Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine So what are you WATCHING?

Wow, some great commentary, Lardy! Love the thoughts on each character one by one.

We're in total agreement on Katey Segal. She was hands down the critical component of the show, and delivered one of the single best performance in television history. My wife and I have been saying for awhile that if we had to pick single best performances for an actor and actress on television, it would be Katey as Gemma and Brian Cranston as Walter White. She proved on Lost that she was more than Peg Bundy, but from episode 1 onwards on SOA she was a revelation.

So much of the how centers on fathers and sons (and figuratively too with SAMCRO) but it's the mother-son relationship of Jax and Gemma that is the real meat of the show, and Sutter never lets you forget that.

I also agree Tig's nuanced role was a real highlight. I also hope to see that actor, Kim Coates, in more roles.

Venus is played by Walter Goggins, one of the critical actors on the Shield, so his showing up was a real treat (and almost all of the Shield's actors are eventually on the show). He's also one of the main characters on Justified, and plays an "antagonist but also protagonist" role there and he's simply brilliant. One of my favorite actors working today.

I also hear you on Tara. It's easy to get angry at her in retrospect yet it's also easy to see how she became totally overwhelmed and surprised by how her life with Jax turned out, especially after Clay tried to have her killed. But I keep coming back to the idea that the entire reason she came back to Charming was that Jax could take care of the ATF agent harassing her--which I think is absolutely true even though she later denies it. In a sense this sets Stall down the path of targeting SAMCRO and sets off the events of the whole show (though the real origin of the underlying problems starts with Clay and Gemma).

Ron Perelman was just genius. Like you say, even at the end after all the terrible shit he's done and all the little, evil betrayals, you can't help to not only empathize him but like him too. Once it's clear he's lost Jax early in the show, it's amazing to watch him manipulate Opey, Tig,and others--especially Juice--by taking on a fatherly role.

Regarding Rat, I agree 100%. Love the character and love how he was given a ton of subtle characterization for the scenes he was in. The scene where he's inducted into SAMCRO officially was great.

I also agree about Wendy. I never warmed to her and never truly trusted or believed her. I don't love that she is one of the two people keeping watch over the boys at the end, but that's a pretty realistic way for the show to end and a reminder that all this shit that's gone down leaves consequences that aren't all that pleasing.

Also, on Jax: I think you summed it up well. As mentioned, I agree on the ending 100%. For me, Jax was never a favorite personally but as I love the character in the sense of how he perfectly drives the show with his internal struggle, which results in so much devastation. His inability to truly change is tragic on Shakespearean levels and mirrors the tragedy of a lot of everyday, real people (though to less extremes). He's written and played brilliantly. You want him to succeed at first but as the series progresses, I couldn't help but grow increasingly angry at him. By the time he reconciled with Tara to take he fall for her, I actually said to my wife "it's about time he started acting like a man" even though I clearly knew it wouldn't happen.

There's a moment where the extended Sons family have their huge meeting and Jax gives his big speech about changing where Jax almost succeeds in being the man we wish he would be. But later that episode, titled "Eden", he falls victim to temptation and goes along with the Sons robbing the police depo so Juice can get revenge for losing his bike. This is clearly the critical moment where he fails, and where tragedy is now inevitable. He could have changed if he truly wanted to but he doesn't. And he only has himself to blame.

In that way, he was Gemma's and Clay's son after all.

On a funny note, I just found out last night that Kurt Sutter played Otto, who in many ways was such a crucial character in SoA. I was looking at Kurt's wiki aticle, glanced at his picture and was, like, "he sure looks like..." D'Oh!

Finished off Justified this week. It was a strong finale, though not pitch perfect. I think the last season tried to do a little too much callback, and the main story meandered slightly. I didn't fully buy how Raylan turned a corner and put his anger to rest, but that last scene with Boyd and Raylan was awful good.

In the two weeks since I finished Sons, I haven't really committed to something new full-on yet. But I have had a couple of mini-binges:

iZombie. I had the last nine episodes of this past initial season stored on my DVR since their initial airing. Though it wasn't a bad show, per se, I guess there was something lacking in those first few episodes that made it easy to put on the back-burner--or even to possibly delete without watching. But I noticed my wife had watched all of them, so I figured I'd give them a shot.

I'm actually glad I did! While the series kept to its basic murder-mystery-of-the-week format, the subplots involving the man who made Liv a zombie and the complications for all the characters in her life really became absorbing and kept me watching the next episode.

