sense to publish it closer to the premiere date? Haha.
I, too, have struggled with my own enjoyment for Succession vs. the general perception for it as this amazing show. It took me about an extra year to finally finish Season 3, if only so I could watch Season 4 weekly with the girlfriend, who had to catch up on it as well, because we both fell off early in Season 3. And, ultimately, I'm still glad I watched it, if only to hear Tom go "Eighth in line? Greg, marry her and you’re a plane crash from becoming Europe’s weirdest king! . . . Have you seen King Ralph? Off a handful of hemophiliacs, and you’ll be 'The King of Luxembourg'. You’d sound like a fancy cookie!", which made me laugh so hard, I had to pause and rewind and watch the scene again. I still think Succession is wildly overrated by the general TV-watching public, but it's definitely worth watching, despite its inherently repetitive nature, if only for the comedic stylings of Tom and Greg and the self-loathing of Roman.
I enjoyed the first season of Yellowjackets a good amount, despite its flaws, but I find myself a bit less into this season and relegating it to a "phone show" where I'm not afraid to be distracted by other screens. I hope it picks up a bit! I do like certain guest stars from certain famous fantasy franchises appearing on it.
RIP Lance Reddick. He was a great actor of many genres, but my favorite Lance Reddick role is still when he showed up on The Eric Andre Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5urkfdMUXo .
The girlfriend ended up throwing on The Night Agent, so I watched a show I probably never would have watched otherwise, and it was actually fine? I mean, the show is very silly in its grand conspiracy, and a lot of the plotting probably shouldn't be looked at too closely, but at least it moved and was relatively breezy for a 10-episode season. I didn't even realize it was a Shawn Ryan product until after we watched it. It's no The Shield or Terriers, but I imagine it's on the level of Lie to Me, Last Resort, Mad Dogs, and Timeless, having only seen some of Last Resort (great premise, so-so execution).
Disagree on Shrinking tbh… Jimmy needed to face the music and I expect that to happen big time now, don‘t think it‘s a coincidence his best friend is a lawyer since that otherwise played so little role. I think they‘re playing the long game and even though Lawrence tends to transition stuff into hangout comedy this is much more thought out given we‘re now doing 10 ep streaming shows.. just read the interview Vulture did with him where he also touches on that. Excited to see what S2 will bring.
I too saw Shrinking's awful ending coming. (It was telegraphed early on without much subtlety.) It's a troubling development, but, as much as I love hanging out with these characters, it's hardly the only squirmy element of a series that makes a show of prizing ethical behavior. There's the affair between coworkers, the doctor/patient affair, and the underage flirtation, not to mention what seems to be a blurring of professional lines between *every* therapist on the show and their patients. I can't stop watching, but I also have the uncomfortable feeling that everyone here is courting disaster.
I have so very much enjoyed the Cougar Town hang aspect of Shrinking, and they'd set up plenty of reasonably sized personal issues to explore in a second season. But boy, you could see that ending coming after Jimmy's session with Grace, and as much as I hoped it wouldn't, there it was. *Sigh.* I trust you, Bill Lawrence, but don't blow it.
Lovely tribute to Lance Reddick. His loss leaves a big hole. I remember having to hunt for Fringe on the schedule because it was moved around so much. Keep sitting on my hands to keep from ordering the whole series for my very own.
His Irving Irvin was so much better than the cardboard character from the books.
So powerful and reluctantly giving us glimpses of his humanity on The Wire. Just a consummate professional indeed. Thank you.
Watched Swarm on Amazon Prime this week, it was quite good and does a nice job of feeling complimentary to the style and intent of Atlanta without being repetitious or derivative. Donald Glover has displayed a really impressive affinity for absurdity, horror, and parody on both this and Atlanta, and I'm excited to see what he does next.
As for the mandalorians' helmet rules, which are all fairly absurd (I have accumulated so many questions), the only way I can really rationalize it is that the mandalorians' culture represents a subtle jab at religious traditions, which can be initially adopted for rational reasons but become twisted in strident devotion to dogma. I'd like to believe that is what is happening here, but then the show repeatedly makes the mandalorians look pretty silly at best, or not very smart at worst.
If a large flying creature is repeatedly attacking you then maybe set a perimeter with guards watching the horizon to warn the huge crowd of potential dragon food when this giant flying beast approaches? If they had already established the creature's lair is out of the range of their jet packs, maybe find another way to chase it down? And definitely install some sort of fuel indicator on your jet packs rather than abruptly drop out of the sky (seems like an obvious design flaw). And if its been loudly and repeatedly established that you can't use guns or bombs against the dragon, why was Ragnar's Dad still awkwardly and laboriously dragging that massive chain-fed cannon up the mountain? It was useless and a threat to his son's life.
