Even if you watch the rest, you still won’t know what happens at the end…
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When I start a TV series or movie and can’t finish it, because it’s trash, I read up on it to see how it ends. I can’t just outright drop something, even if it’s complete garbage, and NOT know how it ends.
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The only way I can not finish a series is if I didn’t want to see it in the first place, and didn’t like anything I saw when I started anyway.
So far, the only one to meet this standard is The Office. I only started watching it because people said I reminded them of Dwight and I wanted to see if it was true, I wasn’t really interested in watching for it’s own sake, and the character of Michael Scott was just so infuriating that I had to stop a few episodes before the end of the first season. Just couldn’t take it.
Anything else, even if I didn’t want to see it, but I ended up likening it, and then stopped liking it if it turned bad, I still have to follow through to the end.
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I’m like that for like a day or two, but if I hold off then I find it’s easier to brain dump the entire experience from my memory. Also this only applies to dramatic stuff. Funny stuff I don’t remember what happens even if I love it. For example I have seen Ricky Bobby at least 3 times and I have no idea who wins the final race of the movie. I just remember they crash and get out of the cars and run to the finish line 
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Mid-season 2 to mid-season 6 are among the best comedy I have ever watched but season 1 is so bad (and offensive even for the early 2000s) that I genuinely don’t know how it got renewed.
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yeah @Heisenberg I respect your opinion and all, so I’m ok with you stopping there.
…It’s just that the show really starts to find its stride and style in Season 2 & onwards. Season 1 borrowed a lot of its jokes (word-for-word even) from its UK counterpart. A comedy style that’s more offensive, awkward, sexual? than USA sensibilities.
So I agree with @Krikkit2021 that Season 1 isn’t a very good impression on the show as a whole.
Personally I sort-of enjoyed season 1 despite its off-putting nature, since it was interesting enough to see how closely they adapted the events/jokes of the UK series.
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I’ve heard it gets better, and I think I will go back someday, but I’ll have to summon up the stomach acid to get through season 1 and right now that’s not a priority for me.
To be fair, everybody was right: I am like Dwight.
Oh, and I misspoke earlier: The Office is not the only show I started and stopped, having not wanted to see it anyway and not liking what I did see. The other one to hold that honor is Game of Thrones. I watched the first episode and noped the fuck out. When the very first episode of a series shows a brother and sister fucking each other… yeah, I’ll stick to all the murder and attempted rape of The Walking Dead, thank you very much. Incest is a step too far, for me.
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I watched part of one single episode of that show and wrote off the entire series. I haven’t regretted it either. I regularly drop shows after having seen only one or two episodes.
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I stopped watching before the first episode ended because I just thought the show was boring as shit. It wasn’t until the season 2 finale when the White Walkers officially showed up that I got interested and binge watched the first two seasons. Overall, I enjoyed the series.
Mad Men and Breaking Bad were like that for me as well. Didn’t initially like either show after watching most of the pilots. Tuned out. Caught repeats on AMC here and there and my opinion changed. Specifically “The Wheel” for Mad Men and “Face Off” for Breaking Bad. Same thing, got hooked and binge watched all the previous episodes/seasons to catch up. By then, Breaking Bad was ending (last season) and Mad Men, even though that episode is just the season 1 finale, by the time I saw it that show was already deep into season 5.
That’s one of the benefits of binge watching: you’re more likely to give something a chance (“maybe the next episode will be better”… PLAY) as opposed to watching the first episode, not really being interested, and then having to wait a week to see the next episode.
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To each their own but imo that’s too little, especially for a comedy. I’m not that big a tv guy anymore but I’ve found that pilots are rarely enough to get the show’s point across and sometimes can take most of the first season to really “get going”. That said, is it reasonable to ask or expect the audience to stick around that long while you’re still introducing things and setting stuff up? Not really.
I also think shows that cut filler and other superfluous things and run some somewhere between 6 and 12 episodes a season nowadays also benefit. Hell, to go back to the office, I think the first season only being 6 20ish minute episodes probably helped save it; 6 subpar at best introductory episodes are WAY more palatable than, say, 20.
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Kind of last minute, but I finished the first part of Stranger Things 4. It’s been a really enjoyable season so far and I can’t wait to see how they end it/what they’re going to set up for the final season.
- The Horror this season was very disturbing. Lots of tense scenarios. I felt like Season 3 leaned too far into humorous breaks between the scary monster stuff, and it felt weird overall.
