spoilers ahead

[edit: I was clearly distracted and forgot to give some explanation]

I have unfortunately developed a bit of a fixation on Good Omens.

Sorry.

If I knew theology and Calvinism etc better I would have loads MORE to say about it. So I hope everyone is very grateful about this.

Basically I realised I am, despite everything, an Aziraphale.

Anxious to do the right thing, avoidant, don't always get social cues, wears the same clothes for years... (though not for centuries) Always looking for lifts from people. I love food. I create a routine, if I don't have one, and seek comfort. And yes, sometimes to my detriment, but

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Spoilers for S2E5-6

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Some complain that Aziraphale's Regency-type ball was a form of manipulation: a miracle of unexpected, unwarranted intimacy. As if giving the Whickber St traders party clothes wasn't enough, he miracles their emotions and even their movements. Intrusive. Not very angelic.

As if one of the themes of Good Omens, and Gaiman's and Pratchett's works in general, isn't autonomy. Throughout Good Omens, Aziraphale particularly struggles with the moral quandary of autonomy vs best interest – sometimes a triangle of autonomy/best interest/God's will. (Now this is starting to sound like work.) Is it really so out of character for any of the divine/ethereal beings to sacrifice human autonomy to achieve their own aims? Crowley and Aziraphale may love humanity enough that they might think twice before doing it, but they still do that often enough.

Was the ball beyond the pale? Well, it was a situation with dubious consent. Aziraphale probably got carried away. If the entire series was distilled to a point, though, rarely is an action purely one thing or another. It was a darker shade of grey than the angel usually inhabits, and a particularly exuberant demonstration of their tendency towards escapism/illusion. (Oh, Mr Fell and his amazing tricks...)

#tv #goodomens

this isn't so much a review as it is Reasons Why This is Ideal Comfort Watching

If the object belongs to a relative or friend, the team (either the host or the craftspeople themselves) always ask the loved one's name and remember it later. And they always say “thank you for trusting us with it”

The care they take with paintings/toys/sculptures/instruments etc has a big similarity to work. People trust us in times of great vulnerability – we do drastic things sometimes – and we always hope they come out better than the person who came in.

#tv #comfortfood

13 episodes of 4 seasons total. 2006.

Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) from the Doctor Who universe gets his own highlight with his underground investigative unit, Torchwood (named for Doctor Who S02E02, Tooth and Claw). Police Constable Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) stumbles across them in the pilot, and ends up joining them.

The characters in the team fit neatly into archetypes. Owen is the slightly arrogant, brash one; Toshiko is studious, Asian and good with computers; Ianto is Nice. Gwen Cooper is, I suppose, the emotional heart, but it's hard to tell. She is a little like Jenny Lee in the first season of Call the Midwife – no obvious archetype, always a little more emotionally involved than anyone else.

The stories in each episode are decent, even through the filter of 14-year-old visual effects. It doesn't have the wild inventiveness and imagined technological universes of Doctor Who, which is a pity as they had the scope for it – it is meant to be a collection of the brightest scientists and “operatives” (whatever that means) after all. Harkness tends to be the lynchpin. Dashing, conventionally handsome and flirty with absolutely anyone and possibly anything, he gives the group and indeed the stories some momentum.

#TV #whoniverse

Watched Seasons 3-9.

A rotating cast of white British men act as the “helicoptered-in” detective inspector working with a tiny team of local sergeants and constables. Each DI starts their run of episodes literally flying in, most often from London, and often struggle with culture shock, to comedic effect.

Despite the fairly frequent cast changes, the stories emphasise camaraderie and community. Where the previous shows I've talked about focus on how close-knit communities close around their own and exclude the outsiders, community in Death in Paradise is much more inclusive. There's more about taking care of each other and accepting each other's foibles.

Each episode is incredibly formulaic. Plenty of locked room mysteries here, only slightly bumbling detective work and a round-up at the end. Comfort watching, only if you don't mind the lingering taste of colonialism.

#TV #crime #ComfortFood

8 episodes, 2020.

A space cruise is thrown off course and the command team have to deal with a ship they don't really understand and thousands of snotty, entitled tourists.

Hugh Laurie plays Captain Ryan Clark, who finds himself far, far out of his depth having to go between the ship's chief engineer (Billie McEvoy) who – spoiler – actually knows what she's doing, and the profit-driven, bumbling CEO Herman Judd (Josh Gad). The captain's ineffectual, vocal anger is a foil for Judd's clumsy, hare-brained capers. Is it a pointed critique of our times? Or a perfect story setup?

The ship is a parody of the entertainment industry – there are many familiar aspects to Avenue 5, from the delusional focus on optics (i.e. suspiciously photogenic crew) to the self-centred, impressionable tourists. Death initially appears remote – as it tends to do, on a cruise – but soon becomes old news. Comedic, full of dark humour, but with a solid core of story.

#miniseries #TV #HughLaurie

A short webseries about a software developer who gets post-humously uploaded to a virtual afterlife, but... not is all as it seems...

With sitcom-length episodes, they're well-paced and flow well. It has the aesthetic and some of the tropes of The Good Place. The better comparison, however, is probably Avenue 5, with its dark humour and pointed portrayal of capitalism.

The show is set in a capitalist dystopia of an America, but remains surprisingly optimistic. It captures spoilt rich kids (and adults who remain forever kids because of who they are) to a tee, and exploring what a future shaped by virtual reality could look like. The relationships between characters are heartfelt though, and I thought the kid characters in particular were well-written.

Exploring what personhood and empirical reality looks like when the virtual alternative is almost indistinguishable raises plenty of ethical grey areas, and the series alludes to them, though it never quite goes into exploring them.

#TV #sitcom #ethics

A Japanese TV series centred around a diner which opens only from midnight to 7 am.

The scarred owner explicitly hints at a mysterious dark past, but that rarely plays a big role. Most of the characters are people society wouldn't consider “respectable”, or who don't fit in.

The food featured is incredibly simple, but not plain. Butter rice, omelettes, ochazuke – all staples of home cooking, all things that one could cook at home. And while it teeters on the edge, it doesn't fall into the trap of sentimentality and cloying sweetness.

Each episode clocks in at 20 minutes – short and sweet for a meal break...

#tv #food #Japanese #cosy #ComfortFood