Ottis

This was Jessica Jones, season 1, with the bad guy who made people do things. I forget his name. Kilbane? Fast-forwarded through a lot of it, until John’s soliloquy. It wasn’t interesting. Something is wrong inside John. He has a perspective around truth that is warped. It is an interesting thought, but not interesting enough.

Thank you. If THAT is the story, I would love it. Maybe that becomes more apparent as we go.

That was a twist? I don't know the backstory on any of these characters, so maybe I missed it. I just saw it as part of the story. And honestly, I'm not all that excited about the story. "Watch the ethereal Dream as he ... retrieves stolen items!" Doesn't grab me. The worldbuilding is interesting, because I know nothing about it. The actual plot? Meh.

OMG, I had no idea. Sincerely. My impression as someone who has zero background on this show or character is that Dream is kind of a dick, and his actions are inconsistent. He keeps *saying* things like "you have no idea what you've done," and he is right, because I sure don't. So there has not been much reason to root for him, IMO. Having this info helps. Thank you.

UPDATE: I just read the thread for ep 2, and some of what I ask about below happened in ep 2 (I watched them together). And apparently I was not paying attention when the wheelchair broke the circle, so ... my fault. Maybe this makes sense after all. So help me out here. Sanman (Dream) is imprisoned for 100 years or so in that glass bubble. Originally, those who kept an eye on him were warned never to fall asleep. Then, more than 100 years later. one of the rent a cops falls asleep, and Sanman immediately takes control of his dream to cause him to shoot the bubble? A few comments/questions: - We are to believe that, for more than 100 years of constant watch, no one fell asleep while guarding Sandman? - How could Sandman reach out to the sleeping rent-a cop? If he could do that, why couldn't he have reached out to anyone sleeping in the house at any time? Did I miss dialogue around this? - Why did Sandman essentially consent to being imprisoned for 100 years and then suddenly take action to get out? - Why did Sanman expect *any* of his "in the dreaming" crew to be around for more than 100 years, with no info on where he was? That seems to be quite an expectation. - Why is his helmet so ugly? I have no knowledge of the book or comic or whatever. Thanks.

When Bruce first began to work with Jen on how to handle becoming a Hulk, and the draconian changes it would force her to make to her life, my first thought was, "For a scientist, Banner is assuming that being a Hulk will affect Jen the same way it affected him. That doesn't seem very sciency." Instead of stating that, and having the two of them explore her abilities together, the ep went through a sequence of experiments and some dialogue where Jen made fun of Bruce, ridiculed his concerns and ultimately stated that the reason she could better control being a Hulk was because she had to learn to control her anger as a woman just living her daily life. I don't recall if she actually said it was due to challenges posed by men, but that implication seemed clear. That conclusion was reinforced by the cliche bar scene. As soon as we first saw the bar in the distance, with its neon signs, I said here comes the "asshole men treat Jen poorly and she Hulks out" scene. And that's what happened. The show could have chosen any number of ways to demonstrate the potential impact of Jen's Hulk abilities. It chose to do so by showing men being dicks. It was only one episode, but this theme was heavy handed to me. If we now go on to see male lawyers "mansplaining" Jen in the courtroom, I'm out.

It took me about 6 months to come back to this, because I couldn’t get interested in the show. Watched the last two episodes, and I don’t know how anyone who knows nothing about this story (books or video games) would be able to follow it. The characters don’t act consistently from ep to ep, and honestly, Geralt is kind of an ass. The finale had a lot of padding. The battle was Ciri vs the demon, yet we had to watch a pointless side quest with the bard and Yen and a bunch of time-killing monsters. In the end, we saw Ciri grow this season, and that’s about it. The elves gave up any claim they had to being oppressed and to justice. Now they are as bad as anyone else. I struggle with the actor they picked for Yen. She seems too royal and exotic for the character, even prissy, and the way she is played is too self-absorbed. Ciri, on the other hand, really grew on me this season. That actor did a great job and we could see her growth. If it returns I’ll eventually watch again, but it isn’t must see for me.

Not a fan. Too anti-male, too blase. I loved Orphan Black and was looking forward to Tatiana in this role, but I don’t know if she is good in this. She doesn’t land the humor in this.

So “all this has happened before, and it will happen again?” OK, then. Was this is an analogy for climate change? So now we start over.

