LasbrookIt takes a lot to make a stewWhen it comes to me and youRegistered Userregular
Honestly the family portrait one is the most tempting to me because of the Hazel Monforton tweet about Lisa’s “I absolutely fucked Dracula” face.
But from some of the promo images it seems like it’s a white square canvas but it’s of a circular image so you just end up with dead space and that feels weird to me.
DepressperadoI just wanted to see you laughingin the pizza rainRegistered Userregular
I would love to own one of those.
if I had a manor, every painting in the house would be like, mildly upsetting. nothing gruesome, just uncanny or weird. paintings where the eyes follow you and stuff.
I'd set the whole place up to appear to be haunted. like, the most expensive haunted house tour in the world, but I live there.
+1
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Librarian's ghostLibrarian, Ghostbuster, and TimSporkRegistered Userregular
Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey...
+5
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StraightziHere we may reign secure, and in my choice,To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered Userregular
edited April 2022
Watched the new Jerrod Carmichael, liked it a lot
about halfway through my partner got up to the bathroom, so I paused it, and then had to contain my laughter as I was reminded what the title of the special was
edit: Although this also seems potentially ripe for pulling some native trope bullshit. Hopefully not.
he looks into the big puddle and a wrinkled purple face looks back
The symbol looks a lot like the one for vaults in the Borderlands franchise...
Prequel CONFIRMED.
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
The back half of Taskmaster Series 7 is just a thing of beauty. I'm just shaking my head at it. I think this is the first group who really doesn't take the taskmaster's shit.
The back half of Taskmaster Series 7 is just a thing of beauty. I'm just shaking my head at it. I think this is the first group who really doesn't take the taskmaster's shit.
"I've just remembered how much I hate this show" is a line that will live rent free in my head for a long time.
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
The back half of Taskmaster Series 7 is just a thing of beauty. I'm just shaking my head at it. I think this is the first group who really doesn't take the taskmaster's shit.
"I've just remembered how much I hate this show" is a line that will live rent free in my head for a long time.
The picture of Greg's mom in the bath wearing the fez and Greg's double take. I had to re-watch that like a half dozen times
The back half of Taskmaster Series 7 is just a thing of beauty. I'm just shaking my head at it. I think this is the first group who really doesn't take the taskmaster's shit.
"I've just remembered how much I hate this show" is a line that will live rent free in my head for a long time.
The picture of Greg's mom in the bath wearing the fez and Greg's double take. I had to re-watch that like a half dozen times
It's a picture of me looking fat, isn't it?
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Just watched the last episode of series seven. It was a great final episode. A+ season.
Been watching more Severance. Liking it more than I initially did, still coming up just short of truly loving it
It feels like, stylistically, it's pulling from the same well as Maniac, Legion, Umbrella Academy, Loki - sterile, retro-futurist environments, long lingering takes, aloof and mysterious corporate entities. And really they're all just variations on The Prisoner, I guess. I've enjoyed all of them well enough, but it's starting to feel like a checklist or a bingo card, I dunno.
The craft on the show is really solid, though. I think the pilot went way overboard on establishing some of the show's visual language (especially i/r/t the hallways), but a much more delicate touch has been deployed in reminding the audience of stuff like, "There's this one weird dead patch that nobody ever walks through." The reveals in the meta-plot have been well-timed and well-supported, with the show doing a much better job than most mystery box shows of setting up a question and giving you an answer (if not the whole truth) in the same episode. The story puts in a lot of work to make revelations feel earned and inevitable, part of a causal chain - they really do a lot to keep "sheer coincidence" to a minimum, which is fucking hard on a show that plays this cards-down. And the performances continue to be great.
It is pleasant and satisfying to watch, in the manner of watching any skilled artisans ply their trades. But one drawback (and this might not be a problem for everyone) is that the craft is so meticulous in the writing that I keep getting ahead of the show. Like, spoilers for episode 7 "Defiant Jazz"
I figured out the Gemma reveal as soon as Cobel asked Devon "Does Mark ever think he sees Gemma?" Because as soon as the show even gestured to Gemma being alive, the options for "Who have we seen enough that we'll care enough to be surprised, but not so much that it's obvious" were narrow. Coupled with the one brief, wordless scene for a named, recurring actor at the top of the episode, and there was really only the one option.
