Submitted 1 year ago by koreth@lemm.ee to moviesandtv@lemmy.film
Watched season 1 back when it was first airing, but never got around to season 2. People seem to hate it but I can’t quite tell if that’s because it wasn’t up to the standard of season 1 or if it was just bad TV.
Should I skip it and go straight to season 3? Or is it worth watching on its own merits?
It wasn’t bad. It’s just cursed to be forever compared to its predecessor, which obviously it can never live up to. If it was released as a different and unrelated neo-noir series, I think it would get good ratings. If you can set aside any biases and comparing it to season 1, I think you’ll enjoy it. The main cast was pretty good. You can’t go wrong with Colin Farrell. Some people hated Vince Vaughn’s acting, but if you put it under the lense of someone who is a try-hard wannabe gangster, I think it makes sense.
Now that there is enough distance from S1 I might give it a watch!
it's an anthology series, which, even if people understood before going into it, could understandably be difficult to really separate oneself from while viewing. think about another show you like. which episode do you like best? does another good episode deserve ridicule just because it's not as amazing as your favorite? critique for sure, but that's just to continue to refine the origin of your personal enjoyment of the show and each episode.
s1 is masterful. s2 is still better than almost anything made these days. same with s3. and looking forward to s4.
I had very high expectations after season 1 that season 2 just didn’t live up to. The story was nowhere near as engaging to me, and there was a element of mysticism in the first season that made it highly intriguing. It’s like they tried to capture a bit of that in season 2, but it was ultimately a let down. It was good in it’s own right, and I probably would have even really liked it as a different tv series, but it just can’t compare to the first season. Season 3 is much better than season 2 in that regard, but still lives in the shadow of the original.
Didn’t think season 2 was bad at all, it isn’t great like the first and the third is a bit better than it, but it’s still better than most tv shows
My suggestions is to just rewatch season 01, and act like it was the only season.
But you’d miss on Season 3 that way, and that’s the best one out of all of them!
I must be an outlier because I was pretty let down by the conclusion of season one. To be sure the build up was great, but that ending was so predictable and disappointing that I haven’t bothered with subsequent seasons.
Not as much of a let down as season eight of GoT, but it still tainted the whole season and show for me.
I found season 2 very memorable but season 1 was much better. Season 3 was quite good too.
It would have been fine if they’d either removed Vince Vaughn or made him the main story.
He was acting like he just saw Jeremy irons in dungeons and dragons and thought he was being too subtle. He had 0 awareness that there were other actors in the show, he made every scene a Shakespeare’s soliloquy about how intense he was.
That was the problem, everyone was acting it 15/10 intense, and you can’t have every character be s1 rusty, woody actually did a great job as the straight man keeping it from devolving into a huge mess.
Season 2 wasn’t bad. Even season 1 doesn’t measure up to the idea of season 1. I tried to rewatch it but couldn’t get far. The dialogue is kind of cringe. I enjoyed it once, but it didn’t go anywhere too interesting and in hindsight the self important dialogue isn’t earned.
It has individual good moments but I think it’s problem is that it tried to tackle too many plot lines all at once without all of them feeling totally connected.
If it was just about the vinci corruption or just about Vince Vaughns mob, or just about the dealings with the girls being taken to the parties, it would have been a much stronger show. Or just drop one of the storylines and find stronger connections between them. The ensemble cast is good, the forced romance was pretty bad.
The biggest problem in my opinion, and echoed by many others, is that every main character is trying to be Rust. Extremely smart, depressed and just way too philosophical about everything. There was no straight man to cut through the highbrow musings, so every character felt majorly up their own ass. Woody harrelsons character was an important grounding point.
Season 3 goes a different direction and is much stronger for it. It feels closer to season 1 but different enough so it doesn’t feel like it’s retreading old ground.
Same for Band Of Brothers and the Pacific. Shame.
I watched half of season two and just couldn’t keep going, I found it very boring. I ended up picking back up on the series when season three came back and I really enjoyed it.
cmbabul@lemmy.world 1 year ago
It may not be as bad as made out to be but neither season 2 & 3 can escape the shadow of the first season. The first captured something that I’m still not 100% sure I can put my finger on, it was like watching ghost/haunting docu specials on a cool night in October, eerie in a way that you felt like you were watching the discovery of something big and deeply terrifying.
I would say give the others a shot and make up your own mind, but I’mnot a fan of either
8ender@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Everything about season one still stands out to me as an anomaly. Just this incredible show that dropped out of nowhere and the magic couldn’t be recreated again.
scorpious@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Well said, fully agree.
I happened to come out mostly enjoying 2 & 3 (3 more), tho both fared much better on second watches.
S1 truly stands alone, to be fair against most filmed entertainment, not just subsequent seasons!