# Series you've recently watched, are now watching or have given up on

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108>\
**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:** 292

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**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:** [February 25, 2025, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5828 "2025-02-25T15:10:49Z")

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I gave up on it after 1-1/2 episodes. I was confused with the backstory. And it could never compare to House.

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**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:** [February 25, 2025, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5829 "2025-02-25T15:32:51Z")

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> [@DSeid](#):
>
> I’ve started this (_Cassandra_) now.

Just finished it last night. I liked it quite a bit, despite a couple plot holes large enough for a murder-bot to roll through. It did seem overly rushed toward the end-- most of this one-off series dealt with Cassandra-bot setting up the mom as seeming to be crazy and getting her out of the picture; then only the last couple episodes progressed to Cassandra-bot showing her true colors, holding the family hostage, and the eventual rescue. Also the side-plot of the daughter who lived but was kept hidden seemed rushed and came to nothing really. It all seemed like a lot to cram into the last couple episodes. It almost felt like the makers were counting on a multi-season, or at least two-season arc, and halfway through were told they had to wrap it up in one.

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**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:** [February 25, 2025, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5830 "2025-02-25T16:20:11Z")

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> [@Smid](#):
>
> (If there was a heaven and hell, Lactose intolerance is definitely a product of hell. Nothing quite like having horrible consequences when you eat food you like. I guess that could have made a hilarious episode)

Spoiler from S2:

> [@](#):
>
> **Jason** : So many memories of this place. Eating frozen yogurt and then having diarrhea and then eating more frozen yogurt and then more diarrhea. Maybe I should’ve realized this isn’t The Good Place because of all the diarrhea.  
> **Chidi** : Maybe you shouldn’t be eating all that frozen yogurt right now.

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5831 "2025-02-27T21:08:35Z")

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Watching **Invasion** on Apple. I don’t know why a lot of shows are filming in what appears to be ambient light, but I wish they’d stop it. Some of the scenes are barely viewable.

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**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:** [February 27, 2025, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5832 "2025-02-27T21:16:57Z")

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> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> Watching **Invasion** on Apple.

I didn’t like that one. Barely made myself finish the first season, was never even tempted to try the second.

(ETA looking for mentions of _Invasion_ in this thread I see that I actually did watch part of the first episode of season 2.)

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**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5833 "2025-02-27T21:21:17Z")

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I gave up when I started to suspect we would never actually see an alien in this show about an alien invasion.

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5834 "2025-02-27T23:26:05Z")

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It does drag at times. I’m completely uninterested in the Japanese subplot and tend to fast forward through the scenes. I’ll hang until the end of S1.

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**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5835 "2025-02-28T01:48:07Z")

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I have now officially given up on _Watson_. Part of the continuing Moriarity arc in last Sunday’s episode involved substituting an unknown drug for the Tamsulosin he has prescribed for himself (?!) to prevent nightmares. I am on Tamsulosin, which was prescribed (by my doctor, not myself) to treat possible prostate problems. The medical information that came with the pills say absolutely nothing about it having any effect on possible nightmares. This is sloppy screenwriting, and was the final straw with all the other problems I’ve been having with the show.

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**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5836 "2025-02-28T02:07:00Z")

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> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> I’m completely uninterested in the Japanese subplot and tend to fast forward through the scenes.

I got tired of the whole “Only she can solve it because she’s the Magical Scientist!” business. I wanted sci-fi, not half-baked fantasy.

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5837 "2025-02-28T13:10:17Z")

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> [@Horatius](#):
>
> I got tired of the whole “Only she can solve it because she’s the Magical Scientist!” business. I wanted sci-fi, not half-baked fantasy.

Yeah, between that and the boy with epilepsy having visions of the aliens, it’s a bit much.

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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5838 "2025-02-28T20:11:15Z")

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> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> Watching **Invasion** on Apple. I don’t know why a lot of shows are filming in what appears to be ambient light, but I wish they’d stop it. Some of the scenes are barely viewable.

Cheaping out. This was very noticeable in the Batman films. Each one got darker and darker. There was a meme that showed the “next” batman film as a black screen.

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**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5839 "2025-03-02T00:41:56Z")

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Finished watching 8-part miniseries _[Under the Bridge](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1640719/)_. Based on the real life case of Reena Virk in Victoria, BC. She was brutally attacked by a group of fellow middle schoolers. This being Canada, it provoked a wave of national discussion about violence in kids.