This show seems designed primarily for kids, last week's weird political detour and all the constant cold-blooded murder on this show notwithstanding, but they can at least expend a little more mental effort plotting the show and do right by the titular tribe and its religion.
I have to assume that by The Word you meant The C Word and by The C Word you meant The Big C. :^)
Thanks for the remembrance of the great Lance Reddick, gone way too young at just 60.
Neither my wife nor I ever got into Succession but, uneven as it is, we are so there for more Yellowjackets.
I hated the end of Shrinking too. I did like the look back at all the clients, but I was hoping she would just walk away and tell him to Fuck Off (Succession call out)
The funniest part of the helmet rule on The Mandalorian is it's obvious that no one would be able to see a blessed thing wearing those helmets all the time anyway. Maybe that's why the dragons keep stealing their young.
The contrast between the old-school religious Mandalorians and Bo-Katan's dismissal of their ways has been pushed to the forefront this season. I have to think the show is going to deal with it one way or the other in the coming weeks.
And RIP Lance Reddick. Hard to think of another actor who came across with such intensity without even saying a word. I think I first saw him on Lost and thought, "Geez, I'd hate to be on this guy's bad side."
Do you have a tentative list of the shows you'll be focusing on before the May 31st deadline?
I am currently visiting my Dad so I let him know: new show has dropped in the Dadosphere! We might try The Night Agent tonight.
I didn’t read your recap but I am planning to watch Shrinking. I watched one episode and liked it but it was during a busy TV time so I need to get back to it.
I'm excited to see Beef! I do find it funny that your piece on the show came out 2 and a half weeks before the show premiered. Doesn't it make more sense to publish it closer to the premiere date? Haha.
I, too, have struggled with my own enjoyment for Succession vs. the general perception for it as this amazing show. It took me about an extra year to finally finish Season 3, if only so I could watch Season 4 weekly with the girlfriend, who had to catch up on it as well, because we both fell off early in Season 3. And, ultimately, I'm still glad I watched it, if only to hear Tom go "Eighth in line? Greg, marry her and you’re a plane crash from becoming Europe’s weirdest king! . . . Have you seen King Ralph? Off a handful of hemophiliacs, and you’ll be 'The King of Luxembourg'. You’d sound like a fancy cookie!", which made me laugh so hard, I had to pause and rewind and watch the scene again. I still think Succession is wildly overrated by the general TV-watching public, but it's definitely worth watching, despite its inherently repetitive nature, if only for the comedic stylings of Tom and Greg and the self-loathing of Roman.
I enjoyed the first season of Yellowjackets a good amount, despite its flaws, but I find myself a bit less into this season and relegating it to a "phone show" where I'm not afraid to be distracted by other screens. I hope it picks up a bit! I do like certain guest stars from certain famous fantasy franchises appearing on it.
RIP Lance Reddick. He was a great actor of many genres, but my favorite Lance Reddick role is still when he showed up on The Eric Andre Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5urkfdMUXo .
The girlfriend ended up throwing on The Night Agent, so I watched a show I probably never would have watched otherwise, and it was actually fine? I mean, the show is very silly in its grand conspiracy, and a lot of the plotting probably shouldn't be looked at too closely, but at least it moved and was relatively breezy for a 10-episode season. I didn't even realize it was a Shawn Ryan product until after we watched it. It's no The Shield or Terriers, but I imagine it's on the level of Lie to Me, Last Resort, Mad Dogs, and Timeless, having only seen some of Last Resort (great premise, so-so execution).
Disagree on Shrinking tbh… Jimmy needed to face the music and I expect that to happen big time now, don‘t think it‘s a coincidence his best friend is a lawyer since that otherwise played so little role. I think they‘re playing the long game and even though Lawrence tends to transition stuff into hangout comedy this is much more thought out given we‘re now doing 10 ep streaming shows.. just read the interview Vulture did with him where he also touches on that. Excited to see what S2 will bring.
I too saw Shrinking's awful ending coming. (It was telegraphed early on without much subtlety.) It's a troubling development, but, as much as I love hanging out with these characters, it's hardly the only squirmy element of a series that makes a show of prizing ethical behavior. There's the affair between coworkers, the doctor/patient affair, and the underage flirtation, not to mention what seems to be a blurring of professional lines between *every* therapist on the show and their patients. I can't stop watching, but I also have the uncomfortable feeling that everyone here is courting disaster.