Netflix's Arcane returns for season 2 in November. Is it enough for me to forget the election?

A few years ago, I became a fan of the League of Legends hit show on Netflix called Arcane. The trailer for the second season has finally dropped (I'm embedding it below). This is one of those shows that is rare in its quality, and because of that (I assume) it has taken years for the animation studio to release a follow-up. But it's also the last season of this particular storyline in this world, and I wasn't expecting that. However, there are going to be more stories that are told on Runeterra, and I think that seems like a really good way to develop this world. Afterall, I wasn't so much intrigued by the characters in season one (primarily Vi and Jinx) as I was intrigued at the world I was seeing. They also aren't continuing with the "Arcane" branding. My guess is that this decision is to avoid confusion.

The media landscape doesn't tend to have many long-running scripted shows these days, nevermind the rare anthology series. What does seem to be in abundance is plenty of shared universe storytelling. So, given this trend, I think having every region get its own "[insert brand]: A League of Legends Story" will be much clearer about what is going on to a layperson (like myself) than letting Arcane run for 12 seasons with a constantly rotating cast.

All of that being said, the trailer looks fantastic. I think that they're definitely leaning more and more into Vi being conflicted over the things that Jinx is doing. And I wonder how things will end as I'm not familiar with League of Legends lore. I guess we shall all find out come November :). Maybe it will be enough to get my mind off the election.

Leave the World Behind is a portrait of what could happen in America in a not-so-distant future.

In December, like many people, I watched the movie Leave the World Behind. This thriller on Netflix was bankrolled by the Obama's. I thought it was entertaining and relevant to the kinds of feelings I've been having as a quiet observer of our chaotic world. I also enjoyed the ways in which it sought to turn things upside down with regard to what you might normally expect to see in a movie. For example, in Leave the World Behind, the "well-to-do" people are black. It is their Airbnb that gets rented by Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke. This immediately sets up a lot of tension as the Julia Roberts character immediately questions this fact when she meets the owners in person (the Scotts) who are played by Mahershala Ali and Myh'la Herrold. And it takes quite a lot to get her to accept the truth that yeah...black people actually do own this multimillion-dollar house that they rented for a weekend.

There are many surprising and tension-building moments in the movie Leave the World Behind that held my attention. But one of the more profound things that occurred was in a line delivered by Julia Roberts about halfway through the film. In the role of Amanda Sandford, she says this to Ruth Scott:

"Every day, all day, my job...my whole job is to...understand people well enough so that I know how to lie to them, so I can sell them things they don't really want. And when you study people like that when you really see the way they treat each other, well...You're no dummy. You see what they do, and they do it without even thinking about it. Fuck. I did it to you and your dad, and I don't even really know why.  We fuck each other over all the time, without even realizing it. We fuck every living thing on this planet over and think it'll be fine because we use paper straws and order the free-range chicken. And the sick thing is, I think deep down we know we're not fooling anyone. I think we know we're living a lie. An agreed-upon mass delusion to help us ignore and keep ignoring how awful we really are."

There's a lot packed into that one comment. But it nevertheless captures everything that I've been feeling about the way I've noticed people around me living their lives. And the ending was kind of perfect. One of the characters, a little girl named Rose (played by an 18-year-old actress who has an autoimmune disease and thus looks like twelve), leaves the world behind (the title of the movie) by escaping/detaching from reality to find out what happened to Ross and Rachel in the series finale of Friends. Think of it as a digital pacifier as she doesn't really want to care about what's going on in the world or that her family is (probably) dying of radiation poisoning. Maybe she's the only one that truly "got it" about what it takes to live in modern times. That's (at least) the theory I got after the swift turn in health experienced by her brother in the movie.

Also there's a second quote...it's one from Alan Moore (I believe) that appears in the movie, and it says this:

"The main thing that I learned about conspiracy theory is that conspiracy theorists believe in a conspiracy because that is more comforting. The truth of the world is that it is actually chaotic. The truth is that it is not The Illuminati, or The Jewish Banking Conspiracy, or the Gray Alien Theory. The truth is far more frightening: nobody is in control. The world is rudderless."

