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 No.51498[View All]

This thread will be for discussing all television shows, series and miniseries

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_in_American_television#Programs_debuting_in_2020
197 posts and 60 image replies omitted. Click reply to view.

 No.65403

>>65350
>>65359
>>65383
Alright anons I watched the first 3 episodes of Babylon 5 and holy shit there's way too much of opera in that space for my taste. There's so much buffoonery going on here with the aliens from Minbari's embassador Delenn wailings about soul eaters to Londo's hair, it's really putting me off.

Granted I'm only 3 episodes in but does it get more cerebral as it goes on? Is the story here really worth it?

 No.65405

>>65383
I don’t think it’s all mergers, Michael Straczynski has a Twitter where he occasionally talked about Babylon 5 and his publicity of the new series was very weird. He said he’d finished writing it and said the series would be filmed and on screens in the next year. Modern massive sci-fi project filmed and cgi done in under a year, his timelines and comments seem extremely hopeful. I don’t know how much I trust the information if he’s been the source.
On a side note, Straczynski had a patreon where he makes a few thousand a month. I thought it was nice he still had fans who wanted to learn from him.

 No.65411

>>65403
I'd tried to stick with it until the Shadows show up. They are really the seminal part of the show and give evil a deeper dimension than "they are just bad" like star wars, fantasy, and a lot of modern day media like to do.

 No.65412

File: 1685288488890.jpg (166.92 KB, 1067x1024, 1067:1024, Londo.jpg) ImgOps iqdb

>>65411
Thanks anon, I needed to hear that. Last night I deleted the episodes like an idiot and had to redownload again this morning after waking up. I'll stick to it this time. Are there other shows you like not on >>65371 that is sci-fi or space themed? I'm trying to build a small list of shows to binge for escapism.

 No.65414

File: 1685299480039.jpg (139.73 KB, 1280x1024, 5:4, Babylon 5.jpg) ImgOps iqdb

>It was the dawn of the third age of mankind, ten years after the Earth/Minbari war. The Babylon Project was a dream given form. Its goal: to prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could work out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call, home away from home for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers. Humans and aliens wrapped in two million, five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal, all alone in the night. It can be a dangerous place, but it's our last best hope for peace. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5.

I just started watching Babylon 5 and I like looking back after a while and reading my impressions of a show I'm watching for the first time. I figure this might be interesting for others to read as well and maybe it will even get you into watching it too, so I'll be reviewing every episode for now, let's see how far I get.

The first thing I want to say is that Babylon 5 is definitely not science fiction, but a space opera. There's enough magic in the first 5 episodes to be in equal standing to a D&D session and there's no particular effort to technobabble through any of the science of what we see and no real effort to clarify any of the technology involved to build the space station, the space ships, weapons, medical tools or how all aliens can breathe and live in the same space as humans or any other technicality, really. A science fiction show would love to explain those things to you, but no Babylon 5. The focus here are the political and ethical intricacies that entails having this space station filled with diplomats from different places and with different goals. It's also very theatrical and over the top at times, as one can safely assume by looking at the alien called Londo >>65412, believe or not that's an alien, a Centauri, if he appears like a farcical version of a bubbly Italian type from some XIX century opera that's just your impression, I'm sure it's just a coincidence.

For the first 2 episodes I'll do a quick review on this post and then I'll try longer reviews for the third episode on. The first episode Midnight on the Firing Line is pretty much just an introduction of the main characters, let's go to them one by one.

Sinclair is the commander and the person in charge of the station. He's a war veteran and the tough guy with a bit of a death wish and probably an alcoholic. Despite that he's the one upholding the peace, or trying to.

Lt. Commander Susan Ivanova is sort of the chief of security except she's not, but most of the stuff she deals with ends up being about security related issues. She's the second in command after Sinclair and a sort of pessimist with a troubled past.

Security Chief Michael Garibaldi is the actual guy in charge of security. He's a light hearted version of Sinclair. Enjoys Daffy Duck and might be a womanizer. He also has the eggiest shaped head I've ever seen in my life, he's like the live version of Homer Simpson in that regard.

Delenn is the Minbari ambassador and for now that's pretty much it.

Dr. Stephen Franklin is the medical doctor for Babylon 5 and also a damn idiot, though this is only clear by episode 4.

Talia Winters is a human telepath. Humans use telepaths in order to facilitate diplomatic missions across different alien species.

Finally we have G'Kar and Londo Mollari the diplomats of warring states and their over the top discussions and fist fights set the tone for the first episode.

