Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 6 minutes ago, Veltigar said: Oh my sweet summer child... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rippounet Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 Watched the first three episodes and I'm really struggling with this show. The historical setting is powerful, but the supernatural elements feel like they've been slapped on top of a good story with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. I end up continuously wondering which aspect of the show I really enjoy and want to be developed properly... But so war neither is, really, so I'm left with the odd impression that this show could have been great with a better narrative structure... A bit more mystery perhaps? Because 3 episodes in it feels like the first 2 were the whole story and now the show is trying to develop a new one that's far less interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veltigar Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 Did anyone see episode 4? I feel like they not only jumped the shark, but caught it and fucked it into a pulp. What the fuck is this show even trying to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corvinus85 Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 10 minutes ago, Veltigar said: Did anyone see episode 4? I feel like they not only jumped the shark, but caught it and fucked it into a pulp. What the fuck is this show even trying to do? Indeed, it seems that every episode is trying to slightly alter the tone, and the plot is taking a ride on a pinball. I know it's based on a book, but is the book really like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 On 9/5/2020 at 10:44 AM, Rippounet said: The historical setting is powerful, but the supernatural elements feel like they've been slapped on top of a good story with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. This is always the problem with attempting to explain historical events and particularly historical evils via the supernatural, like Abraham Lincoln Vampire Killer -- slavery happens because of vampires. No, no, no. That takes the agency of actual living human beings deciding to do these evil things out of the equation -- which quite like saying boys will be boys when the gang rape somebody, bully somebody, kill somebody. Also no to demons causing yellow fever epidemics! Just more grist for the anti-science, anti-rationality, anti-vaxxer crazies who then want to go kill Jews, Asians, African Americans as sorcerers who unleashed this on we poor unwitting innocent human beings -- and so we don't need to wear masks. God will protect us. Feh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rippounet Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 4 hours ago, Veltigar said: Did anyone see episode 4? I feel like they not only jumped the shark, but caught it and fucked it into a pulp. What the fuck is this show even trying to do? I watched it because you made me curious. It was... special. Gave me an Indiana Jones vibe somehow. Tha quality is slipping, but I'm increasingly curious about where they're going with this. It's turning into a guilty pleasure of sorts for me because I'm starting to think the show sucks and yet I'm probably going to keep watching nonetheless. Hmmm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ithanos Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 On 9/5/2020 at 10:08 PM, Nictarion said: Episode 4 felt like a weird mashup of Last Crusade, Goonies, and Uncharted. I see your Last Crusade, Goonies and Uncharted and raise you one Night at the Museum and two National Treasures. I did enjoy Leti, Tic and Montrose in this installment. But the tonal swing between episodes is jarring. They need to settle it. At this stage it's pot luck what we might get in the next episode - though I hope we see more of Hippolyta. She seems like she's about ready to be a badass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 5 hours ago, Triskele said: After thinking the pilot was strong I am close to quitting now. While a lot of the pieces like the principal actors and set pieces are strong the story and pacing are so incoherent. I'm done. Three attempts at watching episode 4 so far. I really like the two leads but I have no idea at all what the show is supposed to be about. It feels as if they are trying to make an anthology fit into a series where the characters are forced into random situations. That or we're getting a book for every 1-2 episodes. The show is strongest when dealing with racial tensions in that era which suggests to me I could do with a non fantasy version of that. Also having Michael K williams in the show and me not love the character seems an impossible achievement. Does anyone have any idea how faithful this is to the book? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RumHam Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 6 hours ago, red snow said: Also having Michael K williams in the show and me not love the character seems an impossible achievement. His Community character never really did anything for me either. But if I remember right he also just sorta disappeared halfway through the season he was in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nictarion Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 I think I’m also out. HBO dramas have been rather disappointing lately (other than Watchmen). I hope The Third Day can deliver... