The TV Series Discussion Thread

One of the great first seasons of a series, that.

Dipped a bit but has picked up again especially when one of the main characters left. Looking forward to the last season. The looming tower on bbc2 got off to a decent start, looks promising.

With you. While I think it's a little weaker than some others, it's coming to its climax and it was obviously going to be very different to previous years. Everyone is together now rather than in far flung nations with whispers and intrigue, it was always going to be different. I'm enjoying the hell out of it.

With you guys on got, don't get me started on people moaning about it being too dark. Night does tend to be like that

Yeah pretty hooked straight away.  The missus watched it ages ago so I told her that I've taken an instant dislike to Carrie and she thought I was being very irrational. 😂

You've got to get into these things, right?

To be honest I've watched the whole lot and Carrie has always got under my skin.

Never warmed to her.
Don't let that put you off like, it's just something about her character I haven't warmed to

Dipped a bit but has picked up again especially when one of the main characters left. Looking forward to the last season. The looming tower on bbc2 got off to a decent start, looks promising.

I watched The Looming Tower on prime a while back. Pretty good.. it's  a bit Homeland ish in style

With you guys on got, don't get me started on people moaning about it being too dark. Night does tend to be like that

Yeah don't get the criticism really. It's been good

Game of Thrones new season is so bad it's not even funny.

Im my opinion episode 3 is up there with the greatest in TV history. An incredible piece of filmmaking. People moaning about the dark lit cinematography and the ending is baffling. If anything the murky atmosphere made the episode even more tense and claustrophobic. And the ending pay off was huge.

Absolutely superb episode one of GOT's best for sure.

Im my opinion episode 3 is up there with the greatest in TV history. An incredible piece of filmmaking. People moaning about the dark lit cinematography and the ending is baffling. If anything the murky atmosphere made the episode even more tense and claustrophobic. And the ending pay off was huge.

Absolutely superb episode one of GOT's best for sure.

Yep, was brilliant.
Glad I didn't stay up to watch it Sunday night though, I'd never have got to sleep afterwards!

Nah truth is that such a huge series with so much money involved and so much action will always be fun to watch. And there's people who'll defend it to their final breath even if they all dress up in medieval clothing to sing Christmas songs for 50 minutes. But that episode was rubbish. So many cheap fantasy clichés, the writing lost so much of its quality after the books were over.

SPOILER (Tap to show)

Isn't it funny how a dragon that destroyed the wall and only minutes earlier had destroyed part of the castle but 5 minutes later he couldn't hit Jon behind a pile of whatever that was? And he hid from the dragon behind walls about 20 times in the same episode? Is that "tense"? Was anyone afraid of him dying, after such unnecessarily incomprehensible bullshit?

How about 5 books and 7 seasons trying to get the Dothraki to Westeros, only to sacrifice your entire cavalry in the first 5 minutes of a battle? Smart strategy that. Very believable.

I couldn't help but laughing after watching the interview with the producers. The stuff I really hated in the episode they speak of so proud of their creation - and they mention the past of the series as their creation as well, not the product of an old man's imagination.

The beginning. "I love how the first 10 minutes pan out, there's so much tension before the battle". Reality: Sam walks in one direction, behind him is Tyrion, who, after Sam passes, walks in another direction. That felt so staged, like in a theatre production. So cheap.

About Jorah's death: "if he could have chosen how to die, that would have been the way" (protecting Daeny). Except Game of Thrones has never been about people choosing how to die. It's always been full of unexpected twists. That was a terrible cheap fantasy cliché, the knight dying to protect his beloved queen. I've read a lot of cheap fantasy and I know how it looks like.

About Theon: "he knows he won't be able to defeat the Night King, but the way he chooses to face his destiny makes us really proud of him and his journey". Really? Another cheap fantasy cliché - heroic but meaningless. Haven't you watched this a hundred times before. I'd rather have Theon be a human and be sh*t scared of the situation, and perhaps Bran could be less of a caricature because in the book he's a very interesting character. But I guess I was looking for something more complex than what I was given.

They also say Melisandre showing up out of nowhere and lighting the Dothraki was to give them "hope that everything might turn out well after all", something that anyone with two functioning brain cells shouldn't have expected.

Same about people facing the king of death by hiding on a f**king crypt. If anyone was shocked about what happened then they really need to be more imaginative. It was the most obvious thing that could possibly have happened, but obviously no one of note was killed. Surprise surprise.

