shrewd.buddha

There were so many significant, immediate, plot points left hanging. Things that could have been given just a quick line or scene instead of ignoring completely. But no, instead, the show wanted all that time for maudlin good-bye scenes with Picard, then mourning soon-to-be-alive-again-Picard, and more fireside chats between Data and Picard professing their love for one another. There was way too much emphasis on the super, BFF, unique connection between Picard and Data. I watched TNG and that was never the case. Data and Picard became friends when Data became a popular character. This show made it seem as if they were practically soul mates. Maybe it was the result of binge watching, but the Data drama was over the top ... and that goes for *all* the Data worship by so many of the characters. And did everyone forget about Lore? That felt like a waste of time. I won't even bother complaining about everything nonsensical with "Look! We made you an 80-year old body with no advantages to your previous body, besides not being dead." I would prefer if ST:Picard was a stand-alone series, to be followed up by ST: Geordi or ST:Seve-of-Nine, etc. So now the Federation knows that there are über-synths somewhere out there. You know who won't be able to resist trying to explore that?: Starfleet.. The introduction of the magical, imagination-powered, fix-it tool was probably a good representation this series. It claims it wants realism when it comes to being grim and pessimistic - - but then it gets silly when it comes to the science part of sci-fi.

So, ST:Picard is turning out to be your typical sci-fi show .. which is good in an entertaining, mindless fun kind of way. But the 'mindless fun' part is starting to show up more frequently now. Rios' and Ryker's direct connection to the main plot of this Synthetic story are more of the ham-fisted plot points that are starting to add up. Of course the team is going to head straight for Soji's home world - because that's what you do in this type of show - despite knowing a Romulan kill quad (maybe fleet) is on the way there. It is about as smart as deciding to try to put out a forest fire with bucket of water, but sure ..

With regards to Picard's scene upon entering the Borg Cube: While I understand that Sir Patrick Stewart relishes opportunities to 'Act' (with a capital A) ... the unfortunate result is that he has thoroughly convinced me that Picard is a frail, frightened old man. And we already saw Picard's Borg PTSD in the TNG movie - and there he managed to suck it up and get stuff done. And that was 20+ years before. Haven't there been any advancements in treating PTSD?

The fight scene with Laris and Zhaban at the chateau was exciting - but it leads to questions the show doesn't want to deal with: what is Picard going to do with the dead Romulan bodies? Are they going to bury them in the vineyard? Even if they managed to magically vaporize, there was time for Picard and the others to obtain some physical evidence to prove there are Romulan kill squads operating on Earth. There should be cameras everywhere in the future.

Yes, the first episode seemed to create a feeling of excitement and possibility. But this episode seemed to establish a pessimistic tone for the series. We already had a super secret Romulan kill squad. This episode introduced an asshole admiral, a clueless or colluding commodore, and a pair of sinister - possibly incestuous -siblings. Did we need to have such a grim and ominous atmosphere set up so early?

I'm not thrilled about this recurring theme of continually dumping abandonment guilt on Picard. Last episode, it was from Raffi. This time it is Elnor and the surviving Romulans. Picard should have taken advantage of that Absolute Candor thing and told everyone that they should take some responsibility for their own lives .. and appreciate the fact that they have lives to complain about .. and generally to shut up. Looks like the show is going full tilt towards Lord Of The Rings. There are teleporters, phasers and warp-drive space ships ... but everyone still wants hand-to-hand combat and swordplay. Okay.. At first I thought they had just blatantly named Ninja Warrior guy after Elrond from LotR, but after some googling, I realized they managed to alter it .. a bit. Same look, tho. If Trek holograms are capable of physically interacting with their environment (removing shrapnel from Rios' shoulder), then why would anyone want to have an android? And why are the holograms considered so different from the androids?

