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‘Rings of Power’ to Finish Filming Season 2 Amid Writers Strike Without Showrunners on Set This is usually a bad thing, but it's this show, so maybe not. Or it would make things even worse. A real toss-up.

I saw the trailer to the upcoming Disney+ series "American born Chinese". (may want to watch trailer before reading ahead) It's another one where real life collides with fiction, this time with Chinese folktale characters (The Monkey King in "Journey to the West"). "Once" could have done half a season with Mulan and various myths from East Asia with a similar plot. I read the graphic novel it's based on after seeing the trailer, and the TV series seems to be: Still, I am interested in a show that might explore this "universe".

I still haven't watched the movie(s) based on the 3rd original trilogy book, so I don't even remember the plot anymore beyond not finding the ending satisfying. I might have to start back from the first one, but I mostly found this series depressing. I don't think I can handle reading the books again.

I'm curious what tone they will take. The first book/movie were more lighthearted, and of course they got progressively darker. There has been quite recent children book adaptations which have leaned towards a darker lens, so it could go the same way. With the whole series written, they could technically show events or backstories that we find out in later books right from the first season.

I was just joking about turning Harry Potter American and British actors being stuffy. 😉 Though it would be interesting to see what Ilvermorny School (American wizarding school) was like, as well as Durmstrang and Beauxbatons... maybe in Season 4 we could see the latter two.

Unfortunately, the driver will inevitably be dollar signs. I suppose another way to keep it fresh is to do what the original movie execs wanted - set the story of Harry Potter in America instead. Then it wouldn't be limited to all those stuffy British actors. The look of the series could be entirely different with a more modern, relatable universe. Instead of owls, Hogwarts could send the admission letters by drone. Change the characters up. Maybe Hagrid could be Hagrinna instead, and she drives an e-bike. Age up the characters so in the first season, they are aged 15 going on 25 to maximize the triangles. Harry could be leaving his girlfriend behind when he goes to Hogwarts to add some romantic tension. There could be a weekly guest star or musical act to increase the celebrity factor. Instead of Ron enjoying chess, he could be playing Among Us all the time instead. Forget Tom Riddle's diary... how about Tom Riddle's iphone instead? The possibilities are limitless.

I've been thinking more about this, and there are some stories from Book 3 onwards that I think I would like to see with a more leisurely pace. It could allow the story to branch out a little, not just focus on Harry. They could give a centric episode to Neville, for example (later on when the audience and Harry find out about his parents), and we could have a recurring character like Percy and explore how the relationship with his family plays out. Even in the first season, they could even show events from a different POV... Like what was it like when Hermione and her family found out she had been accepted into this magical school. The second season could have some longer extended flashbacks of Hagrid and Riddle at Hogswarts, which could be interesting. Of course, the caveat is - if done well, and that would not be an easy feat.

It's supposedly to allow more of the book stuff left out of the movies to be included, but adapting novels to a TV series format would also necessitate changes. Each episode needs some sort of arc so you can't just stage each chapter from the book straight-up. If they plan to be faithful, then each season should be longer than the last. I would have preferred a couple of mini-series instead, since the movies did miss out on a lot of the interesting history. With each season exploring some of the backstories from the book, and each season could tell a separate story, but with some intersecting cast members. A season with Dumbledore's origins, a season with Voldemort's origins, a season or three with the Mauraders coming to Hogswarts, and then a two seasons with the war after they graduate, ending with the birth of Harry Potter. But then again, "Fantastic Beasts" tried to tell past history but I really didn't enjoy the parts with Dumbledore. He didn't even feel like the same character. But then again, that era of history was not from the books, and JKR being involved didn't make the stories any better.

It is interesting because "Belgravia" was based on a book Julian Fellowes wrote himself. The story this time is written by someone else, though he is serving as one of the executive producers. What made the original series interesting were the specific characters, not the "universe". I'm not sure the worldbuilding was interesting enough to revisit with the next generation.

I watched the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" tonight and last night. I didn't expect much... a movie from an amusement park ride seemed scraping at the bottom of the barrel. It was more entertaining than I thought it would be. The main characters were generally likeable, including Captain Sparrow, who I thought I wouldn't like. I generally appreciated the balance between humour and adventure, though there were a few too many redshirts being killed off. I also didn't find the climax very satisfying, but I think I will watch the others (eventually). I'm surprised "Once" didn't do more with characters from this popular franchise, connecting it with Hook's backstory or something.

