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 nels1031 wrote:
Untamed (Netflix, 2025)

Eric Bana stars as an investigator at Yosemite Park, with the always reliable Sam Neil co-starring. Pretty good whodunnit, though a bit heavy on sideplots that seemed unnecessary.

Wilson Bethel, the actor that played Bullseye from Daredevil season 3 and the Marvel revival season is in it, and man is he good at playing a scumbag. Just feel grimey every time you see him. Great acting from him.

8/10. Pretty good mini-series.

Yeah, it was fine, although nature shots were the best part of the show for me. That's one amazing place you have there, take care of it.

Shifting Gears

Tim Allen and Kat Dennings sitcom. Only just put it on, so too early to say if sitcom has a silent h.

So…Tim Allen runs an auto shop and Kat Dennings is his estranged daughter, who’s returned to live with him. With kids in tow.

I’m gonna give it a fair shake, but I’m immediately reminded why I don’t like audience laughter.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Two in. It’s alright.

It’s no Frasier, but at least it’s no Big Bang Theory.

In traditional channel programming? This isn’t something I think I’d tune in for. But, if it was bridging two shows I did want to watch? I’d stick on the same channel

I have been watching the Ncali Gutawa (sp) Doctor Who and frankly I have a few thoughts:

1. The writing feels a bit like re-treads and the Pantheon does nothing for me as villains. Some of the episodes actually feel a bit like a drag.

2. The Doctor is actually a very different take, and I am enjoying it. I like that so many of the episodes feature him dancing around. He loves to dance! The problem in the series is not the Doctor, but that he doesn't have that much to do.

3. The new Companions are.... fine...... nothing special really. Ruby Sunday feels like a poor man's Rose. I don't know enough about Miss Belinda Chandra yet as I am still watching the show.

4. Too many Member-berries. Yeah, I saw Doctor Who before and I like it. Please stop reminding me what a Nerd I am and how I have wasted too much of my life on it. Thanks.

Overall, it feels like they have never rebounded from Tennant and Smith and can not find their footing. It has been downhill since that zenith in Russel T. Davies Who.

 Easy E wrote:
I have been watching the Ncali Gutawa (sp) Doctor Who and frankly I have a few thoughts:

1. The writing feels a bit like re-treads and the Pantheon does nothing for me as villains. Some of the episodes actually feel a bit like a drag.

2. The Doctor is actually a very different take, and I am enjoying it. I like that so many of the episodes feature him dancing around. He loves to dance! The problem in the series is not the Doctor, but that he doesn't have that much to do.

3. The new Companions are.... fine...... nothing special really. Ruby Sunday feels like a poor man's Rose. I don't know enough about Miss Belinda Chandra yet as I am still watching the show.

4. Too many Member-berries. Yeah, I saw Doctor Who before and I like it. Please stop reminding me what a Nerd I am and how I have wasted too much of my life on it. Thanks.

Overall, it feels like they have never rebounded from Tennant and Smith and can not find their footing. It has been downhill since that zenith in Russel T. Davies Who.

I agree with everything you've written, and I'm a died hard fan. RTD had trouble sticking a finale these days. Big build up to a villain drenched in history to be cast aside in a moment. And the wrong Rani died. Archie Panjabi is obviously too expensive for more than a couple of day's filming, but The Good Wife which the wife and I are watching atm, is now The Rani Show. RTD is perilously close to being the new J-NT. Loved at the start, fallen star at the end.

If I may?

The problem with RTD is that he wants the writer to be the clever one, not the character.

Hence a lot of Deus Ex occurs, and the endings fall flat.

Also he’s obsessed with killing off the rest of the Timelords. He’s done it, entirely off-screen, twice now. Twice. To absolutely no narrative gain.

The Rani’s whole plan was to re-establish the Timelords as a race. And The Doctor conveniently forgets the cloning-but-not-cloning machine he encountered in The Doctor’s Daughter. Which, Y’know….would’ve been a valid answer to that problem. At least for long enough to establish a valid breeding stock, those “clones” instead being a mulligan on the genetics of the donor.

Honestly I also think that too much modern Who is influenced by US comics. I think this is where some of the "kill off all the Time Lords" "Daleks rule the galaxy war" type stuff keeps coming from.

It's that whole aspect of wanting/needing to raise the stakes to insane degrees. Whilst if you look at a lot of old classic Who a lot of the adventures are way smaller in scale.

Granted part of that is because they had one TV set; a few school-theatre props and a gravel pit to work with; but at the same time everything was very different in scope and scale. Even the big impacting events felt smaller.

