Mr. Robot - Sam Esmail is just showing off. There have been some beautifully directed and acted episodes this month, on top of a huge revelation about Mr. Robot. I still think the way they went about said revelation was wrong. Bringing back a character that has long been done with the series, then wasting our time with him, only to kill him afterwards...I just felt it they could've told it another way. Dom has been the standout for me this season and I loved her final badass moment.
Watchmen - This show outdoes itself with every episode. It's so beautifully shot and even though there's plenty of weird things in it, it still balances a very serious tone and a harsh look into the racism of my country.
His Dark Materials - This is getting better. I still feel like they info dumped quite a bit of things on me as a non book reader but it's become easier to follow and I like that Dafne has a bit more agency than she did in the first few episodes.
The Crown- This season is hard to get into. I like Colman, but Claire Foy was just too perfect in this role, I think. And I find it so distracting that they didn't change her or Helena Bonham-Carter's eye color. They don't feel like Elizabeth and Margaret
Fleabag - I liked this a lot! It was such a quick binge My favorite line has got to be "I have two degrees, a husband and a Burberry coat!" I laughed so hard at that. Hot Priest was just as hot as I was promise. Andrew Scott...mmmmm
The Mandalorian - AKA the Baby Yoda show because holy shit, I'm obsessed with that little guy. I will quite literally lose my mind if something bad happens to him. Cuteness overload aside, I'm really liking this so far. It's shot very well and they introduce a few things from the animated series that are a joy to see in a live action setting. I can't wait to see what happens next.
Another month, another update on what I've been watching on the small screen. Here's what's been keeping me busy in October.
Barry - I finished Barry at the beginning of the month. I talked about it more in my September post when I started it, but lets just say I'll definitely be watching season 3.
Succession - This is a show I've been meaning to start for ages. I think the pilot is actually the weakest episode, it gets so much better after that. I'm looking forward to watching this weekly when it comes back. It's not the most bingable show, so I think I'll appreciate it more spaced out. The ending to the second season was amazing.
Mr. Robot - I was so pumped for this to come back then they killed my favorite character in the first 5 minutes of the premiere. That was not a great start. I also forgot how annoying it is to watch something on cable. Since Better Call Saul has been off, none of my other shows I've been watching live are on cable. I keep getting severe weather notifications during the show so I miss big parts. I think that, plus the long wait between last season is contributing to me getting flat out confused at times so far.
Watchmen - While we're only two episodes in, I'm really liking the direction they've taken so far with this show. There's nice comic easter eggs in there, but you're not required to have a lot of knowledge of it. Regina King is wonderful. The show is highly uncomfortable at times but the story is so interesting.
Compared to last month, I seriously slacked when it comes to TV. To be fair, my life this month has been very hectic, but here's what I was watching on the small screen, and here's hoping to a better month in October.
The Righteous Gemstones
I kind of fell off the wagon with this. I'm not caught up. It's just okay. Now let's get to something better..
Unbelievable
As a victim of sexual assault, I was a bit hesitant to watch a mini series that was entirely about catching a serial rapist. The rape scenes themselves are shown from harsh angles in the form of flashbacks. Nothing gratuitous but still hard to watch. But following Merritt Wever and Toni Collette as two detectives who actually care about their job, and seeing them compared to the cops who let Katilyn Dever's character down so much was pretty cathartic. I needed to see a win like this play out on TV when so many rape cases are dismissed or not reported at all. The actors were outstanding.
Barry
I'm giving this a second chance and attempting to see it through Sati colored glasses. I find it really uneven. It's the acting classes that bring this down for me. When Barry is out on a job, or with No Ho Hank (who's the most amazing character on TV right now...right?) or when it follows the police, this show excels. But when they're back in class, it's so boring and Barry is constantly the only interesting character in those scenes. Hader is fantastic here though. His range is incredible and I find him fascinating.
So August completely flew by. It's already starting to feel less like summer here and we're starting to transition into fall. Here's what I finished out my summer with TV wise.
The Handmaid's Tale
I'm glad I waited until 10 episodes were already on Hulu because I think I would've been frustrated if I was watching this week to week. For the first time, I grew really frustrated with June and her decision making. She wasn't using her head, she got people killed, she didn't even attempt to hide her contempt and it made her look ridiculous. Everyone knew she was up to something, but her plot armor is made of vibranium. I will say, I adored Bradley Whitford and I really like how the season ended. It's making me look forward to season 4. They really need to stop with the close ups of June's face though. Jesus that technique is overused. Also fuck Serena, forever.
