# Series you've recently watched, are now watching or have given up on **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [July 9, 2021, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108 "2021-07-09T17:50:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 200
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/3988 "2024-04-13T22:32:32Z")
I’ve been rewatching _Hustle_ on Tubitv. It’s about a team of con men (_Leverage_ took the same concept a couple of years later). Terrific writing and plotting. Things are often not what they seem, with perfectly set up twists that keep you guessing. Robert Vaughn is among a terrific cast as the team’s “outside man.” “The Lesson” is absolutely brilliant and “Missions” (written by Howard Overman, later of the superb superhero show _Misfits_) is nearly as good. It’s given me some ideas for structuring stories. I’m also watching _Judge Dee’s Mystery_ on Netflix. It’s a Chinese production about a judge in ancient China who acts as a detective. Good characters and mystery. Finally, I’m starting to watch _Gargoyles._ Great setup, but a little simplistic for me. I suppose it was originally meant to be for a younger audience. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/3989 "2024-04-15T19:24:03Z")
Just finished the first episode of _The Sympathizer_. Good start. > **[The Sympathizer (miniseries)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sympathizer_(miniseries))** > > The Sympathizer is a historical black comedy drama television series based on the 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Viet Thanh Nguyen. The series was created by co-showrunners Park Chan-wook and Don McKellar, with Park directing for the series as well. The series is produced to air on HBO by A24 and Rhombus Media, premiering on April 14, 2024. > The series is based on the story of the Captain, a North Vietnam plant in the South Vietnam army. He is forced to flee to the Unit... ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/3990 "2024-04-15T22:40:10Z")
**Unforgotten** - British police drama about investigating old cases, which inevitably stirs up lots of buried secrets. Pretty good, although it’s one of those British “absolutely everybody has done something terrible in their past” shows, so don’t expect a cheery ending ever. > **[Unforgotten](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unforgotten)** > > Unforgotten is a British crime drama television series, which initially aired on ITV on 8 October 2015. It was created and written by Chris Lang and directed by Andy Wilson. The programme follows a team of London detectives led by DCI Cassie Stuart (Nicola Walker) (Series 1–4), DCI Jessie James (Sinéad Keenan) (Series 5) and DI Sunny Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar) as they solve cold cases of disappearance and murder. > Each series consists of six episodes. Series 1 to 4 were broadcast in the UK in 2015... ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/3991 "2024-04-16T14:36:14Z")
I really enjoyed **Unforgotten**. Nicola Walker was great (as was Sanjeev Bhaskar). She was also in **River** and **Annika** , two other series worth watching. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/3992 "2024-04-16T15:01:09Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > > > We watched the first two episodes of **Fallout** on Amazon Prime. It’s a lot of fun and has a bit of a Judge Dredd humor to it. I know very little about the video game it’s based on but the premise of a post apocalypse that began in the 1950’s provides for some really cool design choices. > > The best decision they made is that the show is just in the setting of the games, but it a new story. Note: I think I saw 2077 on a school chalkboard in the episode which indicates the bombs went off in some kind of alternate 2077(there was a mushroom cloud next to the year). > > I’ve played all the games and honestly, I don’t know what actual year the bombs went off. I know robots already existed, which you do sort of see in the show’s opening as well. It was some kind of weird alternate 1950’s-future. I’m not an expert on the Fallout game canon, but my understanding is that in the alternate universe, the ‘promise’ of atomic energy was embraced post-WWII and the ensuing future by 2077 became the retro-futuristic version of 50s utopic visions of the future. Think an atomic-powered Disneyesque ‘Tomorrowland’ (up until that whole nasty nuclear war business, at least). That’s why you have old-fashioned looking vehicles and TV sets alongside robots. I think @Smapti said it very well in one of the Fallout threads: > [@Fallout Episode 2: The Target](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-2-the-target/1000137/10): > > Fallout is, at its heart, a dark parody of American exceptionalism. “Absolute dumbass” is exactly the type of wastelander that should flourish in this setting. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/3993 "2024-04-16T15:33:09Z")
**Fallout** 2 episodes in and I am loving it. It does a solid job of capturing the Fallout universe, which top down is a satire of our own and not a dystopia. The game typically does this with Vault-Tec charm and discovered backstory on computer prompts and whatnot, but the show does this with it’s character interactions (which never runs smoothly on the games multiple choice menu prompts). If it’s different, it’s the format, but so far I am impressed with this introduction to the universe for the uninitiated while being full of gravy for old skool fans like me. I thought **Borderlands** had the screen locked up, but I’m looking at you again **Fallout**. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/3994 "2024-04-20T16:51:02Z")
An eight episode series called _The Spiderwick Chronicles_ has come out. From watching the first episode, it seems to be _extremely_ loosely based on what I remember of the books, and the changes aren’t an improvement. So far it seems to be a bland generic horror series. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/3995 "2024-04-20T19:23:58Z")
I feel for this show because it was shot, edited, scored, etc. and then buried to never be released. Roku Channel got it, but I know it won’t be getting any further seasons. It was just barely saved from the “Batgirl” treatment of being totally buried. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/3996 "2024-04-20T19:41:17Z")
