Watched Series Notes
Series I watched 2024 and on w/ notes.
Anime Series Here: https://myanimelist.net/animelist/Rubraformica?status=7
Anime Series Here: https://myanimelist.net/animelist/Rubraformica?status=7
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- CreatorChris PrynoskiCritical RoleStarsLaura BaileyTaliesin JaffeAshley JohnsonAfter saving the realm from evil and destruction at the hands of the most terrifying power couple in Exandria, Vox Machina is faced with saving the world once again-this time, from a sinister group of dragons known as the Chroma Conclave.Started: S1 (1/20/23) / S2 (1/25/23)
Finished: S1 (1/20/23)
Score: S1 (5/10) / S2 (5.5/10)
S1 Notes:- I don't love a lot of the character designs and the general art style. Some of the animation is fairly cool though.
- The raunchy humor and gore feels a bit gratuitous, especially early on. This sort of stuff is in the TTRPG series, but it's all spread out over long 3+ hour sessions. The frequency of this stuff in 20-30 min episodes just feels like way too much, and the humor often isn't good enough to justify its existence.
- It generally feels like a kinda cool clip show for fans of Critical Role. If you haven't already seen the Vox Machina campaign, I wouldn't recommend this series to you. It feels very rushed. Characters and plot points aren't properly developed. It only really exists to animate a lot of the key moments in the series for people who are already fans. I think the series would benefit from being 10+ episodes of about 40+ minutes in length for a more epic, sorta cinematic/prestige TV type feel.
- Also, I wish more pre-stream stuff was adapted here. I would've been happy with a first season that just adapted all of the pre-stream stuff in its entirety, a second season for Kraghammer/Underdark, a third for the Briarwoods, and so on. Again, the fact that they adapted a tiny bit of pre-stream stuff just to set up the Chroma Conclave and introduce the characters before going into a fan-favorite arc just shows this series is fan service and not for gaining a new audience. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, it just makes the series a companion piece to the TTRPG campaign and not something that can stand on its own.
S2 Notes:- The dragons look a lil goofy at times. Overall look pretty decent tho. Better than a lot of CG dragons in anime.
- I'm glad we're getting some Vasselheim stuff w/ Kash + Zahra, but I'm disappointed we're missing a lot of the Slayer's Take stuff, which were some of the most fun episodes IMO. These moments may be seen as "filler" that doesn't contribute to an overarching plotline, but these moments and episodes serve as character-building moments and are really the heart of D&D. D&D is not a streamlined neat story, and I think an adaptation, especially a TV series that has more time to work with than a movie, should reflect that.
- Some of the running jokes like the hatred for doors don't really make sense w/o the ttrpg background understanding. I feel like this show is trying to appeal to a broader audience that don't necessarily play or even watch ttrpgs by streamlining the plot, while also include some ttrpg specific stuff like this that will seem strange to normal viewers. I feel like they should commit harder to one of these paths instead of straddling the line.
- I don't have much hope for the later seasons or the Mighty Nein series. The first two seasons of this have so many issues, but have gotten near universal critical praise, so I doubt CR will want to change much. I'll prolly keep watching out of curiosity, and I'll prolly keep thinking it's alright, but I expect to be continually disappointed by CR animated series.
- CreatorMarti NoxonStarsAmy AdamsPatricia ClarksonChris MessinaAfter treating her mental illness, crime reporter Camille Preaker returns to her hometown to solve the murder of two young girls. However, she is forced to face and deal with her own demons too.Started: 4/13/23
Finished: 4/15/23
Score: 8.5/10- Right off the bat, I notice the cinematography is a bit strange. It doesn't feel cinematic how I'd expect an HBO series to feel/look. Not sure if this is a good, bad, or neutral thing yet, just something that immediately stuck out to me.
- It feels dark and dingy, but not artificially so. In contrast, the newspaper office in STL is shot in a way that makes it feel boring and mundane. The cinematography feels consistent. It just captures the essence of these locations well. For these reasons, I decided I do like this cinematography.
- A lot of sex scenes in film/tv feel unnecessary to me, but every sex scene in this show revealed something about Cammile and her relationship w/ the men she's with and with her own body.