The second episode, Soul Hunter, is about an alien species that goes around collecting the souls of people who die. And right there you already know this is a space opera and not science fiction. Babylon 5 makes absolutely no attempt whatsoever to hide that fact and it doesn't actually care about science if the plot needs some myth and magic. It will go for those too, and this is just one example. Delenn is terrified by these guys which doesn't really prompt any strong reaction from the humans in charge, Sinclair, Garibaldi and Ivanova. It's weird because the Simbari are way ahead of humans in terms of scientific and technological development and if the guys that know more than you do about the universe happen to be terrified of these soul hunters guys, I would be a little more concerned than what the crew here is. But anyways, it's mostly an uneventful episode meant to give us a scope of Babylon's 5 universe and the types of characters that inhabit this universe.

And that's that, a rather low start and I almost quit twice but since this is such a praised show I decided to power through and one anon here said I should stick around until a particular villain shows up so I'll be going at least that far.

Needless to say, if you want to watch this show there are tons of torrents out there.

 No.65416

File: 1685303172118.png (436.53 KB, 853x480, 853:480, 1.png) ImgOps iqdb

This post contains spoilers.

I confess episode 3, Born to the Purple, is the one that made me want to quit the show prematurely. It's this tale about old Londo falling in love with a young slave succubus. She pretends to love him but is actually trying to fetch some secret information from his computer in order to purchase her freedom and get rid of her master, Trakis. To be brutally honest I just didn't care at all about the slave (called Adira) trying to start a new life as a free succubus. We're inside a space station supposedly filled with strange alien life everywhere and this is the story you want to tell? I almost quit.

The only fun part of this episode is the apparently unending incompetence of Londo as a head of state. Honestly I wouldn't trust this guy to sell gum, much less deal in interplanetary politics. Fortunately Sinclair is there and he helps Londo to retrieve the sensitive data (a file containing dirt on Centauri powerful families, enough to destabilize the Centauri republic) and at the same time they manage to arrest Trakis and free Adira, who apparently really like Londo, just not enough to stay with him. She boards back to her home planet the minute she has the chance. Oh well, I'm sure he can find another baldy bimbo somewhere.

The B plot is there to expose more of Ivanova's tragic past. On episode 1 it's revealed her mom was a telepath just like Talia but she didn't want to register with the telepath club. That left her with two choices: telepath castration in the form of injections or prison. Ivanova's mom chooses the injections but that fucks her mind so badly she ends up committing suicide. And that's why Ivanova doesn't like telepaths (something hinted at on the first episode.)

Not happy with just one tragedy for Ivanova, we also have the fact her dad is now dying after a lifetime of not giving a shit about his own daughter. Actually he loves her but because Ivanova decided to follow a military career, something he's against, their relationship got strained. So Ivanova is making these illegal phone calls to earth in order to patch things up with her dad. Why she can't just contact him legally is a mystery. Poor Garibaldi on this episode is just running back and forth trying to discover who's making the illegal use of the network just to find out it's Ivanova all along. He listens to the conversation and decides to let it slide because he's a bit of an idiot that can't think properly when the issue involves an succubus he finds attractive. I would at least give Ivanova a reprimand on her record. She should know better.

 No.65419

File: 1685305029726.png (443.86 KB, 853x480, 853:480, 1.png) ImgOps iqdb

This post contains spoilers for Babylon 5 season 1 episode 4.

It's a good thing this episode was a monster of the week type of thing. Here Sinclair gets to flex his morals a bit (racial supremacy is bad m'kay?) as well as showing some heroism. This was also the opportunity to show a little bit more of Dr. Franklin and his idiocy.

The whole thing begins when Dr. Franklin gets a visit from old friend and mentor, xenoarcheologist Dr. Hendricks. He wants Franklin's help to analyze hi-tech organic artifacts he found on a dead world. I just copied that sentence from the Babylon 5 wiki, it's easier that way. Anyway it turns out the artifacts are actual biological weapons that target any race without the specific DNA of its builders. Turns out they make a mistake and their bio weapon ends up killing everyone, including the ones they were suppose to protect.

This bio weapon is like a armor that binds itself with a host and then becomes a frightning and cool looking super soldier monster. It's up to Sinclair and Garibaldi to stop it from destroying Babylon 5 and, surprise surprise, they manage to do it. This is a fast paced, fun episode that has enough technobabble, fantasy, action and mystery and a very welcome palat cleanser from Londo and the baldy slave from last episode.

