I actually liked it for most if these reasons. Yes, they're making bad, self-destructive decisions, but the entire point is exploring why and how they come to terms with themselves by coming to terms with each other. There's also a lot to be said for how their culture and the decisions of their parents affected their personalities and their decisions.

Sure Amy was kind of a *****, but it was all because of her parents' fighting and the fact she had to hide her dad's infidelity. She had a lot of trouble connecting with people because she lacked love and attention at home. That's also what made her so incredibly driven and obsessed with money. I think that's something that people who grow up in stable, middle class families with well adjusted parents just can't understand or comprehend, but this site did a good job and exploring how those kinds of toxic issues get passed on to children and manifest when they're adults. It's a very nature vs nurture question. Her husband is a great foil for that. Growing up with money, he never worried about such things. It's essentially made him powerless and inept, but no better at building and maintaining relationships. That leads to one of the big themes: Money can make you more comfortable, but it still can't buy happiness. George grew up with money and still isn't happy. Amy built a business and ultimately sells and has plenty, but she's still unhappy.

Same thing with Danny and his brother. Danny feels severe depression because he had this cultural sense of duty to look after his parents and essentially lead the family, which he is seemingly incapable of. He feels a lack of control in his life because of that, like his purpose and role in life is written for him as the oldest son, and that seeps into his decision making and outlook on the world, where he's kind of powerless against the powers that be and lacks agency. The cultural aspect is what's made him really nihilistic. His brother is the exact opposite. He feels no responsibility to anyone because he doesn't feel the same cultural expectations as the youngest, so he gets to drift through life happy and naive. Ultimately, though, he finds he lacks purpose and direction.

The show is more about people and self discovery than conflict, which isn't for everyone.

Sure. I got all that from the series. But to me, their insufferableness trumped any concern I had for their self-discovery.

I think they were better specifically because they weren't very sympathetic. Yes, they're self-destructive ***holes, but it's not really their fault. I think the opposite, those characters who are sympathetic and can't seem to get ahead despite doing everything right, are kind of boring. There's not a lot for them, or by extension us, to learn from them finally succeeding.

Sea Speed said:

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Started it again last night, this time with my wife watching. She enjoyed it so far.

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I watched and enjoyed and am trying to get my wife to watch. Although, as a 1st gen Korean-American, I am wondering if some of it may hit a little too close to home for her. Her older brother has had his struggles and failed to live up to many of the expectations set by their parents who migrated here in the 70's ("become a doctor", "find a nice Korean girl to marry", "don't exhibit any signs of mental illness whatsoever...and if you ever do, we'll all just ignore it"). I see a lot of Danny in him, but Danny is the more sanitized Hollywood version in some ways.

First generation Asian girls don't seem to have as many problems getting positive attention and fitting in, from my experience. But Asian dudes who go to schools in predominantly white bubbles, without a good network of Asian buddies, can have a much harder time. That being said, there are obviously tons of dudes in those situations who adapt just fine and fit in perfectly. Just think it can be tougher for some.

Some of the cultural themes presented in this show seem like they could be pretty heavy for some Asian-American viewers, from my cracker ass perspective.

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I think they were better specifically because they weren't very sympathetic. Yes, they're self-destructive ***holes, but it's not really their fault.

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Well, but it was still their fault. That was part of their 'discovery', realizing they still made the choices.

I think that was part of what made them insufferable. Watching them blame everything and anything else, only to finally realize it was their choices all along.

Again though. I get it. I can see why people liked it. Just wasnt for me.

AgGrad99 said:

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Ok...so i watched this show. Im obviously in the minority, but I kind of hated it. I wanted to quit halfway through, but for some reason, I wanted to see how it ended.

Part of the issue was that I didnt really like any of the characters. They annoyed me, more than anything.

Danny was somewhat sympathetic at first, but that didnt last. His brother was a joke. Danny's cousin was funny, but he was a snake. Even his parents were ungrateful jerks.

Same with Amy. She was terrible, as was her weenie husband, her M.I.L., along with her work associates. And when they flashed back to her past, at that point, I didnt care because I didnt like her.

In fairness, I dont typically like movies where the main characters are making obvious/dumb decisions over and over again, and it's all self-inflicted drama/events. It kind of became predictable in that way. And without any care for the characters...I ended up disliking it.