The showrunner for this one is the same as Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas. And he really brings that show's sensibilities to this one. Both share the ability to give you satisfying mysteries solved each episode while developing an over-arching plot as the season goes on. They also share some quirky humor, a plucky female lead and a large cast of characters. So anyone who enjoys one show can easily enjoy the other, I'd say, even though this one has some supernatural elements.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the balance of season one and am looking forward to the upcoming second season. I suspect these won't be languishing in the DVR.

Quantum Leap. This classic cult show happens to be easily one of my all-time top ten favorite shows. Some years ago, I bought the DVD releases for the first three seasons and watched them all over a period of time--some episodes viewed by me for the first time. For some reason, probably financial at the time, I never bought the two final seasons to complete the collection.

Enter Netflix and its inclusion of Quantum Leap in its catalog. I've watched the first half dozen or so eps of season four, and I still love it. Yes, the special effects are dated, and there's a certain innocence and hokiness to it all--but I'm still a big fan. I've always loved time travel, and there's just a great appeal to a traveler whose mission is to "set right what once went wrong" on a weekly basis. Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell carry the show with an undeniable chemistry and charm. And over the series, there's a mythology that is built up. It never gets fully explained, but I like how it leaves something to the imagination.

One thing bad about this show on Netflix is that a number of episodes are inexplicably missing, many memorable ones among them...including the series finale. A good thing, though, is that the episodes that are present don't have the period music either edited out or replaced because of copyright/residual profit issues like they are on the DVDs.

I'd recommend Quantum Leap to anyone who loves time travel and doesn't mind a generally more upbeat drama. The show found ways to be entertaining week-in/week-out while often delivering some stories that were innovative for the time and some messages/lessons that are in fact timeless and always relevant. Plus, it was often so damned much fun!

Saw Zero Theorem the other night. It's amazing to me that a Terry Gilliam film starring Christoph Waltz and Matt Damon would come and go without much attention. It was a challenging film, no doubt, and owes a lot to Gilliam's "Brazil". Waltz does a pretty remarkable job with his character, and the futuristic world was well-imagined.

Waltz plays Qohen, a savant number cruncher at ManCom, who reformats statistics all day and feeds them to the company. All he wants to do is work from home so he can wait for a phone call that he's convinced will give his life purpose (Is he delusional about this, or is there something to it?). Damon, playing the seemingly omnipotent "Management", grants his wish on the condition that Qohen instead works on his "Zero Theorem" project that will prove the meaninglessness of life (that he will then exploit to sell product). As Qohen closes in on the Theorem, he both gains and loses human connections on the way, and his life becomes the theorem in a way. Is the sum total of his life zero gain, or is there something more?

So does "Suckerpunch" imo, but Snyder seemed to think that film was so original.

"Zero Theorem" sounds interesting. Thanks for the recommend!

Gilliam's style not my taste and his movies, like Tarantino are so much him. They are brilliant and generally thought provoking but I guess the carnival for want of an adjective doesn't work for me. Not sure why since I really liked Python and Across the Universe, which has some of that flavor.

I'll probably try again off the recommendation. I made it part way through before.

Most have heard of "Pi." Another movie you two might like along the same "mathy" line is "Traveling Salesman." Though that one might be more specific to me since Computer Algorithms (computability) was an interest in my college studies.

Most don't know but there's an area of Math where they prove something cannot be proven or computed so don't even try. Most have heard of folded space, a short-cut to other parts of space. This movie talks about what if someone found a way to take any computation no matter how complex or how long it would take to do, even forever and fold it into one of simpler (polynomial) form. It would change everything we know. Eh, the movie's better than the explanation. lol

Thanks. I've seen and like (and own) "Pi", and it does have similarity to Zero Theorum, so I'll keep a look out for Traveling Salesman. Sounds a lot like Morrison's "magic math" concept, where the New Gods solve the 16 step puzzle in 15 and change everything.

Saw a few more films, "Ex Machina" and "maps to the Stars".

"Ex Machina" was a nice, tight sci-fi film about A.I. and the people who create it. It had the ending I thought "Her" should have had. well done.

I am a huge Cronenberg devotee, and he's been trying to make "Maps" for so long that it was painful to find it wasn't that good. Some of the initial humour was biting and wonderfully uncomfortable, but it descended into melodrama and the last quarter didn't fly for me. The acting was decent (expect for Pattinson), and the direction wasn't bad, but the story itself was lacking. I'd file it with "Spyder", under the 'Cronenberg adaptations of other's work that didn't work for me' banner.

