Ranchpig

Not sure how I missed this but was really fascinating.

What an incredible sci-fi concept. The anime really starts off well but slow in order to build tension and character development. You know something is terribly wrong and get a glimpse that something sinister is going on. The use of time arcs is well done. Makes this story seem a lot longer than it really was. Thoroughly enjoyed the world building. Lots of details and quirky ideas from a post-apocalyptic society.
My biggest beef is that in the last arc all logic goes right out of the window. The show becomes so frustratingly inconsistent and unrealistic according to the world they've spent time building. It's as if the writers just spent 75% of their effort creating this really fascinating world, then realized they had 6 episodes left and said, screw it.... we have to hurry up and finish it. Nothing makes sense anymore . Characters completely act against their nature as previously written. Logic of the cantu itself stops making sense. And i'm not asking for every little detail to be perfectly consistent. This is a 180 deg shift.

Many examples but a couple are how are these people dying? Can't they protect themselves? This actually culminates with Shesi (the strongest Cantu user) doing just that, protecting himself with his Godlike powers to slow Fiend down. Then all of a sudden, Shesi's writhing in the air somehow disabled by .... reasons. No explanation other than a single sentence about Cantu Leakage, which has never been talked about before in this context. All the other people can't throw up walls or hide... they just succumb to fear and die in a panic. This is so abnormal and retarded, but it moves the plot forward. That there is this superhuman FIEND that cannot be stopped. Poor writing.
Another just mind numbing example is how these PK users selectively lose their abilities when the plot needs it. The final tunnel/river scene.... Can't use that river, current is too strong... we'll need to split up and get a submarine. WHAT???? 30 seconds earlier they were moving giant slabs of rocks thru the air and later flying the submarine.... Or when they first enter the caves.... slime and bat crap on the floor and our hero just forgets that she could sweep it all away in a path. No she has to be freaked out. This happens absolutely thru the last 5 episodes over and over and over again. Again, it feels that a whole new writing team came in that had just gotten some quick overview but hadn't read/watched the first 2/3s of the story and were under some really unrealistic rush to finish.
The ending was predictable but not in a good way for me. The real bad guy of the story is the PK users clearly. They were the real villains but didn't realize it. You could see it especially in Tomiko the 275yr old leader. She knew everything and yet wanted to ruthlessly punish the very people her contemporaries had created out of normal humans. Makes Hitler look like a sunday school teacher. It all ends with our hero starting a family and hoping for some change, but obviously can't happen. No lessons learned and no redemption. The powerful suffered a bit thru arrogance, but it will continue.

So, all in all it had the potential to really be a great story but for whatever reason the end got really lazy or sloppy and kinda ruined it all. I feel cheated.

A very different show than the first 2 seasons for sure. Hints of the older ones, but a different rhythm, lots of sidelines, little narrative advancement.
The 1st episode had me scratching my head. Very disjointed and abstract flashbacks. Was very bizarre. Had me thinking it was almost trying to be a recap episode?? Not sure, but it wasn't needed imo.

The entire season seemed to have these long and extended (boring) scenes that really didn't drive the narrative. Pacing was terribly slow and some entire episodes were really unnecessary. The Tina one especially. It came out of nowhere and didn't really have anything to do with anything. Placed in a different context, I could see it having some importance, but as a standalone it was just baffling. Another example was the hospital. Ok, I get it, you want to establish some reconciliation with Mom, but a whole episode in a hospital bed?

The saddest part was this is a really exceptional cast and the talent shows, but the script and the pacing are just tedious at times. The obsession with all the minor character development makes it almost seem like a different show. Are the Fak brothers really that important? It feels like the B team came in to write for this show. If seasons 1 and 2 were A's, ( and I think they definitely were) this was at best a C minus. Hope S04 gets better.

Amazing show from start to finish. So unusual and unique and well done. Actors who are mostly unknown yet give compelling performances, cinematography, sound design, even the low budget effects were decent though the makeup is pretty shoddy. The star of the show is the script. Spoiler: Vampire Priest who thinks he's doing the will of God
The pacing at the beginning is perhaps a little slow, but character development is thorough. The 2nd act is brilliant with the revelation of the main plot. Everyone did a splendid job building the tension into revealing the main story. The ending was a little unrealistic, a little chaotic, and a little predictable, but in all honesty, wasn't a horrible way to wrap it up. At least there was satisfying closure even if it was a bit campy. But to me that's what made me forgive it. It was finished. So many shows feel obligated to throw in a cliff hanger in hopes of a continuing story. This story was complete and really well done. I'm so surprised this missed my radar.

I think people who come from a religious back ground will get most of the Bible references, especially if they were brought up devout. To uninitiated, it will be somewhat foreign. Some have complained about the pacing. I think that's a byproduct of current film/tv making. There are uninterrupted scenes that are minutes long. This is unheard of in modern film. Even less so in TV. We are so used to shots bouncing around in under 5 seconds. It's a style I particularly find over-used and annoying (along with shaky cam). But I can see how people find it harder to watch. Try going back to the great movies of the 50s or 60s. 10 or 15 minute scenes. So to me it felt natural and where used it was particularly poignant dealing with heavy metaphysical contemplations.

