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Judging only the show since I know nothing about the books (except what the show thread has said) they really seem to be actively avoiding the "Harry Potter for 20 somethings" thing because the school stuff is really background setting. We don't spend time in classes, with teachers, or anything like with Potter. No Orientation or any of that. All which I appreciate because I think I would have gotten sick of that quick. The school seems like just one part of this world, not the world itself. And most of what's happened so far has seemed to happen well outside the school's curriculum. Its also not all that "sex" beyond a scene or two and the general extreme hotness of everyone.
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Feb 5, 2016 02:39
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 08:58 |
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So I've just caught up on these new SyFy shows so my unsolicited opinion on them. Van Helsing: Not a very good show but there's enough genuine mysteries and unanswered questions (why does Susan know about the ex-vamp that makes her hate him so much?, who is the murderer?, did the Doc just really enjoy drinking blood?) that I'm interested in sticking around to see if the answers make things more interesting. Aftermath: Also not a very good show but unique enough in its "yeah, the world is over, we're just all in" approach that I'm a little curious. Its probably going to have to get a lot more interesting if it wants me to come back for a S2. Channel Zero: I have no idea what I think of this. The good is that they're not exactly holding back revelations or craziness so its moving weird at a fast enough pace. I'm guessing the Candle Cove subtitle means if they have a second season they plan it to be an anthology so they won't be dragging anything out in this season. I gave American Horror Story like 3 seasons, I can give these guys 1. And those puppet monsters are the things of nightmares, in that I had to assure myself that mustached penis thing wasn't sitting in my room last night when I woke up suddenly. Norwegian Rudo posted:Hell yeah. Would have had no problem with him slaughtering every one of them, besides the kid of course. I thought the group discussion of it afterwards was pretty good where they were KIND of fighting with Axel but none of them actually had an argument. No one was really disagreeing with Axel that he had to do it, they just didn't very much like it. I think that's probably the appropriate response to being forced to do something horrific. You shouldn't ignore that it was horrific just because it was necessary. Axel skeeves them out because as a soldiers he's willing to do it and them compartmentalize it. Even the exile thing went that way. None of them wanted to do it but none of them had a better plan either. Vanessa seemed horrified by it all but also clearly had no idea what to do about it. STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 22:08 on Oct 23, 2016 |
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Oct 23, 2016 22:05
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Vanessa already expelled Doc from the group for letting Axel die. I doubt "I murdered and mutilated bunch of people and let Muhammed get exiled, people kill each other, and John get executed for it" is going to fly with her as "growing pains". I have no idea who the killer is. Episode description said it would be revealed but instead it seemed like the episode just gave reason to suspect all three living suspects. No ones even mentioned the revelation that Ted was fantasizing about murdering his family pre vamp, which seemed like as much of a point in his guilty ledger as Sam's thing. Like, yeah, Sam's reaction after killing the guy was creepy as poo poo but they guy had kidnapped and imprisoned him for no apparent reason and Sam had figured out the marriage thing already and was assuming the worst about Mohammed being a prisoner. So it seems as ambiguous as the Doc and Ted things. And I'm pretty sure those are the only three living suspects so it seems like the episode deliberately got us nowhere on that.
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Nov 19, 2016 16:40
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Sam's definitely a suspect. There's just nothing substantial to implicate anyone unless I missed something. On paper John would still be the most likely suspect if it weren't for the fact that the narrative clearly hints he was set up. Which is also why Sam seems most likely since he's the most "shocking" option.
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Nov 19, 2016 17:41
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I mean, I obviously assume since we didn't see him die or get bit he'll pop up eventually. But that will be a hell of a flashback episode to explain how he escaped the vampire on top of him in the radiated underground lab with supposedly only one way out. I'm looking forward to it.
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Nov 20, 2016 15:01
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Van Helsing may be the most nihilistic show on television. There's some Game of Thrones writer sitting there thinking "drat... leave something for S2." Like, at this stage I'm fully expecting Mohammed to be luring Vanessa to Dmitri because that just seems right now. The other SyFy shows I watch are a zombie apocalypse and a "everything" apocalypse and even they seem hopeful compared to the vampire apocalypse. I am once again reminded that SyFy basically satirizes itself by flooding the market with apocalypse shows and remain confused that Aftermath isn't a meta joke about that. STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 08:25 on Nov 26, 2016 |
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Nov 26, 2016 08:05
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Yeah, I'm assuming it but also working on the knowledge of what show I'm watching so it could be a red herring. Because this show loves them.
