tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post7281411364367254313..comments2024-03-28T10:18:00.370-05:00Comments on Gentlemen of Leisure: Force in Focus: The Mandalorian Episode 04Austin Gortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-25856878833526725052020-08-17T07:55:17.106-05:002020-08-17T07:55:17.106-05:00Yeah. I’ve regularly lamented this about heavily s...Yeah. I’ve regularly lamented this about heavily serialized shows and especially ones like the Marvel Netflix series that otherwise tended to feel padded and/or have episodes rather amorphously run together. Plus it’s always possible for episodes that appeared to be purely standalone at the time to feed back into the overarching storyline of the season, although even that can become a predictable trope. Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-78575592113650478932019-12-18T11:49:58.675-06:002019-12-18T11:49:58.675-06:00"...there's nothing inherently wrong with..."...<b>there's nothing inherently wrong with an episode that isn't an integral chapter in an ongoing narrative - if anything, it helps the series feel like a series, and not an extended movie cut into eight chunks</b>."<br /><br />THANK YOU. You alluded to this in the previous episode's review, but I felt it be better worth commenting on here. I don't watch a ton of streaming shows, but I did watch all the Netflix Marvel stuff, among others, and it drives me nuts when these series just tell one story for all of their season, with no divergences. JESSICA JONES came closest to breaking away from that formula in the first season, giving her one or two one-off "case of the week" episodes, but even that felt half-hearted.<br /><br />Whether streaming, on cable, or on network television, I like TV shows to feel like, well... TV shows. Serialization is great; I love it. But you can have a show that serialized yet also episodic. Most of my favorite shows were done that way. When you try to stretch one story out over thirteen (or even ten or eight) episodes, it winds up feeling padded out and interminable. I much prefer the approach of "filler" episodes that provide character development and a tangential advancement of the overall plot vs. every single episode being fully devoted to the overall plot.<br /><br />So while I liked this one on its own merits, I would've liked it anyway simply for being an "adventure of the week" with minimal importance to the meta-plot!Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.com