TV stuff

[shapinglight]

I feel like I've completely lost the knack of writing about anything wittily or intelligently (which may not be an actual word) but better than not posting at all, I guess?

First, for The Last Kingdom fans among you, it seems there is to be a season 3, but it will air on Netflix only. This doesn't bother me, of course, as I have access to Netflix, but the possibility of there not being a DVD release afterwards bothers me quite a lot. :(

More behind cut, with slight spoilers for Altered Carbon, Jessica Jones 2, The Americans season 6 and Legion season 2. Also some grousing about Lucifer scheduling.



I know the days of DVD/Blu-ray etc are probably coming to an end, and I suppose there can't be any profit for Netflix in releasing their original productions on disc or they would surely do it, but I really wish they would anyway. Otherwise, I know there'll come a time when something I've really enjoyed on Netflix, like Sense 8 or Altered Carbon will just vanish as if it had never existed, and that...would make me very sad.

I think I already said that I've watched Altered Carbon twice now? I might well watch it again soon. I love it. Which I suppose I should fess up and admit is because, high concept be damned, at heart it's a big, soppy love story.

What can I say? I have a Thing for love stories that aren't meant to be love stories - which is possibly why I (almost inevitably) end up 'shipping the 'wrong' relationships.

I did actually think of starting a third re-watch of Altered Carbon the minute I finished the second one, but on reflection I decided to watch something else first so I've started Jessica Jones season 2. I've watched two episodes so far. It's okay, but as of where I've got to the sense of menace that David Tennant's Kilgrave brought to season 1 is missing. I do like Jessica herself, though, and her relationship with Trish. Also amuses me slightly that Rebecca De Mornay, as Trish's pushy mother, is playing essentially the same character she plays as Chloe's pushy mother in Lucifer.

Otherwise, I''m still ploughing my way through season 1 of Mozart in the Jungle on Amazon, because I decided to save the new (fourth) series until I'd re-watched the entire thing. Not getting on very fast but still enjoying it a lot. Then, by other means, watching the final season of The Americans which is brilliant so far and making very good use of some of my favourite Talking Heads songs. Am fairly certain that at least one of the two main characters will die by the end of the season. Sad about it, but at the moment it feels sort of inevitable. On the other hand, with this show, who knows?

And last night I watched the first episode of the new series of Legion, which is already even more surreal and bonkers than anything in the first series. At least in season 1 there wasn't a man with a basket on his head and three moustached female lieutenants. Now there is.

Anyway, it's great. I just wish I'd got around to re-watching season 1 again first.

Finally, there's Lucifer and its annoying scheduling. I don't mean the three week hiatus we're currently in the middle of. Was expecting something like that. It's the confusion over how many episodes there are in the season. I'm mostly getting my info from co-showrunner Joe Henderson on Twitter. Firstly, he said there would be 24 episodes. Then he said that two of those episodes would be standalones. Now he's saying that those standalones will be shown in season 4 (assuming there is one, there's no word on renewal as yet, and I saw Henderson tell a jittery fan on Twitter that they might not know till early May) so there will only be three more episodes when the show comes back from hiatus and the current season will end with episode 22. That's the traditional length of a network series anyway, I know, but because four of this season's episodes have been standalones left over from season 2, that means the actual story arc of season 3 will only have been 18 episodes long, same as season 2. I don't get it. Is this normal? To make more episodes than are needed and hold some over, I mean?

And what happens if the show isn't renewed? Do they show the two standalones or just shelve them for good?

I'm kind of assuming that they wouldn't make those two new standalones at all if they hadn't been secretly reassured that they will be renewed, but for some reason no announcement can be made yet. However, who knows?

Comments

[shadowkat]

I don't get it. Is this normal? To make more episodes than are needed and hold some over, I mean?

And what happens if the show isn't renewed? Do they show the two standalones or just shelve them for good?

Yes. They did it for Firefly and Dollhouse, also been done for other series.

The logic, assuming there is any, is that DVD's sell better if you have add-on episodes. It boosts the sale of the DVD, fans who saw the series and want more may buy the DVD to get those extras.

They also do it to sell it to other networks. Lucifer isn't owned by Fox, it's owned by Warner Brothers. If Lucifer gets cancelled by Fox, Warner Brothers could use those stand-alones to sell the series to another distribution channel.
Television shows have a habit of jumping networks or distribution venues. (See The Last Kingdom also Friday Night Lights, both which annoyingly jumped distribution venues.)

