Rate the last TV series you watched (full seasons only)

I watched the first House of the Dragon and it just didn't stick in the mind. GoT had better, more interesting (and entertaining) characters, it felt bigger and I found HoD's obsession with childbirth-gone-wrong really fucking weird to the point I remember thinking the writers were wronguns. Very off-putting. I've had no desire to go back for season 2 even though I adored GoT (until the end, obviously).

The Wire, on the other hand, that's a show to go back to. I didn't really like or get season 2 the first time round but when I did a rewatch a couple of years back it was the season that really stood out and I loved it. I think you need to know you're going into something different, so you're not fighting the sense that you're missing out, to really appreciate just how exceptionally good, and sad, it is.

I'm rewatching The Boys right now. Those first two seasons were great.

Do feel like there's room for something big on TV right now.

In short, 5/10, 10/10, 8/10, 8/10

High Country (iplayer)

Crime drama set in Australian mountain forests. Its one of those shows thats set in the present day but is very close to basically being a western. It actually pretty good when its doing that, the more it acts like a police procedural the worse it is. Better than the average BBC/ITV job even if I wasn’t into the resolution.

Ghost US season 3 (iplayer)

More of the same. Its basically the same premise as our Ghosts but a bit more of a straightforward sitcom. Its a very easy watch and has a bit more fun with the ghost lore if being a lot more lightweight than the original. I like it.

Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda S1 (Amazon freevee)

Brought me back to the days of live TV where entire TV shows often felt like filler content to be passively consumed during the afternoon. Andromeda felt like that to me, with neither stories nor characters being very interesting, least of all Kevin Sorbo in the lead role. Not terrible, but unengaging and forgettable. Calling it quits now after finishing the first season.

Meh/10

The Umbrella Academy Season 4

What a non event of a season. Just lacking the proper wierd of before.

If you've run out of ideas and money why bother coming back at all?

Not to say the individual beats aren't well performed but we've seen it all before. Well except for the finale.

Five/10

Shogun

Can only reflect what other people have said in that it's excellent. Lovely to look at and plenty to keep you watching throughout. And not a hint of the white saviour syndrome that I feared at first. As long as I didn't think too hard about how the English spoken is actually Portuguese but sometimes the English is English, then I was fully immersed. Even when Blackthrone's accent goes a bit Boris Johnson / Democracy Manifest.

Feels like there's room for another series, but also works quite well as a self-encompassing story, so you don't necessarily have to go in thinking you're signing up to a five season epic.

9/10

Curb final season

Finally finished it off. Rare for a long running comedy to maintain the level so well.

Excellent finale. Much better than that Seinfeld one.

8/10

Dark Matter S1 (no, not THAT Dark Matter!)

I know I really need to pull my finger out and buy a sound bar, but fuck me this has some of the most appalling sound mixing/mumblecore I've ever experienced going on.
It's a pretty solid take on the book, anyway. Easy enough to keep up with the multiversal shenanigans thanks to that sound effect off the Nintendo Switch adverts.

Edgerton makes a decent hash of playing multiple characters, and it's got Jennifer Connolly in it.

7.5/10

Yeah, also finished it last night and feel the same way. A real disappointment.

Only Murders In the Building S1 & 2 (D+)

Enjoyed both of these seasons, S2 perhaps not quite as good but still good fun. Great chemistry with the main cast, who all seem to be having fun. One of the best things we’ve seen on D+ so far (we didn’t get more than 20 minutes into The Bear)

8/10

Fallout - 7/10

Lavish, but a bit boring perhaps? Strangely my partner was really into this which is surprising. Not normally a sci-fi head.

For me, the entire series felt like a prologue. The vault stuff was well done but I'd have liked to meet more crazy people on the outside. The various plot strands wavered in quality throughout. The Brotherhood storyline was probably the worst, despite being about supersoldiers. Gotta say, I found Ghoul man pretty dull as well. Episode after episode of him standing sinisterly before quick drawing someone and then being a cunt for the rest of the episode. Lucy is excellent though and it is genuinely at points. Will watch another, but hope it picks up.

House of the Dragon S2

Really enjoyed this. I can definitely understand people finding this season too slow and aimless. In particular, for eight episodes. But I liked that it took its time between the "big" moments, did a bit of character development and let some new or minor characters have more screen time. And now all the ducks are lined up for an epic third season. The quality of the writing was consistently good and the visuals are sumptuous. The smaller scale story of family squabbles and politics was always GoT's strength.

American Murder: Laci Peterson (netflix)

While I obviously felt terrible for her family and the crime was unbelievably heinous and the man who did it a stone cold narcissist/psychopath, I do feel like the documentary was overly voyeuristic. I know that’s the hallmark of all of these but this one couldn’t even hide behind the facade of being a “re-examining of the facts” since the prime suspect was so transparent. I suppose the way in which events became a media circus is worth thinking about but really this is just more sensationalising a real tragedy.

We did watch a whole load of these back in the day but I’m not sure we’ll be starting a fresh genre binge now.

I think Out of Gas is one of the best episodes of TV I have ever watched.