Whatcha Bleedin' Watchin'?

[Avaitor]

So I was thinking about my end of the year list for TV, and this is what I've got:

1. The Americans

That's it. And it's not that I haven't seen too many shows this year, this is all I can think about ranking.

-I had some problems with this season of both OITNB and Transparent (I only recently got into the latter recently btw- this year, but before this most recent season), although they're both strong enough to where I'd probably consider them my second and third choices.
-I'm still keeping up with most of the Marvel and DC shows (AOS and Gotham being the exceptions), but there's always a couple of ticks to each of these shows that prevents me from full-on loving them. I especially get irritated by the way the Netflix shows steer further away from their (relative) gritty realness and go more towards traditional comic book cliches by the second act. I'd argue that Jessica Jones handled this the best thus far, and the second season of Daredevil has the worst. But if I had to pick a favorite Marvel show this year, I'd say Agent Carter. And for DC, I've actually been enjoying Arrow the most this year, with the back half of season 4 and what we've had of season 5 be a major improvement over its weaker points in season 3.
-Better Call Saul is well-made, and does great with allowing Odenkirk to show off his range, but I seem to be in the minority to find the whole show to be kind of extra. I'm just not that excited by seeing Jimmy McGill become Saul, and while I can really get into the show during its best moments, at its more tedious points, I end up kind of wishing that Vince Gilligan left well enough alone.
-At this point, I'm just sticking GOT and Orphan Black out to see the endgame. They've been losing me in the past 2 seasons.
-I've been enjoying Ash vs Evil Dead more this season, and I really like how it's been using the original film in this arc, but I feel like I'll never fully love the show as long as Kelly's on. She's such a terrible actress, and shows no interest in improving. The energy the show uses on her would be better spent literally anywhere else IMO.
-The last season of The Good Wife was a mess. But honestly, the only place to go after that insane season 5 peak was down.
-I rate animation differently out of habit, but I've been enjoying those shows more this year. Archer, BoJack, and the CN shows have been fine in my book.
-And as for the People vs OJ... I haven't seen it yet. I'm aiming to get to it during the break.

[Dr. Insomniac]

1. The Night Manager
2. Westworld
3. The Night Of
4. War & Peace
5. The Crown
6. The Expanse
7. Luke Cage
8. Stranger Things
9. Orphan Black
10. Martha and Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party

[Avaitor]

I feel like a heel for not getting to The People vs OJ earlier- this is one of the best series I've seen in a while. The amazing thing about it is how well the show does drama. Even though I'm familiar with the events, everything about the production compliments the details, and the pacing is fantastic.

This is definitely worth a watch.

[Avaitor]

I just watched the pilot of Halt and Catch Fire, and wow, this is one of the most cliche-riddled pilots I've seen. The main character gets it on with a woman he just met in the first act, who later becomes a player in the series. Said main character is a somewhat likable fuck-up. There are more than one characters who like to scream. A hipster-ready yet rightly iconic set of musical choices are used around. Even the angles and lighting are nothing new.

That said, I'm cool with sticking around. I hear that season 1's just okay, but the next two are quite good.

[Avaitor]

I talked about the passing of Mary Tyler Moore elsewhere, but not here.

Both of her major shows have had a profound impact on me, with TMTMS in particular being one of the series I've most looked up to. While I'm not particularly a big fan of her behind-the-scenes politics (apparently she's always leaned a little towards the right and was always mixed on being a feminist icon, increasingly so as the years went on), she still seemed to be a good person even until the end. And her performances are a big part of why her series work so well.

It's funny, I was thinking about how we haven't lost a big celebrity since the year started while I was working that day, then I went on break to discover her fate. At least she lived a good, long life.

[Avaitor]

The Americans never fails to throw me off, while landing right where it needs to. It was interesting to see how well Elizabeth and Philip immediately transformed into their new roles, but that wasn't nearly as notable as Paige's success with her training. This was all great, but nothing compared to that killer last act. Whoever says silence isn't golden should check out how well the sequence was done.

I'm glad for the show to be back.

[Pharass]

Recently, season 4 of The Americans finally became available on Netflix over here and I finished it yesterday. Great as usual, I especially like what the show has done with Paige; she's become one of my favorite characters , which is something I honestly did not expect when I first started watching it.

On a completely unrelated note: Lately, I've been filled with an urge to re-watch Twin Peaks.

[Avaitor]

I really like the direction the show has been going in with Paige. Although as much as I appreciate how The Americans has subverted the Sopranos format, one thing they've yet to do is to make the younger son more appealing. It's always the daughter that is an actually interesting character.

You know, the more I think about it, the more I've realized that Legion is what I wanted Twin Peaks to be, in that it's actually weird and not trying too hard to be subversive. Nothing ever felt organic on TP to me, but Legion's far more authentic.

[Avaitor]

I've FINALLY gotten around to catching up with Halt and Catch Fire, and here's my general thoughts on the show:

Season 1- Fine, if nothing too special
Season 2- Big improvement
Season 3- Best Show on TV level

I've mentioned before my increasing disinterest with the Sopranos formula making up prestige TV, and the show sticks to that pretty well, especially early on. But I'm glad that I stuck around, because it does a good job of making all of the characters unique and likable in their own ways, and the drama worth caring about. I also really like the backdrop, as it focuses on something fresh with the early days of the internet, and has some great pay-off.

Right now, I think that I'm going to catch up on some animated stuff for a while, aside from my nighttime stuff and the series I catch up with weekly, which I'll be doing for HACF this summer. But I do want to get to Horace and Pete and Rectify soon.

[Pharass]

You know, the more I think about it, the more I've realized that Legion is what I wanted Twin Peaks to be, in that it's actually weird and not trying too hard to be subversive. Nothing ever felt organic on TP to me, but Legion's far more authentic.

I haven't seen Legion, but I am interested in watching it. After all, Noah Hawley made  Fargo , which is easily among my favorite shows.
As for Twin Peaks, I know that it went off-rails after the killer was revealed, but up until that point, the show appealed to me on pretty much every level: Plot, characters, drama, humor, atmosphere, etc.
That said, I'm not sure when I'll get around to do a re-watch, though. There are other shows (both old and new) on my to-watch list that I haven't seen yet and, in the interest of fairness, I should give them priority.

[Dr. Insomniac]

The Expanse just wrapped up its second season. It's been a fun ride so far, especially the scenes with Avasarala and Draper.

[Avaitor]

This is the most reaching article I've read in a while.

[Dr. Insomniac]

The guy who owns CBR must have had a stroke, because 90% of these articles are awful now. All of their good features like Comics Should Be Good are gone in favor of "15 Reasons Why this is bad" articles. Makes the late ComicsAlliance looks prestige.

[Avaitor]

I understand that this is mostly a result of clickbait culture, but it's weird to go through their old articles and see some really cool stuff go by the wayside for "15 Reasons Why the 80's TMNT is the Best cartoon Ever".

[gunswordfist]

Wonder if that's why someone said they had to block CBR on Twitter.