What are you watching/Random TV thoughts

Unforeseen circumstances led me to watch two, almost three episodes of Trailer Park Boys this weekend.  This is far and away the dumbest show I've seen in recent memory.  It's like COPS but shown from the perspective of the idiot criminals.

Awesome, enjoy yourself, my friend. It just gets better. Shame that you're on the two weakest episodes so far, though. (7 and 8.)

I'm sure you'll manage to catch up to/surpass me at an absurdly quick rate.

Also, I advise you that despite your completist nature, you should skip the season 2 episode Co-Pilot. If you can't or won't, then keep in mind that Shawn Ryan very quickly acknowledged after it aired that the episode was a fuck up and should be treated as non-canon.

Yeah, I figured if you watched all of X Files, you weren't going to make an exception for Co-Pilot. You're insane.

X-Files update(though I am also watching OITNB, but will likely update in that thread when I am done with season 1)

Last I had posted I had recently finished the Duane Barry two parter in the beginning of season 2. I had such positive praise for the show, how it had been great from the season 1 finale on, and now after nine more episodes my opinion has changed. I wouldn't say the show hit a full on rough patch, but it has stumbled and couldn't keep up with the beginning of the season. I will give some thoughts, nothing extensive(or I plan nothing extensive right now this second as I'm typing this line) on each episode. Some SPOILERS ahead.

3 - Scully is still abducted and Mulder goes off to investigate the most boring vampires on the planet. The only thing that really stands out about this episode is the setting. Takes place in southern california while a brushfire is raging. Gives it a weird vibe, but the actual mystery was dull and there was a romance between mulder and a suspect which was even more dull. If I ever rewatch the series this one is a SKIP.

One breath - Scully is found comatose in a hospital, and Mulder wants to find a way to get vengeance on the people that did this to her. This was one of the better episodes out this bunch. A myth arc episode that did have twists and turns as they usually do. What really stood out for me was Scully being comatose. They did such a good job of making it horrifying. The makeup was great, the always present machine helping her breathe(this was the 90s so it was more loud and right next to her face) just making you feel uneasy. There was also this great scene where Mulder finally confronts the Cigarette Smoking Man head on, in the CSM's apartment(which was full of half smoked cigs). Also a great scene where Skinner gives some backstory to Mulder. This one gets definite rewatch status if I go through the series again.

Firewalker - Basically the episode Ice but at a volcano. Parasite finds it way to a research team and causes paranoia and death. It is a ripoff of a previous episode in the series that was already a ripoff of the thing. SKIP.

Red Museum - A standalone that becomes a myth arc episode just barely. The plot is really hard to explain. Mulder and Scully investigate a kidnapping that happens in a small town where there is a psychic cult who doesn't like to eat meat. Sounds silly, but it is actually pretty interesting. Wouldn't say it was a great episode, but good. Would give it a rewatch.

Excelsis Dei - least favorite episode of X-Files yet. It starts off with a woman being ghost raped, and Mulder actually being skeptical of it. Yes, the guy who believes in just about everything is skeptical of this(despite the fact that the woman actually had injuries from it). Fuck you writers. Also it dealt with patients at a old folks home recovering from dementia and the like through magic mushroom pills that somehow made ghosts happen? Fucking stupid. Total skip. Hell, I'm going to consider it non canon because of how it portrays the Mulder character.

Aubrey - Woman starts acting like a serial killer from the past. Kinda boring, it was scary at times, but I just didn't have any interest in the characters of the week. Also the X-Files twist was a bit silly, the woman was acting like a previous serial killer because she was the serial killers granddaughter, and inherited genetic memories of the events. Mulder believes in that theory, but not the rape of a woman.... FUCK YOU WRITERS AGAIN. Skip.

Irresistible - A death fetishist(was originally a necrophiliac, but FOX shot that down) starts desecrating graves for his sexual pleasure, and then moves on to killing women. There is no twist(though the character does come back for a much later episode as a demon), this is straight up just a normal guy. He eventually gets his hands on scully and Mulder saves the day at the end. I didn't care for this episode. A lot of people seem to like it just because it is really creepy, but I can't get invested in this plot. Sure it is creepy, but there was no point. Nothing was really revealed about Scully or Mulder, the motw was just a creep that's it. And also a total lame ending where Scully can't even save herself, has to have Mulder do it. Skip.