I like the concept of the show, but my reaction to the first two episodes of Season 3 was that it was sort of boring. Neil DeGrasse Tyson, to me, seemed as if he was trying to do an impersonation of Carl Sagan's style. The ongoing attempts of poetic philosophizing felt pretentious. I feel as if the show would benefit from dialing back the amount of ND Tyson. The pontificating got old, quick. There was also some confusion because of all the special effects. Yes, the futuristic cites, spaceships and flying astronauts are fun to look at - but they show also used special effects to demonstrate an actual proposed mission to Alpha Centauri (I think). Why not interview the real scientists and film some actual equipment?

It was an okay end to season 2, but it didn't feel completely satisfying because so many things were left unfinished. The big battle at the top of the tower came off as a bit clunky to me. .. a little too much like a WWE brawl with the double- and triple- teaming. Why did evil governor Danica think she could take on Kovacs, Quell and Yager+Alien just because she brought a gun? I was expecting, and hoping for, much more ramifications and changes to Harland's World after the revelation of the Founders' alien genocide. It seemed as if they sort of brushed that whole thing under the rug and carried on with business as usual. I would like a season 3 - if only to wrap up 'the Quest of Quellcrist'. On the other hand, I am not very excited about the prospect of another season where Kovacs and Quellcrist try to work out their destined/cursed relationship issues. .. I also found it hard to believe that Quellcrist could just walk around and use the space travel facilities with no problem - and then just leave her body unattended.

I had some trouble buying into the representation of Poe's circle of AI friends. It really doesn't make sense that AI's, when 'hanging out' with other AI's, would dress in period clothing, play darts and read paper books. I think it was Poe's reading a book that actually got to me. I get that it is all done for visual effect - but it seems silly. And I am a bit disappointed that this season is becoming somewhat of a retread of the first season with the ongoing saga of Kovacs and Quellcrist. In season one Kovacs was brought back to solve a murder, which was a story in itself. But season two jumped to the Kovacs and Quellcrist saga pretty fast. I did enjoy the twist of Current Kovacs having to deal with Original Flavor Kovacs, tho.

I was looking forward to this show returning. It has the look and feel of a true sci-fi show (tho I'm not sure how Netflix pulls that off). I also like that Kovacs is getting a new body for this season ... but Mackie does not seem very comfortable with all the techno gobbledygook dialogue. Perhaps looser, more easy-going characters come more naturally to him as an actor. It feels like a lot of characters and situations are being thrown at us - - to the point I stop paying attention to names and wait to see who manages to live through the next sure-to-be-coming gun/blade battle.

The last straw for me may have been the reinterpretation of the Hansel and Gretel story. The racist recasting of the fairy tale characters was bad enough, but they completely ignored a significant part of the story: Hansel and Gretel's parents trying to abandon them in the forest, which was horrible in itself. That was just lazy racism which made me think that this show would most likely paint every situation - past, present and fairy tale - as an example of extreme racial prejudice. The Truly Grim History Behind The Fairy Tale Of Hansel And Gretel

Yes, it is very jarring how the show leans hard into the comic book, pulp, fiction with Jonah's fantasy visions of a team of heroes with flashy intros, specific skill sets and code names. But the flashbacks to the concentration camps (with an extra layer of sadism) just feel icky and disrespectful. It doesn't make the revenge fantasy feel like righteous justice when two of the killings have basically been some strangers breaking into an old person's house and taking them unawares (the NASA Nazi and the music Nazi). It wasn't like the (ex- ? ) Nazi's were still actively killing. And who, besides this secret band of Hunters, will get any relief or satisfaction from these executions when the Nazis' past crimes are not exposed? I don't think I am going to make it much further in the series. The wackiness of Jonah's friends, the quirkiness of the Hunter's characters and the 70's window dressing doesn't manage to compensate for, and is not balanced by, the in-your-face horrors of the holocaust flashbacks. I find myself wanting the episodes to be over.

