TV and movies

Well, the midseason shows have been returning, though I haven't had time to watch them all. There are some new shows too. I'm ambivalent about PBS's new dramas Miss Scarlet and the Duke, and All Creatures Great and Small. I like some of the characters on Miss Scarlet, but other things strike me as too modern and too focused on the will they, won't they romance of the title characters. I'd rather they spend that energy on making the mystery plots better; it's a lot of style and not enough substance. As for the James Herriot remake, I don't like it as well as the original show. Granted, my memory of the original All Creatures Great and Small is somewhat faded, but I remember the show being more colorful and more funny, so much so that I read all the Herriot books to stay in that world. I remember the Yorkshire accents of all the farmers and I remember the animal stories being the main focus of each episode. This new Masterpiece remake focuses on the vets' romances and personal dramas so much that they minimize the animals and the farmers to almost the background. There's rarely a "nowt" uttered. It's so slow and the love triangle is so predictable; I'm not sure if I'll continue with season 2. I need to find out if the original 1978 show is streaming anywhere. ETA: It's on Britbox, but I'm not on that service. *Sigh*

The new Batwoman is pretty good so far, but I'm having trouble following the Safiyah plot. I started to watch this week's episode, and everyone was talking about some Napier painting. Did I miss an episode? I thought the quest was to find the Ocean guy, in order to get to Kate? I didn't even finish the episode yet because clearly I need to set aside time to fully concentrate rather than watch absentmindedly. Meanwhile, Black Lightning came back with a time jump to a year later. I was so happy that Freeland is not occupied anymore and the Markovian war is over. Last season spent way too long trapped in that warzone world, and I was glad to get back to the regular world, fighting Tobias and the gangs in the neighborhood. I haven't seen more recent episodes due to the blackout and a new work schedule, but I'm hopeful that this final season will be good.

I watched the new Judas and the Black Messiah; it was really well acted, and revealed a lot of fucked up FBI tactics against the Black Panthers (and other Civil Rights leaders). Stanfield really captured the paranoia of the undercover informant Bill O'Neal, making him seem conflicted and caught in a horrible situation. I also liked the romance with Fred and Deborah. I was surprised when the ending titles mentioned that Fred Hampton was only 21 when he was killed. Later I read about him and Bill O'Neal on Wiki, and both of these guys were really young during this time period. Both actors are in their 30s, when the historical people would have been late teens and early 20s. So it makes it a little more understandable why the FBI could pressure Bill so easily and he could make such poor decisions, betraying his friends. Great acting despite the age difference, nonetheless.

On Netfllix, I watched To All the Boys, Always and Forever on Valentine's day. It was the last of the trilogy, and I liked how it started out with a trip to Korea. The romcom was nice and cute, a good way to say goodbye to Lara Jean. I don't know why they made the colleges East Coast vs West Coast, when the book apparently had the schools in Virginia and North Carolina.