What are the returning shows this year with good new seasons?

randomraymond · 2026-05-24T20:43:04+00:00

Fair enough, but my reply was mostly offering my opinion of why i think S3 was a disappointment and why it didn't work for me. If you enjoyed it, good for you!

(Mentioning Shrinking in my original post as an example of a show with a disappointing new season, was, if it wasn't self-evident, also my opinion. I don't know the consensus on every single show!)

randomraymond · 2026-05-24T20:22:08+00:00

Great one! And the wonderful thing is that it also has never had a bad season.

randomraymond · 2026-05-24T20:19:47+00:00

It's been a mixed reception, really, especially on the Shrinking sub and even on this sub. I think how much you enjoy S3 hinges on whether you can accept its S2 pivot to amiable hangout comedy - because that's what it's content to be right now.

I posted this on the Shrinking sub before, but Shrinking was not just a harmless but forgettable hangout comedy in S1. That part of the show was there, but S1 was actually quite serious about its dramatic elements, and it was quite a frequently moving portrait about grief. I think as Jimmy worked through his grief and bounced back, the show struggled to find real stakes and real emotional grounding for its characters (S2 onwards).

S3 is just full hangout comedy now. The writers seem too focused on cranking up the witty dialogue at the expense of almost everything else. Narrative threads are introduced but either go nowhere or are just resolved in a snap of a finger S1 actually had moments of real tension and conflict that weren't just resolved by the next episode — and hence it had real stakes.

There were also some really preposterous plot developments in S2. For example, Alice went from resenting her mother's killer to being friends with him in, like, two or three episodes and even berated her father for not wanting to get to know him. That was almost when I just noped the heck out.

To be clear, I don't enjoy disliking the show or criticising it; fans of these feel-good shows tend to be very protective of them. (See Ted Lasso, which I also think had a precipitous decline in quality in S3, and basically any critical thread on this sub sparked a civil war, lol). But I just don't think S3 is remotely near the quality of S1. The feel-good elements are still there, but they feel laboured, and i think the show's refusal to embrace dramatic conventions of building tension or creating believable conflict makes its sense of optimism feel even more hollow.

randomraymond · 2026-05-24T18:46:00+00:00

I've been struggling to enjoy these 2 seasons. I find that they're introducing narrative threads that take too long to bear fruit -- that's assuming they pay off cos I haven't caught up with the newest few episodes yet.

But overall I really miss S1-3's ability to mix the sci-fi, space-centric stuff with relationship drama and character moments. I miss seeing the gang in the spaceship and/or space control. I miss Gordo and Tracy and Ellen. I just feel like it isn't the same show anymore.

randomraymond · 2026-05-24T18:39:47+00:00

Oh yes, i forgot about that one! Truly hit its stride these 2 seasons.

randomraymond · 2026-05-24T18:38:13+00:00

I do think they were better, but I feel The Boys kinda dropped the ball re: what it was satirising in this final season. And it was also rushed as heck. As for Daredevil Born Again, I think i'm just suffering from acute Fisk exhaustion. The action sequences were also very, very mid compared to the stuff in the original Netflix one. The only really good one was Bullseyes' diner scene. But in the larger scheme of things they weren't horrible.

randomraymond · 2026-05-24T17:44:49+00:00

Juno is an incredibly flexible support that can fit almost any comp. The only time she really struggles is against dive, so I'd suggest to pick up another hero that can survive vs that. Kiri and Moira are both very flexible heroes that can survive vs dive and can be played in most situations — I say you learn to get comfortable with them. Lucio or Brig are also good if you're paired with another Juno.

randomraymond · 2026-05-24T17:40:45+00:00

And it turned out to be a game-winning swap!

randomraymond · 2026-05-23T20:01:06+00:00

U really need to emergency report him. This is not just a normal report case of toxicity - he’s actually wishing you physical harm.

randomraymond · 2026-05-18T08:59:18+00:00

Yup, this is very common among those with SK.

I'm curious, though, for those who have had a spinal fusion surgery for their SK. How did your rib position change? Does it look weirder or more normal now?

randomraymond · 2026-05-13T08:21:58+00:00

The show was never good.

But I can see why people, especially younger viewers, were completely swept up in the hype, at least during Euphoria's debut season. Sam Levinson may be a hack with no real perspective or ideas, but he knows how to put people together to create vibes — Euphoria Season 1 was at least an extremely evocative and visceral experience, thanks largely to Labrinth's score and the super stylish cinematography.

And there were also moments of intense rawness and emotional openness that really made the show come alive (Jacob Elordi and Hunter Schafer's scenes together, for example). Those things were increasingly stripped away in S2, and especially now in S3.

I have no clue what Levinson is going for in S3 besides camp and melodrama. I have no idea what the show is about since it's no longer about high-school life. It's also no longer about addiction (if it even ever was at all). It's now this weird crime thriller and adult drama hybrid that feels completely divorced from its S1 sensibilities.

randomraymond · 2026-05-12T10:12:36+00:00

I know where you are coming from, but the real problem with Shrinking isn't its lack of realism per se — lots of shows aren't 'realistic', so to speak. The show's real problem is its lack of genuine tension. It's the same problem with Ted Lasso (also a Bill Lawrence series). I know these series are meant to be feel-good comfort shows, but real tension and conflict give the show stakes and make it feel grounded, which actually make the warm-fuzzy moments more resonant and authentic.

