Current TV Boxset Addiction

[Dandontdare]

And yeah, okay I'll give a pass if it's Etrigan

[pictsy]

Gotta disagree there - the most important thing they had to establish at the start was that DAWN HAD ALWAYS BEEN THERE. She doesn't need to be relatable, or give a good impression as a person, she's the annoying little sister that's always been there and sisters have huge overblown fights all the time.

Umm, don't mean to be antagonistic by saying this, but I think you have read something else into what I wrote other than what I'm aware of being there.  Establishing that Dawn has always been there is not in conflict with my thoughts about the failures of Dawn's initial characterisation, as far as I can tell.

The reason I think she does need to be relatable - as in, the audience can relate to the character in opposition to being put off by the character - is because of the arc of Season 5 and how important first impressions are.  A bad first impression is not a good thing and Dawn does make a bad first impression.  Going through the Season, caring about Dawn is important for the audiences investment as it's the major narrative and thematic element and they started off on the wrong foot.

Having the conflict between Dawn and Buffy can be done without annoying the audience. I do need to like Dawn, because I need to care about whether she lives or dies.  Season 5 would have been better if I cared about Dawn and I don't care about Dawn in Season 5 because she is an annoying brat from the outset.

I don't know whether any of this clarifies my thoughts on Dawn's character and the approach taken by the writers.  I do actually agree that having her just appear and be a bit of mystery was a very good idea.

I don't know what the most important thing to be established is, really.  Never given it much thought.  I just feel they made a mistake in how they wrote Dawn and they could have done better.

[Dandontdare]

watched the first two eps of Stargirl - I've always had a soft spot for the JSA and the less-cool retro end of the DC Universe, and this was completely hokey but good fun

[broodblik]

I also enjoyed Stargirl so far (watched about 7 episodes). I still find the American way of doing these superhero stuff very frustrating, with the so called hero never listens to advice and they are always right

[Proudhuff]

Just finished DARK on Netflix, all very timey-wimey, and loads of hand waving, but tied together well at the end

[Professor Bear]

I also enjoyed Stargirl so far (watched about 7 episodes). I still find the American way of doing these superhero stuff very frustrating, with the so called hero never listens to advice and they are always right

I quite liked the show's willingness to embrace the authoritarianism of the superhero concept, especially by making their lead character so arrogant and explicitly powered by her belief that she has a right to the power she pretty much just steals - this combined with the American flag symbolism and blonde-haired blue-eyed lead creates some interesting commentary on how contemporary US conservatism (and the show's politics are very conservative) is indistinguishable from fascism.  I also liked that the villains have a pro-left agenda which involves brainwashing the public into believing that recycling and green energy were necessary, but I wasn't quite so keen on the show's bizarre portrayal of Latinos as keeping their child a hostage to her own shame after she becomes the victim of child pornography - I mean, I get they're upset that someone saw their daughter's boobs, but they put the lives of the entire family on hold afterwards, and everyone has to just sit in the house and stew and blame the daughter for it all.  It's quite a bizarrely OTT portrayal of a minority group.

You know who'd make a good lead in a dystopian 1970s drama about post-Brexit Britain?  Edward Woodward would - and he did - in the BBC's 1990, or "1984 plus six" as it's described on the dvd box.  They weren't great at taglines back then.
Okay, it wasn't mean to be a commentary on post-Brexit Britain when it was made, but here we are.  Time has caught up with this one rather badly, obviously, as the dated technology makes the 'constant surveillance' of a security state (socialist, naturally) seem a bit quaint in comparison to the living nightmare of constant digital recording of our every movement, desire and thought that we knowingly embrace through social media, but the flipside is that it makes the occasional win the resistance achieve seem possible rather than a deluded fantasy that the British public could ever save itself from itself.
It's quaint by today's standards, the excesses of the state seeming so very toothless compared to what we actually know they get up to IRL, but the show is not without charm in its talky, plodding way.

[pictsy]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Five

Now I am done with this season I can review it a bit better.  Might as well start off with it's biggest problem, Dawn.  I take back what I said about the actor.  Her performance is very grating at times.  There is this nasal screech that sets my teeth on edge.  Also, I don't think she was written well when it mattered.  Her introduction isn't as clever as I remember it being.  It is resolved a few episodes after her introduction.  I thought it is more mid-season, but I think it's the fifth episode and the second episode where Dawn gets any real screen time.  After my discussion with Dandontdare about this aspect, it actually disappointed me how little was done with it.  The main character moments have her written as selfish, entitled and stupid.  Very little that is interesting is done with the character and I don't buy from the actions of the characters on screen that she is loved and cared for. 

When Dawn is just a side character, she is much better.  In fact, she is what she should have been all the time.  It's the closest I got to seeing what I was being told (literally, with words) about the character, but there wasn't much of it.  Overall, for such an essential character she is thankfully not a dominating presence.

About half the season is given over to getting rid of Riley.  It is bad.  It was hard not to make this my least favourite part of the season.  Riley was wasted and they clearly just gave up on him.  His departure was really flaccid and I was in no way invested.

Also, the opening episode is possibly the worst.  The Dracula thing is stupid and ruins the immersion for me.