I don't know how visitation works, but that New Mexico bar card with no expiration date won't work forever. But the ending says that Jimmy doesn't choose to continue to "be like this." He had two choices at the end (note the 'Exit" sign with 2 directional arrows in the courtroom shot), and he chose to be different at the end. And Kim recognized that. It wasn't about what Saul could give them. It was about game recognizing game ... the US side realizing the talents of Saul Goodman and the gullibility of the general public. Did they want to take that chance? No. Now, does that mean 160 years becomes 7? Probably not. But for the purposes of this show making a point, no problem from me. I don't think we knew if she would be waiting for him after 7 months, if he didn't come clean and become the person she fell in love with. In the end, he chose Jimmy and Kim, at great cost. Overall, I like the ending. Want to think about it more.

Star Trek used to do this with a line or two from Spock, who would say something like, "The odds of success are 1 million, 200 thousand and forty-three to one." Then they would somehow thread that needle. Agree, just show as little as needed to indicate that success is a long shot, and Bernard has been testing the variables for a long time, and move on. To be fair, this show requires me to pull back and look at the narrative from 30,000 feet, as all the tools at work like to say. So: - Humans bad, robots slaves - Then robots revolt, humans enslaved, robot control is boring and often bad - Conclude both robots and humans in control are bad, the world as it exists is doomed - There is one small chance for hope for the "next world," and a handful of enlightened humans and robots are fighting for it Basically, details like how many times Bernard tries variables don't matter to me. I just want to see what the "better world" solution is. And I'm disappointed in humanity and robots in general. It's almost enough to make one believe in fate ...

I like Caleb as a counterpoint to all the older characters. He tells Hale, and us, the truth. Westworld has become very Twins Peaks-ish. A challenge to know what is real, what is in the sublime, what is new and what has happened many times before. At least now we know the stakes. Found this ep useful, but slow. We made some progress, which is good.

Is it just me or do we seem to have more home buyers ages 25-35 who are saying things like "he worked his whole life to buy a house" (Jersey Shore buyers) or "this is our forever house" (multiple) with no awareness of how ridiculous they sound? I don't mean that as an old man shaking my fist on the front lawn, I'm just talking logic. "His whole life" at 30 is (hopefully) barely any of it as an adult, and "forever" isn't something most of us get to decide. Life throws curves. Dale City represent, here! That's the other weird thing we see so often... relatively young homebuyers who want something because "that's what I grew up with." Does no one want new experiences anymore? If I grew up with something, that's usually the last thing I want *more* of as an adult simply because I grew up with it. Try something new, for pete's sake. If you hate it because of a legit reason, fine, but "I grew up with it" is all about you and not about your partner or learning or anything that actually matters. Now get off my lawn! Full disclosure: I grew up in a townhouse and a 2 story home, and have owned as an adult a bungalow, a tri-level, a two-story with walkout basement and a ranch.

What she did next was try to steal technology so she could be a hero to her planet, so…

Keep in mind my point was about both detail and episode placement. Like I said, this level of repetitive detail might have worked last season. WIth a few eps to go? Too much. That ep could have been 15 minutes or so and gotten across the same key points, IMO. The very first time they had Gene drop off the dessert, the guard talked about sports, Jimmy couldn't engage because he didn't know about sports. My immediate thought was, after we saw Jimmy click his watch at 3:12, "Jimmy will have to learn about sports to engage better." I didn't have to see it happen. YMMV.

Agree, and what I noted was they can show the process of the con with a single scene with the security guard and Jimmy timing how long it took before he checked the monitors, and not 5 scenes plus Jimmy learning about college football, etc.

100% agree. If we watched these 2 eps sitting next to each other, I could call out scenes that could be deleted and change nothing (starting with all the sit downs over a Cinnebon with Jerry from Parks & rec ... one was enough). It was obvious, quickly, that Gene's life was dull, and using a con to back off the two who recognized him sucked Gene back into the action. No need to see the store manager calls, etc. It was all "rich detail," I get it. But when you only have a few eps left of a show that has been on for years, the details should be about progress, not depth, IMO. Or - show these eps late last season, and spare us now, and have the show end soon after lalo and Howard's deaths. And I don't give a crap about mayo or what brand anyone likes. It's all the same, unnecessary condiment!