The reason I mentioned Dr. Franklin is an idiot is because of the comments he makes when talking to Dr. Hendricks. He's against Hendricks going around finding invaluable alien technology in other planets because he feels it's A WASTE OF TIME DOING SO when they should instead be working to come up with their own tech. How much of an idiot can you be to actually believe that? He's basically suggesting humans should waste time reinventing the wheel instead of learning from other more advanced aliens. What a god damned moronic statement that was. Besides, that's the whole point of the Babylon space station, so humans can learn from aliens. Jesus Christ, Franklin is an imbecile.

On a side note, many of the negative reviews I read on IMDB and elsewhere regarding Babylon 5 talks about the shitty special effects and bad CGI but I have to tell I find this show very good looking. I like the CGI and also the effects. The monster here looks pretty cool, too.

In order to not flood this thread I'll be posting 3 reviews at a time starting next episode.

 No.65422

File: 1685392330675-0.png (477.33 KB, 853x480, 853:480, ep05.png) ImgOps iqdb

File: 1685392330675-1.png (429.37 KB, 853x480, 853:480, ep06.png) ImgOps iqdb

This review contains spoilers for the episode The Parliament of Dream (S01E05)

In this episode, The Parliament of Dream, we witness a weeklong festival when humans and aliens demonstrate their religious beliefs on board of Babylon 5. Surprisingly (maybe not for the fans of the series that know better but it was surprising to me), the show doesn't really care at all about this opportunity to better flesh out the cultures of the various aliens races living in the station but instead use it as a background event for an attempt assassination on the life of ambassador G'Kar, Londo's rival.

Actually this assessment is not entirely fair because the episode is in fact an attempt to better flesh out G'Kar, the Narn ambassador, giving him some background story. Since G'Kar is a high rank politician, he has many enemies, one of them hates him so bad that on his deathbed he gave all his belongings to an assassin guild that promises to kill G'Kar. The agent he sends to Babylon 5 fails. The end. There's not much to see here, really, so far G'Kar is not that different from Londo: Over the top, silly, maybe not all that fit for his position. Granted, he's much more competent than Londo, he can actually show up on time and has a little more organized lifestyle but that's about it.

In the B plot, the only religious ceremony we see is that of the Minbari. They hit some drums and eat a cherry tomato. On the C plot we have Sinclair going out with his former girlfriend. Garibaldi is pretty much useless here going back and forth trying to find the assassin but he never gets anywhere. It's up to G'Kar and Na'Toth, G'Kar assistant, to get the job done. Overall an OK outing.

-

This review contains spoilers for the episode Mind War (S01E06)

This is a very good one as we get some grit of what the hell is actually going on back on Earth and it's not looking good.

As if Ivanova's tragic backstory with the Psi Corps wasn't enough of a sign, with this episode it seems clear the telepath club is bad news. They've been doing all sorts of experiments in order to increase their psychic powers and there's basically no one there to interfere or supervise their operations. How could there be? They can read your mind. Ivanova's comment "Who watches the watchers" sums the theme for this outing pretty well.

The main plot here is about one of Talia's professors, Ironheart, who has been the subject of some very successful experimentation and he's now an incredibly powerful telepath, in fact he's now post-human. He kills the main scientist behind the experiments and flees to Babylon 5 with PSI cops hot on his tail.

Honestly I wouldn't know who to trust here but I would be inclined to just let the PSI cops do their jobs. Sinclair on the other hand decides to get involved up to his eyeballs on the matter and helps Ironheart escape the PSI guys. Ironheart eventually transforms into a nebula and goes to space, saying "See you in a million years" which I guess confirms virtual immortality does exist in the world of Babylon 5.He also gives Talia telekinesis powers, a very rare gift (only 1 in 10k telepaths have it.)

 No.65456

File: 1685799446923-0.png (423.76 KB, 853x480, 853:480, And the Sky Full of Stars.png) ImgOps iqdb

File: 1685799446924-1.png (442.46 KB, 853x480, 853:480, Deathwalker.png) ImgOps iqdb

File: 1685799446924-2.png (529.44 KB, 853x480, 853:480, War Prayer.png) ImgOps iqdb

This review contains spoilers for the episodes War Prayer (S01E07), And the Sky Full of Stars (S01E08) and Deathwalker (S01E09)

War Prayer
Human supremacists are terrorizing aliens on Babylon 5, stabbing and branding them. I didn't care much for this episode. As you can imagine, it's a very by the numbers episode with a very obvious message. Ivanova, Garibaldi and Sinclair find the bad guys behind the stabbings and arrest them, racism is bad, the end.

