What is the latest series you've been binging through?

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > What is the latest series you've been binging through?

Coaaab: Aug 6, 2006; Wish I was there...

MelvinTheJerk posted:

You're right, it's not what I was expecting at all. Here's what I was expecting:

Orel would basically grow up to accept that religion was all a big joke and if anything it made everyones life worse rather than better. Instead we got Orel becoming mature enough to somehow be an adult who could balance religion with a real life. Earlier in the show he couldn't be friends with someone because they had a different version of the Lord's Prayer. Now in adulthood he's married to that person with two loving kids, his family has seemingly none of the issues he had growing up, and if what the radio sermen implied was real than he had one of those rare families that was just perfect and ideal. He still had some religious symbols lying around, but I got the sense that he didn't grow up to be the kind of Christian he was surrounded with. There were even little things in the background like Shapey and Blocky grow up to be firemen and police officers. He has a picture of parents on the wall as well, meaning he somehow found a way to honor his mother and father and if you're sappy enough you can even believe that they somehow worked things out and fell in love again, which I could see happening if you combine Clay's bar speech with getting rejected by Coach Stopframe. Also, he has a dog again which is a much bigger step for him than you would expect.

It's outstanding how I could feel like a terrible person watching so much of that show only to have a minute of payoff at the end redeem everything. Outstanding stuff and really a hidden gem of sorts for TV. I'm trying to think of another show that could pack in that emotion 10 minutes at a time and I don't see it. I feel like a real rear end in a top hat now for writing it off when it first came out. I really should have stuck with it.

If you're curious (and if you didn't know this already), there were seven unproduced episodes for a 20-episode season before it got cut down to 13, as well as a script for one of them.

# ¿ Jul 13, 2011 23:11

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 08:28

Coaaab: Aug 6, 2006; Wish I was there...

I've only seen up to the end of The Wire's 4th season, but the moment I knew the show had finally wormed its way into my brain was during the Season 2 premiere, where I kept thinking, "Hey, it's [that guy]! How have you been?" I didn't realize how invested I was in the cast of the first season until I wondered how they had been doing since I last saw them. These weren't static characters, and I would see how they would grow, live, die, move from place to place, whatever. And then subsequent seasons would incorporate more and more characters into the swirl of Baltimore, and I'd be attached all over again. Suddenly, an episode would include 20 or 30 named characters and it's all seamless and not that hard to follow and just right.

Of course, if I ever did get confused by a plot point (it's a surprisingly elliptical show), I could just rewind it or go to the episode summaries on Wikipedia or consult Sepinwall's reviews or even the discussions on this forum. Not that any of those things were the end-all, be-all of what should be said about the show; they're more like a jumping-off point for my own thoughts.

# ¿ Aug 7, 2011 23:21

Coaaab: Aug 6, 2006; Wish I was there...

Superrodan posted:

My main complaint in season five is a lack of Prez. He's my favorite character and I was ecstatic when he showed up as a teacher last season. Unfortunately the actor playing him isn't in the opening credits anymore, so I figure if he does show up this season it will be for very short periods of time. Oh well.

He'll show up once in the final episode, and it will break your heart. Probably.

# ¿ Sep 16, 2011 19:54

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