This was a quote that gave me pause to think. In my opinion, the writers of the movie hit the nail on the head and that this is also totally true. In some ways, it could explain why there are so many people in America today embracing authoritarianism as opposed to democracy. I think (on many levels) a lot of people want to put someone in control, to give themselves a stronger illusion to cling to in a world that has become increasingly scary and strange to them. This is a world they don't recognize anymore, where people look different than what they remember, where goods cost a ton of money, where people are becoming bolder at price gouging, and where violence has become institutionalized. It's a world where people are always on the verge of being obsolete, and a world where tons of people are just "checking out" and choosing not to engage in work at all because it seems pointless (google "why work if I can't ever afford anything?"). It's a strange place to be, and this quote from the movie seems particularly timely.

In some ways, the movie Leave the World Behind also seems like a good jumping off point to A24's Civil War movie that comes out in a few months (in a big election year). The trailer for that movie starts out by saying "The third term president has declared..." implying in a big way that (at this point) the Constitution has been put through a paper shredder and that might is now right. It echoes a lot of feelings people are having regarding Trump and his strong fascist/ authoritarian views. Of course, I plan on seeing Civil War, which looks like a horrifying docudrama at this point rather than a movie. Staring into the void has become a lifestyle for me. I think that "knowing the truth" is important, even if it is really scary. I don't like being surprised, and being informed is how you avoid surprises.

Anyone else watch Leave the World Behind? If so, what did you think?

The Gray Man was a pretty great action flick starring the hottest men in the world.

I recently watched The Gray Man on Netflix. If you don't want to be spoiled, you should probably head on out now. Otherwise, tune in for what I have to say about this show.

I was impressed. The show had both Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans in it, and I heard it cost in the neighborhood of $200 million. That's some really impressive dough considering that this was available to watch on Netflix (I wasn't even paying attention to whether or not it was in theaters for a week). I love both Gosling and Evans. They're two of the hunkiest most attractive men in the world right now. Having both of them in a show pretty much sealed the deal for me in making it a priority watch.

So, in this show, Gosling plays the protagonist while Evans plays the sociopathic villain. It wasn't a role I was used to seeing on Evans, and I thought he played it rather well. I also learned that this movie was made after a "Gray Man series" of books. The movie explains within its opening credits in a prison visit by Billy Bob Thornton (who is an agent looking for talent to perform risky killings for a shadowy government agency) that they need someone to "work in the Grays." This roughly translates to, "If you get killed or caught, we won't help you one bit, and we won't acknowledge that you work for us." But from reading about the books online, I guess it is called "The Gray Man," because his greatest asset is that he is physically unremarkable in every way so that he can pass for multiple ethnicities and nationalities and no one ever remembers what he looks like.

So...even if he's physically not your cup of tea, no one has ever described Ryan Gosling as physically unremarkable. To me...he's the living embodiment of a Greek god brought to life, standing 6'1" with incredible eyes and a smile that would shame a shark. You'd remember his mug anywhere, and I'd remember those triceps even if I saw him from half a mile away. So yeah...maybe fans of the book will be upset that the casting wasn't quite right. But I enjoyed the hell out of it. It's essentially the same mistake as people casting Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher, who I guess is another role where the protagonist is physically unremarkable. But Hollywood seems to ignore those details. And who really cares, right? I mean some fans will be upset, but the author gets bank and gets to see his creation put before others with the most attractive people in the world playing the parts. I know I wouldn't care if this happened to me.

All that being said, I kinda thought Regé-Jean Page was a total miscast. We last saw him as "The Duke" in Bridgerton, and he did a superb job in that role. In this one, he wasn't menacing enough. He didn't have enough intimidation and force of personality to make me fear this guy. His overall performance seemed a bit campy...or at least on the verge of this. But I still enjoyed it.

I also see how the Fast and Furious films have really influenced action movies. In this latest entry in the action genre, the stunts are similar in fashion to what you'd see in that other billion dollar franchise. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. Sometimes I miss the old action movies like Big Trouble in Little China. Things were so much more believable in that film, which seems ironic if you take a moment to think about that statement.

Anyone else take the time to watch The Gray Man? If so, what did you think?

Don't Look Up should win in Best Documentary and not Best Picture in the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony.

I watched Don't Look Up on Christmas, and I thought it was a great movie. To clarify, it wasn't because of any particular acting performance. Rather...it was an allegory of what it is like to live in modern America. It was painful and enraging, because all of what the filmmakers are saying about Americans is completely true. If there was a comet that was going to strike the Earth and kill every human alive, we all know that the comet deniers and the capitalists would eventually win and we'd all go extinct. This is the tragedy of our species, and the show resonated with me so much because of that fact. It was hard to watch, and ultimately satisfying. However, I never thought it was going to be nominated for the Academy Awards or for Best Picture. But...here we are.