In the B plot we have Londo having to deal with a Centauri couple that wants to marry for love. According to Centauri tradition, marriage for love is more or less frowned upon and he keeps trying to make them see reason and marry for family connections and influence. In the end he gives up and lets them marry for love, the end.

Not much to see here except some Centauri marriage traditions.
=
And the Sky Full of Stars
Best episode so far. We finally get to know a little bit more about the Minbari war, a major event in the Babylon 5 universe. Basically Earth and the Minbari were at war and humans lost every single battle. When they were finally ready to invade and Earth stood defenseless, the Minbari simply turned their ships back home and surrendered. Nobody knows why.

Sinclair took part in an important battle but he didn't remember what happened there. Thanks to a secret organization looking to find out about the truth on why the Minbari surrender, they kidnap Sinclair in order to know what truly happened. During the interrogation, Sinclair remembers he was captured and taken to a Minbari ship. More importantly, he remembered Delenn was there.

This feels like the first episode we're getting more substance about this world and its history. A very nice episode.
=
Deathwalker
I feel like the show is finally getting really good. I quite liked this episode. The story is about a genocidal war criminal called Deathwalker. She's a bioweapon expert and has annihilated half a dozen different worlds. She happens to have developed an anti-aging serum and is now a pain in the neck for Sinclair. The aliens on board want her blood and demand she goes through trial on Babylon 5. Earth command however wants her in an Earth lab in order to finish developing the serum.

A compromise is reached where a delegation of Alien scientists will help with the serum and share in the discovery. All seems fine and well. Everything is arranged for Deathwalker to go to Earth and finish developing the anti-aging goo when a Vorlon ship goes through the jumpgate and fires at the ship Deathwalker is in, destroying her and her research. Kosh the Vorlon ambassador warns humans and the other aliens are not ready for immortality and leaves. Apparently there's not much anyone can do against his wishes.

Really good episode, excellent pacing, lots of mystery, political intrigue and an intelligent plot all around.

 No.65476

>>65371
Throw Farscape on that list, and its perverted version called Lexx. Some other comfy syndication sci-fi shows were Quantum Leap, the 1970s Hulk show, and the Highlander tv show.

 No.65479

>>65456
Reading your synopsis of the episodes I realised how loosely the first season is in setting everything up, especially if you are put off by the silliness of people like Londo. I haven't watched it in maybe 15 years so only really remember the grand story where the ambassadors and politics actually start mattering, As the other wiz said, probably around the shadows episode. That's what fans remember I imagine. I'd be a bit more open to the characters that seem stupid in the first series. I might watch it again.

 No.65917

File: 1691692505592.jpeg (370.1 KB, 1506x524, 753:262, F74E3A58-0802-4C5B-9891-1….jpeg) ImgOps iqdb

Wow… Futurama is finally back again…zzzzz

 No.65982

I'm not sure as to why channels on live TV don't just show news 24/7 nowadays.

 No.66320

finally some wiz rep

at 1:30 they confirm he is a virgin in his 30s

and ancient greece for the masses

 No.66326

>>66320
Too many references to sex.

 No.66400

File: 1695779243717.jpeg (13.9 KB, 350x196, 25:14, 07EA2669-AE46-41C3-808F-F….jpeg) ImgOps iqdb

I don't think I would make it, brehs…

 No.66401

>>66400
well even most guys in the infantry aren't elite enough for 101

 No.66417

>>52077
>thinks the sopranos are bad
Opinion discarded

 No.66449

File: 1696557213629.jpeg (94.97 KB, 844x1250, 422:625, AC5B3E7E-3F80-48F7-8293-B….jpeg) ImgOps iqdb

My hallucinations once again ruined what could've been a decent episode of my favorite MCU series thus far.

 No.66451

>>66449
>>66328
god damn i know i live under a rock, recent media and pop culture-wise, but i have never even heard of those shows before

 No.66452

>>66451
I wouldn't blame you.
They are exclusive to Disney's online streaming service so aren't advertised as much as broadcast shows.
So unless you make a effort to follow pop-culture stuff it's unlikely for you to come across marking materiel for them.

 No.66456

>>66452
i do fairly often watch pirate streaming websites and stuff though. i wonder if disney stuff is just removed fast so they dont bother with it

i had that experience trying to watch one of the guardians of the galaxy movies (i think the most recenty) a few weeks ago, almost 4 dozen different websites all had the stuff removed before i found one with a 480p version that was up

 No.66457

File: 1696735086386.jpeg (113.66 KB, 255x383, 255:383, 71FBC5EF-F015-4ED5-9AC9-4….jpeg) ImgOps iqdb

Not bad, I suppose.