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Nov 27, 2016 06:48
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I mean, its still pretty hosed up if you assume her daughter has killed and eaten a bunch of people so will live with either the trauma and guilt that Flesh does or the desire to be vampire again that Doc did, since the season pretty well showed us that while Vanessa can physically heal you you're still stuck with the psychological and emotional trauma. Still, I agree. The finale left me cold. I don't care about any of the vampire politics and shockingly spending the entire season taking every character and having them die and/or be revealed as a bad guy kind of slowly killed my interest in the show. I might not be back for S2. And if the big tease for S2 is see how the vampire apocalypse traumatized a six-year-old I think I've had my fill of nihilism from one season. STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 23:40 on Dec 12, 2016 |
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Dec 12, 2016 23:38
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Yeah, I just binged Incorporated and it seems like the perfect, timely, binge TV that will get a boost from Netflix.
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Feb 10, 2017 22:33
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Throw me in the camp that doesn't have any real problem with her performance. But I think I have a generally low bar for Killjoys as its just a fun little show I enjoy. The non-Ashmore brother is actually the one I have the biggest problem with, and even that I can mostly just shrug off.
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Jun 13, 2017 22:08
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Slink's weird meta/fourth wall breaking side stuff sort of does a good job keeping the whole show tongue in cheek so you never take it seriously enough to find flaws in it or anything. And he's just simply amusing.
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Jul 13, 2017 00:39
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The phone call with the network where they break the fourth wall to talk about the show but they're not really because they're talking about the show within the show is my favorite.
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Jul 13, 2017 03:20
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Van Helsing S1 kind of pissed me off with its whole kill off any and every character you even start to get remotely invested in thing.
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Jul 25, 2017 17:36
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Yeah I was going to make the Game of Thrones comparison but it felt too clunky. I'll probably still watch S2 at least a little since the effects and monster stuff seems interesting. But I'm totally uninvested in any of it with all the decisions made in S1. There's nothing actually drawing me back to the show except the trailer and I'm resigned to not letting myself care about anything after S1.
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Jul 26, 2017 14:03
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The whole blood vagina portals thing is still the big "WTF?!" aspect of this show I'm not exactly getting, but I assume that will all be addressed when we finally start finding out stuff about "the scar."
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Jul 30, 2017 16:37
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I gotta catch up on Killjoys so I can read this thread without fear. I've really enjoyed Blood Drive but I kind of wish that was the finale. Arthur giving in to bloodlust when he thinks Karma killed Grace, Grace feeling forced to kill Karma to save Arthur, and Arthur choosing the Primo over Grace as she just walks away from it all would have been a really perfect Tales From the Crypt ending. And that's my big hope for this. I want Blood Drive to end and Julian Slick to live on as the new Crypt Keeper. The Blood Drive story and world is fun but all very sketchy and sloppy and the longer it goes on the less it will make any kind of sense. But Julian Slick is amazing and its the real gold that's come out of this show. They could have a franchise with him breaking the fourth wall into schlocky horror stuff.
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Aug 27, 2017 08:26
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I think that's what I meant. This sort of thing works best in bursts and short stories. I don't want five seasons of Arthur and Grace. Or five seasons of the actual Blood Race. But I want many more seasons of Julian Slink's wall breaking productions. And hell with the way they've played Heart and the Scar they could just have that stuff carry over into whole other worlds and realities for whatever story they want to do. But truthfully I want more than that When I watch Channel Zero: No End House I want Julian Slink at the door of the house or picking the "channel". I want Julian doing weather reports about Shakrnados. I want SyFy to offer Colin Cunningham the deal of a lifetime to be the new face of SyFy's horror division.
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Aug 27, 2017 08:41
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Yeah, I'm not saying the show should go away. Just that I think it's better served as a tonal anthology around Slink than any kind of actual long term focus on plot or characters. Like I said, I actually think that would have been a perfect Tales From the Crypt-esque ending for Grace, Arthur, and the Blood Drive. I'm hoping they don't drag it out too much with these last couple of episodes.
