What are you binge watching?

[nelsonmuntz]

Unstable (Netflix). Great premise of a tech CEO (Rob Lowe) that is spiraling, but the execution is uneven. Rob Lowe's son plays Lowe's characters son in the show. He is fine. The rest of the characters are pretty good and the acting is solid, but the writers kind of waste it. There are some really good moments, but 1/3 of the jokes are just silly. I think VEEP kind of broke comedy, because now comedies think every line has to be funny. The writers just need to let the show breathe a little.

Also, weird that this is the second big budget Netflix comedy based on a spouse death. I couldn't get through Dead to Me over this issue, but Unstable is a lot lighter.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The Last Kingdom. Late to this, with 5 seasons in the can. It's pretty good. Alternate fictional history where the Vikings take most of England save Wessex. Production quality is decent for Netflix. There is a move based on it that just launched too. I'm interested enough, but the episodes are long.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The Last Kingdom. Late to this, with 5 seasons in the can. It's pretty good. Alternate fictional history where the Vikings take most of England save Wessex. Production quality is decent for Netflix. There is a move based on it that just launched too. I'm interested enough, but the episodes are long.

The Last Kingdom is fairly accurate historically, other than Uhtrid is not a real person. Alfred the Great actually did hide in a swamp for months after getting ambushed by a Viking raiding party at his capital at the time. That said, the historical record of the period is fuzzy because only about 1% of the population in England could actually read and write, so there are only a handful of records of what happened.

 

[Palatine]

100 Foot Wave. Now in it's second season. It's about big wave surfers and the discovery of a monster wave in a small town in Portugal. This is a very small ecosystem of extremely talented athletes that actually defy death and injury for the sport they love.

 

[HuskyHawk]

100 Foot Wave. Now in it's second season. It's about big wave surfers and the discovery of a monster wave in a small town in Portugal. This is a very small ecosystem of extremely talented athletes that actually defy death and injury for the sport they love.

It's crazy. I was into pro surfing as a kid. I thought Mavericks was nuts, have gone there but you can't see it from shore really. Then that place in Nazare turned up. I may need to check out this show.

 

[seeya27]

The Diplomat was terrific. Smartly scripted well acted with Keri Russell in the lead role. If you like intelligent political mysteries with a little violence mixed in I would recommend it.

 

[Jay-Bone]

100 Foot Wave. Now in it's second season. It's about big wave surfers and the discovery of a monster wave in a small town in Portugal. This is a very small ecosystem of extremely talented athletes that actually defy death and injury for the sport they love.

I went to the Eddie Aikau 7 years ago. That was freaking awesome. Absolutely surreal to see those monster waves in person. Slater and Sonny Garcia were two of the big names there at the time. John John Florence won it in his early 20's.

 

[AreBee1969]

The Last Kingdom. Late to this, with 5 seasons in the can. It's pretty good. Alternate fictional history where the Vikings take most of England save Wessex. Production quality is decent for Netflix. There is a move based on it that just launched too. I'm interested enough, but the episodes are long.

After watching Vikings and Vikings Valhalla I dove into The Last Kingdom and liked it a lot. Just watched the movie Friday night too. Had me wishing for another season.

Also finished up Lilyhammer which I liked a lot. A little campy, but it was great to see Little Steven as a gangster again, and the supporting cast of Norwegians were excellent. Some great cameos as the final season drew to a close.

 

[AreBee1969]

The Diplomat was terrific. Smartly scripted well acted with Keri Russell in the lead role. If you like intelligent political mysteries with a little violence mixed in I would recommend it.

I agree. We watched 6 of 8 episodes last night and will finish it off tonight. Very well done. Rufus Sewell is great.

 

[storrsroars]

The Diplomat was terrific. Smartly scripted well acted with Keri Russell in the lead role. If you like intelligent political mysteries with a little violence mixed in I would recommend it.

Thanks for the reco. Watched 2 episodes this morning. It's compelling. Very well written and the dynamic between Russell and Sewell is great. Plot is actually fairly original as well.

 

[seeya27]

It was seemingly slow and procedural at first, but the plot swings into action unexpectedly. A good first season, and the ensemble acting has lots of interesting dynamics. It is Emmy worthy IMO.

 

[storrsroars]

We knocked out The Night Agent in a week. It wasn't bad. There were some spots with bad acting/delivery, but for the most part enjoyable. Adam Arkin directed a couple episodes.