I also watched V/H/S/94 which was also not bad.

 No.66464

>>66456
Maybe it's because I am usually late to the party but I don't think I have ever really had trouble watching Disney stuff on pirated streaming sites.

Maybe they do one wave of looking for stuff when stuff comes out then just give up after a month or two.

 No.66476

File: 1697066674839.jpeg (2.33 MB, 1392x1701, 464:567, 3F433FBA-DE77-4F68-B07C-4….jpeg) ImgOps iqdb

I don't like this show

It's too intentionally stupid for me

I hate it

I want it to die

I hope all the characters die

Including Lexy

Especially Lexy

I hope she gets brutally decapitated or something.

 No.66496

File: 1697240192855.png (40.93 KB, 1920x1080, 16:9, ClipboardImage.png) ImgOps iqdb

I watched The Idol because it was supposed to be super edgy and extremely controversial, even being pulled early due to causing so many complaints.

Unfortunately edgy and controversial doesn't equal interesting or entertaining. Show has really bad writing and is mostly boring. Turns out the main cause of the whining is feminist whining about skimpy outfits, sexual content, and many of the succubi being bad fucked up people. Thing is, such shit doesn't shock or stimulate me anymore as I ain't 12 or a pearl clucher.
So since a frequent flash of ass and bad succubi crying doesn't shock or entertain me all that's left is the strength of the writing and story telling on display, which in this case is super poor.
The Director/producer (Sam Levinson) is a hack. The visuals are the only thing decent about the show. Even the music, which takes up a large part of the show, is mostly shit, only getting to meh at best.

Seriously, Shows like Spartacus exist and are way edgier then this shit while also being entertaining. While it hasn't been confirmed it's almost certain that the Idol isn't getting a second season, nor does it deserve one. It's just boring and trashy.
I do not recommend.
1 out of 5.

 No.66518

>>66496
Even the visuals were ripped off from a well-known fashion photographer. Sam is a hack in all manners of the word.

 No.66588

File: 1698670367979.jpg (367.3 KB, 1438x1080, 719:540, tng-season-5-vorschaubild5.jpg) ImgOps iqdb

>>64969
I finally finished watching the fifth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The reason it took me 6 months to come back to this show after finishing the fourth season is a series of rather shitty episodes all in a row, starting with The Game, a plot about Wesley Crusher saving the Enterprise from video game brainwashing, two really boring episodes about Spock going to Romulus to become a teacher of cultural studies and an atrocious episode called A Matter Of Time where a time traveler goes around the ship stealing gadgets just to be caught in the end. Boring, uneventful, unimaginative episodes. By the time I was done with A Matter Of Time I had to quit for a while. Turns out 6 months is what I needed to try ST again.


Fortunately the next one on the list was New Ground, an episode focused on Worf and his son. It’s a character study episode with interesting consequences for Worf. It’s an intimate episode about parenting and loss. And they make great use of Troi here, which is very rare indeed. So I was happy enough to continue and finish this season. Then you have Hero Worship, a rather mediocre episode centered around Data. Not a good one but not terrible, either. After that we have an episode that is an allegory for rape and that was quite brutal. I wonder if they would be able to make something like that nowadays.

Several episodes in the second half of the fifth season are excellent. The First Duty is an excellent courtroom drama about a training accident that leaves one cadet dead. ‘I, Borg’ is a changing point to the whole Borg arc and possibly one of the better episodes of the entire show. Then we have The Inner Light that deals with mortality, not only individual mortality but the fact our entire civilization will inevitably disappear as well. Excellent acting and absolutely brutal implications for Picard.

And we finish it with Time’s Arrow, a cliffhanger episode centering around Data. It’s good to be back to the corridors of the Enterprise. And it’s very good indeed there are many episodes in this season to remind me why I like this show so much. On to the 6th season!

Here's my favorite episodes from 5th:
I, Borg
The Inner light
Ethics
The First Duty

And some I really disliked it:
The Game
A Matter of Time
Unification part I and II

 No.66604

File: 1698883195492.png (3.47 MB, 1200x1500, 4:5, CBE6DA0D-7053-4ED3-9B24-E9….png) ImgOps iqdb

This was actually surprisingly sorta' okay.

The CGI was a bit off-putting.

Then the characters started to actually call out the names of their attacks before attacking and that shit drove me nuts. One of the weirdest things I've ever seen them do in a live action adaptation of an anime.

They actually had real actors call out their attacks! AAAAAAHHHHH

But otherwise it was ok. Don't think I'll be watching the second season, though.

