Topic: The TV Show Thread

@FuriousMachine I think I'll just stick to Monarch for now, whenever I actually start watching that of course. Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if she got more English speaking roles in the future.

Season 4 finale of The Boys was absolutely fantastic. Looking forward to season 5 after that ending and Season 2 of Gen V.

@MightyDemon82 Yeah it was brilliant right? I felt the opening few episodes of S4 were a bit stagnant, but the second half of this season was utterly fantastic.

Similarly to how I felt about Succession, I am really glad that the Boys is 'bowing out' with a planned & definitive final season - and will ultimately avoid going down a rabbit hole of diminishing quality.

I'm pumped for the final season!

"Make America Super Again"

@MightyDemon82 @CJD87 Yeah that was a good un! I agree with CJ that the first couple of episodes fell short of the usual high standard, but the last few were back to what we were used to.

Did we see what happened to Ryan, after he killed Grace or did I miss something.

Also see they changed the original title of the episode due to what happened to Trump recently.

@MightyDemon82 @CJD87 I decided to rewatch from the beginning when season 4 came out so didn't get to it until it was about half way out. I thought the first few were only a slight dip over the usual quality but maybe going through those ones quickly helped.
@JohnnyShoulder No you're right that was the last bit we saw of him.
Such a good finale, it's a shame that the next season probably won't be out until 2026. It's going to be long wait.
I'll have to get around to watching Gen V, I added it to my watchlist then forgot about it. There was one point in this season of Boys where I got confused about something before discovering it happened in Gen V. I'm glad they didn't do too much of that.

@BearsEatBeets Yeah I've not watched Gen V yet either, but I'm not so keen on adverts with Prime and will not be ponying up to remove them. 😑

The first couple were still good TV, just not upto the usual standard. But, it rare to have a TV show with every episode being killer.

The way some people were reacting like it suddenly became some woke left or right wing political trash nonsense. The Boys had always been a bit political, so not sure why this season it has become more of a problem.

@JohnnyShoulder I'm finding the ads squeezing in to tolerable range at the moment but likewise won't be paying more. Hoping they don't try and test that tolerance going forward.
I wasn't aware of any reactions to the show (probably as I was late starting). I would say the political leaning felt dialed up a bit this season or maybe just more closely reflecting real US at the moment but like you mention it's always been there. Anyone thinking it's new can't have been paying much attention.

Also I only just discovered Kimiko spoke at the end when Frenchie was mind controlled away. So much going on at the end but shocked I didn't even notice that.

@MightyDemon82 @CJD87 @JohnnyShoulder @BearsEatBeets Just finished watching it and it was a great finale, capping off another great season. Really looking forward to next season!
I keep worrying that they'll kill off Kimiko, so when she had that moment with Frenchie, I got really worried, but thankfully she'll be around next season as well

I tried watching Gen V, but gave up a few episodes in. It lacked the biting satire and the fun of the original show, so I didn't connect with it at all. Not sure if any of the supes showing up in the final scenes are from Gen V or not, but I didn't recognise any of them

@FuriousMachine It really did go out on a massive high for me, I actually liked pretty much everything about the last episode.

I know Anthony Starr gets a ton of praise, and rightly so, but for me another standout is Chase Crawford (The Deep). How he manages to deliver some of his dialogue whilst completely 'playing it straight' is a delight to watch.... arguing with his octopus girlfriend for instance! Some of his lines have me in stitches, and his straight-edge delivery of them is genuinely really funny. "I say... go woke, get yoked!"

@CJD87 I completely agree! The Deep is the source of so much hilarity because he is such a sad individual and Crawford plays him to perfection!

Thought I'd hive a heads up to Arcane fans eagerly anticipating the physical release: It drops early October and pre-orders have gone live on at least Amazon.com and Zavvi.co.uk; most likely elsewhere as well. Got mine in at Amazon (Zavvi no longer ships to Scandinavia, the bast@rds... wouldn't mind so much if they didn't work hard to secure exclusives that can't be ordered elsewhere... that sucks).