I watched Night Agent after bingeing The Diplomat. It was like watching 24 vs The West Wing or House of Cards. The plot was interesting, albeit unbelievable, but the writing and acting were several notches below The Diplomat. The lead is probably supposed to be a bit wooden, but he carved out a new level of wooden. All the villains seemed cut right out of a 1990s central casting department.

 

[seeya27]

Yeah, had higher hopes for Night Agent. Not a waste of my time, but not stellar (which is what you hope for).

The Diplomat was elite. The season ended too quickly for me

 

[Chin Diesel]

The Diplomat was terrific. Smartly scripted well acted with Keri Russell in the lead role. If you like intelligent political mysteries with a little violence mixed in I would recommend it.

Told Mrs Diesel about this afternoon. We made it through five episodes. Will finish it tomorrow.

 

[UCan3]

Just got HBO. Tried Barry...meh. Tried Vice Principals...meh.

Now trying Big Little Lies. Liking it.

On my own I'll fit in The Wire.

In case it helps, I watched vice principles and thought the first 6 episodes fell well short of what I was expecting - thought I was done w. the series…

But then something weird happened the last 2 episodes Season 1 were excellent and Season 2 was perhaps the best single season of anything I’ve watched. Black comedies can be like that - whatever they did from writing standpoint they nailed it Season 2 - phenomenal!

 

[UCan3]

Peaky Blinders is the best show I’ve seen in a long time… It is in Soprano’s territory for quality of the show.

This is a great one to binge watch and just keeps getting better and better each season.

 

[seeya27]

I just watched the first episode of White House Plumbers. While the real-life characters of G Gordon Liddy and Howard Hunt were probably over-the-top, the characterization of them by Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux in this mini-series puts it way over the top. Keystone Cop-like. in fact.

Only one of the 5 episodes on HBO has dropped, so I'll give it a chance. Maybe it's one of those acquired taste shows. But the satirical nature of the whole show feels a little off. Not at all what I expected.

 

[Chin Diesel]

The Diplomat was terrific. Smartly scripted well acted with Keri Russell in the lead role. If you like intelligent political mysteries with a little violence mixed in I would recommend it.

Finished today. Without a spoiler alert, I don't think Season 1 cliffhanger is the final answer.

 

[87Xfer]

Peaky Blinders is the best show I’ve seen in a long time… It is in Soprano’s territory for quality of the show.

This is a great one to binge watch and just keeps getting better and better each season.

I've tried it twice and didn't get past the 2nd or 3rd episode. Maybe I'll give it one more shot.

 

[UCan3]

I've tried it twice and didn't get past the 2nd or 3rd episode. Maybe I'll give it one more shot.

Ah funny you should say that… I had the same reaction and was wondering where it was going… but after 5-6 episodes they got that storyline cranking and never looked back

It is a lot (time commitment) to watch - we are on season 6 now.. but perfect for these rainy cold nights we had this past month.

 

[storrsroars]

I've tried it twice and didn't get past the 2nd or 3rd episode. Maybe I'll give it one more shot.

Ah funny you should say that… I had the same reaction and was wondering where it was going… but after 5-6 episodes they got that storyline cranking and never looked back

It is a lot (time commitment) to watch - we are on season 6 now.. but perfect for these rainy cold nights we had this past month.

It is a bit of a tough slog in S1, just trying to get used to the dialects, the characters, and that so much of it seems filmed in the dark. But with the bombing opening S2 and the introduction of Alfie Solomons in S2/E2, it starts getting real interesting.

 

[UCan3]

It is a bit of a tough slog in S1, just trying to get used to the dialects, the characters, and that so much of it seems filmed in the dark. But with the bombing opening S2 and the introduction of Alfie Solomons in S2/E2, it starts getting real interesting.

Great point - it is only show I've ever used close captions. I started using season 1 and it made it much more enjoyable!

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Great point - it is only show I've ever used close captions. I started using season 1 and it made it much more enjoyable!

Arthur is one of the best television characters of the last 10 years, but it is hard to follow him without captions.

 

[gwhuskyfan]

Anyone watch Jury Duty on Amazon/Freevee yet? Really liked it

 

[Chin Diesel]

Outer Range on Amazon was horrible.

First two episodes were somewhat intriguing and then it got progressively worse each episode.