I Saw This!! What I Have Been Watching: A Long Long Look Back, Pt. F - I Suppose It's Only Occasionally a Long Look

I Saw This (double exclamation point) is our feature wherein Kent(!) or Toasty attempt to write about a bunch of stuff they watched some time ago and meant to write about but just never got around to doing so. But we can't not write cuz that would be bad, very bad.  Freedumb Convoy bad.

What I Have Been (or Am) Watching is the admitted state of me spending too much time in front of the TV. But what else was the last few years about? Sure, we got a few breaks from being confined at home, and might have actually gone outside (gasp!) and socialized with (double-gasp!) human beings (faint-dead-away) but we always ended up back on the sofa, flicker in hand, trying to find something to watch amidst the 35 shows we downloaded, and the 5 or so streaming services we are subscribed to.

Part A is here. Part B is here. Part C is here. Part D is over there. Part E is there.

Travel Man, 2015-2019, Amazon Prime Video / CBC Gem

This is more a Marmy show, than a Toasty show, but I walked into the room enough times and sat through a couple of episodes, as she binged the entire series on Gem and Prime, that I have some words to share.

So, premise. Richard Ayoade (the host at the time; The IT Crowd) and a celebrity guest travel to a tourist destination city for 48 hours. Most of the time, the idea is to pack the two days with as many of the local attractions, and food, as they can while still being budget conscious. I assumed the idea worked because Europe is small enough, and diverse enough, that you can travel from the UK to just about anywhere pretty quickly, but that idea is blown apart in season 1 by visiting Iceland and Marrakesh, which are not nearby whatsoever. The other idea is that Richard generally doesn't like to travel, hates sun, hates water, hates new food, etc. So the idea of a celebrity guest, usually a British comedian, following around thus curmudgeon's itinerary is where the funny comes in.

Most guests don't handle Ayoade's weird, dry, grumpy comedy very well but some play off him very well, and some even surpass him, giving him more than a bit of his own medicine back in return. But really, its the locations that shine. Even in such small doses, the places chosen, even the far out there ones, are just fascinating. I have always said, that if I was to travel, that I would prefer to stay in a single place for an extended time, like a month or more, to learn about the places the locals know, to get the feel for the area that is not focused on pure tourism. This show is the opposite, in that almost everything they do is utterly tourist focused, often led by local guides, but they are always about the experience which is typically so purely tied to the area, that even the micro-dose of exposure encapsulates the experience. 

Some of my favs include Richard and IT Crowd alum Chris O'Dowd in Vienna, where O'Dowd seems to be a genuine friend to Ayoade and completely in tune with the humour of the show, and the "tourist" choices they make, one of which is a sewer tour, overwhelming stink and all. Jo Brand in Venice is fun because she is also not quite the traveler but has a wonderful time despite the two being themselves. Paul Rudd cracking wise in Helsinki in a sauna with other half-naked people doing their best to not lose it on camera is hilarious, but I am not sure he and Richard ever meshed well in comedy styles, given that both like to make others uncomfortable; but that could have been the entire point. I might be biased but Aisling Bea was both funny and charming outshining Richard entirely for their visit to Budapest. Jon Hamm and Richard getting absolutely wild custom tailored suits in Hong Kong made the episode worth it.

In the end I was overwhelmed by a desire to travel, but won't, with a large budget, which I will never have. I also think that a show could be created and presented by a guy such as myself, a self described "I have never really been anywhere" but replacing the curmudgeon with just typical anxiety ridden enthusiastic curiosity about everything and everywhere. I know I would love to travel but doing so always drags up such... baggage.

*cough*

The FBIs, 2021-2022, Stack TV / Download

I had the Slot A of this collection of crime shows in a previous edition of this topic, but I only briefly touched on it, really just said "I am watching it." I have continued to watch the show(s), usually waiting for a season to complete before downloading them in large bunches for Saturday morning me-time viewing. But in the winter of 2021, we grabbed StackTV for the access to Hallmarkies and two of these shows were there for the watching -- so I caught up. I say "two" because the third, FBI: International was listed as available, but they would only let me watch the first three fucking episodes. Seriously, fuck StackTV -- you pay for Amazon Prime video, you pay to add on StackTV, they force you to watch commercials, and then they also deny certain shows for bulk viewing, likely due to some sort of rights mis-negotiation. And yet, they still have the gall to advertise the fuckin show as something you can watch, while... you cannot.

