^^^^^That is exactly what happened to me. The first 15 mins of Reign were like 90210 to me. Does it get better?
I just finished all 4 seasons of “The Tudors” and loved it!
Oh, and the sad scene of Ragnor in the pit of snakes. on Vikings…I cried like a baby. The whole episode was so emotional…It took a while for me to recover.
Season 4 of Sherlock, wow…
Yes, but . . . It has really departed from the core of what makes Sherlock Holmes a great character. I love having a modern Sherlock on the spectrum, but I’m not sure I want to get mired down in his toilet training, family dynamics, and learning that he’s driven by feelings of guilt and inadequacy like the rest of us. The first couple seasons were brilliant. This season is engaging, but I have a deep suspicion that – like the Robert Downie, Jr. movie, or Young Sherlock – it’s another bastardization of Holmes into some other genre, in this case a conventional action/psychological thriller.
I did love, however, the landlady’s line, how Sherlock is all about emotion, stabbing everything that resists understanding. And I hate hate hate the constant recourse to super-conspiracies constructed by super-villains.
I liked this episode of Sherlock more than I liked the first one, the ending a least had a little humor around it, despite the craziness of the rest of the episode.The twist at the end came out of left field, and I wonder if that isn’t going to throw the whole thing off track. We better enjoy this, though, it could be years, if ever, before we see any more series of this, I don’t know whether Cumerbatch and Freeman are getting tired of doing these or if their schedules are such that even if they want to do it, they can’t find the time.
Another new binge watch series for us was on acorn, a series called “800 words”, where this Australian collumnist relocates his family to this small coastal town in New Zealand he remembered as a kid from Sydney after the death of his wife. It in some ways is like Northern Exposure, in the sense of a small town with quirky people, but it has some depth to it, too, and I like the actors in it. Unfortunately, they only have season 1, which is 8 episodes, they are supposed to get season 2 soon. I am made that there has been no decision on season 2 of Agatha Raisin by those who produce it, it is one of these things where it didn’t do well on Sky TV but was doing well on Acorn.
My other series that I really grew to respect over the 2 seasons it has been on History is “Hunting for Hitler”. Unlike a lot of the sensationalistic shows, this one has serious investigators working through declassified documents and on the ground investigators in Europe and South America, and to be honest it is chilling, the stories we have been told about the flight of nazi criminals to South America and the fate of Nazi bigwigs and what was going on are basically fabrications, and it shows the extent that the cold war basically allowed these animals to get away and continue to do horrible things there. I learned things I never knew, like that when the Mossad tracked down Eichman in Argentina they were able to do so because a pissed off German intelligence officer tipped them off, because US and German intelligence knew where he was and what name he was living under for 2 years and basically refused to do anything (likely because they didn’t want to challenge Peron, because he was ‘anti communist’). I don’t know if Hitler himself made it out (the evidence they uncover puts serious questions to the dying in the bunker theory, the declassified intelligence stuff makes it possible he got out), but the program really, really opened my eyes to a history that quite literally has been buried.
Oh I did not like Sherlock 04/01 at all. Didn’t watch Ep 2 last night. Sherlock Holmes is about deduction and “sweet little problems.” There was very little of that. I also did not like Watson’s flirtation with emotional infidelity on the bus. Watson is a sentimentalist and idealist re women in the stories but he’s not some pathetic fantasist.
Also, Doyle’s Holmes is not publicity-hungry. He knows he is brilliant and does not care about public perception. The whole social-media thing does not ring true.
Re Vikings: this is a show that has just gotten better and better. There is fan disagreement about killing off Ragnar but the sagas say it happened. Travis Fimmel, former underwear model, has absolutely inhabited the character of Ragnar Lothbrok and brought him to life. He is riveting. The table is set for the great heathen army to attack the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The meditations on faith and fate on the last two episodes have been well-done. Ragnar confesses that he does not believe in the gods but in his final moments, he tweaks his Christian captors by alluding to Valhalla and his desire to go there. Incidentally I seem to remember that the only ways to Valhalla were death in combat, or drowning. Not sure if the manner of Ragnar’s death qualifies. His exchanges with King Ecbert (Linus Roache) were very good TV.
I have loved Linus Roache since “Wings of a Dove”.
Travis Fimmel is incredible indeed.
I 100% agree with everything you said about Vikings @NJSue
Has anyone seen “TURN: Washington’s spies” soooooo good.
i have to catch up with Turn; I watched the first three episodes or so. I like Jamie Bell.
There is just so much good TV now. It is really an embarrassment of riches. I don’t have the time to watch everything I should. I really enjoyed Fargo Season 2. Excellent.
We’ve enjoyed TURN quite a bit. It looks like the 4th and final season should be out in April.
Just started binge watching Stranger Things. Can’t decide if I love it…or think it is too weird. Love seeing the eighties.
@njsue:
I was upset at the first episode, too, I felt it kind of went away from the nature of the show. The second episode for most of it is weird, and only at the end do you understand what is going on (the way it was shot reminded me of some experimental movie from the 1970’s). At the end there is a bit more humor to it I expected from the show, but they also throw in a monkey wrench from left field that left me thinking “What the hell?”.
Ep 4 (I think) scared the beans out of me… but then it got kinda campy…which made it easier to watch.
I just finished the second season of Bloodline. I had to rewatch the first season to remember who everyone was. I think I liked it even more this time.
Stranger Things gets better.
I just finished watcher “The Lobster” way too weird for my taste.
I thought I would really like The Lobster, but I bailed part way through. It may be Colin Farrell. I just do not like him.
I don’t watch Vikings but one of our Toronto baseball players is guesting on next week’s episode. My H knows him and it was filmed last year and is finally airing!
Is anyone watching Black Mirror Season 3?
The best or the only good part in The Lobster is the ending. It reminded me a little of The eternal Sunshine…
I watch Reign when I’m desperate. The pop music is jarring against the setting and story but I did come to care about the characters enough to stay current with it.
IMO much better is the BBC series, Merlin. Teens, but not as teeny bopper.
I love the music in Reign. I’ve checked out several artists I didn’t know and have added some of their music to my playlists.