So yeah it's brilliantly filmed, the overarching plot is incredible but it's been littered by cheap fantasy clichés, action scenes that make no sense and very dull dialogue for a few episodes in a row now. Episode 2 was marked basically by important characters saying goodbye to each other as in the final episode of a Brazilian soap opera (only thing missing was a wedding). And then Episode 3 comes up, there's a Zombie Apocalypse going on, and barely no one dies despite totally ridiculous odds - no one of much relevance to be sure.

And yeah, Arya is my favourite character but really, showing up out of nowhere, killing the f**king Night King like that? I was cringing.

Of course it's fun, you don't see grandiose stuff like that on TV every day, but it could have been a lot better.

Nah truth is that such a huge series with so much money involved and so much action will always be fun to watch. And there's people who'll defend it to their final breath even if they all dress up in medieval clothing to sing Christmas songs for 50 minutes. But that episode was rubbish. So many cheap fantasy clichés, the writing lost so much of its quality after the books were over.

I can't speak for other people, but I tend to just watch each episode on it's own merits, the same as I do with films.

I enjoyed the episode, and surely the whole point of fantasy is to suspend disbelief and just enjoy the spectacle?

Each to their own and all that, but I find the whole fanboy thing really boring, whether its DC vs Marvel, Star Wars or whatever, but hey, if people want to write in depth analyses of a fantasy TV show that is only loosely based on the books (so much missing compared to the books) that's up to them, but it doesn't mean I have to take notice of it, or even read it.

I know that when the books eventually come out, they will be miles better than the TV series, but there'll probably be different endings, and the kind of complexity you can only get from a book.

Bottom line is that it's a TV show, or a film or whatever.
It doesn't mean anything, and tht's how I treat it/them.

Still enjoyed it though 

I can't speak for other people, but I tend to just watch each episode on it's own merits, the same as I do with films.

I enjoyed the episode, and surely the whole point of fantasy is to suspend disbelief and just enjoy the spectacle?

Each to their own and all that, but I find the whole fanboy thing really boring, whether its DC vs Marvel, Star Wars or whatever, but hey, if people want to write in depth analyses of a fantasy TV show that is only loosely based on the books (so much missing compared to the books) that's up to them, but it doesn't mean I have to take notice of it, or even read it.

I know that when the books eventually come out, they will be miles better than the TV series, but there'll probably be different endings, and the kind of complexity you can only get from a book.

Bottom line is that it's a TV show, or a film or whatever.
It doesn't mean anything, and tht's how I treat it/them.

Still enjoyed it though 

Err, sorry, with that attitude that would be akin to saying every fantasy or film or series is the same, when it clearly isn't. Just suspend belief, don't care about it, it doesn't mean anything - very lazy way of disagreeing with someone who did not enjoy a bloody TV episode. Truth is there's a lot more fantasy being written out there than ever comes out to films or series, because most of it is full of rubbish clichés. And Game of Thrones has always risen above that level, only now it's being muddled by those very same clichés and a cheap, easily gratifying kind of "twists" that for me are not satisfying at all.

One of the main qualities of successful fantasy is the quality of the world building and as much as you need to "suspend belief" in order to get into it - you gotta believe in, say, magic, dragons, etc - the world's complex history must have an internal logic to it, and GoT is one of the best - there's even secondary books focusing on the past history of families and places in the saga. When a dragon can destroy a F***ing magic wall but can't kill Jon behind a pile of rubbish, though, there's no amount of belief to be suspended for me not to find it cringeworthy.

It's not about being a fanboy, it's about having different expectations. If what you want to see is an expensive spectacles with a zombie apocalypse and some dragons flying around, then be my guest - with the money behind the series and the quality of the production it's unlikely you'll be disappointed. The series was not "loosely" based on the books at all, it's very much rooted on it for the whole time there was actually a book to be based on - obviously minus a lot of details as was to be expected - and I don't like the direction the series has taken in the past few episodes, just like I didn't enjoy the last book that much either. I think there's a good chance the old fella won't even be able to finish his series properly.

Err, sorry, with that attitude that would be akin to saying every fantasy or film or series is the same, when it clearly isn't. Just suspend belief, don't care about it, it doesn't mean anything - very lazy way of disagreeing with someone who did not enjoy a bloody TV episode. Truth is there's a lot more fantasy being written out there than ever comes out to films or series, because most of it is full of rubbish clichés. And Game of Thrones has always risen above that level, only now it's being muddled by those very same clichés and a cheap, easily gratifying kind of "twists" that for me are not satisfying at all.