Again, I know Im in the minority here. It just wasn't for me.

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honestly, a pretty high percentage of movies/tv now have zero characters that i like or relate to much... so that doesnt kill a show for me very often.

the brother was hatable util you began to see how his life had been stunted somewhat.
danny was pretty hatable
the 'rich white lady' was hatable because she was portrayed as racist and elitist
of course the ***** that started at all was not likeable
her husband was annoying as ****, though a nice guy, maybe the least likeable
the bearded cousin was a typical con man - very likeable but a bad person
so yes, no one really likeable. but then again that's human.

did you really like anyone in breaking bad or better call saul?

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did you really like anyone in breaking bad or better call saul?

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Absolutely. I loved the characters in that show. Whether they were good or bad people, they were interesting characters. For example, I have nothing in common with Tuco, but he was a great character.

I liked some, disliked others...but I was 100% interested in their part of the story (and it was a great/deep story).

I didnt dislike the Beef characters because they were 'bad'...they were just extremely annoying to me.

Brittmoore Car Club said:

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Sea Speed said:

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Started it again last night, this time with my wife watching. She enjoyed it so far.

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I watched and enjoyed and am trying to get my wife to watch. Although, as a 1st gen Korean-American, I am wondering if some of it may hit a little too close to home for her. Her older brother has had his struggles and failed to live up to many of the expectations set by their parents who migrated here in the 70's ("become a doctor", "find a nice Korean girl to marry", "don't exhibit any signs of mental illness whatsoever...and if you ever do, we'll all just ignore it"). I see a lot of Danny in him, but Danny is the more sanitized Hollywood version in some ways.

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Same, asked a Korean American friend about this(male).

He watched for 20 minutes, then switched it off saying it was way too realistic, way too stressful. He moved his parents into a condo above him in their duplex, so it must strike right at his heart. His wife though, born and raised in Tennessee, loved it.

AgGrad99 said:

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In fairness, I dont typically like movies where the main characters are making obvious/dumb decisions over and over again, and it's all self-inflicted drama/events. It kind of became predictable in that way. And without any care for the characters...I ended up disliking it.

Again, I know Im in the minority here. It just wasn't for me.

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It was entertaining for me because they made choices I may have made if I just let loose, said **** it, and went crazy.

Chasing down an ******* driver, leaving bad reviews on yelp, online stalkerish stuff at someone you're pissed at, telling your spouse to **** off when they keep telling you to calm down without listening etc. When it became a bit too crazy and unrealistic it became less fun to me.

cbr said:

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Brittmoore Car Club said:

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Sea Speed said:

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Started it again last night, this time with my wife watching. She enjoyed it so far.

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I watched and enjoyed and am trying to get my wife to watch. Although, as a 1st gen Korean-American, I am wondering if some of it may hit a little too close to home for her. Her older brother has had his struggles and failed to live up to many of the expectations set by their parents who migrated here in the 70's ("become a doctor", "find a nice Korean girl to marry", "don't exhibit any signs of mental illness whatsoever...and if you ever do, we'll all just ignore it"). I see a lot of Danny in him, but Danny is the more sanitized Hollywood version in some ways.

First generation Asian girls don't seem to have as many problems getting positive attention and fitting in, from my experience. But Asian dudes who go to schools in predominantly white bubbles, without a good network of Asian buddies, can have a much harder time. That being said, there are obviously tons of dudes in those situations who adapt just fine and fit in perfectly. Just think it can be tougher for some.

Some of the cultural themes presented in this show seem like they could be pretty heavy for some Asian-American viewers, from my cracker ass perspective.

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i dont know... i went to an almost all asian/indian private kindergarten. Then life fell apart for my parents and i went to an almost all black elementary and lived in a slum/women's shelters, etc. then to SA with a religious organization as a charity project. then to east texas basically in its late desegregation stage, getting back in the 'middle class'. I spent years doing week or two stints in china, europe, latin america.

have a lot of asian friends now.

at their core, people are all the same and have the same desires/fears. racism isnt holding americans down, and wasnt much, even when i was a kid. it was really their own parenting and their parents' culture. The fears/desires are the same. Their culture just defines how they approach their goals/desires/fears. Though i am less than half northern European descent, i look white, so maybe i still dont understand, but the difference is, I LIVED IT.

that's why the current focus on race is so blindingly, droolingly, incredibly absurd. It's a deliberate sham. All of it.