Burned through a few series lately:
-- "Frankie and Grace" : just a good, family dramedy that isn't just a two older women version of "The Odd Couple" (though there is some of that) I like that their families are just as much a part of the show. (kinda like "TransParent" but I found those characters really unlikable)
-- "Doll & Em" : Not particularly engaging. A lot of Hollywood actor tropes, mixed with a lot of best girlfriends tropes.
-- "Sense8" : I had started it, then became bored. Then picked it up again and found it to be pretty good once I connected to some of the main8. I could have actually done without the evil scientists plot. I guess they need the action, but they should have relied on the strength of the main characters' own stories, imo. But maybe it will get better in season 2.

Also just saw "Mad Max: Fury Road." This is really "Furious Furiosa: Furious Road" but that might have gotten confused with the VinD franchise. Really good action flick - very engaging and Charlize Theron owns this movie! I want to be her for Holloween!

My wife and I finished about two weeks ago. That final scene you reference with Raylan and Boyd...wow. What a dynamic and what a series. Loved that ending.

And the shootout in the finale was intense. A small part of me kept thinking he was going to die.

There was definitely a lot of callback in the final season, but having watched all the seasons right in a row, it didn't stick out as badly as watching them a season at a time may have. Loretta had emerged as a favorite of mine in Season 2 and I was glad to see her play such a big part in the final episodes. Beyond Raylan's relationships with Boyd, Ava and Winona, I also loved his relationships with Tim & Rachel, and especially Art. A lot of shows provide some great commentary about Fathers & Sons, and this one was one of the best.

PS - Stalgie will appreciate this. My wife and I are now doing a full blown rewatch of Mad Men. We already finished seasons 1 & 2 and are on to Season 3.

Having watched the first three seasons at least twice already, I have to say the one major new takeaway I have: you really empathize with Betty a lot more. The performance is much more nuanced than I remember. Whereas Betty used to annoy the hell out of me, I don't quite feel that way anymore.

Starting going into the Dr. Who revival shows. Really liking Chris Eccleston (who's also great in the Leftovers), and I'll be bummed when he's gone. He's the perfect "mid-life crisis" Doctor, seemingly fun and quirky, but with a very dark undercurrent moving through him. The Dalek episode was especially good. He's quickly becoming my 2nd favourite Doctor after the iconic Tom Baker.

"Orion: The Man Who Would Be King"

Tragic story of the worlds greeatest Elvis impersonator before Elvis impersonators were a thing.

http://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/orion-the-man-who-would-be-king-review-tribeca-1201474639/

I'm still stuck at the begining of Season 3. (Damn college classes and their homework )

I still don't really like Betty that much as a character. I don't feel that January Jones is a very good actress and she's very wooden. I can't tell if that's part of the character's personality or if Jones is just playing it that way. Either way, I wonder if I will feel the same way as Cobie if I ever rewatch the series.

I am super excited that Season 3 of Brooklyn Nine Nine premiers tonight!

They're all great, but Terry Crews in particular is one of my favorite people on Earth.

Yeah, I wish he was my giant friend!

The softer side of Terry Crews:

http://www.spike.com/video-clips/03t36p/lip-sync-battle-terry-crews-walks-a-thousand-miles

Why does Terry Crews ever bother to buy shirts?

Saw the "Martian" and it was a pretty good crowd pleaser that was enjoyable (and I run hot and cold on Ridley Scott). It's exactly what you see in the trailers, and in fact the trailer pretty much sums up the whole movie, but is the kind of movie where the audience would watch it anyway.

It continued the annoying thrend seen in small markets like mine however, where they ONLY show it in 3D, when the 3D is unnecessary and annoying, a big reason I don't go to the theatres more often.

Then I watched the animated Suicide Squad movie "Batman: Assault on Arkham". It was beyond terrible. As a Bat-Fan or a Squad-fan it just doesn't work either way. Definitely more influenced by the Didio era than anything else.

Fall TV Round-up so far:

Awesome: Leftovers Season 2

Promising: American Horror Story: Hotel

Good, but looking to get better: Flash

Just OK: iZombie

Terrible: Muppets

The Flash, Arrow, and Agents of SHIELD are the only things I'm following currently, but I've heard good things about Scream and Scream Queens, so I may pick them up as well!

Scream Queens is easily my favorite show at the moment.

Flash and Arrow both remain solid, if imperfect.

Gotham has actually improved this season.

The jury's still out on AHS so far, though I'm optimistic.

I'll give Scream Queens a shot, thanks! And Gotham...I haven't caught a single episode yet, cause I'm really put off by the premise, but Ben McKenzie's cuteness may overcome my reservations...