- The clues to Adora being the killer are there. They're not even super subtle, but they're subtle enough to make you feel smart for "figuring it out". I suspected her early on, but I had no idea how she actually did it and that it was linked to her first daughter's death until later. Then at the very end, after making me feel smart for "figuring it out", it throws a pretty wild curveball. And it all makes sense.
- I felt protective over Amma the whole series. Even when she was being shitty, I thought it was just her friends and mother being bad influences on her. The show does a really good job of manipulating you into feeling this way and never suspecting Amma even though there are plenty of reasons for you to suspect her. But we're shown Camille's perspective and made to feel what she feels, so we don't see it until it's too late and she's already killed again.
- I started watching this after rewatching Gone Girl, and I was surprised that this story seemed to have a relatively happy ending, considering how Gone Girl ended. But then the final twist was revealed.
- CreatorDavid E. KelleyStarsReese WitherspoonNicole KidmanShailene WoodleyThe apparently-perfect lives of upper-class mothers of students at a prestigious elementary school unravel to the point of murder when a single mother moves to their quaint California beach town.Started: S1 (4/16) / S2 (4/17)
Finished: S1 (4/17) / S2 (4/18)
Score: S1 (7/10) / S2 (6.5/10)
S1 Notes:- A lot of great characters. Everyone is complex. Renata or Maddy could've just been characterized as "karens", but they have a lot more depth than just that. The show makes you sympathize with these people that would annoy likely annoy you if you ran into them in your day to day life.
- Minor point, but "Ed's" song was weirdly jarring. It was very obviously on Adam Scott.
S2 Notes:- Still pretty entertaining, but a lot of the tension from the first season is gone now. Jane is longer going around with a gun and Perry is dead so Celeste isn't in fear for her life anymore. There are still stakes, and as of episode 3 there are some moments of slight buildup that feel like they could lead to more tense moments down the line, but nothing yet.
- The supernatural stuff with Bonnie's mom is weird. It feels out of place in an otherwise very grounded series. I guess a lot of this stuff could just be things Bonnie and her mom are genuinely experiencing and her mom takes them as signs/premonitions, but it seems like the show is giving them more weight than that. I guess the "visions" are kinda vague and could be applied to a lot of different situations. Bonnie just latches onto them and applies them to her killing Perry.
- I like that they came back to the central conflict (the lie about Perry's death) at the very end, but I felt like it wasn't a big enough focus this season, and I would like to see a little aftermath or something. The ending isn't horrible, but it just feels too open ended for me.
- Overall, this season was pretty good. I liked Meryl Streep and the courtroom drama was pretty interesting, but it was never quite as good as the first season.
- CreatorSam LevinsonStarsZendayaHunter SchaferJacob ElordiRue Bennett is a drug addict fresh from rehab, who's struggling to stay clean and make sense of her future. Her life changes drastically when she meets Jules Vaughn, a trans girl who recently moved to town following her parents' divorce.Started: Specials (4/18/23)
Finished: Specials (4/18/23)
Score: Specials (4/10)
Specials Notes:- I watched the first season a while ago and thought it was way too over the top, in ridiculous, and overly self-serious. It was still entertaining enough for me to want to watch more, though.
- Ali's talk with Rue was pretty well written and acted. Seems pretty down-to-earth and real. More-so than I remember the first season being. Felt a little preachy at times though, as if the characters were preaching at the audience more than having a conversation.
- The super loud music and occasional cutting back to Rue while Ali was talking on the phone felt weird.
- These specials feel like they're trying too hard to be artsy. A lot of extended artsy sequences where nothing is happening except music and some visuals that are not interesting enough to hold my attention on their own. They're just boring.
- CreatorDavid ShoreStarsFreddie HighmoreRichard SchiffHill HarperShaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and Savant syndrome, is recruited into the surgical unit of a prestigious hospital.Started: S1-6 (May 2023)
Score: S1-3 (7/10)
Score: S4-6 (5.5/10)- Season 1 was pretty good for the most part. 2 and 3 were a lil worse, but roughly the same quality. The new characters added early in S4 aren't great and the show starts getting incredibly samey and formulaic at this point.
