What Are You Watching?

I’m in the minority apparently, as there seems to be a lot of internet outrage over the ending, but I really liked the new Dexter mini-series. I think it ends the series in a much more satisfying place than the previous “finale” did. If they try to stretch it out again and bring it back for another season though, that would really ruin things.

Also been hearing a lot of great things about Yellowstone from some relatives, contemplating that as my next show to watch.

First though I’m probably going to binge and catch up on some Disney Plus shows I’ve missed out on. What If, Hawkeye, Mandalorian S2, Book or Boba Fett.

 

Don't know if you read Lee Child's Reacher series but the tv show is out... they nailed it
That's how Reacher should sound, look and behave... not like the Cruise one (although TC is a great actor).
They followed the books to a t, great adaptation finally. Bosch and Reacher, thank you Amazon
As a big, BIG Reacher fan, i approve

 

The books are great. I liked the Cruise movies as Cruise movies, but they're really far off from what I wanted in terms of bringing Reacher to the big or small screen. My ideal pick for him would've been a younger Vince Vaughn (Psycho/Jurassic Park frame with added muscle). I'm only two episodes in, but Smallville's Aqua Man isn't bad and has a much more accurate build than Cruise. I read that Ritchson packed on an additional 15 pounds of muscle for the role.


Speaking of Bosch, I'm a little irritated that they let everyone's contracts expire and they're going to IMDB TV because Amazon went cheap. I can't imagine the show cost THAT much to make. Titus was the biggest actor and he's a 4th lead in a movie. The rest of the cast is a bunch of that guys/gals.

 

Im pissesd about Bosch too. One of my fav book/tv series.
If you enjoyed Reacher books, you might like Dirk Pitt series (if you haven't read it already). Dude is like a little mix of Indiana Jones and Bond
As for Ritchson, great cast... and yet, he's still "smaller" than book Reacher. Crazy

 

@Kenzo I'll have to give those a look. From a quick Google, I see that's the character McConaughey played in film Sahara. Not a bad film, but I think everyone had shirtless McConaughey fatigue by that point.

 

Cussler was so pissed about Sahara, he basicly said FU Hollywood, no more of my books adaptation.
https://amp.theguardian.com/film/2007/feb/14/news1

 

Station Eleven. Mini-series on HBO Max. Great stuff, although probably not everyone’s cup of tea.

It’s like if you took The Walking Dead, subtracted the zombies, but made all the boring slow character drama actually good.

 

Anyone caught up on Better Call Saul?

I enjoyed the first few seasons, but the stakes being inherently lower than Breaking Bad prevented me from getting hooked and so I had stopped keeping up.

Finally decided to rewatch the entire show and catch up for the final season… and wow this show really is on the same tier as Breaking Bad! The last two seasons have really taken it up a notch

 

It's great. Easily on of the best things currently on TV. That's the only reason people gave up on it and I keep telling them to stick with it, is that it's not Breaking Bad. It's its own thing. Can stand on its own and is about something else entirely and has built its own world with these rich characters.

Lalo (Tony Dalton) is a fantastic villain this past season 1/2. [Side note: Javi was really good in Ozark, those two should get their own bad guy team up series. Very different characters, but both really popped late in the game for each show]. Nacho was another great character in BCS.

Spoiler

I think we lost Nacho a little too soon. I get they have to start weeding down the characters because there's a lot of dots still to connect and not a lot of time to do it in.

I'm assuming Gus gets Lalo taken out, but it's going to be fun to see where this cat and mouse game concludes.

After all that setup, I thought that might be how it ended for Howard. That was the only way they would feel bad about their mission to ruin his life. Hopefully it doesn't end the same way for Kim since she's not in BB.

Very curious to see when we get the BB timeline and how much more we see of the flash forward of Nebraska Gene. Not worried duality
quality wise, if anyone can land this plane successfully Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould.

 

Spoiler

Lalo might be my favorite villain in the Breaking Bad universe (or TV in general to be honest). Tony Dalton KILLS it in this role!

Yeah it would have been nice to have Nacho stick around for longer, but the way they wrote these seasons, it would have been very difficult to believably get him out of that situation.

