Hello, Deedee! I haven't started S13 of "Vera" as yet - I've been holding it to the side, but my resistance is starting to break, so I think I will be giving in sooner than later.
Nolly on the bus ... made me think of Winston Churchill . Read a story years ago that Winston would occasionally ride the subway. People would stare at him awkwardly but would not speak .. until he spoke to them . He loved hearing the common persons views on the war .. make peace terms with the Nazi's or fight on ... response overwhelming .. fight on. story true or not ???? who knows. I think Nolly would have said .. fight on . lol
She was amazing! This story of Nolly, and how she was portrayed by Ms. Carter through the writers, this 2nd episode did not disappoint. Everyone trying to figure out how she leaves the show, and Tony. I like that she had a true friend in Tony.
Brit, and anyone else who likes Vera, episodes 2 and 3 are better than 1.
Sadly, there are only 3 episodes. Brenda is magnificent.
Got caught up on "Nolly" last night. What a fun episode! This series is one of the most enjoyable I have watched on Masterpiece. I would put it in the category of a sleeper. I have a feeling that going in to it not many (of the PBS audience) expected it to shine as it does.
Solar, Nolly would definitely say "fight on" and Appara, we should all be blessed to have a Tony in our lives. Can't wait until next ep so we can see what she does next.
Deedee, I have read the same regarding "Vera" in comments on FB. The first episode has some bumps with Joe coming back, which honestly I could see happening as it has been awhile and people grow and change - some people were disappointed in the first episode. By the second, things (from what I read) smooth out as you say, and it takes an upturn from there.
The core of the relationship between Vera and Joe is always going to be there, so any issues, I felt, would work themselves out even with a rocky start. Brenda would not have done this last series without him (David Leon), it was either him or she was done. She clearly stated she did not want to have to start building another close working relationship this late in the game (can you blame her?). It was Joe or bust from her perspective, so I could not imagine she was going to let that relationship go astray (in the storyline) in what may be her last season. She cares enough about David Leon to have wanted him back, when you value something that strongly you don't let anyone muck it up.
So, thanks for your update, I am going in to this season on a positive note as I always do. I love Joe, so this is what I had hoped would happened when Kenny announced he was leaving. If this is the end, then it will end as it started, which is quite fitting.
@BritMystery wrote:
Deedee, I have read the same regarding "Vera" in comments on FB. The first episode has some bumps with Joe coming back, which honestly I could see happening as it has been awhile and people grow and change - so some people were disappointed in the first episode. By the second, things (from what I read) smooth out and it takes an uplift from there.
The core of the relationship between Vera and Joe is always going to be there, so any issues, I felt, would work themselves out. Brenda would not have done this series without him ( David Leon), it was either him or she was done. She clearly stated she did not want to have to start building another close working relationship this late in the game (can you blame her?). It was Joe or bust from her perspective, so I could not imagine she was going to let that relationship go astray in what may be her last season. She cares enough about David Leon to have wanted him back, when you value something that strongly you don't let anyone muck it up.
Makes sense, Brit. The first episode reminded me of what has been said about the faux replacement for Nicola Walker in Unforgotten. I of course didn't give her a chance and now it seems they are trying to mellow her out? Ditto on Joe. Adrian and Jac were summarily gone, and Joe was back, acting, pardon my Brit, a right git and a prat. I held my breath and waited with hopes that the writers would get smarter. They did and the last two episodes were lovely.
I hope they come back with a season 14.
I hope they come back with a season 14.
Me too, Dee. There will certainly be a hole left when this series ends. It has been a true pleasure to watch from day one.
The first episode reminded me of what has been said about the faux replacement for Nicola Walker in Unforgotten. .....and now it seems they are trying to mellow her out?
Yes, they are and it is not working with or for me as yet. The difference with Vera and Joe is that they have a strong established bond that we all were aware of and understood. He was her guy, there was no doubt just watching them together in the early episodes. With "Unforgotten" you have this newcomer coming in and making the worst impression possible with a much loved established team headed by the lovely Sonny - who is probably one of the nicest, pleasant characters on TV, besides being extremely capable (and loyal to Cassie to a fault).
Vera and Joe have a relationship that could survive his early questionable behavior. Sonny and Nicola Walker's replacement don't have that, so when you start out with a tension filled playing field that is all coming from an new antagonistic character, that can be a hurdle too far to overcome.