So when it gets to the end of the episode, and the show is taking an agonizingly long time to reveal the photo, where it's actively needling the audience and going "Are you feeling suspense yet," I wasn't feeling tension - I was feeling the frustration of, "Just fucking say it, let's move this along"
And like, that's only getting a half hour ahead, it's not the end of the world or anything, but it changes the shading on my emotional responses some. Like, I'm never feeling, "I wonder where the hell they go from here" or "I can't wait to see how they get out of this one" or "Holy shit, what does that mean?" I keep feeling, "Gotcha, okay, you hit that note well, I see where you're going next, satisfying chord progression you've got here."
It feels like a really fantastic karaoke performance, to carry that musical metaphor a little further. I can respect it, I can enjoy it, but I am the sort of person who will almost always take a pretty-good brand new song over even the finest karaoke.
Been watching more Severance. Liking it more than I initially did, still coming up just short of truly loving it
It feels like, stylistically, it's pulling from the same well as Maniac, Legion, Umbrella Academy, Loki - sterile, retro-futurist environments, long lingering takes, aloof and mysterious corporate entities. And really they're all just variations on The Prisoner, I guess. I've enjoyed all of them well enough, but it's starting to feel like a checklist or a bingo card, I dunno.
The craft on the show is really solid, though. I think the pilot went way overboard on establishing some of the show's visual language (especially i/r/t the hallways), but a much more delicate touch has been deployed in reminding the audience of stuff like, "There's this one weird dead patch that nobody ever walks through." The reveals in the meta-plot have been well-timed and well-supported, with the show doing a much better job than most mystery box shows of setting up a question and giving you an answer (if not the whole truth) in the same episode. The story puts in a lot of work to make revelations feel earned and inevitable, part of a causal chain - they really do a lot to keep "sheer coincidence" to a minimum, which is fucking hard on a show that plays this cards-down. And the performances continue to be great.
It is pleasant and satisfying to watch, in the manner of watching any skilled artisans ply their trades. But one drawback (and this might not be a problem for everyone) is that the craft is so meticulous in the writing that I keep getting ahead of the show. Like, spoilers for episode 7 "Defiant Jazz"
I figured out the Gemma reveal as soon as Cobel asked Devon "Does Mark ever think he sees Gemma?" Because as soon as the show even gestured to Gemma being alive, the options for "Who have we seen enough that we'll care enough to be surprised, but not so much that it's obvious" were narrow. Coupled with the one brief, wordless scene for a named, recurring actor at the top of the episode, and there was really only the one option.
So when it gets to the end of the episode, and the show is taking an agonizingly long time to reveal the photo, where it's actively needling the audience and going "Are you feeling suspense yet," I wasn't feeling tension - I was feeling the frustration of, "Just fucking say it, let's move this along"
And like, that's only getting a half hour ahead, it's not the end of the world or anything, but it changes the shading on my emotional responses some. Like, I'm never feeling, "I wonder where the hell they go from here" or "I can't wait to see how they get out of this one" or "Holy shit, what does that mean?" I keep feeling, "Gotcha, okay, you hit that note well, I see where you're going next, satisfying chord progression you've got here."
It feels like a really fantastic karaoke performance, to carry that musical metaphor a little further. I can respect it, I can enjoy it, but I am the sort of person who will almost always take a pretty-good brand new song over even the finest karaoke.
My favorite part of any episode is
Adam Scott reading his brother in laws self help book which is some of the best purposely bad writing I've ever seen in a show. And the character sells that he fully believes his own bullshit completely.
Finished All of Us are Dead, the korean zombie show. Enjoyed but definitely is stronger in the start and middle than the finish. The ending started to feel a little forced in places. Like ok, we need to make this wrap up now how's that gonna happen? There's some sequences that feel...less organic, like people end up in the places they do because the story dictates they need to, plus obligatory if we wanted to make more of this what's the hook? Still, pretty good zombie apocalypse tale if you're in the mood for one of those. I think the very first episode is pretty weak overall but by the start of episode 2 it's full steam ahead.
Earlier today, a friend and I were discussing how David Xanatos, supervillain, is a better person than any real life person with obscene wealth.