Read an idea that a good death scene is one that feels inevitable, but has the viewer desperately hoping somehow they get out of it alive. I think that fit the Nacho episode well, and overall it was brilliant! Loved how he had previously expressed to Eladio how he just wanted respect, so in his final moments he snatched the respect of those around him by taking control of the situation and explaining his role in Hector’s downfall. I still randomly get the urge to go back and watch his final monologue again.

I did NOT see that coming with Howard. When that scene starts and we hear a knock at the door, I got scared it would be Lalo but once Howard walks in I calmed down and assumed we’d have a relatively laid back mid-season finale. Just tie up some loose ends, hammer home how screwed up Saul and Kim’s plan was, set up some plot for the next half of the season about Howard working to take down Jimmy, etc… and then the candle flickers again as the door opens and Lalo walks in. Spectacular TV.

I imagine next half of the season will be insane. Some of the central tension of this series had been what happens to Nacho, Howard, Kim, etc since they’re not in BB, so they’ve set things up perfectly to have some great story with Kim. Does she realize that they went too far and leave Saul entirely? Does she get implicated in Howard’s death? Or on the other hand… I’m not convinced that she makes it out of that apartment alive. It would not shock me if Lalo kills her in the premiere.

And then yeah, very intrigued with how they pace the second half, whether they focus in on moments from the BB timeline or what happens in the current Nebraska timeline and beyond.

 

Yellowstone is a MUST watch. Im on my second run, it's that good.

 

Bosch Legacy is as good as the real Bosch. Fewer characters but Harry is Harry, i enjoyed it a lot.

 

Better Call Saul

Spoiler

Lalo was a tremendous get. Really elevated the stakes and the deserving quality for this final run. Tough to see Dalton as anything else (Hawkeye show), you expect the only option is that he's going to be the bad guy. I would've liked to see a scene with Heisenberg and Lalo.

Agreed. I did like that Nacho got to go out on his terms. I liked the dynamic they developed with Nacho and Mike.

I didn't think Howard made it out of the show alive based on how much time we were spending with him lately. They were making him more human and showing his marital troubles etc. I didn't think Lalo was going to shoot him though. I figured Jimmy and Kim were going to get the dose wrong and he was going to OD or something along those lines. I thought they'd be directly the cause of his death. Odenkirk kind of spoiled Howard's death accidentally on IG when he posted BTS photo months ago and Howard had blood on him and was wearing the suit he had on in that episode. The camera work on the candle in the apartment was brilliant. I love those shots that we got in BB and get in BCS. They're really a cut above with their cinematography nuances.

My theory was Howard would OD from them lacing his morning tea, Kim would either get disbarred, killed by Lalo, or have to use the vacuum service and go into hiding because of the threat of the cartel. That's why we don't see her in BB and that pushes Jimmy into full-time Saul. She might not make it out of the apartment, but I'm not sure they'll stack big deaths that close together at the same location.

Curious to see how they tie in any remaining character introduction. There's a couple cameos they've announced and with the time we have left, I wonder how that will work. I wish they'd go the length of these Stanger Things episodes for this final run... just seems like there's a lot to wrap up in three separate time lines.

 

Going to ramble on about him some more, but Sheridan is truly one of the best in the biz right now with characters and world building. Both on TV and the big screen. Whether it's Yellowstone, Sicario, Hell or High Water, Wind River, 1883, or Mayor of Kingstown... he's killed it! The location is as big of a character in these as the lead actor and he's paired these shows with some fantastic actors for his material. Costner, Sam Elliott, Renner, Harrison Ford for the next Yellowstone prequel and Stallone for another upcoming TV project. I'm buying all the Sheridan stock there's to grab.

I think you're fine watching Yellowstone first. You'll know and care more about the family name which gives you more vested interest in the prequel... if that makes sense.

 

Got one episode left. It's been a good season. They already reupped it for another season. Still don't get why Amazon dumped it. They said the actors salaries were getting too expensive. It couldn't have been that expensive of a show. Titus is a 5th lead in most things outside of this and he's the lead. There's no CGI. They're spending nearly half a billion on their LOTR show but *this* is the cheap show they drew the line at?

Quality hasn't gone down. Bosch is still Bosch, like you said. I do think it's dwindled the locations and cast a bit. Wasn't thrilled with the bad guys this year, they've definitely been better in past seasons.