#anna torv the actress that you are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[alexturner]

THE LAST OF US (HBO) YOU ARE SO SEXY

[elialys]

What’s the newsreader like?

To me, The Newsreader is a bit like this:

I'm joking, but also not really 😂 The show is very good at getting you deeply emotionally attached to its characters, so it does deliver emotional punches on a regular basis. And the beauty of it is that it manages to do it from its very first episode.

More concretely, the show takes place in an Australian newsroom in the second half the 1980s. It follows Helen Norville (played by Anna Torv) and Dale Jennings (Sam Reid). At the start of the show, Helen is a newsreader, so she's pretty famous. She's also a female in a male dominated field of work in the 80s, and has some mental health issues she tries to handle more or less successfully in her stressful, toxic, misogynistic work environment. Dale is a bright-eyed, jittery, eager-to-prove-himself young producer who dreams of becoming a newsreader, and is quite ambitious about it. He's also not exactly 100% straight, and that's something he tries very hard to hide/ignore, more or less successfully too, because 1980s.

The pilot episode is basically about how Dale and Helen's lives collide over the course of a couple of days, despite having worked for the same news network for years. It's honestly one of the best episodes of ANYTHING I've ever watched, it's just...beautifully written/crafted/acted/directed, it's so very human, impactful and relevant.

I don't know what genre/media you enjoy consuming, so I can't promise you'd fall in love with it the way I did, but I highly encourage you to at least give the first episode a go. Also, I know I'm slightly biased, but there's a reason why Anna Torv won the Best Actress award for it in the Australian equivalent of the Emmy's, for both season 1 and season 2, she's incredible as Helen. Sam Reid is phenomenal too, I didn't know him before I watched the show, and he's genuinely ruined so many actors for me 😂

LOOK AT THOSE POOKIES HONESTLY

[pynkhues]

I recently watched The Newsreader because I saw some mutuals on another site posting about it and really enjoyed it! Was wondering (a) if you've seen it/the most recent series and (b) whether you had any other Australian tv recs? I just realized I've seen very very few Australian shows and am looking to check out some more.

Yes! The Newsreader's so good! I actually haven't gotten around to watching a2 yet, so I am a bit behind, but I loved s1 a lot. Sam Reid and Anna Torv are always great, but I have a big soft spot for William McInnes - he's lowkey an Australian TV icon.

And yeah! Look, Australian TV's a mixed bag - it's criminally underfunded and operates in a really different way to American and UK TV (funnily enough, a lot of what the WGA strike was fighting against - in particular mini rooms, writers not being on set and the lack of a showrunner - are industry standard here), so I do think a lot of Australian shows tend to be undercooked.

But! Let's focus on the good, because there is still a lot of good. I wasn't sure what you fancied, especially since The Newsreader touches on so many genres, so I've tried to breakdown genres and rec that way. Hopefully there's something here that piques your interest :-)

Drama

I've spruiked Safe Home on here a few times before, but it really is just such a great little series. It's about a women's community legal centre who poaches a publicist from a major lawfirm when they discover they're at risk of being defunded by the government. They mean to use her to try and raise the profile of the non-profit legal centre, but end up throwing her in the deep end when it comes to stories of family violence which make up the majority of the centre's clients. It's harrowing in parts, but also emotionally rich, full of interesting relationships and feels pretty tragically true to life. It's only a miniseries, which is a bit of a bummer, because I really feel it could've kept going.

Other dramas:

Total Control - an Aboriginal woman is recruited as a senator by the prime minister after she has a heroic moment facing off against a gunman outside a courthouse. The premise sounds a little soapy, but Total Control is a really compelling political drama that explores the complexity of being a First Nations woman and a First Nations politician in a colonial state. Deb Mailman is it as an actress too, quite frankly.

Love Me - a relationship drama, Love Me focuses on three different generations within one extended family as they pursue romance. The show steers clear of schmaltz though as its particularly about the desire for intimacy and the complexity of being vulnerable with a new person, and I think it lands to mixed effect throughout the series, but man, when it lands, it really lands. Fair warning, there's pretty explicit sex in this (although very tenderly done! And I went to an amazing panel with the intimacy coordinator on it who was so interesting talking about it all). Also: Hugo Weaving in his best role in a minute.

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart - full disclaimer, I haven't finished watching this one yet, but I've enjoyed what I've seen so far! Plus they somehow managed to get Sigourney Weaver in it?? Wild. It's about a girl who's reunited with her estranged grandmother on a flower farm after her parents die in a mysterious housefire. CW though for incest and family violence (although that's before Alice ends up with her grandmother).

Dramedy

Offspring is proooobably my favourite Australian show ever? Or at least it will forever rank top five. It's part romantic-comedy, part family-drama, part medical procedural, and part ever growing portrait of birth and death as it follows Nina, who's both obstetrician and chronic sufferer of Middle Child Syndrome, her older sister and little brother, and their divorced-sometimes-still-hooking-up parents. It's funny and charming, but has also made me sob like no other show on TV, so if you're ever in the mood for something like that, this is your pick.

Other dramedies:

Deadloch - I've posted a million gifsets of this show, haha, which actually seems to have picked up tumblr traction (unheard of for an Australian show!) but it's both a hilarious spoof of nordic crime mysteries, and a genuinely great crime series. Plus it is the most sapphic show you'll watch in a minute.

