Nobody told me Netflix was so great.

[Sir Sly Ry]

I watched The Haunting of Hill House. I think the last two episodes weren't quite as strong/creepy/intriguing as what came before it, but overall, wow, what a series. Perfect tone. It manages to maintain tension through almost all of it, and while it has jump scares and scary ghost monsters, it's used pretty tastefully. A lot of the creepy stuff is more low-key. Like, yeah, there are some brilliant scenes peppered throughout.

While I've definitely seen stuff that is more visceral, this one really got under my skin. My overactive imagination kicks in in the middle of the night, and then I start seeing bent-neck ladies....

I recommend it, I'm sure I'll watch this again in the future.

[SpoonyBardOL]

The final season of A Series of Unfortunate Events was quite good! I was wondering how they would managed to adapt the finale of this series, but they did so well with the rest of it I needn't have been worried.

One unfounded concern I had going in was if they would try to soften Count Olaf so his last act, the one good thing he did in his life, could be framed as a redemption. Thankfully no, he still saves Kit and he still dies next to her, but the show doesn't try to pretend he's been redeemed or was good all along. Thankfully. It was one of those themes towards the end of the series, that no one is fully good or fully bad, and the show didn't shy away from it.

I'm kind of surprised the show didn't confirm one way or the other whether or not Esme and Carmelita survived the fire at the Hotel Denouement. The books don't either, but the 'Unauthorized Biography' of Lemony Snicket supposedly confirms Carmelita's alive, so it's a bit strange that even this show left the question of 'gee maybe this little girl burned to death in the fire' an open one when it could have said one way or the other.

Overall, this was a pretty good adaption. Way better than the Jim Carrey movie, though we knew that from Season 1.

[McDohl]

[Reinforcements]

I finally watched Dragon Prince, by which I mean I struggled to finish one episode just so I could say I gave it a shot. This show is eye-searingly ugly and I don't believe I'll be watching anymore.

[Johnny Unusual]

Watching Baki. It's as fucking stupid and ridiculous as I remember. And I'm... enjoying it? I guess this is my trash TV "not recommending to any sane person but I'm having a good time" show for the year.

[Daikaiju]

Carmen is very good. If the Chief isn't based off of Lynne Thigpen, I'll eat a gumshoe.

[Mommi]

New Grace and Frankie y'all!

[Rascally Badger]

I liked the new Carmen Sandiego show, but the more it tried to explain its backstory, the less sense it made.

[McDohl]

Someone pointed out to me that the show puts Carmen as the main character, which is very antithetical to every Carmen Sandiego property up to this point. She's always been mysterious and afar. You're supposed to be left wondering.

That's why I don't think I'm all that interested in it. It kind of answers everything, and it's not nearly as compelling.

[Johnny Unusual]

Originally Posted by SpoonyBardOL

The final season of A Series of Unfortunate Events was quite good! I was wondering how they would managed to adapt the finale of this series, but they did so well with the rest of it I needn't have been worried.

One unfounded concern I had going in was if they would try to soften Count Olaf so his last act, the one good thing he did in his life, could be framed as a redemption. Thankfully no, he still saves Kit and he still dies next to her, but the show doesn't try to pretend he's been redeemed or was good all along. Thankfully. It was one of those themes towards the end of the series, that no one is fully good or fully bad, and the show didn't shy away from it.

I'm kind of surprised the show didn't confirm one way or the other whether or not Esme and Carmelita survived the fire at the Hotel Denouement. The books don't either, but the 'Unauthorized Biography' of Lemony Snicket supposedly confirms Carmelita's alive, so it's a bit strange that even this show left the question of 'gee maybe this little girl burned to death in the fire' an open one when it could have said one way or the other.

Overall, this was a pretty good adaption. Way better than the Jim Carrey movie, though we knew that from Season 1.

I haven't read any of the books but the last season was really good and the finale was really strong. And I totally agree with you about how they handle Olaf in the last episode. Heck, the fact that it isn't a redemption ("I never apologized" is a good line) kind of makes his death and his one good acts even more poignant. He's the worst, basically, but the fact that he's capable of something good means he can't be completely dismissed. It's an interesting and complex idea and while I'm not the biggest of NPH fans, he does a great job with his last scene.

I also kind of like not revealing who, if anyone, died in the fire (save for the judge, obviously).

Am halfway through the Good Place season 2 with JBear. Man, I love that this show isn't afraid to just burn the status quo to the ground. Serialized sitcoms are certainly common now but the fact that the show just said goodbye to the main setting as it is erased from existence is a bit sad (even if it is the Bad Place) and very exciting. No where to go but forward!

EDIT: Apparently, I thought this was the TV review thread, but since the Good Place is also on Netflix, it all applies.

[Juno]

Originally Posted by Rascally Badger

I liked the new Carmen Sandiego show, but the more it tried to explain its backstory, the less sense it made.

The premise reminds me a lot of Netflix's She-Ra. A orphaned girl is raised by an organization she spends her entire life preparing to join, but as she is close to joining circumstances diverts her away, she discovers they're actually evil and chooses to fight against them.

The problem with Carmen Sandiego is that this aspect isn't nearly as compelling. In She-Ra the Adora/Catra relationship did a lot to fuel drama, but Carmen doesn't really have anything like that. Her relationship with Coach Brunt is the closest thing and it's not as well developed, so that dynamic doesn't help the show as much.

It's also less gay than She-Ra, so there's that.

[Octopus Prime]

To be fair “Less gay than the She-Ra reboot” doesn’t mean much.

Noelle kind of set that bar a trifle bit high.