One of the main qualities of successful fantasy is the quality of the world building and as much as you need to "suspend belief" in order to get into it - you gotta believe in, say, magic, dragons, etc - the world's complex history must have an internal logic to it, and GoT is one of the best - there's even secondary books focusing on the past history of families and places in the saga. When a dragon can destroy a F***ing magic wall but can't kill Jon behind a pile of rubbish, though, there's no amount of belief to be suspended for me not to find it cringeworthy.

It's not about being a fanboy, it's about having different expectations. If what you want to see is an expensive spectacles with a zombie apocalypse and some dragons flying around, then be my guest - with the money behind the series and the quality of the production it's unlikely you'll be disappointed. The series was not "loosely" based on the books at all, it's very much rooted on it for the whole time there was actually a book to be based on - obviously minus a lot of details as was to be expected - and I don't like the direction the series has taken in the past few episodes, just like I didn't enjoy the last book that much either. I think there's a good chance the old fella won't even be able to finish his series properly.

It's really simple for me.
None of it makes a single bit of difference to my life.
It's all make believe, and I don't really give  F**k about anything other than whether I enjoy it.
It's all fake, it's all make believe and to me, taking any of it seriously is a waste of time.

I either enjoy something, or I don't, simple as that.

If other people want to conduct post mortems or write a treatise on the merits of Jon Snows nasal hair, then good for them, go for it - but I still won't give a F**k.

It's really simple for me.
None of it makes a single bit of difference to my life.
It's all make believe, and I don't really give  f**k about anything other than whether I enjoy it.
It's all fake, it's all make believe and to me, taking any of it seriously is a waste of time.

I either enjoy something, or I don't, simple as that.

If other people want to conduct post mortems or write a treatise on the merits of Jon Snows nasal hair, then good for them, go for it - but I still won't give a f**k.

Funnily enough you're wasting time in long posts to let us know just how much you *don't* give a f**k.

Really, you don't need to tell anyone it's make believe. And as you said, you either enjoy it or you don't. Some of us, though, like to discuss why we enjoy things or why we don't - like you've done yourself before in this very thread. Your desire to feel superior even when discussing fantasy series is supremely boring.

Dipped a bit but has picked up again especially when one of the main characters left. Looking forward to the last season. The looming tower on bbc2 got off to a decent start, looks promising.

Yes! I read The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright a few years back! I was amazed to see it was going to be a tv drama (I think it was first released on Amazon last year which I don't have) Thoroughly recommend the book - he writes it in a fashion that is so engaging - the narrative is like a thriller. Definitely one of the best non fiction books I've read. Watched the first episode a couple of nights back. Jeff Daniels is perfectly cast!

As someone who has only read the books, I'm shocked they've made a successful TV show out of such schlocky pulp fiction. It maybe that I'm just not a fan of George R R Martin's writing style. He suffers from something Clancy novels do as well, a good editor would be cutting 100-200 pages out of each book. Because of this, his books are tedious, slow reads that, for me, put him below other popular pulp fiction authors, like Reichs, Child and Kellerman.

As someone who has only read the books, I'm shocked they've made a successful TV show out of such schlocky pulp fiction. It maybe that I'm just not a fan of George R R Martin's writing style. He suffers from something Clancy novels do as well, a good editor would be cutting 100-200 pages out of each book. Because of this, his books are tedious, slow reads that, for me, put him below other popular pulp fiction authors, like Reichs, Child and Kellerman.

I take the point about the writing style - it's not for everyone, and even though I've generally enjoyed the books, I could also get annoyed as F**k at his ability of slowing things down all the time. Agreed, most of the novels could get reduced significantly without taking much away from it at all. But he really loves the details. While everyone awaits the 6th book, he's released another one on the history of the Targaryen family. Seriously.

Can totally see why it's become a successful TV series though. The quality of the world building, not so much as in Tolkien where he'd go to such lengths as creating a language (Martin on the other hand only made up a few words for his books, the rest being created for the series), but particularly in the political history and intrigues of his world, I find fascinating. He's particularly good at creating complex characters (then getting you attached to them and killing them off unexpectedly haha). That's one of the reasons why seeing it reduced to clichés and a zombie apocalypse isn't at all satisfying for me. It's still fun enough to watch, and I'm curious how the series will end, after all (have a few clichés in mind which I hope they'll avoid), but I've kinda lost hope of him actually finishing the book series.