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I agree with you, but my wife and that entire half of my extended family are either Korean immigrants or first generation. It's hard to even explain, other than there is a huge cultural difference, often certain pressures me and most of my friends never had to face, and many seem to have more trouble adapting (or, straddling the fence between pleasing parents or pleasing others) than other people do. Every immigrant group has their stories and stereotypes obviously. My point was that I could see how this could hit pretty close to home for some first gen Korean or Asian viewers.

It's not a racial thing, just cultural...race is meaningless imo. And There are obviously ton of exceptions. Hell, I could just be way off altogether. But my observations are sincere, and I have gained a lot of insight from my wife over the years.

Also, there are so many cultural traits and norms we could all learn from.

AgGrad99 said:

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I think they were better specifically because they weren't very sympathetic. Yes, they're self-destructive ***holes, but it's not really their fault.

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Well, but it was still their fault. That was part of their 'discovery', realizing they still made the choices.

I think that was part of what made them insufferable. Watching them blame everything and anything else, only to finally realize it was their choices all along.

Again though. I get it. I can see why people liked it. Just wasnt for me.

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Not their fault. That's like blaming a dog for crapping in the house when he hasn't been housetrained. Yes, he made that choice, but no, it isn't his fault because no one has taught him not to. He doesn't know any better, and it's not realistic to expect him to have just figured it out on his own. Yes, Danny and Amy made a lot of ****ty choices, but the reality is they made those choices because they let their emotions get the best of them because of a variety of reasons rooted in their childhoods. Expecting them to transform themselves into well adjusted adults without any real guidance on how is like expecting them to know what they don't know

People don't have this innate ability to self-reflect and understand themselves or their actions emotionally, and everything we do is emotionally driven. That level of self-awareness is something that is learned and developed over a long time, and the best way is through parental or familial relationships as children. That's what prepares us to be adults. If those relationships are dysfunctional or non-existent, then it is unrealistic to expect that someone just develops that kind of personal insight on their own without a lot of failure, if ever. It was interesting and thought provoking to see them go through that process.

For me, the show was about exploring the line between personal agency/responsibility and cultural/parental/environmental influence on development on a personal level, and I really liked how they went about it. I'm sure it's not relatable for everyone, but I thought it was a great insight into loneliness, depression, and self-realization.

I disagree. People aren't dogs. We aren't simply trained without the ability to learn/grow.

I've known way way way too many people, who have come through some terrible situations and horrible upbringing...but chose a different path for themselves.

Heck, I had 4 siblings. We all grew up in the same house, but took very divergent paths in life. Because even though we had some crazy/traumatic things happen while being raised, we all chose differently.

We have emotions, yes. But that's not our only driving force. We also have the ability to learn, grow and reason. Personal responsibility matters.

I guess that's why I didnt like these characters. Call it immaturity, lacking self-awareness, or maybe arrested development...I dont know; but I just thought they were all annoying.

I enjoyed it. It was a great binge. Curious if a season 2 will be as good..

I didn't say people are dogs, just that it is not realistic to expect people to raise themselves into well adjusted adults while lacking good parental guidance. Does it happen? Yes. Is it the norm? No. People with crappy parents are going to struggle. It's not entirely their fault for turning into who they are

That's the entire point of the show. It's them coming to the realization of who and what they are and growing beyond it.

Ali Wong does play a ***** well since it doesn't require any acting on her part.

Finished it last night. Super fun series that kept escalating in unexpected ways. Lots of both laugh out loud and "oh ****" moments for me, so think it did its job in that regard.

Posted this in TCCTS's year in review thread but never saw this thread until doing a forum search just now but I had never even heard of this show until Christmas Eve when I saw it mentioned randomly.

Started watching it at 2 am planning on getting up fairly early for Christmas. Couldn't stop watching it and the next thing you know it was 7:30 am and I was going to bed after finishing the whole thing straight through.

I almost didn't even turn it on when I read the short premise because it just sounded dumb to me but I couldn't have been more wrong. And there was so much good music played in it for my tastes.