[Gaer]

I watched the first two episodes and I like it a lot but I love heists/sneaky thieves who do the Robin Hood thing.

That said, it’s definitely a kids show which is why it is doing what it did rather than saving her origins for later in the season(s). Wasn’t terribly fond of it but it wasn’t a dealbreaker.

I really love the animation too.

[Lakupo]

As someone with a lot of nostalgia for all things Carmen Sandiego, I wasn't sure about the early descriptions of the flipped premise, but after watching I appreciated it as a solid reimagining of the concept and elements from the 90's cartoon. Art style is nice, and they tried to throw in some token educational value, but it kind of fades away as the season winds down. Zenigata-style characters like Devineaux wear thin for me pretty easily, but there is some payoff for that later too.

[jpfriction]

Anyone else watch Russian Doll? Everyone should watch Russian Doll.

[Pizzarino Sbarro]

YEah it was good imo

[SpoonyBardOL]

Originally Posted by jpfriction

Anyone else watch Russian Doll? Everyone should watch Russian Doll.

I did! It was great. I think I'm becoming a big fan of Natasha Lyonne, and I'd love to see her in more stuff where she can sass everyone.

I also like that it was fairly bite-sized, compared to other Netflix originals. No 10-13 hour long episodes here, just 8 30-min-ish pieces. It was a nice change of pace, and it also felt like it really didn't have any cruft.

[jpfriction]

Good, well done.

Put a decent spin on a time loop and I’ll be a fan so there was little chance of this disappointing me (I even liked the 45 silent minutes of Happy Death Day I watched on the lady in the seat next to me’s ipad a couple months back), but Russian Doll was extremely good. Great characters all around, lots of fun twists. Just aces.

Lyonne said she pitched it as a three season thing. Not sure how that will work, but looking forward to more if they get to keep going.

[Little Sampson]

Originally Posted by Little Sampson

High Flying Bird, the new Soderbergh on Netflix, is good as heck.

Like his last film, Unsane (which I liked, didn’t love), he shot this on an iPhone. I think he does much better work with it here, and it’s even thematically relevant.

It was written by Tarell Alvin McCraney, who co-wrote Moonlight, and it’s v. tight. It’s vaguely about basketball, but don’t let that put you off if you’re not interested in the sport. I couldn’t give less of a shit and I still loved it so much

[zonetrope]

Russian Doll hooked me the second I found out that its "I Got You Babe" equivalent is a Harry Nilsson song. So, instantly.

[Juno]

Has anybody seen Seven Deadly Sins? Is it any good? I was interested in it but I'd rather hear people's thoughts on it first before starting it up.

[Octopus Prime]

I made it two and a half episodes before deeming it sufficiently Bad Horny to overcome what I liked about it.

[Olli T]

Sex Education is super fun. Everybody is a great actor in this! And the writing is so good.

[Sprite]

Originally Posted by jpfriction

Lyonne said she pitched it as a three season thing. Not sure how that will work, but looking forward to more if they get to keep going.

It seemed clear to me by the end that the time loops they went through didn't actually reset anything, but just dumped them in mirror universes, with them in separate universes by the end. I'm not sure what it meant when the loops started decaying, though. There's plenty to explore there, and the characters still have a lot of room to grow. Though what's there is also a satisfying self-contained story, so I'm fine either way.

[WisteriaHysteria]

Originally Posted by Juno

Has anybody seen Seven Deadly Sins? Is it any good? I was interested in it but I'd rather hear people's thoughts on it first before starting it up.

If you can get past how often it’s pervy and grody (MC frequently molests a female character for jokes; tons of T&A) what you’ll find is a very serviceable yet very staid and formulaic shonen-thing, Dragonball Z knock-off with a King Arthur/medieval Britain theme. There are worse things to watch, but there are definitely a lot better more worth your time. The second season of this show also took a big nosedive in the quality of production for a number of reasons not worth going into.

[Paul le Fou]

Originally Posted by jpfriction

Anyone else watch Russian Doll? Everyone should watch Russian Doll.

I just finished binging through this and it was so fucking good.

I really have no idea how it's going to go into further seasons, and I almost wish it wouldn't. But if she pitched it as multiple seasons, she may have a pretty good idea of how to keep it moving forward. And after watching this, I am extremely convinced that she knows what the fuck she's doing, so sign me up for more, I guess.

[Paul le Fou]

Originally Posted by WisteriaHysteria

If you can get past how often it’s pervy and grody (MC frequently molests a female character for jokes; tons of T&A)

Serious question: why the fuck would you want to bother trying to get past that

there's literally infinite content out there to consume. There is absolutely no reason to keep watching gross fucking bullshit like this.

[WisteriaHysteria]

Serious answer: people from all walks of life will all very often and very readily compromise on allowing/tolerating Unappealing Aspect X to latch itself onto Thing I Really Like. And different people have different thresholds for tolerance depending on lots of factors. That’s for people to decide for themselves. Some people look at a show like 7DS and say gross and nope out. Others will be like - I will tolerate 10s of dumb boobie jiggles if I also get to watch 15mins of guys yelling and punching each other. Best we can do is lay all that stuff out in advance so people can make their own informed decisions about stuff rather than being suckered blindly into a Netflix algorithm recommendation.

[Octopus Prime]

In case anyone else forgot it was out this week like I did, Umbrella Academy came out.

It meets my expectations!

[Juno]

I enjoyed the first few episodes of The Dragon Prince season 2, but I will say that anybody who had problems with the art/animation in the first season won't find anything to change their mind here.