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Doctor Who: Under the Lake

Really great stuff. The two parter format works so well, I hope they stick with it.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 10:54 PM on October 5, 2015

The X-Files: Jose Chung's From Outer Space

It's the most Fortean episode of the X-Files, in that if you look at any Fortean story up close, or really any weird esoteric fringe story you hear about, it's always like this: lots of looping back on itself and weirdness and contradiction and stuff that flat out doesn't belong where it is and sticks out like a claymation inner earth demon lord.

I love it.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 10:51 PM on October 5, 2015

Doctor Who: The Magician's Apprentice

Full episode on YouTube care of BBCA, US only.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 9:08 AM on September 20, 2015

I am very much looking forwards to a season of two-parters.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 9:19 AM on September 20, 2015

It seems like it is getting more and more implied that the doctor is like Jernau Morat Gurgeh in Player of Games - there's no actual reason he couldn't be female, his people swap back and forth all the time, but by inclination he himself has never done it, either thrugh strngy identifying as male or by being really old fashioned.

Read into that whatever you will.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 3:00 PM on September 20, 2015

Thanks to Listen I believe Danny is still a bit of a dangling thread.

I kind of liked him.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 5:45 PM on September 20, 2015

Wet blanket companions to companions seems to be a bit of a thing. He'll be off blasting Sontarans in no time.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 6:38 PM on September 20, 2015

Hipster scooter.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 6:29 AM on September 21, 2015

Movie: Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

It's pretty good post-Bourne type Bond movie nonsense.

The early bits in particular, from the trailer-famous plane scene up to the escape from the opera house, are really well done.

It's kind of an odd cast - Tom Cruise plays ACTION MOVIE STAR TOM CRUISE, Alec Baldwin plays 30 ROCK'S ALEC BALDWIN, Jeremy Renner plays HAWKEYE FROM THE AVENGERS. About the only one who feels like they are acting a character is Simon Pegg, whose role in the series… [more]
posted to FanFare by Artw at 2:57 PM on August 16, 2015

Alec Baldwin utters that line to the David Cameron BTW. I half expected him to follow up with a lecture on who Scientologists are really self-actualized and the people you would most want to see if you had been in a car crash.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 3:01 PM on August 16, 2015

I like the term mooks. Henchmen implies a level of personality and distinctiveness none of the secondary baddies really get, except maybe the bone guy.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 6:43 AM on August 21, 2015

Maybe some kind of film grading thing?
posted to FanFare by Artw at 11:08 PM on August 28, 2015

He's no manifestation of human destiny.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 11:19 PM on August 28, 2015

Mainly I rate them on Pegg screen time, making this one the best.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 6:53 AM on September 3, 2015

True Detective: Omega Station

I had no idea that was a rhetorical question.

Ok, I guess that sort of makes sense, kind of.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 10:53 AM on August 10, 2015

But hang on... That means the Mexicans were super pissy about Frank buying from them, instead of buying from them?
posted to FanFare by Artw at 10:54 AM on August 10, 2015

Right, but the prior bad blood would come from them trying to muscle in on themselves?
posted to FanFare by Artw at 11:15 AM on August 10, 2015

I'm going to go with actually bad: it's unfinished feel seems less some stylistic tic and more a result of not actually being finished.

There's so much about the writing and filming of this I would like to know, but my guess is they ran massively late on writing for whatever reason and just filmed what they had.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 12:22 PM on August 10, 2015

I get the impression that they got spooked at the idea of being too associated with weirdness and that means they shelved a bunch for this one.

Or the occult history of the transportation network thing could have been horseshit.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 12:42 PM on August 10, 2015

I'll not be watching TD3 as it airs, that's for sure. Maybe if it gets good reviews I'll check it out someday.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 12:56 PM on August 10, 2015

Hey, it's Nails? Remember Nails everybody? Nails, what a guy!
posted to FanFare by Artw at 1:02 PM on August 10, 2015

I guess the genetic test that revealed the real rapist and seemed like a weird setup wasn't a weird setup?
posted to FanFare by Artw at 1:16 PM on August 10, 2015

Anyway, congrats to Ray for turning out to be the True Dadtective.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 1:28 PM on August 10, 2015

Would have happy with an LA-set non-supernatural story that didn't have garbage scripts, TBH.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 1:32 PM on August 10, 2015

He was on the mad max style movie set? I guess? I don't really remember. For some reason I was thinking he was the same guy as the Mayors kid, so *shrug*.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 1:41 PM on August 10, 2015

I reckon Crimer did it.

