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ermkaybruv
Reviews
The Walking Dead (2010)
The show knows what you want, and how to torture you
This is a good show, probably one of the best zombie shows you can find--which isn't saying much given most zombie media is pretty same-same, but The Walking Dead is still impressive in its own right.
The thing is, this show is painfully formulaic, and deliberately so. When it picks up, it can REALLY deliver, but the overwhelming majority of the time it will slog along and torment you over what you want to see, yet it only delivers most of the time in mid-season and season finales.
So many episodes of the Walking Dead could totally not exist. Most of the seasons could literally be cut in half, the meaningless subplots trimmed away, and the experience made significantly better. During the long, dull, relentless, repetitive filler scenes, you hear the same phrases said again and again in speeches by main characters, and after a while you start to roll your eyes. Even in the exciting moments, you often scratch your head at the forced character arcs or "twists" that really don't make sense when thought about.
Simply put, the show knows what you want, and it also knows how to exploit that. The Walking Dead is very much driven by marketing, which is why the story is so stretched out, so many episodes with so little story. And it gets bad enough at times that some episodes consist of absolutely nothing of interest (things like wandering, moralizing, tedious errand-running), and the minute something slightly better than boring happens--BOOM!--cut to commercial, or the episode ends.
It does get shameless, and for this reason I'd highly recommend binging the show rather than watching week to week.
Now, having said all this, yes, this show is an 8, because its good seasons are thrilling. Incredible actually. Like some of the most memorable TV moments ever. And for that I can't bring myself to give the show lower than an 8, though I stress that I'd give it a LOW 8 because of how much frustration you have to endure between the good stuff.
I have a very love-hate relationship with this show. It annoys me as much as it amazes me. Maybe it annoys me MORE than it amazes me. But it does have charm and it does keep my interest even when that's solely based on great season openers, mid-season finales, and season finales, with a bunch of banality in between.
I would say watching the show is an overall positive experience, and you might not see that based on the negatives I mentioned, but you have to watch the show to understand. If you are into the zombie genre, I DO think you'll love this.
And hate it. And scream at your screen for it to end, already. And be won over again when the payoffs come. And yell at characters for stupid decisions. And cheer elatedly during crazy arcs. And get disillusioned and promise yourself you'll stop watching. And never stop watching because you just keep getting hooked over and over.
And hope that you-know-who returns to the show.
Ojing-eo geim (2021)
The first six episodes are gold, and then the glass shatters underneath it
This show starts out amazing, and progresses amazingly too. The characters are all so distinct, not exactly very deep, but they get the job done and have shocking and powerful arcs. There were moments that made me cry, which I wasn't expecting. There was a point around the middle of the season where I was ready to call this the best TV show of the decade.
And then the VIPs came in.
Their acting was atrocious, like The-Room-level bad. I was scratching my head at how these guys were allowed on set. My only guess is there must be a language barrier that prevents the show's creators from being able to judge good acting in American dialogue. Not only did the VIPs break the immersion, they almost made the plot less interesting because by then the show started to delve into the sort of Hostel-esque depraved-rich-guys-watch-the-peasants-scuffle tropes.
However, this didn't destroy the show for me, and I could have overlooked it. But then the show just sort of fell apart logically. First there was the glass hopscotch sort of game where I was just wondering throughout the entire thing: Why don't the contestants try to cling onto the frame of the platforms once they shatter? Why don't the contestants hold on to their shoes to chuck them at the platforms to see which are tempered glass and which aren't?
And finally, Sae-Byeok, easily the most compelling character in the show, dies in the stupidest way possible. What was the point of her character development, particularly that incredible and poignant scene between her and the girl with the nose piercing? It angered me to see such a promising character die in such a dumb way. And maybe part of that is just a visceral reaction because she was my favorite character, but I feel like there was so much more potential and it all just fell flat, leaving the viewer feeling cheated by the build up. It's almost like the show said, "Yeah we need to kill all the characters off quick 'cause, uh, finale's coming up, 'kay, let's get this over with."
Then what follows is a very unimpressive and cliche fight between Seong Gi-Hun and Mr. I'm-Completely-Selfish-Until-the-Plot-Demands-I-Sacrifice-Myself; followed by a kind of cool twist where Player 1 reveals he's not just alive but an undercover VIP the whole time (which is neat and all but really ruins what was one of my favorite scenes--the marble scene between him and Seong Gi-Hun); and then Seong Gi Hun becomes a strawberry and decides to, like, go rogue against the VIPs or something.
I wouldn't have minded Sae-Byeok's death if it wasn't so rushed and anticlimactic. I wouldn't have minded any of this if it didn't literally counteract all the amazingness set up in the first half of the show. It's almost like two showrunners were fighting over the same concept.
I still really did enjoy the good moments of the show, however, and I can't overstate that. I sat back in awe many times and said, "This is one of the best scenes in TV history." I will definitely rewatch the show, especially the first 6-ish episodes. There was never a moment (even when the season started getting bad) that I felt bored or disinterested. I feel like this show raises the bar for Netflix and I'm glad I watched it.
I just also can't overstate how bad some of the decisions were. If it weren't for them, this would be the best show of the decade. And it still is a really good watch, if you're ready to suspend your disbelief quite a bit and okay with feeling slightly empty and frustrated by the end.
The Chosen (2017)
A contender for the best depiction of Jesus ever to hit the screen!
Is this a perfect show? No; what show is, especially in its first season? But is this a consistently entertaining, beautiful project (inside and out!) that not only brings the Bible alive, but takes a deep look at faith and what was really being asked of the 12 disciples when Jesus said, "Follow me"? Yes, yes, and yes!
The actor who plays Jesus carries this season. Not only is he incredibly gentle and solemn when he needs to be, but he is funny (like actually laugh-out-loud funny!) and that is something many depictions of Jesus lack. Jesus' human side is explored in The Chosen as I've never seen before, so wholly and fully, yet in a way that is reverent and respectful. While we can imagine the Christ portrayed here being as human as us, we can also imagine him being as God as, well, God. Brilliant actor, and probably the best portrayal of Jesus ever put to film. His performance is controlled and unassuming yet so powerful in that alone. Whenever Jesus is onscreen you are completely captivated, hanging on his every word.
As far as some downsides in the show (which are in no way very glaring): Occasionally the humor did start to feel a little silly sometimes and took me out of the moment (rarely though, and never when involving Jesus and the disciples).
The score, while gorgeous in itself, has a sequence of a woman performing a vocal part that I felt was overused.
And I thought it a bit odd that the Roman soldiers have American accents, especially considering so much wonderful care is put into keeping the Hebrew accents so consistent. The lead "evil Roman soldier" fellow as well seemed cartoonish and I couldn't find him as threatening as he needed to be in this role, but rather he stood out from the others who are all far more developed and believable characters.
Yet these things do not detract from what a monumental moment this is in Christian cinema, or, lets just say cinema in general. To really see these disciples as real people was an eye opener and an encouragement to read the Bible again with new eyes. The actors playing Peter, Mary Magdalene, Matthew and I'll say each of Jesus' followers were masterfully done, perfect casting, and where did they find such unknown actors with such skill? I can't overstate how happy I am with this show and I really hope the show runners can get enough funding for a season 2. They are doing what Hollywood seemingly never could!