Television

[Cayce]

From the same people that brought us the marvelous spy film The East comes a new show on Netflix called The OA.

I'm very much enjoying it, and would recommend people check it out, especially if you liked Stranger Things. It's a show about a woman that escaped captivity of a crazy scientist attempting to discover proof of an afterlife by experimenting on people who've experienced near death experiences. It's about psychics and captivity, and also coping with the trials of life. I definitely recommend people check it out!

[West]

I gave Emerald City a go after a review called it the 'The wizard of oz / game of thrones mash-up that nobody wanted'.

...because, honestly, a wizard of oz / game of thrones mash-up sounds pretty appealing to me :P

Plus D'Onofrio as the Wizard made me think of The Cell!!!!

It's okay. It's... watchable.

I think the big problem is that they've hamstrung themselves by deciding they need to put a clever 'spin' on every single bit of Oz. It's a bit overwhelming, confusing, and pushy.
- Munchkins are tribal (normal sized) aboriginals called the 'Tribe of Munja-Kin'
- The Scarecrow is a guy with memory loss (he needs his head fixed)
- Ruby slippers are ruby gloves
- etc

Instead of taking the best ideas to spin, they took them all. The only upside is that it looks like they're using ALL of the Oz books for source material and not just 'Wonderful Wizard', so if you read them... well... maybe you'll understand things other people won't (Tip, anyone?).

I'll be surprised if it gets renewed.

[Frost]

Stranger Things was a great series and they are making a second season. I also recommend the Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage shows. Really well done.

[West]

Is it at all possible for Mike to be more of an ungrateful little bitch? At all?! Has Harvey ever asked Mike for anything?

[West]

Legion sucks.

It's trying so hard to be Memento+Mr. Robot that it's incoherent.

Being an old school New Mutants fan and familiar with the source material, I barely understood the pilot episode. Also, it looks like the Unreliable Narrator is the new darling of TV since Mr. Robot's success.

[Cayce]

Britannia

An intriguing offering from Amazon! The first few episodes are a fascinating look at an imagining of the Celtic druids in ye olde England! The rest of the season kind of gets worse, but it was still enjoyable. I have NO IDEA why they chose the opening song that they did, though. It is...incoherent, to say that least.

Altered Carbon

NETFLEEEEX!!!

This show! It is like William Gibson and Bladerunner had a baby, and then that baby was re-imagined for a modern audience. Incredibly cyberpunky, with a heavy dose of transhumanism and a lot of stunning visuals! Only 1.5 episodes in but I LOVE IT!

And, unlike the tortured mutant that was the Ghost in the Shell with Scar Jo, the whitewashing is intentional. Not a fan of it, but I do recognize the postcolonial elements to the story. Will be interesting to see how it develops!

[Yumyumcrow]

Try [b]The Dark[/I] if you haven't already. A German story of time travel weirdness across three generations. Probably a must if you enjoyed Stranger Things.. Available on Netflix.

Also Jordshott (2 seasons now, I think) if you can find it. Swedish. Very... Hunter and Changeling presuposing government conspiracies, ancient secret societies, and people who could be Changeling(ish).

Valkryien - a Norwegian thriller about a doctor, a doomsday prepper, and the moral / ethical issues of running an illegal clinic (there is a lot more in there as well to do with patents, corporations, love, etc). OK I didn't exactly jive with the ending but it was pretty good nonetheless (I think its producers chickened out over some of the meaty questions and wound things up with a "people help one another" and "society is stronger than you think" message, myself).

[Cayce]

Travelers is very interesting, though it is funny to me because I kept being like "end of the world, yadda yadda, get back to the personal drama, damn it! I wanna see how the former high school bully transforms his life!"