What was the last TV show you watched?

[Edward]

The 70s version I've not seen, though I plan to seek it out once I've read the novel. Should be interesting for comparison, though when it comes to books I've become a fan of the "limited series" approach that allows for greater engagement with more of the plot of a dense book.


Last few evenings I've been watching House of David on Prime. Nice production. Tells the story of David of the Tribe of Judah, from his beginnings to the end of Goliath (that's not seriously a spoiler, is it?) in the first series, while the second series promises to take him to the end of Saul. The showrunners are apparently keen to do a third season taking David towards the end of his life- we'll see if that's so popular. It's a nicely done production ,which clearly has had serious money pumped into it. A modern take on the Bible-adjacent swords and sandals genre, - this summons up similar notes to me as Ben Hur, The Robe, The Ten Commandments... Casting is very good: the players in this all look like they all belong in that time and place; this is no John Wayne as Ghengis Khan horror.

It's not a show for anyone who is looking for a strict depiction of the Biblical rendering of the story exclusively. There's definitely a lot of fleshing out the relationships and characters portrayed, though nothing that contradicts the Biblical version either. The depiction of Goliath as a Nephilim works rather well; he's had siblings appear so far in the plot in a way that holds consistent with the story as well. We'll see how season two develops. The depiction of the Prophet Samuel is a joy, particularly his sense of humour. Echoes of Gandalf, which doubtless helps sell to a contemporary audience, and with Tolkien's ouevre being largely a Biblical allegory anyhow.... (Granted, his Gandalf is Christ rather than Samuel, but the tone of human connection to the Divine is the same). Friends who follow the Jewish faith have said it represents the pre-Christian Jewish rituals very well.

I shouldn't think one would need to be a believer in order to be entertained by this, any more so than with Lord of the Rings or The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, though for those of us who do connect with that worldview, it works nicely.

If this genre appeals, it's worth seeking out.

 

[LightenUpFrancis]

After being floored by Brendan Gleeson's performance in Mr. Mercedes, a friend enthusiastically recommended that I set aside some time to take in HBO's adaptation of The Outsider. I can now confidently say this is currently my favorite piece of suspense media in the last decade. I find it quite remarkable how much empathy can be written into characters faced with unthinkably gruesome choices and actions; it's a truly staggering vision of the wide-reaching effects of grief, and the importance of trust within community.

 

[Harp]

The 70s version I've not seen, though I plan to seek it out once I've read the novel. Should be interesting for comparison, though when it comes to books I've become a fan of the "limited series" approach that allows for greater engagement with more of the plot of a dense book.

Joseph Heller's Catch-22 is a highly structured satirical Second World War novel told omniscient third person with Kafkaesque layered tiers more absurdist than Beckett and more pronounced than Celine.
A long three day undergraduate weekend spent with Joyce's Portrait of The Artist As A Young Man;
James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room; Celine's Conversations With Professor Y; and Heller ranked Catch-22
literary equivalent. Within World War II American veteran literature the novel reigns supreme.

As to limited serial feature; having caught the exceptional British cover series, The Jackal, and read its Frederick Forsythe novel basis eons ago, studio fabrication lost protagonist focus more cogently shown original film. Where protagonist is essentially an enigma, artistic derive should adhere tight limit since excessive slack invariably costs storyline held truth. A sociopath professional assassin is essentially finished moral product however trained and subsequently fashioned long before free lancing. Forsythe understood this and his protagonist reflected inherent certitude which made such compelling story. Also, studio created political corrective characters further impaired focus. Not bad, yet could have been better with a more mature approach.

 

[Edward]

The Jackal I've yet to see. Last version I watched was probably the Bruce Willis one from the 90s.

Currently working my way through Spidernoir on Prime. Annoyingly, I've had to watch it in colour this first run as the B&W (which surely should have been the default) option doesn't seem to work on my tablet, and the TV has stopped working (expensive replacement might be in the card there; this one was only six years old, gah...). It is, however, beautiful. Cage is an excellent lead for the material, and when you have a performer of the quality of Brendan Gleeson as your lead antagonist, well.... Prime's show of the year for me - possibly the televisual highlight entire of the year.

 

[Harp]

^ The Willis film for what slight seen was ****. Again, studio tamper beyond rhyme or reason.

Unlike Heller's Catch-22 college staple magnum opus, Frederick Forsythe's Day of The Jackal is a lean volume easily digestible in singular read, and, unlike Fitzgerald's Gatsby, eminently translatable to film. Its 1973 film adaptation is a classic quite faithful to book for taut focus without deviation.

