What TV SHOWS are you watching?

Sometimes our life arcs don’t work out the way we want.

Maybe my read of the character is colored by CW (where I initially found her annoying but was won over), but I am not getting the typical pseudo-Zen vibe. She really just seems sad and kind of beaten down by life, but still trying to do the right thing.

YMMV of course.

dysjunct wrote: Maybe my read of the character is colored by CW (where I initially found her annoying but was won over), but I am not getting the typical pseudo-Zen vibe. She really just seems sad and kind of beaten down by life, but still trying to do the right thing.

YMMV of course.

Having everyone you value and love hunted down and killed by your father figure will do that to you.

Last night I finished Justified: City Primeval. This series was a pale imitation of the original, and was overall pretty humdrum.... until the final episode.

In fact, I don't think Raylan, renowned gunslinger, even fires his weapon until the final episode.

Fans of the original show, if you are short on time, just watch the finale and ignore any discussion of plot points you don't understand. You will not miss them.

While I knew it would have a very hard time living up to the original JUSTIFIED, I was still really let down by PRIMEVAL . The main villain was one note, not very bright, and made Dewey Crowe look like Lex Luthor . They wasted two fine character actors in Keith David and Vondie Curtis Hall . Raylan seemed more like a recurring character than the main character in his own show. And I had a hard time buying his romantic partner. The show was shot very darkly, lighting wise . Once they wrapped up the main plot ( well most of it anyways. ) it got a little better and certainly opens the door to another season .

But the biggest let down was the writing. This season lacked the witty dry dialogue that made the original so enjoyable to watch.

Invasion (Apple): Good show at first but it kind of is getting ridiculous.

Yellowstone: Fucking loving it.

Foundation: As good as I had hoped.

YELLOWSTONE starts off pretty good, but in later seasons the writing gets progressively worse , accompanied by plot holes larger than the footprint of the Dutton ranch. This is due to the ever expanding nature of the "Sheridan-verse" as he keeps adding more shows where he is writer/showrunner/cameo appearance/bottle washer. He's clearly overstretched at this point. Given the money issues all the streaming services are facing it will be interesting to see how long his reign lasts, as his shows are quite expensive to produce . And of course YELLOWSTONE is now in limbo, starting off with the feud between Sheridan and Costner and now exacerbated by the writer/actor strike. The upcoming second half of the season will be the series finale; it will be interesting to see who survives.

That said its def guilty pleasure watching.

Agreed about Yellowstone gradually declining.

Sheridan's new show, Spec Ops: Lioness, is pretty solid.

Dan Stevens stepping in as the voice of Korvo on SOLAR OPPOSITES was an unexpected delight. I love that guy.

Archer is also beginning its final season. I have always been an enormous fan of the earlier seasons, and although I have approached the newer, Adam Reed-less seasons with minimal expectations, I have come away smiling every time.

Finished the third season of Mythic Quest. Hurt itself by siloing character relationships for the entire season. Great ensemble comedies like Community and Parks and Recreation get a lot out of mixing and matching the characters every episode, revealing new dynamics. Mythic Quest literally put its cast on different floors and limited interactions to pursue season-long storylines. Poppy and Ian will never get old, but we’ve seen enough of David and Jo. The best stuff was Brad and Rachel together or the women’s brunch and tank day, new pairings. Perhaps this is a loss in the move away from full seasons: there is only time for arcs, not stories. Of course the flashback episode was killer. Non-essential but still a solid comedy.

Already said, but season two of The Bear is brilliant. Editing, performances, writing, sets, everything is tops. And it treats its characters and audience as adults. Not every plot point and emotion needs to spelled out, and characters talk to each other when there’s an issue. No one withholding for the sake of drama. No one holding the idiot ball. I know they’re very different sorts of shows, but it puts the second and third seasons of Ted Lasso to shame. These very flawed people are coming together to make something great while making each other better. Except victories in The Bear are hard and tenuously earned where things just work out in Ted Lasso because it’s nice when things work out.

Also catching bits and pieces Timm and Dini’s Justice League and Justice League Unlimited around putting the younger brothers to sleep. Green Lantern and Hawkgirl are the breakouts. I’ve heard John Stewart in the comics was an architect before becoming a Green Lantern, so turning him into a Marine is kind of lame, but Phil LaMarr nails the no nonsense attitude. Hawkgirl is just fun as someone who enjoys the smashing and bashing. Also love Ultra-Humanite in his handful of appearances and absolute disdain for DJ Rubber Ducky. Wonder Woman running down a Thanagarian army with just a sword is classic.

I've always liked a Marine background for "Space Cop" Green Lantern because it was nice to see some actual professionalism and training for a superhero. Just because you are rich, an alien, got magic god powers, wer chosen by an alien artifact, or were made from clay doesn't mean you know shit about teamwork, in fact by their very nature those heroes were solitary because they had no real peers. But Lanterns are by nature a team and it shocks me CONSTANTLY that the DCU, shambles as it is, hasn't figured out that Jon Stewart's Green Lantern should be the anchor for the movies, not Bats or Wonder Woman.

The original depiction of John Stewart as Green Lantern was way back in the Hard Traveling Heroes era of Green Lantern and Green Arrow featuring great work by the creative team of Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams. That John Stewart was clearly based on Detective Virgil Tibbs of the movie In the Heat of the Night. He eventually became my favorite Green Lantern. Hal Jordan is a cocky jerk, Guy Gardner is a punch line and exemplar of toxic masculinity, and Kyle Rayner was a cynical editorial response to declining sales.

I agree with everything you’ve said. Marine John Stewart makes sense on a team and has a great position in the Justice League (though it might be one too many characters whose default emotional state is gruff or emotionally empty).

My complaint is more of what’s lost. An architect suggests a creativity and dreaminess that military does not. Gives room for a Green Lantern that doesn’t use his ring just for swords, shields and laser beams. Something more like kid Green Lantern in that Mordred episode.

I do like the idea of different Lanterns bringing different strengths to the role. Hal should be the best at flying and aerial tactics. Kyle should have the most creative constructs due to his artistic skills. As a stubborn fool, I think that Guy should actually have the most willpower and therefore possibly the most durable constructs. I don't see why John Stewart can't be both an architect and a marine. But if he is just a marine, I would expect his constructs to be very focused on weapons and general attacks. If he is just an architect, he should have the capability to do the most structurally-sound constructs, and probably the most complex as well.

DarthJoJo wrote: I agree with everything you’ve said. Marine John Stewart makes sense on a team and has a great position in the Justice League (though it might be one too many characters whose default emotional state is gruff or emotionally empty).

My complaint is more of what’s lost. An architect suggests a creativity and dreaminess that military does not. Gives room for a Green Lantern that doesn’t use his ring just for swords, shields and laser beams. Something more like kid Green Lantern in that Mordred episode.

If you know many Marines. Hollywood to the contrary, they are not all PTSD'd monosyllabic neanderthals. In fact, many are about the most goofy dumbasses around, UNTIL it's time to get to work. As silly as they are, Michael Bay's Transformers movies capture military personalities pretty well. Gardner as a warrior scholar/architect would work well. You'd just need to get a writer who actually served to do him justice, instead of english majors whose only experience with the military is extrapolated from the cops they know and the bad shows they watch.

I'd say Denzel Washington would have been perfect 20 years ago. If he survives his current legal issues, Jonathon Majors would be my vote now.