Al Pacino Impaling a Nazi Is the Best Thing About Amazon’s Hunters I found myself agreeing with this article. ^^ The pilot episode was entertaining - to a point - but I found myself conflicted about the concept of a revenge fantasy in which old people are being killed off. I felt it would be more satisfying if the old Nazis were exposed and brought to justice instead anonymously killed. Or at least if they were killed by their actual victims and not by people who were only told about their crimes. It probably also doesn't help matters by the fact that I am exhausted by real life racial tensions and I am not looking to be entertained by over-the-top fictionalized racial hatred. We will try a few more episodes though..

It was interesting. But this show always manages to ratchet up the urgency and layer on the compounding circumstances to stretch things out: Kidnapped privileged teen! FBI standoff in a near-impenetrable panic room!! Kidnapper may be delusional - - but is not!!! Kidnapper's missing daughter was actually abducted!!!! Homing pigeons are involved!!!!! Human trafficking!!!!!! Missing daughter is in a coma and can't be used to de-escalate Kidnapper Dad!!!!!!! ... although I did appreciate the homing pigeons and wish more people would consider trading in their cell phone plans for a flock of pigeons.

Yes. Some trailers feel like their own thing: an artistic effort - short, well edited and choreographed to music. The last trailer that caught my attention in such a way was for Godzilla, King of the Monsters - edited to music from Clair de Lune. Unfortunately, that movie did not live up to the promise of the trailer.

Yes, that was annoying. They did it with both victims, both of whom were wearing underwear. At first I though it was a good misdirect ... but after thinking about it, the killer was a police detective who had investigated one of the victims. He was not shown (that I noticed) to be connected to the victim or suspect in any other way. Him being revealed as the killer was as out-of-the-blue as if the killer had been a complete stranger .. except he followed the rule of having had screen time at some point. Was there any indication that the sheriff was going to face charges for helping to cover up the circumstances of the JAG lawyer's husband's death/murder? And the JAG lawyer appeared to be very unconcerned and casual about all the deaths happening around her.

Just rented it ... and I can understand the lack of enthusiasm for this movie. The entire story is stuck on repeat: Killer robot and also a protector come from the future to kill/save someone: running and fighting ensue. None of the tweaks and twists to that story made it feel any fresher: gender swaps, current immigration issues, human enhancements, etc. The action sequences even started to feel repetitive and numbing. It did not help that the over-the-top sequences near the end of the movie were somewhat confusing with regards to who was doing what to whom (at least to me). One of the most irritating aspects of these Terminator movies is that we are shown how lethal the robots are - taking out a a small army of guards - but the target character (who is to be terminated) always ends up in face-to-face combat with the robot that could easily kill them at any moment. Someone in the always-apocalyptic future really needs to address the endless amount and constant use of time-travel technology. It's like Amazon levels of time-displaced package delivery.

Has it ever been explained how the no-currency lifestyle works in the 24th century? How does one get entitled to have a large swanky apartment or French villa? Supply and demand would make it impossible for everyone to have ocean-view houses. What circumstances would cause a person to only be entitled to the New York style one room apartment with a bathroom-is-also-the-kitchen setup? I also wonder what compensation a person would get for taking a position such as caretakers for Picard's vineyard. Is there some type of super advanced bartering system or indentured servitude?

The premiere episode is free to view on YouTube for a limited time. So we checked it out to decide whether to binge the series after it has completed. (Cannot justify paying a monthly subscription for only one show -- nice try CBS and Disney.) I was wary of how it would be approached, but was pleasantly surprised. Above all else, it is entertaining without the distracting annoyances of retconning the past or babbling nonsensical science-sounding words. The real advantage of this show is that the Star Trek universe is moving forward, finally. We can be free of prequel issues and old stories being rehashed in alternate timelines. Fingers crossed that the series can maintain the quality that was present in the premiere. This is a show that could easily fall deep into fan service and nostalgia porn. A thing that did seem odd was why would Picard have any issue finding out about Dahj (the AI young woman). She had an apartment of her own and a scholarship to a prestigious school - - she should be well documented. At that point in the future, I would imagine that you couldn't start your flying car or enter your apartment without some type of automated DNA verification.

