Whatcha Watchin' (Season 2)

Warning - I just watched Them episode 9. WHEN will I learn to stop when Christopher Heyerdahl appears? First he brought the extra-creepy factor to Hell on Wheels, and now this. Should’ve waited until well after dinner, tomorrow in full daylight, or something. Now, I’m off to find industrial-strength mind bleach to get my appetite back before a late supper and (hopefully) dreamless sleep. :tired_face:

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I got around to watching Lupin. It is really good.

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I mean, it’s basically Queen Latifah as Batman

They’ve got a choice to make, “grim and gritty” or “Adam West” :thinking:

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Watched Lovecraft Country… it had a great ending. I hope they decide to carry on for a second season.

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I don’t know if I’m going to bother finishing Them, frankly.

I read a review stating that there’s not much catharsis or comeuppance for the antagonists, which basically makes this yet another installment of Black pain as torture-porn, and I am not here for it.

I see enough Black suffering IRL far too much of the time, for my entertainment, give me hopeful escapism; righteous vengeance, redemption, just deserves and punishment for the wicked for they the evil that they wrought.

Mostly.

I hope Letti brings Tic back to life.

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Exactly. The episode I mentioned focuses on the past and the reason why the events of the series occur. If they’d shown it in chronological order, I would not have watched past that point. Well played, writing team. My review-resistant, spoiler-skipping ways came back to bite me.

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Feel free to spoil me: I want to know what happened with that opening scene, but not enough to finish watching it.

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Ok, here goes the rest of it from episode 5 of Them

The creepy woman comes up to the house, followed by three men who are her accomplices. Lucky hides her baby in a closet downstairs, and then waits nearby. The four invaders enter the house and start searching for her. When they find her, the men grab her and rape her.
The woman keeps looking around and hears the baby. She takes him out of the closet, puts him on a table in Lucky’s line of sight, and starts playing peekaboo with a piece of cloth. This terrifies her even more and Lucky yells for the woman to get away from him. The woman realizes the cloth is a pillowcase and puts the baby into it while repeatedly chanting, “Cat in a bag!” The men start laughing and join the woman in tossing the baby around in the case while Lucky screams. In the end, the woman starts wildly swinging the case around and around over her head, and when the case hits the floor bloodstains are visible on it. That attack and murder leads to the family’s trauma and decision to move away.

For those interested in the history of redlining, the first 12 minutes of episode 5 are a great depiction of the players behind it, and how it works. The unspeakable horror flashback portion of the story occurs after that, so don’t leave it running if you find violent content to be disturbing. Finally, here’s the take on where the show Them went wrong that I wish had been published last week:

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So… the attack was completely unprovoked, other than because the Emory family is Black? That’s definitely trauma porn just for the sake of sensationalism, and Little Marvin/Lena Waithe need to do some soul searching, IMO.

Thanks for filling me in, I definitely don’t need to see that bullshit.

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Saw this pop up on Amazon, and the first episode was OK:

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I do agree about Leti saving Tic. I’m also curious to see what happens with Dee, with her monstrous pet and bionic arm! And I wonder if they’ll bring Christina back, even though they managed to bind all white people from accessing magic… Honestly, I could do with a whole season of Hippolyta traveling the galaxy being fucking awesome, too.

Spoiling this bit, though I’m not sure I need to do so. But where the show ended in the timeline of US history is interesting - right after Emmett Till’s death - and that’s when white people are bound from magic… which explains how civil rights legislation can get through in a world of inequality supported by magic. I’d love to see a season set in the 60s, either after the formation of SNCC or in the late 60s, with a magical fueled Black power movement.

And both this and Watchmen explored the impact of the Tulsa massacre, so I would love to see them explore the fall out from other similar events - the Atlanta Race Riot or the overthrow of the Wilmington NC city government. I loved how both shows incorporated American history into their stories, because it really highlights just how events like in Tulsa are not just impact when they happened, but they continue to shape people’s lives for generations after.

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I watched the first episode of The Nevers. I was entertained.

I was worried it would be like Carnival Row which I should have liked but didn’t. I could never put my finger on what it was I didn’t like about that show. I forgot to keep watching about halfway through the season.

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I also could not get into Carnival Row; I quit halfway through the first ep.

I’ll check this out; I need something new to watch since I just finished the entire series of Schitt’s Creek.

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I just rewatched the entire run of Schitt’s Creek (finished last night), for the second time since COVID hit. First after they swept the grammy’s last spring, and then this month just because. That team put on a real treat for the soul.
That one episode where Mr. and Mrs. Rose go out for their anniversary and run into old friends, and then the Schitt’s show up…that one is a good tear duct cleanser every time.
One of many in the series. :heart:

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Y’know, I don’t usually care for shows that ‘everyone loves’, but I found this show was a rare exception.

I hadn’t paid it any mind when it first came out, (nor did I know anything about all the awards it’s won) but after seeing so many gifs over the years, I finally decided ‘what the hell.’

Good decision; the entire series was incredibly well done, and even put me onto to new singer whom I hasn’t heard of previously.

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Same here. I always like shows of smart people working together and solving problems, but typically with more edge, like crime series or con artists or something a little dark to balance it out. And Schitt’s is so campy, but they just nailed it, IMO.
And it sounds like you’re not into the awards part, but their acceptance speech from the grammy’s was delightful. They seem like truly nice people.
Dan Levy (David) went back to college after the awards to learn more about the indigenous situation in Canada, saying he was embarrassed not to know more about that part of his nation’s history.

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Oh, I haven’t watched an awards show in decades now. Sometime in my 20’s, it dawned on me how much money goes into those things and how needlessly wasteful it is.

As for the cast, I’ve adored Levy and and O’hara since back in their days at SCTV; they’ve always seemed like decent, funny folks.

Good on him.

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And the amount of free shit they get when they can already afford to buy such things.

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Exactly.

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Shetland. Decent enough stories, scenery porn for miles and I love the Jimmy and Duncan dynamic.

ETA: not to mention Jimmy’s sweaters. They look comfy.

ETA #2: Content warning for offscreen sexual assault and the repercussions surrounding it for S2 and beyond. It’s handled probably better than most shows I’ve seen, but it is still a bit clunky and anvilly. This includes a frank look around the decision whether to prosecute.

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