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

Thanks for the tip about La La Land, Kappa. I could swear I went by the local un-Megaplex last week and saw it on their marquee. I'll have to check.

2017 has me trying a couple of new series that I'm fairly into after a handful of episodes each:

Emerald City is kind of a dark re-mix of the Oz stories. It's been billed as "Wizard of Oz meets Game of Thrones". While I don't think it's that dark, it certainly has an adult spin on the mythos but without going too, too far into the dark side. The cast is pretty good with one highlight being the smoldering chemistry/blooming romance between Dorothy and the scarecrow stand-in. It's kind of understated but draws you in. The only character I'm not feeling at all is Vincent D'Onofrio as Oz. He really seems bored in the role and not at all captivating as he was recently as Wilson Fisk on Netflix's Daredevil series.

I'm not sure Emerald City is for everyone, and reviews seem to bear that statement out. But I'm entertained thus far and am likely to stick with it thru its ten-episode (I think) run.

Another much more definitely mature series on FX is Taboo. It's hard to describe, but it's set in London near the end of the American Revolution. James Delaney, a man who'd long been presumed dead, returns home after his father dies and inherits a valuable bit of land that puts him in the crosshairs of the East India Company. There's a lot of mystery about what happened to James in Africa and what he wants to accomplish with his inheritance. Tom Hardy as James is captivating, and he is surrounded by a first-rate cast that includes many familiar faces. It's set for 8 episodes, and I'm definitely in for the rest.

Have any of you seen either of these two? What did you think?

Powerless was truly, truly awful. The main character is extremely unlikable and the whole thing is horribly unfunny. The one fun part was the Starro cameo. Don't waste your time.

Lardy, I very much plan on watching Taboo, which looks awesome, but am waiting for it to finish so I can binge watch it all at once over a weekend. Your description of it only whets my appetite more.

I don't think I had even heard of Emerald City. We only got Netflix in Nov or Dec, so I'm still sorting through it all (and very gradually getting through the amazing Daredevil season 1). My wife and I absolutely loved The Queen and Versailles.

We've just rewatched House of Cards season 1&2 and are now watching 3&4 for the first time. By far one of the best series ever made, it's hard to praise it any more than has already been done. It's powerful: incredibly well written and directed, with an incredible cast and two seminal performances by Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright.

How to Get Away with Murder. Best show on TV right now for my money. I was shocked recently by an interview that revealed how much the writers are flying by the seat of their pants. They manage to consistently pull off climaxes that feel meticulously planned. And unlike some other shows, *Lost* *Battlestar Galactica* they never actually claimed to have been plotted out far in advance, I just always assumed it because of how tight the writing is. The most recent death truly turned the show upside down. It was truly the most important character they could possibly kill, since there would be no show without Viola Davis.

The only superhero show I'm watching right now is Supergirl. It's nicely self-contained, and has an old-school feel that recalls Christopher Reeve and Dean Cain that tickles my nostalgia button. And it also has great, thoughtful messages for young girls that go far beyond the usual platitudes. I'm especially glad they didn't have her fall for the nerdy guy who was pining for her from afar. I'm really tired of the cliche of the guy who "deserves" the girl because of his secret feelings.

I came back to Grimm, but honestly would probably leave again if it weren't the last series. It's not good enough to make me fall in love again, but it is still good enough to want to know how it ends. Although I'm not pleased with the direction the love triangle seems to be headed.

And - one of my guiltiest secrets - I am an avid General Hospital watcher and have been for 7 or 8 years. It's hypnotic. Some of the tragedy is truly Shakespearean in scope. When it's good, it's predictable in good ways that make you think "Ha! I knew it!" but also surprises you once in a while. The current producer is one who is willing to embrace the absurd and include psychic visions, multiple personalities and other over the top things.

And how could a Legion fan not like a show that has something like 30 full time cast members at any given time, as many again as recurring, and decades of complicated history to dive into?

Man, this sucks. I had absolutely no interest in Powerless. Then today I read about how it's going to feature Crimson Fox and Fire, and I want to check it out. Then I immediately read a terrible review. Why couldn't I have read the terrible review first, so I didn't have that brief minute and a half of hope?

It looks like the cameos are going to be pretty much the only reason to watch Powerless, because it's a pretty lame show otherwise.

I'm loving Riverdale after two episodes, however!