Directed by Adam McKay, Don't Look Up has an all-star cast. There's Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence at the center of the story, acting as modern-day Cassandra's, trying to get anyone to listen to their message of doom and trying to get the government of the United States to do something... anything... to prevent global extinction. Meryl Streep plays a female President Trump, so wrapped up in her own narcissism that she's oblivious to the messaging that comes from scientists, instead turning to the head of a mega corporation (who also is a huge campaign donor) to find a solution to their problems. The biggest kick in the pants probably comes from a bunch of comet deniers in the movie, who are on board with allowing the comet to strike the earth because (after the initial destruction), there will be so many jobs for people because of the rich mineral resources that the comet contains. It's a perfect allegorical tale mirroring the selfishness, greed, and stupidity of a modern America.

Many who have seen Don't Look Up, say that the comet is an allegory for climate change. Scientists and other people who believe in their work have (for decades) advocated and engaged literally everyone else who will listen. However, half the people stick fingers in their ears and yell, "What about global cooling?" They blame windmills, obstruct progress out of concern for the coal lobby and the jobs that Nantucket whalers could lose if we try to transition to solar energy, and the list goes on and on. The fact of the matter is...the "raising awareness" part of climate change has already passed us by. The message has been beat into the ground. Those who got the message still get it today. They're the ones watching Don't Look Up. They congratulate each other on how smart they are, and this is how it probably got upvoted into the Best Picture nominees. Those who don't want to get the message aren't watching it, and they probably downvote the movie. This is why it's not going to win in that category at all. And meanwhile, not one thing changes regarding inevitable climate change.

Ultimately, Don't Look Up is about people who are optimistic, accomplishing things that seem like they should mark a turn-around, but they never do. This is how it is in our nation today. We elect the right people only for them to be ultimately powerless. We support local candidates only to find that they're outnumbered. We occupy three arms of government and nothing happens. We occupy two of the three arms of government now, and nothing's happening. Everything is stonewalled by one or two people. We look at all these big, terrible events that are clearly caused by climate change, and people shrug and either ignore it, deny it, or "whaddyagonnado?" it. So, nothing ever happens.

Don't Look Up is the Idiocracy of our generation. So here's a toast to the movie that got nominated for things at the Academy Awards that I never thought it should have been nominated for. And by extension, I also don't think it's going to win anything at all (and it doesn't really deserve to either). Why? Every behavior in the movie is far too close to our reality now that there are no surprises. It's not even funny, because the jokes are too real. It's unoriginal, because it is just a mirror of the actual "fun-house mirror" that our daily lives are in the United States. Congratulations, Netflix. You nailed us to the wall on this one, for all the fun that ended up being.

Personally, Don't Look Up does deserve to win in the category of Best Documentary. But what do I know?

The Mitchells vs the Machines is the best animated movie thus far of 2021.

If anyone is on the fence, or thinks that The Mitchells vs the Machines looks bad, it is fantastic. I watched it this weekend on Netflix with a friend who had the time to do so. She also liked it. Without spoilers, the movie does take a few typical digs at Silicon Valley, but it also is a movie that is well-made and sports almost Pixar-like animation. The story is for kids who love technology and the internet while simultaneously managing to target parents who are mystified and frustrated by the gadgets that pull their kid's attention away from the dinner table. So it's kind of the best of both worlds. There are many "laugh out loud" moments, and many moments that manage to be beautiful and emotional. All in all, I think it's the best animated movie (thus far) of 2021, and that includes Disney's gorgeous Maya and the Last Dragon.

The Netflix series for Sabrina has ended and I have lots of thoughts about this hot mess of a show.

I'm going to chat about Sabrina (the Netflix series) which has ended now. So spoiler alert, if you are still watching or intending to watch.

The fourth (and final) season of Sabrina ended at the turn of the year, and I just finished watching it. When the show first aired, I was rather shocked at how different it was to anything I'd known about Sabrina. And it took me a little while to enjoy it because the main character of Sabrina was such an asshole. But we wouldn't have a show if the main character wasn't immediately doing exactly what she was told not to do (and suffering the consequences). I think (overall) my favorite character was Harvey. The people he interacted with on a daily basis were insufferable, and I'm glad the writer doing his lines knew how to thread that particular needle. 

