frelling_tralk | Random Tv talk

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Random Tv talk

Urgh I really need to start updating more often, but for some reason I can think of nothing to say recently, but I’ll give it a go anyway

Just started watching Elementary season 1 on Amazon Prime, and while the individual mysteries aren’t always the best, I’ve been really enjoying it for the character work and following their relationship slowly build. That’s one of the benefits to a 24 episode season I suppose, that you can really take the time on something like that. And then I thought that the whole twist at the end with Irene/Moriarty was very clever and well done.

I’ve also watched The Act and When They See Us, they were were both really excellent, and hit even harder knowing that they’re roughly based on real life events. I had already read articles on the case with Gypsy and seen the documentary, and I thought that the actress who played Gypsy did an amazing job at capturing her. I knew nothing really on the false rape accusations in New York though, and it was really hard hitting and tragic to follow the mini-series, especially the last episode which was just devastating as you follow Korey in an adult prison

And then I’m still catching up with The Handmaid’s Tale. Honestly The Handmaid’s Tale is just starting to feel a bit repetitive at this point to me, especially all of the lingering close-ups of June, I wish that they would move on already and find other parts of the story to tell. Personally I find Emily far more likeable and relatable as we follow her adjusting to life in Canada, as opposed to June choosing to stay in Gilead, even though it brought her no closer to getting Hannah back, and that was blindingly obvious from the moment that she decided to stay. It’s hard for me to get into shows when I can’t connect with the main character :( I’m kind of thinking about dropping it now as episodes are starting to feel like a bit of a chore to get around to watching, but at the same time I do want to at least finish the third season and make a decision after that idk.

I can’t help feeling like it would have made a better mini-series maybe. I was totally gripped by the first season, and the second was very good too, but it does start to feel dreary and dragged out after a certain point imho to have a long-running series based around a concept like Gilead...

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I dropped Elementary after S2 because I didn't like it. Maybe it's better when binge-watched. S3 was much better again. I caught up after hearing that the show improved. I'm still enjoying it ;)

the lingering close-ups of June
Everyone brings that up! It's true though.
I'm not really feeling this season either. June seems to get away with everything and the sense of threat from the first two seasons is pretty much gone. Emily's scenes in Canada always make me tear up, but it would be interesting to see more of Canada in general.

The showrunners apparently said that the show could potentially have ten seasons o.O
I have no idea how that is supposed to work. To me, it looks as if they are running out of ideas already and a lot of people get tired of the show. Maybe it would have been better if they left it at one season.

I think it would be one thing if each season was radically different, so that say season 2 was dealing with the overthrow of Gilead, then season 3 with what happens next, but at the moment it just feels really slow and dragged out to spend so much time focusing on June’s story alone, even when it never really goes anywhere. I think it’s hurting the show quite honestly when the showrunners are so attached to one particular character and her struggles, instead of branching out a bit more after season 1 and making Gilead itself what the show is really build around. It just comes across that they see Elizabeth Moss as the star and don’t want to ever lose her character, so that June unrealistically gets away without any permanent injury every time, while the other woman are losing eyes and having their genitals operated on!

Ten seasons definitely sounds like too much to spend in that kind of environment, I would suggest four seasons personally, five at the most, but I’m guessing that Hulu will want to keep it running for a while yet as it has received so much attention and awards buzz.

And aww, I love your icon :) I’m interested in getting around to starting season 2 soon and seeing what I think of it, I definitely found the first season a lot of fun just for watching Sherlock and Joan together

S2 probably should have ended with June going to Canada and helping to dismantle Gilead from the outside. Maybe focus on another Handmaid and June's story in Canada.
They are relying far too much on June and in turn the quality of the show/writing suffers. There is so much going on, so many characters, and they just have close-ups of Elizabeth's face...

Hulu will want to keep it running for a while yet as it has received so much attention and awards buzz
Exactly! And if the showrunner(s) are already saying the show could last ten seasons, Hulu won't stop them as long as it works.

naive_astronaut made the icon three years ago and I never feel like replacing it. It's just the perfect Elementary icon :D

It really does feel like overkill, I can’t help feeling that they are letting their love for the star of the show steer them away from what they were originally doing, they hardly need to stay focused on one specific woman in order to tell the story of a society like Gilead

And I really love it, hope it’s okay that I’ve snagged it now as well! :) I have been disappointed to find that there doesn’t seem to be much of an online presence for Elementary actually, although maybe I’m not looking in the right places? But it seems to mostly be the U.K. Sherlock that you come across on searches on say Archive Of Our Own, and I haven’t found a ton of fan videos or fan art for the show either, even tumblr and Reddit communities seem pretty quiet

I'm afraid I can't help you. I really only watch the show. I used to follow a couple of tumblr blogs, but I think in the end only fyeahjoanlock was still active.

