08/01/2018

What I've Been Watching #11

It's about that time again...time to round up the latest tv shows I've been watching! I seem to do these roundups every three months, but some months I watch more shows than others! Seems to be the case these past few months (as I'm on holidays and I have nothing better to do than binge shows) as I have six shows to chat about! I also watched season 2 of the Crown and I enjoyed it. I liked how they focused on and delved more deeply into characters other than Elizabeth this season - like Philip! I had no idea he had such an extreme backstory haha. I was a bit sad for Margaret though - but I guess you can't change history! 


I was pretty excited for this series seeing as Frank (aka The Punisher) was an amazing character in Daredevil season 2. That being said...I was very let down. There were so many aspects of this show that I was disappointed by or disliked which makes me sad because I love Frank and Jon Bernthal's portrayal of him is amazing. The Punisher follows Frank Castle - an ex-marine - and basically his mission to take down some corrupt high-ups in the military who were doing some bad illegal stuff... you get it. Firstly, it was TOO long. I find this with most of the Marvel Netflix series - they could easily be 8 or 10 episodes instead of 13, but I really felt it with The Punisher. The plot got seriously messy and just meandered about with unnecessary, irrelevant storylines just there to fill up the time. Some scenes that were inevitable, just got delayed with a bunch of unnecessary "suspense building" and yeah...it was just too long and got frustrating and boring to watch. Also - this show is super violent which is totally part of the character, but I thought it got a bit unnecessarily gory at times! Besides the messy plot, I didn't really love the characters (besides Frank). Some of their motivations were unclear/lacking, and the villain/s were lacklustre. Overall, definitely a let down for the Marvel Netflix series and is sitting down the bottom with my other least favourite, Iron Fist. Though, I'll be honest, I was more entertained by The Punisher than I was Iron Fist but I really hope they don't make a second season...

From a bad Marvel show, to a great one! The season finale airs in a couple of days and I am so excited! I binged this over the last couple of days and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's about a group of six teenagers who discover their parents are actually a group of super villains who have been committing crimes since before they were born. They struggle with deciding whether to turn them in and coming to terms with who their parents really are. A few of the teens happen to have superpowers too, so it's also a teen drama in understanding who they are, and y'know going through ~teen~ stuff. I love the diversity of characters - I think Karolina is my favourite but I love Nico too! I'm liking the story too because as "evil" as their parents are, they're people too so it's interesting to see the depth of their characters and story. So far, it's really unlike any other Marvel story and I like how there are touches of "super" while still grounded (fairly) in reality.

I did not expect to like this as much as I did - sometimes I'm down for an old timey show/movie but sometimes they can really bore me! Alias Grace is based on the novel by Margaret Atwood who also wrote The Handmaid's Tale. It has a similar vibe but is also completely different. Set in 19th century Canada, Alias Grace follows Irish immigrant Grace Marks, a convicted murderess, and whether or not she should be pardoned due to insanity. Sarah Gadon who plays Grace is incredible! She's Canadian herself but her Irish accent is so good and the way she plays the different facets of Grace is amazing. Grace is such a complex character and the way the story is told definitely makes you question what you think really happened. I also love the relationship between Grace and Dr Jordan (the psychiatrist trying to investigate what happened). The story is based on true events which makes it all the more intriguing! I highly recommend giving it a watch, especially if you enjoyed The Handmaid's Tale.

I don't know that I fully understand the Rick and Morty hype, but I've finally watched all the episodes! It took me a while to warm up to it, but by the second season I was really enjoying it. It's about mad scientist Rick, and his grandson Morty and the adventures they take through time, space and the infinite dimensions in between. It's crazy, whacky and very funny but also has some deep themes about family and really...the meaning of life and one's existence? Whoa..way ta get heavy. It is funny though! And ridiculous which makes it a lot of fun to watch. Wubba lubba dub dub!

You may have heard the hype around The Sinner and rightly so because this show is ah-mazing. I watched this around the same time as Alias Grace and they are similar in a way. The show basically begins with Jessica Biel's character straight up murdering a guy (it's a crazy scene) and the show basically investigates why she did it, because even she doesn't know why. It's very much a psychological thriller type mixed with your crime drama. There is a massive payoff at the end which makes all the build up and suspense completely worth it. It's a bit mindblowing really. Thoroughly enjoyed and thoroughly recommend!

Black Mirror Season 4
Season 4 of Black Mirror recently dropped and I binged it within a couple of days! Pretty heavy stuff to watch and digest in a short amount of time but I had to do it! Black Mirror is an anthology series that reflects how technology may affect us in the future - a "black mirror" of our reality. Many episodes are quite f*cked up but are so intriguing and also scary because it could damn well happen. I typically find episodes to be hit or miss - I really enjoyed episodes 1, 2 and 4, and 6 was good. I really didn't like episode 3 - I found the character's motivations to be really unbelievable and to be honest they took it too far and it wasn't satisfying at all! Episode 5 - the "survival thriller" was in all black and white which did help the aesthetic, but to be honest I was a bit bored by it and the ending wasn't a super good payoff for me. The other episodes were amazing though. Episode 1 is the poster I have pictured and was partly a spoof of Star Trek. It was a cool new direction for Black Mirror and I liked it. Episode 2 was way too real and quite scary, and I thought episode 4 was sweet despite the possible moral ramifications! (lol). 

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