New season, Same shit.
Time to end it, maybe?
This whole season is a great bit "meh". I hate to say it but I think the current resurgence of Doctor Who has come to and end and is slowly fizzling out. Oh sure, it'll retain its niche popularity, as it has when his happened before (post Tom Baker, for example), but the magic is gone.
I felt like this season was all over the place, Niska wanting to be treated like a human, Leo looking for the few awaken synths, Mattie fixing the blond cute just for him to be insignificant to the long story, Tobis girlfriend and lets not even start and the little girls synth behaviour supposed "problem" that came and went just like that. They were trying to do a lot of things in just 8 episodes i couldnt feel a connection between each storyline. And the fact that they went global just at the snap of a finger didn't help and that what happens to a lot of shows, you can't go global just like that, it's a process...
In the end they made it come to an end, yes it all came together but I don't think this ending can justify the fail that was this season.
I loved the first season, i watched it twice, and was really excited for this second season, but it ended up being a sad and bland disappointment :(
The season is over, and it was amazing, really. But I have a thing to say. I feel it won't be as interesting for binge-watchers as it was to those who followed it live. Part of the fun (for me of course) was guessing, reading theories on reddit and twitter for a week, and then seeing them unfold in the new episode. That's something binge-watchers will not have the luxury of. On the other hand, they won't have to wait for a week either…
That's not to say the show has nothing to offer besides theorising. The cast is terrific (Anthony Hopkins obviously stands out and he is amazing), the setting is perfect, the storyline is engaging, and no Chekhov's guns are left hanging.
This show is a must.
A whole lot of nothingburger from a show that has very little to say about indentured servitude, corporate slavery, grief, empathy etc.
The amateurish Mystery-Box writing reminded me more of the inept season 1 of Lost than the masterfully done season 1 of Westworld.
I can see why this series was canceled. This last season was not good at all. Turning Lightman into more of a curmudgeon and making him unlikable really did not help the show at all. There were quite a few episodes where they recycled ideas from previous seasons. The only thing I would have liked to have seen was what they would have done with Michael B. Jordan's character. It almost seemed like they were getting that character ready for a larger role in the next season.
3 great episodes, 9 ranging from utter shit to acceptable. Easily the worst season since the reboot. the plots were incredibly predictable this time around. This is the first time a season of Doctor Who really felt like a kids' show to me, the writing was just so weak and generic, this season only manages to impress if you're familiar with a...limited amount of other media.
What a mess of a season. Getting rid of 60% of the characters was a bad choice imo. I absolutely cannot get into the relationship between Sabrina and Aaron. It feels so forced and he looks like he's old enough to be her father. Almost nothing about this season even feels like it goes with the rest of the show. It's great background noise though, I guess.
The last season remains now. Till now the show is very circular. There are problems and same people slowly end up resolving it, either by luck or something similar.
I wanted the series to dig a bit deeper into the technology world, but it remains at the border of business and tech. The first season talked about setting up the compression technology. Which was fantastic. The idea of a new internet is really groundbreaking. Mastodon and others are trying that, but this particular idea of using devices to distribute the internet is really mind-blowing.
The issues they get are very in context. At the end of S5, they had an issue of 51% people controlling their internet. That is really thought about, which I liked.
Richard's character needs to evolve though. He is a bit egoistic, but a very skilled developer. He has been so since season 1, but his journey to CEO really didn't change his character a lot. That would have been interesting to see.
Nothing melts my cold, cynical heart more than seeing people better themselves.
I didn't really like Season 1, so it was a pleasant suprise of how much I enjoyed the second one. I guess this one's just been more up to my taste.
The cancellation of this show feels like a crime. It stunningly poignant and made me actually laugh out loud. I'm not East Asian, but as an Asian-American woman myself, I found myself connecting with this adorable family in ways I normally am unable to with most American TV. Netflix/Canadian TV has lost something special, and the ["overwhelmingly white"] producers are to blame.
This season was pretty underwhelming compared to the previous ones.
So basically when we are facing dead end into the plot we pop up flash... i can't say i enjoyed this cross over...
At this point, it's settled into the Schur syndrome of all fluff and no bite, all happy endings and no conflicts. But with a cast this talented and characters so endearing, it's fine for a half hour every week.
This 1st season of Buffy is only mediocre, but still there are already some good episodes and it lays the groundwork for the seasons to come...
So don't give up on it, it get's better and you won't regret sticking with it!!!
Everyone complains about season 4, but this season is only just a step above. I found the quality of the storylines varied a lot and dwindled in the last three episodes. There are some really stand-out episodes (Advanced Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Geothermal Escapism, Basic Intergluteal Numismatics) and the show is always good, but season 2 and 3 proved it can be great.
Verdict: Better than Season 4! If not by much. Definitely not good enough to justify the constant self-referential jokes about Season 4 being bad when there's still a lot of episodes that aren't much better than Season 4 (I hate it when shows make jokes about their past seasons without being good seasons themselves so this automatically causes it to lose points). Season 5a was a lot stronger than Season 5b - and I felt like this show lost a LOT when Donald Glover left, and it's going to lose a lot next season with no more Jonathan Banks and John Oliver too. Feels like it's a show that gets worse the more self-indulgent it becomes and it's very much a case of Dan Harmon being caught up in his own hype.
