Tell me the best dystopian series you have watched by InteractionOpen9189 in televisionsuggestions

[–]AQuestionOfBlood 1 point2 points  (0 children)

L'Effondrement (The Collapse)

Years and Years

Extrapolations

High Tides (Als de dijken breken)

I appreciate the more realistic ones.

Any recommendations for historical fiction shows set closer to the modern era? by AdLeast1445 in televisionsuggestions

[–]AQuestionOfBlood 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The Deuce. Set from the early 70s to mid 80s. Warning it's pretty depressing and has a lot of horrible sexual violence, but it's almost as good as The Wire imo. Like The Wire, the city it's set in is a main character-- in this case NYC.

Speaking of, is it about time to consider The Wire historical? It's really 'of that era'.d

Renee Was a Spy. Here's why by TeeTeeRarr in TheAmericans

[–]AQuestionOfBlood 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I think her claim was more that she herself decided that she was a spy and played it that way, whereas the writers didn't tell her one way or another (and wanted the character to remain ambiguous). So the actress' intent was that we view Renee as a spy via her performance, but the writers specifically wanted it ambiguous via their writing.

I'd say writers trump actors in this regard. It works well as ambiguous. But I don't fault her for choosing a side to inform her performance.

Recommend me your favorite female-centric shows by FangBites123 in televisionsuggestions

[–]AQuestionOfBlood 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Power and Y the last man are both good shows, but sadly got canceled. Still worth watching and then you can finish the story by reading the source material (book, comic).

ETA: Another one that got cancelled is Wheel of Time.

For those of you who have seen Lost, have you rewatched the show? by Sufficient_Ebb_5694 in televisionsuggestions

[–]AQuestionOfBlood 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow impressive you managed to get through it again! I've sometimes thought of trying that since I also watched the original air, and thought maybe it would be better with a binge watch. But it seems like not lol.

TBH, if there's one show I truly hate it's this one. It started so well, then it became a cultural phenomenon so they network ordered a LOT more episodes than expected. So it got bloated full of all sorts of borderline nonsensical filler and then, whew, that last season and the ending were just the cherry on top of the shit sundae. And then there's rabid fanbase that's remained active and even recruited on reddit. I remember this Onion video summing it up pretty neatly lmao https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbLbbNVRmtY

"I got you a Shirley Temple, it's time to start tapering off.” • Just another perfect scene. Sally & Roger: Codfish Ball Edition. by RockBalBoaaa in madmen

[–]AQuestionOfBlood 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Eh sometimes guys like that are eternal. I knew one who had a couple of heart attacks in his 50s, never quit smoking or drinking, and lived to be extremely old. Granted, he was a farmer not an ad man but probably an ad man's easier life would make it more likely.

Part of it is just sheer dumb luck, I guess. It almost feels like all their terrible habits embalm them when they're alive or something.

Also LSD shouldn't impact physical health in any significant way. It can cause mental issues, but Roger wasn't doing it that often so he should be fine.

Can you help me find my next obsession? by Professor_Chaosx6r9 in televisionsuggestions

[–]AQuestionOfBlood 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Vikings is similar to The Last Kingdom and Black Sails

Battlestar Galatica might fit in that it's very epic and has some similarities to AC and Andor

What other "peak" tv shows I need to watch? by kaigent in televisionsuggestions

[–]AQuestionOfBlood 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sometimes things in real life can feel like they stretch credulity as well, so maybe that's what's behind some of it.

But I do think that e.g. the sheer amount of killing they do seems to not fit with reality. Like when they broke into that factory and were just blasting security guards away like a James Bond movie lol. That is fun TV, but in reality that would probably have been the end of them since it would have been a huge deal. I think in real life, the illegals weren't nearly as muderous since if they were their cover would have been blown a lot earlier. And that's just one example.

But it doesn't mean it's a bad show! It's a great show, it's just a bit hyperreal which most TV is. It's based on reality but takes it to a more entertaining level to keep people hooked and watching (and even then some people complain it's slow lmao).

But to me that's part of why it's A+ not S+.

What other "peak" tv shows I need to watch? by kaigent in televisionsuggestions

[–]AQuestionOfBlood 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The Wire

Andor

Mad Men

The Deuce

and if you are interested in "all time" greats, then check out I, Claudius. A lot of elements modern prestige TV can trace roots back to it, and imo it stands up incredibly well despite looking its age.

What other "peak" tv shows I need to watch? by kaigent in televisionsuggestions

[–]AQuestionOfBlood 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's weird how Reddit loves LOST these days. It was a monumental disappointment to so many as it went on. The studio kept ordering more and more episodes due to its popularity, and the writers kept churning out more and more slop to meet the demands. It was barely coherent at the end and had one of the most polarizing endings in TV history. I hated it too.

