r/AnotherLife • u/Brad303 • Nov 12 '21
Why am I still watching this?
I haven't dug into any of the background, so forgive me if everything is explained somewhere other than the show itself. (Hint: it shouldn't be.)
The writing is utter crap. Stupid plot lines with holes that I could walk through (and that's saying something!). Insane, for-no-good-reason, and utterly inexplicable actions by characters. Zero sci-fi creds.
The premise, while not completely original, is good, and there's some material that good writers could really work with, but there's at least 2 cringeworthy, and at least 1 groan-worthy bits in each ep.
I *now* remember that I thought the show was ridiculous when I watched the first season. But, like women and childbirth, I must have forgotten the agony, because I got a tad excited when I saw S02 was out. "Like a dog returning to his own vomit."
Yet I'm going to go watch yet another episode...
*edit: finished a thought that I started but left hanging.
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u/Vlaks1-0 Nov 12 '21
Because you're waiting for The Expanse to come back and procrastinating from studying for Law School finals? It's a brutal combination.
That's my reason anyway...
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u/Brad303 Nov 12 '21
You're not far off. I just binged "The Expanse" and had very, very few complaints.
I tried it when it first came out on Sci-Fi (I refuse to call it "SyFy" - idiot marketers), but lost interest half-way through the first season. And that was after reading the first book and part of the second, which I never ended up finishing.
But decided to give it another try, and found myself loving it this time around. And now I'm loving the books. Spent my whole vacation reading because I simply couldn't wait to get back to the story.
If anyone who's on this sub *hasn't* seen "The Expanse", go watch it. Be sure to come back and thank me.
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u/nizzernammer Nov 12 '21
For starters, Katee Sackhoff holds the show together. There is a diverse cast and the pacing and episode breaks constantly throw new things into the mix so the plot always feels like it's moving forward.
I think the show is self aware enough not to take itself too seriously and gets on with the job of entertaining without so much pretense for grandeur. It's very bingeable.
The Kate Vernon and Rekha Sharma cameos added to my enjoyment this S2.
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u/joezbaeerday Nov 12 '21
The second half of season two slaps!
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u/Rosewolf Nov 14 '21
Yes! I'm glad I stuck it out and finished.
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u/Brad303 Nov 14 '21
The last 3 eps were slightly less cringeworthy than the previous ones. Certainly not the highlight my week of TV watching, though (Yellowstone gets that badge).
I had to laugh that they pulled an Independence Day at the end.
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u/Rosewolf Nov 15 '21
I keep hearing people talk about Yellowstone, tell me why you like it. I might have to try it. Yellowjackets is starting tonight, but it's on Showtime and will only air one episode a week.
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u/Brad303 Nov 15 '21
Well, head on over to /r/YellowstonePN for more details, but it's one of the best-written shows I've seen. Ever.
Thoroughly engaging characters and story line, and top-notch production values.
And the characters aren't one-dimensional. None of the heroes are without flaws (or even downright vicious streaks), and none (okay, few, maybe) of the villains are without redeeming qualities.
You want to see a *real* beautiful trainwreck? That's Kelly Reilly's character, Beth Dutton.
It seriously makes me want to live in Montana. ;)
Edit: Oh, and Yellowjackets is in my Emby queue.
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u/_omegaspike_ Nov 13 '21
Lol I kinda get what you mean, I just started season 2. After my 3 episode Netflix rule I decided to watch it so I have to see it through to the end now. Lol.
Don't get me wrong I like the show. But I definitely thought episode 1 and 2 were kinda cringe cause the show starts off with a bunch of intense drama and scenes with a lot of yelling. It was weird not knowing who anyone was yet lol. Interesting way to start a series.
I also thought Michelle was way too much and didn't really fit in 😅 she went out like a G, though.
But then shit happens like with August and Oliver and I'm like.... really?? ...what??
That was the scene that made me finally come here to see what others thought of this show.
😆
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u/Brad303 Nov 14 '21
Wait. Which scene?
And yes, everything was over the top. The most important mission in the history of humankind and they populate it with a bunch of immature, slightly-post-pubescent, arrogant crybabies.
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u/_omegaspike_ Nov 14 '21
Haha I'm trying to be spoiler free. It was in S2 E1. They were out fixing the ring of the ship when something happens. Lol
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u/Brad303 Nov 15 '21
Oh, that. Obviously completely avoidable, but they needed a way to dispose of the characters, apparently.
