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joshuawait
Reviews
Adventure Time: Distant Lands: Obsidian (2020)
Seems like a boring after school special
About half way through the second episode, I became bored. It was painful to watch. I just wanted it to end. The original series packed more fun, action, and hilarity in 11 minutes than this one did into 45 minutes. The predictable and obvious messaging in this episode felt like an after school special targeted at tweens: We're all cracked and we need to accept ourselves. Shallow and predictable. One of the best aspects of the original series was how authentic it felt and how complicated the characters were. Treetop had an entire episode where she talked about her previous lovers and husbands. Jake had an episode where he became jealous of his granddaughter and tried to compete with her for the sake of looking cool. Marceline was angry at her dad, not because he was the cruel lord of the hellish Nightosphere, but because he ate her french fries. The writers and actors poured their hearts out for the original series. I hope the new writing crew can move forward with better focus, clarity, and wit. Otherwise the second series is destined to become a limp and faltering reboot.
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
Wasted Potential
The series had so much potential. I loved the first episode. I was disappointed when the series killed off Captain Georgiou. There was so much potential between the Michael Bernham character and the Captain Georgiou character. The opening scene with them embodied the essential spirit of the original Star Trek series which was one of optimism, exploration, and human growth.
The reinvention of the Klingons felt tedious and difficult to watch.
The magical invention of Sarek being able to communicate across hundreds of light years might have been believable but it didn't seem to fit.
The show relied to heavily on the spore drive as a gimmick to drive the show's plot line.
When the crew ended up stuck in an alternate universe, it felt like the show had jumped the shark. I get that the show is making a statement about the nature of living in an oppressive society. That could be done without having to shipwreck the show in an alternate timeline.