Sure, Xanatos was a criminal, but a lot of his crimes were directed at other rich assholes or magical assholes. On the flipside, he donates to museums, preserves history, rehabilitates convicted felons, acknowledges his mistakes, and stopped a few apocalypses.
Been watching more Severance. Liking it more than I initially did, still coming up just short of truly loving it
It feels like, stylistically, it's pulling from the same well as Maniac, Legion, Umbrella Academy, Loki - sterile, retro-futurist environments, long lingering takes, aloof and mysterious corporate entities. And really they're all just variations on The Prisoner, I guess. I've enjoyed all of them well enough, but it's starting to feel like a checklist or a bingo card, I dunno.
The craft on the show is really solid, though. I think the pilot went way overboard on establishing some of the show's visual language (especially i/r/t the hallways), but a much more delicate touch has been deployed in reminding the audience of stuff like, "There's this one weird dead patch that nobody ever walks through." The reveals in the meta-plot have been well-timed and well-supported, with the show doing a much better job than most mystery box shows of setting up a question and giving you an answer (if not the whole truth) in the same episode. The story puts in a lot of work to make revelations feel earned and inevitable, part of a causal chain - they really do a lot to keep "sheer coincidence" to a minimum, which is fucking hard on a show that plays this cards-down. And the performances continue to be great.
It is pleasant and satisfying to watch, in the manner of watching any skilled artisans ply their trades. But one drawback (and this might not be a problem for everyone) is that the craft is so meticulous in the writing that I keep getting ahead of the show. Like, spoilers for episode 7 "Defiant Jazz"
I figured out the Gemma reveal as soon as Cobel asked Devon "Does Mark ever think he sees Gemma?" Because as soon as the show even gestured to Gemma being alive, the options for "Who have we seen enough that we'll care enough to be surprised, but not so much that it's obvious" were narrow. Coupled with the one brief, wordless scene for a named, recurring actor at the top of the episode, and there was really only the one option.
So when it gets to the end of the episode, and the show is taking an agonizingly long time to reveal the photo, where it's actively needling the audience and going "Are you feeling suspense yet," I wasn't feeling tension - I was feeling the frustration of, "Just fucking say it, let's move this along"
And like, that's only getting a half hour ahead, it's not the end of the world or anything, but it changes the shading on my emotional responses some. Like, I'm never feeling, "I wonder where the hell they go from here" or "I can't wait to see how they get out of this one" or "Holy shit, what does that mean?" I keep feeling, "Gotcha, okay, you hit that note well, I see where you're going next, satisfying chord progression you've got here."
It feels like a really fantastic karaoke performance, to carry that musical metaphor a little further. I can respect it, I can enjoy it, but I am the sort of person who will almost always take a pretty-good brand new song over even the finest karaoke.
It's funny cause (ep 7)
that one blindsided me even though the breadcrumbs were, in retrospect, hella heavy handed - and I think it's because putting Mark and Gemma in close proximity at work is such a bonkers, sadistic, self-sabotaging thing to do that my brain just refused to go there.
However the realisation that they would, in fact, do this thing, instantly recontextualised a whole bunch of Cobel's nonsense and (speculation because I haven't seen Episode 8 yet) what the whole department and the severed floor itself are ultimately in aid of. So I guess thanks, brain, for being a dumb and letting me have that minor moment of revelation.
Been watching more Severance. Liking it more than I initially did, still coming up just short of truly loving it
It feels like, stylistically, it's pulling from the same well as Maniac, Legion, Umbrella Academy, Loki - sterile, retro-futurist environments, long lingering takes, aloof and mysterious corporate entities. And really they're all just variations on The Prisoner, I guess. I've enjoyed all of them well enough, but it's starting to feel like a checklist or a bingo card, I dunno.
The craft on the show is really solid, though. I think the pilot went way overboard on establishing some of the show's visual language (especially i/r/t the hallways), but a much more delicate touch has been deployed in reminding the audience of stuff like, "There's this one weird dead patch that nobody ever walks through." The reveals in the meta-plot have been well-timed and well-supported, with the show doing a much better job than most mystery box shows of setting up a question and giving you an answer (if not the whole truth) in the same episode. The story puts in a lot of work to make revelations feel earned and inevitable, part of a causal chain - they really do a lot to keep "sheer coincidence" to a minimum, which is fucking hard on a show that plays this cards-down. And the performances continue to be great.