 No.66727

File: 1700272262054.jpeg (43.71 KB, 920x518, 460:259, 529738DE-DFDC-4FB2-8CFB-9….jpeg) ImgOps iqdb

Started watching this recently.

It's surprisingly Satanic.

Like, literally. Satan appears to be THE villain and many of the characters worship him. Including the main character (for a time).

 No.66728

>>66727
does she have a cat at least

 No.66729


 No.66730

>>66729
Can he talk?

 No.66731

>>66730
Nope.

https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/chilling-adventures-sabrina-salem-talk/

It was too expensive to do it well while keeping the serious/thriller vibe they were going for.

 No.66732

>>66731
Into the trash. Salem was the only good character. He needs his own show.

 No.66739

>>65394
>>65456
>>66588
Watch THE EXPANSE if you want a seious sci-fi show. I think it's on Amazon Prime now.

 No.66812

File: 1701265736077.jpg (332.44 KB, 1436x1080, 359:270, next-generation-season-6-b….jpg) ImgOps iqdb

Finished watching the 6th season of Star Trek The Next Generation. I must admit by this point TNG has become something of a comfortable old blanket for me, or like a good old friend. I’m up for whatever he wants to talk about. Being a little more objective however, I think the 6th season is where it’s rather obvious there’s very little to talk about and show when it comes to the main characters. It’s clear by this point we have seen pretty much everything there’s to see of Picard, Data, Riker, Crusher, La Forge, Worf and Troi. This is particularly true of Picard, Data and Worf. Though there are still a few episodes here that managed to surprise me, more of that later.

As for the world itself, it also stagnates around this season. We’ll be dealing with the same aliens and villains over and over again. Klingons, Romulans, Ferengi, Borg, etc. This is not exactly bad but it’s quite a difference from the explosion of creativity we experience in the third and fourth season. The important thing though is that the show still manages to tell compelling stories. And even the bad episodes manage to have something interesting/weird going on.

The season opens up with the conclusion of Time’s Arrow, a rather interesting but ultimately lukewarm, inconsequential episode. We see Data dying but he comes back. We see how Picard and Guinan meet, but nothing about it has a real consequence, it felt a little bit like pointless exposition. And that’s how it goes for every plot point of this episode. Watchable but if you happen to not be invested in the series, this is not an episode you would care at all for it.

Next is Realm of Fear and I like this one because it’s a Barclay episode. It’s not nearly as good as the Nth Degree or other Barclay episodes but it’s nice to see him again. I’m quite fond of the character. But again it’s one of those if you don’t have an investment in the characters, it’s not an interesting outing.

Men of the People have Troi becoming a lunatic and it’s mostly about her friendship with Riker. Meh. Next is Relics, a throwback to the original series because Scotty comes aboard and has long talks about Picard and La Forge. Okaish.

Schisms is the first episode I really like this season. I don’t know what it is about TNG but when it decides to do horror, it tends to nail it. It’s that cerebral environment the show managed to create that really helps make the horror very effective. This is mostly a Riker episode. I don’t care much for Riker but it’s a really good one.

True Q is quite lame and the worst appearance of Q, probably in the entire show. Rascals is about Picard becoming a child and the only good part of it is when he reverses to his actual age, the first thing he does to check is touching his bald head. When he feels no hair in there he knows the procedure worked and gives that smile of relief. A nice touch. Also they throw Worf under the bus here and he’s overpowered by a Ferengi.

Fistfull of Data is one episode that you only care if the show became an old comfortable blanket for you. I enjoyed it but I can’t see anyone else liking this one. Next is The Quality of Life, a very lame Data episode, which is something because Data episodes are usually nice, but not this one.

Then we get a double episode called Chain of Command and fans really like this one but I don’t. It’s OK for what it is but the only good portion of it are the discussions Picard has with his torturer (this is the famous ‘There are four lights!’ episode) but the message here is same old same old and the only thing holding it together is Patrick Stward’s acting. But if you’re watching this show up to this one you’re already familiar with his tricks and it doesn’t feel all that special.

Next one is Ship in a Bottle and this one is really good indeed. Professor Moriarity is back and I love the trope of a fictional character realizing he’s just fictional and then having a melting down over his condition. Nice acting and ideas all around, though the decision Picard makes about Moriarty’s fate is preposterous and one of his brutal, immoral decisions I’ve ever seen him making in the entire run of the show. Coming from the guy who put the entire Federation in jeopardy for one Borg, it’s something.