Atlanta
Since I renewed Hulu to check out The Handmaid's Tale, I also used that time to FINALLY start Atlanta and I was not disappointed. Sure, a few episodes are duds but I adore the main cast. I love how goofy the show can be at times, like with the invisible car, while at the same time having important commentary on various social issues. I'll definitely be watching season 3 on FX next year.
Euphoria
What a season. I thought the finale was actually one of the weaker episodes but a weak episode of Euphoria is still excellent TV. I can't wait to see what they do for season two.
Orange is the New Black
OITNB had its final bow, and honestly I was surprised at how emotional I felt over it. I've been really unhappy with this show since season 4 and I read a bunch of spoilers before even diving into this, but I felt moved. None of my favorite characters had happy endings, I still don't care about Piper and Alex, but there were a few good endings for some of the women and this show really tackled the immigration issue in the U.S head on with heartbreaking results. The guest stars were amazingly strong this year. The end credits showed a lot of the actors saying "thank you" after their final scenes, and even though the show made me unhappy at times, I felt the love just radiate off the cast in those moments.
The Righteous Gemstones
I'm really iffy on Danny McBride. Eastbound and Down showed me that there is such a thing as TOO MUCH Danny McBride. I'm three episodes in with this, it's pretty stupid and is towing that line of too much McBride, but I'm enjoying the rest of the cast enough that I'll stick with it.
Here's my TV roundup for the month of July!
Big Little Lies
This season may have been an editing disaster but I enjoyed it overall. Meryl Streep's Mary Louise is easily the most annoying villain I've seen on TV in a long time and I apologize to any of my Twitter followers who had to listen to me bitch about it. But the acting was outstanding this season. Kravitz, Kidman, and Dern particularly were amazing. I hated Renata last season but grew to love her (earned) tantrums she threw this season. The ending was kind of a cop out, but I hope there's no season 3 to expand on it because I'm not sure if I can handle the possibilities.
Euphoria
I was not expecting to like this show as much as I do. Zendaya gives a career best performance and they made all of the character's stories very interesting. I see some comparisons to Thirteen Reasons Why, and to be honest I didn't think of that show once when watching Euphoria. They're very different.
Legion
We finally saw Charles Xavier which is cool but I'm so confused about the time line this is set in. Everything has that 70's aesthetic but I swear they've mentioned the internet before. I'm basically watching this for Dan Steven's performance at this point. It's a mess.
The Act
Joey King is fantastic in this, wow. I watched the documentary this is based on; Mommy Dead and Dearest on HBO and was fascinated by this absolute train wreck of a story. I normally don't care for Patricia Arquette in anything but she's very good here as well. I can't recommend this enough.
When They See Us
This limited series was an absolute gut punch. The actors were very good and at four episodes it's a quick binge. I recommend watching something light after this considering it's so depressing.
Stranger Things
It was weird at first not to have ST come back during Halloween but it fit right in over 4th of July weekend. Over all, I really enjoyed this season. They played into a lot of fan service but I think most of it paid off. I'm glad Eleven got to do other things besides cry all season, I liked that they fleshed out her relationship with Max. Poor Will got sidelined a bit this season. The highlights were with Dustin and Steve, and my least favorite parts (aside from Billy who I still don't give a fuck about) where Joyce and Hopper. They were both a bit *too much.* The ending was super trope-y which I think took a lot of the emotion out of it, even if the letter was a nice touch. Here's hoping Season 4 comes swiftly.
I Love You, Now Die
This was a two part HBO documentary about the Commonwealth v Michelle Carter. A 17 year old girl who was charged with involuntary manslaughter when she encouraged her boyfriend via text to kill himself, which he ultimately did. I have to say I feel differently about this case now then when I did when I originally heard about it. The media really painted it in a certain light. Part one is told from the prosecution's side, and part two from the defense. This was a bizarre case for sure. I don't think Carter should be serving jail time for this, but I think she needs serious psychiatric help.
Can I bitch about The Walking Dead for a minute
Of course I can, this is my blog! I have a long documented journey with my abusive relationship with this show, that I ultimately dropped after they killed Carl because I deduced that no satisfying ending could come from without him. The long running comic just ended, and it ended on a note that was worthy of the story and I just want to say for the millionth time, that I still CANNOT believe Scott Gimple botched the writing of this show so badly that they will never have an ending like they do in the comics. Judith Cosplaying Grimes isn't Carl and it will never work in the same way. At least book Carl got to grow up, become a man, get married and start his own family while being able to look back proudly on what Rick accomplished.
*heavy sigh*
June FLEW by. A lot went on for me personally in this month so it felt a bit chaotic but I still had my down time to watch some TV. Here's what was keeping me busy on the small screen in June.
