The Official Good Television Thread

[Vegard Pompey]

Wolf Creek 2 owns. I really should check out the TV series sometime since McLean is involved with that one too.

 

[CiG]

While Steve Bisley played about the best dead shit, lazy fuck, copper you could ever imagine!

They did Jim Goose dirty.

 

[Slammed]

Poor Goose looks like he's ready for stuffing.

 

[CiG]

First episode of Gangs of London season 2 was great.

 

[no country for old wainds]

man, for all its faults, those final sequences in Rings of Power really had all the weight and gravity i need from something based on such deep lore, as did that cool ass onscreen name change at the end of the previous episode. the ending credits gave me shivers too. i can forgive how fucking cheap it continues to look and how stiff or corny a few of the scenes are if it's gonna nail the big stuff like that. will definitely be watching s2.

 

[Vegard Pompey]

You're the first person I've heard speak positively about the series, kinda funny to hear you praise things I've heard others specifically tear into it for (the onscreen name change.) Still haven't seen it, but I am looking for something new to watch so maybe I'll join you in contrarianland.

Checked out the first episode of For All Mankind and I thought it was jingoistic dreck. The American main characters all lose their shit and act like children because they lost the space race and every historical character is depicted with excessive reverence. The premise and scope of the series is compelling but it's hard to take an interest in an alternate history series if it's gonna have such a fucking milquetoast take on history. So then I tried Russian Doll and I don't think I've ever seen a series try so hard to make me hate everyone in it in the first episode. I'll probably give it a couple more episodes because I'm a sucker for time loop stories but I can't say it made a good first impression.

I just want to find a goddamn high-concept series that doesn't just make me want to rewatch Severance...

 

[no country for old wainds]

i could definitely see you finding it dull, would be curious about your thoughts though. there's something a bit plastic about it that i struggle to shake off a lot of the time, and i can't really step into the minds of people who are intimately familiar with the lore nor people who have no familiarity at all, but all in all i'd say it's worse than the original film trilogy but easily better than the hobbit trilogy, which bored the absolute living fuck out of me.

i like the main character/performance in russian doll tbh (i understand feeling differently haha) but a lot of the side characters are pretty terrible and the general tryhard hipsteria is definitely its worst quality. i enjoyed s1 but really soured on it with s2.

 

[no country for old wainds]

yoda said he 'adored' rings of power on facebook, i wouldn't go nearly that far so at least i'm not the biggest fan of this goofy ass show on this board.

 

[Vegard Pompey]

House of the Dragon finale owned. This show is the glorious phoenix rising from the ashes of Game of Thrones s08. Amazing what happens when you hand the reins of this franchise to writers who aren't idiot frat boys.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

Not even close imo. Second rate in just about every way(writing, acting, production, etc) when compared to GoT. Was a huge let down for me.

 

[CiG]

House of the Dragon finale owned. This show is the glorious phoenix rising from the ashes of Game of Thrones s08. Amazing what happens when you hand the reins of this franchise to writers who aren't idiot frat boys.

What is it you liked so much about the first season?

 

[Vegard Pompey]

What is it you liked so much about the first season?

The patient setup, the nuanced character writing, the performances. To name a few things.

I have some second-hand knowledge of the source material and so far most of the changes they've made in adapting it have been to make characters more multifaceted. I'm not saying this is directly relevant to the quality of the show as a standalone work but it speaks volumes about the philosophy of the people adapting it, especially in contrast to Game of Thrones where most of the changes to the source material were in service of streamlining it or amping up the shock value. I love that HotD seems disinterested in writing more Joffreys or Ramsays, instead giving these humanizing moments of grace to the most vile characters, with basically the sole exception of Mr. I-killed-my-family-to-sate-my-foot-fetish. I think they go to great lengths to depict the "villains" of the series as more or less broken, afraid and/or in impossible situations.

To name a few spoilery examples...