Die Hand Die Verletzt - Mulder and Scully investigate a murder that looks like it was tied into a Satanic ritual. In the process of investigating they uncover a Satanic cult within this small town, and they have to fend off the cult itself and another being who seems to be after the cult. It was a really creepy episode, I thought it would lean more towards the silly, but it was pretty effective in getting the horror across. I don't much care for X-files going more supernatural than Sci-fi, but if it is a good episode like this one, I can dig it. My only complaint really is the fact that there was a victim who thought she was raped, and described that rape in graphic detail. Turns out it wasn't true, but still, that is like 4 episodes in a role that dealt with rape or sexual assault in some way(In aubrey it turns out the old serial killer raped a victim of his, and that victim had a son who gave birth to the genetic memory granddaughter). Just got tiring, and it felt more like shock value if anything. Anyway, would give this episode a rewatch.

Fresh Bones - Two soldier deaths at a base where Haitian refugees are being held lead to Mulder and Scully coming down to investigate. Turns out voodoo was involved. The Haitian refugees are being mistreated, so it looks like they are exacting vengeance on the guards, but things aren't what they seem. Too bad this is all just really fucking boring. I guess more could have done with it, but this episode just did nothing for me. Skip.

Anyway, those are the nine episodes I saw. A few good, the rest boring or bad. I now have two myth arc episodes on the horizon, so hopefully X-files can get back into that groove that was found at the beginning of the season. I'm also not far off from Humbug, which I know nothing about but hear is really good, so I'm interested in that!

That's exactly why it's the best.

"Bubbles, does that rocket really fly?"
"Does the tin-man have a sheet-metal cock?"

We're 13 episodes in and I'm no closer to figuring out what Millennium is about. Just watched the one that seems to be a beginning of a myth-arc (with Brad Dourif!!!), so I guess that's something.
I've seen TLG though and I thought it was pretty fun, even if a little on the silly side.

I have been binging through raising hope as a chill out before bed show. Thinking I'll pick up a one hour drama type thing I haven't seen yet once that's done, probably for watching on lunch at work as well. Trying to decide between something more fun or going more intense like finally getting around to The Shield.

On a brit kick watching through every episode of Never Mind The Buzzcocks on work lunch as well, almost done that though.

After a little prodding, I watched the first episodes of two shows that both ended some time ago: Star Blazers (1974) and Wonderfalls.

Star Blazers was pretty good, surprisingly, for anime from 1974. The character names are pretty over-the-top even for anime, and the animation couldn't be any more 1974 if it tried. I mention these things because they're the obvious if superficial shortcomings. The episode does a pretty good job of establishing the setting and characters. It also sets up a number of storylines without any of them really seeming forced, and there's more depth than I really expected. Not sure how far I'll go with this one but it was better than it had any right to be, really.

Wonderfalls was just so-so for me. I think its premise is just a little too waaaacky for me, and I had a hard time pulling for Jaye Tyler. The latter is really saying something, because I have a high opinion of Caroline Dhavernas. Yes, I realize that a character can't be completely sympathetic and admirable while still leaving room for growth, but when the main character is a put-upon twentysomething underachiever, the Sympathy Clock is already ticking. I bet that It Gets Better, but the pilot seemed a lot like Disney Daria as brought to you the viewer by The CW (note: not praise). So I might watch one more episode, but I have my doubts.

So I'm keeping up with the Assets, the cancelled ABC miniseries. It's basically a worse version of the Americans, but I'm fairly into spy stuff so I'm watching it. Anyone else watching this, or at least the pilot months ago before it was cancelled?

I watched the dubbed version of Star Blazers right on Hulu.  I'm certainly not against subtitles, though.

Yes! Most of their offered anime is Japanese with English subtitles. They're much better for anime fans than I ever expected.

Yeah, the selection's very good. And of course you're already farther than I am on The Shield. Only a couple episodes ahead, though, at least.

Douay-Rheims-Challoner: Dutch and Claudette are my favorite characters by far, so I'm definitely with you on that. I guess I liked the first seasons more than mratfink, though. I'd be interested to discuss them with you in more detail sometime. 2 was more consistently strong and had the best episodes of the show I've seen so far (Dead Soldiers, Scar Tissue and Dominoes Falling) but as a whole wasn't as thematically effective as season one was with the social issues and character dynamics building to the two part finale.

There is going to be a netflix series starring Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Sam Waterson, and Martin Sheen. It is about two people who don't care for each other(Tomlin, and Fonda) who will learn to lean on each other because their husbands(Waterson, and Sheen) come out as gay lovers who have been having an affair for the past 20 years and want to get married. It is a comedy.

I cannot wait.