The only people I recognized were: Riley Keough (granddaughter of you-know-who) as real-life writer Rebecca Godfrey who came in to town to write about such stuff, thinking she had an edge since she was originally from there. Also Archie Panjabi as Reena’s mother. A stern Jehovah’s Witness/former Hindu.

Most of the story centered on the writer. And she quickly gets so messed up it’s ridiculous.

There were lots of confusing flashbacks. (One entire episode was a flashback that had multiple flashbacks in it. The episode should have been canned. It wasn’t good.)

So this series is problematical from my point of view. A large part of it was just not well done. Lots of confusing stuff going on. Took a while to figure out who was who and their relationships. Seemingly minor characters were in fact central. So I wasn’t paying attention to them and then pow!, okay, what’s going on there?

A small example of the mess of a script. One shot has a reporter talking about what was soon to happen. Then she immediately contradicted herself for the most part. And half of the other part turned out to be wrong. What???

The series took place in a town outside Victoria. But a lot of people kept mentioning Victoria as the locale. There was a quick flashback stock footage shot of the Empress and that was it as far as Victoria is concerned.

So, very disappointing. But then again… it was really good at times. OTOOH, they took too many liberties in dramatizing the case. OTOOOH they really set up the end of most episodes at a perfect point.

This story is set in 1997. Had some music from that era. The problem: These kids were really into Biggie Smalls. Uuuuuuugh.

The real Rebecca Godfrey died shortly before filming started. But the script was apparently set by then. She participated in this weirdness. Oh, well.

If you’re interested in the case or some such, go ahead and watch it. Otherwise give it a pass.

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**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5840 "2025-03-02T15:30:53Z")

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Just finished the first season of Reacher, and really enjoyed it. I’ve never read the books or seen the movies, mostly because I can’t watch Tom Cruise. When he’s in a movie I’m immediately taken out. I don’t see the character, I see the weirdo cult member.

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**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5841 "2025-03-02T15:41:29Z")

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> [@ftg](#):
>
> The only people I recognized were: Riley Keough (granddaughter of you-know-who) as real-life writer Rebecca Godfrey…

For anyone like me who didn’t know, Keough is the daughter of the late Lisa Marie Presley.

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**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5842 "2025-03-02T15:59:14Z")

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> [@Cumberdale](#):
>
> Just finished the first season of Reacher, and really enjoyed it.

I finished watching season 1 last week, too. I had fun but it was pretty ridiculous, like a remake of “Commando” where Arnold is playing Sherlock Holmes instead of John Matrix. I usually find “evil conspiracy” shows stretch my suspension of disbelief as well.

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**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5843 "2025-03-02T17:28:20Z")

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I finally got around to watching Six Feet Under. I just finished Season 1. It’s okay - not _great_, but very watchable. Interesting to see Michael C. Hall pre-Dexter. I’m just not sure the characters are compelling enough to care that much about. The most interesting character is already dead and only appears in people’s thoughts, so not much screen time. Maybe Season 2 will get more involving.

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5844 "2025-03-02T17:57:31Z")

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> [@Cumberdale](#):
>
> I’ve never read the books or seen the movies, mostly because I can’t watch Tom Cruise.

Anyone who has read the books laughed when it was announced that Cruise would play Reacher. In the books, Reacher is described much like what Alan Ritchson looks like: 6’4" or so and 240 pounds of muscle. While Cruise did his usual competent acting job in the film, it was impossible to get past his lack of physical presence for me.

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**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5845 "2025-03-02T18:13:57Z")

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At the time the first film came out, I hadn’t read any of the novels, so it all went over my head (no jokes about Mr Cruise, please), but after enjoying the film I started reading them and eventually got through the entire book series up until perhaps 5 years ago. I soon realised why fans were up in arms over the casting. It completely missed the main feature of the character (other than being a bit of an irritating know-it-all). Richson is a much better fit. Although the perfect casting, if they’d started the films at the same time as the novels, would’ve been Dolph Lundgren physically at least. Even in terms of age I would imagine he would be more or less the same as Reacher.

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**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5846 "2025-03-02T19:04:51Z")

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> [@needscoffee](#):
>
> The most interesting character is already dead and only appears in people’s thoughts, so not much screen time. Maybe Season 2 will get more involving.

It’s been a minute since I binged this, but the screen time continues for this character throughout the life of the series. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this series.

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**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/5847 "2025-03-02T19:18:16Z")

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> [@Railer13](#):
>
> the screen time continues for this character throughout the life of the series. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this series.

That’s good to hear!

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