What TV SHOWS are you watching?

Obviously the first version of the Game of Thrones premiere available online was from Russia. I thought it was cool to see the opening credits in Russian. I did not find it so cool when there were several long scenes that were subtitled. In Russian. Google Translate on my phone can only do so much!

if you like Game of Thrones check out Shit River, in which people are in a river of shit and they're fighting over a ham sandwich

I haven't had the luxury in recent months to do any serious binge-watching. The public library only loans out tv shows for a week, so 22 episodes of 42 minutes each is a lot of damn tv for one week. So I have been trying more BBC shows lately. They tend to have one hour episodes, but less than half as many episodes as an American tv show.

So last week I watched Zen. It's a BBC cop show set in Rome, which made for an odd hybrid. On the one hand, there are fabulous set, stylish clothes, and stories featuring a mixture of action, intrigue, romance, and wry humor. On the other hand, the accents are mostly British, and the performances are very restrained and uptight. The lead character is Inspector Zen ("What kind of name is Zen?" "It's Venetian."), an experienced and handsome homicide detective with a reputation for honesty. He's a moderately competent cop who stays very cool under pressure and catches more than a couple of lucky breaks. And while he has this reputation for honesty, it is under siege throughout the show. Corrupt high-level government officials want him to use that reputation to manipulate or quickly shut down inconvenient cases, and they encourage him with a mixture of promises and threats. At the same time, Zen is starting an affair with an unhappily married co-worker, and both characters share remarkable on-screen chemistry. The theme song is stylish, romantic, and slightly cheesy, but helps underline that this show definitely offers something for the female viewers as well as the usual cop show crowd.

Each episode of Zen is 90 minutes long, but there were only three episodes and the show didn't get a second season. So it functions more like a movie trilogy, and I would recommend it as a moderately good one. The stories are interesting, the setting is great, and the lead actors deliver decent performances. Inspector Zen is a flawed and relatable character despite often showing James Bond levels of cool.

And now I am hardcore binge-watching Arrow, season three. Somehow it is both the soapiest superhero show ever on tv, and also the most Batman-like non-Batman show imaginable. Arrow doesn't suck, but it isn't great either. I am semi-watching it while working on a lengthy and tedious project involving lots of scissorwork.

One minor complaint about third season: the subtitles are ridiculously small. Admittedly, I don't have a big screen. But I shouldn't have to hit pause, then walk over to my tv just to read the subtitles.

The current season of The Americans is chock full of pressure. I almost can't watch it.

Watched the latest episode of Game of Thrones. My thoughts spoilered below;

gah! I'm dying to read your spoiler, Mad Dog, but I'm not ready yet


Craniac, I'm not watching any show with Felicity unless Scott Speedman is in it

Black Barney wrote: gah! I'm dying to read your spoiler, Mad Dog, but I'm not ready yet


Craniac, I'm not watching any show with Felicity unless Scott Speedman is in it

She is a very violent, naughty Felicity.

Mad Dog wrote: Watched the latest episode of Game of Thrones. My thoughts spoilered below;

I'm slightly concerned as well. I especially don't like the following:

hotseatgames wrote:

Mad Dog wrote: Watched the latest episode of Game of Thrones. My thoughts spoilered below;

I'm slightly concerned as well. I especially don't like the following:

Warning: Spoiler!

Theon and Sansa jump off a ledge, presumably to nothing but hard ground below, to their demise, it would have seemed. But no! Now they are running through the woods.

How did they survive? Who cares, let's just Walking Dead that shit!

Or the way they...

hotseatgames wrote: I'm slightly concerned as well. I especially don't like the following:

Warning: Spoiler!

Theon and Sansa jump off a ledge, presumably to nothing but hard ground below, to their demise, it would have seemed. But no! Now they are running through the woods.

How did they survive? Who cares, let's just Walking Dead that shit!

The assumption is that there was a whole lot of snow at the bottom.

Disgustipater wrote:

hotseatgames wrote: I'm slightly concerned as well. I especially don't like the following:

Warning: Spoiler!

Theon and Sansa jump off a ledge, presumably to nothing but hard ground below, to their demise, it would have seemed. But no! Now they are running through the woods.

How did they survive? Who cares, let's just Walking Dead that shit!

The assumption is that there was a whole lot of snow at the bottom.

Right. Apparently there are videos of Russian teenagers jumping off several story high buildings into big snowbanks and emerging fine. So it can be done. But don't try that at home, kids!

The way snow falls and collects against a large wall (like a castle), would make for a slope after wind gets at it too. As long as the snow doesn't ice-up, I could believe it.

In a show that has dragons and vagina-demons, i find Game of Thrones surprisingly never breaks my suspension of disbelief...EVER. I don't know how they pull that off.

Whereas Force Awakens routinely took me out of the movie.

I think the ep was solid. Not too much action, and more of a table setter, but it brought me back into the show and what's happening, and where it might go. Some nice character stuff with Sansa/Theon, Cersei/Jaime and others. I've read quotes from the lady who plays Daenerys and from one of the show runners, saying that this season will have some of the biggest moments ever on television, or something to that effect. So there's some big expectation to live up to (or not), but I didn't expect any of that right off the bat.

You can't read anything into what Emilia Clarke says, she's all over the place. More male nudity..??? please.

But the show's producers said they think it'll be the best season yet, and that's not something they say every season or anything.

I'm dying to see the Sansa/Theon stuff play out. I don't really care about Cersei, but the bloodlust in me says that I should watch lots of Lannister scenes this season.

Last night I was watching some old Arya/Hound stuff. I really miss those scenes. So much more interesting than the Arya/what's-his-face stuff of last season, and I assume, this season. Arya/Tywin scenes were REALLY good too, but that was all Tywin.