[EmperorMagus]

Seduce Goose, on 01 May 2017 - 10:58 AM, said:

Just did a bit of googling, looks like nobody have picked up the show in Denmark. I was hoping HBO or Netflix would have gotten the rights.

I watched it through amazon prime video, dunno if you guys have it there or not.

[Aptorian]

You're right. Amazon Prime has the international rights. And I can get a full month for free.

Hmm, now the question is whether or not I should wait and use the free month when all the episodes are available and just binge watch it?

[QuickTidal]

EmperorMagus, on 01 May 2017 - 10:29 AM, said:

I was wrote out a post full of profanities but ran out of words before the post became an accurate description of how good the first episode was.

It was ... Just amazing. The cinematography, the filming, the music oh god the music, the dialogue, the editing. Fan-fucking-tastic. Absolutely amazing. I'm fanboying so hard over it right now jesus christ someone help me.

Sigh, with my daughter's daycare costs about to break our bank at the end of the summer...I can't pay for Amazon Prime to get this...so I'm going to have to wait.

Glad too hear it's so good though!

[worry]

Yah they kinda knocked it out of the park. And Emp ain't kidding about the music. The song choices AND the score are both fantastic.

The biggest thing I was wondering about was how they were gonna incorporate the vignettes, but this episode's was a thing of beauty.

The big change from the book (it's been years since I've read it, but I think it's a change?) is Shadow isn't nearly as stoic, but at least so far it's working perfectly for a TV version. I'm not really familiar with Ricky Whittle, and I thought he was too gentle-looking at first, but he transitions between all the necessary moods nicely.

The casting is all around fantastic, even down to the most minor roles: Siobhan Fallon Hogan was born to play an apathetic, mildly hostile airline clerk. Pablo Schreiber is delightful. Joel Murray improves everything he's in. The guy who plays Shadow's prison buddy -- early on he delivers this giggle that is so instantly, recognizably pitch perfect that it's character-defining, at least as much as his actual dialogue.

The woman who plays Bilquis (Yetide Badaki) -- this seems to be her first big role -- killllllls it, and is so intensely beautiful that you're kinda riveted to the screen even before you know who she is.

I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did, but it's got me very enthused for what's coming.

[EmperorMagus]

worry, on 01 May 2017 - 07:55 PM, said:

Yah they kinda knocked it out of the park. And Emp ain't kidding about the music. The song choices AND the score are both fantastic.

The biggest thing I was wondering about was how they were gonna incorporate the vignettes, but this episode's was a thing of beauty.

The big change from the book (it's been years since I've read it, but I think it's a change?) is Shadow isn't nearly as stoic, but at least so far it's working perfectly for a TV version. I'm not really familiar with Ricky Whittle, and I thought he was too gentle-looking at first, but he transitions between all the necessary moods nicely.

The casting is all around fantastic, even down to the most minor roles: Siobhan Fallon Hogan was born to play an apathetic, mildly hostile airline clerk. Pablo Schreiber is delightful. Joel Murray improves everything he's in. The guy who plays Shadow's prison buddy -- early on he delivers this giggle that is so instantly, recognizably pitch perfect that it's character-defining, at least as much as his actual dialogue.

The woman who plays Bilquis (Yetide Badaki) -- this seems to be her first big role -- killllllls it, and is so intensely beautiful that you're kinda riveted to the screen even before you know who she is.

I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did, but it's got me very enthused for what's coming.

Yetide Badaki was breathtaking, both her performance and her appearance. But I've learned to expect amazing performances from professional theater actors. They are mostly in a class of their own.

Ricky Whittle was flawless imo.

The guy who plays Odin (he played Swerengen in Deadwood) is an actor I adore. No one make normal words sound epic like him, which is such an Odin thing.

Pablo Shcreiber as Mad Sweeney was the highlight of the entire episode though. The part where he says "With Panache" I laughed out loud. And then

Spoiler

So the dialogue isn't ruined for other people:

"Now you're fighting for the joy of it, for the sheer unholy fucking delight of it!"

I punched the air at that point.

Now that I've slept on the episode I can talk with a degree of objectivity: "This was some amazing TV and everyone should watch it if they can."

[JPK]

*Echo gushing praise here*

Had anyone watched it with someone who isn't familiar with the book yet? How did they seem to react? Is it as engaging to someone that didn't know to expect Bilquis as it was to those of us that were looking forward to seeing how they'd handle *that* scene?

I'm curious because I WANT this to succeed. It needs to have appeal to a wider audience than just fans of the original work though. It needs to pull a Game of Thrones and pull in a new generation of fans.

[Slow Ben]

Going to try and talk the ole lady into watching this tonight.

Otherwise i'll have to wait till she's out of town and binge watch it.

[Macros]

Yeah I was gonna wait till the full season had aired but there's too much praise here for me not to watch it at some stage this week

[Morgoth]

One episode a week?

[Macros]

I assume so

[WinterPhoenix]

Damn, I was going to wait until this had completely aired and then binge watch it, but the praise here is making me really pumped to see it so I doubt I'll be waiting that long now.

[EmperorMagus]

Briar King, on 04 May 2017 - 01:42 AM, said:

It would be pretty comedic if all the rest where utter shit.

You shut your dirty mouth.

[EmperorMagus]

I most disrespectfully disagree BK. The Episode was fairly awesome.

