The Magicians
I don’t know why I watch this show. I sort of enjoyed the first season, but not as much as I’d hoped. I find the characters veer between annoying to enjoyable far too often. And some never veer from annoying at all. The second season I spent a lot of time with my finger on the fast forward button. Especially when the story moved to Fillory, which always looks like they are shooting on a donated set from a local theater production. Another thing that annoys me is the constant shift between snarky humor and trying to be sincerely dramatic. Pick one. They don’t work that well together. At least not for me. Not sure I’ll watch another season.
The Expanse
I will be watching the next season of The Expanse. I really enjoy this show. I liked the first season so much I read the first novel in the series. I decided I like the TV show so much more than the novel, I’m not bothering to read more of them. They both tell the same story and I think the TV show does a better job of it, expanding the canvas to incorporate far more storylines. It gives the plot a greater scope and that helps make the story feel more challenging. And it’s a great space tale. It feels like adult sci-fi rather than something aimed at teenage viewers like so much of sci-fi always it. Not that I don’t enjoy some of those stories, but I like to be challenged as a viewer.
Westworld
Talk about challenging and fun. Smart, complex drama aimed at adults. Although the downside of that is that there is a lot of nudity. I’m not against nudity in general, I just find that there more nakedness there is the harder I need to pay attention to the dialogue. But what a great cast. And great writing. Fun explorations of what it means to be conscious and therefore alive even if you possess no living tissue. I hope the second season is half as good.
Man in the High Castle
I thought the second season of Man in the High Castle was just as good if not better than season one. I really love the world building here. The art department is amazing. They create a perfect alternate 1960s episode after episode down to extremely small details. And the story is filled with characters that both attract and repel me. Except for Juliana. She’s a great hero. Always getting on the wrong side of every situation and always working out a way to stay alive. I liked the first season so much that I read the book (which I should have doe years ago) only to find myself saddened by it. I didn’t like it nearly as much as the series. In fact, I didn’t like it at all. It seemed more like a sketch for a novel than a novel itself. And the series take on idea, using films that show different worlds, rather than books, is much more interesting. And the series has Rufuss Sewell, who is an incredible actor. Can’t wait for the next season to get here.