This happens a lot now. Because there's so much content and so many places to sell it and view it. You can see it on the web channels, streaming, satellite or dish network, cable, broadcast, and DVD.

It gives me a headache, and as a result I've found I'm losing track of television shows and struggling to care that much what happens with them.

Thanks for the rec on Altered Carbon, been meaning to watch just haven't gotten to it yet. (Too many tv shows, not enough time.)

[shapinglight]

Thanks for the info. Hopefully Lucifer will survive somewhere then.

[lyr]

What "wrong" ship are you shipping in Altered Carbon? I love the show, too, but I am not super invested in Falconer/Kovacs - not so much because I don't think their relationship was interesting and important, but because I feel like she wouldn't want to be found and spun back up. I think she'd want Kovacs to go on without her. I'm mostly wrapped up with wanting Poe not to be gone for good.

S2 of Jessica Jones is definitely less creepy and traumatic than S1. I'm about five eps in and enjoying it, though. It's interesting to me to see more of the backstory and history between Jessica and Trish and Trish's mom.

[shapinglight]

What "wrong" ship are you shipping in Altered Carbon?

Now you ask the question I actually can't think of one. I suppose if I 'shipped Kovacs/Miriam that would be pretty 'wrong.' Likewise Tak/Rei. Does Poe/Lizzie count, or Elliot/Male Version of Ava?

Probably not.

but I am not super invested in Falconer/Kovacs - not so much because I don't think their relationship was interesting and important, but because I feel like she wouldn't want to be found and spun back up. I think she'd want Kovacs to go on without her.

I agree, but if there is ever a series three, Kovacs might well find that someone else has spun Quell back up already. I'm pretty torn really between 'shipping them and 'shipping Kovacs/Ortega. But I think Ortega is possibly too invested in Kovacs in Ryker's body.

I'm mostly wrapped up with wanting Poe not to be gone for good.

I agree that would be a shame. He's a great character. More human- or more humane, perhaps - than many of the humans.

[lyr]

Aww, Elliot/Male Ava is actually pretty adorable. I really liked male Ava. But Tak/Rei would feel pretty wrong to me, yes. Kind of canon, but no less wrong for that. Poe/Lizzie could be cute, though.

I don't really ship Ortega/Kovacs, but I agree that she was attached to the combination of Kovacs in Ryker's sleeve. Also, I think Kovacs is rootless by nature and training, and Ortega is a Bay Area woman to the bone; this would not pair well. But their relationship was an interesting take on how much of our attachment is cerebral and how much is physical. Our bodies, after all, come to know and respond to the scent and rhythms of the body it identifies as mate. Even with a different self riding around in the frontal cortex, those automatic lizard-brain responses would still be in there, tickling at our unconscious. That fascinates me, and it's part of what I liked about the show.

Yes, it's Poe's more-human-than-humanness that drew me to him. If humans could figure out how he goes on for so long without losing himself, maybe it would help them figure out how to do the same for themselves.

[shapinglight]

I really liked male Ava.

Me too. I'm glad we didn't really see him replaced.

Kind of canon, but no less wrong for that.

It was, wasn't it? Creepy actually.

Also, I think Kovacs is rootless by nature and training, and Ortega is a Bay Area woman to the bone; this would not pair well.

I agree, though my main reason for consigning the 'ship to the 'great while it lasted column' is because I just can't see Ortega feeling the same way about Tak in a different sleeve.

That fascinates me, and it's part of what I liked about the show.

Same here. It's one of the reasons why I liked Elliot/Male Ava so much. Elliot was thrown at first by the fact that Ava was now in a man's body, but not for very long. He accepted it remarkably quickly in fact, and I think would have preferred to have Ava in that body if there were no alternative than not to have had her at all. With Ortega and Kovacs in another body, I'm really not so sure.

[orangerful]

Sometimes I wish the writers of Legion would tell us what they are smoking...and maybe send us some to use while watching the show because WTF. I need to watch the next episode but it has been a week of binge watching "The Vietnam War" - which I recommend though not over the course of a week because ugh.

[shapinglight]

I've seen that. Can't remember the timeframe I watched it in, but it was a fantastic series. I learned a lot.

As for Legion, I still haven't managed to watch episode 2 (no time), but I hope to soon.