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Professor Shark
May 22, 2012



Room 104 is HBO's latest anthology series. It was created by Mark and Jay Duplass and is composed of short episodes with different stories and casts, all set in the titular Room 104 (a motel off the Parkway).

I'm only one episode in but so far have found that the limited cast and setting really help to create an intense atmosphere. I'll watch the rest today, but so far I really like it. It has a real The Shining meets some of the more grounded Twilight Zone/ Outer Limits episodes.

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General Dog
Apr 26, 2008

Everybody's working for the weekend
I've seen all of them so far and found them to be slightly above replacement-level entertainment. The second episode is the only one with a really good twist, though the episodes largely aren't built around big twists anyway.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

I just finished the third episode, so far I've enjoyed the first the most.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

I enjoyed 4 more than I thought I would, since I couldn't stand Jay Duplass in Parenthood, and 5 is wayyy more entertaining than you would think it would be

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

What happened in Ep 3? Did she realize that she was getting taken advantage of again and fight back?

Escobarbarian
Jun 18, 2004


Grimey Drawer
I like this show a bunch! But I've kind of forgotten ep 3 tbh.

5 is probably my favourite so far, and 6 is great too. I hope the stories continue moving away from the sorta generically unsettling thing of the first 4 eps.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

I read a review that labeled Ep 5 (The Internet) as a realistic, modern horror story and I felt that was perfect for it.

I liked 6 a lot more before I realized that they were literally supposed to be the same woman.

Edit: Reading an interview with the director for that episode seems to suggest that they're supposed to be strangers and the maid is just reading into and interpreting the stuff left behind, which is what I thought was going on. IMDB and another review suggest they're the same woman.

Professor Shark fucked around with this message at 12:40 on Sep 3, 2017

precision
May 7, 2006

by VideoGames
I really didn't like episode 1 much, nothing actually interesting about it and the ending made it vague for no reason?

Episode 2 was goddamn hilarious and good though. Will keep watching.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

precision posted:

I really didn't like episode 1 much, nothing actually interesting about it and the ending made it vague for no reason?

Episode 2 was goddamn hilarious and good though. Will keep watching.

My take is that they sold the series as a Twilight Zone/Outer Limits/Shining thing and very quickly moved into the human interest part that they wanted to do

Milo and POTUS
Sep 3, 2017

I will not shut up about the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I talk about them all the time and work them into every conversation I have. I built a shrine in my room for the yellow one who died because sadly no one noticed because she died around 9/11. Wanna see it?

precision posted:

I really didn't like episode 1 much, nothing actually interesting about it and the ending made it vague for no reason?

Episode 2 was goddamn hilarious and good though. Will keep watching.

Yeah, people saying they liked 1 the most are baffling. In fact, anyone saying anything other than 2 is baffling. It was perfect mix of creepy and hilarious. Plus, banging titties.

precision
May 7, 2006

by VideoGames
Plus, you know, James Van Der Beek being amazing as usual. Good to see his role on Don't Trust the B wasn't a fluke.

Escobarbarian
Jun 18, 2004


Grimey Drawer
Great article on the latest episode: https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/9/3/16236794/room-104-episode-6-recap-voyeurs-hbo

precision
May 7, 2006

by VideoGames
Episode 3 was pretty dumb.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

I took it as a woman realizing that she was being taken advantage of again, only this time she fought back instead of being a victim/ sucker.

banned from Starbucks
Jul 18, 2004




Pizza Boy and Knockandoo were both great in wtf kinda ways. The rest were pretty poo poo with Ep 6 being loving awful.

precision
May 7, 2006

by VideoGames

Professor Shark posted:

I took it as a woman realizing that she was being taken advantage of again, only this time she fought back instead of being a victim/ sucker.

I got that, it just wasn't very entertaining at all. The corny DVDs were great.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

banned from Starbucks posted:

Pizza Boy and Knockandoo were both great in wtf kinda ways. The rest were pretty poo poo with Ep 6 being loving awful.

Weird, I felt that those two were only okay and the rest were great. I really didn't expect to enjoy the interpretive dance episode, once I realized what the gimmick of the episode was going to be.

The director talked about possibly having a musical episode next season.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

I think Missionaries was the weakest so far.

precision
May 7, 2006

by VideoGames
Knockandoo was fine up til the end.

If the guy was just a con artist, why hang out so long after getting the cash?

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

I dunno :shrug:

Phoenix stars the sister from Transparent, a show that I did not like, as well as Anne from Arrested Development, a show I did like.

I wasn't a huge fan of this episode.

Escobarbarian
Jun 18, 2004


Grimey Drawer
This was the first episode I actively felt like I didn't "get". Who was Mae Whitman supposed to represent? Was the whole thing in Amy Landecker's head? Performances were great though.

WhiteHowler
Apr 3, 2001

I'M HUGE!

Escobarbarian posted:

This was the first episode I actively felt like I didn't "get". Who was Mae Whitman supposed to represent? Was the whole thing in Amy Landecker's head? Performances were great though.
The nearest I can figure out is that this woman survived the plane crash, and she made selfish decisions so in a Twilight Zone-esque twist, she's forced to re-live this day over forever? I have no idea who the younger woman actually was (an angel of justice or something?).

When the episode was over, I looked at my wife and said, "I don't get it".

She replied, "Neither did I".

Either we're dumb, or the episode was. Considering nothing else in the episode really stood out to me -- the characters, the acting, the story, or the visuals -- I'll just assume the latter.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

That was my take on it, the entire thing felt like a cliche episode of The Twilight Zone that I've watched a half dozen times before. Easily the weakest so far.

banned from Starbucks
Jul 18, 2004




This show desperately needs some sort of direction besides "something happens in a hotel room. go nuts"

OmegaBR
Feb 14, 2012

Come to me .... and live forever.
Just watched "The Fight" and, well, it was a fight and not much else. If you like watching a fight, albeit a choreographed one, then it was an ok episode. Otherwise, pretty meh. Think there's one episode left in the season (series?)

The biggest problem with this show is that the stories are just way too simple. It's not that everything needs a subtle conspiracy spread across 22 minutes, climaxing with a mind-blowing twist. This show clearly is not The Twilight Zone. But the satisfaction level between episodes ranges from decent to low to confusingly frustrating. Half the episodes have a twist that was wholly predictable, and the other half just .... end. Some of them are enjoyable to watch, more than not even, and some end on a sweet note, but a lot of the time you feel like you're building to some conclusion that just doesn't come.

Maybe that's just how it is in the current year, post-Shyamalan and LOST and all that other stuff. We try to predict the ending before it happens, so it's harder to appreciate a nice, simple, sweet story as it's being told. Still though, I can't help but think, given any one of these scripts, I could retool it and make it ten times more satisfying in the end. They're just so safe and self-contained that they end up being almost no more interesting than watching any random person in a motel room for the length of time. You feel like you wasted your time watching it when you could have read a summary in a fraction of the time, and that's never good for any kind of media.

Escobarbarian
Jun 18, 2004


Grimey Drawer
Boris was extremely meh, last week's (I think it was called Red Tent?) was quite good. Not had a chance to see this one yet.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

I fell behind on the show, not that it's too hard to get back up to date

Unlike other shows, I just don't seem to be eager to watch the newest episode. I was staying up late to watch The Leftovers and currently watch The Deuce the next night, but this show is not even in the same league :shrug:

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Escobarbarian
Jun 18, 2004


Grimey Drawer
Hey, it’s Philip Baker Hall!

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