ratSenoL

That's sad. It was a decent, thoughtful, thought-provoking show in a sea of mediocre ones. Guess I'll go reread the books.

This seems like such an ambitious project. I think the next book in the series, Agency, might have been easier to turn into a TV series (and I hope they do!). Still, so far (I've only seen two), I think they've done a decent job of keeping to the spirit of the book if not the early storyline. Let's see what they do with the rest of it. Detective Lowbeer better be here!

This one was better than the first one. It covered a lot of ground in one hour, but there are so many questions.

I thought it did a reasonable job of setting up a fairly complicated story. I'm looking forward to more.

I'm enjoying it so far. I LOVED the books, at least the first 2 or 3. The gay innuendo was most definitely there, especially with regard to Lestat! Anyway, this iteration feels right despite the changes. Bringing the story to to the early 1900s is an interesting choice, but it also frees the showrunner to tell the story without some of the baggage of Reconstruction times. Making the interview itself occur in modern times looks like a great decision so far. I'm loving Grey Worm's Louis; he's perfect! I haven't quite decided about Reid's Lestat yet, but already he's way, way better than Tom Cruise's Lestat (he didn't come across as Lestat at all until the very last scene). I'll give him a chance. I think Anne would have liked this version as it feels very true to the spirit of the book. I'm looking forward to the next one.

As with the first season, there are things to like (those exotic locations!, Father Chuck!) and so many things that make you go, "Really?!" (like Lexi breaking into a safe by listening to the tumblers ... while carrying on a conversation). It's just not good enough for me to pony up for yet another streaming service, so I guess I'm getting off the ride. The fact I'm the third poster several weeks after the initial airing clearly illustrates that CBS erred in limiting this to paid subscribers. They could have made so much more money by putting it on regular CBS's summer schedule.

Saw a good "long read" story about how this show came about: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/amc-series-dark-winds-tony-hillerman-1235156491/. It has some serious backers!

Excited for this. The casting looks great. Maybe third time will be a charm for bringing Hillerman's great characters and stories to life.

In Texas we have a saying about coral snakes: "Red and yellow, kill a fellow. Red and black, venom lack." In other words, a red snake where the red and black are touching is not venomous, and it's not a coral snake. The Rookie's snake had red and black touching. From a production point of view though, it's probably easier to get the humans to act (and insurers to insure) around a king or milk snake than a coral snake. It took me awhile to place the actress who played Veronica to Days of Our Lives. I thought she had great chemistry with Bradford, but never would have guessed they're married for real.

The Kevin Smith clip (above) is on Amazon right in front of the Ep 1 of Season 4. It's a hilarious recap of the first three seasons for those who haven't seen an episode in awhile.

Was Lenny James on Talking Dead? If not, then Morgan's not dead, right?! Maybe Sherry saves him ... I'm not sure I care anymore.

A satisfying ending, for sure. I enjoyed watching the characters grow, mostly for the better. I'm pretty sure I'll miss the characters.

Yes! This! It's like a Dan Brown novel for the small screen, a fluffy beach read with lots of adventure, some humor and romance, gorgeous locations (and people), that doesn't require much effort on the viewer's part. Sometimes, you just want to escape the news, and this wound up being an excellent vehicle for that. As an added bonus, we got characters that actually grew as the story progressed. I didn't have much expectation for this show, so I wound up being more than pleasantly surprised, especially with the twists and turns towards the end. I enjoyed watching for the many unabashed nods to shows from Indiana Jones to Oceans 11. I find I'm looking forward to the next season and wondering how they'll make it as entertaining and interesting as this one turned out to be. I'm thinking most of the Brotherhood was killed at Tanis so perhaps Lexi and Danny wind up there where they can apply their talents to another mystery. As long as Father Chuck, Gwen, and Aiden are there in some capacity, I'm in.

This makes a certain amount sense. The title of the finale is "The Revenge of Farouk," so perhaps it's Reese that Farouk wants revenge on. We still don't know how Zara died, just that she was exposed to the mycotoxin. Perhaps her death is something else that Farouk blames on Reese. Did the show specify how long she's been dead? I don't always pay close attention when I watch.

