The TV thread

I’m going to be in London Sunday night for TLOU season finale. Thankfully the work VPN should allow me to connect and watch on HBO Max, though I’ll probably be pretty toasted after that third Hold Steady show. Aye. Won’t come on until 1 or 2 am local time.

 

TLOU, wow fascinating how the showrunners gave us different views of what true evil looks like and operates.

 

They actually made him worse than he was in the game, which is really something. I like how they are giving us better looks at some of the characters in the show. Also, it is interesting to see them weave voice actors from the game into the show. Troy Baker, the voice of Joel in the game, plays James in this episode.

 

Holy God, what an episode. Finally caught up on it and damn. This show just continues to hit balls out of the park. Never thought that was where they were going but what an end.

I was struck how—much like a video game—we were in and out with this villain. I was thinking this would have been a whole season on TWD. Probably a good season but it being contained was masterful.

 

I’m on the second season and I really enjoy it. The best part is how the Bad Batch clones interact with Omega. It isn’t Mandalorian gritty but it’s fun.

 

It is a nice contrast to Andor. Both series explore the time between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, showing how the Empire asserted its control and the Rebellion began.

 

Interesting thought exercise here:

Why Succession—and all prestige TV—should end after four seasons

I tend to agree with a lot of this. Even with as great as The Wire was, the fifth season was clearly its weakest.

I've always argued that The Office would have ended best if the final shot was Pam and Jim on the boat after the wedding.

As has been discussed, Showtime is notorious for driving shows into the ground with too many seasons.

 

I had the same thought after watching it, that The Walking Dead would have moved much more slowly through a story like that. In fact, they did encounter a community with that same appetite. At times that was a strength, but usually, they dragged things out way too long. Last of Us certainly doesn't have that problem. The story moves fast, but it doesn't feel rushed. Rather than sacrifice quality to milk every bit of ratings they can get out of a good show, they are sticking to tight storytelling.

 

I don't think one set number works for every show, but I do think most could be done in four or less.

I can make the argument either way for The West Wing, but the first four seasons were by far the best. Though there were still some great moments, much of the final three seasons was a slog.

NYPD Blue went a lot longer with some serious peaks and valleys. The final season was actually pretty good and I'm not sure they could have done Sipowicz's full arc in four seasons, but they also would have cut through some serious crap.

 

Barry announced that season 4 will be the end of the show.

 

I agree that there is no "set" number of seasons or episodes that makes a show great - but always good when the producers know what the story is - and how it will end. And especially good when the creators stay with the show all the way through, to complete their "vision." The Good Place was just about perfect like that. Major characters were with the show all the way through - and it didn't go off in weird directions.