- CreatorGreg BerlantiSera GambleStarsPenn BadgleyVictoria PedrettiTati GabrielleA dangerously charming, intensely obsessive young man goes to extreme measures to insert himself into the lives of those he is transfixed by.Started: S1 (7/23/23) / S2 (7/24/23) / S3 (7/25/23)
Finished: S1 (7/24/23) / S2 (7/25/23) / S3 (N/A)
Score: S1 (6/10) / S2 (5.5) / S3 (5.5/10)
S1 Notes:- A lot of the dialogue and monologues are kinda edgy and pretentious. I feel like this is on purpose, but it's still annoying. I don't think every character has to be likable, but I at least need to not find the protagonist annoying; especially if they narrate a lot of the show.
- The plot structure is very strange and meandering. I feel like this season could've ended many different times.
- Relatively entertaining. Kinda reminds me of the Scream TV show, but a bit better.
S2 Notes:- A lot of the twists in this season feel weird and forced. Like they just put a bunch of twists in here for shock value and for the sake of unpredictability.
- Haven't seen Dexter, but I can see some similarities between it and this show. The show even mentions Dexter in S2.
S3 Notes:- I was hoping this show would get more interesting in the move to the suburbs, but it didn't.
- I wish we got more Joe + Love partners in crime stuff and less of them at odds.
- CreatorMatt OwensSteven MaedaStarsIñaki GodoyEmily RuddMackenyuIn a seafaring world, a young pirate captain sets out with his crew to attain the title of Pirate King, and to discover the mythical treasure known as 'One Piece.'Started: 8/31/23
Finished: 9/1/23
Score:7/10- Kinda cheesy and goofy at times, but it works.
- Very cool set design.
- Pretty good fight choreography
- Some of the original dialogue feels a lil lazy.
- StarsYohuru WilliamsEdward T. O'DonnellDoug DoudsThe Great War chronicles America's involvement in WWI from 1917-1918. The series combines dramatic scenes with documentary storytelling techniques, as it explores how the US military helped the Allied Powers defeat Germany and end the war.Started: 10/14/2023
Finished: N/A
Score: 7/10- Good narration. Well written, seemingly well researched, well presented, and performed well.
- Great footage and interviews with vets (mostly British, but some from other armies too). The inclusion of some marching and trench songs sung by soldiers was cool as well.
- I feel like there's a bit too much focus on Europe, especially the UK. It is a BBC documentary, so that is understandable, but I'd like to know more about the Ottomans and Japanese. They barely touch on their reasons for entering and the state of these countries before and during the war like they did for the UK, France, and Germany.
- I love maps and am kinda interested in military tactics, so I wish there were more map segments that showed the tactical movements of troops in certain key battles.
- This was made long ago so some of the language about women non-western Europeans feels quite antiquated.
- It's pretty dry and started to lose my interest around halfway through. The war did drag on, so it does make sense that the documentary reflects that, but it's still gotten kinda samey.
- CreatorScott AlexanderLarry KaraszewskiSarah BurgessStarsSarah PaulsonAnnaleigh AshfordSterling K. BrownAn anthology series centered around America's most notorious crimes and criminals.Started: S3 (11/5/23)
Finished: S3 (11/7/23)
Score: S3 (7/10)- I watched and enjoyed S1 years ago. I started S2, but wasn't interested enough to stick with it.
- This season kept my attention. I'm much more interested in politics than I am in the fashion industry, so that probably helped.
- Well acted all around. Clive Owen does a good Bill Clinton. Not quite perfect, but pretty damn good. Cobie Smulders is really good as Ann Coulter.
- It was an interesting story and I think it captured the complexity of the situation well. You obviously feel bad for Lewinsky, but you can also see where she made mistakes or acted kind of annoying or bratty. Lewinsky was a producer on this season so I think some of this was her reflecting on her shortcomings in this situation. To be fair, she came from a pretty privileged background and was very young, so I would expect her to behave how she does in this series. You can also sympathize with Linda Tripp and her family (more so her family) despite everything she did. I think she did want fame, but I also think she truly believed she was doing the right thing. She wanted to be famous for being a righteous whistleblower and then all this blew up in her face and she started receiving a lot of unfair hate toward her appearance. There's plenty to criticize about her actions, but the focus on her appearance over everything was weird and gross.