It is pleasant and satisfying to watch, in the manner of watching any skilled artisans ply their trades. But one drawback (and this might not be a problem for everyone) is that the craft is so meticulous in the writing that I keep getting ahead of the show. Like, spoilers for episode 7 "Defiant Jazz"
I figured out the Gemma reveal as soon as Cobel asked Devon "Does Mark ever think he sees Gemma?" Because as soon as the show even gestured to Gemma being alive, the options for "Who have we seen enough that we'll care enough to be surprised, but not so much that it's obvious" were narrow. Coupled with the one brief, wordless scene for a named, recurring actor at the top of the episode, and there was really only the one option.
So when it gets to the end of the episode, and the show is taking an agonizingly long time to reveal the photo, where it's actively needling the audience and going "Are you feeling suspense yet," I wasn't feeling tension - I was feeling the frustration of, "Just fucking say it, let's move this along"
And like, that's only getting a half hour ahead, it's not the end of the world or anything, but it changes the shading on my emotional responses some. Like, I'm never feeling, "I wonder where the hell they go from here" or "I can't wait to see how they get out of this one" or "Holy shit, what does that mean?" I keep feeling, "Gotcha, okay, you hit that note well, I see where you're going next, satisfying chord progression you've got here."
It feels like a really fantastic karaoke performance, to carry that musical metaphor a little further. I can respect it, I can enjoy it, but I am the sort of person who will almost always take a pretty-good brand new song over even the finest karaoke.
It's funny cause (ep 7)
that one blindsided me even though the breadcrumbs were, in retrospect, hella heavy handed - and I think it's because putting Mark and Gemma in close proximity at work is such a bonkers, sadistic, self-sabotaging thing to do that my brain just refused to go there.
However the realisation that they would, in fact, do this thing, instantly recontextualised a whole bunch of Cobel's nonsense and (speculation because I haven't seen Episode 8 yet) what the whole department and the severed floor itself are ultimately in aid of. So I guess thanks, brain, for being a dumb and letting me have that minor moment of revelation.
I've not yet seen episode 8 either, so I can speculate at you in real time!
I had an early hail mary, circa episode 3 or 4, that this is an, "It's all in his head" show. I cannot remember and refuse to look up the particular flavors of the show's lore, but one of Eagan's principles/philosophies talked about the brain having "Four humours." ("Humours" might not be exactly right, but it was jargon along those lines)
Number of people in macrodata refinement is four.
In a lot of theories about cognition, the human brain prioritizes information that triggers fear, a survival instinct thing. Macrodata Refinement sorts data, prioritizing shit that's "scary" regardless of context.
The macrodata refinement people meet the people from the department of "How things appear." The departments are in some ways connected and vibing, in some ways at odds. Differing narratives on who's responsible for what horrors. "Do I believe my fear, or what I'm seeing? Am I seeing the truth? Who decides what truth is, anyway?"
So my initial theory was, "This is all in one dude's head, it's an allegory for processing grief, got it got it." I'm now leaning towards, "Cultish corporate leaders are trying to program human minds to work the way our corporate cult leader says they should work, and it turns out that's untenable."
And I could be wrong! It could be something TOTALLY different, and I'll (maybe) be delighted!
I feel like this show is maybe catching me at the wrong time, but I've so far not found it to hit any new notes in the songs its (maybe) playing. It's a show that's made me think, a couple of times, but it's a show that has yet to make me feel.
I don't disagree - on the subject of feeling, my biggest emotional responses to the show are anxiety and paranoia. I don't get a lot of emotional connection with the characters themselves. Contrast that with, say, The Terror, where the tension and anxiety were supported and hefted by incredibly well-constructed character development.
Severance reminds me most of Devs, which was also an aenemic puzzle box not quite as clever as it thought it was. Devs ultimate emotional revelations/catharsis left me cold, because they hadn't laid the groundwork. (I do think severance is doing a better job than Devs did wrt saying something interesting about grief and coping mechanisms).
I guess I also don't put a lot of weight on being surprised by puzzle box stories, though it's nice when it happens.
Speculation
I think your secondary theory is more in line with mine - I think the Macrodata Refinement team, maybe the others, IS the central research being undertaken by the corporation - the employees are acting as test subjects, and the 'work' they're doing is a meta-referential refinement of the severance process - perhaps even inside their own brains. Basically what if you could get the guinea pigs in the maze to design a better maze as they navigated it.