The next two I really like. First one is Aquiel and this episode is consistently voted as one of the worst TNG episodes by fans. Not unusually one of the worst ST episodes ever. It’s about La Forge getting a girlfriend and the reason I really like this one is because it’s very clear La Forge suffers from Space Aspergers. Not only that but it’s very clear in this episode nobody on the Enterprise really gives a shit about La Forge.

When Data or Troi have a problem the ENTIRE ship will stop whatever it’s doing to help them out. When La Forge has a problem, well, nobody gives a shit. And the fans have the same attitude. All the time you see people complaining Riker doesn't get good episodes or how Troi is not well handled but nobody ever mentions the lack of La Forge episodes or the fact nobody gives a shit about him. Aquiel made me very sympathetic towards the character and that’s why I like it.

Face of the Enemy is the best Troi episode in the entire show and the plot is very tense and fun to follow. I always felt Troi could be more than just the succubus with the shitty outfit and here we see that is true.

Next one is Tapestry and this is the one I sensed Picard is completely spent as a character. The show just talks too much about him, there’s nothing left to say. And in here he’s quite out of character because he belittles EVERY SINGLE scientist in his ship when he prefer to fucking DIE than have a career as an astrophysist. Quite pathetic and quite a step down on the nice portrayal we see of him in The Inner Light, just a season ago.

The same thing happens with the double episode we get next called Birthright. It’s very clear there’s pretty much nothing to say about Worf. It’s about his dad again, and being Klingon and yada yada yada same old same old. I like Worf but there isn’t much left to explore about him after we see his side as a parent when Alexander goes to live with him. That pretty much closes his arc imo.
Then we get 3 Picard episodes that just cements the fact there’s not much left to be said about this guy. Starship Mine is one shitty episode where Picard plays John Mclane and boy what a silly idea that was. His main fight is with some lanky, fragile looking human female and he almost loses the fight. lol. Quite ridiculous all around. Then we have Lessons where Picard has a short relationship with his head scientist. Whatever, it doesn’t go anywhere.

The Chase is about the Enterprise finding out all the humanoid aliens come from the same ancestor and the fact that is treated like a secret is completely ridiculous. We already know this when humanoid aliens can have fertile offspring and feed on the same nutrients and look all pretty much the same. It was quite pointless to try to treat this as some sort of amazing revelation and the episode fails quite badly because of it.

Next we have a very good one called Frame of Mind and this is probably the very best Riker episode. I quite like the premise as well where the main character doesn’t know what’s real and what’s not. I guess I just really enjoy imposing some sort of mindfuckery on a character and how he reacts. This episode is exactly that and it’s very very good. A high point for this season.

Suspicions is about a Ferengi scientist and Crusher investigating a murder and I believe this is a particularly bad one because the actor playing Crusher is so god damn stiff. You know, it’s not enough to have great red hair in order to be an actor. You have to make us believe the situation you’re in is real. It’s so painfully obvious this is all happening in a studio somewhere when we focus on Crusher and here we focus on Crusher a lot.

Rightful Heir is about Worf again and this time is a lot better than Birthright. I enjoyed the approach to religious belief in this episode. A quite enjoyable hour of television. It’s the ST version of Christianity and I quite like it.

Next we have Second Chances and this one is quite a step down for Riker after we last saw him in Frame of Mind. I get the feeling this character really has no range at all, I don’t know if it’s how he’s written or how he’s performed. He’s just quick to anger for no good reason and comes off as a complete idiot unable to control his emotions. He’s like a monkey flinging poo in this one.

The next episode is Timescape and I like this one because it’s one, long, technobabble, verbose episode where we get the characters walk around trying to solve a mystery. A couple of very hilarious moments as well. One of my favorite TNG episodes. I read other ST shows are not so technobabbly as TNG and I find that quite saddening. I love this type of episode.

And finally we get a OKish but mostly pointless episode called Descent, about Data joining with his brother in order to create a small Borg army and bring down the federation. Yup, it’s another ‘Character X is getting brainwashed’ episode.

And that’s that. I feel somewhat sad knowing there’s only one season left. I tried watching another Trek series (Strange New Worlds) and didn’t care at all for it. It lacks the charm of TNG and I’m afraid this is going to be the case for the other ST shows. 7th season here I come.

>>66739
Thank you for the recommendation, I'll check it out.

 No.66824

https://youtu.be/jOAxchyLZ00?si=CIrHMHUebt3AmP_D

This is an occult show with a priest in a spanish town investigating demonic hauntings

 No.67106

File: 1705840700034.jpg (2.84 MB, 3000x3000, 1:1, 3000x3000sr.jpg) ImgOps iqdb

I'm watching this right now and I'm enjoying it.

