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Reviews
Babylon Berlin (2017)
Intriguing setting, mediocre crime show.
Finished watching a weak third season.
(Therefore changed my rating from 7 to 6.)
What I still like about the show is the fantastic scenery and pertinent historic background.
But when it comes to characters, the criminal cases and consistency, the show is mediocre at best. Especially S3 has some awful storylines.
As a German myself, I also find the acting quite lackluster and especially the use of language (dialects and old vocabulary) seem too forced and unnatural most of the time.
I'm still generally interested in this show because the historic background is so relevant and its portrayal is very interesting to me.
But looking at the books I guess there'll be many more seasons with many more boring cases and I'd rather recommend investing time in watching high quality documentaries or reading primary and secondary literature about this dark chapter of history.
Vikings: The Best Laid Plans (2020)
Lackluster. Over-stretching hurt this show so much.
It's sad to see great shows becoming boring.
Looking at this episode's battle, which had a big premise - defense of the home country against invaders for the very first time - and comparing it to any battle of the first 4 seasons is just disappointing. I don't even care anymore. About anything or anyone.
Shame on executives who let great shows be trampled to death by increasing episode numbers for no other reason than greed.
The writing is just bad now. Characters incomprehensibly change their minds multiple times per episode.
Another outstanding series ruined in the end.
The Witcher (2019)
Very enjoyable show but some lessons in storytelling and character introduction/development wouldn't have hurt.
I like The Witcher's humor and action a lot.
The first episodes are kinda bland but still come with some cool scenes. From ep. 3 or 4 on the show becomes very enjoyable to watch.
My points of criticism are related to storytelling (portrayal of different timelines; big gaps between episodes' plots) and the handling of characters (not enough background info, I don't really feel attached to anyone).
This show clearly does not want to be another Game of Thrones (Netflix executives probably do anyways) so better don't compare them. It's mainly focused on action and small adventures rather than on great character and story arcs.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 6: The Prisoner (2019)
Best filler episode, yet!
It still has some flaws. No wonder characters are weak when they're only written for one episode. Moreover the acting was not good.
However due to the high production quality in the remaining sectors, it's still watchable.
His Dark Materials (2019)
Where are all the daemons?
It really bugs me that only the protagonists have daemons ad even these are shown as seldom as possible. I know CGI is very expensive but in this case it's the biggest part of world building to give every single person in Lyra's world their daemon.
The Mandalorian (2019)
Watching this reminds me of how terrible the sequels are.
10/10 Star Wars show, 8/10 TV show (e.g. compared to Breaking Bad, The Wire and Mr. Robot which are all 10/10).
Now how great would it have been if the sequels were actually created with the Star Wars spirit in mind? No repetition of Episode IV, no ruination of simple Star Wars physics, no dumb out-of-place humor?
Imagine the sequels were created based on the setting in The Mandalorian. The New Republic is struggeling but not so much that the whole plot of episodes 4-6 becomes worthless. Luke is rebuilding the Jedi Order. There's a menace that's actually not a replica of ep IV but maybe a rebuilding Sith Order or a splinter group.
At least we now have a good prequel- (Rogue One) and a good sequel-story (The Mandalorian).
Watchmen (2019)
Rate the content. This is not a place for the those brainwashed by the "right versus left" hoax!
First of all shame on all who say remembering of Tulsa is "left propaganda". You're such fools to fall for this nonsense. While you're becoming more blind by your hate, those who manipulate you get richer and richer. They don't care about you at all.
Now the important thing: The content. High quality in all aspects. This alternate history seems interesting and I'm looking forward to the next episodes. And remember: The original remains what it is, no matter how you like this show: Probably the best graphic novel of all time. This is just a fan creating his version of a sequel. And so far it seems to be a story worth watching. However maybe it should not have been called Watchmen.
Depending on how the season evolves I might change my rating. This is just the first impression.
Update: THIS IS WATCHMEN. Forget what I said about the naming.
The Handmaid's Tale (2017)
S1 is a must-see. In S2 and S3 the show stagnates.
S1 is great, simply for the portrayal of the scenario. Sadly the following two seasons were stretched too much, 5 episodes per season would've been enough. Moreover there are too many irrational decisions by characters which downgrade the plausibility of the whole situation (means of escape, obvious conspirators, continuous theism, etcetera).
The Boys (2019)
Big f-you to Disney superheroes
If you know one, you know them all! That goes for superhero movies and shows from the past decade.
The screen adaption of The Boys comics finally brings a complete different viewing angle to the superhero genre to TV.
I recommend this to everyone who is tired of Disney's family friendly Marvel and post-Nolan DC films. The Boys, Joker and Watchmen - this year seems to bring the long required change.
Dark (2017)
Great show for time-travel fans, but has the same weaknesses as most German productions (I'm German)
Soundtrack 10/10
Plot 6/10 (very dependent on taste - e.g. Breaking Bad is a 10/10 no matter the taste)
Characters 5/10
Cinematography 8.5/10
La casa de papel (2017)
Overrated.
At most on a level with shows like Prison Break, rather below it.
There are just too many better shows than this to justify a 8.6, seriously.
Fear the Walking Dead (2015)
Good example of how greed ruins whole franchises.
Every season the characters seem to change their minds and act different. What all seasons have in common: Terrible writing quality. There surely was some potential and interesting aspects (outbreak, ocean, natives, Mexico) but they couldn't have been handled worse. I don't care about any of the characters.
I don't know how but the showrunners implemented the worst things from TWD and made it even worse. This show clearly is nothing more than an attempt to milk the cashcow Walking Dead. Sadly there are enough undemanding viewers to make such awful shows even happen.
TWD should've been canceled in S6 to give it a honorable ending. FTWD deserves to be canceled because it's nothing than an impudence. I heard there're even plans for ANOTHER show, this time focused on teens! This is how to kill a whole genre.
Stranger Things (2016)
Watch this for the nostalgia but be aware of product placements.
Nostalgia 10/10.
Great level of detail, fantastic atmosphere.
Plot 7/10.
S1 had the best plot so far. It's kinda obvious S2 and S3 were not planned in the first place, yet they're not as bad to ruin the general charm of the series.
Characters: 8.5/10.
Stereotypes with some nice character development.
Product placements -2.
Absolutely polluted with product placements. Netflix doesn't show commercials so they include advertisements in the episodes? S3 is the worst so far. Multiple conversations focus completely on products.