It may also be budget stuff.

Old Who was made on a shoestring, and at times had that squeezed even further.

It may be a prejudice of mine, but I do consider that the lower your sci-fi budget, the more creative the runners of a successful show have to get.

After all, if you’ve a total of four sets? Your plot needs to work with that limitation, especially when outside location filming was considerably more experience.

For Dr Who? This seemed to manifest as carefully considered plot writing. Sure, a camera angle shift here and there and a slight mixing of which wall is where helped - but they were still strict limits.

I’m gonna be a Lazy Critic Slag here and cite a classic, and a high point for the entirety of Dr Who - Genesis of the Daleks.

Cheap sets. Reused Dalek props. Costumes definitely on the cheap. But oh, what a wonderful tale. Couple of futuristic looking kinda guns? No problem - Skaro has been at war for centuries, so those still standing make do with what they can get to work. Domed Cities = cheap and easy corridor shoots. The fancier sets used multiple times, being central control rooms, labs and that.

Modern Who just doesn’t seem to have the focus on doing a lot with a little.

And frankly, Omega looked far more concerning and impressive when he looked like this



And this



Than this drivel



Now, I’m not saying the show should just go back to yellow smoke, bubble wrap and spray painted cricket gloves. Just that….less is more. Think about what you want to achieve. And if it can only be achieved through CGI? Stop and think it that’s really necessary.

 Easy E wrote:
Overall, it feels like they have never rebounded from Tennant and Smith and can not find their footing. It has been downhill since that zenith in Russel T. Davies Who.

Having just finished Ncuti's first season, this has been a frustrating ride, indeed. I really, really like Ncuti's Doctor, but as with Whitaker, Capaldi and around half of Matt Smith's run, it's a fantastic Doctor let down by really shonky writing.

I did like that Ruby, while initially just presenting as Blonde Clara, turned out to be a really likeable character, and that they managed to find a twist on the now-slightly-tired 'companion is super-important, actually' trope.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

I’m gonna be a Lazy Critic Slag here and cite a classic, and a high point for the entirety of Dr Who - Genesis of the Daleks.

Cheap sets. Reused Dalek props. Costumes definitely on the cheap. But oh, what a wonderful tale. Couple of futuristic looking kinda guns? No problem - Skaro has been at war for centuries, so those still standing make do with what they can get to work. Domed Cities = cheap and easy corridor shoots. The fancier sets used multiple times, being central control rooms, labs and that.

It's also fun when you consider it with the rest of the season it was a part of... Season 12 opened with a super expensive space station set for Ark in Space, so they chose to use it twice, for two completely unrelated stories with two different antagonists, and then filmed the rest of the season in quarries.

Also?

On the companion thing? I’ll echo the suggested Stop Making Them Special thing.

Just let them be human, dragged into a Universe of wonder we’re probably not yet ready for. Let them foul up. Let them call The Doctor out. Let them be, for want of a better word? Pure.

Amy Pond and Rory were that. Bill Potts was that. And they worked so much better than actually being a super secret MacGuffin which will only ever disappoint the audience (well, me at least).

By all means let their journeys change them. That’s cool, that’s literally life. And like Amy and Rory, let the Doctor’s many foes use them for their own ends. But don’t make them special because effective and interesting development is hard.

See the whole point of the companions was to be the audience in the show. To be the "regular Joe/Jane" brought along for the ride.


It's the same as making Harry Potter be raised by muggles - its a story tool to give you an excuse to have someone to explain things too in-world

Yup. Ace, my favourite companion ever was, despite Fenric’s machinations and a genius level intellect? Still just a regular Smelly Hooman - though if she was smelly, it would be the finest fragrance I’m sure.

And she was the prototype for Rose - just written much better.

I mean, surely one of the top lines of Dr Who ever must be “Ace! Give me some of that Nitro-9 you’re not carrying!”




Also, sure her Baseball Bat had been enhanced by the Hand of Omega? But I’m pretty sure Ace would still given her Six Nowt regardless.




I’m well chuffed she finally got something approximating a proper send off.

But that RTD returned the dreadful Mel for the last series must surely tell you all you need to know?

Not being mean to Bonnie Langford like, but Mel was and is dreadful. Not Adric bad. But close.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Amy Pond and Rory were that. Bill Potts was that.

I really wish we had more time with Bill.

I do feel like Capaldi's last season was a bit of an uptick. The writing was better, Capaldi seemed to have finally got his stride, Missy was the best thing since whatever your chosen best thing ever was previously... And then they introduced Jodi and gave us a whole season of 'Social Injustice: Exposition Edition'.

