Indirectly asking for recommendations on what to watch.
The good place
oh dip
It’s such a good show, the ending is absolutely perfect.
It’s not just that the ending is perfect (though it absolutely is). It’s that at every point, in every season, when they could have chosen the easy, dumbed-down route for continuing the show, they… didn’t. They didn’t do that, and it’s hard to express what a difference that makes.
For example (without spoilers), the way season 1 ended set up, for a lesser show, an easy rehash for season 2, where the same characters get up to slightly different versions of the same season 1 hijinks.
Instead, the show runners packed that painfully obvious concept into the first half of the first episode of season 2, then moved right past it. They could have milked the concept for a whole season, but they didn’t want to. So instead they acknowledged it in the most hilarious possible way, then got on with the actual story.
Goddamn, now I want to watch it again. It’s just so good.
Thanks for the insight, it’s one of the few shows I’ve rewatched.
There’s an official podcast with the showrunners and the cast members where they do post episode discussions. It’s a great listen after watching an episode.
Michael Schur’s book is also on audible and quite entertaining. And it adds context to the next rewatch
The humor is great, writing and acting are top notch.
But it hit atheist me on a spiritual level and awakened a thing I didn’t think existed.
That’s pretty fuckin rad.
Agree.
I’m here just to upvote the correct choice.
Yes! That show melted my heart and soul.
Forking good show!
- Mr Robot
- Blue Eye Samurai
- Alice in Borderland
- The Expanse
The Expanse is fantastic, I recommend the book series it’s based off of as well
I read books after the show, very rare few cases I can sit through so many books even when I know the story.
Just finished Blue Eye Samurai recently, and was utterly blown away. It really is as good as the hype says.
I didn’t like Mr Robot at all, but Alice in Borderland was a nice surprise.
I think Mr Robot is one the best shows ever created in regards to not only the writing, acting, filming, etc. but also with how well it handles the sensitive topics of mental health and the brutalities of our modern society. That being said, I understand why a lot of people don’t like it. Aside from being depressing and fucked up as hell a lot of the time, it kinda has to be watched multiple times to be truly appreciated. Every episode is packed full tiny details and clues as to what is really going on that are not meant to noticed on the first watch but give you an entirely different story the second time around. If you ever want to try it again maybe go into it with mindset that what you see right then is not necessarily the entire story, and that’s kinda the point. Your supposed to be confused, frustrated, and uncomfortable because that is what the characters are feeling.
But yeah, Allice in Borderland was a lovely surprise.
This
Schitts creek.
It was pushed so hard by Netflix when it first came out that I ignored it. Just seemed like an overdone rich fish out of water idea and I just wasn’t interested.
I finally got round to it when I think they did another promotional push. After watching it I basically forced every person I know to watch it and it is now a comfort show that I’ve watched a bazillion times.
But it is just so good.
As a Canadian, when it was first released I assumed it was being pushed so hard because it was Canadian content. Then when I got around to watching it I was so pleasantly surprised. My little maple syrup heart was so happy to see it recognized widely as the absolute gem it is.
Help me through this, because I watched the first couple seasons, maybe even the first three? To the point where the son opens up his own store.
I found it charming, quirky, and largely enjoyable. But then it just sort of felt repetitive? Like, I couldn’t see where the plot was going and the characters while enjoyable, I felt I’d enjoyed enough.
Is there a drastic uptick that I just needed to hold out for? Or at that point is the show pretty much what you sees what you get?
I think it’s one of the few shows I’ve ever watched with genuine character growth. A ton of shows will have a character grow and then walk it back, or don’t even bother. Schitt’s Creek didn’t turn them into Mary Sues - they’re still flawed but they also learn how to look outside their bubble.
If it’s not clicking for you after season 3, it may not be the show for you. A lot of people didn’t love the first season as it found its footing, but everyone I know that loved it was fully invested in season 2.
If David didn’t have an effect on you? Why the fuck are you ending statements with question marks?
😂
I see it as a stand-in for the inflection people sometimes make irl when seeking affirmation for what they’re saying. Imo, it’s not bad as a way to add tone or subtext (“I get this might be an unpopular opinion; what do you think?”), but it is not grammatically correct in a professional email
Yeah keep watching. David and the store is a big thing. The character arcs are worth it. Some very heartwarming stuff coming up with everyone.
Arcane, the animated League of Legends show on Netflix.
Oh MY GOD, every element is seriously SO mind-blowingly good. And imo its animation is at least as good as—if not better than—the Miles Morales Spiderman movies… though they did spend six years working on it tbf.
And to be clear, while I’m vaguely familiar with LoL, I’ve never played it so I had zero emotional connection to any of the characters before watching.
Be prepared to cry though. Like the loud, punched-in-the-gut, ugly sobbing kind of crying.
Check out Blue Eye Samurai, it’s got similar vibes to Arcane and is just as amazing.
I’ll move it to the top of my list!
Best thing to happen to the “manic pixie dream girl” trope. When you meet Powder, she’s a sweet, but traumatized, little girl. All you want to do is stand between her and the things that are hurting her so she can just grow up and be normal.