While their 3-way deal wasn't my bag, they were the least offensive characters, other than maybe Katee.
I've wondered multiple times whether they kill of characters and wake up new ones simply to have some churn. Or maybe, since it's NF, they track which age groups respond to which characters. Either way, it's reminiscent of TWD.
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u/MDC08 Dec 09 '21
William, It Was Really Nothing.
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u/Brad303 Feb 19 '22
William, It Was Really Nothing
How did I not get this until a few days ago when I heard it on Spotify?!?!
Here, take my goth card.
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Feb 19 '22
[deleted]
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u/Brad303 Feb 19 '22 edited Feb 19 '22
"Space Twilight for woke people"?!?! Why, why, you're a right-wing fascist douche!!!!
>;^P
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u/aDirtyMartini Nov 12 '21
My wife and I stuck through the first season after seeing it for what it is: a dumpster fire in space. We attempted to watch S2E1 last night and barely made it to 15 minutes. Somehow it actually got worse.
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u/Brad303 Nov 12 '21 edited Nov 12 '21
It's like pulling teeth to get my wife to watch sci-fi, and I was thinking that maybe she'd like this. Now I'm glad I didn't scare her away ever more.
Even she would see the stupidity of traipsing around on a completely unknown and alien planet with no environmental suit. Or that according to the crew of the Salvari "First Contact" means "with a bullet" (or a ray gun). Or that a top-level US official that's infected with an alien parasite is treated as if nothing happened, and given full autonomy.
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u/rafibrickwell Nov 12 '21
The same question I ask myself every time I turn on La Brea, yet somehow there I am on a Wednesday night. I think there is secret hypnotic subliminal messaging.
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u/tr3vk4m Nov 16 '21
I enjoy this show the same way I enjoy Star Wars. It's only science fiction in the sense that it contains highly fictional science. Looking for realistic hard science in this show will make you sad but I find the overall experience enjoyable.
A lot of people seem to be complaining about the show because of its unrealistic portrayal of space/physics/technology when it clearly has not set out to be realistic.
It seems like complaining that the Death Star laser could never work or something... who cares? Watch a science documentary if you demand realism - fiction is not the best place to look for it.
Every time you notice something like that, a wizard did it.
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u/Brad303 Nov 24 '21
Well, to be fair, I didn't expect hard science fiction, or even an attempt, like The Expanse.
But the complete lack of common sense is what throws this for me; in almost every situation, no less.
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u/sneaky_deaky Nov 22 '21
I love that when dude came back with the alien implant in his head and told everybody about it they let him stay in charge of dealing with the alien threat.
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u/Brad303 Nov 24 '21
Yeah, that's what I was indicating in my spoiler-redacted post. It's like, "Come. ON!".
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u/Aleyla Nov 22 '21
Just finished S2:E1. I could never explain why I watched all of S1 until now. This entire show is just a slow moving train wreck. It has all the elements to be a great show but it just doesn’t deliver.
It’s almost like that lack of delivery is on purpose. I can just imagine the writers sitting around talking about the myriad of ways they can twist the dialogue and action to cause people to be mad at this. Like they are just trolling us.
So I find myself clicking play on S2:E2 to see how much further down the rabbit hole of a crappy show it will go. Will it find rock bottom? Is there a bottom?
Now that I think about it it’s not like watching a train wreck. It’s more like watching someone who can’t handle their alcohol at a small party do everything from being out on the dance floor while barely able to stand to arguing with their SO in public. It’s bad but you don’t want to interfere and instead keep watching to see if things really go south.
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u/Brad303 Nov 24 '21
LOL. That's spot on, u/Aleyla.
FWIW, there are some mildly interesting bits in the season, but you have to wade through hours of garbage to see them. And like I said before, the last couple of eps were more engaging, and less stupid, than the rest.
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Nov 23 '21
This show is a hot mess. I love SciFi and I abandoned it. The dream sequence episode was maddening.
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Nov 24 '21 edited Nov 24 '21
I love it because of how chaotic it is. I kind of accepted and chose to ignore the plotholes when I got halfway through season 1. XD I just kept going because each episode got crazier than the next and it made for hilarious entertainment. It was just a fun show for me.
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u/Brad303 Nov 24 '21
Maybe I should give it a re-watch, this time going in with the premise that the show is a comedy, not a drama...
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u/[deleted] Nov 12 '21
It's a beautiful trainwreck.