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RumHam Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 Just now, Nictarion said: I think I’m also out. HBO dramas have been rather disappointing lately (other than Watchmen). I hope The Third Day can deliver... I thought The Plot Against America was great and Perry Mason was mostly pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nictarion Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 4 minutes ago, RumHam said: I thought The Plot Against America was great and Perry Mason was mostly pretty good. I liked The Plot Against America well enough, but not as much as The Wire or The Deuce as far as David Simon shows go. Haven’t seen Perry Mason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 3 hours ago, RumHam said: I thought The Plot Against America was great and Perry Mason was mostly pretty good. Perry Mason was good but half of it was PI and the second half courtroom drama. Both were good but felt like two different shows. Hopefully the next season blends the two things better. I still need to watch "the plot against America" and "raised by wolves" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durckad Posted September 10, 2020 Share Posted September 10, 2020 I liked Episode 4. I had fun with it. I enjoyed it more than the prior two, that's for sure. I also completely agree with all/most of the criticisms of it. I, and the show as well apparently, have no idea what direction or tone this going for. Is it a Lovecraftian horror? No. Erm, maybe, a little? Is it a schocky, campy horror? Sometimes? Is it a pulpy action-adventure show? I guess? Is it a treatise on America's racist past? Yes, definitely. It is all of these things seamlessly melded together into one cohesive whole? Fuck NO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durckad Posted September 10, 2020 Share Posted September 10, 2020 9 minutes ago, Triskele said: I absolutely love E2 except that it felt like it took E1, rushed the whole season and just hammered home E9/10. Now I'm just so confused. Yeah, episode 2 wasn't bad other than the pacing. Could've been significantly improved by stretching things out for a couple of episodes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted September 10, 2020 Share Posted September 10, 2020 On 9/8/2020 at 1:26 PM, Corvinus85 said: Indeed, it seems that every episode is trying to slightly alter the tone, and the plot is taking a ride on a pinball. I know it's based on a book, but is the book really like this? In the book each chapter is told from a different point of view, but it definitely felt much more cohesive than the show does. The motivations of the characters didn't seem to alter based on the story being told. On 9/8/2020 at 5:21 PM, ithanos said: though I hope we see more of Hippolyta. She seems like she's about ready to be a badass. If it follows the book, she should have a really interesting and wild episode. Who fucking knows at this point, and there's no mention of it in the next episode's synopsis, while there's events that happen after it that are mentioned. On 9/8/2020 at 9:52 PM, Triskele said: After thinking the pilot was strong I am close to quitting now. While a lot of the pieces like the principal actors and set pieces are strong the story and pacing are so incoherent. 1 hour ago, Triskele said: I absolutely love E2 except that it felt like it took E1, rushed the whole season and just hammered home E9/10. Now I'm just so confused. If I hadn't read the book, I can't imagine I would have had any idea why the fuck what was going on last episode was actually going on. And even then I'm not 100% sure about anything because they've changed so much. I'll stick it out, but I'm definitely losing interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexal Posted September 10, 2020 Share Posted September 10, 2020 I'm having fun. I'm totally ok with the tonal switches. I don't really know what's going on but that's fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGP Posted September 10, 2020 Author Share Posted September 10, 2020 2 hours ago, Mexal said: I'm having fun. I'm totally ok with the tonal switches. I don't really know what's going on but that's fine. Same. The showrunner is throwing a lot of easter eggs and stuff in that are sometimes beyond me, but a little digging afterward is often rewarding, ie: Spoiler ie: from a previous episode, the youth who asked the ouija board if he was going to have a good trip south was Emmet Till, and stuff like that I did find the death at the end of E4 a bit jarring however-- felt like they didn't really think that one through. I mean, I get why... Spoiler Montrose killed her. What I don't get is why, knowing the necessity of it, they'd [showrunner et writers] chose to have made the trapped translator an Indigenous two-spirit and kill them. Should've gone a different way there, imo, though I suppose there could be a point in that act about racism I've missed, or remains to be seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGP Posted September 14, 2020 Author Share Posted September 14, 2020 What The FUUUUUUUUCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGP Posted September 14, 2020 Author Share Posted September 14, 2020 Way too much to process. I'm going to sleep on it and watch again tomorrow. Pretty sure that episode was genius though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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