- StarsYoram SheftelMichael ShakedEli RosenbaumA Cleveland grandfather is brought to trial in Israel, accused of being the infamous German death camp guard known as Ivan the Terrible.Started: (12/1/23)
Finished: (N/A)
Score: (7/10)- Fairly interesting story told with a lot of good footage from the time and modern interviews with the people involved who are still alive.
- Just felt kinda dragged out.
- StarsBrooke ShieldsScaachi KoulIsobel ColemanFollows actor, model, and icon Brooke Shields as she becomes a woman who discovers her power after being a sexualized young girl. She shows the dangers and triumphs of gaining agency in a hostile world.Started: (12/10/23)
Finished: (12/12/23)
Score: (7/10)- I'm surprised how normal and down to earth Brooke seems (and always seemed, even as a kid and young woman) despite her massive fame and success.
- Really gross seeing people fixate on her appearance from birth and seeing how quickly that fixation became sexual (as young as 9 years old).
- The guy who was a family friend who photographed her nude in sexually suggestive poses as a 9 year old as already gross, but him trying to sell those images after she became famous as a teenager was really disgusting.
- On top of that all of the sexualized ads and sexualized and/or nude roles in film when shes was under 18 (As young as 12) was crazy. I haven't seen these movies, but I can't imagine a way you could responsibly depict young teen or preteen sexuality on film using real children. It seems like it'd always have some negative effects on the child actors.
- The clips of interviewers talking about how attractive she was, especially how nice her body was, when she was like 13-14 was really weird. Saying that stuff to a friend would be weird enough, but saying it on national television in front of the girl you're saying it about is insane. I can't imagine being a middle schooler and having millions of grown men openly lust over me. Crazy.
- The people that they interviewed for this gave some interesting commentary. Brooke herself took up most of the screen time and she gave a lot of good insight into her thoughts and feeling at different points in time and how she sees these things looking back now. We also got a lot of footage of her talking about these thoughts and feeling in interviews from her childhood and young adulthood too. It's all very easy to follow and paints a clear picture of these situations and the broader issues Brooke faced throughout her life.
- StarsAnton LesserSimon Russell BealeTom GeorgesonA mini-series of adaptations of Shakespeare's history plays: Richard II, Henry IV: Parts 1 and 2, and Henry V.Started: (12/12/23)
Finished: (12/13/23)
Score: (4/10)- My only experience with Shakespeare before this is reading some of Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth, watching the 1968 R&J and the 2015 Macbeth movies, and reading some of his sonnets.
- I don't like Shakespearean English. I've never cared much about prose or poetry and I actively dislike it when I feel it impedes understanding or otherwise draws too much attention to itself. I also don't like plays much, especially the monologues.
- The costuming and sets/filming locations are pretty cool.
- The story is relatively simple, but the diction and lyrical structure makes everything harder to understand than it needs to be and makes the plot drag on much longer than it needs to be.
- My biggest issue with Shakespeare (and poetic or "flowery" writing in general) is that they're super focused on the the language itself while I see language as a communication tool. I want my language to be as clear and unobtrusive as possible most of the time.
- Despite emotional performances, the languages just makes me feel like none of these characters are real people. I can't understand or identify with them when they all speak like this.
- I skipped around hoping to find something of interest. There are some moments of tension that are well acted, and some comedic moments that are alright, but that's about it.
- The battle scenes aren't great. Everything but the fighting itself is good, but the fight choreography is very weak and sanitized. I don't feel much impact from any charges or clashes.
- CreatorGene RoddenberryStarsWilliam ShatnerLeonard NimoyDeForest KelleyIn the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.Started: ~2020
Finished: Early 2024
Score: 6/10- Episode Notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UgMCLOM6-iAPEdoXgSMcu55D69E1LPkjnknOugQ6jLo/edit?usp=sharing
- StarsDani BowmanJames B. JonesAbbey RomeoIt follows people on the autism spectrum as they navigate the world of dating and relationships.Started: ~2022
Score: 7/10- Sweet show. The producers do a good job of not just treating these people like children, and a lot of their relationships are nice to see.
- CreatorDavid ShoreStarsFreddie HighmoreRichard SchiffHill HarperShaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and Savant syndrome, is recruited into the surgical unit of a prestigious hospital.Started: May 2023
Finished: 5/23/24
Score: 6/10- Before going back and starting from season one, I saw many, but not all, episodes from s2-6.
