Amph What was the last tv episode you watched?

I'm working through Evil (Return of the Condor Heroes), a 1998 Taiwanese mini series and despite not knowing the languages, I love some of the older wizards / martial arts masters.

 

the first two episodes of the unbreakable kimmy schmidt. didn't totally hook me but it's funny.

 

I think I fell asleep watching that first episode of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
I rarely watch the "Netflix Originals" but I also watched a couple of episodes of Grace and Frankie. It was surprisingly crude and crass but tries a little too hard to make comedy out of older people cussing, using modern slang and trends. With the Baby Boomers being senior citizens, "old people" aren't the old people of the past. Thanks to Facebook's homogenization, everyone is acting like a silly teenage girl and it's been common long enough to not think that sort of thing is special. Reading comments on Netflix's Facebook page (which is asking for a mind freeze because you'll lose brain cells), I didn't realize so many still held a grudge against "Hanoi Jane", or the internet has taught them to. I know dang well a lot of those peers of hers claiming to adamantly refuse to watch anything involving Fonda helped popularized Jane Fonda's Workout. My Vietnam veteran dad never said anything about it when we watched 9 to 5 or went to see On Golden Pond.

 

Scandal: Blown Away



What can I do but keep saying what I’ve been saying? The title here nicely represents my feelings about this episode. Things just keep going farther and farther out of control and the political games going on here are fascinating and intriguing. Guillermo Diaz is once again fantastic and special praise is also due Jeff Perry whose Cyrus makes a couple of shocking discoveries this episode. Darby Stanchfield has been getting better and better as the neurotic, brittle Abby and there’s a scene in this episode that is as dark as she’s ever gone and it’s really disturbing. And the climax of this episode? Ouch. Just ouch. I think some people are going to be feeling a major hurting in the next episode; and I. Can’t. Wait. This is such a great show. Highly recommended. 4 stars.

tl;dr – at the risk of being repetitive, this show remains phenomenal. The acting is even better than usual in this twisty, dark episode. 4 stars.

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Last three episodes of 'Thunderbirds Are Go', all quite disappointing. They even managed to ruin the Fireflash remake.

 

Game of Thrones

 

Arrow, excellent finale.

 

Final Letterman

 

Modern Family and TMZ

 

Blakes 7, Series 1: Duel

 

Frontline, "Secrets, Politics and Torture" An indictment of the CIA and Zero Dark Thirty. What more could I ask for?

 

Everybody Loves Raymond.

 

Wayward Pines

 

More Zero Dark Thirty bashing from people who haven't watched it?


Scandal: One for the Dog



We’ve been on a real run of great episodes here and this one is maybe the high point of them. It’s really close to being maybe best of the season. The ending to the last episode definitely pays off; one character in particular here just ****** goes through the wringer in a really, really brutal way and it’s very disturbing. The climax of the episode is incredibly satisfying and let me just say that when I suddenly understood what the title of this episode meant, I literally got chills. Just amazing. Highly recommended. 4 stars.

tl;dr – dark, brutal episode is one of the best of the season so far and the climax is a knock out. 4 stars.

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Half of Richard III via Hollow Crown. Had to halt because of the system. Mildly interesting.

 

I watched it. I hated it.

 

Because of the torture content? Or were there larger issues you had? Not that this is the thread, but I guess it kinda falls under discussing the television episode you mentioned. I'm just wondering if they're again flogging this idea that Zero Dark Thirty is somehow pro-torture or again making the demonstrably untrue assertion that the movie posits that the information about the courier was obtained during torture.

 

It is pro-torture, in the sense of "well, we had to do it whatcanyoudo?" I can't really offer a more detailed criticism because I watched it years ago and I rarely retain details from movies I hate. Here's what I said when I first saw it (hey, those vanity reviews come in handy for something).

 

OK, well, we won't derail the thread into a long argument. I haven't seen it since it came out either, so a lot of specifics have slipped my mind as well, but I just remember being incredibly disturbed by the torture scenes and I don't think at all that the film doesn't comment on the torture; If the film hadn't had an opinion on the matter, I don't think I'd have been as disturbed and shaken as I was. I just don't know that anyone walked out of the movie thinking that torture was a good thing. Or even, as you say, that we had to do it. I don't feel the film argued that at all.

But the one criticism that does really irk me is the one where people say that the film incorrectly portrays that the information about the courier was obtained during torture. In the film, they torture the guy and he won't talk; it's only later in the film, when one of the characters does the whole rapport building thing and starts actually treating the guy like a human being, that the character gives the information. As memory serves, far from the character giving the needed information under torture, he actually gives the information in a low-key chat over a delicious breakfast on a verandah. Seriously. I think that entire arc is meant to be an exploration of what is, in fact, true: torture doesn't work, but treating prisoners with respect and building a relationship with them does. Anyway, derail, sorry, I was just curious about your take on the film; you always have well-thought out ideas about the movies you dislike, so it's interesting to hear what you have to say even when I disagree.

 

Game of Thrones

 

Bob's Burgers

 

Madam Secretary

 

Scandal: A Criminal, a Whore, an Idiot & a Liar (2013) – Stephen Cragg




Lot to love about this episode. We once again get lengthy flashbacks to the campaign and we finally get the full story on Defiance and how it all came to be. Barry Bostwick is really wonderful in a guest role as Fitz’s father; that relationship is as complicated as you’d expect it to be and Goldwyn is really good in the way he makes you feel Fitz’s complex and troubled emotions about his father. Washington is really good in the flashbacks; she makes us really feel the emotional damage that led to Defiance. There’s a great moment toward the end with Kate Burton that was surprising and interesting. And the scene in which the title comes into play is a real stunner; I’ll tell you again that I can’t believe a network show had the nerve to have a main character this dark and morally compromised. The season premiere was called White Hat’s Off and that’s been the theme of this season. Olivia, it turns out, isn’t quite the morally upright hero we might have initially thought and the show is better for it. Highly recommended. 4 stars.

tl;dr – the season’s main conspiracy is finally revealed in full and the performances are even better than usual in this slower, but still emotionally grueling episode. 4 stars.

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