Agreed. Was there any clear explanation as to how the extra Sabrina escaped from regular time to go back and save herself from the carbonite stuff? I think there was some talk about how Caliban did it by making the 9th circle of hell some sort of time limbo. I was somewhat glad that the time reset was not a completely clean reversal of everything that had happened. I did not like how things ended with Blackwell still free, crazy and bent on murder. The character was so much better as part of the bureaucratic witch society (which is gone). Also not too happy that the weird sisters are no more. Prudence's blaming Ambrose for not being able to make her own decision was a lame way to break them up.

Yeah ... and things seemed to be going so well, for me, until now. But they have killed too many central characters to believe that things will stand as they are without a major timey-wimey reset taking place .. which always feels like a lazy out. A couple of other things that have grown to annoy me: The Caliban competition being continued no matter what the current circumstances are. That over-stretched the limits of believability (even for this show). Sabrina showing up at school to talk to Roz, despite all the major craziness that is happening. Sabrina's attendance at high school and witch school is so haphazard and for-plot's-sake-only that there is no believability to it, either. Maybe I only imagined it, but the previous seasons seemed to have more believable day-to-day activities happening. Now - there is no mortuary business happening, there is no real coven left, no one has basketball or cheerleader practice ... and so on. I am finding myself less invested as the show becomes more unhinged from its own daily reality.

One of the things I appreciate about this show is how bonkers it can get. They have turned the screws, ratcheted up the stakes and painted themselves into corners ... but I like not having the possible outcome or solution being obvious as it is for many shows. It seems as if the writers have also seen their share of tropes and cliches - - and work on taking the stories into unexpected territories. It is also amusing to have these life and death circumstances, but the teenagers (Sabrina, Harvey, Nick) still manage to get all "woe is me" about having 'just' broken up with their platonic boyfriend/girlfriend. I have no idea what they are trying to do with Theo/Susie in this season... Also - the production values and set dressing for this show make The Witcher look like a local cable show (almost). .. and I like The Witcher.. But how does that manage to the all the media buzz?

It seemed like an odd yet directly connected scene to add to the episode. Jubal doesn't respect classroom snitches ... but in his 'esteemed' chosen profession, he uses his authority to bully people into snitching on one another on a daily basis. That, along with OA's fake drive-by shooting and other questionable decisions, made the FBI come across as both slimy and police-state authoritarian in this episode. Maybe there will be some chinks shown in the FBI armor ... which isn't a big stretch considering the agency has plenty of scandalous behavior, both recently and all the way back to J. Edgar Hoover. But I did like Jubal's feelings of regret at the end. It was a nice alternative to the haughty moral superiority reactions we see from OA and Maggie most of the time.

That was an impressive amount of makeup, costuming and special effects - so, well done on that. It also helps that all the actors seem to be giving it their best efforts. Even tho the show is just fun entertainment for us, it struck me as odd that Sabrina and the gang manage to go on a major quest to Hell without the knowledge of Hilda and Zelda. And Ambrose and Prudence are literally on a killing spree, of sorts. It's not that I mind the show taking things up a notch and following the natural consequences of what has happened ... it is just that I worry that things may get too sinister and serious and we may lose the more fun and light aspects of the show. But I am totally on board with the semi-queen of hell trying out for the high school cheer leading team..

Agreed. Even though both seasons 1 and 2 were mostly centered around one planetary location, they were not confined to one location with multiple scenes outside the Jupiter, like some sci-fi RV park. But I would appreciate if the writers would attempt action story lines that were more interesting. In season one, Penny gets trapped down an ice well with time running out before she perishes. Later, Maureen and John get trapped in a mud pit with time running out before they perish. Then, in season two, Maureen and Penny get trapped down a cliff with time running out before they perish. Later, John gets trapped down a mine shaft with time running out before he perishes. .. and those are just the ones I can remember off-hand .. Come on, writers.. Surely there are other scenarios to explore. Maybe, occasionally, lose the countdown clock. Maybe involve someone other than a main character who has near-impenetrable plot armor.