From: ijball@mac.invalid   
      
   On 1/3/26 1:30 AM, Ubiquitous wrote:   
      
   > [What did you watch?]   
      
   Exploited my brother's Amazon subscription to watch:   
      
   Gen V (Prime) - Ep's #2.1-2.5.   
       So far, the second season is a mix of good and bad.   
       Good: The explanation for the absence of Chance Perdomo and his   
   character was handled about as well as could be expected here (and they   
   use this as an excuse to use Sean Patrick Thomas more, which is also a   
   plus)... The "mystery" of season #2 (including Marie's origins) is   
   elevated, and the addition of Hamish Linklater as the new school's   
   "dean" sure improved things. Linklater's Dean Cypher as a "supe" (or   
   *is* he?!?!), with a secret ('natch!), who seems obsessed with   
   "leveling" Marie Moreau's (Jaz Sinclair) powers is probably the best   
   part of the season.   
       Bad: Creator Eric Kripke continues traversing down his rabbit (rat?)   
   hole of obsessive anti-MAGA bashing (complete with repeated strawmen)   
   which by this point is no longer fresh and just continues to drag the   
   franchise down. In the same vein, the "gross-out" scenes are by now just   
   tedious. (Has Kripke lost any ability to project subtlety?!!) And the   
   "cameos" from "The Boys" (Starlight, The Deep, Sister Sage) aren't   
   working as well this season.   
      Overall, I am looking forward to binging through the last 3 episodes   
   to see where they go with this, esp. Linklater's Dean Cypher.   
      
   Playdate (Prime) - Alan Ritchson clowns his way through this as an   
   aggressive "dad bro" (with a secret), with Kevin James as the put-upon   
   "straight man" - a just-fired now stay-at-home stepdad. It's not long   
   (though it takes too long for him to show up) before Ritchson and his   
   son have thrown James's life with his stepson into chaos, as they all   
   are forced to go on the run (filmed in Vancouver!!) together from   
   ruthless bad guys.   
       This is goofy (though "not deep") fun, with some amusing cameos   
   (e.g. Stephen Root, Alan Tudyk, Isla Fisher), though I found the ending   
   lacking, and it felt like they didn't use Sarah Chalke enough.   
      
   What did you watch?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)