@LN78 You're probably already aware of this, but thought I'd give you a tag just in case

@BearsEatBeets I've been watching stuff on Prime for a couple of months now, so am a bit sick of the adverts now. I'm tempted to cancel my subscription, but having things like having a delivery on a chosen day is handy for me. And there are certain things that I've found trickier to get from stores in my local town.

@FuriousMachine And just in time for season 2!

@JohnnyShoulder I've been paying for my Prime yearly but this the first year since I got it I'm pondering not renewing. The convenience and speed of being able to get almost anything could be tricky to go without though.

@FuriousMachine Added it to my Amazon wishlist a little while ago when I think someone mentioned it on here but it's still showing as currently unavailable on Amazon.co.uk.

Also discovered a complete boxset of Ted Lasso is coming so pleased to see that. Overall a promising sign for physical editions of streaming shows.

@FuriousMachine Much appreciated - I've got the LE steelbook coming from HMV. Very excited.

Season 3 of The Bear took a little while to settle for me but ep 5 Children was a step in the right direction and ep 6 Napkins frikkin killed it… I cried my eyes out!

… and this tune, which has featured heavily in season 3 has just hit me hard. The original from The Beat has a special place in my heart as it featured prominently in one of my fave comedies from my youth - Kingpin but this cover from Eddie Vedder is simply incredible:

Now that it’s all died down around Doctor Who with the new series done, thought I’d go back to the audio plays.

Creatures of Beauty is an utterly miserable story. There’s basically zero levity and I felt crushed throughout most of it, but it’s really very good. Yes, it leans into early 00s grimdark, but it’s a product of its time and stands out as it’s not really gratuitous in any way. It’s also non-linear, with a plot that resolves itself in part 3 of 4 but keeps most of the answers obfuscated until the final part and repeats scenes across the 4 parts. It sounds stupid to talk about aesthetics with an audio play but the sound design, language used and voice work definitely brings to mind an alien planet inspired by Britain in the 1970s. It’s as if someone took the hopelessness of communities during the Thatcher years and applied it to a planet in its final years. Class conflict is also tied to physical appearance, with only the very richest avoiding disfigurement from a polluted atmosphere. Not a nice place in any way.

The 5th Doctor is the perfect character to navigate this planet because he’s just a genuinely nice and affable person. His curiosity is piqued, he leaves the TARDIS, walks about a bit, finds Nyssa and goes away again. Whereas Nyssa, another companion massively improved by Big Finish, witnesses a woman stab herself to death in front of her in one of the most disturbing audio clips I’ve heard and is summarily beaten to a pulp by police officers and arrested for her murder, being subjected to interrogation that is more than a bit forceful. Essentially they change nothing about the fate of the planet but we learn more in each part about what they learn from their time on the planet. By the end of part 3, they leave and that’s it. Until part 4 shows exactly what impact the two of them arriving has on the people of that planet. It’s an interesting one that isn’t afraid to question whether The Doctor has actually made a positive impact at all on the universe since deciding to run about playing the hero.

I’d definitely recommend this one as a story that 100% could never be done on the telly, unless they did Torchwood level adult themes with a spin-off. There’s a torture scene with a guy having his fingers broken one by one that is pretty distressing to listen to, masterful audio design. It’s actually a good one to listen to that shows off the capabilities of audio plays in general!

More people should listen to these if they’re fans of the show though, the first 50 main range are on Apple Music and Spotify and there’s other selected stories on them too.

I have finally gotten around to watching One Punch Man season 2. Absolutely loving it.

Also watched the first episode of the new animated Batman show on Prime. Not sure why the Penguin is female now? but I'll keep watching to see how it goes!

Oh wow, a fellow OPM fan, fancy spotting one!
Didn’t know there were another Batman show, so I’m similarly confused, if for different reasons.

@Malaise The novels were miles better and I consider the second novel in the trilogy one of my all time favourite sci-fi novels. Recommended, if you're a reader, but the series may have spoiled the enjoyment for you

@Yousef- Haha I believe their are a few of us. I love Anime in general.

I've not watched anymore of Batman yet, but we have our nieces staying over and the little one loves Spidey and Friends and some of the characters are gender swapped on it as well. It's puzzling, because it's not as if the Marvel and DC universe is lacking in female characters!