What TV shows are you watching?

[costa_oscura]

@costa_oscura (not quoting your text as there are two posts I want to reply to) - Red Riding is phenomenal. I watched it years ago and was really impressed. I also like dark stuff (hey! Someone turn on the lights! I was only joking - OW! What was that? Oh my FOOT!) which is why I watch a ton of Scandi-drama. Don't know if you've seen any, but my god some of it is bleak to the max. Some, of course, is too bleak and depressing even for me, but they have some major series. Let me know if you want recs - obviously, you have to be ok reading subtitles as none of them are in English.

A couple of Scandi dramas have been adapted for American tv.  I'm thinking specifically of The Bridge and The Killing.  I've only seen the U.S. versions, but I loved them both and was angry they cancelled The Bridge after only 2 seasons.  I loved seeing a truly complex woman character on tv, especially one on the neurodivergent spectrum.  We need more of that on tv.  I'd love some more recommendations, but I'm not always great at keeping up with subtitles on tv.

Big Little Lies, I have to say, grated on me and I dumped it. If something doesn't click with me from episode one or two, I usually get rid of it. I didn't like it, though I really enjoyed Apples Never Fall: I like those sort of things where the clues are all pointing one way and then it's a total twist that throws you.

I initially felt the same way about Big Little Lies.  But I stuck with it and it grew on me, became more compelling.  I think it's worth a watch.  Less soapy than Apples Never Fall, which is why I prefer it.

Oh, and just on general principles, I hate The White Lotus, as I wrote in some explicit detail many pages back. How it won awards and further seasons I will never know.

Ah, bummer.  The White Lotus is fantastic.  Mike White, the show creator, is such an excellent observer of the human condition.  Season 2 is the best so far with some sneaky character manipulation going on, but we don't discover it until the last few episodes.  There's also a tie-in to the new season 3, one of those sneaky characters showing up as a sideline character in season 3, leaving us all wondering what's going to happen.  Like Big Little Lies, it took a minute for me to get into The White Lotus, but once I did, I loved it.

[Guybrush]

I liked the White Lotus and The Bridge too 🙂 We haven't started White Lotus S3 yet, but will soon.

We were watching season 2 of Severance, but that's had to take the back seat as we also discovered Slow Horses which is really very entertaining and gripping. It also has some of that Brit charm. We've been binge-watching it and have already come up to S4 even though we started recently. That's quite rare for us 🙂

[costa_oscura]

I liked the White Lotus and The Bridge too 🙂 We haven't started White Lotus S3 yet, but will soon.

We were watching season 2 of Severance, but that's had to take the back seat as we also discovered Slow Horses which is really very entertaining and gripping. It also has some of that Brit charm. We've been binge-watching it and have already come up to S4 even though we started recently. That's quite rare for us 🙂

LOVE Slow Horses!  Jackson Lamb cracks me up!  Gary Oldman does such a great job.  ...And I don't want to spoil it for you, but you'll never guess who shows up in White Lotus season 3.  All I'll say is there's a connection to Tanya McQuoid.  ...Well, other than Belinda from season 1.  I'm not referring to her.  It's someone else you wouldn't expect.

[Trollheart]

[rant]Look, all I'll say about The White Lotus (you can check back on my post if you want, where I go into forensic detail about why it's shit) is that every single minority and poor person in the show got fucked, while the rich white entitled cunts all got off scott free. I realised that after watching season one and it's such a glaring red flag that I fail to understand how nobody saw it. It's a show for rich white people and how they use minorities and marginalised people. It's fucking disgusting. [/rant]

Anyway, that's me. You watch it if you want, but you won't convince me to. In terms of The Bridge (and The Killing), you really shouldn't bother with the English versions. Subtitles are not that hard to keep up with (my only issue being either when they're tiny or the subtitler doesn't give due consideration to where they're going to be placed, eg no black background so that in an Icelandic drama, where everything is white, you're frequently trying to read white words on a white screen) and the original dramas reward the effort. The Bridge runs for 5 seasons and has a great ending which really wraps things up. I'll wait to recommend as, if you're dead set against subtitles it would be pointless, but if you can get past that, there's so much amazing drama out there that we in the English-speaking world are missing.

[costa_oscura]

[rant]Look, all I'll say about The White Lotus (you can check back on my post if you want, where I go into forensic detail about why it's shit) is that every single minority and poor person in the show got fucked, while the rich white entitled cunts all got off scott free. I realised that after watching season one and it's such a glaring red flag that I fail to understand how nobody saw it. It's a show for rich white people and how they use minorities and marginalised people. It's fucking disgusting. [/rant]

I get your point, Trollheart, but I'm disappointed that you underestimate me enough to think that I haven't recognized that issue since season 1.  That's also show creator Mike White's point - to get us to dislike the wealthy white characters while also reflecting our own biases back to us, showing us to ourselves, as it were, provided we're able to see it.  Many of whom, as you write in your comment, are not.  But some of us are.  So please don't include me in your rant against the "great idiotic unwashed" who can't seem to recognize the subtleties of the show.

