8th day of Summer Vacation: in which we talk about Altered Carbon, the TV show

We started watching Altered Carbon back in March, but work got in the way and we always wanted to watch at least two episodes at a sitting... and so we ended up finishing it last night.

I have thoughts. So many thoughts.

But first of all, I should clarify that this is only a discussion of the TV show. I've read the book multiple times, and there's a separate discussion to be had, where in I compare and contrast them. But that is not today, not this discussion.

SPOILERS AHEAD.

SPOILERS ABOUND.

If I hadn't already read the book and several spoiler-free but extensive reviews, I might have stopped watching half-way through the first episode. So confusing! So many people! So much darkness! (literal darkness, as in I couldn't make the action on the screen; also, so much spiritual darkness.)  But I hung in there, and it rewarded me with Poe, the AI-hotel, plus a hallucination of Rei, the long-lost baby sister.

Rei is played by Dichen Lachman, whom I have adored since her days on Dollhouse. She does a lot of work in the SF genre but I still feel like she doesn't get featured prominently enough. Chris Campbell is also terrific, if underused, as Poe.

The first six episodes proceed competently. Joel Kinnaman does a nice job of playing dark-and-broody Takeshi Kovacs. Martha Higareda delights as the hyper-competent Kristen Ortega. The entire Bancroft family comes across as weird, just something slightly wrong with each of them...which is perfect. There IS something wrong with each of them and it just takes Tak and the viewer a little while to figure out what it is.

Special shout-out to Matt Biedel, who does a fantastic job of playing Kristen's abuela in one episode, and then plays a very convincing Dimi the Twin in two other episodes.

Some of the scenes are just too dark, literally, and I had to depend on subtitles and intelligent guessing to deduce what was going on.

Episode seven changed everything for me. I love-love-loved Will Yun Lee's portrayal of Takeshi. I also felt that it was Dichen Lachman's best performance of the series; she's better when her character has a chance to relax a little. Renee Elise Goldberry is terrific as Quellchrist Falconer throughout the series, but this episode finally gave her a chance to do something meaty with the role, and she delivered.

Heck, did she ever deliver.

And that was a problem for me, because episodes eight through ten just felt flat to me. But I liked the pay-off, and I will definitely watch a second season if they make one.

4th day of Summer Vacation: in which we watch sports all day

It was a really busy school year and I ended up recording a lot of things on the TiVo. Foremost among these would be the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. Well, the Belmont Stakes is on today, and Justified is potentially going to win the Triple Crown, so I made time to watch the previous two races while also cuddling the dog and doing some cooking.

Prior to that, a random tweet alerted me to the fact that it's also the finals of the French Open, and tennis is one of my favorite sports to watch... so Halep vs. Stephens it was, while I slurped down some cereal and tried to organize my morning.

In other words, I usually average less than 3 hours a week of sports-watching, and I put in something like 8 hours today. (I did fast forward over much of the commentary on the horse races.) I don't think I'll do that again, anytime soon.

Welcome to 2018

How did I do with last year's resolutions? Well, the whole "more people less screens" resolution worked out so well that I've watched ZERO new TV shows this year, and barely kept up with my old ones. In fact, I felt like I was looking for excuses to drop shows.

Hawaii 5-O loses both its Asian leads? GONE.

Code Black cans Raza Jaffrey after the first season? BYE-BYE

Losing interest in NCIS? (but really, the interest had been fading ever since Cote de Pablo left the show in 2013) SO OVER IT.

I didn't particularly get healthier, but I don't think I got less healthy.

I read 211 books, tried 66 new recipes, and watched 26 movies.

This year's possible resolutions are to get savvier with technology, find a way to get more exercise, and make better use of my physical cookbooks. (I tend to work straight from cooking blogs.) Plus, of course, the usual trio of reading, movies, new recipes.

Day 3: Wrapping up 2016, TV

We are finally almost finished with Person of Interest, which is available on Netflix. It's seriously one of the best shows I've ever seen. Go watch it if you haven't already!

I've also been watching Bull, Conviction (already cancelled, alas), Pitch, Timeless, and Designated Survivor.

I've also continued watching Elementary and NCIS: New Orleans.

I spent a lovely 17 days glued to Olympics coverage.

Day 3: Broadchurch

I'm still feeling really sick but I'm done with the whining. Instead, today I binge-watched the entire first season of Broadchurch. It was really well-acted and well-told. And it was completely NOT in my usual sweet spot for TV; which is to say that while I like police procedurals and I adore yummy British accents, I steer clear of anything in which a tween boy gets hurt or killed. It usually just hits too close to home.

I'm not sure why this was different.

But anyway, it's totally worth watching and at only about 6 hours total AND available on Netflix, it's an easy fix for a weekend or even just one long day of honking one's nose and coughing while laid up on the sofa.