Only 37% of viewers in US actually finished Season 1 of "The Rings of Power" Setup was not the reason why the first season was weak. I hope they don't think upping the number of "dramatic story turns" will fix the pervasive problems with the show.

Too bad they killed everyone off, leaving us with no one to care about. Maybe it's because I took such a long break in the middle of the season, but I couldn't remember who was who among the cantankerous Ridge folk. I was pretty sure last season, there were men lighting fires to unite with Jamie and lines of people out Claire's door to be healed. Did they all fall through a portal or something? Ian found that old man with his missing finger bones. Well, we saw Malva was the one doing disturbing rituals to fall in love or whatever, but now she's dead, and none of the protagonists will find this out, so what's the point?

What about Maleficent, LOL? She really was very good in "West Side Story". I hope they do with "Snow White" something similar to what they did with "Cinderella". Though I did miss the singing in "Cinderella". "West Side Story" was actually a rare example of doing pretty much the same story, but somehow, it felt fresh and a bit of a different perspective.

A better title for this episode would have been "Are We There Yet?" Seriously, longest journey ever. Are they ever going to arrive in Wilmington? Is the Christie family-fisher folk story ever going to end? I agree the actor who plays Tom Christie is very good, even though his character was irritating for most of the season. He seemed very morose through the entire journey, so I kept assuming he was finally going to reveal something by the end, but nope. If he were the murderer, why didn't he just admit it on Fraser's Ridge. I still think he's protecting his son. Though I can't really see him raping or killing Malva either. I don't mind Brianna and Roger, but their journey wasn't very interesting. The paternity reveal wasn't that satisfying either. The opening title card with the burgers in 1970s got me hoping we would see some interesting timey wimey stuff, but nope. Like others, I was happy to see Claire being bold and active again. Hopefully, that Brown brother will get his comeuppance. What an insufferable jerk. Even if he died, I think his men would still have tried to kill Jamie, given their crowing about Claire being a murderer which led to the stoning. I'm glad I didn't watch the 'Previously's since it was a surprise when the Cherokee chief came to the rescue with Ian. I guess we're back to the good ol' days with Jamie and Claire being separated. I was surprised Jamie didn't end up back in Scotland so we could spend another half a season for a reunion.

This episode was lacklustre. I thought the season was finally ramping up with two episodes to go, but half this episode was the same-old, same-old with the ether and being ostracized by the community. I completely understand why Claire is still feeling traumatized, but it has dragged on too long and really dulled the impact of Claire *finally* telling Jamie about her hallucinations and trying to dull the pain with ether. While I can see why she feels guilty and the actress did a great job, I just couldn't buy how she was blaming herself for everything that had happened since coming back to Jamie. I think the compartmentalization explanation was better, since that's exactly what Claire had to do when she went back to the future and her old life, while dreaming about Jamie in the 1700s. I've had it up to here with the annoying people on the ridge. How many times have Claire helped to heal them? They wouldn't have a home without Jamie and what he did for them. Even the housekeeper and her husband were being snide. I couldn't really see why it was such a big deal that Roger would become a minister. Better than fighting in the American Revolution, no? Agreed with the ridiculousness of them leaving at this time of turmoil. Lizzie and the boys were sort of entertaining (though as gingerella said, it didn't fit the episode tonally). Though considering how religious she supposedly was, it was hard to believe they had Lizzie not realizing why sleeping with them and getting pregnant out of wedlock would be frowned upon by their community. If this had been Season 1, they would no doubt have shown the whole affair in living color. One hour later, and the "investigation" to find the murderer basically went nowhere and now the evil band of jerks are back to arrest Claire. I suppose with the main characters split up, it is ripe for another separation so we could wait a long time before getting some satisfying reunions mid-way into Season 7. I would be fine if we're done with Fraser's Ridge, and we get another setting.

