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Just after saying how reluctant I am for new television shows I'm very intrigued by all the hype for Sex Education on Netflix. If only the weather allowed me an internet connection for more than a few hours.

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Starting Russell T. Davies' Years and Years show, about a family during the rise of a Trump/Johnsonian demagogue. I thought his Cucumber was the best British television drama of my lifetime. Only now felt in the right place for this.

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I saw the first two episodes of Devs. I love Alex Garland.

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Now Apocalypse - I wasn't expecting much, quite a lot of people were complaining that Araki is just repeating himself, the soundtrack doesn't have many surprises, it is a lot like Nowhere and Kaboom, I almost felt like I was watching a remake at times (perhaps there was some things intended for his 90s tv series that never taken off) but even then just being firmly in Araki-land is a welcome breath of fresh air to me. It was lovely being in this space again for 5 hours and I'm really sad it was cancelled because I'd love to stay there for longer and there's a greater emotional connection because of the length and character development.
I'm not optimistic for there being more Araki films any time soon.

There's more sex than ever (maybe a third of it being gay?), I wonder if he's always wanted to do this but only been able to now (on television that's nothing like the television he worked on in the 90s) or if it's just the nature of this story. No genitals except for the alien reptile but we do get one of the main characters ejaculating all over his own chest.

I liked the book titles "Bernie Bites: A Bernie Sanders Cook Book" and "A Big Green Alien Ass Raped Me"; the wall poster that says "Circle Jerk: A Support Group For Men".
There's a lot of digs at woke-isms that might have been grating if it were in a different context, but probably would have been controversial if a big enough audience was watching it.

Kelli Berglund was particularly good. Other favorites were Avan Jogia (adorable smile too) and Desmond Chiam as Jethro (a classic Araki himbo). It's a really short appearance but Monica Cho as Worm's Assistant was really fun.
Surprised to see RJ Mitte (Walter Jr from Breaking Bad) and Henry Rollins as the Alex Jones/David Icke guy.

Please watch it.

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I am about to start watching Years and Years. I heard pretty good things about it.

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I'm watching Twin Peaks season 1. Heard a lot about it and it's definitely worth the hype.

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You are in for such a treat!

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I'm one of the rare fans that actually loves season 2. Hopefully all of the criticism won't dissuade you from giving it a chance. I think there are only a few truly weak episodes and that some of Twin Peaks best moments are in the second season. The negativity has taken on a life of its own and now people downplay a large amount of brilliant television over a handful of blunders.

I will now step down from my soapbox. Keep us updated as to what you think of the show-- good, bad, indifferent. Curious to know...

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I don't care for much of Season 2. It undeniably has some amazing moments (and picks up for the finale), but the interminable stretch of Lynch-less material is uninteresting.

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I respect that. I'm not trying to speak for you, but I've seen a lot of people say that, but they usually mean they don't like episodes 17-24...which means they like episodes 9-16 and 25-29. So I feel like a lot of great television gets lumped in with what is actually a fairly small chunk of the series. Again, you may not be one of those people and genuinely dislike most of S2. If that's the case, I can't fault you for your feelings.

But, without getting into spoilers, some of the most iconic and beloved moments from all of Twin Peaks happen at the beginning and end of S2, so I just feel it is unfairly criticized as being altogether horrible.

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This is how I feel about the second season. Second season is worth watching in its entirety at least once. There are some moments that are as magical as those in the first season. The episodes I don't like were just put there as filler after David Lynch walked away (for good reasons) from the series.

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I like that we get more of the surreal/nightmarish in season 2. Although the writing clearly isn't as good, I won't argue that.

Waffles and Miss Happy Die Happy-- have you watched S3 yet? If so, what did you think?

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Season 3 is one of the best things ever aired. I love the Dougie stuff.

The Laura Palmer case ends nine episodes into Season 2 -- less than halfway through. I don't think it picks up again until the very end. Much of the rest is depressingly stale.

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Dougie is adorable. I love the shot when he is walking into the Lucky 7 insurance agency and smacks face-first into the glass door. Just needed to get that out there.

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Season 3 exceeded my hopes and expectations. It is impossible to binge (although you will be tempted). I subscribed to Showtime just to watch it. I would watch a new episode when it was released on Sunday night. I would watch it a second time on Wednesday and then a third time on Saturday.

Before watching Season 3, it is worth watching Fire Walk With Me.

Albert Rosenfeld has my favorite line from the series.

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Finished watching DEVS tonight. Alex Garland's latest work is an 8 episode mini-series. It is being shown on Hulu. I signed up for a month. The series is high tech sci-fi. I enjoyed it. Garland has written and/or directed numerous science fiction works. My favorite is still Ex Machina, but Annihilation, 28 Days Later, Sunshine, and Dredd are all good films.

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Slowly making my way through FATHER TED.

