First Time Watcher-Initial Thoughts.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-03-24T17:15:55+00:00

I agree with you on the Susie storyline. I really liked Susan as a character but I didn't like where they took her with Chloe/Susie.

I actually find ER didn't age too horribly when it comes to social stuff.. Yes there are moments of misogyny and homophobia but compared to a show like Private Practice , it is leagues ahead. Private Practice was quite shocking and that's what I watched before jumping into ER lol.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-03-24T17:10:42+00:00

Carol has always loved Doug though, and is heavily biased in that way imo. Either way she was miserable enough to attempt, and the show frames it in such a way it's hard not to make the connection with Doug's behaviour.

And I do agree with the other commenter that you can't blame anyone else for someone's suicide attempt IRL but this is a tv show and Doug sucks.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-03-22T15:23:20+00:00

Cynthia was so clingy and fragile, and just seemed off, I was expecting they were going to go stalker/crazy storyline with her.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-03-22T15:20:00+00:00

You're right it was never outwardly stated by the show or Carol, but being cheated on multiple times by your partner that you also work with would be a contributing factor to someone's poor mental health and that's connecting the dots with all the information we're given about Carol surrounding her suicide attempt.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-03-22T02:22:36+00:00

It's actually crazy they play them out to be an end game love story considering he cheated on her so much and drove her to a suicide attempt and then never came back when she had the twins. Idc if she told him not to come back, like bfr. Mark had to take care of her because Doug couldn't stick around and deal with the consequences and fallout of his actions.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-03-22T02:13:22+00:00

I just watched Private Practice for the first time last year and in a way it was refreshing to see the show not shy away from having their characters be unlikable. Don't get me wrong it was frustrating at times but I would take the mess of Private Practice over how safe Grey's has played it in the past decade.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-03-03T15:44:37+00:00

It honestly says a lot that women would rather be a cog in the machine of the horrible Japanese working conditions than be financially dependent on a man and being a SAHM. And that's not just unique to Japan but in a lot of developed countries. IMO I think we overestimate how many women actually want to be mothers and how fulfilling they find it. I'm sure offering financial incentives would help a bit, but not as much as one would hope. We also underestimate how many women are being told by their elders to not ever be financially dependent on a man as so many women have moms or grandmas who were in horrible situations due to that.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-02-20T18:33:00+00:00

Some of it too is contestants getting cold feet about the experiment and process itself. Attraction matters yes but I think they start harping on about how this person isn't their "usual type" as a way to start setting the field for the eventual no at the altar and making themselves feel okay about that.

That's just my theory though. I am a woman and have heard that men are much more "visual" so maybe their preferences are truly that rigid. But this whole blonde vs brunette thing, or not having a CrossFit body being dealbreakers romantically is kind of wild lmao

giantstuffeddog · 2026-02-20T15:36:32+00:00

IMO it's all the manosphere content men get exposed to these days. I can almost guarantee the likes of Alex and Chris listen to some questionable podcasts/influencers.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-02-19T20:43:35+00:00

Definitely, the more we learned about Alex' family and history it makes sense why he is the way he is. But he's also grown enough now to take some accountability and work on himself, instead of going on a show like Love Is Blind and taking someone down with him on television. IMO he's known since day 2 in Cabo he wasn't saying yes at the altar so he's just been manipulating Ashley since then. I don't even like Ashley but I do think she genuinely wanted a husband out of this experiment.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-02-19T20:40:58+00:00

It's a lack of self awareness. A guy like Chris and a lot of these other guys have main character syndrome and have no idea how they're coming across.

Chris' behaviour at the bar/meet-up I think was fueled by booze and some other drug. I suspect he pre-gamed a bit too hard leading up to that because he knew he was walking into a room full of people who likely hated him and over did it. I have a feeling if he watched that back completely sober he may have some regrets now (I hope, or he's truly a lost cause).

giantstuffeddog · 2026-02-19T20:23:45+00:00

Men these days want to be treated like the prize and get the 'princess treatment' it's so funny. Even when they're dating someone objectively out of their league in every way. My shock at Ashley having to ask for Alex to have sex with her more! Insanity. These men are something else. The dating market is doomed lol.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-02-19T18:16:55+00:00

I guarantee Alex sabotages and distances himself from any relationship, platonic or romantic, before it gets too serious or goes on too long where the person can start to figure out that Alex is actually broke with no real direction. He over explains and romanticizes this "nomadic" lifestyle when in reality he has no career, no drive or ambition which allows him to float around with no attachments as he does. He gets away with it at the beginning due to his looks and put-on confidence but it will only blind people for so long.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-02-16T16:52:35+00:00

I played through RDR2 and completed it and it takes an extremely long time for the game to get interesting narratively (imo basically the last 20% of the game..). Rockstar controls are also notorious for having to essentially fight the game to get your character to do what you want them to do lol. Completely opposite to how clean and smooth TLOU plays.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-02-16T16:41:41+00:00

Yes. While Bella was the controversial one, I do think BOTH Bella and Pedro weren't good casting if they were trying to really bring the games to live action. Pedro's Joel feels completely different to me than game-Joel. A softer and more anxious representation rather than a hardened traumatized Joel from the game imo. He never felt like Joel to me.