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Aug 27, 2017 08:52
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I stand by the opinion that it should have ended with Rise of the Primo and the ending where Slink wins and twists Arthur all for his own amusement since there isn't even really a crowd. Everything that followed that felt rushed and almost random. I said early on that explaining stuff would probably just ruin it and finding out that Slink is a robot and the building is some kind of demonic living thing falls into that category for me. If they hadn't made the terrible decision to kill off Slink and go out of their way to say he has no copies way out I'd be sad the show got cancelled. But they did so I'm at peace with one fun season that ended with a whimper. Hopefully SyFy does the right thing and signs Colin Cunningham to a holding contract to play Slink forever. No other horror icon ever cared about continuity. You've got a potential legend on your hands, SyFy.
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Sep 10, 2017 05:59
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Its trash but it can be entertaining trash. It can also be really grating trash as all the characters are utterly contemptible and wallow in it quite a bit. Its a toss up.
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Oct 2, 2017 21:30
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It would have been perfect if they had just ended two episodes earlier.
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Oct 4, 2017 04:38
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Wait... Van Helsing got MORE violent and gory?
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Oct 6, 2017 17:13
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Neddy Seagoon posted:Game of Thrones set that standard years ago. That's HBO/premium cable. These other shows are TNT/FX/SyFy are all basic cable.
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Oct 7, 2017 02:18
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Yeah. HBO, Showtime, Cinemax have been doing nudity, sex, and language forever. In a lot of ways it made them distinct when they got into the original TV game since they were able to have broader limits. Sopranos definitely owes some of its success to being on HBO where it could hold nothing back vs if it had been on a network or basic cable. If the basic cable channels are starting to loosen the strings that's genuinely a change. To some extent its probably inevitable now that its not even "Premium Cable vs Networks vs Basic Cable" anymore but this huge pool of streaming service originals and traditional cable dying and making those lines that existed for so long. I doubt it gets too far soon but it makes sense if cable networks are seeing their competition as not just HBO and Showtime but also Netflix and Amazon that they figure they should loosen the handcuffs. Of course its happening in a political climate where conservatism is really pushing back and ostensibly in control of government so who knows how it plays out? But I doubt middle america grandmas are watching Blood Drive to get offended and call the FCC.
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Oct 7, 2017 18:01
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True, at least in terms of the government stuff. I guess my thought process was just something like Animal Kingdom seems like it appeals to the sort of CBS cop show crowd that might overlap with the FCC calling grandmas. But odds are if you're still freaking out about nudity or cursing in a TV show in 2017 you're already pretty deep into your cultural/religious bunker.
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Oct 7, 2017 18:11
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GreenNight posted:The problem with Ghost Wars is the name. I thought it was another stupid faux reality show like Ghost Hunters. Yeah, totally. That's just a really bad marketing idea from a network that has a bunch of those shows in those time slots and should have expected people used to ignoring them would ignore this. Then again maybe they're hoping the Ghost Hunter fans stumble on the show and there's a reverse effect?
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Oct 8, 2017 00:41
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I keep meaning to catch up with Van Helsing but then I read posts like that. Is it just me or are SyFy shows in general just really, really mean? I feel like I'm constantly interested in SyFy shows but then I always get worn down and just don't want to endure it any more.
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Nov 18, 2017 02:17
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Is that a Season 2 change because in Season 1 of Van Helsing it seems like just about everyone was evil at some stage or another and I remember just about hating everyone left alive when the season was done. I wasn't meaning to single out Van Helsing. I watched Season 1 so I'm most familiar but Magicians is deeply cynical, Z-Nation and Blood Drive only fight off the cruelty with camp, and 12 Monkeys is built on crushing end worlding stuff. The impression I've gotten is that Ghost Wars and Superstition are both pretty dark. Happy seems pretty dark. Channel Zero is really dark. Recent stuff I watched like Expanse, Corporation, and Childhood's End were real dark. There's darker stuff out there like Game of Thrones and Walking Dead, for sure, and there's glimmers and themes of hope in stuff like 12 Monkeys. But it feels like SyFy is depressed. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind dark and cynical. I like it sometimes and I think the only reason I'm probably shy about these shows right now is I'm a little burned out from a horror marathon in October. I guess I'm just wondering what happened at SyFy to shows like Eureka and Warehouse 13. I get they weren't for everyone but the network seemed to take a really pronounced turn towards cynicism and depression the last few years. I guess Wynonna Earp is probably the main exception I can think of. It balances the serious and dark themes with some fun and slapstick. And I guess if I'm fair Z-Nation and Blood Drive should probably go in there too. I guess i kind of just want to rewatch Eureka and I'm sad I can't find it anywhere. STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 04:20 on Nov 18, 2017 |
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Nov 18, 2017 04:18
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Yeah, I guess Killjoys at least belongs with Wynonna Earp as the middle ground. It can be a fun adventure show. Its also really dark and apocalyptic like everything else on SyFy but it seems aware of a need to balance that with some fun.