I didn't feel like watching this show for a few months. I mean, what a downer. Tonight, I thought maybe finally, I really should finish off the season, and I get *this* episode. The first part with the residents and Claire getting sick was rather mundane. In some ways, I don't mind the lack of drama sometimes. But then suddenly, everything they had been building up to this season came to a head. The "payoff" for Peeping Malva and the trips to Etherland being Claire in the Garden with a Scalpel, or not. I thought Claire's suspicions about her illness and Malva's father's illness was actually going to go somewhere. It was pretty obvious who the lowest of the low common denominator would be. It would have been more satisfying if Claire had figured out that Malva intentionally got her sick this episode as well. I agree with the point that Malva wanted to replace Claire. Her expression watching Claire and Jamie during the sermon seemed like pure jealousy. But I am thinking the guess that the brother is the murderer and the father of the baby is likely. They haven't really built up any other suspects among the other multitude of men that Malva could have slept with. I actually did like and feel for Malva at the beginning of the season, but she had been quite despicable as of late so I am fine with seeing her no more. I don't get why they didn't show Roger telling Brianna about what he saw. In that conversation, Brianna was upset, and Roger was trying to reassure her. Except he could have done that simply by telling her Malva was sleeping around and even tried to blackmail him. Yet later, they have Claire mention that off-camera, Roger told them he saw Malva with another guy. That was shockingly bad writing or editing (if there was a deleted scene). I also agree with the points that the founding members of the Ridge community who started with Jamie would not have turned against him so easily. Again, it is so contrived. As Roger said, what a bunch of ungrateful people. I just wish they didn't have to make characters act so dumb to make the plot work. Claire using the ether downstairs when the evil little twit was walking up the path to the house was idiotic. If she was afraid of the voices, an unpleasant encounter would Malva would have cleared her of that faster than the ether. I guess two more episodes to see how this latest soap opera move will "resolve" itself.

It took me awhile to get myself to watch this finale. Maybe because it was another 2-hour "event". It's tough to decide who's the dumbest person in 10,000 BC. Eve might win with her decision to go marching into the plains of the red petals since no one but her can go warn her family about the giant lizard. Or maybe everyone wins since they all thought it was a great idea to leave a sloppily tied-up James alone by the portal room without a guard. I too thought it was ridiculous how everyone escaped the multi-story tower explosion with nary a scratch. The funniest was when Levi got out from under that metal beam and was immediately able to walk around on his own. I still don't get how Moore managed to build that high-tech portal room in a cave by himself. With a killer lizard as a neighbor, no less. Isn't it good to know Navy Seal still has the hots to get a woman's number? The time travel stuff with Eve and Izzy was ridiculous, even by this show's standards. They even saw the portal fizzle out in "real time". How did Eve open the box with the map before Gavin got there with Moore's key? How did they manage to survive the lizard in this timeline? I guess overall, these two episodes were entertaining enough. But the writing is such a joke. Run out of ideas for the next season? Let's throw in more secret organizations and people with secretive motives. Let's have a dozen cuts in the skies so anything from anytime can fall from the skies (I thought Moore's machine wouldn't create new sinkholes?). No need to have complex new story ideas... just throw in dinosaurs in one episode, maybe invading Mongols in another one, what about bubonic plague victims, evil terrorists with nuclear weapons, etc. Plus since we burned through Gavin's evil dad and nebulous mom, let's throw in Gavin's nebulously evil sister! Oh yeah, and let's separate Eve because what's this show without lines like "We're not going to rest until we get ____ back!" and "But we have to do this (incredibly stupid thing) or we will never see ___ again!"

Here was another interview from Collider: https://collider.com/la-brea-season-2-finale-creator-david-appelbaum-interview/ So he wrote a cliffhanger for Season 2 without knowing if they would be renewed. With his criteria for "success", I wouldn't be surprised if Season 3 also ended with a cliffhanger unless NBC made it crystal clear it's over.

Did anyone see The Little Mermaid trailer? It seems competent, but like most of the live actions, it doesn't look like there is anything new. At this point, I'm almost more interested in any additions or changes, like if they give Eric a little more to do, or if they show a bit more of the relationship between Ursula and King Triton. Though I guess with "Once", they didn't change much of The Little Mermaid, beyond inserting Snow and Regina. It was less about Ariel as a character. She mostly appeared in fun adventures after the events of her main story, I think? And then there was the real Ursula, who had a separate backstory, mainly to support Hook's story. It's interesting how different stories were adjusted. With Aladdin, they did more to change the main story, and I guess Jasmine and Aladdin had their own arcs, but it really wasn't satisfying. So in a sense, they were less just supports for the main characters, even though Aladdin had the Savior connection with Emma, and Jasmine was Snow's teacher's aid.

