Elle n’est pas parfaite, cette série : On nous impose de croire qu’un tout nouveau personnage est évidemment un chef naturel, et il a plusieurs éléments qui sont là pour être là, même s’ils ne sont pas fondés sur l’histoire de la série ou sur la logique en général.

Pourtant, je lui donne 5 sur 5 car j’apprécie beaucoup la série, et cette saison en particulier. En avant !

Je ne sais plus comment j’ai découvert cette série, mais je suis bien content de l’avoir regardée (merci M. Le VPN pour m’avoir aidé à convaincre Arte que j’étais en France). Si elle est minimaliste, elle est plus forte pour ça.

J’ai écrit quelque chose il y a deux ans sur comment la chanson « Coup de vieux » de Bigflo & Oli m’a beaucoup marqué, car même si je n’ai jamais eu l’expérience d’être jeune en France, je reconaissais quand-même l’expérience d’être jeune. J’ai eu une expérience semblable avec cette série. Si certains éléments m’étaient étranger (je connais pas du tout Diddl, par exemple), les souvenirs de MSN Messenger me sont fort revenus, et même sans cela, l’expérience de jeunesse a quelques éléments universels.

“Intentionally bad” is a vibe that really works for me, and this is a masterclass of that vibe. I have some complaints: Some parts are grosser than they need to be, and even though I can forgive most of that as part of the “intentionally bad schtick,” there’s a rape reference in one episode that feels unnecessary even if it’s meant to be a bad call by the characters. Despite even that, I really appreciate this show for the specific thing it’s trying to do, and it made a good break from more serious media this week.

J’ai fait une grosse pause au milieu de cette saison, car comme j’ai déjà dit, je m’intéresse plus aux détails historiques, et les intrigues dramatiques de la série peuvent m’ennuyer au bout de plusieures épisodes. Pourtant, j’aime bien regarder, et j’en apprends beaucoup—il m’arrive même de m’investir dans le drame.

Loved this. I don’t know why I liked it better than Tinker Tailor—is it a better adaptation, or do I actually like the underlying story better?

That got to thinking about how much of Smiley’s People is a clear riff on Tinker Tailor (George tackles a problem from the outside, brings in Guillam, chats with Connie, recruits Toby…). You can’t have Smiley’s People without Tinker Tailor, but I wonder if Smiley’s People is actually the better version of that story.

I remembered liking this more than I actually did! It was a fun watch, especially as something to put on in the background while doing something else, so I can’t say for sure why it didn’t land as well as I feel like it has in the past.

Took me a while to watch this. It’s not bad, and I liked it more than my spouse did, but I really want to read the source material now to see how it holds up.

Cette série continue à m’engager—et à me faire réfléchir. Il faut quand-même que je me rappelle que c’est un drame et non un documentaire, car j’ai tendance à trouver les détails historiques plus intéressants que les conflits interpersonnels.

I didn’t grow up watching The Muppet Show, so I can’t say how it compares to the original, but it was a fun way to spend a “freak ice storm, school is cancelled” afternoon with kiddo. In fact, kiddo wants to start watching the original stuff, so maybe we’ll be comparing with the original after all!

On commence à voir pourquoi Andor s’est inspiré de cette série ! Au bout de douze épisodes, je commence à mieux connaître les personnages et à choisir des préférés parmi eux. En avant !

Ça fait des années que j’ai envie de regarder cette série, et apprendre qu’elle a inspiré Andor ne fait que renforcer cette intention.

Je la trouve intéressante, et j’en apprends beaucoup. En fait, je dois avouer que c’est grâce à un livre que j’écoute au sujet du Maréchal Pétain que j’ai enfin décider de commencer la série. Je risque de ne pas finir le livre, mais pour la série, je crois que je vais continuer jusqu’à la fin.

Je me souvenais de ne pas aimer cette saison aussi bien que la première. Si ça reste vrai (je n’aime pas trop ce qu’on fait avec André, ce qui me semble trop compliqué), il y a des moments marrants qui ont lieu dans cette saison, et je suis triste de savoir que même la plus compliquée des histoires ne trouveront pas de résolution dans une troisième saison.