That being said, there were a lot of qualities I did like.

For one, it was very adult, sexual, respectfully diverse and inclusive (although the graduate thesis level gender studies remarks seemed out of place in high school), and fun in the kind of way that I think a lot of people who are in love with Halloween (the holiday) imagine it to be. It was a very "woke" series as far as that goes, which seems really odd because it had so much to do with things that I think are evil. But I guess this show's interpretation of evil was that you could still have all the Beelzebub stuff as long as you were respectful about it. It just seems weird to me that you could use the right pronouns with someone (like "they" and "them") but then cut the head off your own father. Like...how does that work exactly? It seemed to pack some kind of messaging like, "the worst crimes in the world are ones which target identity." However, I was raised that murder and rape are actually worse than that...so, I got a little lost.

In many ways, Sabrina might have been a clever ode to the spooky holiday. And I really do mean "clever" because the way the sources of magic whether they be from Hecate or Lucifer are all clearly defined. Hell's role with its earth-bound witches is so intertwined that there is no sense of "other" in Sabrina. Rather, Hell is just right through the door, and you visit it as much as you would the kitchen in your home. And getting there and back again is as easy as opening a fridge door. Early on they try to scare you with mysterious gateways in mines that appear to be portals to Hell. But you do get to the point of asking, "What's the big deal?" when by fourth season, Sabrina just goes there all the time and chats up her father Lucifer or drops off a doll house or attends a social event.

And with regard to Hecate and Lucifer, both of these entities appear to be just "sources of power" rather than actual religions. If anything, Sabrina's track record with regard to religions isn't great. The way in which they used Baron Samedi in the fourth season seemed "not right" mostly because it was a big surprise and Hilda was in a queer relationship with a witch who was really a man the entire time. And then there was the whole first season fiasco with the statue of Baphomet and the Satanic church, that went to court. But mostly, religion for these witches (at least) doesn't seem to matter. They can trade faith like shirts. It was really all about the powers they got from the entities rather than anything they actually felt toward them. That does seem odd, but when your god is someone you "pal around with" I suppose you can unfriend them just like on Facebook.

I'm also not sure how I feel about the end of this show. Sabrina dies, and the ending feels very "tacked-on." She's just sitting in an empty room with three pictures and Nicholas Scratch (who presumably committed suicide so he can be with her) shows up and they just start kissing. It feels strange. Additionally, I'm just assuming that Nicholas Scratch committed suicide. What he tells Sabrina is that he swam in the "Sea of Sorrows," and I don't know what that is other than a metaphor for extreme depression. If he did commit suicide to be with his one true love, maybe that's a trope that we should just leave with Romeo and Juliet.

I also was not a fan of Father Blackwood. I was tired of this villain, and his crazy turn for Eldritch Terrors seemed very empty. It also felt like the Eldritch Terrors had absolutely no use for him, so he was pretty much just this really annoying person that distracted from the overall plot of the fourth season. It seems like the showrunners didn't really get Lovecraftian horror either, because the fourth season of Sabrina was just monster of the week, which pretty much sums up 90% of the series Supernatural.

Anyway, all that said, I did enjoy the show, but it doesn't hold any rewatch-ability for me. I think the ending caught everyone by surprise, because even the showrunners didn't realize that they'd run out of time when they were told that it would not be renewed for a season five. Knowing this, my strong preference is for shows to know that they're ending. That way people can write, film, and act like they know that the end is coming. It's basic storytelling, and it should be required of television.

Okay y'all Bridgerton on Netflix is pretty great.

This week I fell down the Bridgerton hole. It was a good fall. At first, I had no idea what to expect. I've heard the buzz about Bridgerton from online sources to NPR. I am familiar with Shonda Rhimes, and her catalogue of work. But I hadn't heard of Chris Van Dusen, who created the show, and who deserves the lion's share of credit in bringing this masterpiece to realization on Netflix. I started out on a boring Monday evening, looking through some shows to watch, when I saw it at the top of the Netflix queue. "Why not?" I asked myself. "People seem to like it, and if it's not something I want to watch I can switch to something else." Well, I started watching and literally before the credits rolled on the show I was hooked. I finally had to turn it off FIVE HOURS later, a little breathless, and wondering where this show had been all my life.

