Finished Rough Diamonds, a short Netflix series about a son who, having left the Orthodox Jewish faith, returns to Antwerp to help save his family’s diamond business from, well, lots of things. One of those “I have a plan, oops, the plan has gone wrong and now I need a new plan, rinse and repeat” shows but if one can excuse a bit of narrative convenience here and there it’s pretty good, although I found the main character a little too taciturn to be fully engaging.
I’ve just started Upright. Decent so far.
Just finished Welcome to Chippendale’s (Hulu). Compelling, and tragic, story of the rise and fall of the guy who invented the male strip club. I had no idea of the facts behind it.
Starring Kumail Nanjiani (previously seen on Silicon Valley), Murray Bartlett (White Lotus season 1) and Annaleigh Ashford (Paula Jones in that Monica Lewinsky thing).
Finished Small Light, a docu-drama about Miep Gies, the woman who hid Anne Frank and her family in the attic of her business for two years. Liev Shreiber as Otto Frank, but otherwise a cast of unknowns (to me). Not the best production, but a good story.
I’ve enjoyed Beyond Paradise. They have an interesting take on how the detective explains how the crime occurred to his sergeant, by appearing to be in the same location as the perpetrator while the detective narrates what he/she is doing. But one complaint- MARTHA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? When you get to the second to last episode of the series you’ll get it.
Three episodes into Glitch on Netflix. Some of the dead people in the cemetery in a small Australian town come back to life, clawing their way out of their graves and walking around repristinated. I find it “watchable,” as I like to call it, but I’m not sure how much of it’s going to end up being memorable if I, say, think about it this time next year. There’s no sense of threat or menace; the main source of tension is just that the small-town doctor is keen to keep these people hidden so no one else finds out about them (other than the cop who already knows). But that’s just through three eps, and I think there’s maybe, possibly, some potential here. I’ll give it a chance and see where it goes.
Most of the way through Sick Note, also on Netflix. Rupert Grint gets diagnosed with cancer, tells everyone, and is then told by the doctor is was all a mistake. But now, having experienced various benefits this brings from his girlfriend and his employer, he’s reluctant to tell them he’s okay. And, of course, the situation gets out of hand, or we wouldn’t have a show. And it continues getting more and more out of hand as the series goes along. And Don Johnson is way over the top in the best way possible as the crude, rude, unfiltered CEO of the company Grint works for. I would think that had to be one of the most fun roles of his career (Johnson’s, that is).
So the most recent episode of Barry popped up in my “Watch Next” row and…I think I’m out. I have no desire to watch this week’s episode or any that follow. Probably only a few more episodes to go, but I just don’t care how it ends anymore.
We watched The Diplomat. It began well, an interesting story mixing drama with light humor. Around episode 4, the main character, whose quirkiness and brash personality I initially liked, began to grate on me. However, the whole thing was interesting enough to see through to the end…and then we found that there isn’t an end. Just a cliffhanger for a promised second season.
OK, it’s my fault for not paying close enough attention, but I’m really not interested in waiting a couple of years for season 2.
Not just a single cliffhanger but every single plot thread is still dangling out there. In most shows the season usually wraps up all but one or two mysteries; this show’s first season left everything unresolved.
I really enjoyed Mrs. Davis (on Peacock, in case anyone cares) even though there were times I was like “HUH” and times I was like “WHAT” and times I was like “UMM???” The acting is fantastic and the show itself is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. In some ways I hope it doesn’t get a second season because I think it wrapped up perfectly in 8 episodes.
Your wish is (probably) granted.
I generally enjoyed the show, but also felt it was trying a bit too hard to be weird for weirdness’s sake.
I knew a little bit about it, because the original Chippendale’s was down the street from my elementary school. I never went, though.
I loved the most recent episode. Next week is the finale.
Um…I should hope not.
Mrs. solost and I watched this awhile back. Yeah, give it a chance, there is much plot development to come, including plenty of threat and menace. It also has a definite conclusion at the end of its 2 or 3 season run, which many “mystery box” type shows do not, having been canceled mid-mystery.
Also, thanks for the new vocabulary word!
repristinated; repristinating
transitive verb
: to restore to an original state or condition
Well, we did episode four last night, and there were a couple of decidedly provocative developments. So I’m in deeper. Maybe I should have waited to post comments on it.
I had a similar experience with Bojack Horseman. I felt like the first few episodes were giving me juuust barely enough to make me want to keep going. Then it really kicked in.
And yeah, repristinated. I learned the word under similar circumstances. Whenever it comes to mind, for whatever reason that might happen now and then, I’m disappointed that I don’t get opportunities to use it nearly enough.
Is that sort of like being revirgined?
Well, since the base of ‘repristinated’ is ‘pristine’, then I would argue that the only way repristinated = revirgined is in the first, more neutral definition of ‘pristine’. As if the ‘factory seal’ could somehow be restored.
Some would argue that it’s a synonym for the return to the second definition of pristine, but I don’t consider losing one’s virginity to be polluting or dirty, just a transformation to the next stage of life. Is it dirty when a caterpillar emerges from its chrysalis as a butterfly?
Pristine
1 : belonging to the earliest period or state : original
2
a : not spoiled, corrupted, or polluted (as by civilization) : pure
b : fresh and clean as or as if new
Two series I’m watching that I don’t think have been mentioned:
Saint X, A drama/murder mystery involving the younger sister of a girl murdered on a family vacation. Jumps around randomly in two time periods, one the present and one around 20 years in the past.
Class of 09 follows a group of FBI agents. Jumps around randomly in three time periods, one the present, one in 2009, and one in 2034. Using all adult actors, this one is the more difficult to keep the timelines straight of the two.
Both series rate a general “meh”.
I know there’s a whole Ted Lasso thread but I don’t really have enough to contribute there atm and I’m trying to avoid spoilers. All I’ll say is it seems like a different show than it used to be. I’ve given it some thought and I think was bothers me is the show was about this one man and how his genuine kindness transformed the people around him. But now it is more like a show whose worldview is inherently schmaltzy and people are just being unrealistically kind to each other because of the show’s worldview, not because of how Ted has changed them. It feels preachy in a way that it didn’t before. Of course I’ll keep watching…
Ted Lasso: Friendship is Magic.