Also John Turturro is just selling the hell out of his role, that's the bit of emotional character work that has me at the edge of the seat. Much more than the central conspiracy/cult mystery.
Also John Turturro is just selling the hell out of his role, that's the bit of emotional character work that has me at the edge of the seat. Much more than the central conspiracy/cult mystery.
Without Turturro and his romantic entanglement, I would've quit the show. They're not the only reason I'm watching, but they're what kept me hooked right when I most needed something to hook me. His work in 7 is so, so good.
But that reminds me of another one of my criticisms of the show:
It feels like the show maybe has the wrong main character?
This is a criticism I've felt, probably not coincidentally, about Maniac and Legion and Loki - the person at the center is trying to figure themselves out, while the "periphery" characters have goals and drives and desires they can't reach but are trying real hard to reach anyway. The protagonist is buffeted about by the whims of fate, while more interesting people do more interesting things around them.
I can fuck with that mode of storytelling in a novel, in a short story, sometimes (but not often) in a movie. But in TV? When I have to wait hours for the main character to do something? Real hard for me. I can only watch so much inertia.
Oh, here's what I can say outside of spoilers: For me, the character of Mark from Severance has yet to pluck even a single heartstring that John Tavner from Patriot played on a whole violin. I'm not speaking of the performances - Adam Scott has done some incredible work on Severance, I don't want to undercut it. But John is a whole character, and every scene he's in is about him. Severance is, by nature of its premise, a show with two half-characters at its center.
I think the show could land it, could make this a complete character, but I will have needed to wait several hours to meet them.
Poorochondriac on
+2
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Earlier today, a friend and I were discussing how David Xanatos, supervillain, is a better person than any real life person with obscene wealth.
Sure, Xanatos was a criminal, but a lot of his crimes were directed at other rich assholes or magical assholes. On the flipside, he donates to museums, preserves history, rehabilitates convicted felons, acknowledges his mistakes, and stopped a few apocalypses.
David Xanatos wouldn't buy himself enough shares of Twitter to be on the board so he could continue to shitpost.
Earlier today, a friend and I were discussing how David Xanatos, supervillain, is a better person than any real life person with obscene wealth.
Sure, Xanatos was a criminal, but a lot of his crimes were directed at other rich assholes or magical assholes. On the flipside, he donates to museums, preserves history, rehabilitates convicted felons, acknowledges his mistakes, and stopped a few apocalypses.
David Xanatos wouldn't buy himself enough shares of Twitter to be on the board so he could continue to shitpost.
He would've bought Twitter early on to smother it, either for his own reasons or as a member of the Illuminati.
"Go down, kick ass, and set yourselves up as gods, that's our Prime Directive!"
Been watching more Severance. Liking it more than I initially did, still coming up just short of truly loving it
It feels like, stylistically, it's pulling from the same well as Maniac, Legion, Umbrella Academy, Loki - sterile, retro-futurist environments, long lingering takes, aloof and mysterious corporate entities. And really they're all just variations on The Prisoner, I guess. [...]
This is when I finally realized that I thought you were watching Leverage and just having some... very subjective experiences of it.
I'm halfway through with Our Flag Means Death. It's fine. I appreciate what it's doing and it's charming but I haven't been swept up in a furor or anything.
Is this episode of Enterprise literally an allegory for AIDS?
Switch: SW-7690-2320-9238Steam/PSN/Xbox: Drezdar
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Zonugal(He/Him) The Holiday ArmadilloI'm Santa's representative for all the southern states. And Mexico!Registered Userregular
edited April 2022
On today's episode of Ally McBeal, Ally turns 29 & John Cage turns 35.
During a staff meeting Lucy Liu asks Ally if she's turning 35 and Ally pulls out an uzi & unloads it into Liu's chest.
Lucy Liu's character also reveals that the reason she has held off having sex with Richard Fish is that she's so good at it she has blinded, wounded, & killed men in the past via the act.
The end of the episode is Ally & John's shared birthday party. Richard Fish fingers the back of Lucy Liu's knee, thus shifting the sexual dynamic back in his favor. And Portia de Rossi, as a birthday present, gets Barry White to show up.