 No.67129

>>67106
Finished watching all seasons of this. I don't watch much TV but I sense there's a trend to these shows where you get a decent first and perhaps second season but third season on it starts to get worse and by the end it's just crap all the way through. I'm not sure why it happens. Maybe the writers have a number of good ideas they want to explore and then if it gets successful they're forced to scrape the bottom of the barrel to keep pumping episodes out long after they ran out of ideas. Southland is an example of that. Very good first 2 seasons and then it's all downhill from there. The only character they managed to keep consistent to the end was the female detective. The other ones they kept fucking it up like making Michael Cudlitz's character an idiot by the end. Oh well. I might watch True Detective now or maybe I'll finally sit down through The Sopranos, a show I've been interested in solely due to its constant use on the wageslave thread.

 No.67151

I have been watching a few old BBC shows,
>I Claudius
>Colditz
>Yes Minister
They are surprisingly good shows, a bit dated but they still hold up today in terms of writing and acting quality. They are all loosely based on real events/people, the early roman emperors, british prisoners during WW2, government employees, and they do a good job showing life and challenges during these times.

 No.67363

>>67151
If you want another good one from that time period try the Shogun miniseries. There is a new adaptation coming out soon that looks promising but the 1980 version is still a nice watch

 No.67365

Finished the newest season of True Detective. I should have stopped after 20 minutes of episode 1, but no I just had to go and watch all of them because I had literally nothing better to watch with my dinner each week.

It was very clearly made for millenial succubi. It's by FAR worse than the other 3 seasons.

 No.67398

>>67363
I LOVE the book, but I've yet to see the mini-series. always kept meaning too watch it.

 No.67566

File: 1712234881550.png (1.42 MB, 1200x675, 16:9, STTNG.png) ImgOps iqdb

The day has come. I finished watching every single episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Wizchan is pretty much dead (especially hob) or rotten but I had to come back here and talk about this. I’ve been posting itt about TNG for 3 years now so I feel like I should bring it to closure. I won’t talk about every single episode this time, just a couple scattered thoughts.

All in all I could not be happier with the experience. Over the course of 3 years I went from being only vaguely aware and not at all interested in ST to having my humor and mental state significantly improved by watching TNG episodes, even the bad ones. In fact, the bad ones have a certain allure to them that's hard to explain. So instead of going on and on about the ending (it was great!) Instead I’ll make a top 5 ‘best worst’ TNG episodes. The ones that even though they’re shitty, they serve as mental comfort food. Here they are:

The Royale
Captain's Holiday
A Fistful of Datas
Realm of Fear
Aquiel

I feel like I had to make an extra effort to immerse myself in ST at the beginning but when it clicked around the end of second to third season the show became this oddly comforting experience. I think part of it is the enclosed space most of the show takes place in, being inside a spaceship floating around the vacuum of space for billions upon billions of miles. The uniforms, the replicator, the computer noises. The more I watched the more aspects of the show grew on me with homely tones to them. It’s going to be very hard, if not impossible, to enjoy another ST show as much as I enjoyed this TNG. It’s been a little while since I finished watching the seventh season (finished in Dec. last year) and I have only fond or boring memories of going through it. Anyway, I guess I’ll try to watch some more Babylon 5 now.

 No.67567

>>67566
You can't post on a board without mentioning how reluctantly you do so because you hate that board so much? Just about what we could expect from someone who binge watches crappy American TV to get his fill of achievement.

 No.67570

>>67566
TNG was what got me into sci-fi in the first place as a kid.
It's a good show and glad you enjoyed it.

 No.67574

>>67566
Dianna Troi was a mistake. Empaths were a mistake. I fucking hated every second that bitch was on the screen. Riker was also a shit character. Other than that it was quite good and enjoyable. I wish they would have done Star Trek Captain Worf. I always liked Worf. The stuff they did later in the series really fleshed out his character and I would have liked to see him as the lead. What we got after that was just disappointing. Janeway wasn't terrible, but just not very interesting as was the show itself. It was like TNG just watered down. Then Enterprise was just shit. I didn't get very far with that one. Couldn't force myself through it.

 No.67576

>>67574
Oh, and deep space 9 is good. Not as good as TNG but nearly.

 No.67578

>>67576
I never liked Deep space 9 but I did enjoy TNG and Voyager.

Part of the appeal of Star Trek to me is the exploration and adventure.
Sitting on a space station most of the time just didn't do it for me.


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