Newish shows last couple of years top 25
Game of Thrones (binged on quickly rose to the top of my list)
Walking Dead (this show when good can affect me physically)
Flash (fun enjoyable show made me love the Flash even more)
Supergirl (excited about Mon-el hopefully get more Legionnaires)
Legends of Tomorrow (more heroes more fun)
Gotham (Bruce Wayne is getting taller this season)
Westworld (the twists and turns kept me on my toes)
Outlander (started out slow and picked up steam in more ways than 1)
Vikings (at first felt like a documentary then into must watch TV)
Super Mansion cartoon (messed up Super-Heroes in a good way)
Justice League Action cartoon (Space Cabbie was awesome fun)
Awesomes cartoon (Super-Heroes in the vein of inferior 5)
Taboo (intense with great acting and intrigue)
Black Sails (just started watching, beware of Blackbeard)
Saturday Night Live (Alec Baldwin is my President)
Penny Dreadful (monsters a league of extraordinary gentleman feel)
Stranger Things (great child acting and story)
Luke Cage (half way through season 1 so far so good)
Daredevil (just started watching 1st episode was promising)
Avengers cartoon (would like to see more old school Avengers)
Guardians of the Galaxy cartoon (enjoyable as the movie)
Broad City (these girls are ate up funny)
I Zombie (good show need to catch up on past season)
Batman Brave and the Bold (missed show when it first aired fun)
Kentucky Wildcat Basketball (Go Big Blue)

Real deep, literary stuff: The Wild Wild West. NOT the movie!

I have been watching reviews and let's plays of Stellaris, which is a sci-fi game from Paradox. I am so indecisive as to whether or not I should buy it.

I love Paradox games in theory, but they overwhelm me so much that I hardly ever play them. But I keep buying the DLC because I want to believe I will play them!

I can't believe how great it is!

On paper, the show isn't really my cup of tea at all. Hell, I just started liking Archie Comics in general like a year and a half ago. Yet, I absolutely loved the first two episodes.

It's that same odd, yet immensely enjoyable thrill that I get when I watch the Flash. They've tapped into a subconscious part of me and I guess I'm just going to go along for the ride!

PS - it helps that rather than going the route of the much-hated Dawson's Creek and 90210 (both of which I despised as a kid), the show goes the route of Veronica Mars, and instead brings a heavy dose of mystery, tension and intrigue.

That, combined with characters I've recently started to love, is pretty damn effective!

So this is the first time in what feels like about 20 years that I've seen more than one or two of the main Oscar-contender films prior to the ceremony.

I've seen four of the Best Picture nominees and while that's still pathetic, I'm feeling swept up in awards fever so want to rank them. From worst (for rhyming purposes; none of these movies were objectively 'bad') to first:

4. Hidden Figures: A perfectly fine movie - fine acting, fine plot, fine filmmaking - but nothing special. Hits every story and emotional beat you expect it to while remaining engaging enough. Absolutely does not deserve to win Best Picture though.

3. La La Land: Started off disliking this one (there was something really annoying and 'affected' about the opening song/dance number IMO) but it really grew on me as the film progressed. I'm a big musical fan but I think this one would almost have been better without the songs and dances actually. I was more engaged by the characters and the story (as unfresh as it was) than by any of the songs and dance numbers (as visually arresting as some of them were). I really loved the ending too. I was not expecting to be as emotionally moved by it as I was.

2. Arrival: Close call between this one and La La Land. I read the short story this was based upon just before seeing the film and this is one of the rare instances where I think I should have seen the film first. I think the twist would have been more powerful that way. Really moving and original story and it would be great to see a sci-fi movie get recognition at an awards ceremony for once.

1. Moonlight: Beautiful. Devastating. Heart-breaking. Hopeful. For multiple reasons, this film spoke to me more than any other film I've seen in a long time. Everything about it was flawless IMO - acting, music, cinematography, dialogue, plot structure, editing... I really, really hope it wins some big awards.

I definitely plan on seeing Hell or High Water within the next few days and hope to see Hacksaw Ridge and Manchester by the Sea before the ceremony too so will update this thread if those movies upset my rankings at all.

Re-watched John Huston's Beat The Devil a week or so back. A fun, if frothy, movie about modern-day colonial profiteering, skullduggery, bed-hopping among the married set. Y'know, all the finer things.

Late to the party, but we`re going through the Wire now. All I can say is... Wow.

Agreed. This was a surprisingly moving film. The narrative flow, the depth of the characters, the quality of the silences...

If it wins ANY awards (even best 3rd scene), they will hear my cheers as far away as Khund

Great, great series. I rewatched season 1 a few years ago and it definitely feels dated, but that is a very minor complaint in relation to how great the rest of the show is.

The entire show is great so don't believe anything negative you read about season 2 or 4. That being said, there's just somethign magical about season 1.