This season has some terrifying body-horror. Every single time they show one of those mangled deaths, I just can’t watch. It’s just… soooo graphic. But so interesting for this show. - Somehow, the cast got a lot bigger but they balanced it out very well! Most of those people are side-characters so they only get an episode or two to feature, but the new mainstay Eddie is a great addition. Other things like Victor Creel, the Lab Orderly, bad Army dudes, Suzie again, and some of the kids’ parents, get their chance to be memorable enough but don’t latch onto the main plot so much.
- A lot of the splitting up of the group is a bit overwhelming though. You’ve got Mike and the gang in California, the gang in Hawkins, Hopper in Russia, then the army in a secret location, 11 in the desert lab, then the Young Adults in the Upside Down characters change locations, it’s a lot.
- However, I think the increased length of episodes in this season was a fantastic choice. Each episode feels long enough, allowing for slower pacing, more character moments, more time to develop the story instead of rushing into things or jumping from one big setpiece to the next.
The way they developed the mystery, tying in elements of D&D Satanic panic I thought was hilarious. - Bit worried they’ll be revealing too much about the Upside Down and the eldritch monsters/world by the end of the show given what’s in that last episode – the beauty of it is the uncertainty about it. But we’ll see.
Unfortunately Netflix spoiled the Orderly/001/Vecna twist a week ago with a meme!! A freaking meme on their youtube channel!! They should at least wait to spoil that stuff until Part 2 comes out but… agghhh. Anyway…
As for Part 2, wow. Can’t wait. They nearly had me think Steve was going to die, I was really scared for him… and now there’s Nancy on the edge too?!
Well, for Steve, I figured they wouldn’t tease us with his death on a cliffhanger, only to still go through with it in the intro of the next episode – that’d be cruel!
But… Nancy’s got the same issue going on in the episode right after! I don’t trust them to do a fake-out two times in a row, but we’ll see.
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Well, having now finished season 4 of Stranger Things, I can say that was an emotional wrecking ball. And it came with a pretty big twist. Something that had been hinted at earlier in the season? Turns out, the opposite was true.
I finished Stranger Things 4 and I will make it short:
I’m so sad for Eddie, he deserved better! I hope Max will come back. And the most satisfying moment was Jason’s death 
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I keep hearing people say that, and I want to ask: such as what? He got to be a hero in the middle of a battle that was a real version of the fantasy games he always played. I always have questions when the consensus is that a particular character “deserved better.”
I think I know what one major plot point is going to be for the final season:
Vecna/One kept saying that those he kills stay with him. We know he didn’t die, and we know that Max technically did because the gates opened anyway, even though Eleven brought her back. Her mind is still gone though. I’ll bet a penny and a fiddle of gold that Eleven is gonna try to kill Vecna by tearing his mind apart, find Max’s mind in there, and cast it back into her body. See if it doesn’t happen.
Everyone will still think that he is Chrissies murder and the leader of a cult. No one knows that he’s a hero, except the people knowing what he did.
I may sound a bit far-fetched now. But I’ve often been in the situation that I didn’t get the recognition I deserved, despite great effort, while other, more privileged people easily get it. It’s similar with eddie, he’s an outsider and even if he died a brave hero, for most he remains an unwanted outsider.
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Floor Is Lava is a competition obstacle course show based on “the floor is lava”, which pretty much does what it says on the tin (if you’ve never heard of the game). There are so many things to talk about but I think the following short article sums it up pretty nicely:
Netflix’s Floor Is Lava is the worst-best show on TV
I will add that season two tweaks the format in a lot of good ways (like forcing the teams to utilize the entire course, a new final challenge version and more host interaction) and a couple bad ways (like a shortened season and a section of the final challenge basically guaranteeing one team the win once one of them gets past a certain point) for an overall improvement and more realization of its potential. Should there be a third season, which I would definitely watch, I hope they keep playing with the formula a little bit more, particularly in the areas mentioned above that are still a little weak.
The Terminal List
Based on the best selling novel by Jack Carr, “The Terminal List” tells the story of James Reece (played by Chris Pratt), a Navy SEAL officer who comes back home to his family after an op gone bad, but immediately strange things start happening.
This is a grim, dark, violent action thriller which looks more or less like a movie to me. It’s a bit oddly paced. When the show was 4 episodes in I felt like it would’ve been at the third act if it was a movie… but there’s 4 episodes left. Basically it feels like it has at least two, but maybe three third acts.
