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    Binged the second season of The Expanse this weekend. I'm not entirely sold on the shift from the relative groundedness of the first season, but, for the type of show it is turning out to be, it's pretty damn good. I wish the crew of the Rocinante weren't so annoying though.

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      Originally posted by Ginger Yellow View Post
      Binged the second season of The Expanse this weekend. I'm not entirely sold on the shift from the relative groundedness of the first season, but, for the type of show it is turning out to be, it's pretty damn good. I wish the crew of the Rocinante weren't so annoying though.
      But I, er, like Naomi...

      Seriously, I don't mind the crew, but having started S2 after reading the 2nd novel, I'm finding it a bit clunky in comparison. That might smack of 'the novel's always better' but in actual fact I thought the netflix S1 introduced a much sharper element of class, which added to the conflicts the novel sets up AND it had the brilliant invention of a pseudo-London-Afro-Caribbean patois as the lingua franca of the Belt. Genius, especially the scene where Richard Harris' son, who most viewers would know as a posho from Madmen, breaks into patois. I literally let out a cheer.

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        I've been catching up on The Sinner, which is an 8 part mini-series on USA, I think. Bill Pullman and Jessica Biel. It's mostly a very well made whodunnit thriller kind of show, where we know who dun it right at the beginning and spend most of our time on why.

        But. Straight out of the "TV Cliches Thread" some cops from out of town come in as the investigation gets ramped up (usually it's "The Feds", here it's "The state police") and they go in all heavy boots and heavy handed and screw everything up. I wanted to scream at the TV because the rest of the show is actually good and mostly non-cliched (although our cop is obviously a flawed character who can't handle relationships, because apparently that's the only kind).

        2 episodes left. Hopefully it manages to find a compelling ending, because I think it deserves it. There is a risk of it all becoming pretty humdrum at the end.

        I've been desperately trying to find TV drama to binge on that's not too sedate, while also not being the hyperactive noise, chase and explosion fests of most network thriller/cop-type shows.

        Also recently started watching Silicon Valley, which I'm loving. But I'm trying very hard to ration it, rather than let myself see it all in one go.

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          We've been watching The Sinner, though we're a couple of episodes behind by the sounds of it. I tend to agree, it's an OK time-waster but I'll most likely have forgotten it an hour after the conclusion. The Simon/Pelecanos series The Deuce began this week. Times Square and 42nd street 1971 by the writers of The Wire, starring James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal — who also produces. That says it all really. Gritty, sordid, strong on character, hard to stop watching. Only eight episodes but I imagine it'll be picked up for another season.

          Outlander is back for it's third season. It really is a show that moves from brilliant to banal, often in the same episode. The time travel aspect is more the fore now, and it's probably a good thing. I confess I'm hooked. I find it easy to overlook the Harlequin romance scenes as the rest is so good. Not a show to start in the middle, go back to season one otherwise not a lot will make sense.

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            Genius, especially the scene where Richard Harris' son, who most viewers would know as a posho from Madmen, breaks into patois.
            I find it hard to get past his resemblance to Charlie Brooker. So I imagine Brooker doing that voice, and I chuckle.

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              Saw my first glimpse of Outlander last night. Hmm, wiz aw in France, nae getting Fife excited seeing Dysart or Falkland standing in for Leith or Inverness. Seems very plotty. She was breaking the prime directive to bits, giving modern medicine to the halt and the lame in the nuns' hospital/crypt in Paris. Feels like a Bodice ripper strung out forever. Quantum Leap meets Doctor Quinn meets Rob Roy.

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                Yeah, that's the second season. Relatively weak compared to the first, though it does improve when the action moves back to Scotland in last few episodes.

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                  Originally posted by Felicity, I guess so View Post
                  But I, er, like Naomi...

                  Seriously, I don't mind the crew, but having started S2 after reading the 2nd novel, I'm finding it a bit clunky in comparison. That might smack of 'the novel's always better' but in actual fact I thought the netflix S1 introduced a much sharper element of class, which added to the conflicts the novel sets up AND it had the brilliant invention of a pseudo-London-Afro-Caribbean patois as the lingua franca of the Belt. Genius, especially the scene where Richard Harris' son, who most viewers would know as a posho from Madmen, breaks into patois. I literally let out a cheer.
                  I really like it. I've read all the novels, but I won't remember them by the time the show catches up.

                  The seasons don't match the books one for one, so the first one had more about the class stuff because it pulled in stuff from the second book.

                  They made some good choices. Like not making the belters tall and skinny with bigger heads the way they are in the books. The authors (there are two - James SA Corey is a pen name) said they wanted to avoid that "big headed alien" thing where the audience immediately sees the those characters as non-human or, well, alien.

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                    Inspector Montalbano. It's great.

                    That is all.

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                      Indeed it is.

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                        Yes it is indeed, indeed, I'm a recent convert and the past month of Montalbano on Saturday night has been lovely. I loved the nod to Columbo in one of the episodes because in many ways, it's a similar format. But stylistically, it couldn't be more different.

                        In Salvo's Saturday night absence, I was entertained by Black Lake last night. Predictable, but good enough to keep watching, unlike Monday night's first episode of Rellik, which was both distasteful (searching for an acid attacker in East London? Thanks for that heightened exposure BBC.) and just plain boring.