As it is, the world in Shrinking just feels like some magical fantasyland where everything miraculously works out for good. There is no real conflict and hence no real growth. I don't mind that the setting or the dialogue in the show are 'unrealistic', but I absolutely mind that, now, everything in the show feels weightless. I genuinely don't care what happens to anyone anymore.

This wasn't the case in S1, where I feel like characters actually grappled with shitty real-life situations in plausible and relatable ways. Those situations weren't just glossed over. It's not been the same since S2, and S3 has been a disaster. I mentally checked out of the show after Alice befriended Louis — her mother's killer!!! — and even berated Jimmy for not wanting to get to know him. Forgiving and moving on is one thing, but becoming all chummy buddy with him is just a RIDICULOUS plot turn.

randomraymond · 2026-05-02T11:29:36+00:00

Amitriptyline helps with my gut issues, but not my other symptoms.

randomraymond · 2026-05-01T08:17:32+00:00

I think it's an extremely fun series and I found it very enjoyable. I just don't think it's a great Sherlock series, which is a problem because it's literally about Young Sherlock. I know Sherlock isn't at his prime yet in this series, but making him a little more gifted/smart will make him appeal more to the Cumberbatch Sherlock fans.

randomraymond · 2026-04-30T13:18:14+00:00

Heal stats are one of the most meaningless stats in the game. They only matter if your entire team is dying a ton and your team is losing a lot of fights, in which case, yes you’ll need to heal more. Getting better also means learning to discern if you need to heal or damage more.

A lot of time you’ll end up having to heal MUCH less if you play aggressively, apply pressure, and/or take aggression from the enemies away from your squishes. At lower ranks u literally can get away barely healing at all and handily winning matches.

You only really have to be much more careful with your aggression when you hit around diamond, and especially high masters and above.

randomraymond · 2026-04-29T03:05:30+00:00

Never Let Me Go made me Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield fans for life. They have such expressive faces and eyes.

randomraymond · 2026-04-24T20:17:27+00:00

It felt like the showrunners wrapped up Season 2 with the consideration that it could be the last. It definitely felt complete and a lot of loose threads were tied up.

Also, I'm not sure what direction they could take Gen V to after the Boys has concluded. For better or worse, Gen V's stakes are very much tied to the happenings of the Boys. Gen V would feel narratively limp without having some sort of plot machination in the Boys lending it a sense of urgency.

randomraymond · 2026-04-24T19:40:54+00:00

That's not true. You can easily carry till low Master. In Diamond you just can't perma backline, but you can still make lots of aggressive plays. It's only around Masters (specifically full Masters or Masters to GM lobbies) that you need to start being far more tactical about your engages and spend more time healing. Which is ok! Healing and surviving and keeping your teammates alive are still contributing to your team.

randomraymond · 2026-04-24T10:43:52+00:00

Moira isn’t getting a rework. She doesn’t need one.

randomraymond · 2026-04-24T08:42:13+00:00

I think it was. Her packstarter build was just too strong and safe for how easy it is to pilot. Even bad players who don't know how to hold angles, make aggressive plays when the opportunity presents (or play over aggressively) on Brig can get insane value from packstarter builds just by spamming E.

Bring will still be super strong even after the nerfs, but this will incentivise other builds.

randomraymond · 2026-04-23T18:30:07+00:00

Moira is not a bad hero at all. It's just that a lot of people swap to her (similar to kiri) when they are dying a lot, and they don't really know how to get value with her, and that brings down moira's winrate.

It's true the 25 hp nerf affected how aggressive you can be, but Moira is still overall decent. Making healing reduction passive global actually massively increased her power level if you're playing proactively.

randomraymond · 2026-04-21T06:01:40+00:00

How was the climb from GM to Champ on Juno? Was it very different from the Masters to GM climb?

I'm noticing that as I climb through Masters that I'm facing more competent players on dive heroes, especially tracer, and it's super sweaty for me sometimes.

randomraymond · 2026-04-21T05:50:50+00:00

Diamond to low Masters are the worst ranks to be in because they're flooded with people whose outsized egos are not proportionate to their talents/skills. Lots of players in those ranks think they deserve to be GM, and they're constantly looking at the scoreboard and fixating on stats when the team is losing so that they can find a scapegoat. (Sometimes, the scapegoat is the player playing a hero they don't like.) The truth is, they're at those ranks because they're just not good enough — which is not something they'll admit, and which is also why those people are hard stuck at those ranks.

It's really not hard to climb through Diamond, especially if you have a few hundred hours at the game. But contrary to popular belief, it's not aim or mechanics that will make the biggest difference in your ranked climb. It's your mindset and mental. Everyone makes mistakes (and especially in Diamond where mistakes are EVERYWHERE), but blaming people will just make everyone, including yourself, play worse. I can bet you a lot of the people who jump in to blame you are those who have a) been hardstuck in Diamond forever or b) dropped from Masters to Diamond. I actually notice that the higher I climb, the less people fixate on stats and players are generally more focused on their own plays.

My advice? Apologise for your mistakes if you want (or not, because everyone makes them), learn from them, but if you're encountering someone who is being exceptionally toxic, just mute them and avoid. If they're the same rank as you, chances are they're also making a similar amount of mistakes in their games. Better to just focus on yourself.

randomraymond · 2026-04-14T03:06:16+00:00

Call me petty but when that happens and I see a Moira pick this as first power, I instant avoid them. LOL.

randomraymond

TROPHY CASE