Bridgerton is a romance. But it's a romance that presents itself with delightful modern touches. The cast is incredibly diverse, and everyone is very easy on the eyes. The story that we get in this first season follows Daphne (played by Phoebe Dynevor) who is the eldest of the Bridgerton daughters. As she enters the very competitive dating and hence "to marriage" market to avoid becoming a spinster, there are all kinds of things that I found fascinating, from the presentation to the queen to the idea that someone increased their dating value if they were seen being wooed by nobles with powerful titles.

It manages to put a spin on the old idea that love isn't found but constructed. However, true love (like a lightning bolt) will cause people to leap on horses between two men dueling with pistols (because what could possibly be more romantic than that?). And you know what? it works.

The charm at the core of this story explodes when two willful young people decide to manipulate the circumstances of betrothal by pretending to be in love so that they can help each other. Only...you guessed it...they actually fall in love. Added to all of this is the breathless reporting by an anonymous writer who goes by the name, "Lady Whistledown." And what Lady Whistledown issues in her scandal sheet is snapped up and read by everyone. In a way, it's the narrative voice of Lady Whistledown that adds the dash of whimsy to this whole tale. It's a perfect match to the music, the amazing costumes, the colorful and elaborate sets, and the gorgeous scenery of the promenade. And the voiceover for Lady Whistledown is done by none other than Julie Andrews. So it's fabulous!

Shondaland makes great television, and Bridgerton just may be the favorite I have ever seen from this company, which is saying a lot considering both Grey's Anatomy and Scandal are from Shondaland. If you haven't watched Bridgerton, you owe it to yourself to give it a try. I bet it sucks you in like it did me.

Oh...and did I tell you that there are books? I discovered that fact this week as I was raving about the show, and one of my co-workers said, "The books explore all the Bridgerton stories." I paused and asked, "There are books?" I guess I have some reading in my future.

And honestly, with all that's going on in the world, couldn't you use a distraction? Time for a little romance, y'all. Have a good weekend. Want to hear the opening credits song? Click below.

Sex Education season two has one small problem that really bugs me.

The series Sex Education dropped its second season on Netflix about two weeks ago, and I finished watching it with my friend Meg this past Friday. If you haven't watched the show, I feel like it's this generation's coming of age story, albeit fully embracing the sexual escapades of adult actors playing teens in a teenage situation (actual teens would probably be too problematic for this show). It's a highly entertaining and awkward romp, and for the most part, the series works because it goes to many lengths to be honest and not hide from itself, even if it does stretch itself into unbelievable territory (the high school production musical of Romeo & Juliet looked unbelievable because of how well it was actually done...especially in the costume department). However, it didn't spoil anything for me as far as suspension of disbelief goes. But there was one particular scene that happens in the season finale at the very end that does break this for me, and it really sticks in my mind as something that wouldn't be possible. Warning: Spoiler's Ahead if you continue reading.

The event I'm talking about is when Isaac (pictured above and on the left) accesses Maeve's voicemail on her phone (without her knowledge) and listens to a message and then deletes it. As far as I know, you cannot do this without unlocking the phone. Look...I know that accessing the voicemail is crucial so that we can set up all kinds of drama that will happen in the love triangle that is Isaac, Maeve, and Asa Butterfield's character, Otis. However, phones are notoriously difficult to crack these days and there's just no way that Isaac, having access to Maeve's phone because she set it on a table and forgot about it, would be able to do this. Even the F.B.I. has trouble doing this kind of thing to an unlocked cellular phone in order to obtain information regarding terrorist activity that may be on those devices.

It's a very small detail within the context of the show. But, it bothers me. And (as far as I know), just deleting a voicemail does not get rid of it off a cellular device. There's a sub-menu called "deleted messages" that would need to be cleared or she could still listen to it. Additionally, Maeve would see in her notifications that she received a call from Otis because that kind of thing is stored in "recent calls." So the move by Isaac to erase the honesty and love message that he left for Maeve to try and patch things up is anything but gone, and Maeve could get it back if she pays attention to her phone in any way. Oh and I'm not so certain that Maeve would leave her phone lying around anyway. Teenaged girls these days live with their phones attached to their fingers. And Maeve pretty much does this from season one through the end of season two, only to somehow forget it in Isaac's trailer so that he can erase the voicemail that Otis specifically told Isaac to have Maeve listen to (Isaac said that he would do this but he obviously has no intention because he's a manipulative man).

Anyway, my small rant is over. I'm looking forward to the next installment of Sex Education. Other than that one small thing, I really enjoyed season two. Anybody else a fan here?