                        Current catch up fix is The Night Of. Riz Ahmed is superb, shining amongst a fantastic cast.

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                          Young Montalbano is also worth a watch.

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                            I really like it. I've read all the novels, but I won't remember them by the time the show catches up.
                            I really like it too, but the season structure is what has made season 2 less good.
                            Season 1 was the first 2/3rds of book one and some characters from book 2 written in.
                            So half way through season 2 you're hitting the denouement of book one with all the pace and interest that built up and then well, it just falls a bit flat. Because you're starting a new book that has a slightly bigger scope that requires some build up but one of the characters who is important for that, was already brought into season 1.
                            So it's been one and a half great seasons so far, then half a season that was a bit of a deflating experience left mid story.

                            I wish the crew of the Rocinante weren't so annoying though.
                            The thing is, they're all arseholes for well defined and well explained reasons. And as time goes by, they get more comfortable with themselves and with each other. Only that all happens later on in the books, so in the TV show, we're still in the "4 people who wouldn't much like each other, forced into being a family of sorts" bit.

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                              Making my way through Bojack Horseman. Dipped in and out of the first season, but really pleased I continued watching. Nearly finished the third series. Downloaded Eastbound and Down on recommendation of a colleague, so looking forward to getting into that.

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                                Eastbound and Down is great.

                                I started on American Vandal this weekend. It's basically a pisstake of Serial and other true crime shows, but all done deadpan. The joke holds up pretty well over multiple episodes (they even do the Serial thing of having the success of the show feed into the show itself), but I'm not sure it merits full season length.

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                                  Bojack Horseman is great.

                                  I watched all of The Night Manager this weekend. I'd never read it. Some parts didn't quite make sense, but I really liked it overall.

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                                    I've watched the first 4 episodes of Mr.Mercedes with Brendan Gleeson, apparently based on a Stephen King novel.

                                    I'm not sure if this will be shown in the UK due to the killer's weapon of choice.

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                                      I'm not sure if this will be shown in the UK due to the killer's weapon of choice.
                                      Nuchcuku? An Article 50 letter? The Queen?

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                                        Black Lake, BBC4's current Saturday night import, has been effectively creepy so far. The set up is that a party of youngish Swedes have gone to visit a remote and disused ski lodge that one of them is thinking of buying. Disturbing things start to happen. The atmosphere is closer to supernatural/psychological horror than the usual Scandi crime dramas.

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                                          I don't watch a lot of telly, and usually it is of the slow, BBC Four kind. Anyway, tuned into Great Canal Journeys on Channel 4. I've watched bits of this before as Mrs P's parents used to have a narrowboat and I grew up near the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. It isn't bad - Timothy West and Prunella Scales go around various canals and find interesting things, also while talking about their lives and careers. It sometimes gets a bit Posh Actors talking about Acting, the Craft and all that stuff which can get a bit annoying.

                                          Anyway, last nights was on the stretch of the L&L where I grew up. Scales was born near Huddersfield and West in Bradford which led to them reminiscing about growing up and how they met and it was all incredibly... sweet. Scales has dementia, so the whole thing has a certain melancholy about it as you see two people who are still madly in love with each other after half a century of marriage and every so often, a deep sadness in West as he sees what is happening to his wife. It is supposed to be a gentle travelogue programme - and usually is - but for some reason that episode was infused with something a little more.

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                                            Originally posted by Benjm View Post
                                            Black Lake, BBC4's current Saturday night import, has been effectively creepy so far. The set up is that a party of youngish Swedes have gone to visit a remote and disused ski lodge that one of them is thinking of buying. Disturbing things start to happen. The atmosphere is closer to supernatural/psychological horror than the usual Scandi crime dramas.
                                            Yeah, I'm enjoying it. I usually get too scared with this kind of stuff, but the level of tension versus shock is just right for my nerves.

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                                              Friday night I happened upon some Carol Burnett, and I was aware of her previously, and her reputation as being funny.

                                              I saw a sketch with her, and Harvey Korman in drag, and ohmygod, hilarious doesn't do it justice.

                                              "As The Stomach Turns" is the name of the recurring sketch. It's on Youtube, but I don't want to link to it, as the first time you see it, has to be the first thing YOU see... I know what I mean.

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                                                Originally posted by Ginger Yellow View Post
                                                Nuchcuku? An Article 50 letter? The Queen?
                                                His car

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                                                  This Ken Burns 18-hour Vietnam documentary film is riveting. I'm not sure if everyone would have the same experience watching it, but for me, this was happening during my childhood. I remember these people (the politicians and the military brass, etc.), but I was largely unaware of a lot of things. I had friends whose older brothers were serving in Vietnam. One of them came home in a wheelchair. It's also interesting to me because my NPD pathological liar ex-husband used to tell people that he had flown helicopters in the war. Later, his brother would tell me that he never served. Watching this, I can tell you that he wouldn't have come home alive if he had.

                                                  Anyway, if you get a chance to watch it, I can't recommend it enough.

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                                                    Ken Burns & co have created a masterpiece. Haven't missed a minute yet.

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