I’ve recently watched Fringe and Sliders on DVD.
The Spy - a miniseries based on a true story. It features Sacha Baron Cohen in a rare dramatic role as a Mossad operative who insinuates himself into the upper echelons of power in Syria.
I’m not sure what Israel and Syria looked like in the early 1960s, but whoever designed the sets in this show certainly went above and beyond to make them look authentic. Like the setting, the events covered here are far off most Westerners’ radar, which made them particularly intriguing. In the US, this miniseries can be watched on Netflix.
Is anyone watching The Rehearsal? I don’t even know how to explain what this is about. I’m not familiar with Nathan Fielder’s previous show but I understand it was similarly manipulated but in a less convoluted? involved? messy? sort of way. This show is either brilliant or insane. Or both. I feel like I spend most of the show thinking “wait, what?” with a confused Tucker Carlson face wondering what’s real, what’s fake, what’s real fake or fake real. But I am very entertained nonetheless.
Yeah, that about sums it up. It’s definitely worth watching, although it falls a bit into the category of “more interesting than entertaining”.
Oh, I’ve seen that when looking for something to watch, but the description didn’t make it sound interesting. I’ll try it.
So. The Sandman. Dang.
I am aware that people are having various conniptions about the casting, and particularly about the casting of Death, but fuck the haters because Kirby Howell-Baptiste is an absolute delight in the “The Sound of Her Wings” episode. Standout performance by far is David Thewlis’s John Dee, whose polite menace was perfectly pitched for maximum tension - the scenes of the car journey with him and Sarah Niles’ Rosemary are edge-of-seat thriller stuff. Gwendolyn Christie’s Lucifer shows a lot of promise, Jenna Coleman’s modern Johanna Constantine works just fine, and Boyd Holbrook is a decent Corinthian.
Weak points: much as I love Patton Oswalt as voice actor, he’s not doing it for me here, Charles Dance was basically doing the same character he does in everything, they’ve made Mazikeen way too sexy for a demon that drives men mad at the sight of her, and FOR FUCK SAKE TOM STURRIDGE YOU ARE NOT BATMAN! STOP WITH THE GRAVELLY MUMBLING!
There are various changes from the story in the comics (I’m still deciding whether the diner scene is better, worse, a mix of both or just different) but by and large Season 1 covers up to the end of The Doll’s House storyline closely enough. Roll on Season 2 and Season of Mists.
In other news we finished season 1 of Heartstopper, which remains delightful. Eventually noticed that Stephen Fry (who also appears in Sandman) was doing the school announcements, and very entertainingly too.
We tried Station Eleven (HBO) last night. First episode was good, but the second one seemed all over the place. The wife is not a big fan of SF, so that may have killed it for her.
Sherwood (as in Nottingham forest and all that). 6 hour long episodes.
About some modern-ish day murders that might connect to an old union dispute from the 80s. Lots of interrelated story lines. Decent cast. Lots of recognizable people from other series. But Annie from DCI Banks is underutilized. (And Moseley isn’t a murderer this time.)
The first episode, frankly, sucked. The accents were overdone. But the 2nd episode was better and it started to pay off more but still had a good chunk of uninteresting stuff.
I’d give it a minimal recommendation. There apparently is going to be a 2nd series.
It might help you to know, it might hurt, but all of the episodes largely alternate timelines between the “present” and twenty or so years prior. And they occasionally alternate focus, switching between major characters. All the story lines converge in the end, but you have to be tolerant of that kind of non-linear approach. It sort of functions like a slow-moving mystery and it is a show that is lighter on action (though there is a bit), heavy on dialogue.
I really liked it, but some do find it slow-moving and if the non-linear approach annoys you it might be a slog.
ETA: Edited to add that outside of the setting it doesn’t lean much into science fiction. The author of the novel was slightly annoyed it was so classified, kinda like Margaret Atwood and The Handmaid’s Tale. I don’t happen to agree with either of them in that sense 
, but it’s true that it is all about the setting and little else.
Non-linear storytelling can be very effective when done well (Westworld, season 1) or confusing as hell when done poorly (Westworld, season 2).
I have yet to check out Station Eleven, so I can’t say into which category that falls. It’s on my list, though.
I wouldn’t call Station 11 science fiction, more dystopia.
It wasn’t my cup of tea. It felt contrived and I didn’t connect with some of the characters. My husband liked it, so I’d say it’s worth trying.
Future dystopias = science fiction by definition as far as I’m concerned. Which means I absolutely do consider 1984 to be science fiction. Some will disagree of course but, as with all who disagree with me, they’re obviously wrong 
.
The original remains one of the most viscerally terrifying scenes I’ve ever read; something about it has stuck with me for far too many years, and occasionally intrudes into my thoughts. When I started watching Saturday night, I binged four episodes, and decided I wouldn’t be able to sleep well if it was the last thing I watched…
It was definitely different. Personally, I don’t think it was better, but I think it sort of got the tone across… it wasn’t nearly as existentially terrifying to me as the original though.
My wife and I really liked Sherwood - we had to resist binging into the next episode a couple of times. But we are both of an age where the miners strike in the UK loomed large in our memory as an influence, even for me growing up in NZ. And during the actual events of Sherwood we were living in the UK, so we had tracked these events via the news.
Even down south where we lived for a decade in the UK, football rivalries between adjacent cities were attributed to picket-breaking on the part of dockers from one city years before (although this is probably apocryphal). Certainly the pubs in our village between the two cities were divided along football team lines.
Detectorists (Amazon) - Almost done with the third season of this fantastic show. It’s cute, quirky, charming, but also with hardcore dramatic moments. There is some writing clunkiness, but on the measure the characters are great and keep this series afloat.
The Outlaws (Amazon) - has been keeping my interest all throughout season one. It’s effectively The Misfits, but without super powers. A grab bag of ne’er-do-wells doing community service find a large bag of cash in the building they’re renovating, what’s next? I don’t care if Christopher Walken’s career has been reduced to just doing Walken impressions, the man is a national treasure.
Halfway through season one and I’m happy with it.
Loved that series so much we bought it. Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones are brilliant.
We’ve officially given up on Station Eleven. It’s just a step too offbeat to hold our interest.
I love The Detectorists, such a kind-spirited programme and a great portrayal of true friendship. Filmed in my part of the world, in fact an office building I’ve worked in was even used briefly for a scene. And my football team gets a mention too.
The Outlaws Season 2 has gotten a wee bit more serious, but we’re still liking it.
Westworld Season 4. Holy moly, this show is really good again.
Can I start again with Season 4, not having watched 3?