Jessica Jones, Season 2
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Altered Carbon
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The Shannara Chronicles, Season 2
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What are you watching right now?
With the release of new shows on Netflix (which seems to be happening all the time now), I binged a couple new things and a random, guilty pleasure (except I don’t feel guilty about it!).
I binged Season 1 in two days and in my opinion, Jessica was the highlight of The Defenders so to say I was excited for Season 2 is an understatement. And overall, it didn’t disappoint. It’s admittedly very different from Season 1 and it’s clear throughout that it’s missing a compelling villain (Kilgrave is a tough act to follow), but it makes up for it in other ways. We dig deep into Jessica’s psyche because as you can imagine, killing Kilgrave didn’t magically solve her problems. We see the aftermath and essentially get her origin story, which was fascinating. There was an emotional core to this season that I really enjoyed. Jessica and Jeri Hogarth knocked all their scenes out of the park and newcomer Oscar Arocho was a much-welcomed addition (plus someone else but it would be a spoiler!). I’m so curious to see what direction the next season will take.
When Altered Carbon first showed up on my Netflix homepage, I didn’t pay it much thought. But then my cousin binged it and other friends mentioned it so I decided to give it a shot. And wow, this show is one big mindf*ck but in the best way! It’s a sci-if, dystopian show set in the future and depicts what I feel to be a rather bleak existence for humankind. People can now live forever thanks to a device implanted in the back of the neck and bodies are just interchangeable “sleeves”. It makes you think about life, death and ownership over one’s body and self. The show follows Takeshi Kovacs, an operative and mercenary, who wakes up 250 years after his sleeve is terminated. He can either face imprisonment or solve the murder of a wealthy man. He chooses the latter and it is one wild ride from start to finish. A season 2 hasn’t been announced yet but I really hope there is one.
Season 1 of Shannara Chronicles wasn’t great but I kept watching anyway. Mainly because I liked Austin Butler but there was potential with the story, the world and some characters. Cut to the finale and I wasn’t sure if I cared enough to keep up. I thought the answer was no but then one random (very un-busy) weekend in February, I noticed Season 2 on Netflix and decided, why not? This season was so much better! Still campy and overall still light mindless fantasy but super entertaining. Butler’s acting improved (he’s so charming), the new leading lady was million times more compelling (goodbye annoying Amberele, hello Mareth), and I felt more invested in their adventure. I really do feel the biggest difference came from the addition of Malese Jow to the cast. I loved her on The Vampire Diaries and I thought she was great here. Unfortunately the show was cancelled but I read the producers are trying to show it around and I’m actually hoping it gets picked up! (The ending, ugh!)
I never did catch up on The Shannara Chronicles properly (though I do know most of what happens)! I did just recently talk to someone who recommended one of the books in the series to me (and he said it could be read as a standalone too), so I might actually try to read that...
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