well that sucked goat balls

[sabotabby]

Poll #21847 Multilayer failcake

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 22

View Respondents

Should I hate-watch Season 5 of the Magicians when it comes out?

View Answers

Yes, you like it when shows make you angry and torrenting it doesn't give them any money
4 (18.2%)

No, everyone has suffered enough
9 (40.9%)

I have no idea what you're talking about but I like ticking boxes
9 (40.9%)

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Spoiler party in the comments if anyone else feels the need to vent!

Comments

[notasupervillain]

TV shows that I know are going to treat their characters poorly are almost never worth it. I mean, sure, you can be as mean and cruel to them as you like, but don't you dare make them act out of character for a plot point.

There's an opening coming soon in the top spot, and I'm not sure what will jostle into the spot. I've left The Night Manager and The Punisher partway through, so in theory one of them, but I have surprisingly little interest to know how either of them end. And the list of new shows to start is devastatingly long.

[sabotabby]

If you're looking for recs, I recommend The Expanse, which is my favourite thing on TV right now. Things it has going for it: Really great plotting and political maneuvering, lots of awesome diverse characters, badass sweary grandma who is the greatest, Cara Gee being super hot, underlying optimistic humanism despite a very grimdark setting. Amazon could decide to fuck it up now that they've acquired it, but it doesn't seem like they will.

Black Sails, which is a prequel to Treasure Island but with some real historical pirates, starts as silly and violent swashbuckling, one of the most satisfying endings I've ever seen on a telly, especially given several foregone conclusions. If you watch it, the best thing is not to Google anything about it so that you, like me, can squint and go, "are they going there? are they really going to go there?" at multiple points.

[notasupervillain]

Well, I asked my husband for his vote, and he said The Expanse before I saw your response here, so that's a good sign for that show.

I'll put Black Sails on the list. That's not such a good sign.

[sabotabby]

Don't judge The Expanse by the first episode. It's necessary for context but it sucks and is mainly about different characters than the rest of the show.

[notasupervillain]

That's the opposite of how I felt about Star Trek Discovery.

[sabotabby]

Disco gets better too, just in a different way.

[notasupervillain]

I loved the captain in episode one. I loved that there was a star trek that wasn't grimdark, that went back to the Picard hopefulness. I loved that there was a captain who gave more than lip service to the Prime Directive.

Then episode 2. And it wasn't a bad show, not really, I could have liked it, but I'd already fallen in love with a different show. There are ways that shift could have happened and I would have accepted or even admired it (see: Harry Potter) but I just felt annoyed. And I couldn't appreciate the show for what it was going forward.

Today in: I have opinions.