- A lot of the dialogue is super cheesy and/or just poorly written. Some moments are very unintentionally funny, and other moments are intentionally funny. Some of the acting is great, and some is kinda bad. The show tends to follow a formula that becomes clear very quickly. It tends to be very predictable. Overall, the show is consistently pretty entertaining though.
- I’m starting from episode 1 with the intention of at least watching the first season. So far, the show feels very different. We’re learning about Shaun’s backstory, and he’s still yet to prove himself. The presentation of everything feels a little different, and it feels less formulaic than the later seasons. I guess that kinda makes sense. Once you get used to a job, you probably fall into a routine. Also, I imagine more time, money, thought, and effort were put into these early episodes. There are way more locations, the surgeries are covered more in-depth instead of mostly glossed over and only made dramatic by the patient crashing and all the machines beeping. That does still happen but in a different context. In earlier seasons, the focus is on the surgery itself for most of the surgeries. In later seasons, the focus of the surgeries is on conversations about interpersonal conflicts for most of the surgery until the beeps move their attention toward the actual surgery.
- S1-3 are pretty solid, but stuff gets ridiculous (often not in a fun way), repetitive, and sometimes boring past that point. I'd recommend you stop after the S3 finale.
S7 Notes [SPOILERS]:- Most of the actors in the recurring cast are pretty solid, but Highmore and Schiff are clearly the best.
- Ep 5 was very corny. One of the worst of the series. and Asher's death at the end was ridiculous. Everything just felt very hamfisted and it was the worst of the later seasons' tendency to focus on anything but the actual medical stuff.
- The ending hit all the notes I expected, but it all felt very rushed. Not surprising, considering the show was canceled and given a half-length final season. With that in mind, I question the decision to add two new characters. But most of my problems with this season aren't even with them. They're fine characters, but they weren't given time to develop.
- CreatorDavid ShoreStarsHugh LaurieOmar EppsRobert Sean LeonardUsing a crack team of doctors and his wits, an antisocial maverick doctor specializing in diagnostic medicine does whatever it takes to solve puzzling cases that come his way.Started: Late 2023 / Early 2024
Finished: 6/9/24
Score: 7.5/10- A lot of very silly stuff sometimes, like them constantly breaking into peoples' homes, but it works for the show. Just gotta suspend your disbelief a bit.
- This show has a pretty good medical/personal drama ratio, at least in the first couple seasons. Way better than The Good Doctor in that department. Also, the personal drama in this show is much more interesting than all the personal drama in the later seasons of The Good Doctor. The ratio stays fairly solid, though it does fall into the dumb thing of the doctors constantly gossiping while in front of patients, doing procedures/surgeries.
- Great characters and great performances.
- I like the S4 new additions, but I prefer the original trio from the first three seasons. Glad to see them fully reunited for some of S6.
- Seeing this after the Good Doctor is strange. So many episode plots, overarching plots, and character arcs from House are reused later in the Good Doctor.
- StarsSamuel GrecoKatie BignellPerry MavridesWhen Ashley Madison, a dating site for people seeking adulterous affairs, is hacked, millions of users' intimate data is exposed, wrecking marriages and destroying lives.Started: 5/16/24
Finished: 5/16/24
Score: 4.5/10- Way too much time spent interviewing the guys that ran the site. That's much less interesting to me than hearing from the people who decided to sign up. I'd like to know why they did it, what the experience was like, and what the fallout was like when their spouse found out.
- Hearing about the hack itself and the hunt for the culprit was kinda interesting, but there didn't end up being much to it, unfortunately.
- CreatorRichard LevinsonWilliam LinkStarsPeter FalkMike LallyDianne TravisLos Angeles homicide detective, Lieutenant Columbo, uses his humble ways and ingenuous demeanor to root out even the most well-concealed crimes.Started: 6/9/24
Finished: //
Score: /10- Episode Notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vx7peYwwykueJKQA2s3FiRib3L4nhe0sYSHHGMjK4EI/edit?usp=sharing
- StarsGeorge CoulamJeffrey BaldwinLouie MigliaccioWhen the ailing king of America's largest renaissance festival declares his retirement, an epic power struggle ensues between an actor, a former elephant trainer, and a kettle-corn kingpin to claim his throne.Started: 6/24/24
Finished: 6/24/24
Score: 4.5/10- Feels overly artsy in its presentation at times. I tend to enjoy more straightforward informative docs told in a fun or otherwise engaging way. I can enjoy some less conventionally presented docs, but they often come off as overly self-important or profound to me.