Capaldi was my idea of a Proper The Doctor.

His monologues were superb. And whilst not brilliantly written, Capaldi and the whole Zygon/Human “and now none of you know who’s what” was still really solid.

He had that avuncular eccentricity, and was for me, a necessary break from The Dishy Doctor.

Y’know? I think I could argue that the classic Doctors and Capaldi had, to my mind, a touch of Pratchett to them. Underneath their mucking around and pretending to be a clown was anger. Well kept. Perfectly channelled. But Anger at the heart of it.

As if the universe had no right to be as beholden to rank stupidity as reality is. That if only more people stop and took even a second to think, we might all be better off. That it doesn’t and has never had to be this way if we were only, collectively, brace enough to at least respect the next being, no matter who they are or what they look like. If just talked to The Other, we’d find common ground and build up from those foundations.

In old Who, McCoy was the most ruthless. His Doctor still clove to the same ideals, but was more willing to simply allow a foe’s overconfidence and megalomania be their downfall.

I mean, just witness this scene




Literally gives Davros every chance, and with it? Enough rope to hang himself. Just…..perfect. He tells him, straight up, Don’t Lick That. But is now angry enough to let him Lick The Death Rock if that’s what he wants.

Also? UNLIMITED RICE PUDDING!

I do like Ambrosia Rice Pudding, so that’s going on my shopping list.

 Overread wrote:
See the whole point of the companions was to be the audience in the show. To be the "regular Joe/Jane" brought along for the ride.

Honestly, I think that evolved over time. Initially, Ian Chesterton and Barbara were brought in for the more "physical" side of the show, since the Doctor was an elderly guy. Susan was to be a bit of the old Sex Appeal, with both Barbara and Susan great potential Damsels in Distress, or other roles as needed by the plot. However, all the Non-Doctor characters were great foils for exposition drops from the Doctor. The character Ian Chesterton and Barbara were also Teachers as well so could drop some exposition of their own.

William Russell, who played Ian Chesterton; was also the main star of the Lancelot TV show. Therefore, he had some bonafides at the time as a "Two-Fisted Man of Action".

 insaniak wrote:

On to Jessica Jones, season 1...

So now I've been back through JJ season 1, DD season 2, and Luke Cage season 1, and two episodes into Iron Fist and... Oy...

The first time through, Iron Fist was... Ok. Not excellent, but enjoyable enough, and I liked Danny as a character.

But this time around, coming into it straight off the back of the other shows without a pause really highlights how much worse it is than the others. Of particular note are the Himalayan flashback and meditation scenes that appear to be shot in front of matte paintings, and the significantly lower effort put into the script and making the characters seem like actual, real people. If this was a standalone series, it would be ok as a comic book adaption, because that's exactly what it feels like - These are very 2-dimensional comic book characters in live action.

As a part of the Defenders stable, though, it really doesn't fit with the rest of the shows.

Watching Naruto with my son. Such lazy animation. They get a whole 20 minute episode out of basically one frame. And the exposition folding into flashbacks folding back out to shouty rants. When they actually have some action it’s ok, but thankfully my son doesn’t mind me getting grumpy at the pacing.

I just keep needing to watch

Well, due to ear infection (in my both lugs), I currently can’t hear much, so am reliant on subtitles. But let’s give….

Walking Dead, Dead City Season 2 a whirl.

Negan and Maggie are two solid characters with an interesting history and dynamic. And I enjoyed the first season well enough.

That was really enjoyable! Certainly my current favourite Walking Dead spin-off.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
That was really enjoyable! Certainly my current favourite Walking Dead spin-off.

That's not a high bar. That's like saying Strange New Worlds is your favorite Discovery spinoff.

Dunno. They’re not all dire.

1. Dead City
2. The World Beyond.

Both of these explore the world they now live in, beyond the horizons of the original.

3. Daryl Dixon

It’s not quite working but it is trying some.

4. Fear The Walking Dead

You shouldn’t make your launch cast so intensely unlikeable. Also, don’t promise to explore the earliest days of the apocalypse then Just Skip That Bit.

5. The Ones Who Live

Rick and Michonne retread the finale of the main series. Because reasons.

I’m still yet to see Tales Of, as nowhere has aired it in the UK. And I couldn’t find it streaming on my New York holiday.

 Flinty wrote:
Watching Naruto with my son. Such lazy animation. They get a whole 20 minute episode out of basically one frame. And the exposition folding into flashbacks folding back out to shouty rants. When they actually have some action it’s ok, but thankfully my son doesn’t mind me getting grumpy at the pacing.

