Rickster

I guess that means we’re not going to get too many answers this season…

Just finished the first two episodes. Really funny show, but my big problem with it is that Detective Eddie is played so far over the top compared to the rest of the cast, it’s like she’s in a completely different show. I have to restrain myself from fast forwarding through her scenes.

For cycling fans, Netflix is running a new series, behind the scenes of the 2022 Tour de France, starting today. It seems similar to what they’ve done on Formula 1, golf and tennis.

I have been surprised how empty the expensive seats have been, at least during the day sessions. Upper seats look pretty crowded though.

Per the Washington Post: “So weird,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted on Tuesday, “PGA officials were in my office just months ago talking about how the Saudis’ human rights record should disqualify them from having a stake in a major American sport. I guess maybe their concerns weren’t really about human rights?”

Lets see how the PGA addresses sportswashing, which was raised as such a huge issue when LIV was formed. I guess there is no moral high ground when big bucks are involved.

PGA Tour and LIV Golf To Merge

I have no knowledge of the books, but I could see where this might be planned to run more than one season, with some sort of cliffhanger and/or partial plot resolution at the end of the current season. Might explain the pace.

Megan was co-hosting a climbing competition show filmed in Spain that streamed on HBO Max earlier this year. Must have been in production when this episode was filmed.

Somehow, I thought LaBreck looked a little bulkier, but then I was thinking this was probably filmed last year…so I don’t know.

I was happy to see the Sawblaze vs Huge final. I was beginning to think that evolution in robot fighting was leading to a collection of various types of drum spinners. Nice to see two finalists outside that mold. Hopefully we can see more imaginative designs in the future.

I ended up a little confused. Was that really Kennedy’s apartment, and Juliette tricked the shadow guy (can’t remember his name) into thinking he planted the evidence in the wrong place, or had it been handed over to an older couple, as she said (or do we even know). Regarding the stars outside, while I was surprised he didn’t know what they were, I’d suspect there are people in the silo who know more about what’s going on than gets shared with the general population.

They really need to find a better way to display text messages on screen if they going to keep showing them. We have to constantly do what you have to do too. A real pet peeve of mine. Maybe they should use something like subtitling.

I think the show was not effective, or maybe incomplete, as a thriller and not very well done as an exploration of the mother/stepdaughter relationship either. Maybe the book was better.

Add me to the list of people wondering what happened to Juliette’s brother, and especially mother (at least we saw that the brother was sick). I actually rewatched the beginning since I was sure I missed something. I noticed Juliette’s British accent creeping through quite a lot in this episode.

Rarely been so annoyed at a series ending as I was with this one. I guess the whole point of the book/show was for her to get the mob to leave her alone? I thought we were going to go much further into the hubby’s disappearence. The jump forward makes me doubt there will be a season 2.

What I’m puzzled by, is if the show is scripted (which I think it is to a considerable extent if not completely), why did the producers pick her to be the winner. I would have expected someone trying to revive their career, or some FOX tie-in, for example. Of course she might be well known in some audience segment but I had never heard of her.

Game of Thrones reference

I guess we could keep our fingers crossed that it gets picked up by a streaming network. A long shot but not impossible.

Finally saw this on Netflix. I guess I liked it, but versus my expectations, I was surprised how determined Hanks was to kill himself. I had assumed there was only going to be the first attempt. I would have also preferred he not die at the end, or else die at an elderly age, not just 3 years later. That left us a little glum at the ending.

I was struck by the variety of clothing more in the first episode, which was set more on the upper levels of the silo. Maybe it has something to do with social class.

I keep getting sidetracked by the mechanics of how this place works after 100 years or more. What do they eat? How do the farm it for 10,000 people? What happens when a lightbulb breaks? What about medical supplies? How do they get the material for clothing? Ink for pens? Etc., etc.

It also seems to be on Freevee streaming with ads.

I agree. I would draw a distinction between a Bridgerton, which I can accept as romantic fantasy, and adaptions of classic literature, which we often read and watch to reflect on mores and manners in earlier historical eras. Colorblind casting really distorts this. Before someone says, “what about Hamilton?”, I’d also draw a distinction vs. stage productions and Shakespeare, which I think are more interpretive. I have no problem with Denzel Washington playing Macbeth, or an all female production of Julius Caesar, for example.

I wish they would hire Ellie and Zack to host the British version. The cutaways to commercials were a bit disconcerting after having watched GBBO on PBS and Netflix. I also wish they had dropped one episode a week.