Attack on Titan
Season 3 came to a very beautiful end and it is announced that S4 will be its last. There's quite a bit of Manga left so I'm hoping there's plenty of episodes to fit that all in. And hopefully the guy running things is reigned in a bit because we don't needed forced Eren/Mikasa in every episode. (Seriously, the worst ship)
Big Little Lies
Season 2 has been great so far. The biggest surprise for me has been Adam Scott. Not that I'm surprised he can act, I knew that, but they gave him great material. You can tell Reese is gunning for that Emmy this year. Meryl Streep's Mary Louise is the worst character I've seen in a long time. I hope she gets tossed down the steps at the end of this season.
Euphoria
Euphoria has been a big surprise. I wasn't sure how much I could enjoy a show following teens as I feel so removed from it nowadays but Zendaya is outstanding. The drama surrounding these kids is mostly very interesting and I appreciate how the show is choosing to show a ton of dick instead of the usual female nudity. The dick pic power point in episode 3 was hysterical.
Legion
I've only watched the first episode of the 3rd and final season and as always, I'm confused. We basically followed a new character around for the majority of it. I'm not sure why I continue to watch this to be honest, they're almost too weird for their own good.
There's still a few days left in May but my TV watch for the month has ended. Here's a quick recap of what I've been watching last month.
Game of Thrones
Wow. Wooooooooooooooow. GoT has consistently been one of my favorite shows on television but they flopped hard at ending this. These past few seasons were just way too rushed and they completely ruined one of my favorite characters, Jaime Lannister, by having him regress back to the character he was in the first few episodes. That's the most egregious thing to me. I'm pretending the season ended after Jaime and Brienne fucked. I'll save you all the long winded rant.
Veep
Another wonderful show that ended this year is Veep. This season hasn't been the best, but they ended it in the same spirit they've had all season..which is mean as hell. I was so sure they'd end with Jonah being president and the fact that they didn't do that was nice. It hits too close to home.
Chernobyl
This HBO mini series is outstanding. Before I started watching it had been a long time since I had a refresher on everything that happened after the Chernobyl disaster and seeing just how incompetently some things were handled is so hard to watch. The actors are amazing. Sure, it's awkward that they are all speaking English but if you can get past that this is really worth the watch
Attack on Titan
The second half of season 3 debuted on Crunchroll late last month and I've been loving it so far. I read ahead in the manga this winter so seeing some of these amazing scenes animated has been a treat. Even if you're not into anime, I higly recommend this.
Veep
This show continues to be one of the funniest comedies I've ever seen. Everything they are doing this season, particularly with Jonah marrying his former step sister is just comedy gold. I'm happy to see so many guest actors like Hugh Laurie return as well.
Game of Thrones
The final season is here! We're three episodes in and have three left of the entire series. It's been somewhat surprising so far. I've like all three episodes that have aired, but 802 was truly masterful in its character moments. I've rewatched that one alone at least 5 times. I can't wait to see where the rest of this goes.
The Disappearance of Madeline McCann
Netflix usually has some of the most interesting true crime docs I've ever seen but this one was incredibly boring. Nothing new is revealed and you can spend less time reading it online. Huge bust for me.
Fosse/Verdon
I was so excited for this because it's Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams and while it's fine, the way they chose to tell the story brings it down so much in quality. They constantly jump all over in the time line and the camera work doesn't focus on the dancing nearly as much as it should. I'll finish this, but I wanted more.
I'm once again going to attempt to keep a semi regular schedule talking about what I watched on TV. I plan on posting at the end of each month. Some of these shows started before March but since I finished them up this month, I'll throw them in here too. Here's what I've been watching on the small screen.
I Am The Night (TNT)
This started in January and it caught my eye because it starred Chris Pine and was slightly related to the Black Dahlia case. Overall, it was fine. India Eisley was really good in the lead role but this wasn't must see TV for me. It was well done, but ultimately a bit forgettable.
Miracle Workers (TBS)
This show is beyond stupid but it's funny as hell. Daniel Radcliffe and Geraldine Viswanathan play two angels who are tasked with making two humans fall in love or else God, played by Steve Buscemi is going to blow up Earth.
The Good Place (Netflix)
My husband and I binged this on Netflix. It started out as just background noise but we eventually got into it. It has some great one liners, but I don't think it's something I'd tune into week after week. I could just wait for the next season to drop on Netflix. Weirdly enough, it's the lead, Kristen Bell who is the part of this I like the least. Everyone else feels natural in their roles. She feels like she's acting.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
I have a free trial for Pime so of course I watched the first two seasons immediately. I LOVE this show. I don't think Prime is worth it financially to me so I'm gutted I won't get to see season 3 very easily. But I'll find away. it's worth it.
