Which are you supposed to watch first? Are they sequels or something?
I’ve been thoroughly enjoying “River” on Britbox, based on recommendations here. The only problem is it moves SOOOOO slowly. Each hour episode seems to take 3 hours. Every 30 seconds there’s another 10 seconds showing River with a disturbed look on his face. I like atmosphere, but it’s making me long for Hill Street Blues where there’s so much action it’s hard to keep up with it all.
But like I said, I’m still thoroughly enjoying it.
From the wiki:
The pilot episode, which was released on YouTube on October 28, 2019, was made entirely by freelance animators and was largely financed by Medrano’s Patreon followers.[5][6][7] The first season premiered on Amazon Prime Video on January 18, 2024,[8][a] with its first episode also released on YouTube on that same day for a limited release.[9] A second season is confirmed to be in production. It has received generally positive reviews from critics.
The popularity and success of the pilot allowed Medrano to create a spin-off series called Helluva Boss, which premiered on October 31, 2020. The series features a different cast of characters within the same in-universe setting.
The pilot of Hazbin happens before and sets up the series, Helluva is an independent story in the same setting.
Getting near the end of Grantchester. I nearly stopped watching when the first vicar left, then again when Leonard was arrested.
Masters of the Air. Gotta say, I’m not loving it. I don’t give a flying fart about any of the characters, there is no plot (other than things just sort of happen—but not in a thematically relevant way that might make you identify with the helplessness of the bomber crews), and the narration is the worst. Like the narration in the theatrical release of Blade Runner, it adds nothing to the story, is frequently redundant (telling me things I can already infer from what is being shown), and always distracting.
So we finished The OA. Two seasons and done. It was fine. I think the lore started to go off the rails towards the end, so I’m okay with it ending there.
Still watching and enjoying ‘Evil’. Nearing the end of the second season. It gets creepy.
Finished the latest season of Shetland. All-in-all, a pretty good effort.
Just realized I never continued with Black Summer, a zombie effort that has a lot of tension.
So back to S19 of Silent Witness.
Season 2 was only OK. Preferred season 1 a lot.
I also have been watching Masters of the Air and agree with a fair amount of your criticism. The show hasn’t really built any of the main characters into real humans in the first couple of episodes; I am reminded of a criticism one critic had of Pearl Harbor years ago. The characters in that film were too polite; it was like they knew they were part of The Greatest Generation and that they didn’t want to do anything that would disappoint Tom Brokaw.
The voiceover narration doesn’t bother me as much; The Pacific was a slog for me to get through because of the lack of narration and the inability of me to follow along with the various characters. Having a main character provide voiceover helps to focus the narrative if done well; Damian Lewis did that to perfection in Band of Brothers.
I’m sure the plot will pick up as the series progresses; they had to spend the first two episodes setting the scene and explaining why certain things are done (bombing during the day as opposed to at night, for example). I am hopeful that things will particularly pick up when the Tuskegee Airmen are introduced.
I really liked Hazbin Hotel; I enjoyed it much more than the couple of episodes of Helluva Boss that I’ve watched. Too bad it kind of ended on a cliffhanger, but hopefully there will be more seasons.
Hazbeen still has two episodes left this season. (And I like Helluva more.)
That makes sense, it seemed like an odd place to end things.
Have I ever mentioned I dislike the “one episode per week” way of releasing things? (Answer: yes, a million times.)
Hasbin has been two per week. 7 and 8 come out on Feb 1st.
Very atmospheric.
Cold, bleak, and grey. Nice place to visit, but then very quickly leave again.
Actually, it appears a bunch of it was filmed somewhere relatively accessible, in the hills behind Greenock/Gourock/Inverkip/Wemyss Bay/Largs/Port Glasgow west of Glasgow. It would avoid Port Glasgow though, my home town, it is definitely somewhere you VERY quickly leave again.
I binged Griselda on Netflix. Pablo Escobar in a dress. It was fine, exactly what I expected.
More anime I’ve speedwatched (spedwatched?):
The Reincarnation Of The Strongest Exorcist In Another World - The usual isekai nonsense, although the protagonist here was already OP in his previous life in a different fantasy world and is just carrying over his powers as a 12-year-old boy. The problem is that he’s SO overpowered that he never breaks a sweat. Every encounter is basically:
Demons: “Grrr! We are an elite squad of demon assassins who can destroy entire armies with ease!”
Protagonist: “Hello”. < waves one hand vaguely >
Demons: < say nothing because they are now a wee grease spot on the landscape >
There’s a twist but an obvious and not-very-interesting one. Don’t bother.
Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside - Jesus, these titles are tedious. It’s all about how just because one has specific god-given talents, one can still choose one’s own path that is not defined by those talents, and can live a slow relaxed existence without having to constantly strive for success. I’m guessing the original writer’s parents weren’t happy with his choice of career and this is his “F**k you, Mom and Dad”.
It’s fine and has its moments. There are a lot of naked boobs in this world, which for some reason glow and have no nipples. Also: it has the world’s most adorable spider whose name is “Mister Crawly-Wawly” (Mister is part of the name), who is the best character in this.
'Tis Time For “Torture”, Princess - Three episodes have dropped so far, and this goes past “funny”, straight through “stupid” and back around to “funny” again. The Princess (and Commander of the Third Legion) is captured by the evil demons. She is “tortured” into giving up secrets by being offered tasty food, cute animals, the chance to play video games, and a trip to a theme park (“Are you saying that as a prisoner subject to torture, I don’t have the freedom to visit a theme park?” “I’m shocked that you thought you did.”). There is a toast party. It is a party involving toast. Must be a Japanese thing.
There is added comedy in the Demon Lord’s excuses not to use the intel she keeps giving them (e.g. he is told that there is a security weakness on Wednesday afternoons, but Wednesdays are “cram school” and he doesn’t want to miss that.)
Solo Levelling remains the one I’m hooked on, still dropping one episode a week. And I’ve watched the six available episodes of Hazbin Hotel as well.
I do watch live action stuff, but cartoons are what I watch to relax. Plus most of the live action shows I normally watch have been delayed by the strikes (unless you want to hear about the latest series of Never Mind The Buzzcocks).
I watched Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters over the weekend. Overall I enjoyed it, although I had to keep going to the fandom wiki to keep track of all the characters’ relationships and timelines. I’ll probably watch it again to catch things I missed. Casting Kurt Russell and his son Wyatt for the old and young Lee Shaw was a nice touch. I’ll probably watch it again to catch things I missed.
I added Inside Job to my watch list after reading the positive reviews in this thread back when it came out, and I finally got around to watching it (The writer’s / actors strikes finally gave me a chance to whittle down my backlog of shows I was planning on watching eventually). I enjoyed it and am disappointed Netflix canceled it after the second season.