TV & Film The TV Room

[Raven]

We started watching Seal Team. There are lots of episodes if we stick with it. It is good, but a bit bland. I'm hoping it gets better.

 

[Chryssie]

Since you guys were talking about "Reacher", I watched the first episode last night. Pretty good! I have never seen any of the movies but I think I may have read one of the books.

 

[Lou]

Since you guys were talking about "Reacher", I watched the first episode last night. Pretty good! I have never seen any of the movies but I think I may have read one of the books.

I read something like the first 20 of them. I had a friend who mostly bought books. He would lend me a new reacher whenever he finished one. I ended up reading them partly not to hurt his feelings and just to be able to return them to him. I didn't really like them that much although I will admit that they got better as you went on. They are what I call Mind Candy. Tasty but of little literary value. The first books of the series are ridiculously dependent on coincidence. And I saw the two Tom Cruise movies. This New TV show is pretty good. And true to the source material.

Although I often think of coincidence being a tool or crutch in mysteries. A lot of novels that have amateur detectives in them use coincidence. it's sort of Ok for a while but after a bunch of novels that rug gets pretty worn.

 

[silva]

I used to think I didn't like High School Centric tv shows and movies but I am not so sure anymore. I am also skeptical of mysteries combined with Speculative Fiction. It's just too easy for the author/writer to change the rules of that world. These guys explained the rules and kept to them. Even though a lot of them don't make much sense.

The Dresden Files are a great blueprint on how do to SF mysteries. All the rules and the special powers are laid out early and adhered too. (if you haven't read a Dresden File - you might pick one up. Harry Dresden is a wizard/detective. Maybe Rockford Files meets Sirius Black. )

Anyway I just finished it. I paced myself and only watched one episode a day. I really liked it.
One thing I liked about it was that is was a Ghost solving her own murder. Not a unique plot (see Ghost) but I think it's an unusual one. there was even one short scene where all the HS ghosts had a movie night and were watching Ghost.

The other thing was I really liked all the twists and turns. Not all the clues were red herrings but it seemed like there was a different lead suspect for each episode. the protagonists would suspect someone, then investigate and the clear them. Usually over a period of one or two episodes. There were also a few mini mysteries that needed to be solved on the way. Plus some drama, character development, etc.

My favorite HS detective is Veronica Mars. And I saw a lot of paralels with this show and that one, too.

The ending completely caught me by surprise. It was a cliff hanger and now I have to wait for the second season. They are supposed to start filming next year.

How'd you do the spoiler 'blur'?

 

[Lou]

above the text box is a bunch of options. If you click on the fourth one from the left you will see a thingie called "inline spoiler". click on that and text will appear. it will be a brackets with the word spoiler inside and another with slash spoiler. put the text you want to be blurred between the first closed bracket and the second open bracket. the text inside will be blurred.

 

[silva]

above the text box is a bunch of options. If you click on the fourth one from the left you will see a thingie called "inline spoiler". click on that and text will appear. it will be a brackets with the word spoiler inside and another with slash spoiler. put the text you want to be blurred between the first closed bracket and the second open bracket. the text inside will be blurred.

Now I know also know strike through!

 

[Raven]

I don't think I have read any Reacher books at all. I had heard of them. I haven't seen any of the Tom Cruise films.

I'm going to watch more Seal Team today. It is actually quite good.

 

[Emma JC]

I read something like the first 20 of them. I had a friend who mostly bought books. He would lend me a new reacher whenever he finished one. I ended up reading them partly not to hurt his feelings and just to be able to return them to him. I didn't really like them that much although I will admit that they got better as you went on. They are what I call Mind Candy. Tasty but of little literary value. The first books of the series are ridiculously dependent on coincidence. And I saw the two Tom Cruise movies. This New TV show is pretty good. And true to the source material.

Although I often think of coincidence being a tool or crutch in mysteries. A lot of novels that have amateur detectives in them use coincidence. it's sort of Ok for a while but after a bunch of novels that rug gets pretty worn.

heresey, I say heresy... what good fiction would ever happen without coincidence? actually life... what would life be like with it? pretty boring I think... I do understand what you are saying and agree if they take it to the extreme

we have 3 episodes of Saving Hope left and then on to Reacher....