Anyway, that's me. You watch it if you want, but you won't convince me to.

I'm not, Troll.  That wasn't my point.  I was just expressing dismay at your narrow-mindedness.

In terms of The Bridge (and The Killing), you really shouldn't bother with the English versions. Subtitles are not that hard to keep up with (my only issue being either when they're tiny or the subtitler doesn't give due consideration to where they're going to be placed, eg no black background so that in an Icelandic drama, where everything is white, you're frequently trying to read white words on a white screen) and the original dramas reward the effort. The Bridge runs for 5 seasons and has a great ending which really wraps things up. I'll wait to recommend as, if you're dead set against subtitles it would be pointless, but if you can get past that, there's so much amazing drama out there that we in the English-speaking world are missing.

For all your blather about recognizing marginalized communities, Troll, you're certainly not sympathetic or aware of those of us who may be differently abled and don't have an easy time reading subtitles on tv.  Quoting directly from your comment here - "Subtitles are not that hard to keep up with" - it proves your lack of awareness.  I'd suggest thinking twice next time before making sweeping generalizations about people whose abilities or lack thereof you really know nothing about.  Ok, Troll?  You do you, boo.  But leave me out of it.

[Trollheart]

Hey, no offence meant. I was just referring to the way a lot of people tend to be lazy about subtitles: "Oh I can't be bothered with all that reading". I used to be that way myself. If there's a valid reason you can't read them I do apologise, however in fairness no reference was made to any lack of ability you have, so while I'll take my share of the blame it's unfair of you to expect that I would know any personal details about you, which so far as I know you haven't shared. But it was just a throwaway comment, predicated on the belief that you just didn't want to bother with subs. I know a lot of people who are that way, so again apologies if that's not you.

As someone who's new to here, it would also be unfair of me to expect you to know this, but talking about disabilities hits close to home for me. My sister had MS for over 20 years and I looked after her for 17 of those until she passed in September 2023, so I certainly had my eyes opened to how hard it is for people who have disabilities to be able to do the simplest things, such as go to the dentist (what do you mean, you don't have a wheelchair ramp? You'd be surprised, perhaps, how many times I heard that, not to mention, she can't get out of the chair? Ah then we can't help her). I also now suffer from pretty crippling depression since she passed, and while that's not a disability, it's still something I struggle with every day.

You're probably right about the show, but you see I have so much to watch usually that I tend not to watch shows with characters I dislike. Perhaps I can't see the nuances, perhaps I can, perhaps I don't care. It's the reason I stopped watching Succession, never liked We Own This City and hated Dead Like Me: I have to like or at least care about (let's say, be rooting for) at least some of the characters, and in all of those, I did not. So I don't watch The White Lotus, and now in fairness, I'm entitled to my opinion of it. It's not like I'm saying don't watch it (as if I could or would): I'm just telling you why I don't watch it, or want to.

I will just say that perhaps some of my comments have been taken at face value, and you may have got the wrong impression about me. I have certainly no wish to get on your bad side as soon as you arrive; that was not my intention and if that happened I'm sorry. None of us are perfect and we make mistakes. The important thing is realising we have, and attempting to change. So please accept my apology; it was nothing more than a comment on a TV show, and not meant to slight or insult you in any way. Hope you understand that.

Thanks for reading my wall of text, and if you didn't, then tealdeer version: sorry I didn't mean any offence.

[costa_oscura]

@Trollheart , thanks for the apology.  I'm sorry to hear about your sister.  MS is some tough shit to deal with. 

[Trollheart]

Thanks for accepting my apology. As I say, just taken up wrong, but that's probably my fault.

Yes, MS is a horrible disease. Anyone here will tell you the hell we went through over the last few years as Karen got worse, unable to eat till I had to get her pureed food, unable to see properly so I had to read to her, unable to speak coherently... it's just the disease that keeps on taking. I miss her with all my heart now she's gone, but I have to admit she's better out of it. It was no life for her, but I did all I could for her. In the end, I have no real regrets and I'd do it again if I had to, and I suppose that's the only thing I can hang on to. I promised her I would look after her at home and that I would keep her out of a nursing home, and I managed to do that, though it was a real struggle at times.

I won't bore you with all the details - they're scattered around in my various threads and journals - but if you want to hear more I can talk about it if you wish.