I love Elementary! I've actually been rewatching it all the way from the beginning again, I'm up to S4 now. I love the relationship between Joan and Sherlock, how much character growth Sherlock goes through as the show progresses. And I loved the Irene/Moriarty twist!

I do really love Sherlock’s character, I find him so endearing and relatable with how awkward he can be in social situations, and much he struggles with emotional intimacy and opening up to other people. The show also does a great job with handling his addiction and showing what an ongoing struggle it is for him, it’s been lovely to see such a subtle and understated bond grow beyond him and Joan over the course of the season. Their mutual love and respect is the best part of the show for me, just a few examples are the episode where they both say to the other, ‘I think what you do is amazing’, when he sits with her for support when she’s waiting for her ex who they both know isn’t going to show up to rehab, or when he names a new species of bee after her <3

I was kind of put off at first by each season being as many as 24 episodes tbh, but it definitely helps when you’re got so many episodes to gradually develop a bond. I’m not always that into procedural dramas, but I definitely want to keep watching this show just for the characters alone

And Moriarty too is such a fascinating character, I really hope that they bring her back for many more episodes

One of the things I love about Elementary is that, while the episode cases can be a hit-or-miss sometimes, they are never the main focus of the show anyway. It's the character relationships, mainly between Joan and Sherlock, that get the spotlight and are the highlight of the show overall. Seeing that slow build of trust between them, understanding their characters, that growing friendship, it's amazing. I love their dynamic.

And the Irene/Moriarty reveal was such a delight. It was something I didn't expect, but thoroughly enjoyed seeing it played out in such a way.

I must admit that I was spoiled for it, one of the drawbacks of coming in late, but I still really enjoyed seeing it all come together. The build-up was done so fantastically from when Vinnie Jones’s character first mentions Moriarty and you’ve just waiting for their introduction, and then when she’s revealed finally and Sherlock had such incredible chemistry with her <3 <3 <3 This show is one that makes me want to seek out all the fan fiction actually, as usually happens when I find myself falling in love with a character as much as I have with Sherlock, but anything with Moriarty in the search resulted in having to wade through a ton of U.K. Sherlock, and then most of the Elementary stories seemed to have been written in the early seasons only, so I get the impression that it isn’t a show with the most active fandom around disappointingly

And yeah the cases of the week aren’t badly done or anything, but I must admit that I don’t always keep exact track of everything that’s going on if someone asked me to describe the plot to them, I’m usually just focused on the Sherlock and Joan moments *g* Man 24 episodes is a LOT though, I don’t know how the writers manage to keep coming up with so many varied cases and different twists all of the time!

Honestly The Handmaid’s Tale is just starting to feel a bit repetitive at this point to me, especially all of the lingering close-ups of June, I wish that they would move on already and find other parts of the story to tell.

RIGHT THERE WITH YOU.

It's been 8 episodes and we are not moving forward. I want to see the downfall of Gilead and the Handmaids taking direct action in destroying the system.

I've heard about the 10 seasons project too, but it seems ridiculous to me.

It really does feel like two seasons should have been enough to establish Gilead before tearing it all down. I wish they would start moving forward now, but I think a lot of people had a bad feeling when season 2 ended on June deciding to remain in Gilead, even when it made no sense. I guess they really are mapping out ten seasons with June as the focal point, and we’re currently in the stalling phase. I want to hang in there long enough to watch the downfall of Gilead, but I could not take ten seasons of it. Even if it were shortened seasons of 6-8 episodes then that would be a little better, but ten 13 episode seasons are just going to feel so drawn-out and hopeless

I adore Elementary and am sad that this is the last season. The cases are often so-so but the relationship between Sherlock and Joan is the reason that I watch.

It seems like that’s the general consensus! :) I’m not usually into procedurals, and I’ve been drawing away from network shows with 22+ episodes, but the characters still drew me in immediately with Elementary

I really like Elementary. A good portrayal of Sherlock and Watson.

I want to see Handmaids Tale. I just haven't gotten around to sitting down and watching it.

I’ve really been enjoying them, I love how Sherlock is abrasive and comes across as having absolutely no social skills, but it’s still clear that he does care about the victims and not just ~solving a puzzle~, he’s just not always so great at showing it. Some of the comments I’ve read on the U.K. Sherlock makes me think that I probably wouldn’t enjoy that version as much, although I suppose that it would be interesting to check it out one day and see how it compares to Elementary

And I would say that The Handmaid’s Tale is definitely worth watching to see what you think of it, it’s a very interesting and topical show and it has beautiful cinematography, impatiently I just wish that the plot would start moving a little bit faster! It’s a hard show to binge

I actually like the U.K. Sherlock, it's different but I am all about the crime solving which Benedict Cumberbatch does very well. I love his detail on the cases. Definitely check it out, even if there are only 3 season, maybe 4. It's been so long, I forget.