Funnily enough you're wasting time in long posts to let us know just how much you *don't* give a f**k.

Really, you don't need to tell anyone it's make believe. And as you said, you either enjoy it or you don't. Some of us, though, like to discuss why we enjoy things or why we don't - like you've done yourself before in this very thread. Your desire to feel superior even when discussing fantasy series is supremely boring.

Missing the point.
If you're into that, great, crack on.
I'm not, and I just laid out my reasons why.
That's all.
It's like you said about expectations; I don't watch things with any expectations.
I  enjoy, or I don't.
I don't read reviews, I don't post on film forums, I don't get into discussions where the film or tv show is picked apart.
I sometimes post on here as to whether or not I've enjoyed something.

I really don't see what you're making such a fuss about.
To me, it's just entertainment.
If you're more into than that, then as I said, crack on, enjoy yourself, it's no skin off my nose.

As someone who has only read the books, I'm shocked they've made a successful TV show out of such schlocky pulp fiction. It maybe that I'm just not a fan of George R R Martin's writing style. He suffers from something Clancy novels do as well, a good editor would be cutting 100-200 pages out of each book. Because of this, his books are tedious, slow reads that, for me, put him below other popular pulp fiction authors, like Reichs, Child and Kellerman.

Do you mean Lee Child, as in Jack Reacher?

I enjoy those books.
Nice bite size schlok, and you know what you're getting.

I quite enjoyed the GoT books, in fact I think I've read them all about 3 times now.

I take the point about the writing style - it's not for everyone, and even though I've generally enjoyed the books, I could also get annoyed as f**k at his ability of slowing things down all the time. Agreed, most of the novels could get reduced significantly without taking much away from it at all. But he really loves the details. While everyone awaits the 6th book, he's released another one on the history of the Targaryen family. Seriously.

Can totally see why it's become a successful TV series though. The quality of the world building, not so much as in Tolkien where he'd go to such lengths as creating a language (Martin on the other hand only made up a few words for his books, the rest being created for the series), but particularly in the political history and intrigues of his world, I find fascinating. He's particularly good at creating complex characters (then getting you attached to them and killing them off unexpectedly haha). That's one of the reasons why seeing it reduced to clichés and a zombie apocalypse isn't at all satisfying for me. It's still fun enough to watch, and I'm curious how the series will end, after all (have a few clichés in mind which I hope they'll avoid), but I've kinda lost hope of him actually finishing the book series.

I really don't get your zombie apocalypse and cliche comments.

Concerning zombie apocalypse... well they were fighting the army of the dead a battle we've waited many years for?

Concerning cliches... if EVERY developed character in GOT was to die in a sudden unexpected morbid fashion wouldn't that become a cliche in itself?

With you guys on got, don't get me started on people moaning about it being too dark. Night does tend to be like that

Turned off every light source to make sure it was just the TV going. Could see what I needed to see fine - only issue was some of the streaming quality, which is nothing to do with the creators but rather the cable service and a likely high load. I'll get the blu rays when they release as I do every season and enjoy it all again in the best quality. Otherwise greatly enjoyable, yeah a few cliches - but hey, I guess not too many have a whole lot of experience fighting ice zombies and dragons in the dead of night with an army assembled from pieces all over the known world who have hardly fought together before, so I'll let that slide I had great fun watching this one. The real war for me is Cersei, this was simply a metaphor for the evils in the world that should bring people together - Cersei is now the true evil that despite all that, still looks to break people apart. All in for the last three episodes, I can't F***ing wait. Also, really can't F***ing wait for the last of the books! I have small hope myself, Diego - not all lost yet. Though I understand the trepidation

*Spoiler alert

Should I delete?

Another piss poor episode of GOT this week, really is fizzling out like a damp squid.

'Enjoyed' the first episode of chernobyl. Ignored the moaning about being english actors speaking english. Gripping stuff.

Another piss poor episode of GOT this week, really is fizzling out like a damp squid.

I hate damp squids 😀

'Enjoyed' the first episode of chernobyl. Ignored the moaning about being english actors speaking english. Gripping stuff.

Want to watch that but think I will wait for all the episodes to be out and then binge it. Heard very good things.

I may have posted this previously (I don’t think so), but The Good Place. Finished the latest season, it’s a really brilliant comedy that is rooted in ethics which takes me back to my studies. The characters are so perfectly written imo.

Got into Deadliest Catch.

Really good TV.