Just watched ep.4/S5 of The Expanse. It’s one of those rare cases where I haven’t read the books first. While I would really like the crew to be together, they are doing a great job with it. It’s good to see Alex and Bobbi together on the Razorback In particular, Bobbi is due for an easier time than she’s had, and if they end up in some fighting action, that should lift her spirits.
I’m definitely not looking for spoilers from the books, but I’m guessing it was a really bad idea to put an engineer of Naomi’s caliber on Marco’s flagship. That’s going to bite them in the ass, considering that she’s had a lot of practice on Martian tech with the Roci.
Regarding the end of the series, I’ve heard that Cas Anvar was persuaded to come back after S6, so hopefully that’s solid and not just a rumor.
I won’t spoiler, but a thing or two happened in this one that kinda hints to me the series is veering away from the books. Marco Inaros makes a speech at the end with an added (explosive) detail that isn’t in the books. To me, it puts in question whether they will explore books 7 and 8 at all. A major thing is shifted from later in the arc to this episode, too.
It isn’t locked in, though, it could veer back pretty easily. I think maybe they are hedging their bets, making it possible to end the show gracefully after season 6, or steer it back into the book’s arc if it turns out they have more.
I am really enjoying it, but the changes kinda sadden me. They are things that would foreshadow a huge new threat. Having them missing gives me a melancholy feeling that things are being packed away for the end of the series.
Last I heard, Cas Anvar was out permanently because of the sexual harassment situation.
The show as we know it will end, yes. There is a big time gap between this part of the story and the latter story in the books. I kinda think this may be them resting their brand for a few years or so, and then they could bring it back for the last three books books with different actors for the older versions of the crew.
I didn’t like The OA. I dropped it after watching maybe 2 episodes of it. I was getting strong cult of personality vibes off it. And I’m kinda worn out of cult leaders. I had the same reaction to American Horror Story: Cult. I just couldn’t.
Recommended Anime of 2020
Akudama Drive, cyberpunk heist. Amazing world building, satisfying story in 12 episodes. 10/10 would recommend to anyone who likes action heist movies.
Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Fantasy Comedy. Watch if you enjoy Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Monsters crossed with Kawaii. 12 episodes, hopefully it gets another season to finish the plot.
Beastars high-school horror. Just watch the opening. 10/10 don’t want to spoil the experience.
I quite enjoyed Pixar’s Soul. It had some fun twists that they held back from the previews. Plus it had a cameo from a certain celebrity rodent (not the one in red shorts).
Really not enthused about the divergence from the book. Really good, nonetheless, but still, I am kind of confused by why. Earlier ones seemed to be intended to cut out foreshadowing of the later books, but more often they seem like changes for changes sake.
In my view, Naomi had far more agency and was more capable and able in the books during her imprisonment. She’s being really disempowered in this telling. They did so in the last episode some, but a lot more so in this one. Not cool.
Why did they water down the attack on Earth? An attack that killed billions and put the continuation of any life at all on Earth into question is now a couple million people?
The show’s composite Drummer character seems to have never sided with Inaros, and looks like she isn’t going to for anything other than subterfuge. I guess it is unpalatable for the major leaders of the Belt to be more neutral toward Inaros, but the complexity of the interests in the books made it so much better.
It is still really excellent TV, I just don’t see good reasons for the changes they made, other than bending it to be more in keeping with traditional TV story arcs.
Watched The Midnight Sky last night. I can’t recommend it. A few points really bothered me. Spoilers below.
First, it was predictable - Clooney has what I call “Shyamalan Syndrome.” Does he not notice the patterns from his other films? Second, I am tired of seeing movies involving space exploration with unbelievably small teams. Sure, exploring space is expensive and difficult. Is that really a reason not to have basic succession planning and redundancy? Accidents happen here on Earth. So, what is the point of sending anyone into space with a team so specialized that if one person dies, the rest of the team is fucked? Sure, you can develop a ship that only requires two people to pilot it, but let’s not forget the USCSS Nostromo.
Along the same lines, why would there be an escape pod that needs two pilots? WTH kind of thinking designs a craft like that? Yay, you’re the sole survivor - too bad you can’t escape! If only you’d managed to save one of your crewmates who can also pilot a ship.
Finally, the lack of Earth contingency planning means the ones left on the ship will be the last humans. Sending people to explore a new world for colonization - check. Sending enough with them in case the worst happens while they’re gone - whoops. Unless some space-faring Bringloidi happen upon them to help with the gene pool, their children will be the end of the line. Better hope there aren’t any unfortunate accidents in the future, or the kids might wind up feral space spawn. A terrible ending for everyone.
Sacha Baron Cohen was surprisingly good. The quality of espionage stories seems to be getting better all the time. A six episode mini-series. It can stand with other recent endeavors in this vein like:
I must be a boring person since I’m rewatching Babylon 5. And I might have to subscribe to JMS’ patreon since he’s going to be making some commentary audio for the episodes soon. It’ll be fun to see what he recalls from the production of each one since even as early as episode 2 of Babylon 5 there’s strong hints of the Shadow War much like how the pilot handled that in its own way.
I recently fell into all 3 seasons (so far) of Atypical, about the family of a kid who’s on the spectrum. Good characters, nice warm escapism. I dont know though just how well it deals with autism.