Spoiler

Daemon appears to be a true psychopath in the clinical sense of the word, and without ever undercutting that they reveal that he cared for his brother and wanted to protect him from the vipers in his council like Otto Hightower. Otto in turn is a power-hungry schemer who callously sets up his daughter with the king, but I think they also establish that he has genuine concerns for the security of his family if they end up on the wrong side of the ensuing succession crisis. Criston Cole faces a crisis of personality after failing to live up to his own ideals of knighthood and beats a man to death for reminding him of the flaws in himself. Aegon is a sadistic piece of shit who doesn't want to be king, but during his crowning ceremony he's genuinely touched to receive the adoration from his subjects that he's never gotten from his family. Aemond is a total psycho who just wants to subjugate everyone around him, but when he kills his cousin nephew by accident (a change from the book, where it was intentional) he seems truly horrified at the consequences of his actions.

I know a lot of people have complained about the preponderance of time skips and that it makes it hard to get attached to the characters and I get that, it wasn't until around halfway into the season that I started to feel like these characters were more than just their function in the plot. But I honestly love this feeling that the show is patiently moving pieces into place for a multi-season conflict instead of just rushing to get to the next water-cooler moment. And this time around, it's based on completed material, so they know exactly where they're going!

tl:dr; I love this show, and I think this was largely a "setup" season and s02 has a good chance of being even better.

 

[Einherjar86]

I was pleasantly surprised by HoD, having set my expectations low. In part, I'm just done with GRRM and so had very little investment in this series; but after giving it the benefit of the doubt, I thought the plotting actually worked. The uneven aging of characters aside, the time jump was jarring enough to engage my attention but not so upsetting as to alienate me entirely.

Spoiler

My only real disappointment was that we didn't get a showdown between Daemon and Aemond, but I'm now hoping for that in S2. Also, two things re. Aemond's horror after accidentally killing his cousin: 1) he does seem truly horrified, less so that his cousin is dead than that he knows he's going to incur the wrath of Rhaenyra and Daemon; and 2) it reveals that Aemond isn't really in control of his dragon, which opens some nice narrative opportunities for S2 (I'm not familiar with the source material, so no idea what'll happen).

Honestly though, HoD pales in comparison to Andor. I'm loving this new show, especially after the more recently disappointing Star Wars fare.

 

[Vegard Pompey]

Spoiler

Yeah, I think your read of Aemond is probably correct. That said, it's not the only reason I find his character nuanced. There is an old adage in fiction that we get invested when we watch characters try and Aemond tries more than anyone! He's basically got a heroic origin story (risking his life to tame a dragon) and he's always working hard to prove himself and lashing out against his status as a neglected second son. He'd be the most likeable character in the series if he had morals. There is a sense that if he matured and learned to repress his sadistic impulses he could potentially become a not-shit person but because of the position of privilege he is born into he'll probably never attain that maturity... and probably fuck more shit up before this show is over.

I fucking love all the scenes where he's quietly smirking and you're just waiting for him to do something horrible. I don't think I've ever seen an actor project so much volatility by silently holding a fixed expression. Probably my favorite character in the show, can't wait to see what they do with him.

 

[Einherjar86]

I agree with all that; the actor they got for him does a great job. You're right that he commands a dramatic gravitas through silent expression. Really compelling to watch.

 

[no country for old wainds]

I agree with all that; the actor they got for him does a great job. You're right that he commands a dramatic gravitas through silent expression. Really compelling to watch.

hard to recognise him, but it’s the same actor who played the rapey guy in claire denis’ high life.

 

[Vegard Pompey]

hard to recognise him, but it’s the same actor who played the rapey guy in claire denis’ high life.

Did you click my spoilers because you've seen HotD or because you just don't care? If the former, I'd love to hear your thoughts; if the latter, you should check it out I think you'd like it.

 

[no country for old wainds]

i've only seen clips. i should probably finish GoT first lol

 

[Vegard Pompey]

Watching GoT beforehand is extremely optional.

 

[Einherjar86]

hard to recognise him, but it’s the same actor who played the rapey guy in claire denis’ high life.

holy shit. Well, that tracks, lol.