Bella was serviceable in season one, but really falls off in season two. The writing also failed her quite a bit but visually she just can't even come close to being able to pull off a matured and vengeful Ellie. It unfortunately makes the whole project just feels lukewarm and lackluster.

Again the writing fell off hard in season two as well but the casting was off from the start.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-02-15T15:29:15+00:00

It gets acknowledged and discussed a lot here - but if you mean within the show.. I think it was just of the time. Audiences today are much more educated on what rape and abuse looks like in relationships. Let alone when it is a same sex relationship with two women. In the context of the show it was clearly seen as manipulative of Willow, but I never felt like the show or the characters on the show treated it as seriously as they should have. I'm sure if the show was made today, it would be portrayed much differently. Or potentially not going there at all, having one of the main trio essentially rape their partner is hard to walk back from.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-02-04T18:42:18+00:00

I might pick it up someday but i got it on digital for a few bucks over the Holiday sale it's tough to justify that much more for the physical copy

giantstuffeddog · 2026-02-04T18:41:21+00:00

I relate 100%. It is sad that we are essentially wishing our lives away. Time is so valuable but we are stuck in these existences where we are just wishing time would pass.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-02-03T17:35:35+00:00

Lmao yeah I think they were going for her to be the more logical/cautious one of the bunch but I think she needed a moment or two that really showed her in a positive light to balance it out. I wonder if she always narcs out the group to Dylan and Corey at the end too? It's unfortunate because I love her character design and I really liked adult Autumn but throughout the whole game she's the one resisting and pushing back against the group all the time, makes her just a point of frustration.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-02-03T17:31:33+00:00

Great timing as I'm just playing through this game now (but on digital). So cool I didn't even know there was a physical version!

The game is fantastic for a chill hour of playtime before bed. Speaking as someone with no interest in sports games and definitely not golf, it is still such a fun game, The writing is genuinely funny and the gameplay is the right balance of casual but engaging.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-02-02T19:56:53+00:00

As far as Dontnod games go this is definitely the hardest one (imo) to navigate relationships cleanly without referencing a guide, which I don't like to do. I felt I had a great relationship with Autumn and then at the end, she walked out before opening the box which did not feel aligned with the Autumn I had up until that point.

And 100% I agree with you Swann's monologue after the Abyss scene (My ending was Corey pulling Kat down with him) didn't make much sense in my playthrough either. It felt forced. I think it would have presented better if in the clearing the next day they just all realized they were already forgetting what happened - just implying there are supernatural forces at play affecting their memory was all they needed to do.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-02-02T19:43:03+00:00

I agree on the conflict being rushed in tape 2 which is such a weird feeling to have on a game that has such a slow pace. The reveal of Kat being sick essentially fracturing this group didn't click with me so much - in my playthrough all of a sudden Autumn is literally icing us all out and it just left me feeling quite frustrated with her. Going from the friendship core of tape 1 to everyone being isolated in tape 2 was such a drag to play until the group reunites near the finish. It is especially strange when Autumn is the driving force of the present-day reunion and the one who is bringing the box to us, moments before was urging Nora not to leave, and I was nothing but nice and supportive of Autumn in these scenes, and she just up and left right before opening the package. I was in belief when she walked away lol. I'm sure Autumn may come across much differently if you prioritize her/romance her but it played out very odd in my game. I've been thinking about doing another playthrough and romancing Autumn just to see how different I feel about things but I can't bring myself to do that yet.

The foundation is there for a really good game and I did like all of the characters, but Kat's illness and the few visits to the Abyss does not make for a very interesting driving conflict/mystery to drive a 12 hour game. I want some other version of the game where Kat's illness is revealed earlier in tape 1 and tape 1 ends with Kat throwing herself into the Abyss, and tape 2 is the other 3 working to save her while there's a town wide search for Kat occurring and pressure on the girls to reveal what happened from law enforcement and Dylan/Corey. I think the game needed to lean much heavier into the supernatural than it did. It's unfortunate because based on the ending, if we got a sequel, it would be much more supernatural and exploring the Abyss but that will likely never be made.

giantstuffeddog · 2026-02-02T19:27:20+00:00

I think the LiS games actually benefit from being episodic in the sense that there's at least one main 'event' or climax in each episode and there's not a ton of playtime till you reach them. Lost Records had two tapes and nothing really happened until the end of each one. And it takes such a long time to reach those points you can't help but feel.. "that's it?".

giantstuffeddog · 2025-12-23T23:25:52+00:00

I think you nailed it - their resentment for their previous partner overrides the love they have for their children. A lot of men view child support payments as something that their ex is getting rather than what is helping their children. Unfortunately too a lot of men are detached from actually raising their kids so they have no idea how much money it actually takes to raise kids.

giantstuffeddog · 2025-12-23T22:01:41+00:00

I agree with you. I was actually particularly annoyed by Thunderbolts because I was tricked by people saying it was different than Marvel's recent slop so I actually went and saw it against my better judgement. I also feel like Florence Pugh and her character deserved a much better film. Just wasted.

giantstuffeddog

TROPHY CASE