Finished the first season of Amazon's Critical Role's Kickstarter's The Legend of Vox Machina. Overall, I liked it a lot! The first couple episodes were more... trying to be funny than succeeding at being funny, but that felt very apt for the start of a live D&D podcast. Once the main story for the season gets started, pretty much everything dramatically improves. The jokes actually start to land, the fights become more interesting, and it becomes possible to engage with the characters at all. From what I found, it seems like they're set for two seasons total, but I wonder if the show will be successful enough that Amazon will ask for more. I don't know if Prime treats cartoons any better than the blatant shenanigans exposed over at Netflix, but I can at least hope so. I should note, I've never watched the show, so this did work as an introduction to the characters/world, but I have listened to other D&D podcasts and could detect the original format despite the quality adaptation of it to a more traditional show format. I wonder if someone completely unfamiliar with both the original podcast and the genre it came from would have the same reaction.
Posts
But from some of the promo images it seems like it’s a white square canvas but it’s of a circular image so you just end up with dead space and that feels weird to me.
Steam
if I had a manor, every painting in the house would be like, mildly upsetting. nothing gruesome, just uncanny or weird. paintings where the eyes follow you and stuff.
I'd set the whole place up to appear to be haunted. like, the most expensive haunted house tour in the world, but I live there.
Oh shit Ardal O'Hanlon is a contestant!
Help
Steam - Talon Valdez :Blizz - Talonious#1860 : Xbox Live & LoL - Talonious Monk @TaloniousMonk Hail Satan
but some people will know, and that's enough, because they will love it.
also if people ask you about it you can grab it and be like LAURA and sob and dance
Prequel CONFIRMED.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
"I've just remembered how much I hate this show" is a line that will live rent free in my head for a long time.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
It's a picture of me looking fat, isn't it?
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
I have no idea who any of these folks are but dang I love that one lady's hat.
It feels like, stylistically, it's pulling from the same well as Maniac, Legion, Umbrella Academy, Loki - sterile, retro-futurist environments, long lingering takes, aloof and mysterious corporate entities. And really they're all just variations on The Prisoner, I guess. I've enjoyed all of them well enough, but it's starting to feel like a checklist or a bingo card, I dunno.
The craft on the show is really solid, though. I think the pilot went way overboard on establishing some of the show's visual language (especially i/r/t the hallways), but a much more delicate touch has been deployed in reminding the audience of stuff like, "There's this one weird dead patch that nobody ever walks through." The reveals in the meta-plot have been well-timed and well-supported, with the show doing a much better job than most mystery box shows of setting up a question and giving you an answer (if not the whole truth) in the same episode. The story puts in a lot of work to make revelations feel earned and inevitable, part of a causal chain - they really do a lot to keep "sheer coincidence" to a minimum, which is fucking hard on a show that plays this cards-down. And the performances continue to be great.
It is pleasant and satisfying to watch, in the manner of watching any skilled artisans ply their trades. But one drawback (and this might not be a problem for everyone) is that the craft is so meticulous in the writing that I keep getting ahead of the show. Like, spoilers for episode 7 "Defiant Jazz"
So when it gets to the end of the episode, and the show is taking an agonizingly long time to reveal the photo, where it's actively needling the audience and going "Are you feeling suspense yet," I wasn't feeling tension - I was feeling the frustration of, "Just fucking say it, let's move this along"
And like, that's only getting a half hour ahead, it's not the end of the world or anything, but it changes the shading on my emotional responses some. Like, I'm never feeling, "I wonder where the hell they go from here" or "I can't wait to see how they get out of this one" or "Holy shit, what does that mean?" I keep feeling, "Gotcha, okay, you hit that note well, I see where you're going next, satisfying chord progression you've got here."
It feels like a really fantastic karaoke performance, to carry that musical metaphor a little further. I can respect it, I can enjoy it, but I am the sort of person who will almost always take a pretty-good brand new song over even the finest karaoke.
My favorite part of any episode is
Sure, Xanatos was a criminal, but a lot of his crimes were directed at other rich assholes or magical assholes. On the flipside, he donates to museums, preserves history, rehabilitates convicted felons, acknowledges his mistakes, and stopped a few apocalypses.
