Still need to do season two and three, but I rewatched one in preparation for Night Country and just finished. Gonna copy and paste my thoughts from the Last Move You Watched and Review thread before going back and reading reactions in here: A very good season of television that somehow mimics many of the themes of season one (flawed characters trying to do one good thing) while also feeling like a completely different (and ultimately, more human) show. Because of this, your mileage may vary with the tone depending on how much you care about season one. It's frustrating because while the thematic callbacks are great, the actual references to season one feel extremely ham-fisted (hearing "Time is a flat circle" again made me roll my eyes). The same can be said about the way this season borders on horror. 30 days of night in Alaska is a perfect setting, and I love the introduction of indigenous culture and superstition. I love the way the season pays homage to The Thing. But the moments when that superstition turns into actual visions of the supernatural look like generic jump-scares from mid-2000s films. Still, if you can divorce it from the first season despite all of the now-questionable marketing trying to convince you to do the opposite, it's a compulsively watchable season of television largely due to the setting and strong performances across the board. It shares a number of goofy (and occasionally underwritten) moments with season one, but I love that the show is not set up as a whodunit but more so a mystery that slowly unfolds in front of you. The finale has some flip-floppy moments where you question the plausibility or action of the leads, but the final reveal is so, so worth it. I'm glad the show is getting another season under Issa Lopez.
The video of Annie's death seems to match up fine with what we're shown in the flashback? She was attacked in the lab by the lead scientist and they were the only two people in there until Clark arrived, followed by the rest of the scientists. Seems pretty obvious she recorded the phone video just prior to being attacked, which starts before Clark's flashback (we're seeing things from his perspective). Annie records video > Annie is attacked > (flashback starts) Clark arrives > Rest of the scientists arrive to finish the job.
I'd agree that a lot of the decisions made this season seem excellent on paper, but were executed really poorly. I wonder if that's why it received the great critical reception it did. We definitely need new women-centered stories with solid minority representation and big enough starpower to draw a massive crowd. TV writers are still seeking work after the strike. Great to have a "new prestige show" like this to hire folks. A richly-atmospheric / moody show with sociopolitical and philosophical themes and callbacks to a universally beloved season of tv? All amazing on paper. I definitely agree that it's getting a lot of angry sexist and racist criticism--that's absolutely true and it sucks. But I'm not going to pretend this was quality.
So Annie finds the secret lab and destroys it in a blind rage but then gets real quiet and starts making a video message before being attacked?
I don't think she's trying to be quiet in the video, she's upset and sobbing, and she 100% could have heard Clark coming and started filming, hence why the video is like...10 seconds long
To be fair, I get what you/others are saying, it's definitely muddy which is a problem with the season in general. I found it to be ambiguous is mostly the right, but occasionally the wrong places, too. It's definitely missing some connective tissue throughout. Poorly executed in some areas, as others have said. Just not enough to keep me from enjoying myself.
Oh yeah, it’s not bad enough to be pure shit. Just enough to “appear” good. It’s stupid fun. The discourse is just because the hype was enormously high.
I’m still interest in this creative team trying again, with more freedom to tell a more interesting story and a potentially bigger budget. Think they’d be able to take some of the criticism in stride and actually improve significantly on this season
here's to hoping there will be no AI-produced set design things for next season too. not a huge thing to get hung up on but that poster pissed me off when I saw it. like just use an actual poster, I'm sure the artist would appreciate it.
S3 is so good. 4 episodes in and it’s my favorite thing from this show so far (allowing myself to indulge in recency bias but still)
don't tell anyone but it's the most consistent, gratifying season from my perspective. and all the performances are just unbelievable
finally finished this, we only had 40 mins of the last episode left. wish I had those 40 mins back, what a dumb ending. haven't seen any of the other seasons other than 1 so obviously it's not a fair comparison
Can't lie, got a bit choked up when Wayne and Roland reunite in the 2015 timeline and they both start crying on the porch. Massively excited for these last 3 eps. Not even really a big spoiler, just not sure who hasn't watched S3 in here
Finished season 3. Masterful stuff ane the three timeline format initially had me worried but was ultimately executed so well. Ali and Dorff were both at 100. Have not seen 1 or 2 in quite some time but I feel confident in now ranking them 3 1 4 2