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Disappointing: 1899: Lightning does not in fact strike twice, the credit Dark gave was spent too much in special effects and not in creating a compelling story with interesting characters Warrior Nun: The cast deserved so much better. Great action too, just a huge mess of a storyline. Jack Ryan: A show 10 years out of date already. She Hulk: It was just too much of that thing with poor CGI taking up too much of the show., The Capture: Like Jack Ryan, a show that presents a highly competent and dangerous Russia. It also tries to be tech savvy and then comes up with the most absurd NCIS-level nonsense when the plot requires it like how Russians put malware in GCHQ that mails terabytes of data out undetected because no one checks mail traffic Gangs of London: Stylishly violent but ultimately nothing happens despite all the mayhem. Almost made the list: White Lotus: If the hotel staff had been just a bit more interesting it would have made it as memorable as season 1. Station Eleven: It seems so long ago but this came out when the pandemic was still very much affecting life and it was a beautiful vision of hope to come from tragedy. The Boys: Good stuff but more of the same. Outer Range: Gripping but felt like the potential was not used fully. Great cast, especially Imogen Poots and the every reliable Tom Pelphrey SAS Rogue Heroes. All this needed to make the list was Sofia Boutella shanking some nazis. The lack of that is unforgivable. Evil: A show to look forward too every week because anything can and will happen. Except explaining or resolving what happened in all the previous episodes and the plot baggage is piling up to critical levels. The 10: 10. Derry Girls A fitting end to a lovely show, ending with the end of the terrible conflict. Consistently funny and charming, this last season showed some suprises with Liam Neeson as a guest star and a brilliant flashback to the Girls' moms being young Derry Girls. And while it may have been easier to use either existing actress for that part they found new performers who were both instantly recognizable and filling out their backstories in unexpected ways. 9. Reacher Sometimes a show just has to be exactly what it needs to be to shine. Small town, some terrible people in need of killing and Reacher to clean up the mess. That's all you need really. Alan Ritchinson excels at both being a huge murder machine but still looking like a nice guy that random thugs would think they could take. "Sure he's twice my size but look at that softie, no way he'll rip my head off" 8. Irma Vep This should have been insufferably meta to a point where it becomes a farce. Making a show about making a show while you already made a movie about making a movie that is a remake of an old movie starring versions of yourself and your ex-wife does not come across as a solid base to work from. But I was captivated from start to finish at all of it, the weirdness that mega stardom is and how people deal with it. The everyday workings of a TV show were fascinating as well, you see people like Rene and Gottfried who are quite mad but still very good at their jobs. Alicia Vikander's performance is also very different from when she's acting as acting or just playing an actor waiting on set for the next take. 7. Better Call Saul What is left to say? A monumental undertaking has come to its conclusion and has set standards for everyone elso to meet. Despite the iron boundaries set by the (non)presence of its central characters in the following series it spared no effort to make them fully fleshed out before they exited, stage left. Some of it did not work as they were impossible, like making the actors look like younger versions of themselves 15 years ago. 6. The English Gorgeous, horrifying and captivating this was something to sit back, let it wash over you and don't think too much on what is actually happening. In just six episodes they put a lot of story, memorable characters and their development. 5. Barry Still going strong where it could so easily have gone stale. The absurdity of the superbly staged action scenes is something no other show pulls off while also delivering huge character moments. There are so many superb scenes in this season to just look at and enjoy every time. The 'only the algorithm knows' scene was incredible to see in the current TV environment. 4. We Own This City The Wire II: Back To Baltimore??? Sign me the gently caress up!!! But this was not that, the presence of Wire alumni in totally different roles seem to be there to both have something for the fans and still be clearly different. Although Jay Landsman making chief kind of works. Jon Bernthal delivers what for me was the performance of the year in a year full of great ones. He is so captivating and even when you just saw him do terrible things in the episode you still fall for the 'I did nothing wrong' as he totally believes it as well. Someone who can convince himself of a lie can convince others way more easily. Even when the feds swoop in and all his fellow dirty cops have confessed he's still there defiantly proclaiming his innocence. 3. Severance Another show to come from a someone totally new to TV like Outer Range whose premise was so original and thought provoking you wonder how no one came up with it before. It's so weird and mundane and funny and sad all at once with Adam Scott going completely against type and killing it. 2. House of the Dragon It was in some ways a small show compared to the massive spectacle GoT was, taking place mostly in rooms with people talking. Someone involved must be a huge Crusader Kings fan to make Agnatic-Cognatic vs. Agnatic succession laws the driving force behind the whole seasons. Oh, dragons were there too. If your show is basically a big theater play you need good actors and they totally delivered there. The throne room entrance was the moment of the year for me. 1. Andor Star Wars shows come with a lot of baggage. Like it or not, it's been part of entertainment as long I've been consumer of entertainment and as such each new release starts with a Death Star sized ball chained to its feet. And just as it seemed like that history would crush all new content under its weight, Tony Gilroy finds the exhaust port and blasts through. Discarding the Volume machine of mediocrity for actual locations and the Force as a dumb superstition that ruins any plotline he and his band of rebels triumphed against all odds. It all worked. Especially the things you wouldn't think could work. CeeJee fucked around with this message at 20:21 on Jan 19, 2023 |
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Jan 19, 2023 20:18
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 18:16 |
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First Time Showrunner Wins The Most Prestigious TV Award!!!!! This is a first I believe. It was a great year and it looks like 2023 will be no slouch either. Maybe this year I will actually try to keep track of things and not have to scramble in December to figure out what I saw.
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Feb 3, 2023 08:01
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