- The stuff with Jeff at the end of the first episode is really weird. It's obviously all staged by the documentarians. I guess you could say this fictionalized representation of events reveals the truth of the situation and of everyone's feelings about the situation, but it just feels strange and out of place in a doc like this. Mixing real footage of real people doing their real jobs with fictionalized/hyperbolized/recreated footage of those same people is odd.
- None of these people are likable, and many of them aren't even interesting. The events are sorta interesting, but it all feels overly dramatic and drawn out.
- CreatorChris PrynoskiCritical RoleStarsLaura BaileyTaliesin JaffeAshley JohnsonAfter saving the realm from evil and destruction at the hands of the most terrifying power couple in Exandria, Vox Machina is faced with saving the world once again-this time, from a sinister group of dragons known as the Chroma Conclave.Started: S2 (1/25/23)
Finished: S2 (6/29/24)
Score: S2 (5.5/10)
S2 Notes (ep 6 on):- The Kamaljiori confrontation is changed from stream. They need to land a hit on him rather than speak his name. I thought the name puzzle was more interesting and I'm not sure why they changed it.
- All the swearing, blood, gore, etc., feel kinda forced; like it's trying really hard to seem "mature", but it just makes it feel more childish.
- The pacing is so breakneck, which feels very different from the stream. They're usually adapting 4+ hrs of D&D to ~25mins of animation. There's a lot you could cut or shorten from the stream, but cutting it down to around 1/8th the size just feels like too much. I'd prefer ~1hr long eps. AS is, nothing feels fleshed out or "epic" enough.
- The cg creatures, like the dragons and sphinxes look odd.
- This show just bores me. I've seen all this stuff before, but in much more depth. The art is ok, and the animation is ok sometimes, but it's usually pretty unremarkable. The intro animation is the best thing about the whole series. It just doesn't provide enough new and interesting stuff to hold my attention.
- StarsRyan ReynoldsRob McElhenneyWrexham A.F.C.Docuseries chronicling the purchase and stewardship of Wrexham AFC, one of professional football's oldest clubs, by two Hollywood actors, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.Started: ~2022
Finished: ongoing
Score: 7/10- Interesting concept for a docu-series. First season was pretty solid, but I'm more interested in seeing the soccer stuff and less about the fans and community. Some of that stuff is fine, but it takes up too much time.
- StarsNick LacheyVanessa LacheyMicah LussierSingles who want to be loved for who they are, rather than what they look like, have signed up for a less-conventional approach to modern dating.Started: ~2020
Score: 5/10- The first season was fairly mediocre, but entertaining enough to keep watching. The only entertaining thing was how shocking it was to see people actually say no at the altar. I kinda expected people would've called it off before the wedding, so the shock made it kinda funny, but the show lost that shock value after S1.
- Later seasons have some decent moments, but it's still just not that great. season 5 is especially bad. Just boring.
- StarsFreddie PowellCatherine RichardsMaria BenkhA reality dating series where singletons across the country meet, date, and get engaged before seeing each other.Started: 8/20/24
Score: 5/10- similar quality to the US series
- CreatorJohn HoffmanSteve MartinStarsSteve MartinMartin ShortSelena GomezThree strangers - who live in the same New York City apartment building and share an obsession with true crime - suddenly find themselves embroiled in a murder.Started: ~2021
Finished S3: Aug 2024
Score: 6.5/10- Decent. Fairly entertaining and sometimes kinda funny, but nothing super great.
- The cast is pretty solid and they tell together pretty well.
- I don't like the red herring of the week style mystery writing. I prefer a slowly building mystery with either a lot of plausible suspects or no clear suspects that slowly gets clearer over time. When they throw out a new major red herring every episode that "proves" their new prime suspect is the killer, you know it's gonna just end up being a red herring.