But that's alright, it is the least of the three. The Alot A show FBI continues to follow the careers of Maggie and OA, as they fight the good FBI fight in NYC, against serial killers, terrorists, bombers and other criminals. The show has begun to explore the roll the FBI has in the war on terrorism, or more accurately, the war on Muslims. OA is a Muslim so that contradiction has always had a role in the show's current affairs, but more recently he has been forced into difficult situations, bringing in people who have been corrupted by more powerful influential folks. They have also touched briefly on the BLM stories, and explored the societal challenges via two supporting characters, one white and wealthy (he left behind Wall Street when he felt its sliminess lay its hands on him) and one a young, black woman who is challenged by her own community for being a police officer. The Crime of the Week is fine, but I like when the show explores what we are dealing with in the real world.

So yeah, just another, "Yeah I am watching it."

Meanwhile, I don't know what the fuck is going on with FBI: Most Wanted. The first offshoot was focused on a federally mandated recovery team, so kind of like the US Marshalls service but focused on crimes within the FBI mandate. But other than locale, it was pretty much Crime of the Week. It differed in that it had a side-focus on the personal life of their leader Jesse LaCroix, who was raising his daughter with the help of her maternal grandparents on a farm in upstate NY. LaCroix's late wife had been a soldier killed in action, but the fact she was Native American also played a part in the plot, including one of the team being her brother.

LaCroix was depicted as an emotionally reserved individual utterly trusted by his team. Little affected his steely exterior but his daughter. The show started up during the beginning of the pandemic and production was almost instantly impacted by things going on, leading to some major character changes by the end of the season, that just felt... off. LaCroix's brother in law leaves the show, along with his parents, the grandparents taking care of LaCroix's daughter. I am still not sure if something happened behind the scenes to influence the departures, or it was just connected to The Pause, but it changed the dynamic of the show significantly, eventually leading to more departures and new castings.

The Slot C of the show, FBI: International is still rather new, and I did eventually catch up via my  usual of downloading everything. This is a weird one, focused on an FBI task-force based in Budapest, that are supposed to take the reins on crimes with American connections anywhere in Europe. The show barely attempts to play it out exactly as it sounds -- that the local police forces, including Interpol, are barely adequate and not equipped to do anything without American intervention. Its still pretty much the formula for all other FBI shows, where the locals (American small town) have to give up jurisdiction to "the Feds", except its on a wider scale, but the same tension plays out. There is also a weird undercurrent that most of these police forces suffer an immense amount of corruption and local government intervention, which is all kettle black pot territory.

So far, I am not all that enthralled by the cast, but for the re-tasked cadaver dog who came out of retirement to round out the team. Of course, the locales are beautiful, but rather than explore more of the host country's unique natures, much of the episodes seem to have everyone being angry, swarthy men with funny accents. One episode was an exception, taking place in the break away state of Transnistria, in eastern Moldova, the real country, not one of the many (including Hallmarkies) fictional countries with similar sounding names. I had never heard of the place before the episode. And now, with Europe mired in an unexpected war, I wonder how later production, and plots, of the show will depict this turmoil (tragedy, crisis, utter fucking rage-inducing nightmare).

Discovery S04, 2022, Paramount+

My enthusiasm for this Star Trek series is diminishing with each season, and if the previous one left me unsatisfied, this one just left me ... entirely flat. Its like going back to the Next Generation and realizing, the series on its own was not great, more so, it is about the franchise reemerging and the gem episodes that shine. But Discovery is less episodic and more serial, so the entire season plot has to be of interest to me, and it just ain't. Sure, I will continue to watch, but not feverishly so as I did with the first two seasons.

This season moves on from re-establishing the Federation and just tosses yet another full season arc Big Bad. For a culture that had all but collapsed into anarchy with the loss of safe warp travel, they sure recovered in the blink of an eye. Burnham is now captain of the Discovery and is pressed as to her loyalties when Book's home planet is destroyed by some new space anomaly that they very quickly discover is not natural, but manufactured... by some race from beyond the galaxy's edge. Book is rightfully upset and teams up with a mysterious genius to find the BBEG and kill them.

I always forget that everything in Star Trek takes place in a single galaxy, and the edge of said galaxy has always been a crazy purple barrier. But no matter, Discovery is able to bypass any obstacle and needs to reach this "extra galactic" race before Book and his murderous scientist do. And they do, because of course they do.

I don't really have anything in particular I disliked about this season, but.... <in best Vamp Willow voice>, "Bored now!" Burnham and her ever present whisper-talk (curses upon you Kent for pointing this out) doing her best to stay as a reputable captain (instead of running off half-cocked like she has ... for the entire series) while still trust Book to Do the Right Thing. Meanwhile they do some half-baked but admirable attempts to add in some gender politics and mental health stories into the mix but... <yaaaaawn>

I have a feeling Strange New Worlds will fill my interest more than this show, and this season's Picard have.