Enjoying this series less and less the more that it goes on. I think I’d still watch a Season 4, but what began as a smart series with interesting drama has felt with each season that it’s leaning more into the drama and willing to set aside the smarts. Some fun moments in this series but also some headscratchers.

I don’t think a kid’s version of the show can compete with the sweary semi-sadism of the original, but I’m glad there was a series I could use to introduce a currently-too-young-for-all-that kiddo to the concept. Plus, the kids were cute and funny and most of the tasks genuinely enjoyable to watch.

Bon, c’était le fait de reregarder cette série qui m’a poussé à regarder tant de films français en janvier, mais c’est cela qui m’a empêché de finir cette série, ce que j’ai fait pendant le week-end.

Ce que j’aime le plus de cette série, c’est que les Français savent se moquer des Français beaucoup mieux que les Américains ce croient capables de faire. Il y a des ressemblences entre les deux façons de taquiner la France, mais ce qui serait une blague stupide faite par un Américain fait vraiment marrer quand elle est faite par un Français.

Je ne sais plus comment j’ai découvert cette micro série Arte il y a plusieurs années, mais je l’ai trop aimée à l’époque, et cela m’a bouleversée quand elle n’était plus disponible sur YouTube. J’essaie de la retrouver depuis des années, et après avoir regarder Intouchables, j’ai essayé une fois de plus.

Heureusement, elle est maintenant disponible sur le site d’Arte, et grâce à mon VPN, j’ai pu lui convaincre que j’étais à Bordeaux et que j’avais donc le droit de la regarder.

I enjoy a work of fiction that leans into its premise, especially if that premise is wild, with existential overtones. While it did feel slow at times, I appreciated how carefully and thoroughly Pluribus explored its central idea, and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.

I enjoyed watching some of my favorite characters in this series, but it does not have the coherence or cleverness of the first one.

I was more generous to the first series this time around because I was impressed by how tightly it works as a single story, despite being episodic. While there are lots of gems in this series, it doesn’t feel as tightly constructed, and there are also some weird things that don’t really work for me (like a conspiratorial diatribe against the FBI?). I don’t regret rewatching it, but it just isn’t as good as the first series.

This season wasn’t awful so much as “just okay,” but I’ve come to expect more from the show. It took my least favorite book and changed it in weird ways that didn’t feel like they fixed much. A few changes were good, but others felt like they added too much complexity to the plot or that they were trying to lend a gravitas to characters that don’t need it.

I have tried to rewatch this a few times since discovering it in 2023, and I’ve always stalled out by the final episode of Series 1, which is so cruel and cynical that it’s difficult to watch. Yet, it fits nicely with the themes of the show (and especially the first series), so I’m glad I made it through this time. I’m still critical of the misogyny and brownface that led me to dock points from my last review, but seeing how carefully the show sets up that final episode of the series (especially during an era where season arcs weren’t nearly as important as they later became) has won my respect.

I dragged this season out over too long to fully appreciate it, but it was a fun sendoff for the series. It’s the only Star Trek series I’ve watched in its entirety, and I think it might be my favorite!

Look, I know I haven’t read enough of the Murderbot source material to get snippy about unfaithfulness of adaptations. What’s more, this is a pretty good show! Great design, great casting, and lots of fun.

I just didn’t like it as much as I remember liking the novella. I got annoyed by what felt like unnecessary expansions, and there are parts of the worldbuilding that just can’t be captured on TV. Skarsgård does a great job but doesn’t capture how I perceived the main character. I just feel grumpy about it even though I recognize that it’s good.

This was Star Wars at its best, and there is (unfortunately) no better time than now for it to come out.

I’ve wrestled a lot recently with the tension between my love for Star Wars and my aspiration toward non-violence. I don’t know that I agree with this series’s implicit argument that sometimes ugly things are necessary to make a better world, but I appreciate that it deals with that ugliness rather than just letting Luke blow up the Death Star without counting how many people that act of self-defense killed.

This apparently took us two months to watch, and I think I would have enjoyed it more if that hadn’t been the case. I actually didn’t really enjoy the season arc so much—individual episodes were great, though, and the show continues to be fun. Hard to believe there’s only one season left to get through!