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I've finished watching S1 and S2. I can see people's preference for S1. In S1 the pacing is tight, the characters are mysterious and there's a conspiracy undertone to their relations. There's a hanging air of chilling dread in-between the zany moments and it's bewitching.
S2 starts off with a fill-in the plot episode. It doesn't quite get back to its groove until episode 3. "The Orchid's Curse" , "Demons" , "Lonely Souls", and "Drive with a Dead Girl" are the best episodes in the series. I especially like this scene.
Then it gets bad from episode 10-20 (if you count both seasons it's E18-28). I was happy at first when a few love triangles break off but then new ones bud :mad: I don't understand why people say they stay for the characters because the old characters are jokes and new ones are cardboard papers. Sure some scenes with Leo, Nadine and Ben are funny but the rest (including the villain) can't die/go away fast enough. It's more obvious since I binged the show in 3 days that they ruin every character with the "new love" subplot. Most unfortunate are Cooper's new girl who can't act or show her love at all. I like the last episode though it doesn't feel like a season finale and more like what episode 10/11 should have been.

I'll take a break and then watch Fire Walk With Me and The Return.

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"Down with this sort of thing!"

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S2 is a depressing experience. Network interference broke the show. Don't lose hope. The film and S3 are incredible.

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I wasn't aware that the episodes in seasons 1 and 2 had titles until I read that. I see Wikipedia lists them but I have never seen them on any disc releases.

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Season 3 of Twin Peaks is a masterpiece, probably the best thing I have ever seen. And Devs, although I have some minor misgivings about it, is a great piece of science fiction.

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I just watch Fire Walk With Me and The Missing Pieces. Combined they have some of the best scenes I've seen so far though I've to watch them side by side to appreciate what they cut out. I'm glad to see characters returning to their mysterious selves back in S1 pilot. Even the highschool kids are no longer so hateful. I like Laura Palmer from what I saw of her in the picnic tape but I love her in this film. Especially her smile.

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"Lonely Souls"...man that one is an all-timer.

Thanks for your review so far! You summed it up pretty well. What was worse, Nadin's super strength or Wisdom Earle's disguises? Ha ha.

What did you think of the S2 finale? "How's Annie?"

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Nadine's character was consistent. She was the comic relief character so the funny antics made sense. Earle was supposed to be the antagonist but I couldn't take him seriously because the disguises and chess victims were goofs. There was no tension when he's on screen and if he was doing a Joker impression it's pretty bad. Yeah, I'm glad S2 finale was a return to form. I was surprised when I saw one of the resident taking Cooper's shape. That scene with 'Leland' and 'Cooper' smiling together was creepy. As for the glass smashing "How's Annie" scene I thought it would be more effective if they didn't show BOB in the mirror. BOB lose his sinister air when he talked to Cooper in the Lodge, so maybe white eyed Cooper would have been better.

To be honest I was apathetic about what happened to Coop, Annie, and Earle. Coop's love subplot was fast, out-of-character and obviously plot-demanded. It's not that I prefer he be with Audrey, it's the bad acting between him and Annie. He became a plot device and I couldn't look at him as a real character anymore. What Laura said about herself can be applied to Cooper too "I'm gone...long gone like a turkey through the corn."

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Currently re-watching Breaking Bad. On the last season now.

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Have been watching Season Three of Westworld, which has left the theme park for what purports to be the real world of the near future.

There have been some serious plot holes/bad writing, but as always the show has asked existential questions about consciousness and what it means to be human in age of artificial intelligence. The acting has been excellent, especially by Tessa Thompson and Ed Harris.

Tonight is the final episode. Fingers crossed that it won't prove a disappointing, Game of Thrones-like ending.

Some good lines here in Ed Harris' group therapy session:

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I really like Ed Harris in West World S1. I heard they ruin him in S2 so I quit the series. He would fit right in a Cormac McCarthy's movie. When I read Blood Meridian I imagine him as Judge Holden.

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I find these on Ytube. Twin Peaks x Seinfeld and Twin Peaks x True Detective.

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Just finished Season 5 of Luther - the villain was horror movie scary.
Just finished Season 4 of Call of Duty - loved it - lots of amazing cliff-hangers
Finishing up season 4 of Better Call Saul - loving it