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Nov 18, 2017 05:34
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I loved Sheriff Carter so much that I'm actually a little upset that his name is kind of being insulted. My thing is "balance." I get why there were SyFy fans who wished there was more dark stuff or cynical stuff or thoughtful stuff or space operas or whatever when Eureka and Warehouse 13 were the flag bearers. But the network just seemed to shift all the way the other direction. I wonder why they don't just have some light stuff (and yeah, Killjoys is fun but a dystopian war where people are basically enslaved by corporations and experimented on isn't exactly "light") away from the dark stuff. But I also do imagine that if Eureka and Warehouse 14 were airing one night a week on SyFy right now there'd be some fans real annoyed despite everything else.
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Nov 22, 2017 04:39
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I didn't LOVE Happy! but there was more than enough entertaining wacky messed up stuff to keep me around. And it made a lot more sense than I was expecting just from the premise and hype.
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Dec 7, 2017 23:16
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I'm enjoying Happy! but I feel like its being hurt by me not binging. I'm not sure there's enough there to keep my engaged for 7 days at a time. Ghost Wars and Superstition I might binge when they pop up on Netflix or something. But I have a bunch of other shows on my short list right now. I might give Van Helsing a rewatch and S2 a go if I decide not to depress myself with Shameless.
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Dec 26, 2017 18:31
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It wasn't even a bug man. It was a bug man in a bug people sex club. There's apparently an entire society of man sized cockaroaches who run organized crime in New York City. I was a little on the fence about Happy! as it wasn't keeping me engaged week to week but then I finally got around to watching this last episode last night and... what the gently caress? I guess I'm in now just for the sakes of seeing what the gently caress.
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Jan 6, 2018 20:57
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I still contend Blood Drive hosed up not ending with Rise of the Primo. After that it just got weird, confusing, and unsatisfying.
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Jan 31, 2018 04:28
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bring back old gbs posted:the concepts for every season of Channel Zero so far have been pretty far fetched, but this is the most "just go with it" one so far. Weird fuckin premise. "More just go with it than No End House" is a hell of a statement. I haven't seen it yet but its recorded and I'll binge it soon enough. All the Channel Zero have delivered enough that they're worth a quick watch.
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Mar 21, 2018 22:54
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My instinct is to want to watch Nightflyers because Event Horizon was just a shade from perfect, Alien is great, and horror in space is a good and true formula to the point that I enjoyed Cloverfield Paradox. But George RR Martin actively turns me away for some reason. wormil posted:Well gently caress, my DVR went tits up and Butchers Block with it. It should be available to stream online, and SyFy is pretty limited on commercials. STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 17:39 on Mar 22, 2018 |
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Mar 22, 2018 17:37
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That was kind of the only reason I was thinking of tuning in, just the idea that they might dig around with other DC characters, alien species, and stuff. Krypton and Kryptonians have never actually interested me. They're almost always douchebags.
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Mar 22, 2018 21:07
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Its also burned through like 20 plotlines in its first 2 seasons. Although in fairness that forward momentum is the only thing that kept me watching it that long.
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Apr 22, 2018 22:19
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Yeah, I'm rewatching Eureka right now since it popped up on Amazon a month or so ago. It definitely starts to fizzle out after S3 with a lot of the original characters gone and other settled in and them just kind of clearly throwing in big stuff to keep things interesting. Its still fun but it peaked. Now I'm hoping Warehouse 13 pops up somewhere streaming so I give that a rewatch when I'm done.
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May 5, 2018 00:10
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 08:58 |
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Yeah, in general Eureka was the short of show that was actually at its worst when it was focused on a meta plot and at its best when it was just the characters bouncing off each other during the crisis of the week. Less Stark's weird obsession, more Stark mocking Jack until Jack stumbles into a brilliant "common man logic" plan and Stark has to sheepishly admit it might work. Eureka could have been ruined if Greg Germann had hung around.
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May 7, 2018 20:17
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