DWilson

I don't know if "Civilians" like you or me can ever understand the machinations of TV production. I'm guessing the current model of shorter-run cable series is that two seasons is the safest bet (most series that aren't total disasters get an automatic second season) because it often takes time for something to catch on. A 20-or so episode network series pretty much either gets its audience or doesn't.

I just read a piece that said networks have done research that shows audiences are inclined to watch shows if they can "catch up" with them. Perhaps that's why I'm seeing a change in how shows are presented lately; it's easier now to find nearly whole seasons "On Demand" or (for me) offered on some Roku channel. I recently lost a bunch of stuff (several current seasons of a few series) I had saved on my VCR, but I've found almost all of them "On Demand" (tough, of course, these days they all have ads). It was a lot harder to do that a year or so ago.

mcnabb

I agree as I'm sure the whole issue of the state of TV is very complicated and nobody has a true gauge of what is the most profitable for these networks.

My biggest worry is will Cable TV/Streaming cave like Network TV and start dumbing down their shows? When I see a show that is critically acclaimed like Mr. Robot and tanking in the ratings, you have to wonder when networks will stop taking chances on shows like this? I see so many shows great shows out there that are virtually ignored by the public simply because they don't have time to watch everything or they never bother to get into it from the start because there is too much out there to choose from.

Neitzl

I HATE the framing! I think he's trying to be Tom Hooper, and Fincher, but with more Hooper.
I noticed it last season, but this year, it's in nearly every damn scene! So annoying, but I'll stick with it.
That shootout scene freaked me out, it was done so well.

funkyryno

This week's episode was much better. It's finally starting to get interesting ... it just took a little too long.

RichC2

It's more Hooper. Fincher never does odd for the sake of odd, but will do flashy for the sake of flashy.

Esmail is trying to be creative with it but it's really heavy handed now. Like Hooper, he'll take a scene where the camera should just be still and make it about the cinematography and being flashy over letting the scene shine.

Also going to take a miracle to get a season 3, this pulled a 0.2 in the demo which is just atrocious.

Raul3

This week episode was better than the previous ones. But yeah.

Hopefully the rest of the season can stay at a high level.

Still, it seems like here I'm one of the few still liking the show. For me, it still have more positives than negatives, specially the last episode. Yes, there are still a lot of open questions, but hopefully we are closer to some answers.

Osiris3657

I dug the late 80s/early 90s bit. Meticulously recreated a show from that time. The clothes, music, on screen graphics, laugh track, commercials, and filmed with video cameras from that era. Loved it, found it very amusing.

Deftones

What. The. Fuck.

bunkaroo

Uh oh I haven't watched yet. Is this going to be a tapout episode?

windom

Epic guest star in this episode. I recognized the name in the opening credits but it didn't register with me until it actually happened.

Deftones

Didn't he just die recently? Edit: I was thinking of the little guy. He died a few years ago.

Raul3

That was ... special.

I guess the theory/secret/surprise may be true.

They may be replicating the first season, when in that episode had the big reveal, that everyone knew about...

In that sense, I don't like that.

My issue right now: I don't care what happens to Elliott. The rest of the show is interesting though.

Deftones

Care to spoiler?

VHS?

Best episode of the season. I could watch it again.
"Uh-oh, sounds like that cancer is acting up again"
"Looks like it to"

PhantomStranger

That guest has been just about the only highlight for me in this tedious second season. I did recognize the name immediately, so I was spoiled for the surprise appearance.

Craig Robinson's character simply isn't working. It's obvious his dramatic acting skills need work. I say this as someone that has liked him in comedies. That was a wildly bad casting decision.

If someone loved season one, I would almost tell them to avoid watching this second season. No amount of payoff is going to make up for the episodes we've already endured this year.

slop101

In this 50-minute episode there was maybe 15 minutes of story progression. And that's being generous. I get they're trying to do something different/quirky, but instead, it feels like they're dragging their heels. Only enough story idea for maybe 3 episodes, so there's all this extraneous filler, and I like Alf!

Bill Needle

Yep. This season has been terrible. Now entering the final third of the season and the Elliot stuff is a non-story and a complete waste of time. As for the rest, I had hoped that there was something still waiting to burst into the series, that Esmail couldn't possibly think that the adolescent anti-establishment rhetoric used by the characters was somehow profound. Every episode I wonder why he keeps hitting us over the head with what an imbecile Elliot's sister is. But it has become apparent that this vacuous world view is all there is, as though the mere existence of an economy is some sort of subversive plot against humanity who must in turn be heroically defended by some hipster demagogues with computer skills and a messiah complex.

As for the throw-back part of the latest episode, 'Too Many Cooks' did it far better. Just something else Esmail stole and did less well.

Breakfast with Girls

I love the show, both seasons. I don't understand the hate; the show has always been about the characters, not the plot. I think it's one of the best shows on television, and still hopeful for (but not expecting) a third season.

Raul3

bunkaroo

mcnabb

I've sort of defended this season in respect of, "Let's see where it goes..."

But if the whole buildup is about another twist just like Season 1, then it will sort of cheapen the show.

OldBoy

this show is going off the rails real quickly. that last episode with the sitcom style was g-d awful...

Raul3

Yeah, most people is getting tired.

And a lot of people will leave it's just another "twist" and nothing else in the other part.

mcnabb

I understand it was going for the 'cheesy' early 90's TV sitcoms like Step by Step and Family Matters, but it honestly took me right out of the episode. The one thing about the show is it is very gritty, but when you make a shift in tone that much it is very jarring. Honestly, I was watching it thinking, "Whose idea was this, as there had to be a better way of getting the point across with that whole sequence.

OldBoy

I'm sure it's all Esmail and he thinks he can do these concept shows that many have done before him, but this has only been on 1 fucking season thus far. I mean it was a fantastic fucking season, but he thinks he can take this show in all these directions and he's just plain wrong. He seems pompous and has these ideas that far exceed a tipping point for viewers that loved the first season, but he is sorely mistaken if he can keep going like this and turn everybody off the show. Sometimes tinkering with a formula in the beginning is just not correct and his tinkering is really jading me. Save concepts for the later years, but to be so bold as to try it in the sophomore season is plain amateurish imo...