Being convinced that almost all media is socially influenced by CIA or other alphabet agencies to set narratives (going back a very long time) this show has made a remarkable transition. Seth McFarlane and his writers have long been known to push the comedy barriers so it was interesting to see how a Star Trek rip off was going to go. The first season wasn't a bad attempt. Lots of campy humor, fairly clean (as compared to Ted) and generally likeable. Of course, there was definitely the "message" interspersed throughout. That's just a given nowadays. All in all it was watchable. Season 2 was the start of the transition into what season 3 has become. A poor attempt at delivering "the message" thru a modern Star Trek type series. Which is remarkable, as the current ST series have absolutely bombed and they are copying the same formula, albeit with maybe a less forced narrative (they still have a white man as a captain).
Surprisingly, if they just dialed it back quite a bit and stopped with the gender issues and the irrelevant drama it could be actually better than current Star Trek. But somehow I don't think it's possible anymore. Story telling in the SciFi genre is perfect for exploring lots of issues. It's a truly blank slate limited only by the imagination but the problem is writers force the current approved narrative down our throats limiting these possibilities. It's almost as if it's obligatory now to 1. Show overpowered women (smarter, stronger, better leaders) 2. Discuss gender reversal/confusion 3. Slavery, even if it's robots and of course, 4. Diversity. And these forced check points are woven into a terrible story line. Or should I say the story line is woven into the obligatory narrative. Is it deliberate or just the current echo chamber thinking. Probably both.
My final evaluation is that Orville is passable but not enjoyable. It's long form episodes are fairly bland, the humor is basically gone replaced with lots of forced drama. The acting isn't good enough for a serious drama which it's trying to be. The plots are full of the current "message". Someone in management decided it wanted to fill the space that Star Trek once held and compared to the steaming pile of crap, it's ok. But on it's own, it is unremarkable and forgetful.

I absolutely love this style of SciFi, in the vein of Doom Patrol and Legion. I didn't read the comics so I was coming to this fresh. 1st Season was good if not a bit slow, but that's ok, because character development is important. The story, production, and acting were good enough. Of course we had to have the beginnings of "the Message" by-lining the story, but it was do-able. Season 2 started to show it's cracks. The writers had to get the story more convoluted which is on par with hollywood/netflicks but all in all was fairly watchable. My only complaint was how disgusting Ellen Page was. She looked and acted 1 dimensional. Her physical appearance was hideous. She detracted from the show in a big way. Especially as a lot of the main plot was about her.
Which brings us to season 3. How interesting that between seasons, Ellen magically became Elliot and her character becomes so much more likeable and attractive compared to the S2 Vanya. It was absolute nonsense. It ruins shows like this because catering to some narcisist who wants to trumpet the message by writing it into the script is utterly ridiculous. None of the characters even blinked at it as if that's normal is laughable. Besides all the woke messaging, the other part that was hard to get behind was the artificial conflicts. This season was especially bad and it just didn't fit with who these characters were. I don't know. It left me feeling like, "hurry up and lets end this!" I did think it was good that there was resolution to the story so hopefully I don't have to continue watching.
TLDR: Starts off well, slows and wanders, ends decently. Lots of "the Message" involved.

So glad this train wreck is finally done. Kinda like a bad relationship you know you need to get out of but just keep hoping it will be better. Well it never does.
This whole series had your typical conflicts and needlessly forced drama, but all in all the story arcs weren't horrible and you could sorta suspend belief.

But this final season has just been utter garbage.
Female characters suddenly turned into stereotypical lesbians butch types for no apparent reason and a few look terrible. Characters changed personality also for no apparent reasons. Lack of continuity and explanation, confusing story lines kinda went off to nowhere. Motivations are unreliable and random. I'm sure the PC police will crack down on me, but the whole "Girls Kick Ass" gets tedious. Except for Shadeheda, no man can stand against the magnificent power of the Mary Sues.
I'm so sick of agenda driven story telling. A. it's insulting to our intelligence and B. Its crap story telling.
I don't know if Hollywood is in its own echo chamber or these people really think this is good stuff. Probably a little of both, but it's a shame. The premise was good. The production value was good. The acting was good for the most part given the script. But it's unbearable to slog thru this knowing it could have been so much better.

Warning! This will destroy your brain!
Seriously, this is one of THE worst shows I've ever watched period. I love foreign stuff and I realize the netflix voice overs can some times miss the mark and ruin the subtlety of the actors. But this is absolute garbage. Even listened in original language. Was just mind meltingly horrid.
It hurt my brain to keep watching this. The Russian writers and director must have copied every single worst trait of Hollywood and crammed it in.

Production value was pretty decent and they did their best to give the show an air of Futurism with the CGI overlays even though everything was shot in current times and they didn't really bother to hide it. Thought it was funny they keep using 90's American cars. The story actually "Could" have been ok if it wasn't for the hack writing and terrible acting.
No one, except for the daughter was even remotely likable. The script kept jumping around needing contrived drama. Characters kept changing for no apparent reason. Forced tensions. Inexplicable actions. Maybe in Russia these characters are relatable, I don't know, but it just didn't seem very realistic.

All in all this was utterly terrible.

Only positive is that the Russian writers haven't fallen prey to the SJW propoganda. No feminists, homosexual, environmental, or political agendas.