The first two episodes feel like a waste considering the question of whether or not his mind is just broken is resolved so easily with very little follow up. The first two episodes also seem to promise a bit more depth than the series actually delivers. They could’ve been cut down to one.
The action is good (and unforgivingly violent at times), and I really like Chris Pratt in this. It’s not perfect, but I’d gladly watch a second season based on the next novel in the James Reece series.
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I still have to double take when I watch Jurassic Park or Jack Ryan and see Chris Pratt or John whatever his name is all big and strong and playing a legitimate tough guy. I’ll have to give this show a go though; it sounds right up my alley.
STRANGER THINGS 4
The whole season is talked about in here
Gonna do a quick (hopefully) bullet-point list now that I’ve finished the season.
- Love the return to unexplainable horror, mystery, govt. coverups.
- Longer episodes = slower pacing = I liked this… mostly.
The last episode definitely dragged on at times just to build up unnecessary tension - Plenty of (side) characters get killed off throughout the season, adding to the stakes and scares.
- Eddie is a great new character, really dig his vibes with Dustin and the rest of the crew – his fish-out-of-water type character is fun coming in this late in such a huge series.
- Glad they didn’t shy away from resolving Dr. Brenner’s abusive past towards all the kidnapped children. He may have truly cared for them, but clearly had ulterior motives and was controlling and abusive piece of shit. Glad to finally see his dead body.
- The Satanic Panic plot got fleshed out way, way more than I expected. Proved to be a major obstacle and threat to our main characters. I enjoyed it. It offered a distinct ‘human’ threat instead of just eldritch monsters or stereotypical Cold War Russians.
- About Russians, I like they didn’t play such a big part this season. Hopper’s break-out plot was engaging enough, but felt very inconsequential by the end with how everything resolved so smoothly. Nothing was really learned or any consequences were left in Russia.
- Don’t totally like the idea of Vecna/001 “creating” The Mind Flayer. I guess he just shaped him into a corporeal form, but it’s a bit unclear here.
- Metallica sequence was freakin’ epic.
- However Eddie’s death felt very contrived. To buy extra time like that was impressive, but he could have kept running. Instead he sacrifices himself to a swarm of bats that die a few minutes later anyway. Also Dustin breaks his ankle because… they needed more stakes? Idk about that. RIP Eddie. Side character really did not fuckin deserve to die.
- Max’s death was extremely heartbreaking. Sadie Sink oooooh she’s good. Caleb McLaughlin I think had one of his first major dramatic scenes in this show and it was fantastic. Awesome performances from both of them.
- Max coming back to life… or something like that… felt really cheap. She’s a great actor, they probably want to keep her – hell, I can see some sort of “she is Vecna’s empty vessel” plot for next season – but damnit this Plot Armor stuff is getting so annoying. I really hope Eleven didn’t also just curse Max to a new life of pain and misery. Breaking all 4 limbs like that – she’ll need months to recover anyway – if Hawkins even has any months left after that ending…
- Noah Schnapp also getting great dramatic scenes with the not-so-sublte Gay teasing for his character. He’s one of the show’s best child actors really.
- But… ugh… man… Mike. I used to like this guy, the actor and the character. I don’t know if it’s the writing or if Wolfhard isn’t putting the effort into it, but all of his dramatic scenes this season feel so flat and stilted. The heart-to-heart in the van felt flat, the speech to El felt lame… something about it really bothers me and I’m just not enjoying his character.
- The gate earthquake was impressive, as were the scenes leading up to it. I was sure they’d end this season on a somber note, but they nearly had me convinced they had Vecna dead for real – though I unfortunately called it the moment he fell out the window: his body would be magically gone by the time the characters reached the entrance. Still, the false-victory moment was nice. I didn’t expect to get that.
- Hope Netflix has a good budget for the next season if we’re gonna get a destroyed Hawkins.
And I’m not sure, but I’d hope some time-skip occurs. The characters vs. actors age gap gets even more unbelievable each season. But Vecna just lying in wait for a few months/years after what just happened would feel even more implausible given his “victory” in the end.
Also can the Adults finally get clued into this Alt Dimension stuff in the next one?! It’s getting maddening with how much this scooby-doo crew manages to complete every single year unbeknownst to the rest of the population. There’s a “door to hell” sure, but hopefully the cult craze doesn’t impact the next season too much because of it. I’ve had my fill already.
Ok coolio. Time to see how long this next one takes. 2.5 years? 3? I say 3.
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