Naruto definitely suffers from being from the age of needing to be a weekly show, both in terms of pacing and animation quality. They very intentionally went cheap on some stretches so they could afford to make the big moments really big. Overall, the manga is just a MUCH better way to experience the story, with a few of the fights absolutely worth seeing animated.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
3. Daryl Dixon

It’s not quite working but it is trying some.

I've found I prefer Daryl Dixon better than Dead City. I'm looking forward to the new season come September as it looks like they're leaving France behind.

I’m interested enough in the new season of Daryl Dixon to watch it.

Particularly as given they entered the Channel Tunnel*, Daryl and Carol would be popping up really near my house, as I live in the town nearest the English end of the tunnel.

Maybe I’ll give it a second watch.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I’m interested enough in the new season of Daryl Dixon to watch it.

Particularly as given they entered the Channel Tunnel*, Daryl and Carol would be popping up really near my house, as I live in the town nearest the English end of the tunnel.

Maybe I’ll give it a second watch.

It doesn't look like they'll be in Jolly Olde England for too long...

Forgot my asterisk!

It wasn’t the Chunnel. Not. Even. Close. Looked nowt like it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Trailer looks rather fun.

Shame about Stephen Merchant.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

Spoiler:

Dunno. They’re not all dire.

1. Dead City
2. The World Beyond.

Both of these explore the world they now live in, beyond the horizons of the original.

3. Daryl Dixon

It’s not quite working but it is trying some.

4. Fear The Walking Dead

You shouldn’t make your launch cast so intensely unlikeable. Also, don’t promise to explore the earliest days of the apocalypse then Just Skip That Bit.

5. The Ones Who Live

Rick and Michonne retread the finale of the main series. Because reasons.

The world beyond spends most of its run feeling like a kids show that inexplicably has zombies in it. It's a really weird show.

Daryl Dixon was my favourite of the spinoffs, just because Daryl. The Ones Who Live was largely just an exercise in screaming at the tv because Rick is going through one of his periodic idiot phases for most of it. And Dead City is let down by being based around one character I never really liked much, and another who almost caused me to drop the main show... I hate that they are giving Negan a redemption arc. Should have just killed him off back in the main show.

Depends how you view Negan.

To me, he represents the arguably justified desperation of the early days, with the selfishness once things are a bit more organised.

In the comics, he concedes that Rick’s way is better. And we’re sort of seeing that here. He’s using his skills as a talented organiser and manipulator, and his knack for outright brutality, to try to remove those like him. Not so he can be top dog, but so that others can live in peace.

But I do absolutely accept the writing isn’t bang on there, especially if watched episodically.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Depends how you view Negan.

To me, he represents the arguably justified desperation of the early days, with the selfishness once things are a bit more organised.

There's nothing remotely justified about Negan. At all. As proven by the fact that other groups survived without doing it his way.

That said, my visceral reaction to Negan is very much a me thing - as a result of my own upbringing, I really don't enjoy those sort of 'villain holds all the cards and everything is absolutely hopeless with no way out' style storylines. If he had been a single season villain, and/or if Rick's gang had a few more wins along the way rather than everything consistently going against them up until the very end, it would have been a lot more tolerable, but as it was, it was a difficult watch. And then keeping him around and gradually humanising him was a constant irritant.

 insaniak wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Depends how you view Negan.

To me, he represents the arguably justified desperation of the early days, with the selfishness once things are a bit more organised.

There's nothing remotely justified about Negan. At all. As proven by the fact that other groups survived without doing it his way.

That said, my visceral reaction to Negan is very much a me thing - as a result of my own upbringing, I really don't enjoy those sort of 'villain holds all the cards and everything is absolutely hopeless with no way out' style storylines. If he had been a single season villain, and/or if Rick's gang had a few more wins along the way rather than everything consistently going against them up until the very end, it would have been a lot more tolerable, but as it was, it was a difficult watch. And then keeping him around and gradually humanising him was a constant irritant.

From what I understand, was the loss of Rick Grimes in the TV show, left a large hole to fill, and they used the Neagan character and Darryl to fill the void.

I can't remember the actor's name who played Rick, but much like the actress who played Maggie, leaving the show to pursue other acting avenues didn't seem to pay off...

 Lathe Biosas wrote:

I can't remember the actor's name who played Rick, but much like the actress who played Maggie, leaving the show to pursue other acting avenues didn't seem to pay off...

He didn't leave to pursue other gigs. He left because he had a young family he wanted to spend more time with.