@BritMystery wrote : With "Unforgotten" you have this newcomer coming in and making the worst impression possible with a much loved established team .......
No matter what they do to soften DCI Jess James you can't get around that first impression ... it leaves a mark. When I saw they were startin' to turn her around it made no difference .. my mind had been set and I doubt it will change any time soon.
Hey guys, have any of you heard that Ralf Little is leaving "Death in Paradise" at the end of this season?! I am sorry to hear this, after an iffy start he grew on me and I have really enjoyed him in the series these last few seasons. Why is is that once the new inspector settles in and we (the audience) finally embraces him, he leaves? Well, here we go once again.
True, Brit, on Unforgotten. And that's why after a few minutes I was outta there. Never mind killing off Cassie was moronic to begin with.
True on Vera also. I guess when the writers come up for air, they can right after all.
solar, I have less patience than........I don't know, perhaps there is nothing that has less patience than I. There was NO reason for what they were doing. So they've done a 180 with her personality? How funny.
Brit, lousy writers. You're correct, with his itching and scratching he was almost intolerable. Then the writers calmed down and wrote him well. Maybe the heat got to Little as well? Get a local actor, for pete's sake, one used to the heat. And leave us to this series, which we have been more than tolerant and loyal to. Oh, and you're also right on Father Brown - oy.
O/T, it's not just our beloved mystery genre - he who must be obeyed (no, not the dog) is centric in his auto shows. Well, the cable auto show channel is dumping all the good shows (sadly I watch them with him) and putting them on streaming. Now, Discovery+ has rolled up the doing very well thank you Motortrend and without a buy your leave is altering the streaming schedule to push their own abominable shows. Oh, and they've doubled the price.
Soon, I may have nothing left other than Passport and he may have nothing other than Dirty Cars in a Garage, or some other erudite show.
As always, thanks for listening.
Brit, Yes, my facebook has been filled with posts about Neville Parker and Florence Cassell floating off into the sunset. I won't get to see this until maybe late this year or early next, so it doesn't bother me to read the gossip. I've read rumours about a female in charge next series? I don't have streaming services, so it's a matter of sit back, cross everything, and wait!!
Deedee, I asked the Hubs about the car channel (the one included with Xfinity without the premium packages) re: shows leaving the channel, as he watches it too... and he said the same as you - the inventory of shows (on it) is not what it once was, by far.
I remember the Motortrend show from back when, the Hubs watched every week and I use to tag along. He hasn't watched that one in ages though, now that I think of it. I guess it has been moved to a streaming channel. It was a good show - always interesting.
TV watching is different since we unloaded the premium package that gave us access to many channels, but I have yet to feel the need to add any of them back. When S3 of the "Gilded Age" is aired I will get HBO Max so I can watch, but other than that, I am good at this point. The cost of premium cable is a ridiculous amount of money - we could no longer justify it on a continual basis.
You know Deedee, I was thinking the same thing wondering if the heat and long periods on the island away from home is the reason Ralf is leaving DIP. It was the reason for at least some of the others (if not all) before him.
Appara, I did not read the rumours suggesting a female lead detective, but the thought did enter my mind once I heard about RL leaving. It could happen, we have been through four male British Inspectors, they may see this as a time to change things up and go in another direction.
I would also guess that you might see the newest season start to roll out on PBS during Christmas time or January next year, as typically - at least in the past - the streaming service (Britbox in this case) had sole rights for six to eight months before giving PBS access. That is how "Doc Martin" worked with Acorn TV and PBS, so I am assuming that Britbox will do the same.
Constant battle looking for our kind of shows. Scan all my channels regularly . Have an ongoing battle with Netflix , dropped them recently but they kept charging my VISA the monthly fee ... getting it sorted now with refunds . Don't know who I'll try next , if any. Hardly seems worth it .
I know Solar, I feel the same way. I spend more time looking for "our kind of shows" to watch than I do watching them sometimes. It gets disappointing - all you want to do is sit down and relax with a show that really interests you - something you truly enjoy and when you can't find anything new to fill in the gap after you finished your last "good show"...ugh.
Last night after watching an episode of "Bergerac" and hunting for something else to watch (already had done that earlier in the week to no avail) - 'cause you can't give up, it's an ongoing struggle 😏 - I came across the pilot episode of "Wycliffe". I watched that show on The 'Tube years ago, long before it was gobbled up by a streaming service.
