Quick TV Show run-down
Apr. 22nd, 2014 08:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Attempted to watch Sunday's Game of Thrones...made it to the rape scene (although at this point there's been so many gross/violent scenes which were not in the books, that it hardly matters). Thought, that didn't happen in the books. It didn't. Gee. These writers have managed to make an already violent and grim tale even more so...making me wonder about them. Closet sadists? Also, the writing is a bit off - so this isn't even all that good. I'm having trouble caring about anyone at this point. It would be one thing if it was really well-written like Breaking Bad or the Good Wife or The Wire, but alas, it's not. [ My attention was admittedly wandering before that scene. And everything was filmed so dark, that it was hard to see.] Then I thought, why am I even watching this violent gross tv show? It's sunny outside. And I have a great book to read. So I turned off the violent gross tv show. And that was that.
I think I may be done with the series and possibly HBO again? Debating dropping it. It's $18 bucks a month. Plus.. too many tv shows, not enough time. Be cheaper to netflix it at some point.
2. Once Upon a Time - on the other hand - was quite good and far more satisfying. It's fun. Plus they managed to delve deeper into Snow and Regina's back story and provide a sort of catharthsis for the characters. If the Peter Pan arc was about Rumplestilskin's issues, this arc is about Regina's. The writers have wisely surmised that the strongest characters in the series are Rumplestilskin and Regina.
3. The Good Wife - was the best written series that I saw Sunday. Haven't seen Mad Men, Call the Mid-Wife, or Bletchy Circle or Turn, so can't comment on those. This was well-paced, well-acted, brilliant dialogue, and hilarious. Comedy is harder to pull off than tragedy. It did a great satiric take-off on the NSA and Snowden. Best show on television.
4. Scandal was also fun, but not quite as good as last season. Although the plot was clever, and Joe Morton is a delight.
I think I may be done with the series and possibly HBO again? Debating dropping it. It's $18 bucks a month. Plus.. too many tv shows, not enough time. Be cheaper to netflix it at some point.
2. Once Upon a Time - on the other hand - was quite good and far more satisfying. It's fun. Plus they managed to delve deeper into Snow and Regina's back story and provide a sort of catharthsis for the characters. If the Peter Pan arc was about Rumplestilskin's issues, this arc is about Regina's. The writers have wisely surmised that the strongest characters in the series are Rumplestilskin and Regina.
3. The Good Wife - was the best written series that I saw Sunday. Haven't seen Mad Men, Call the Mid-Wife, or Bletchy Circle or Turn, so can't comment on those. This was well-paced, well-acted, brilliant dialogue, and hilarious. Comedy is harder to pull off than tragedy. It did a great satiric take-off on the NSA and Snowden. Best show on television.
4. Scandal was also fun, but not quite as good as last season. Although the plot was clever, and Joe Morton is a delight.
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Date: 2014-04-23 11:57 am (UTC)The Good Wife was brillant!
Speaking of HBO, have you seen this ?
I have started watching Orphan Black. Not a masterpiece but the actress is terrific and it's super entertaining!
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Date: 2014-04-23 10:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-04-24 11:09 pm (UTC)Orphan Black was really good last year - when I inhaled it, of course I was laid up at the time (broken foot) and bored out of my mind. It's a show you definitely need to be in the right mood for - and it's highly entertaining.
Tatiana - who plays the lead role is amazing. She should have been nominated for an Emmy.
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Date: 2014-04-24 12:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-04-24 11:04 pm (UTC)Didn't see those interviews, but I did see the interview with GRRM in EW, where the writer stated he wasn't consulted. Martin stated that in the book it is set-up differently. Jaime has literally just returned. Cersei is the first person he sees. And she entices him to comfort her.
While here, he's been back for quite some time and they have been sniping at each other.
My problem with it - is it's become part of a recent television cliche/trend, which is lazy writing. Let's make a female villain or female character more interesting by having her raped. (Scandel did it, Downton Abbey, House of Cards, now Game of Thrones.) Martin avoided the cliche and wrote a far more difficult and complex sequence. The tv show's writers went for the easy and simplistic violent cliche. It was cheap. And lazy.
The writing hasn't been as good this year...last year was much better. Not sure why. We have the same writers. Maybe they got burned out?
They both said the scene was supposed to be ambiguous as to whether it was rape. If that's true (it's certainly possible they say that now in order to deflect criticism), then their execution was ... poor.
Hee...that reminds me of the ME writers take on Seeing Red.
And I agree, it was ambiguous. Although, apparently it was a difficult scene to film, because Jack Gleeson kept making faces as they were filming it, which caused Nick C-W and Lena H to burst out in laughter along with the crew. (Co-worker told me this today at work.)
I'm thinking it will play out the same as the books did, Cersei goes insane and Jaime goes against her, siding with Tyrion and Brienne.
But they could have done that...and either just nitched that scene or played it the same way they did in the books.
I was told that the rest of episode is pretty good. So will most likely watch the rest - on a rainy day or at night. It's not a show you can watch with sunlight streaming in. ;-)
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Date: 2014-04-24 11:17 pm (UTC)Heh. Hadn't heard that about Jack making faces. He, of course, had nothing to lose, being dead and all. And retired.
Yeah, you'd think Seeing Red would be a cautionary tale in the industry by now. I guess not.
GRRM made a comment which I also thought was significant. He said to remember that the book scene was told in Jaime's POV, and that he's not the most reliable narrator. That made me think the departure from the book was less than I originally thought. Also, midway through the scene you can see Cersei respond to Jaime, which makes it a bit less rapey (though it's hard to see it otherwise when the woman says "no" several times).
The rest of the episode really isn't bad, though my favorite parts were, as usual, Arya and the Hound. The scenes with Dany at the end are pretty good, though.