I absolutely loved every bit of it. But it wasn't until last night that I felt like I must be living under a rock when suddenly I see that Ali Wong is a stand-up comedian with three specials on Netflix. Really threw me for a loop when I just thought I had discovered some very good serious actress.

I also liked the final episode. Towards the beginning of it I was thinking they should have just ended it at episode 9 and this seems a bit outlandish but then the whole dialogue in their altered states was perfect.

The one question I had was how the hell did Danny get out of the compound once his brother was gone? He couldn't jump high enough to reach his hand but inexplicably later was free roaming about. Had to deduct a point for that but otherwise score it an 8/10

johnnyblaze36 said:

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Posted this in TCCTS's year in review thread but never saw this thread until doing a forum search just now but I had never even heard of this show until Christmas Eve when I saw it mentioned randomly.

Started watching it at 2 am planning on getting up fairly early for Christmas. Couldn't stop watching it and the next thing you know it was 7:30 am and I was going to bed after finishing the whole thing straight through.

I almost didn't even turn it on when I read the short premise because it just sounded dumb to me but I couldn't have been more wrong. And there was so much good music played in it for my tastes.

I absolutely loved every bit of it. But it wasn't until last night that I felt like I must be living under a rock when suddenly I see that Ali Wong is a stand-up comedian with three specials on Netflix. Really threw me for a loop when I just thought I had discovered some very good serious actress.

I also liked the final episode. Towards the beginning of it I was thinking they should have just ended it at episode 9 and this seems a bit outlandish but then the whole dialogue in their altered states was perfect.

The one question I had was how the hell did Danny get out of the compound once his brother was gone? He couldn't jump high enough to reach his hand but inexplicably later was free roaming about. Had to deduct a point for that but otherwise score it an 8/10

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You missed a couple of shots. They showed the inside of that area with a grate missing. The next scene he climbed out from inside a wall and was free.

We just finished the show. What a freaking ride! That last shot was incredible. Just an all around mind-F of a show where you love and hate every character throughout the series. I don't usually get tied up in shows but that was pretty incredible

Thanks for the explanation. Totally missed that. Bump it back up to 9/10.

AgGrad99 said:

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Ok...so i watched this show. Im obviously in the minority, but I kind of hated it. I wanted to quit halfway through, but for some reason, I wanted to see how it ended.

Part of the issue was that I didnt really like any of the characters. They annoyed me, more than anything.

Danny was somewhat sympathetic at first, but that didnt last. His brother was a joke. Danny's cousin was funny, but he was a snake. Even his parents were ungrateful jerks.

Same with Amy. She was terrible, as was her weenie husband, her M.I.L., along with her work associates. And when they flashed back to her past, at that point, I didnt care because I didnt like her.

In fairness, I dont typically like movies where the main characters are making obvious/dumb decisions over and over again, and it's all self-inflicted drama/events. It kind of became predictable in that way. And without any care for the characters...I ended up disliking it.

Again, I know Im in the minority here. It just wasn't for me.

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the bigger problem was that Amy is not hot enough to want to see in those romantic scenes

now her neighbor "frenemy" though...

I thought it was pretty good and fairly original. A lot of the acting was really solid too. Definitely worth the watch.

Just noticed the younger brother Paul was recently cast for season 2 of The Last of Us.

https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/last-of-us-season-2-cast-young-mazino-jesse-1235866961/

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"The Last of Us" Season 2 is continuing to build out its cast. Young Mazino is now the latest actor to join the hit HBO series, Variety has learned.

Mazino will appear in Season 2 as Jesse, said to be "a pillar of his community who puts everyone else's needs before his own, sometimes at terrible cost."

"Young is one of those rare actors who is immediately undeniable the moment you see him," said series co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. "We're so lucky to have him, and we can't wait for the audience to see Young shine in our show."

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Just finished, late to the party as usual. Excellent show. Great pacing and lots of twists that were unexpected, original, and believable. Very smart writing. One of those shows though that was so well done, I fear season 2 won't do anything but spoil a great product. Can't imagine how they extend the storyline without tiring it out.

It was entered into the Emmys and Golden Globes under Limited/Anthology, so don't think you need to worry about a second season

bluefire579 said:

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It was entered into the Emmys and Golden Globes under Limited/Anthology, so don't think you need to worry about a second season

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If an anthology, would love to see what is next.