And then you see her become this hurting, angry, and above-all disturbed person who’s been broken by everything she’s been through, and it effing hurts. Suddenly rather than an adolescent fantasy, she’s a real person you care about who’s been driven to madness by circumstances she had very little control over.
Since I rate everything I watch for now a about 4 years, I can confirm. Arcane is one of 5 Series with 10 out of 10. (With 200+ rated items)
Would recommend 100%
Ted Lasso is a great stepping stone to get into soccer and also throughout its 3 seasons a great, empathetic critique of toxic masculinity and how racism, homophobia and narcissism affect individuals and groups. The writing, the characters, both the villains and the team members are well written and incredibly funny. One of my favourite shows I didn’t expect really like.
Cougartown is also very funny, I loved Community and had seen Abed reference the show several times before finally watched Cougartown. Lots of clever gags and jokes, well thought out, flawed characters with interesting dynamics and (mis)adventures.
I have zero interest in football but Ted Lasso is a must watch for anyone.
For anyone reading, don’t let the name Cougar Town deter you. It’s not a good name and not really representative of the show (past the first few episodes maybe). They even make fun of it.
Bill Lawrence is just really, really good at writing authentic relationships.
I hold the controversial opinion that Cougartown is actually better than Scrubs.
TL 1 was a lot of fun.
I love Ted Lasso season 1, and season 2 to an extent is also very good, but it kinda lost its footing in season 3, IMO.
The longer episodes are not as tight, writing-wise, and the story suffers a quite a bit because of it. Still a good show, but it went from “This might be one of the best shows I’ve ever seen,” to “Yeah it’s not bad, but…”
I loved the show and definitely agree with you about season 3. I joked with my wife that “they screwed up and made the sports show about sports.” Too much focus on the game, not enough on the character development/themes they explored more in seasons 1 and 2
Halt and Catch Fire.
Computers aren’t the thing. They’re the thing that gets us to the thing.
Seconded. This show was far better than I ever expected.
This is the only show in this thread that I agree was epic. The others were just meh to me.
The Wire. Everyone always ranted and raved about it. And I was like “no way it’s that good”.
It’s better.
Just about to start a rewatch of The Wire for the first time in 14 years. Gonna be great!
Hell yeah dude. Enjoy!
The Expanse
Also Fringe
Fringe is one I revisit every few years, and if I ever get a tattoo it’ll be a white tulip.
I rewatch the whole thing once a year or so. Thats my favorite episode by far. Walter has one of my favorite arcs of any character in TV. Olivia isn’t far behind.
Olivia is a dead fish for a main but fortunately all the other actors and cow carry it
Yeah it took me a season and a half to warm up to her, but she really grows on you. And Fauxlivia is absolutely fantastic, really great to see Anna Torv’s range!
Moon. Extremely underrated Sci-fi movie Vera. Excellent British detective show
I love Moon! Such a fantastic sci-fi movie. I always suggest that one to folks looking to watch one.
Might be a bit controversial, but I really enjoyed sense8.
Sense8 is a total shitshow, and I love it!
Battlestar Galactica. I sort of knew about it in a vague sense and once I finally watched it was pretty impressed
I recently saw a few scenes again and realised I had forgotten how good it was. All because of the deeply disappointing ending.
I mean, the series ending is not incredible, few are. But it’s not Lost-levels of disappointing!
Resident Alien
Seconding this one. I went into it knowing absolutely nothing about the show, except the name of one of the actors, and boy did it pay off.
I’m really anal about spoilers, to the point where I consider even trailers to be spoilers. This has resulted in watching a lot of shitty stuff, but now and then it results in pure unadulterated surprise and enjoyment.
Other shows and movies I liked after going into them completely blind:
The Prestige
Chernobyl (although basic history knowledge had already spiled the plot for me)
The 4400 (highly underrated)
Breaking Bad (recommended by a coworker who was scarce on details)
EDIT: MoonHave you seen Cabin in the Woods? It’s also one that is best seen with no idea what it is. And it is amazing.
Will check it out. Thanks for the suggestion.
You convinced me to stop reading your comment after “and boy did it pay off” and add it to my queue.
I’ll come back and finish reading your comment after I’ve finished the show (so far).
You can safely keep on reading. The rest of my comment is unrelated to the show.
Oh good! I would have come back later and wondered why I had stopped reading.
I feel like that show is more of a reminder of how good Alan Tudyk is. That show might be pretty mediocre without him running point.
Third season has started rolling out, if you’re not already aware
Came here to say Resident Alien
Dungeons and dragons.
Of course you’re referring to the masterpiece adaptation starring Jeremy Irons and Marlon Wayans, right?
You mean Profion and Snails?
Better be. Not the recent, abysmal random garbage that was just pushed in the theatre more recently
The Wire
The Expanse, people keeps recommending it and I kept ignoring it thinking it was the Extant. I hope it gets picked up again.
The actor who played Alex Kamal was fired for being a creep I think, so I doubt it’ll come back. But there are more books to enjoy on wich the series ist bases.
They killed off the character and carried on without him.
Just finished the last season of For All Mankind yesterday and it can be seen as a sort of prequel to The Expanse.
