TV report

[sasha_feather]

My eyes are bothering me lately; anything close-focus is hard. Really challenging as most of my hobbies involve close focus. I have a lot of pain in my mouth and face so concentrating is also difficult.

TV seems to be the way to go but I feel like I've run out of shows.

Enjoying: Murderbot. Also loved The Pitt, and the Old Guard 2. Task Master and DropOut (Game changer, etc), continue to delight.

Other things I've watched:

Mr Robot. Gave up after one season. It's grim and humorless. I liked some of the actors a lot but the aesthetic was so gray on gray, and a high preference for very thin bodies and baggy eyes, like heroin-addict chic. For a thriller it's weirdly slow.

The storied life of AJ Fikry: A cromulent romance / drama on Netflix. Cute if not particularly memorable. It's about people who love reading and live on an island only accessible by ferry. Has multiple characters of color.

I watched 2 episodes of "Nobody Wants This", a rom-com with Kristen Bell. Her character falls in love with a rabbi. The characters felt really thinly drawn and so I did not care about them. There was just no there there, as they say.

The Last Breath: a drama about a survival story involving deep-sea construction workers (based on a true story). I liked this pretty well but think it would have worked better with some documentary-style explanations of what was happening.

Clean Slate: on Amazon Prime, a sitcom about a trans woman reconnecting with her father. I dropped this because I could not see what was happening! There seemed to be a gray film over everything! I might try it again later as it had some good humor and characters.

I tried season three of the Bear but it was unpleasant.

I played Dragon Age: Inquisition through twice, which was very restful for my brain actually. I think it would be a good idea to invest further in video games, which help me pass the time when I'm ill. I don't know much about gaming systems. I'd love to play Dragon Age Veilguard and some other newer games but how to decide on what kind of system to get? They are expensive. I got the Xbox 360 used and have absolutely loved having it.

What are you enjoying watching or playing?

Comments

[sheafrotherdon]

I did not watch much of the third season of the Bear as the decisions the characters made in the wake of where things ended in season two were SUPREMELY annoying. But I'm reliably informed you can skip to season four and not miss season three at all.

The Old Guard 2 was a delightful romp. Such good Joe, Nicky, Quynh, and Andy stuff. I wish Nile had had a better storyline.

I'm saving Murderbot for when the season is done, as the short episodes were really frustrating to me. Binging all at once is going to work better for me!

I just finished both seasons of Andor and adored it. Some of the best storytelling I've ever seen. Caveat: the first three episodes of each season are really slow as they build the pre-conditions for what's ultimately going to end up happening. But the pay off is SO great.

[shadesofbrixton]

I was about to come in here and say the same thing about The Bear - I INHALED season 4 after feeling kind of disappointed about S3. I really do feel like you could skip S3 and go right to S4 if you want to give it a second chance. S4 felt so much more like the resolve note, where S3 was the extended tension note.

[j00j]

Watching: Not much.

Playing:
If you haven't played I was a Teenage Exocolonist, you might really like that one-- it's visually bright, choices matter but you can always save and reload or explore different storylines-- lots of replayability. Also, very queer.
Disney Dreamlight Valley is providing me with some quality distraction right now without demanding a lot from me.
I loved Baldur's Gate 3 but it's visually dark in a number of places (you can adjust somewhat) and a strain on older or average PCs. Also it's difficult for me because I am Not Good At Computer Game, could not have gotten through it without help.

Easier on the eyes

[jesse_the_k]

We really enjoyed Last Tango in Halifax—it explores three generations living in a beautifully-filmed Yorkshire town.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Tango_in_Halifax

It’s another winner from Sally Wainwright, who made Gentleman Jack and Scott & Bailey. It’s a realistic family drama with enough sentiment that we sighed at the end of each episode.

Nicola Walker runs a sheep farm; we watch her process her widowhood, relish sleeping around with sexy-but-uninteresting men, and develop a charged new relationship. Sarah Lancashire heads a 'public school' (posh boarding school for aspiring ruling-class members) and finally dumps her never-matured-past-19 husband for a woman she supervises in her role as teacher.

The two warily become friends because their widowed parents reconnect after 60 years — great work from sweet farmer Derek Jacobi and snooty Thatcher-esque Anne Reid. It’s drama, it’s comedy, it’s scenery, and I don’t remember any flashiness. The first 4 seasons are at your library but sadly it’s not streaming in the US. If you’ve got a VPN, you can watch it for free on BBC iPlayer

If you have a Roku, they’re running summer specials of two months for $2 (gotta remember to cancel, tho!) Their international offerings include britbox, where Scott & Bailey are now streaming. The working relationship is wonderful; I’d say it’s a 5 on the 0-10 copaganda scale. Also at your library.

Swiveling to podfic, I download everything from podfixx -- known as lockedinjohnlock.ao3 earlier, so be sure to view by "both pseuds." She’s expertly narrated 300 fics, mostly Sherlock BBC and Good Omens. I’m sure she’s a voice professional because her work is better than 60% of the audiobooks I read.

I also approve of her taste in which fics to record. Her Albion and the Woodsman is my reliable comfort re-listen—it’s gotten me through many a grim night.

[longwhitecoats]

Watching:

- I LOOOOOOOOOOVED Extraordinary Attorney Woo, a Korean legal procedural with a lot of comedy and romance elements. Woo Young-Woo is an autistic attorney in Seoul. I've never seen a show before with an autistic main character who has a romance arc! She's charming and funny and the supporting cast is adorable. The show does have some ableism in it but it's text, not subtext, and it's challenged by the narrative on purpose. Highly recommend. (Netflix)
- Leverage: Redemption remains excellent. The editing isn't as tight as the original show but overall I think the characters and stories are at least as good, if not better. I know you've watched some of it; a new season came out this spring which you may or may not have seen? I'm still partway through it and enjoying it a lot. (Prime)
- As I mentioned elsewhere, I loved Poker Face season one and the first two episodes of season two. Making my way through it slowly. (Peacock)
- I've now seen the first two seasons of Yellowjackets and I think it's great tv, but I'm 50/50 on whether you would like it. It does a lot of the survival-type stuff that I think you sometimes enjoy, where people protect each other through hard things, but it's also definitely a horror show where people do horrible things to each other (and sometimes to animals). Let me know if you want more details / content warnings? (Hulu, Paramount+)
- I'm watching Star Trek: Lower Decks for the first time (slowly) and it's so good-hearted and zany and fun. Probably you've already seen all of it but I thought it bore mentioning. (Paramount+)

[replyhazy]

Every Murderbot episode is done too soon!

I'm also watching The Art Detectives on Acorn via Prime Video. It has Stephen Moyer (who was in True Blood) as a CID inspector, solving historical-artwork-related crimes. Good writing.

[dancesontrains]

> how to decide on what kind of system to get?

I suppose it depends on what has more stuff that you might enjoy? Or even 'what has more games at the local library'. I've only had computers and Nintendo handhelds (DS, 3DS, Switch Lite); Nintendo certainly has the brightly coloured games :)