I wonder if the Dark Crystal series on Netflix will give us more soul-searching and depth on behalf of its protagonists.

With the Dark Crystal series coming to Netflix in August, I wanted to revisit my feelings regarding this particular film. There's no doubt that nostalgia for a simpler time and for the eighties plays well into my wanting to watch this series. I was barely a teenager when the original movie was released, and the summer of 1982 had a lot of hits with 48 Hours, Blade Runner, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Poltergeist, Star Trek II, and Tootsie. The feelings I had as a kid were that life would always be something like parents taking care of all the difficult stuff of life, and me sitting in a chair in a cold movie theater, drinking soda and eating popcorn while watching fantastical movies.

When I recently rewatched it, I felt that the movie still had some of that magic, but it was definitely colored through the lens of having grown up and not seen a thing in many decades. By today's standards, I think it might even be boring, because there are no human characters (just puppets), and there's no CGI. It's pacing is at times slow and unapologetic while it doles out what it needs the audience to know through its imagery.

And that, I think, is where I'm looking forward to seeing the series on Netlix the most...the imagery. There's something about using all of those puppets and creating everything in actual reality that makes the world come fully alive...it's a thing I don't take note of (as much) from the modern movies of today. I wonder if they'll be able to capture some of that magic in the Netflix series, which is a prequel from what I understand.

The fact that it's a prequel doesn't bother me at all. For one, the story of the Dark Crystal would be generic by today's standards, and there really wasn't too much depth of character going on in the movie. It never leaves you not know what's going on and why, and each character's personality derives completely from what its doing. There is no exploration of who the person actually is...no soul searching or anything like that. However, I think there's plenty of that to do in a prequel series with all new characters and adventures that take place in a world that has seen the crystal sundered (and been changed significantly because of that fact).

Anyone else looking forward to watching the series?

Spielberg is right when he says that Netflix movies should be banned from the Oscars.

I think Spielberg is right on the money when he says that Netflix movies should not be eligible for Oscars. They have the Emmy's for that, and should be nominated for Emmy's.

If you didn't know, Steven Spielberg (whom I have called the G.O.A.T. in a previous blog post) was labeled widely by his critics on the internet as "Old man shakes his fist at cloud" for his comments regarding the popular streaming platform, Netflix, and the following comment:

"Once you commit to a television format, you're a TV movie. You certainly, if it's a good show, deserve an Emmy, but not an Oscar." Of course he has his reasons, but I'm not going to post them here, relying instead upon your ability to google them if you are interested. What I am going to post is my own opinion, which I think is relevant in the realm of public discourse.

Personally, he's making a lot of sense. Netflix original movies are definitely TV films. I personally applaud Spielberg's effort to keep the cinema experience alive. It's something I legitimately enjoy, and his heart is definitely in the right place. Netflix is gaming the system by releasing movies in Los Angeles just long enough to make them eligible for the Oscars before they are available for America to watch in their pajamas. While many people see this as "the wave of the future" I would like to borrow a quote from Jeff Goldblum in a Spielberg movie called Jurassic Park: "Everybody was in such a hurry to see if they could that no one bothered to even ask if they should." If film makers want the prestige of an Oscar, they should have to jump through the hoops to get it. The bonus is that those of us out here who are interested will have the opportunity to view the work as intended in a theater with the latest sound hardware and four-story screens.

/end rant.

I will let you know how I enjoyed Ready Player One on Monday :).

Riverdale season one had many drama-inducing and exciting moments and this makes it a pretty solid binge-watch choice for you Netflix peeps.

I just watched the Riverdale season finale, and I gotta say, it turned in a pretty solid season one. I loved seeing lots of names I recognized from my youth: Luke Perry, Skeet Ulrich, and Molly Ringwald made multiple appearances and/or got cast as interesting characters in the Archie comic adaptation. This is pretty much a "modus operandi" of the CW, as they tend to honor names of the past by casting them in relevant shows. There was lots of drama, eye candy (sweaty sleepless nights are so good), great music, and a story arc that encompassed an entire season. The story arc was pretty brilliant because it dared to blend darkness into an otherwise perfect recreation of a Normal Rockwell-inspired town. Everything is better with a touch of darkness. You just can't go overboard.