Interesting, because we liked season 2 quite a bit (The union stuff was great, and it certainly subverted expectations on what the show was about). We're midway through season 3 and it's taking a bit of time to warm to it, mostly because it seemed directionless at first, but threads are starting to come together on the back half. I've actually heard season 4 is one of the best seasons (in a soul crushing way).

For whatever reason, all the seasons have detractors online but ultimately they are all pretty great. Season 3 is probably the one I liked least. Season 2 gets the worst wrap of all and I disagree (as you guys clearly do too). I loved the union stuff myself and think it was a very smart approach to the show. I do have to admit that I haven't watched seasons 2-4 since 2006 or 2007.

So many of these actors are on shows currently. Of course, Idris Elba went on to become a mega star too. All of them really get a chacne to show their stuff in this series because of how meaty the characters are and how well written the dialogue is.

Wire viewing has slowed down somewhat for season 4. It's still excellent, but being a public school teacher, my wife is finding this season extremely stressful, so we're not binging it as quickly.

Leftovers continues to be the best thing on TV, and probably one of the best shows of all time. This week's episode was sublime, from the "Perfect Strangers" theme song opening to the Wu-Tang Clan trampoline scene. Carrie Coon is just awesome as the "cursed" Nora Durst.

In recent weeks I watched the last two seasons of Deep Space Nine, a show I loved back in the day but did not see much of late in the run because life got in the way. I had seen a couple of eps from season 6 back at the time, the retaking of the station and the magnificent 'Far Beyond the Stars'. But everything else was new to me.

seems odd to say SPOILER ALERT for a show that ended 18 years ago, but if anyone who has never seen it is tempted to, i highly recommend it.

the multi-part stories were always awesome, well-done epic space warfare. The individual episodes were usually very good as well, but some seemed incongruous to life during wartime.

I had been warned about the pah-wraiths, and their introductory episode late in season 6 was probably the worst of the entire series. It made me fear the show was about to jump the shark, but later stories involving them were a lot better. The number of Ferengi-centered stories got onerous as well, and both mirror-universe follow-ups seemed like going back to the well one too many times; they should have just left it to that first one. Section 31 seemed to be destined for over-use, but the three stories were just enough without going overboard.

Other than that, a lot of good stories, great character development. I loved the addition of Vic Fontaine as a reoccurring holographic character, and the caper episode, while one of those that doesn't really fit the wartime feel, is just brilliant. It shouldn't work on so many fronts, yet it does; the crafting and acting is so good that the whole silliness of the premise doesn't matter. The baseball episode runs into similar risks, but like the Doctor Who episode 'Father's Day,' I got a lot more out of it on multiple viewings.

the eps where Nog is injured, and then his return and recovery in the holosuite were really touching, the former for its intensity and grittiness and the latter for its poignancy. It is a good reminder as well that DS9 generally used holosuites as an augment to a story rather than the TNG trope of 'the holodeck goes berserk!' and the closest DS9 comes to the latter (the caper, and the much earlier Bashir spy story) are still about something other than an out-of-control holodeck. The ep where Vic is coaching Odo about Kira is a nice example; while taking place mostly inside the holosuite, the conflict is really about Odo overcoming his own obstacles.

I agree with a lot of what you say about DS9. The last episode was great and the Cardassian resistance stuff in the last season was also great, with the ironic reversal of roles and the unlikely rise and redemption of Dumar (and Garrak was always a favourite anyway).

It was unfortunate that Terry Farrell left the show, as I never warmed the Ezri Dax and the cast dynamic never fully recovered from that. Still, while I loved the show the first time out, on a re-watch a few years ago, it's obvious the addition of Worf was the turning point where things really picked up. I was disappointed his status at the end of DS9 was never addressed in any ST Nemesis, he's just suddenly back with the old crew.

I had heard of Farrell leaving the show at the time, so I had many a year to get used to her not being there for season 7. Obviously any change can be awkward, even when that character is a Trill with a built-in reason for a new face. I didn't mind Ezri, but with only one season and a lot of storylines being wrapped up, there really wasn't time to develop fully her. That said, I generally liked what they did do with her; it didn't always gel, but it did enough.

agree re: Worf's joining, but it wasn't just him - it was also the show setting down roots and the intensification of conflict with the Gamma Quadrant, if I recall correctly. I would place Worf as a second turning point, the first being more than a season earlier, with the grand slam of really good stories in a row with Dax and Kirk's old Klingon nemeses, the Maquis, the first DS9 Mirror Universe story, and the introduction of the Jem'Hadar. To me, the late second season shows a lot of important development and coalescence even before Worf. But yes, his addition was a good development that finished the solidification process.