Here’s a brutal review: > **[The Roku Channel’s The Spiderwick Chronicles Falls Fantastically Flat](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/roku/the-spiderwick-chronicles-review)** > > Paste Magazine is your source for the best music, movies, TV, comedy, videogames, books, comics, craft beer, politics and more. Discover your favorite albums and films. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/3997 "2024-04-20T21:02:15Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I really enjoyed **Unforgotten**. Nicola Walker was great (as was Sanjeev Bhaskar). She was also in **River** and **Annika** , two other series worth watching. Yeah, Nicola Walker in a show is a surefire way to get me to watch it. I even watched the Marriage series where nothing whatever happened (mild exaggeration). I’m now only hate-watching _Ellsbeth._ I still am rooting for the murderers and hoping for a bad end for Ellsbeth. What an obnoxious yet boring character! I know some people liked her on the show she was spun off from (The Good Lawyer or something), but this show is a perfect example of why you don’t spin off the weird quirky characters and make them the focus of a whole show. About two minutes is enough. But, man, CBS sure is pushing it **hard.** ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/3998 "2024-04-20T21:53:49Z")
The character of Elsbeth was tolerable in The Good Wife and The Good Fight since she appeared only sporadically, but her quirkiness may be too much when she’s the feature character. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/3999 "2024-04-21T07:20:05Z")
Watching _Judge Dee’s Mystery_, a series on Netflix about a Chinese judge in the Tang dynasty who solves crime using detective methods, and also does martial arts. It is loosely based on an excellent book series by Robert van Gulik, who based his character on an actual historic [judge Dee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge_Dee) who was renowned for his crime-solving abilities. It is by no means a proper representation of the novels. Still, I find it fun, especially for the gorgeous representation of seventh-century China that the books only partially can convey. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4000 "2024-04-21T23:12:57Z")
I think they might have toned Elsbeth down a little bit by the 5th episode. It’s not bothering me quite so much. Plus, I just have to say, I love her clothes. So colorful and pretty. I’d dress just like that if I could afford it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2024, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4001 "2024-04-22T00:02:01Z")
I just watched another Law and order. Again, the detectives arrested a guy becuase he said he wanted a lawyer. You can’t do that, unless you were gonna arrest him anyway. And then the court case was bad- the eyewitness was poor and his was the only testimony, and more or less the only evidence. So after getting remand and keeping the dude in jail- they dropped the charges. Then they got a recording that the wife said she killed the guy. Except that the eyewitness IDed an old, fat, bald, white dude, not a skinny blonde woman. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2024, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4002 "2024-04-22T18:36:47Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Plus, I just have to say, I love her clothes. So colorful and pretty. I’d dress just like that if I could afford it. They’ve also toned them down a little, too. At first, they were very clashy with lots of different, contracting fabrics and colors all worn together. They’ve got her a little more pulled together now. I dress very colorfully, so I can relate to that. I still _hate_ all her bags. It’s lame and unfunny, and she never pulls anything out of them other than a small notebook or her phone. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4003 "2024-04-24T18:02:54Z")
I watched a couple of eps of **Elsbeth** yesterday. It was much better than I expected and I’ll tune in again. I too appreciate her wardrobe but not so much her ever present bags. Here I’ll admit that I had somehow conflated Elsbeth with _So Help Me Todd_ and kept thinking “what happened to Marcia Gay Harden’s signature nose? And when did she start being funny?” 🤦🏽 The two lead actors, Carrie Preston and Marcia Gay Harden don’t really even resemble each other but my brain kept insisting it’s MGH. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2024, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4004 "2024-04-24T18:28:19Z")
cbs has decided to cancel “so help me todd”. i believe this to be a bad move. i like that show. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2024, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4005 "2024-04-24T20:03:55Z")
Its okay, my wife likes it and i watch it, but the plots have been getting more and more over the top. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4006 "2024-04-25T12:41:21Z")
Finished: **Shogun**. Started out so well, and went completely off the rails. Ends with basically a long exposition of “here’s the stuff that would have happened next if we had two more episodes”. The acting was great, the settings and cinematography was great, the writing… needed work. **Blue Lights** - BBC police drama set in Belfast. The echoes of the Troubles are loud in this one. Pretty good apart from the “everyone is miserable” elements of every British police drama. **Beyond Paradise** - A spin-off of **Death in Paradise** featuring Kris Marshall as Humphrey, now living in Devon with his fiancée. Sadly it has all the hallmarks of a spin-off show - all the other characters are flat and uninteresting, designed to make the main character look like a fish out of water. Also, instead of Harry the lizard, there is a duck. The mysteries are about the same but without the “gather everyone in the room” bit that was always so dumb about the main series. Worth watching if you like Kris Marshall, but otherwise - eh. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4007 "2024-04-25T13:37:33Z")
Really? I like the show too. It kind of reminds me of Psych, which I loved. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108.md?page=199) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108.md?page=201)