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Recently finished Ugly Delicious (2018)- Neflix's most acclaimed and divisive food documentary. It reveals to me (1st gen) some interesting beliefs 2nd gen middle class Asian Americans have on racism and prejudices.
E1-Pizza. Which is better? The strict authenticity in Naples pizza or the American's fast n cheap Domino or the high class tuna pizza in Tokyo? It's not the customer who is arguing, it's the chefs and food critics. Arguably the best episode of the show since it mentions a pizza convention and David Chang hasn't started on his "Well I think this is like X food in China".
E2-Tacos. Featuring 2/3 segments on abuelas and Mexican chefs (including an undocumented Mexican woman) and 1/3 Chang's friend Rene Redzepi who's opening a Mexican pop-up restaurant charging $600/head. Authenticity as a hippie's fetish is discussed again but one wonders if these Michelin chefs are mad because they are not getting the hippie money. After all who will pay to eat at the innovative Noma Mexico?
E3-Homecooking. Thanksgiving dinner at Chang's home. Not much to write about though it shows how his mom loves through homecooking. Chang mentions he was ostracized as a kid for eating kimchi and he's mad kimchi is popular with white people now.
E4-Shrimp and crawfish. Vietnamese mix French garlic oil with crawfish and produce Viet-Cajun, the most success fusion seen so far. In 1975 they immigrated to Houston and had a rough time on fishing boats because of the KKK on patrol. Now what do the 2nd generation Vietnamese think of someday eating at an Arab restaurant? No, not so good since Islam radicalization...they have to work hard like us not looking for handouts. Hmm.. in New Orleans Chang goads a Viet restaurant selling New Orleans crawfish to cook the Viet-Cajun variety but they refuse. Not answers Chang likes to hear. If food is supposed to bring people together, why aren't the Vietnamese doing it?
E5-BBQ. Chang argues for a fusion of Korean BBQ with American one. Might offend vegans and vegetarians. Rene Redzepi again, grilling vegetables and smelling wood. I like the yakitori grill master at Tokyo but Tokyo's been in every episode.
E6-Fried Chicken. Soul food complicated relationship with racism becomes murky by Chang's preachy attitude. Is it okay to eat fried chickens without knowing the history behind it? Here comes the hypocrisy. Chang asks how white chefs selling fried chickens in a Southern state keep it 'respectful'? Shouldn't Chang ask the same question to Vietnamese in New Orleans selling crawfish? No, since he has separate standards for immigrants and white people.
E7-Fried Rice. Why do Americans like the sweet n sour porks but not authentic Chinese cuisines? Chang sits with Chinese Americans and ask them "Will Chinese cuisine someday reach the popularity level of Italian?" One food writer answers "No, Italians are white and it's easier for them to be accepted." Here's the confusion between racism and prejudice, white vs nonwhite again.
E8-Stuffed. Ravioli vs dumpling. The finale where Chang reconciles with the Italians by making ravioli at a 3-star Michelin restaurant. He tells someone "Why are Italian worth $60 at a restaurant and Chinese dumplings worth $8?" Is this all about money and prestige, Chang?
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Things the show unintentionally highlight :)
+American's middle class denial: the show focuses on race because they don't see a class problem. One marker of middle class is the belief in a classless America. In E7 one Chinese American food writer denounced a white reviewer as racist when he preferred to eat at a nice Chinese restaurant instead of the dirty one in Chinatown. Clearly a class prejudice yet it got flagged down as racist.
+Prejudice and discrimination between Asian countries and 'non-white' : Koreans and Chinese like to call Southeast Asian "Jungle Asian". Insulting but it passes in the show because we're all Asian right? In every episode there's feature of Korean, Japanese, Chinese or Indian chef but rarely are Southeast Asian shown. How about what started LA riot? A Korean store owner accused a black girl of stealing and shot her. It's clearly not just a white people problem.
+Asian-Americans hate to admit it but Chinese people do eat unconventional meat: BBQ episode Chang encounters a donkey shop in China. He refuses saying it's disgusting but his Korean friend wants to try since it's the most popular meat in Beijing. While it's not terrible as eating dog, a donkey is no chicken either. And when it comes to dogs there are enough demand for dog meat that restaurants risk kidnapping in-house dogs to sell them.

Overall it's a solid terrible food documentary. The show reeks of inferiority complexes as Chang keeps asking "Why do white people prefer X instead of Y which I think is much better anyway?" More talking than eating and more comparing than showing the food. I learn some stuffs but not much.

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I watched the two latest episodes of Rick and Morty and I thought they kinda sucked.

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I'm halfway through the new Netflix series Ju-On.
Wow! I like it a lot. The violence is horrifying, but not graphic.
The atmosphere is thick.
Highly recommended.

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I watched Mark Gatiss' and Steven Moffat's Dracula and I utterly enjoyed it.

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Finished HBO's Watchmen. It should be dreadful. Belated and entirely unnecessary sequel to one of the comics from the greatest comic writer. It solely exists due to the arbitrary copyright cash-in generator landing its arrow on a certain point.

Considering that the final product... is.... mostly superb for what it is? The opposite of fan service. Wildly ambitious, bold and heavy. Of particular impact was Jeremy Irons' story, but I loved everybody. I'm so grateful they're not making any more, too.

(Didn't like the ending. Too neat, good vs bad and Hollywood. Final 40 or so minutes not enough to ruin an otherwise great show.)

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Eight episodes into cancelled Penny Dreadful spin-off City of Angels. It has no connection to the parent show, and I was quite bored for the first few episodes, but now I'm engaged and annoyed it's nearly over. Rory Kinnear and Nathan Lane are very fine actors. I've had a whirlwind relatonship with a show I'll probably not remember too well a month from now. Glad I stuck with it.

Edit: Can report that unlike with Watchmen I thought the finale stuck the landing.

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I've been watching Midnite Diner. I've started the second season and am loving it. It's quirky without being precious.

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One huge problem I have with the Watchmen show is that it does not tackle the casual racism anyone of us can engage in without even realizing it nor any kind of institutional racism. It seems to me it did not ask any profound questions.

Instead, the racists in the show are a bunch on backwards rednecks, part of a group called the Seventh Kavalry, and some policemen associated with them, and, it seems that, once they are defeated, a big part of the problem will be solved. They are portrayed as this kind of big bad bogeymen, which is kind of childish and an easy way out.