"Crimer!"
posted to FanFare by Artw at 1:44 PM on August 10, 2015

They could go more Winter's Bone. Get J-Law in!
posted to FanFare by Artw at 4:38 PM on August 10, 2015

Everyone loves Nails!
posted to FanFare by Artw at 4:48 PM on August 10, 2015

I find it hard to believe that Ani knows Ray is being tracked and decides to get on the damn boat.

She has to go have a Verger baby!

Wait, wrong show.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 4:49 PM on August 10, 2015

That sketch still isn't on YouTube, dammit.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 5:14 PM on August 10, 2015

The titles were nice!
posted to FanFare by Artw at 5:17 PM on August 10, 2015

Top of the Lake

Too far!

And assides from Having Scully in it the Fall is more standard issue Britisj crime drama.

Confession: I actually liked The Killing season 3 quite a bit, a lot better than TruDec2 at any rate. Season 4 was garbage like 1 and 2 though.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 5:54 AM on August 11, 2015

/have not seen proper Danish The Killing.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 5:56 AM on August 11, 2015

Main thing I remember about the film set is it was pretty heavily based on old Mad Max just as new Mad Max came out.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 8:17 AM on August 11, 2015

True Detective: What Went Wrong
posted to FanFare by Artw at 8:32 AM on August 11, 2015

We start with a mysterious Chevy Malibu...
posted to FanFare by Artw at 8:38 AM on August 11, 2015

In universe it wasn't really supernatural elements so much as occult elements, with everything dripping with cults and symbolism and weird symbology.

Out of universe it was that way because it was hovering up great globs of Riberth Chambers, Thomas Ligotti and other writers associated with the Cthulhu Mythos, so some folks interested in that kind of thing were expecting maybe a shoggoth to show up at the end.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 8:47 AM on August 11, 2015

"You read a lot of Vertigo Comics, Rust? Back in the 90s?"
posted to FanFare by Artw at 8:50 AM on August 11, 2015

I'd say people expecting a Cthulhu at the end didn't get one and probably weren't expecting one this time (or didn't show up), but I'd also say the occult elements have the show a certain time outside of that which maybe people miss.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 8:52 AM on August 11, 2015

Welp, guess how THAT went...
posted to FanFare by Artw at 4:36 PM on August 12, 2015

Because the writer changed their mind but that one had already been shot, I suspect.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 5:27 AM on August 13, 2015

Nonlethals at close range have the potential to go a bit actually-lethal, so it would be some pretty hardcore sex game...
posted to FanFare by Artw at 6:04 AM on August 13, 2015

Dan Savage would have words!
posted to FanFare by Artw at 6:18 AM on August 13, 2015

Oh Joy Counterstrike Toy.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 6:23 AM on August 13, 2015

Burris is the cop guy who became super important two episodes from the end - get with the program!

I have to say I am picking up a lot of tips on what not to when writing from this show.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 9:23 AM on August 13, 2015

Some of the lessons would be multi-episode - like how the pacing goes from sedate to the point of nothing much happening at the start to a mad rush to cram everything in at the end - that's a classic consequence of lack of planning in serial fiction.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 11:17 AM on August 13, 2015

The Leftovers is pretty explicitly some dumb Lost thing and therefore of interest only to people who enjoy having their chains yanked, who are I'm sure all loving it.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 5:05 AM on August 17, 2015

Nope, that just makes me more annoyed at what it could have been.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 5:46 AM on August 17, 2015

Trying to figure out if removing Stan (of who-the-fuck fame) would have changed anything. Probably not.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 9:26 AM on August 17, 2015

Well, it certainly limits the possibilities for more darkness coming off like a dramatic twist.
posted to FanFare by Artw at 8:33 AM on August 25, 2015