I also liked the ultimate message of Riverdale. Betty (in addressing the 75th anniversary jubilee attendees) summed it up by saying that essentially everyone was Riverdale. You can't just take the good, but the bad characters as well. Stop hiding behind lies and facades and pretending that things are greater than they actually are. This is a very relevant idea to anyone that has combed the curated pages of a normal Facebook feed. We live in a day and age where people are able to influence public perception by simply posting things on social media. It doesn't matter if we live misery-riddled lives because no one will ever see the dark underbelly. They won't ever see the truth, because (as Jack Nicholson famously yelled, "We can't handle the truth."

The thing I enjoyed most about Riverdale was that it showed us these wonderful young people and put them in terrible situations of suicide, murder, fraud, drug-trafficking, and rape. How could you go wrong with fiction like that? Bring on season 2. Oh and for those of you who haven't seen it, the entire season hits Netflix on Thursday, so you can totally binge watch all of Riverdale. You even get some extra stuff with Cole Sprouse (as Jughead Jones) eating a hamburger. I guess there was some fan outrage that Jughead wasn't pictured on screen enough wolfing down burgers.

Netflix had a disastrous quarter and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that "Netflix and Binge" is an unsustainable business model.

Yesterday on CNBC there was all kinds of speculation as to why Netflix stock is tanking. Most of it has to do with how they are hemorrhaging subscribers. I don't personally have any stake in Netflix, so I feel like weighing in on this topic by observing what I see in my friends.

As a caveat, I don't have any friends with similar tastes at all. I just haven't found any. Everyone I know is as different to me as black is to white. So it's no surprise that I also differ in how I watch my television. I like watching shows that put their episodes out a week at a time, one at a time. Yep...I'm not a "Netflix and binge" kinda guy. I don't mind waiting in lines. I was raised that patience is a virtue and that the best things come to those who wait.

I have a friend that's completely different of course. He prefers consuming everything like gorging at a table and stuffing food down his mouth with a shovel. The faster one can get "through" something, the more time that is left for binging on video games...literally staying up for 48 hours in a row until eyes are raw and body odor is thick. He said (and I think he thought himself "wise" at the moment) that, "Netflix sees how it should be done. They put up the whole season, they put lots of money into it to make it excellent, and then the consumer is rewarded by being able to watch it all at once, free of commercials, and without having to wait." Nevermind that he actually pirates the programming. I suppose it's us (the subscribers out here in "real life" land) that actually pay for things like "Daredevil" and "Jessica Jones." The point that I'm making here is that someone who is completely devoted to consuming content, can do so and basically run out of things to watch before a single month is out (plowing through basically every original series). Then a "pat" on the back ensues because (at most) they paid like $10 bucks if they weren't using a friend's password to begin with, and they proclaim loudly as to what a deal they got.

And yeah...they got a really good deal. But it was a shitty one for the company that will have little incentive to keep producing good content if all they get is ten measly bucks.

Anyway, it's this kind of consumer that is in fact, threatening to destroy Netflix. It may seem brilliant at the moment (for them to load entire seasons up at once), but the fact that Netflix has gone down in subscribers (despite increasing the amount of countries that have Netflix available into the hundreds) is a tell-tale sign that people are binging, and then canceling their subscription (if they even bother to pay at all). So it's an unsustainable business model. They think they can blow billions of dollars on original series and by doing so inspire loyalty in their subscribers. However, human nature is way different. Most humans want to maximize their gains. No one wants to be "taken advantage of" and when a good deal comes along, many will rape the deal to make sure to maximize what they get out of it. So with Netflix, what happens is that people consume and then bail until such time as there is more to consume. Netflix is in fact pouring so much money into their original content, that it has affected their ability to secure series and movies from other sources. As an example, if you maintained your subscription you probably have noticed that Starz bailed on Netflix taking lots of movies with it.

I am not one of those people (and I suppose am in the minority). I realize that if I want to continue to have good content, I need to pay for it. But there are fewer people like me out there all the time, and more people like the friend I just described who "gluttonizes" content and doesn't pay a thing. It'll be interesting to see what changes Netflix makes in the future. Perhaps they're going to have to start releasing shows with only one episode a week. I imagine that will cause yells and screams from people across the world. However, as I see it the other way they've been doing things isn't going to work. It's like that old saying, "Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he depopulates the ocean by making a business that employs low-wage slaves and pollutes the water to maximize his total gain."

Yep, I'm sure that's how that saying goes. If not...the way I wrote it is definitely more accurate.