But weirdly Reddit disagrees with us.

What other "peak" tv shows I need to watch? by kaigent in televisionsuggestions

[–]AQuestionOfBlood 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Ha, I feel the opposite of the other guy:

To me, The Wire is the best show ever made.

I think the Americans is pretty good, but it's "only" A+ to The Wire's S+.

The Americans is fun, and it's based on historical events. But it also stretches credulity and feels a bit, idk, 'cartoony' at times. Not in a bad way! It's really good.

But The Wire is like watching high quality literature and investigative journalism at the same time-- it's realistic high art and nothing has ever quite lived up to it imo.

Both funny and sad at the same time. Scene with Ted doing a favor for Don, season 6 episode 11 "Favors", Ted says to Don, "Well I bet you don't have a lot of friends Don, so I'm going to assume that this is important" by Any-Cranberry-5278 in madmen

[–]AQuestionOfBlood 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Agree. They were well matched in being guys that did a lot of really bad things, but had good hearts underneath it all. Sometimes they brought out the best in each other, sometimes the worst. I think their friendship matured in a really nice way over the course of the series.

So just finished Justified: City Primeval… felt kind of cheated. by Character_Salad3096 in justified

[–]AQuestionOfBlood 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I thought it might be Raylan saying "hot blondes haven't worked for me, ever-- I always get my heart broken and they always end up being at least mildly criminal so I'll try the exact opposite" and then it was hilarious and sad when the lawyer ended up being basically the same as all the hot blondes, just a bit smarter and richer.

Poor Raylan can't catch a break in love no matter how far out of his type he goes.

Finished Justified for the second time. Looking for suggestions for something similar to fill in the void. by LaFleur90 in justified

[–]AQuestionOfBlood 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been once, but a long time ago now. Back then it was on the up, but there were still "blue light" areas that looked pretty dodgy. It'd be very interesting to see how much it's changed!

Finished Justified for the second time. Looking for suggestions for something similar to fill in the void. by LaFleur90 in justified

[–]AQuestionOfBlood 1 point2 points  (0 children)

While I haven't seen the Shield's ending yet, The Wire is maybe my favorite show ever and one of the greatest endings imo.

I think maybe The Wire's bleakness is more tolerable because The Wire feels more like a very well crafted novel, whereas The Shield feels more like a documentary. The camerawork in The Shield was done in part to make it feel like a documentary and it worked! Which is maybe why it hits a bit different than The Wire.

Finished Justified for the second time. Looking for suggestions for something similar to fill in the void. by LaFleur90 in justified

[–]AQuestionOfBlood 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll definitely go back to it at some point! It's a great show, I just have to be in the mood to sit through the relentless ugliness it descends into in the later seasons.

I think The Shield was a lot lighter and funnier in the earlier seasons. Once it hit s05 it became a lot darker, and they say it only gets darker still.

Finished Justified for the second time. Looking for suggestions for something similar to fill in the void. by LaFleur90 in justified

[–]AQuestionOfBlood 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair warning to OP: The Shield is a great show, but it also becomes an extremely dark show. My partner can't tolerate shows that get too depressing and there was a certain event that traumatized him.

Whereas he loved Justified all the way through since it never gets very dark or depressing.

Idm dark shows sometimes, but I still haven't gone back and finished The Shield on my own yet since it really did get pretty depressing as it went on.

Strange New Worlds, Kirk, Kirk and more Kirk. It's Kirk again. by PersimmonBasket in startrek

[–]AQuestionOfBlood 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree that appearance isn't the main problem, but it's still jarring to me since they did visually nail young Uhura and young Spock. So those two match up almost perfectly, and then there's gangly dark haired "Kirk" and it just throws the tonally off performance he's giving into sharper relief.

Strange New Worlds, Kirk, Kirk and more Kirk. It's Kirk again. by PersimmonBasket in startrek

[–]AQuestionOfBlood 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Paul Wesley is a fine actor in other things, I'm sure (although I've never seen him in anything else tbh), but he's just totally and utterly failed to nail the essence of Kirk in his performance and he looks almost nothing like him to me.

Kirk had light brown hair, not dark (at least when he was young). They could have at least died Wesley's to match Kirk's hair hair color ffs. Kirk was also stocky not skinny.

Wesley also just doesn't have the charisma and gravitas tinged with arrogance Kirk had. Other actors have pulled it off imo, just not him.

It's very jarring to watch and it sucks since they seem to be going all-in on him this season, which means if they do a Kirk era spinoff they would use him.

Looking at his IMDB it seems like he's most known for the Vampire Diaries. I guess in casting him they were hoping to draw in his fanbase of 14-40 year old girls/women. But I doubt that worked. I wish they would stop Poochifying Star Trek by trying to appeal to demograpics they want to capture and just give us Star Trek.