I am interested in watching it one day to see what I think of it, it just puts me off a bit when I read people saying that he’s pretty much a sociopath in that show and doesn’t care about anything but solving the puzzles

I really enjoyed Elementary, however they kept moving around what night it was on, and then sometimes it would be randomly moved to a later time slot due to a sporting event. I work nights, so I would come home to find whatever event recorded and not an episode of Elementary. It was frustrating and I gave up trying to watch.

Aww that sucks, it’s annoying when networks do that to shows and don’t seem to understand how it will impact the ratings. I know about sweeps being a big deal in the US, but honestly I’ve still never really understood why it’s considered a good idea to have a show on one week, off the next, and then on again! To me it makes far more sense to take one long break over Xmas, come back a little later if you have too, and then just run the rest of the episodes uninterrupted, at least then viewers will know if it’s actually on that week or not

I love Elementary. It's one of the few shows I've watched over the last few years that I haven't at one point or another grew to hate or wanted to drop in a blind rage. The most issue I've had with it was during the middle of season 5 when I was a little bored by the main plot of the season but it recovered very quickly. Like you said, Sherlock and Joan's relationship is my favorite part of the story and the excellent character development. The Moriarity twist was great!

Stacey

That’s reassuring to hear that it holds up and there’s no massive quality drop, even after six seasons :) The writers have done such a beautiful job of writing the characters, and that’s always what I value the most about a show

I haven't seen either one of those things, but heard and read so much about "The Handmaid's Tale"... not sure it would be a show I could enjoy, but yeah... :D

It's always a "problem" when writers or producers whatsoever don't know when to end a show and go on and on and on until it's not good anymore...

I did really love it at first, but it’s not exactly a fun show to sit down and binge episode after episode, so I am a bit puzzled when I read about the showrunners seeing it as a ten year show. It’s a show that has such an impact that I think it would really benefit more from not being dragged out too much

I was just saying the same thing about The Handmaid's Tale. I'm much more interested in Canada and to see Gilead fall and how society sorts it all out after. We know Gilead is a horrible, horrible place now, we don't need to have it rubbed in more.

Honestly it feels like most episodes now consist almost entirely of close-ups of June glaring into the camera, it loses its impact when you use it that much. There is so much more story to tell with the system of Gilead itself as well, rather than focusing on a single characters struggles all the time. I’m honestly starting to find June quite a detestable character lately anyway with how self-righteous she has become with her attacks on other women who are just as trapped within the system as she is, they are just trying to survive the best way they know how

I’m just hoping that they might take some of the feedback onboard and start pushing things forward next season, I’ve noticed a lot of people saying the same thing lately about how all the June close-ups and slow motion shots are starting to get really old, so I’m sure that people on the show must be aware that viewers are starting to get impatient?

Edited 2019-07-12 11:45 (UTC)

Exactly!

When they see us was such a good series! And it was devestating to watch them suffering so much through those false accusations.

It’s especially hard knowing that it was all based on a true story, I watched the Oprah special afterwards as well, and it was tough hearing the real people talk about how they felt that their lives had been ruined :(

Edited 2019-07-12 11:30 (UTC)

I love Elementary. They did an excellent job with all the characters, and the acting is superb, too. The cases are sometimes a bit contrived, but it *is* a Sherlock Holmes interpretation, so that's par for the course, I guess.

Honestly I’m impressed though that they manage to come up with so many different cases that almost all have a unique twist to them, I feel like that’s an impressive skill set in itself when you’re talking about 24 episodes, as opposed to a show with 13 episodes or less. And agreed on the acting :)

I'm on episode 5 of The Act. It's so brilliant and dark. Patricia Arquette is insanely brilliant and awful as DeeDee and I agree that Joey King is an awesome young actress.

Yes definitely, I found that the show did an incredible job of recreating what an oppressive atmosphere that house was for Gypsy, it was almost like a horror movie at times when you were tensing yourself for DeeDee to suddenly pop up and catch Gypsy, they put you right in her point of view

And I don’t want to get too much into the final episodes until you’ve had a chance to see them, but I thought it was interesting also how that sympathetic POV to Gypsy seemed to noticeably shift once Nick was on the scene

I really need to start The Handmaid’s Tale and I keep meaning to but then I don't :\ And I don't have Hulu anymore cause I had to cut back on subscription services since money is an issue right now :\

I hope that you do get a chance to see it someday, I know I’m complaining a bit here about not being sure that we need so many seasons, but the first season really did make an incredible impact

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