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Author Topic: Review the Last TV Episode/Season/Series You Watched  (Read 226546 times)

Paul Phoenix

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Re: Review the Last TV Episode/Season/Series You Watched
« Reply #1070 on: March 29, 2016, 05:43:35 AM »
Thanks for understanding, everyone. Sorry if I might have sounded harsh, but I felt it's high time we're honest with each other. Insincerity has never been my specialty.

Anyway, let's get back to the business of reviewing!


Season 1

They say that the zombie genre is dead, that nothing fresh could be done with those rotting corpses. I remember various discussions about how the classic Romero zombies of yesterdays are no longer scary today, yet "The Returned" has recaptured that primal fear about the alien concept of death that made the walking dead so terrifying in the first place, a concept that modern writers for the 'athletic zombie' crowd couldn't seem to grasp.

Creator Fabrice Gobert paints death itself in both fascinating and disturbing ways. It seems so simple to embrace a wondrous miracle like this, having your loved ones returning to you. Yet our society has grown more complicated; Lazarus returning to life isn't a simple matter of faith anymore. Most of the characters graciously accepted the gift of resurrection at first, trying to move on with their life as per usual. But soon enough, the secrets and guilt we bury with the dead come surfacing. It gradually becomes apparent that with all the sorrows that come with the passing of loved ones, life would be more peaceful had the dead rested in eternity. There's another kind of nightmare that comes from the dead returning, and this wonderful bloodless series explores that often unaddressed subconscious fear in its entirety.

What really holds this series together isn't exactly the provocative theme, but the excellent characters that reinforce that theme. You have a wide variety of different lives here that allows a thorough experimentation with the concept of death. Camille and Léna are twin sisters separated by time. Adèle is a young mother whose beloved died right before their marriage, and is now fiercely protected in her new relationship with a cop. There's even a serial killer intertwined amidst this twisted web, further complicating the matters of death.

Both seasons last eight episodes. The season one finale ended on a rather strange note. I'm not quite sure what to make of that final scene... or what it represents in the grand scheme of things. There's definitely a lot more powerful symbolism in the last episode that compares the living and the dead - and being on the 'living' side isn't really all it's cut out to be.

Also, one does not simply skip the opening theme of this series. Mogwai's "Hungry Face" gets creepier with each viewing.

5/5 (A rare gem of a TV series that doesn't dispense your predictable Walking Dead despair)
« Last Edit: March 29, 2016, 05:46:13 AM by Hermit »
"I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is ending up with people who make you feel all alone." - Lance Clayton (played by Robin Williams), World's Greatest Dad

Eternally seeking variety. 'Tis the spice of life for me.

Bondo

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Re: Review the Last TV Episode/Season/Series You Watched
« Reply #1071 on: March 29, 2016, 08:07:47 AM »
Love that show. The second season just came on Netflix so that's next up for me now that I finished Happy Valley.

goodguy

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Re: Review the Last TV Episode/Season/Series You Watched
« Reply #1072 on: March 29, 2016, 08:22:54 AM »
The season one finale ended on a rather strange note. I'm not quite sure what to make of that final scene...

I kinda wish the series had ended there. The second season isn't bad in any way, but it was a bit of a let down for me, and it wrapped up everything too neatly for my taste.

jdc

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Re: Review the Last TV Episode/Season/Series You Watched
« Reply #1073 on: March 29, 2016, 09:09:05 AM »
But I'm tired. I'm really tired. I'm running out of forums to hide, so instead of "having a fresh start" at another forum, I think I'm going to just give up and stay here till I'm banned and put down for good. I've mentioned seeing a therapist on early April, but seeing as it's my first therapy session, I'm not sure what good it would do. Unfortunately for you, that means you'll have to put up with me a while longer. Cue groans.

Hey Hermit... I hardly have time to watch many films lately and only can somewhat keep up with what is happening in the forum.  So it really is probably not my place to get involved too much though I do like reading and interacting here even if I do not contribute that much.  That said...

First.. I do hope you stick around.. you do liven up the discussion as does DH. 

Second.. glad you are taking steps on self improvement.  I don't have personal experience with therapy (though I probably should) what I do understand is that it really is a process so please don't expect much from a session or two.  But I do hope you embrace the process as for those that I know that have it has been a rewarding experience.

Even though I can hardly really keep up with what goes on here, I do find it one of the more enjoyable forums to visit and even a few people that I have met here have all been pretty cool




"Beer. Now there's a temporary solution."  Homer S.
“The direct use of physical force is so poor a solution to the problem of limited resources that it is commonly employed only by small children and great nations” - David Friedman

Sandy

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Re: Review the Last TV Episode/Season/Series You Watched
« Reply #1074 on: March 29, 2016, 09:21:16 AM »
Thank you Hermit, for your kind words. Earning your trust means a lot to me. :)

I have butted heads here on occasion, but have learned it's just the nature of the beast. Sincerity is a tricky character trait to work from, but I wouldn't have it any other way either. :)

philip918

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Re: Review the Last TV Episode/Season/Series You Watched
« Reply #1075 on: March 29, 2016, 05:54:53 PM »
The season one finale ended on a rather strange note. I'm not quite sure what to make of that final scene...

I kinda wish the series had ended there. The second season isn't bad in any way, but it was a bit of a let down for me, and it wrapped up everything too neatly for my taste.

Absolutely love the first season, but haven't felt compelled to watch the second. Might just keep it that way.

philip918

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Re: Review the Last TV Episode/Season/Series You Watched
« Reply #1076 on: March 29, 2016, 06:08:38 PM »
Girls 205-206

Girls is having a really strong season. We got a couple amazing episodes of Shosh in Japan. Adam and Jessa are making for a great (and probably troubled) couple. And this last, surprisingly good, episode featured only Marnie, probably my least favorite character on the show.

The only real disappointments this season are a huge lack of Ray and Hannah just being as Hannah as ever.

One thing that's been on my mind this season is the nudity. Particularly Dunham's, who appears naked (or awkwardly scantily clad) at some point in most episodes she's been in. It seems to clearly be a direct response to all the body-shaming critics out there, which is fine, but at the same time her scenes don't come off as positive and self-confident. They're more of an "eff you" to the viewers who don't like it. To me, that's all these scenes are really saying and they aren't being used for story or character purposes, which is a shame. Because there's a place for casual, confident, and even joyful nudity on this show (Jessa and Adam's hilarious role play for example), but it's mostly brandished as a weapon against Dunham's nay-sayers.

mañana

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Re: Review the Last TV Episode/Season/Series You Watched
« Reply #1077 on: March 31, 2016, 09:30:15 PM »
Someday I hope to get through this first episode of Vinyl.

This actually made me laugh out loud.


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verbALs

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Re: Review the Last TV Episode/Season/Series You Watched
« Reply #1078 on: April 03, 2016, 01:07:26 PM »
This is what I wrote for The Night Manager on Letterboxd;

The Night Manager 2016

★★★★½ 

This is a long film isn't it? Didn't know Letterbox did this. It's the height of television what you get at the confluence of le Carre, Bier, and a cast of this immense quality.

If you want to impoverish your life deliberately, then don't watch it. But who would do that to themselves?
« Last Edit: April 03, 2016, 01:52:36 PM by verbALs »
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DarkeningHumour

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Re: Review the Last TV Episode/Season/Series You Watched
« Reply #1079 on: April 03, 2016, 08:47:47 PM »
It took me five episodes of Sense8 to realise Nomi used to be a Michael (those first scenes with the mother were rather confusing). Anyone know if she's gone so far as to have had surgery ?

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