The current British cover series is now filming second season. An essentially expanded take off Forsythe,
resulting constructive studio criticism, but rather exemplary effort overall. A definite search series.

 

[Edward]

I'll have to keep an eye out for it. I was aware of it when the Redmayne series first launched, but it has not yet made it onto one of the subscription services I use.

Last night, chanced across a French show on free to air UK streaming service, ITVX. Un Village Francais (French language with English subtitles rather than distractingly dodgy dubbing, hurrah!) is set in the fictional French village of Villeneuve, located near the French-Swiss border. The events of the show open in 1940 as the Wehrmacht arrive in the area, signalling the fall of France. It's nicely paced, focussed thus far (two episodes in) on the impact on the ordinary lives of the local people suddenly under occupation and curfew. Immediately prior to the occupation, local police are involved in seeking to root out communist agitators; of course with the benefit of historical hindsight the audience is aware those communists will before long become a part of the resistance.

An interesting watch so far, with seven series available (six close-to one hour episodes each in the first two series, twelve per series thereafter). I tend to find home front / civilian-focussed / resistance pictures somewhat more interesting than recreations of the major military campaigns, so this show has a strong appeal for me. I'll be interested to see how it plays out across the run, in particular how it deals with collaborators. Some of the reviews I've found online suggested it's the first major French language television programme to address this aspect head on.

 

[pitchblack]

Better Call Saul was the last one for me, haven't really had the will to watch any TV lately. I was big into Breaking Bad and Sopranos as well.

 

[amonr4]

Currently watching 4th season of From. And 2nd season of Silo. From is great suspense show. Silo not bad, meh

 

[Harp]

Better Call Saul was the last one for me, haven't really had the will to watch any TV lately. I was big into Breaking Bad and Sopranos as well.

Sopranos had a certain edge I found quite keen, a pervasive disquiet followed Tony Soprano around which made him more human for simply being vulnerable. Mafia capo, husband, father, nephew, and son cast as Sisyphean figure shackled inescapable fateful cobweb like the fenris wolf. Its franchise enigmatic climax sealed series within speculation.

 

[Mister Cairo]

After being floored by Brendan Gleeson's performance in Mr. Mercedes, a friend enthusiastically recommended that I set aside some time to take in HBO's adaptation of The Outsider. I can now confidently say this is currently my favorite piece of suspense media in the last decade. I find it quite remarkable how much empathy can be written into characters faced with unthinkably gruesome choices and actions; it's a truly staggering vision of the wide-reaching effects of grief, and the importance of trust within community.
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Loved Mr. Mercedes! Will check this out.

 

[Mister Cairo]

Re-watching for the umpteenth time Shetland, currently back on series six with Douglas Hensall stjll in the lead.

 

[Edward]

The Sentinels (Series 1, 2025) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10094546/

French television show (first season currently streaming on the BBC iPlayer). I watched the first three (of eight) episodes yesterday evening. Set in 1915 with things looking fairly desperate for France, the action opens with French solider Private Gabriel, sole survivor of a trench attack by Imperial German soldiers, but mortally wounded. At best likely to lose his leg and be sent home with a ruined face, he is instead judged a suitable candidate to join a top secret French military project, The Sentinels, a squad of super-soldiers whose dna makes them suitable candidates for a combat performance-enhancing drug that makes them fearsome, secret-service type weapons. We are also introduced to a bar / cabaret (potentially also brothel on the side? Hinted at, but not explicit) venue set up by ex-circus / freakshow performers who were previously terribly exploited as their own business. Except now they've gotten themselves involved with the wrong people and are also being exploited: a clash with the Sentinels is coming at some point.

If you chose to do so from the set-up, you could easily write this off as a Captain America knock-off of sorts, but it's really much better than that. It has the feel of a post-steampunk / proto dieselpunk world, very European, with a lot of character in its world building thus far. It's got that sense of "If Steven Knight were French and wanted to go a bit pulp / scifi" to it. I suspect they went for a Great War setting in part in order to distinguish it from the Hollywood product mentioned above, but it also leaves them some nice room for ambiguity in the story telling, I think. It's harder to sell the idea of moral ambiguity when you're up against Germany's WWII-era leaderships, really. It's also a bonus in that, should the show really take off, there's room for sequel series across different time periods as well. Secret conflicts and espionage i the 20s, Sentinels getting involved in Spain in 36.... who knows.

For now, though, if you like a bit of well done, alternative history with pulp and scifi elements, this is well worth checking out.