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Lou]

heresey, I say heresy... what good fiction would ever happen without coincidence? actually life... what would life be like with it? pretty boring I think... I do understand what you are saying and agree if they take it to the extreme

we have 3 episodes of Saving Hope left and then on to Reacher....

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

Ha!

IMHO, in fiction, and especially mysteries, coincidences are an indication of lazy or maybe unimaginative writing. In my own experience coincidences are pretty rare IRL. They should be just as rare in fiction.

There is one sub-genre of mysteries that is called the amateur detective is prone to coincidences. when a suspicious event or murder occurs in the vicinity of a person - that is not really a cooincidence. but if they take that character and make it into a series and murders or whatever keep happening around that same person- that is unrealistic and something that needs to be avoided.

in regular detective stories that's not an issue. Because clients will knock on their door. although regular detectives are not immune to that as well. Agatha Christie even falls into this trap. For instance in many of the Poirot novels, Hercule is invited to a dinner party or gets on a train and then a murder victim is discovered.

But amateur detectives, after the first mystery, need to have a way to get new cases. And for the authors that sometimes requires extra effort.

Reacher novels' plots are mostly dependent on cooincidence. Take the first one. he randomly gets off a bus and happens to walk by the scene where his brother is murdered. . or later on in the series he is walking thru NYC and a robbery occurs right in front of him. and not just a random robbery but one that evolves into the main thread in the novel. Anyway something like half of the Reacher novels are dependent on some kind of coincidence.

 

[Emma JC]

quit ruining all the books!! LOL just kidding - you're entirely right and that's what is so fun about fiction, it is fiction

if IRL the things that happened to Nancy Drew happened to me I would have been a Nancy Drew as I loved all those books - Hardy Boys, Enid Blyton books etc - so many things happened to the same people over and over and not one of them ever happened to me.... Bobbsie Twins, I could go on

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Lou]

quit ruining all the books!! LOL just kidding - you're entirely right and that's what is so fun about fiction, it is fiction

if IRL the things that happened to Nancy Drew happened to me I would have been a Nancy Drew as I loved all those books - Hardy Boys, Enid Blyton books etc - so many things happened to the same people over and over and not one of them ever happened to me.... Bobbsie Twins, I could go on

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

yes. I would have used Nancy or the Hardy Boys as examples but it's been so long since I read one of those - I couldn't remember how reliant on cooincidence they were. They are really good examples of amateur detectives. Also I'm pretty sure the Nancy and the Boys rarely investigated murders. More like mysterious or suspicious events.

 

[Emma JC]

we watched the Reacher's last night that are available - I forgot that only a few episodes are available, we should have waited until they were all there - will likely watch some Christmas movies from now until Christmas, other than the Survivor finale which we'll likely watch on Saturday... so no spoilers please

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Raven]

I'm about to watch the new Reacher episode.

We started watching the last series of Law & Order. The last season before they brought it out again, season 20, I think, as my husband hasn't seen it so we will probably watch more of that after.

 

[SuicideBlonde]

Pushing Daisies (TV Series 2007–2009) ⭐ 8.4 | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

44m | 12

www.imdb.com

I swear it's the best for depression. I have seen it I don't know how many times. I am just mad it only got 2 seasons.

 

[Raven]

We started to watch a terrible xmas horror film, but it was so bad that we stopped and watched the second season of Seal Team instead.

 

[Brian W]

We have just finished watching Bad Sisters It was a really good black comedy/drama with an unexpected ending.

 

[Emma JC]

we started watching Lawman: Bass Reeves - I think we have a couple of episodes left - it is good

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Chryssie]

I am all caught up with Reacher and have enjoyed it. Over the top but fun! And he is nice to look at! LOL

 

[Emma JC]

finished Bass Reeves and have been also watching Transplant which is a medical show based in Toronto about a Syrian doctor getting work in Canada - it is good and my honey loves medical dramas so I am sure we will be watching all three seasons

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Chryssie]

finished Bass Reeves and have been also watching Transplant which is a medical show based in Toronto about a Syrian doctor getting work in Canada - it is good and my honey loves medical dramas so I am sure we will be watching all three seasons

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

I watch Transplant and I like it. There will be only one more season and it will wrap up.