Like the last episode, the first half of the episode hyped up a possible solution (syringe of anti-magic juice from the fruit) that ended up useless. I suppose it's more realistic that not everything works, but like the flower last week, it felt like a waste of time and not very satisfying. At least have the juice force Xiao to vacate the area or something. Why didn't Xiao just travel to the Shen house to take care of all the annoyances herself? It wasn't like she needed to stay at Delta headquarters. Why did she no longer need the Delta satellite technicians anymore? It would have made sense if she killed them after her mind-controlled thugs destroyed Althea's computer. Did Xiao have to be able to see people to control them; thus, the control of the satellites? But what about people who are inside a building? She seemed to have no problem mind-controlling them either? Last time, Pei Ling shut Xiao up in the prison in her mind, but this time, Xiao just evaporated? Huh? None of the problematic magical mumbo jumbo bothers me too much, but still, you should be able to think back and the plot should make sense. Earlier in the season (while they had the guest actors), they should have filmed a scene where the various guardian and warrior spirits are returned to the realm of peace. They should have had Xiao attack the corporate headquarters of the company that bought Harmony Dumplings instead. "I need the frozen dumplings recipe to control the bloodlines forever muahahahahahahaha!"

I thought this was a good season/series finale. That was exactly what I liked too. This show has a great ensemble and they did a great job of using everyone to defeat Xiao, and stylishly executed, as usual. I appreciate how this was a family-friendly show, so I didn't like the high body count. The whole attack on the house was fun, but a bit too far-fetched. Could the gaps between the planks over the windows be any wider? These were civilians they were fighting and Zhilan was taking a baseball bat to them. I don't blame her, but they're not zombies. Realistically, Althea would be conducting her cyberfighting in a secure NSA facility. I would have liked Zhilan to have a moment with Pei-Ling before she passed. Pei-Ling is such a great character that I really wish they could have kept her in the present for another season, without psycho Xiao popping up. The extended closing montage definitely seemed designed to be the series finale. It was nice, but slightly clunky. The reunion with Henry was so unnecessarily anti-climatic. A more built-up reconciliation/kiss would have been more effective than that cut-away to them in bed. I really hope this series is renewed. Though this season had its weaknesses, I think the characters and the premise still have a lot of potential. Unlike many shows, which are tapped out by the end of Season 3. This show still has a freshness. What a shame it might be cancelled before its time.

Diego Luna Is Grateful ‘Andor’ Will End After Season 2: It’s ‘Really Important for My Mental Health’ https://variety.com/2023/tv/focus/diego-luna-andor-ending-season-2-1235537313/

That could be why they are giving Althea a new job as well (and not working with Evan). They could also have Althea and Jin both away for half a season working for the government.

There were way too many "huh?" moments in this episode and not in a good way. Normally, I hate it when they kill characters off. For some reason, I didn't care as much for Mia. I agree it didn't feel necessary to raise the "stakes" when everyone got magically better (literally) by the end of the episode. The whole getting the flower in the woods subplot became a moot point halfway through the episode when Bo came up with the anti-magic fruit out of nowhere. It isn't good writing to waste a bunch of time on something that is ultimately a dead end. I didn't even understand Henry's role until he drank the juice and somehow managed it pass it on to everyone he "found" using his compass powers? It all felt randomly made up, which is again not good writing. If they insist on relying on magic so much, they need to come up with clear rules that they follow and the audience understands. Xiao needed Henry to "find" Nicky because she could mark all warrior and guardian bloodlines through her? Huh? The various scenes of impending death were moving, though. I like Evan and his girlfriend, but that whole pregnancy scene just didn't feel naturally incorporated. I guess they want to "redeem" Bo with his own sacrifice in an alternate world, which is similar to what happened with Zhilan last season on a smaller scale. The final "huh" moment was the super weak connection they are using to link the Xiao subplot to the Delta subplot. Ancient sorceress wants the algorithm! How modern of her! So now she wants to rule the world or what?

It seems competent enough visually (a few moments of bad CGI), but I agree there was nothing intriguing at all in terms of the world or the story which would make me want to watch it. I guess one difference is not all the "Lost Boys" are boys. Hopefully, there's more innovation than that. I wonder if they are going to address where the lost children actually came from. The dialogue also felt a little clunky. The arc seems to be that Wendy doesn't want to grow up, so I suppose she realizes that she needs to, by the end? I wonder if the London scenes are flashbacks or just a prelude before they head off to Neverland. I too wish that if they are going to do live-action, there needs to be something new. If not, the direction/production/performances need to be exemplary. I agree it does make one nostalgic about OUAT. At least its exploration of classic tales were often fun. I would rather see individual movies about the origin stories of Tinkerbelle, Tiger Lily, Smee, Mr. and Mrs. Darling, etc.