Nerdie (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nerdietalk) wrote2018-12-31 10:37 pm
nerdietalk) wrote2018-12-31 10:37 pmFiction of 2019
Hell yeah, a new and improved obsessive list
nerdietalk) wrote2018-12-31 10:37 pm
January
A wacky trial farce starring a big city cop coming to a Parks and Rec style eccentric town, doing his best to save a man who keeps shooting himself in the foot. Utterly hysterical with laughs almost every minute. The cast is amazing and the way they bounce off each other is astounding. Has an astounding level of continuity but it works really well. That's an A+ from me.
A Very English Scandal
I haven't always been the biggest fan of Russel T. Davies but this miniseries plays to his strengths. He's great at gay whimsy and gay tension and he uses that to tell the fascinating tale of the Thorpe Affair. Both sides of the scandal are understood and sympathized with, while not downplaying Thorpe's horrible actions or Norman's tendency to be vain and self-destructive. Whenever you get a little too relaxed into how happy these men are to be gay, it reminds you exactly how hard it was to be gay in the strict straight world. Its a gripping journey points out the absurd but doesn't ignore the real emotions behind it all.
Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events (Season 3)
Fuck, what a show. The book series has been near and dear to my heart and the final books are hard to get through. Sometimes, the bleakness of it all gets to be too much. But this show offers a path for characters the books didn't. It doesn't promise them happy endings. The show never claims that the Baudelaires never had trouble again after the show. It doesn't claim that the Widdershins had a pleasant family reunion. It doesn't promise the survival of dozens of its characters. But it promises a future. The show never shies away from the cruelty of the world it presents. How ignorance is more dangerous than malice. And it never claims that things will end happily. But, unlike the books, it promises the audience that it is important to keep going. That there could be a happy ending for you and for all of us. And that means a lot.
Parks and Recreation (Season 7)
I haven't watched mooooost of Parks and Rec? But I like what I've seen and I really enjoyed this season. It wraps a bow on each character respectfully, giving all the characters a future to look forward to. Its so heartfelt! And passionate about doing good for the future! Its great!
Nailed It!
A fun show about people screwing up baking. I dumped a good five hours into this and had a swell time with it.
The Good Place (Season 3)
When you go big, sometimes its good to go small. Season 3 goes for smaller stakes and its all the better for it. We get to see how the cast interacts in different situations and how they can try to improve the system for everyone. The season even ends with them in a more powerful position than before, no longer in the whims of fate. But it doesn't come without cost. The final mind-wipe of the season puts the knowledge of the cast out of wack with each other, a slower stakes twist to a slower stakes season. And it works! It needed to go back to the simple stuff for the future stuff to land. Bravo.