Well, given how predictable this show is, the reveal of Farouk's parentage was a surprise to me. When Mr. ratSenoL and I saw the flashback with Reese being rescued by the Egyptian woman, we both immediately went, "that's Lexi's mom." But, no. So, if Reese is Farouk's father ... why would he foot the bill for Lexi and Danny, the latter of whom seemed to be a successful detective, to fly all over the world to hunt down his own son (and thus Jacob himself)? Perhaps they'll connect the dots for us next week or maybe just handwave it all away. But, it's been a fun ride, so I'll see it to the end.

Can someone please refresh my memory on why they need to fly that plane out of the area? I don't think I missed an episode, so I'm stumped on why can't they just drive out? It's not like they're on an island in the middle of Central Texas! I am so stuck on this plot point (or lack thereof) that I can't seem to accept any other character's actions and choices. And, definitely agreed, there are too many characters, so they are underutilizing the most interesting characters.

Well, that was ... unsatisfying. I know it's implied that Sonny and Tilda live, so that's cool. But it just ended so abruptly when it seems like there's more story to tell. Oh well, such is the life of a SF fan: always falling for shows with rich worlds and interesting characters with lots of story potential only to have SYFY or AMC or Fox yank them off the air just as the story telling was getting good. I can't remember ... did Baji and Kannin survive?

I've enjoyed Chris Pine in other things, especially Star Trek ... but his resemblance to his dad is distracting me here. Maybe it's that he (or the character) is finally the same age as the role Robert Pine was known for: Sgt Getraer in Chips (my mom was really into the show). I'm not sure where the lunch was filmed, but it looks like the "museum" scenes were shot in a Beverly Hills mansion. AD has some details about some of the locations in the first two episodes: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/the-murder-and-mystery-built-into-the-lush-luxurious-sets-of-tnts-i-am-the-night. There might be mild spoilers if you've have't seen 1 and 2. Mr. ratSenoL thought the drive up to the "museum" looked like a mausoleum in a cemetery.

I'm not sure how I feel about this episode. It took me awhile to figure out the characters were going backwards and forwards in time, which made it frustrating. I think they maybe could have given us some more clues about that, like doing the scenes in one time period in black and white or with a certain music or something to help us keep track of things. That said, I thought the episode tried mightily to show us what it's like for "Warriors" to one day be in ferocious battle, dependent on their fellow soldiers and their training, and just a short time later back in the mundane world where few truly understand what they've been through. The juxtaposition of Chandler's battle with his daughter and the cellar battle scene was powerful in showing how he's so at home in the field but flounders at home. Miller's growing connection with an equally scarred Southern belle plague victim was sweet, while Danny's efforts to connect with his son were awkward though perhaps understandable. In the end, the "Warriors" (the title) could only find real peace sitting around drinking cherry cola with the only other people they know they can share their experiences with, who've had their backs in numerous battles, and who get what they've been through and how hard it is to go home. Perhaps they should have saved the episode for Veteran's Day, but I'll give it points for trying to help viewers gain perspective into the experience of veterans and active duty personnel. At least that was my take. (We yelled "Finally," when the grenade was launched!)

Some behind-the-scenes stuff to promo the next season on Amazon via io9: https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-expanse-is-back-with-a-quick-tantalizing-look-at-i-1829574610 The cast seems really happy, and it looks like there are a few changes coming. Can't wait!

Am I the only one who thinks Larry punched Dud because he thought he (Dud) was Dud's dad? In the flashbacks, they look similar enough. (Am I the only one who can't stop seeing Kurt Russell everytime Dud is onscreen? The actor is really the perfect blend of his mom and dad!)

Does anyone know when Season 4 is coming to Netflix? I've never seen this show on my local PBS, though it's been really good about running the BBC mysteries. I just finished Season 3 last night and can't wait for more! The show seems to get better with each season.

This was an older article, updated and reposted: Longform Fiction Confidential Is the real Anthony Bourdain lurking in his early novels? https://www.eater.com/2017/1/25/14376996/anthony-bourdain-novels-fiction

Speechless. ?

Ah, thanks.