Not as many memorable scenes as the first one, sure, but powerful in its own right.

[worry]

Orlando Jones was awesome. That speech he gave should be taught to kids everywhere so they know who the enemy is and what to do about him.

Casting on this show remains remarkably good.

Overall I liked this even better than the first one.

[Stormcat]

I absolutely love it! The first episode was fantastic and the second was even better. Czernabog was exactly how I pictured him. Anansi did not look how I pictured but somehow he was still perfect to me. And the opening scene in E2 was Intense.

Casting has been so spot on, like Worry said even the minor roles.

[Malankazooie]

Ok, watched the first episode and I'm 100% in. So excellent. A lot to process in the first episode: from that viking beginning to that regular sized Leprechaun bar fight, to that bonkers Bilquis scene, to the salacious details about Shadow Moon's wife, to the VR attack by one of the tech gods. Damn, this show just tracked to the top of the list of must watch for me, and believe me I'm already watching too much. I haven't the time, dammit!

Loved the Mark Lanegan version "In The Pines" / "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" during the funeral.


Damn, this April/May television season is becoming one of legend, and just think, GOT was delayed until July (it normally would have been airing now), which I'm grateful for.

[EmperorMagus]

Another great episode.

There were a couple of parts I didn't like (lines delivered in a way which felt weird, I don't know whether it was intentional or not/ scenes dragging on for longer than needed). But overall, it was lovely. And that ending ...

Also the vignette at the beginning was the best yet.

[JPK]

EmperorMagus, on 15 May 2017 - 08:21 AM, said:

Another great episode.

There were a couple of parts I didn't like (lines delivered in a way which felt weird, I don't know whether it was intentional or not/ scenes dragging on for longer than needed). But overall, it was lovely. And that ending ...

Also the vignette at the beginning was the best yet.

There were four scenes in this episode that I loved. Three of which were from the book.

Spoiler

1- As you pointed out, the opening vignette was amazing. It also helps establish the egyptian pantheon a bit better for those who aren't familiar with them. My wife for example didn't know anything about what was happening with Anubis and the Scales there.

2- The scene on the rooftops with Zorya was perfect. I know that she was the youngest of the three sisters, but I didn't realize she was supposed to be quite this young. And gorgeous.

3- The bank robbery and all scenes involved with it. I particularly liked the additional dialogue from Mr. Wednesday about Jesus. it was a really nice reference to the added scene tacked onto the end of the 10th anniversary version of the book. small spoiler for the next episode:

Spoiler

They have an actor cast for Jesus and credited in the next episode.

4- The scene between Salim and the Djinn. This has always been my favorite of the origin stories from the book and they nailed every detail here. I also suspect that this is one of the scenes that you were referring to going a bit longer than it should have, EM. If you watch the snippet from Fuller at the end of the episode, they actually address that. To summarize, in many parts of the world, being gay is a crime and sex is something that you do quick and dirty in a back alley so that you don't get caught. With the scene here, it was supposed to invoke the feeling of making all-night passionate love between two people that is a pure and good thing and that it was the first time that Samir experienced this, and that's why the scene had the length to it that it had. Now, that said, it was honestly a bit too much for me, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the show catch some heat for that scene.

Overall I loved this episode and I can't wait for next week!

[JPK]

Briar King, on 15 May 2017 - 06:51 PM, said:

That part was to long for me but I have a question about it. Did the

Spoiler

fire cum turn/impregnate the receiver into a Djinn or just alter his mood/luck

That whole bit with Sweeney in the car was pure gold!

Also on ep 2 I said I was disappointed with a few things and it wasn't utter shit(maybe the other way around in type) which I threw in there cause of past post I made. The number 1 thing I didn't like is

Spoiler

the time leap and no explanation (that I could see) from the end of ep 1 to start of 2. We see bodies being ripped apart while Shadow looks on and then nothing. It seems like a large gap from end to start. Who was doing the rescue and slaughtering?

BK, have you read the book? I can't really answer your second question otherwise. As for your second question:

Spoiler

I've always understood it as a body swap. He became the taxi driver while the djinn became the failing businessman. In the book they make it much more apparent that Salim had fallen for New York and didn't want to leave. His funding was running out and he was going to be forced back to a home he hated. In the book, when he wakes he finds his clothing and the samples he was trying to sell missing then he looks in a mirror and sees the taxi driver's face looking back at him. I think they were trying to pull that off by showing him in the driver's license as well as dressed in the taxi-driver's clothing at the end.

This post has been edited by JPK: 15 May 2017 - 08:24 PM

[polishgenius]

JPK, on 15 May 2017 - 08:20 PM, said:

Spoiler

In the book, when he wakes he finds his clothing and the samples he was trying to sell missing then he looks in a mirror and sees the taxi driver's face looking back at him.

That's definitely not what happens (I just checked). In the book, like in the show,

Spoiler

he's left with a driving license that looks like neither himself nor the ifrit (implying that the ifrit has done this before), but there's not even a mention of a mirror.
There's going to be a changeup in the book, though, coz it's heavily implied that as much as Salim wanted to stay, the Djinn wanted to go home, and took the airplane ticket for those purposes, but in the show we'll be seeing more of him- in fact we already have, since we saw him dressed in Salim's clothes meeting Wednesday in the last episode.