David: The Mandalorian

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I didn’t want to fall for Disney+’s bait, but after 3 weeks of seeing The Mandalorian everywhere I finally surrendered and subscribed.

As I type this, the top post on Reddit accuses this of being a $100 million show about nothing. I disagree, but also see their perspective.

My beloved LOST (not ignoring Twin Peaks) and the modern habit of binge watching have ruined the old school serial. There’s an entire generation who don’t understand that television series didn’t used to be 10 hour movies broken up into roughly 1 hour chunks. The tail end of every episode wasn’t a cliffhanger leading directly into the next.

Have you ever tried to get a friend to start watching a show you discovered on Netflix? Inevitably you have to say something similar to, “It starts slow, but if you power through the first few episodes it really takes off.” While that type of world building is great it’s such a modern luxury. You couldn’t dangle the promise of future excitement in a weekly serial format. Episode 1 had to be great, episode 2 had to be even better. Then you had to deal with the people who missed them both and make an episode 3 that stood on its own.

Take one of my favorites from the 90s: Quantum Leap. I don’t know where in the cycle I even started watching as a kid, but I immediately picked up what was going on (it was explained word for word in the opening credits narration, but I digress). Sam wasn’t searching for some macguffin. He was just trying to complete each week’s time hopping task with the vague hope of scoring a “leap home”.

That’s kinda what we have with Mando. He’s on the run trying to protect a kid, but he’s still got to survive, and therefore earn, in this galaxy. We drop in on the more interesting escapades and enjoy the spectacle before he rides off into the sunset. We get a little Star Wars world building along the way.

And Bill Burr. Bill fucking Burr in a Star War. That was great.

David: Half-Life

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I’m glad there’s something coming, but I ain’t getting into VR. Looking forward to reading the plot synopsis on Wikipedia, though if it’s not Laidlaw I’ll be doubly disappointed.

David: Death Stranding

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I'm staring at a countdown clock that says a little over 5 hours to go before I can play Hideo Kojima's new game.

I think I'll turn the Twitch stream on for this one.

David: A Poll For Vent - Update

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Liam Gallagher has weighed in

https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/dgg82n/im_liam_gallagher_and_you_are_not_pt_2/f3bcvx2/

David: Mr. Robot

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The first time I heard about LOST, I said it was stupid. This was at the height of Survivor popularity, and I was cynical enough to see the show as a cash in on the premise of strangers on an uncharted island. Then season 2 came around, and the previews didn’t look like a lame drama, but a suspenseful mystery. I was hooked episode to episode for the remainder of the run.

No other show has captured me like that until Mr. Robot.

I won’t say much for those that haven’t seen it, but it plays with its format in clever ways, is very cinematic, and doesn’t shy from recognizing its influences. Season 4 just surprised me by showing up on my DVR, and I can’t wait to see how this thing wraps up.