The Official Good Television Thread

Is that perception of Errol really going around on the internet? That seems pretty farfetch'd for fans of this show. I didn't get that vibe at all.

Is there anything to read about Solomon's Temple/what Rust sees in the final episode(in that chamber/passageway)? It was pretty intense but I haven't rewatched it yet.

Yellow King pinpointing seems drawn up on only guesses. Why couldn't it go above Tuttle? Or underneath? Personally don't care too much about the conspiracy, I don't think that was the point of the show in overall meaning. But this also isn't a movie, it's a series with many more episodes probably coming.

Does Rust say it is Marie? The tape seems vague, and I first thought after like episode 4 or 5 when they showed the 'cliffhanger' with Hart's daughter that she was going to get abducted or something. But I don't remember any details at all other than Hart's reaction to it.

I think Errol might have been somewhat involved, but more than likely it was his father's upbringing of him that caused the damage and probably kept him in the knowledge circle of this cult.
 
The whole Solomon's Temple thing is my reading/interpretation. I don't know of anyone else who's said it.

The Yellow King likely doesn't go beyond Sam Tuttle because he was the patriarch. I don't think the murders go beyond that. But who knows...

The girl on the tape is verified as Marie Fontenot. I can't remember who says it, but someone does.

I agree that Errol's childhood had a big part to play in his behavior.
 
Watches House of Cards? I just recently got into it. Watched the first season in a few days and just started with this season. And boy has shit hit the fan quickly
 
I started watching Hannibal. Well I watched all that's out so far. It's good but not as good as True Detective was for example. Each part of it reminds me of a different show. The impossible amount of murdered people reminds of Dexter for example. The episodic distribution of the cases they resolve kind of reminds me of CSI. I somewhat got used to that though. The antlers and whenever it's mystical reminds me of TD.

And then obviously there are references to the Hannibal movie with Hopkins that I love.

Sometimes they overdo it with all that dream stuff. Like one 3rd of each episode is some dream or something.

But it's a good, entertaining show and I can't wait for how this goes on. Because the story itself is quite complicated and not formulaic, as you might see in most other TV shows.
 
finally getting around to watching True Detective because I found a good website that doesn't give my computer AIDS. Two episodes left. It's good, but I'm not blown away by it. I find Rusty's philosophies on life and humanity to be rather interesting.
 
alright, so my thoughts on True Detective. I really liked it. What fascinated me the most about the show was how it puts a new spin on the Southern Gothic narrative. The South, particularly the bayou of Louisiana, is seen as this wild west where there are homes and families off the grid (Rust refers to this at one point I believe) and how the lawlessness of the old west still pervades. It reminded me of an episode of the X Files where Mulder and Scully investigate a murderer in Louisiana who dispatches his own form of bayou justice. It really plays into the tropes of family and retribution yet acknowledging elder ways and religions. Very interesting

I also found it interesting how much the environment played a role in the show. You have this duality between the backwoods/backwards bayou and then you get the shots of the freeway from above. There's always the looming spectre of the refineries in the background of many of the shots. There's always this creeping encroachment. The bayou reminds me of the medieval notion of the "heath" (where we get the word "heathen"). The famous storm scene from King Lear takes place in the "heath". That's where paganism and witchcraft where thought to be practiced. It's interesting how that's made apparent in the show

In regards to Childress, he's certainly an interesting character and it would be cool to get some backstory on him. He kind of reminds me Chirgurh from No Country for Old Men. He has his own sort of twisted logic and is clearly very educated but very much a monster in the true sense of the word. I also like how the viewer is left out of the loop in some parts. For instance, we never see Marty and Rust having a conversation to make their stories sound the same when they invade the drug compound.

I will say that episode 4, the one where Rust goes back to the biker gang and goes on that run with them, was one of the most intense scenes since Breaking Bad. And the music was fucking spot on. T Bone Burnett kills it once again
 
Really glad you mentioned southern gothic; I think the show made a great effort at underlining the commonalities between the gothic and the weird (which, although related, aren't the same).

There's a great deal about the Louisiana landscape and demographics that goes unmentioned explicitly, but remains unavoidable as subtext. Episode 4 is a great example of this, actually.

EDIT: only one thing I'd add, however. Childress doesn't remind me of Chigurh as much as he reminds me of the anonymous antagonist from Outer Dark.
 
I definitely feel there's a connection but definitely not explicit between southern gothic and the weird. It's something worth looking into. May have to dust off my Flannery O'Connor collection tonight :)
 
I definitely feel there's a connection but definitely not explicit between southern gothic and the weird. It's something worth looking into. May have to dust off my Flannery O'Connor collection tonight :)

I recently taught "The Artificial my pals" in my class. The kids liked it, but it's a tough story to talk about. Very strange, especially for undergrads.

EDIT: GAME OF THRONES
 
Vikings season 2 has been insanely good. The latest "Blood Eagle" episode was, well, self explanatory and shockingly good as advertised. Skol to a season 3 that has already been confirmed.
 
Ugh, there's just so many tv shows to catch up on.

I just watched the first episode of the new GoT. It was awesome! It's sad that I've heard people say on here that it gets womp-womp towards the end but really enjoying it so far.
 
WWE is really good right now. Best since the late '90s - early '00s. Worth getting back into to it, for any lapsed fans here. A lot of great new talent, and Wrestlemania 30 showed that they aren't going to coast on nostalgia. It's going to be a fun year. I'd just DVR all the programs, which cuts the runtime by about a third.

The network is an amazing deal too.
 
Just saying that anyone who liked it at some point in the past might get back into it. If you were never a fan, then it will likely not have much appeal now. If you can't suspend your disbelief over a lot of the inherent silliness, then it won't work. Everyone knows it's a staged program. But the storytelling lately has been incredibly unpredictable and entertaining. Wrestlemania 30 had narrative moments that were legitimately as shocking as anything that happened in The Wire or Breaking Bad. It's a program capable of telling emotionally rich stories.
 
I always watched wrestling in the 90s with my pap and I'm pretty sure I just couldn't realize how stupid it was. And making the undertaker lose to Brock Lesnar was just gay. Why not let him go out to a good guy character like Sheamus instead of a heel? Could have had a big moment with him afterward and it wouldn't have felt so..... dirty. Makes no sense to me at all.
 
Just saying that anyone who liked it at some point in the past might get back into it. If you were never a fan, then it will likely not have much appeal now. If you can't suspend your disbelief over a lot of the inherent silliness, then it won't work. Everyone knows it's a staged program. But the storytelling lately has been incredibly unpredictable and entertaining. Wrestlemania 30 had narrative moments that were legitimately as shocking as anything that happened in The Wire or Breaking Bad. It's a program capable of telling emotionally rich stories.

It's still real to me, dammit!