The Case Against Adnan Syed (HBO)
This case was made famous when the podcast Serial talked about it, and now HBO turned it into a four part mini series. I never listened to the podcast, but I recall reading an article about it after it originally aired. Watching this has mostly felt like new information to me so I've found it fascinating. It's depressing that Adnan was denied a new trial. One thing I really appreciated about this doc was that Hei was never lost in the shuffle. Especially in the first episode, they really reminded you that she was a person and she's not getting justice either with the wrong person in jail.
I go through entertainment moods. Sometimes I'm in a reading mood, other times I'm in a watching mood. For pretty much all of October, I've been glued to my Netflix account. While I wrote a few full reviews for some of the movies I watched, such as The Kindergarten Teacher and Apostle, the rest I decided to do in one post. Here are some movies and TV series I've been binging lately.
DVD
The first three reviews are from their DVD rental service. Side note, how do more people not use this? It's amazing! Do you all still have video rental stores in your neck of the woods because I sure as hell don't.
Eighth Grade
Elsie Fisher is a gem. This is a very quite movie, some would say "nothing happens" but really, everything does. I laughed pretty hard a few times and cringed at others because I could relate. Middle school was hell. I had ICQ and MSN Messenger to make mine awkward, I couldn't imagine having even more social media to add to it now.
Grade: B+
How To Talk To Girls At Parties
God damn this movie is weird. Aliens are touring Earth in 1970's London and one of them decides to check out the punk rock scene. I think this film balances being bizarre and endearing very well. The script it messy but I had fun watching it.
Grade: B-
Kinky Boots
I started watching this back when it first came out on DVD and never finished. I'm so glad I did, this movie is a joy. It drags a bit in the middle but Chiwetel Ejiofor is dynamite.
Grade: A-
Streaming
22 July
Not that I'm an expert...but Paul Greengrass is the wrong director for this movie, right? I mean, it's awkward as hell that he's making all of these Norwegian actors speak English in a story that happened in their native land. It also feels like most of the effort was put into recreating the terror attack that happened and not much on the legal battle that followed. This film needed a lot of trimming. Though it did have two very convincing performances from Anders Danielsen Lie and Jonas Strand Gravli. I definitely hope to see more of those too.
Grade: C
The Haunting of Hill House
The male characters in this story drove me crazy and the ending tread into Hallmark movie cliche territory but this series was really well done. The actors were good, it was creepy, and the best part was they tied up ALL of their lose ends. They didn't pull a Castle Rock on their audience and they deserve all the credit in the world for that.
Grade: B+
The Sinner (season one)
I feel some type of way about this. I really liked the murder mystery aspect of the story. Jessica Biel is great, her motives for murder were interesting, but man Bill Pullman.....he was bad. He looked like he was on the verge of laughter in every scene and the side characters were all very one dimensional. At eight episodes, this was a quick watch and I'm glad I saw it. But I felt there was something holding this series back. Maybe it was budget, maybe the network, but the writers had some great ideas and then the rest were just cut and paste from Murder Shows 101.
Grade: B-
Making A Murderer (season two)
Did this need a second season? Probably not. Did I watch it all? Of course. This case still fascinates me. I'm still in the camp of thinking Avery is innocent and that a bunch of fuckery went on with that crime scene. Zellner was a nice addition to the narrative. She brings up a few possible suspects in Teresa's murder, which they didn't get to do that last time around. I can't decide which one I think is more plausible. I don't buy getting flagged down by someone and actually pulling over for it, but that's just me. I'll continue to follow this case as it unfolds, if it ever goes anywhere.
Grade: B-
Daredevil (season three)
Since I'm watching this with my husband I haven't finished it yet. We're currently on the 8th episode. This is still the best Netflix series, the fights are so well done, but Karen Page is bothering me this season even more than I thought possible. I like Deborah Ann Wohl. She's a good actress, if you've seen True Blood you know, but she plays Karen as if she's constantly on the verge of having an anxiety attack. There's a scene where her character comes face to face with Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) and it's tragic how much he out acts her. Otherwise, so far so good. I'm not buying the Defenders not showing up though. They don't have the huge contract issue that the Avengers have when they don't show up in each others movies, and the story kind of calls for one of them to at least check in, and no one has yet. That's distracting.
Grade: TBD
Hold The Dark
Man...I was really looking forward to this and even though it got lukewarm reviews I still wanted to watch it myself. The script is kind of awful and it wastes its very talented cast. I felt like they didn't know how to end this film either. Wasted potential.
Grade: D
