TORaptor4Ever

Well LX... if you think that the writing in THIS is bad... you probably shouldn't watch TWD.... ever. Ha.

Shadowfax

Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D was excellent last night
possible Kree and Inhumans = awesome

fancylad

caught the first episode of Vikings season 2. Awesome.

LX

Did i say it was bad? I might have, but ultimately i just find that it isn't good, and there is a lot of good in other areas. I've caught up with all the episodes of true detective that have run, and i came close to really getting hooked into the story at episode 5. There was more of a focus to that episode. It felt like it almost should have started from there. I loved where the meth contact looked into Rust's eyes and saw evil leaking out around the edges. It felt like if they had cut the filler up to that point by a couple of episodes, streamlined all of the domestic family shit and most of the ramblings, then this thing could have killed.

Then episode 6 pretty much frustrated me in all the usual ways. There is just so little consistency with the characters, and no sense of how one event leads to another. Stuff just happens. Rust's relationship with Marty's wife continually mystifies me. He shows up to mow the lawn? The dude doesn't even have furniture. Then she makes it her mission to hook him up with someone? Why? When she does get him hooked up, the woman doesn't even get a line, and then she's gone? What's the point? Maybe everything cones together beautifully at the end, but it's hard to sit through so many episodes of what are basically non-sequitors. I just don't feel the narrative pulling me anywhere. I feel like i should have a joystick so i can pull the narrative into the next random sequence where some deep thoughts will emerge while interesting camera angles get employed.

And i do watch the walking dead, and find the plotline is generally justifiable with some decent character developments. It did fall off the map at the end of last season. Much more of that and i would be done with it.

LET'S GO RAPTORS!!!!!

Broad City is hilarious

INSIDER

From all of the rave reviews Sherlock got on here, I decided to give it a go... Wow, what a good show. I'm finished season one, will probably start season two later today. Each episode is like a movie. Really enjoy the actors. Benedict C is a fantastic Holmes.

Raptorman

I saw the first movie that had Mr "Over-Actor" Robert Downey Jr. and was totally turned off. Tell me the TV series is different.

Shadowfax

like night and day...it's brilliant

Shadowfax

absolutely...but what i think separates this show from others (besides the overall production and scripts) is the supporting cast...i found myself caring about them immediately upon watching the show

Carlos Danger

Just watching the final episode of True Detective..anyone else catch it?

gdaytday

Watched it last night. Really enjoyed the season. Hoping that they'll confirm a second season of the anthology soon.

DuCa00795

It's a mini series...I don't think it can be renewed because that is how the writer wanted it to end. I don't think it would be any good if they renewed it because what made it so good was the past affecting the future.

Unreal show though. That cop/gangster chase scene was one of the most epic scenes ever on television. I wonder how many times they had to retake it.

gdaytday

Yeah. My understanding is that it's meant to be an anthology series. That is, each season will have a new cast and new story line.

This season had one writer, Nic Pizzolatto, and one director, Cory Fukunuga. The writer has been working on scripts for subsequent seasons but the director won't be back. Apparently he's got a string of big movies lined up.

In an interview a day or two ago the writer said this when asked about a story for the second season:

“Okay. This is really early, but I’ll tell you (it’s about) hard women, bad men and the secret occult history of the United States transportation system.”

LX

So what the hell did Rust say in the last line? Once there was only darkness mumblemumblemumble.

bjjs

"so if you ask me the light is winning"

I thought the finale was probably the worst episode, atleast leading up to the scene at the killers house which was awesome. But still very entertaining. And I'm glad they went with the traditional happy ending.

I feel like they added questions that went unanswered. Why was the killer calling Rust young acolyte and young priest, and why was he telling him to take his mask off while they were fighting. In Rust's head?

The entire thing was kind of like a really good 3 hour movie stretched into an 8 hour TV series.

LX

Nice line. But like much of it, it's hard to reconcile with the character. I agree that this could have been outstanding with 4 episodes. So much that didn't really work or fit, and too much that was stuffed in as filler or just a bit indulgent. What did work was fantastic, so to me it was just kind of a shame to not have it all tightened up. And it makes me wish there was more Forbrydelsen - which i'll shut up about already.

Bill Haverchuck

That show was highly detailed in its dialogue and imagery. Sometimes events and future dialogue were being forshadowed, but it's hard for us to take note of those exact details, because we don't know what's coming.

Like Childress (scarface)...he showed up even before episode 7, in a 1995 scene. When the episode was new, he just seemed like a regular landscaper. But if you listen to Rust in the final episode, he laments missing an opportunity to identify and nab Childress, because he didn't recognize him. If you go back, you can get a visual of what happened. Childress is mowing the lawn of a school when Rust visits him, but they get distracted by a call about Reggie Ledoux.

There were also things that seemed like false clues as well, like the situation with Marty's daughter. Her acting gangbang scences out with her dolls, then turning into a sexually...um...adventurous?....teenager, by doing multiple dudes at once. I thought for sure they were setting it up for her to have been a victim of Childress or one of the other pedos during her childhood. I wonder if the daughter's behaviour was all just supposed to be a coincidence?

Bill Haverchuck

Side note observation, after Wooderson's Oscar speech (praising God so much) while watching this show, I thought "wow, McConnaughey must be really committed to his craft by taking this role." Marty was like the anti-McConnaughey..... but then during that finale, with the talk about meeting his daughter in the darkness....and then the comment about the "light winning".....very biblical. It all made sense. In the end, probably not so hard to commit to this role.

Bill Haverchuck

Except that he almost died and appeared to have a major spiritual experience while in a coma, feeling his daughter waiting and all that. I felt like the "light was winning" with Marty too, almost. I don't know, maybe I'm trying too hard with metaphors. But it's like Marty saw the light too?

Earlier in the show, he asked why everybody was "running to a redlight" (fucking awesome line!). But it seems like while he was in his coma, he felt more than a redlight.

But I agree it came across like an abrupt shift in character...the whole almost dying thing might do that people, though.

LX

Oh i know there was stuff that all tied in at the end, but there was a lot that didn't. I just wish they had cut the first 5 episodes down to fit into two. Establish the characters, keep them true to what was established, then take us forward in time according to the momentum of the narrative. Rust just ended up all over the place instead. His lines read well if you were reading them in a book, but what we saw was a guy that was hardened by his past and could do hard drugs and function at high levels while barely being able to make it to dinner after drinking. He and Marty talked past each other too often, and that wasn't helped by the narration device of each of them being interviewed, which just went on too long to no end as far as the story's development went. Start off with two guys that are largely unlikable for different reasons, move quickly to a difficult but growing dynamic between the two where they are both in conflict with each other and dependent on each other, then move from that dynamic to an acceptance of each other and a redeeming conclusion. That was what was there, but it was like the meat of a whole other series hung from the same bones too often.

And we only saw that glimmer of lightness in Rust's character right at the very end, with no clues as to what motivated him at any point - mostly we saw a guy with lots of reasons to be unmotivated. Pare everything down and i think it gets stronger, with a chance to let some light and ambiguity in here and there and both characters become complex instead of confusing. With the ability to convey so much in a few simple lines through the whole show, i think it strayed from its strength by elongating everything.