AMC announces two new shows: Orphan Black spinoff https://deadline.com/2022/04/amc-networks-greenlights-next-evolution-of-orphan-black-called-echoes-1234995267/
And an adaptation of Richard Russo's Straight Man novel starring Bob Odenkirk https://deadline.com/2022/04/bob-odenkirk-straight-man-amc-aaron-zelman-paul-lieberstein-1234995306/
Steam
You chose to watch a show named after horrible stinging wasps, you knew what you were getting into.
It's funny cause (ep 7)
However the realisation that they would, in fact, do this thing, instantly recontextualised a whole bunch of Cobel's nonsense and (speculation because I haven't seen Episode 8 yet) what the whole department and the severed floor itself are ultimately in aid of. So I guess thanks, brain, for being a dumb and letting me have that minor moment of revelation.
I've not yet seen episode 8 either, so I can speculate at you in real time!
Number of people in macrodata refinement is four.
In a lot of theories about cognition, the human brain prioritizes information that triggers fear, a survival instinct thing. Macrodata Refinement sorts data, prioritizing shit that's "scary" regardless of context.
The macrodata refinement people meet the people from the department of "How things appear." The departments are in some ways connected and vibing, in some ways at odds. Differing narratives on who's responsible for what horrors. "Do I believe my fear, or what I'm seeing? Am I seeing the truth? Who decides what truth is, anyway?"
So my initial theory was, "This is all in one dude's head, it's an allegory for processing grief, got it got it." I'm now leaning towards, "Cultish corporate leaders are trying to program human minds to work the way our corporate cult leader says they should work, and it turns out that's untenable."
And I could be wrong! It could be something TOTALLY different, and I'll (maybe) be delighted!
I feel like this show is maybe catching me at the wrong time, but I've so far not found it to hit any new notes in the songs its (maybe) playing. It's a show that's made me think, a couple of times, but it's a show that has yet to make me feel.
Severance reminds me most of Devs, which was also an aenemic puzzle box not quite as clever as it thought it was. Devs ultimate emotional revelations/catharsis left me cold, because they hadn't laid the groundwork. (I do think severance is doing a better job than Devs did wrt saying something interesting about grief and coping mechanisms).
I guess I also don't put a lot of weight on being surprised by puzzle box stories, though it's nice when it happens.
Speculation
Don’t forget he acted the hell out of that scene where a transformer pissed on him
Without Turturro and his romantic entanglement, I would've quit the show. They're not the only reason I'm watching, but they're what kept me hooked right when I most needed something to hook me. His work in 7 is so, so good.
But that reminds me of another one of my criticisms of the show:
This is a criticism I've felt, probably not coincidentally, about Maniac and Legion and Loki - the person at the center is trying to figure themselves out, while the "periphery" characters have goals and drives and desires they can't reach but are trying real hard to reach anyway. The protagonist is buffeted about by the whims of fate, while more interesting people do more interesting things around them.
I can fuck with that mode of storytelling in a novel, in a short story, sometimes (but not often) in a movie. But in TV? When I have to wait hours for the main character to do something? Real hard for me. I can only watch so much inertia.
Oh, here's what I can say outside of spoilers: For me, the character of Mark from Severance has yet to pluck even a single heartstring that John Tavner from Patriot played on a whole violin. I'm not speaking of the performances - Adam Scott has done some incredible work on Severance, I don't want to undercut it. But John is a whole character, and every scene he's in is about him. Severance is, by nature of its premise, a show with two half-characters at its center.
I think the show could land it, could make this a complete character, but I will have needed to wait several hours to meet them.
David Xanatos wouldn't buy himself enough shares of Twitter to be on the board so he could continue to shitpost.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
He would've bought Twitter early on to smother it, either for his own reasons or as a member of the Illuminati.
During a staff meeting Lucy Liu asks Ally if she's turning 35 and Ally pulls out an uzi & unloads it into Liu's chest.
Lucy Liu's character also reveals that the reason she has held off having sex with Richard Fish is that she's so good at it she has blinded, wounded, & killed men in the past via the act.
The end of the episode is Ally & John's shared birthday party. Richard Fish fingers the back of Lucy Liu's knee, thus shifting the sexual dynamic back in his favor. And Portia de Rossi, as a birthday present, gets Barry White to show up.
The whole cast then dances to Barry White.
Perfect Television