I talked about Pierce and Troy's farewell episodes a few days ago - and they're the high-point of the series I think for me. It handles Troy's farewell brilliantly and manages to get Pierce perfectly even in an episode without Chevy Chase ever actually being there at all, Walton Goggins showing up was hilarious and Troy's send off in a mostly Britta-centric episode worked well and made the best use of a LeVar Burton cameo. Also, this is probably due to the fact that I'm watching this much later after the app-rating parody trend seems to have passed - but App Development and Condiments just felt there to me; other shows have tackled a similiar subject so much better. And there's yet another trap that the show falls into of tackling high-concept episodes - they're fine in their isolation but there's just too many of them and they just feel like once again, the show's doing them just because they can and hasn't really learned anything. They keep repeating concepts without trying something new, and even the season's best episode - Basic Intergluteal Numismatics, which I liked - isn't as good as the Law & Order parody that came before it.
I'm fine with the odd one or two concept episode but they're still really overbearing - the Dungeons & Dragons episode felt a bit too repetitive and just a weaker retread of what had come before; and the G.I. Joe episode just felt like a weaker version of the Christmas animated episode and it felt really hollow as a result (especially given the lazy copout of the It was all a dream ending, which feels like a direct retread of the Season 4 finale). And even given the choice as much as I loved Geothermal Escapism, I'd take the paintball episodes over it. Community used to be a show that was able to balance emotional stuff with the concept episodes and although it does it with Troy's departure, that's probably the only time it manages this season as even Jeff and Britta's on/off marriage proposal/breakup just feels flat and forced like they needed to get two characters together and - yes, they called out on the trope but they didn't do anything with it. Also: Abed realising that he's on a show... didn't work for me, as much as I love Abed's character.
The characters don't feel anywhere near close to what they were in the past especially by the end - in part due to how plot-driven the finale is, there's a few quiet moments but mostly they just feel there to react to the news that there's buried treasure and that's all we get. Most of the time they're all pretty much interchangable now to the point they all feel like shadows of their former selves. Also: Chang just becoming part of the group still feels odd especially given everything that happened in Season 3 - did they really forget about him essentially TRYING TO KILL THEM?, but I did like some of the material that Chang had this season. Even Season 4 had a better ending than Season 5 - at least they actually tried to give Jeff a character arc.
If anything - Season 5 feels like The Rise of Skywalker (although that's not to compare Season 4 to The Last Jedi because I loved TLJ and didn't click with Season 4). It feels very much like a course-correction, over-reactionary, safe and ambitionless when Community previously was daring, risk-taking and always trying out new things. And what's arguably made it worse is that this time it feels self-indulgent and self-righteous (see back to the constant gags about Season 4 being a 'blip'). When I started Season 3 I was worried it would go full Sherlock and jump the shark completely - and it looks like it has done. Now it's just - aside from the odd exception - stale and lifeless. Still: one more season to go! (If I ever do rewatches, unless Season 6 salvages it I'm sticking with Seasons 1-2).
Favourite episodes from the season:
Cooperative Polygraphy
Geothermal Escapism
Basic Intergluteal Numismatics
Have already seen the series, but going through it again now... it's a bit alarming when you get to season 4 how it feels like she show basically lost it's soul.
amazing season, such an amazing improvement from the last 2 (and those were fantastic)
Not sure why the only comments on this season are so negative. I think this was one of the strongest seasons of the entire series. It delves into the madcap and goofy even more than the previous two seasons, but that's not a bad thing in my book.
The first season of Kim's Convenience starts like a college production of Korean Simpsons. Uneven but generally solid performances, clever but unpolished writing, and low rent production value. Coupled with almost offensive amount of Konglish, I was ready to bail.
Then, something happened after a couple of episodes. Kim's family started to become more real and endearing. Performances were no longer caricature but nuanced and realistic.
It would be easy to characterize Appa (Mr. Kim) as Homer Simpsons. But underneath his rotund, prideful, stubborn exterior lies an immigrant who cares deeply for his family (including his estranged son). He may appear to be a stereotypical Korean immigrant dad, but he's a lot more than that.
Umma (Mrs. Kim) also initially appears to be a stereotypical Korean mom, placing too much weight on what other people think. But we see that she's conflicted, who understand the flaws in her upbringings, evolving to place greater value in her family's happiness and well being.
Their kids, Jung and Janet, are likewise flawed, but they are good kids with many great qualities that would make any parents proud. Surrounded by amazing supporting characters (Shannon and Gerald are stand outs), the first seasons ends with big potentials and lots of hearts.
I look forward to the second season.
I adored the first season and eagerly binge watched the entirety in a day but with this season it's taken me over a week to get 5 episodes in. I'm not 100% sure why but this season just feels a little off and it's really quite dull.
Yes, there's a large number of unspectacular episodes that surround some of the fan favourite X-Files episodes but it doesn't change the fact, at least for me, that this is an excellent opening season. Scully and Mulder are already well defined and compelling leads but when put together, the result is something of a rare and pure kind of magic. Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny have a uniquely palpable onscreen chemistry that makes this season, even at its lowest points, fun to watch.
My absolute favourite episodes of the season were Squeeze, Beyond the Sea, Tooms, The Erlenmeyer Flask as well as the two opening episodes.
Certainly not very good and doesn't hold up at all really compared to the modern state of television. But it is what it is. Much like the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this inaugural season to one of the great and influential television shows does not really do it justice at all. And with only a mere five episodes, it's hard to fault creators Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld too much. It isn't exactly a big confidence boost.
But what this first season does is show where Seinfeld started (that's obvious) and in doing so, really helps put into perspective how the show's rise to television and pop culture phenomenon is something extraordinary. Certainly not a good season at all and first time viewers really should not let it be the 'be all and end all' when it comes to watching the show.
I, and seemingly many others, are stunned at how NBC felt the show, based on this first season, was worthy of renewal but thank god it was.
I'm not particularly keen on this woman's acting. Pun intended.