That all said, this season is awesome.  Spike gets some good development.  Tara starts becoming a character and one of my favourites.  They manage to stop Xander being entirely irrelevant.  We start getting more hints of Willows decent into evil (I really don't know whether they planned that far ahead, though).  And Glory is glorious.  Probably my favourite villain.  The stakes are raised to a suitable level and it is executed masterfully.  Whatever mistakes this season makes it is redeemed by it's overall story arc and villain.  The show also starts finding a good direction post highschool.  The ending is satisfying, if not the best.

This season also started balancing the one shot episodes and the overall arc a lot better.  It maybe the best balanced season out of them all in that regards, but I need to finish the last two seasons to be sure.

Anyway, I had a blast and thoroughly enjoyed Season 5.

[repoman]

The problem with Dawn is that she feels entirely inauthentic because she's literally created out of nothing, she's entirely dislikable and for most of her run in the show she's a liability.

I'm watching Danger 5 which is AMAZING.  And just started AP Bio s3 which is also very good.

[pictsy]

The problem with Dawn is that she feels entirely inauthentic because she's literally created out of nothing, she's entirely dislikable and for most of her run in the show she's a liability.

I never remember Dawn being a problem in the last two seasons and so far through season 6 the character is much improved.  I think they managed to find a place for her and give her a personality once the key stuff is done with.  I remember her being more capable and competent in the final season, but I may be remembering that wrong.  At the very least, she has stopped annoying me.

[von Boom]

High Score on Netflix. If you've ever spent hours pumping coins into video game machines you should give this one a look.

[Jim_Campbell]

The great Stargate SG-1 reaches Season 6, aka The Season No One Wanted To Be In.

Michael Shanks has nicked off (I mean, Daniel Jackson has 'ascended', obviously) and been replaced with Corin Nemec's Jonas Quinn, whose entire USP appears to be being bland and smiley.

If my memory of the rumour mill at the time bears up, Richard Dean Anderson had to be talked out of quitting the show having (not unreasonably, TBH) decided that he didn't want to spend forty weeks of the year freezing his arse off in a quarry in Canada while pyrotechnics go off around him.

Unfortunately, the show's solution is to contrive reasons to sideline or incapacitate Jack O'Neill and for him to then spend entire episodes griping from the sidelines like a kid who doesn't want to be on class. On the few occasions he gets the full attention of the hare at I've, he's a grade-A shithead.its kinda sad to watch this show limp on like this...

[Jim_Campbell]

the full attention of the hare at I've

I edited that post and I still have no idea what the original words were intended to be before autocorrect got done with them!

In happier news, a friend bought us the complete Sapphire & Steel DVD which I haven't seen since it originally aired. We're only a couple of episodes in, but it's holding up really well so far and is pleasingly creepy.

[wedgeski]

The great Stargate SG-1 reaches Season 6, aka The Season No One Wanted To Be In.

Michael Shanks has nicked off (I mean, Daniel Jackson has 'ascended', obviously) and been replaced with Corin Nemec's Jonas Quinn, whose entire USP appears to be being bland and smiley.

If my memory of the rumour mill at the time bears up, Richard Dean Anderson had to be talked out of quitting the show having (not unreasonably, TBH) decided that he didn't want to spend forty weeks of the year freezing his arse off in a quarry in Canada while pyrotechnics go off around him.

Unfortunately, the show's solution is to contrive reasons to sideline or incapacitate Jack O'Neill and for him to then spend entire episodes griping from the sidelines like a kid who doesn't want to be on class. On the few occasions he gets the full attention of the hare at I've, he's a grade-A shithead.its kinda sad to watch this show limp on like this...

We just reached S6 in our latest re-watch as well (hit series link on Sky sometime last Autumn and decided we should probably work through them). I thought they did a reasonable job with re-introducing Quinn, although, as you say, he has to save the whole team from certain death *at least once* before O'Neill considers him part of the team.

Honestly I don't ever remember the show "limping on". It always had strong episodes, right up until the end. But, it has been a few years since we watched them all like this, and the number of bland filler eps is certainly on the increase...

[Radbacker]

Anyone out there watching Lovecraft Country?
Watched episode 4 last night and quite enjoying it, I like that each episode seems to be a bit of a mini movie and be its own genre.  Eps 1 & 2 were right lovecraftian horror, ep 3 is a ghost story and ep 4 is an Indian Jones like adventure.  Interesting overarching storyline but you can basically be watch each episode in isolation to the others and enjoy it.
The Boys are back in town too With a nice 3 episode arc to start the season, I do like how they are going a different direction to the comic too, Homelander is exceptionally creeped and crazy and I actually thought the new Stormfront character wasn't going to be too abominable but they course corrected me by episode 3 she is a right c$&nt 😂

CU Radbacker

[Link Prime]

Yep, turns out that even I was not immune to the serpentine charms of Cobra Kai.

Just over halfway through Season 1 and having an absolute blast.
In the days when colossal corporations can't even shunt out a decent Star Wars flick it is simply unbelievable that this sequel to a beloved but frankly mediocre 80's film franchise works so well, 3.5 decades later.
Macchio and the younger cast members are uniformly excellent, but it's Zabka who is stealing the show - the perfect balance of no-nonsense masculinity and deep rooted vulnerability, which can be switched on and off by the subtle squint of his eyes.

I know this started out as some kind of premium YouTube series, but it is legit the most enjoyable show I've seen so far on Netflix.
Don't just take the algorithms word for it - highly recommended.