Be Excellent To Each Other

I would like to humbly suggest that the best thing about Series One of The Boys (series one, at least) is Black Noir.

About to watch series two and see if it’s as much of a hot mess as people suggest it is.

Ok, yeah. I’ve gone off him in the first scene of series two.

Oh no. Starlight is singing. Honestly this didn’t start well

Generally speaking the critical consensus on Season 2 of The Boys seems to be 'very good' to 'excellent', whereas me and Mrs Hearthly were less impressed, but we seem to be swimming against the tide on that one. She went 7/10, I'd maybe drop that down to 6.5/10, which are both 'above average' to 'good' ratings, but some way short of the stellar brilliance of Season 1. (To be clear, at its best it's still a bloody good show, but as noted previously, it's wildly uneven in terms of quality and pacing IMO.)

We're working our way through Season 2 of The Umbrella Academy now, and are both much preferring that as a viewing experience.

I just couldn't get into that at all. I think I gave it three or four episodes and wasn't caring about anyone or anything that was happening.

Season 1 or 2?

Season 1

I ended up enjoying Season 1 of The Umbrella Academy, but it was a lot of effort because every character was so fucking annoying. Thinking about it, it's a miracle I actually finished it. Clearly there was something about it that did something for me, though I struggle now to put my finger on what it was.

The episode of The Boys, Season 2 picked up as it went on. Glad the Aussie Irish cockney is back.

We watched a few (3?) episodes on The Umbrella Academy a few months ago, but I just couldn’t seem to get invested in it.

We are watching Ratched at the moment, too. I’m not heavily invested in it, but I do love how bold they have gone on the styling. I can watch it for that alone.

I enjoyed both seasons of The Umbrella Academy.

Currently bingeing Handmaids Tale, halfway through season 3 now.

Also enjoying The Haunting of Bly Manor, it’s not as good as Hill House so far but still good.

If anyone listens to the Song Exploder podcast, Netflix have made a four part serial with the folks that make the podcast. I only know one of the songs (REM’s Losing My Religion), but it’s worth watching just to see the physical reactions that some of the band members have (especially Stipe) as they strip the track down, and he’s faced with his bare vocal (which is cushioned a bit by the reverb). Worth watching if you have a spare hour.

Edit: because despite watching this I actually wrote the wrong song

I’ve been learning that on the mandolin recently.

I didn’t know you had a mandolin! How wonderful.

I inherited it from my father-in-law, who passed away in July.

Second this.

Obviously less happy, reason-wise, but a nice way to carry on his memory by learning, certainly.