It has been long enough that a rewatch hits just right for me, so I think I will give the first season a go. Beyond that, I probably won't watch, I'll have enough, but let me tell you I was thrilled to find something to look forward to. (Remember when I was so delighted to find "Inspector Alleyn" available - I had two seasons of great episodes in front of me!)
I gave up Netflix (at least for a while) too. I was not watching it, every now and then I find something on there that I like and then it would follow with a six month drought of nothing.
Presently I have Britbox through Prime and those two are my streaming choices. Britbox works for me 'cause I like the retro shows, it may not have the same draw for you.
Well, I read in a "Digital Spy" article that Marlon is also leaving "Death in Paradise". So, we are losing two characters along with Florence never returning. I was not a fan of the character when he first came on board, but he grew on me over time (as they all seem to do) and I am sorry to see him go. The actor, Tahj Miles has another project that he is involved with and made the decision to leave.
Remember the Digital Spy days Deedee! You got me interested in the site, and though I never joined, I was regularly there reading reviews of various series episodes I was in to at that time. It was great stuff, people were really in to their shows/reviews and there were always great conversations and point of views on storylines. I have no idea what it is like now as I haven't been back there in years.
As I said at the beginning, I didn't watch Crossroads, didn't know the actors/characters, but at the end of Nolly I had tears. Kudos to the actors and writers!
Yes, Brit, there sure have been quite a few changes the last few installments of DIP, and a few of the characters that took me a while to appreciate - Ruby was over the top!!. I'm currently back in time with Ben Miller as DS Poole. I'm not sure how many back-episodes PBS will air, but it's an easy watch!
Happy Easter to all! Hubs and I have been feeding a wild bunny all winter - we had some beastly cold weather so figured the little guy (or gal) could use some help. Spring must soon be here as he was spotted yesterday with nearly all brown/tan fur. Also, spotted some Canada geese walking around on the frozen ponds.
Happy Easter, Appara and all! The Hubs and I had a lovely day, we took his mother and her boyfriend out to dinner and had such a nice time.
Appara, thank you for your kindness in feeding the rabbit. Winter can be so hard for them and a little help can make all the difference. I too left food out this year because I was concerned for our little critters (we have chipmunks and squirrels that stay by our house) as it was such a cold, harsh one. The deer are already out and they got to my tulips that are just coming up - I have a few left that they haven't eaten (as yet). I was wondering if they were coming back this year (they ate through my garden last year, coming back for seconds, thirds and fourths!)... I seem to already have my answer. Some years they don't visit much, but since the wild fires a year or so ago, we have full families that roam the area.
Will be catching up with "Nolly" tonight. Looking forward to it.
Woke up to a white world this morning. It's not going to last for long as our daytime temps are above freezing, but it's also warm enough to make the highways a tad bit icy with the deep slush! I'm glad this dump of snow happened this weekend, not over the Easter weekend when more people are traveling to visit with family!
I've got Mr. Bates set to record on Sunday evening, I think it's played out over 4 weekends?
Appara, you got snow and I got an earthquake! 😲😳 It probably has been almost thirty years since we had snow in April here in New Jersey, which is a good thing in my book as I hate snow in early Spring. Throws the whole season off. But, what did happen today - an earthquake! We never have earthquakes here in the North East. I felt the earth shaking and was thinking what the heck is going on?! Never would have guessed that would happen here.
The Hubs and I got caught in the last big earthquake that hit the Las Vegas area five years ago while we were visiting - and that was quite scary as we were on the fifty something floor of the hotel with two walls of full windows. Our earthquake today was nothing like that, thank goodness.
The finale of "Nolly" was great, the ending was particularly heartfelt, I was teary-eyed. I am so glad I watched this one, I wasn't sure it would hold my interest - it was so much better than I thought it would be.
I am going to skip "Mr. Bates", I think.
Yeah appara ... hate snow this time of year , had a snow / rain mix yesterday with high wind , luckily heavier rain took the snow away . Got Bates / Post in PVR as well. Think it's gonna be a fun watch ... since it's based on a true story like Nolly ... thou , it wasn't much fun for the people who were directly involved .
Brit ... ya snuck in there while I was writing my above post to appara . Heard about your Earthquake ... take snow anyday over one of those .