I don't think back in the 60s anyone felt it was necessary to show it. SImply saying "hey, give monkeys guns and bad stuff happens to them" was sufficient as a lesson. The fact that they had to show it now says a lot about our society today - and again, Lysella = millennial (have to see it or doesn't believe it). I think Orville is "every man sci-fi." It's not challenging, and it depends heavily on references that tie directly to our real life time (hence all the 80s stuff, for starters). You don't have to think much about concepts that are different than what you already know. It took 3 seasons to show why the Kaylon revolted, and even that was a simplistic "lesson" that made no moral sense. Same for what the crew talk about with each other. It's who likes who, how they feel, etc. It's an easy watch. From a sci-fi POV, though, it's maddening. Because it could be so much better than it is - assuming it wants to be. I think Trek was pretty clear. WHat characters did wasn't always aligned with the PD, and the results varied (just like it did with Gordon and his 10 years on Earth, etc.) . But the concept was clear.

Because most people need purpose, and even if your basic needs are met without working, having assigned duties, especially if those duties are in support of something greater than themselves, is fulfilling. Except for millennials, whose first concern is their own work/life balance. Hence, her question of “why have a job?” fits a millennial. From a social media planet, no less.

That was … uninteresting. Wedding whatever. Had no memory of Lisella until she mentioned “voting down.” Then we learned she is a millennial (“why do people work if you don’t have to?”). And the Moclan mating ritual made no sense: Throwing a big rock at your mate? They remain at war, with an alliance with a former enemy, but everyone on Orville is happy, so… yay?

I didn't find any of this ep hard to watch. I found segments vey slow, while appreciating the artistry as the threads came together. Maybe the closest I came to hard to watch is cringing when Kim and her doofus boyfriend discussed Miracle Whip like the fate of the galaxy depended on it. I cringed because my SO's family is that way, and I reacted here the same way I react with them (in my head, anyway): "Get on with it!" Overall, mostly the same thoughts as before: What a waste of talent for both Kim and Jimmy. Seeing details of that waste doesn't change much. Now we just await the tool of his (and her?) final downfall.

If nothing else, Orville is consistent - like almost every ep is written by a talented 16 year old. I had to skip from the beginning of the research station battle until Issac shot the gun out of the Moclan’s hand, maybe 20 minutes? No desire to see pew-pew. And am I the only one who finds the singing performances cringey? Ugh. I did appreciate the show brought up genocide. I did. But what happened around it was nonsensical. i will not miss Charley. Even her funeral pic looked like she was complaining.

Very few comments for this ep vs. others. I am just catching up to Orville, so interesting to see what garnered attention and what didn't. This felt like "cause episode" to me. I walked in and out of the room and missed bits of dialogue, but it was all pretty predictable because it started from a POV, and it ended at the same POV. It was bizarre that Topa was mature enough to be aware of the Moclan issue of male/female, and aware enough to thank the colony's founder for supporting her, could withstand torture for a long while - and yet not realize she is a bit young for a human male of Gordon's age, or even think about that or other factors (i.e. rank, diplomacy, etc.). Also, Mr. Stick-in-the-eye will be back. The most interesting part of the ep was that Bortus and Klyden renounced their citizenship. A little surprised Bortus welcomed back Klyden so quickly, especially after almost having a moment with Kelly. Personally, I'd choose Kelly. Clearly Orville falls on the side of '"what is right is right," even if it costs the Union the war. It's a great sentiment, and I'm sure the writers will make it work out, but really, at this point the Union should be toast. You answered your own question.

I love BCS, but I find these last 2 episodes uncharacteristically self-indulgent. I spent most of Nippy wondering, "when will we get back to the story?" Only to realize the show had chosen to take a full episode to demonstrate that Jimmy had to get the two guys who recognized him off his back with a con - and in doing so realized he couldn't stay away from the con himself. Then this ep featured a really obvious couple of anvils ("polish that spot on the floor") and a tedious run up to ... a phone call at an abandoned gas station. That was the most interesting part of the ep. Carol Burnett's character is intriguing. And it crossed my mind that Gene and Mike live the same, tedious home lives, for sort of the same reasons, until they get to do something exciting. That was about it. The BB stuff? It has been so long since I watched that show, none of it triggered any memories for me. I mean, nice fan service, but wasn't necessary.

“Balance of Terror” has been my favorite TOS ep for 40 years… I loved this take. Loved the same dialogue, loved the same huge musical cue when everyone looked at Spock, loved how Pike is making peace with his fate. The only thing I didn’t like was the casting of Jim Kirk, who was more like Jim Carrey playing Kirk than Shatner. They needed a shorter, beefier guy.