Altered Carbon
I didn't realize how much I wanted to love this series until somewhere in the middle (actually closer to the beginning than the actual middle) I felt a bitter disappointment for not being swept off my feet. On one hand, it's really not fair to call a show of that quality a major letdown just because I was spoiled by some really amazing sci-fi recently. On the other, I just can't help feeling that way. There's a lot of good stuff in Altered Carbon and it's certainly way above average. But it just doesn't click. And once I had no doubt about it, I was getting annoyed by more and more things. The core idea is brilliant but I just couldn't feel the weight of its moral consequences that should be the heart of such vision. Future is not convincing; we are supposed to be several centuries away from the present day and some major change took place, so how come so many things work exactly like they do in the present? It seemed so naive and unimaginative. Solving the mystery is the strongest thing in this show and it provides quite a lot of entertainment but even that ends in a disappointment as we reach the final revelation. To sum things up, this show is like a Hollywood movie: technically good and easy to watch but with very little to no character. I plan to read a book, I heard many things I didn't like were not there so I have my hopes high. Hopefully, the story won't repeat itself.
Godless
The only thing I didn't absolutely love about this show was a slightly tacky intro. Everything else was pretty much flawless. There was a great story and I loved how it, maybe not on purpose but who knows, baited me with many red herrings in forms of characters and events I was damn sure will be very important because these are the rules of telling such stories but in the end, they weren't. There were great characters; I wouldn't be able to pick my favourite if my life depended on it, pretty much everybody was flesh-and-blood real and interesting. Many might have been not likeable, but that's not what I'm talking about. The atmosphere was fantastic too. With a not too rushed story, taking its sweet time to show this or that, one could almost physically feel the hardships, the tensions, the dangers and even the heat. And who would know that some mild magical realism could go so well with western conventions? The ending was also quite satisfactory, I was really glad it's a limited series because westerns, in particular, are all about the proper ending.
Big Little Lies
This show is surprisingly hard to write about without spoiling it so I will be very brief. It is really good and if you haven't seen it yet you definitely should give it a try. It really deserves all the accolades it got, just be patient with it. It may not be obvious immediately what exactly makes it so great. After all, it follows a crime mystery convention in many ways, so you can only fully appreciate it after all the pieces fall into place at the very end. In the beginning, it all seems to be just a story about annoying angry mums. But still, it draws you in quite quickly. I didn't expect it to be something I'd want to binge, but in the end, I just had to. We seriously need more shows like this one.
Vikings season 4 part 2
Vikings is one of my favourite period TV shows of all time. Firstly, it's strongly rooted in current historical knowledge rather than well-established myths, for the most part anyway. Secondly, it doesn't taint its characters with the modern mentality too much. Thirdly, it doesn't deny its characters intelligence. This is really a big deal for me because all three are very rare. It's painfully common to see period productions seeped with what people imagine a certain period of time looked like rather than what we actually know about it. People of the distant past are habitually pictured as retarded simpletons (because if they don't use computers, they must be stupid, right?) and the bright few have somehow arrived at a worldview oddly similar to our own (because our values are universal and most logical ones, duh!). And no period has suffered so much from all of the above as the Middle Ages. That's why Vikings are so refreshing. And having all that, they also offer solid human drama. Sure, some subplots are less interesting than others but the show as a whole is way beyond average. Not to mention there's also quite a lot of action and usually, a lot happens in a single episode. And probably the best thing is, that the show keeps feeling fresh and I believe it can run for many more seasons without compromising its quality. Which means a lot coming from me, as I usually prefer my TV shows over in a couple of years rather than dragging for almost a decade or even longer.
Lilyhammer
Fish-out-of-the-water is one of my favourites comedy tropes. I like the way Scandinavians can show something basically unfunny, mundane, awkward, or just plain lame as really amusing. Also, winter kinda had failed here where I live and I got no chance to enjoy the proper snow. Therefore, Lilyhammer. I don't watch many comedy shows, so I have no idea how this one looks against the competition, but I can tell for sure that it's pretty solid. I had some decent laughs anyway. I guess I should watch more comedy shows.
Trollhunters part 1
High school kids with superpowers is an extremely dangerous formula these days, urban fantasy setting got pretty stale, and to top it all, I'm not exactly into computer animation (I skipped most classics). Yet, I took an immediate interest in Trollhunters and made a mental note to give it a try one day. Well, the day finally came and my verdict is that yes, indeed, it's a pretty nice show. It's obviously for the younger audience but it was enjoyable nonetheless. I haven't watched all the available episodes just because I thought it would be better to wait for the final part. I am looking forward to it, which I guess is the best recommendation.
Ozark
I can't really tell why I didn't like this show very much. It's the kind of show I would expect myself to enjoy and yet I most certainly didn't. Despite the nice setting, decent story, well-designed characters and high technical quality, I totally couldn't get myself into it. It sparked zero interest in me and I only watched a whole season because something has to be really unspeakably horrible for me not to complete it. When something finally clicked a little after I forced myself to watch more than five episodes, the rhythm was immediately broken by a full retrospect episode. Sorry for repeating that, but I find it really fascinating, how uninteresting it all was. I'm really afraid of it having more seasons because there's a high risk I'll waste my time on them just because 'I've already started watching it'.
Seven Seconds
There is justice in the world, it seems, because after suffering Ozark I accidentally stumbled upon this little masterpiece. It's one of those rather slow shows that quickly grow on you. It doesn't rush anything, it takes its time to explore thoroughly all the themes it touches and leaves you satisfied in the end. In some ways, it's similar to The Wire, mainly because of how it carefully pictures the system rotten from inside while focusing on solid human drama. Also, Seven Seconds possibly has one of the best duos working the case I've ever seen. Each of them is a greatly written character on its own and they're even better together. What else can I say? It's a really great show. I'm not sure if I want another season though.
Hemlock Grove
This is going to be one of the shortest reviews ever: this is one of the worst shows I've ever seen. Ok, I don't usually watch really bad shows so maybe it's not exceptionally bad but it certainly isn't good and has practically no redeeming points. I watched a whole thing because I'm weird.
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