The Let Down - a really sweet, funny dramedy about new parents navigating life with a baby, while also looking pretty keenly at postpartum depression. Just watching the trailer made me want to watch it again, haha, but also my sister worked on it, so I might be a little biased.

Bump - okay, I'm just realising how many dramedies Australia makes about having kids, haha, but this is just a cute little YA show about a teenage girl who doesn't realise she's pregnant suddenly having a baby. It's a lot about parenthood, particularly about her own relationship with her mother, but it also leans into so many

Comedy

I've actually only just watched Fisk with a friend, but am enjoying it so so much. It's got Kitty Flanagan, a beloved Australian comedian in it, and features her as a newly divorced, freshly fired contract lawyer who ends up back in Melbourne at a wills and estates law firm having to deal with people (and grieving people!) for the first time in a hot minute. It's very funny, but also just totally charming, and the cast of characters feels pretty fresh for this sort of fish-out-of-water sitcom.

Other comedies:

Utopia - imagine The Office, The Thick of It and Veep had a baby! Part office-drama, part bureaucracy political hellscape! It's set in a fictional government department called the National Building Authority that manages infrastructure and it's very funny. If you're in the Succession fandom too, Sarah Snook's husband's a lead in it!

Upper Middle Bogan - okay, the trailer for this one isn't very good, but I love this show a lot. The premise is a woman in an upper middle class family discovers suddenly that she was adopted, and her biological parents were teenagers when they had her and are - - well, bogans, which is basically the Australian equivalent of a hillbilly. It's funny, but also genuinely just has a really big heart.

Black Comedy - I do find this pretty hit or miss, but its a sketch show, so I feel like that comes with the territory. But! This is an Indigenous sketch comedy show! And man, when it's good, it's really, really good.

Period drama

Okay, this is kind of a cheat, because it's not really a period drama, but it's designed to feel like one. Plus! It has Sam Reid and Essie Davis in it! Three nuns who've been living isolated on an island together are faced with the modern world when a priest from the mainland arrives hoping to sell the island for redevelopment. Things get! Out of hand!

Other period dramas:

ANZAC Girls - World War I drama about ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) nurses in the Gallipoli peninsula, which is largely regarded as the battle that made Australia 'come of age' through the tragedy of the loss.

New Gold Mountain - miniseries set within the Chinese community during Australia's Gold Rush. It loses its way a bit towards the end, but it's also a really thrilling little miniseries that provides a compelling insight into the culture clashes and interests of this early chapter in Australian history.

Crime

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries is such a cult hit, and it's for good reason! Set in the 1920s in Melbourne, Phryne Fisher becomes a private investigator following her sister's disappeaarance. It's equal parts camp and dramatic, romantic and personal, and it just really scratches the itch of an oldschool murder mystery series. It's perfect.

Other crime series:

The Principal - a miniseries set in a rough highschool in Sydney where the faculty is left to deal with the fallout when a student's murder reignites racial tensions among the school community. It's heavy and harrowing, but also an insightful look at the broader fallout of a crime.

Wentworth - imagine a darker, grittier Orange is the New Black. Australian shows so rarely get more than three seasons because they no longer get government funding at that point which often makes them untenable, so its a testament to the quality and the audience of Wentworth that it lasted eight. If you want a show about dangerous women, you can't really get much better than this.

Science fiction / fantasy

Australia unfortunately doesn't make a lot of science fiction, which always bums me out, but Cleverman was such an exciting series when it came out, and I think still has a real legacy in terms of entwining Indigenous cultures with genre storytelling. It's was created by Aboriginal writers and directors, and pulls Dreaming myths into a dystopian future in a way that's just so compelling. It's a pretty great series with a unique take on the genre.

Other science fiction / fantasy series:

Glitch - I mean, technically its a zombie series, but it really feels like so much more than that. A bunch of people come back from the dead in a small town in regional Australia, only they have no memories of their life before they died. It's a deeply felt series about grief, but also identity and relationships, and if you're into genre shows, this is definitely one to watch.

[marimosalad]

8 TV shows can say a lot about a person!

Certainly for me, I think! I’m listing here many of my personal recs which (as this is a Haladriel blog) I will be talking about them in relation to Haladriel, if applicable.

Thanks for the tag @pursuitseternal 🌟

Without further ado:

———

1. Needless to say, The Rings of Power.

I’m a total sucker for Hot Bad Men™️ so I never stood a chance against Saubrand.

Blorbo aside, my attachment to this show far preceded my Saurondriel obsession — I was completely enamored with it since Episode 1, the first big scenic shot of Valinor; the Two Trees; the epic soundtrack; stunning costumes. I had tears in my eyes during the boat sailing into the light of Valinor. The scale of storytelling far exceeded my admittedly meager expectations.

Let me be clear: I did not want to like this show and was set on dismissing it as an inferior fan service following The Hobbit franchise. Next thing I knew my inner child had been awakened and my love for Tolkien universe rekindled. Add to this concoction my weakness for complex villains and the epic reveal of Hot Sauron — boom, I was done. I’ll never recover from this.

2. FRINGE.

This show has such a special place in my heart. It’s sci-fi, mystery, time travel, alternate timelines, quantum physics mumbo jumbo, love story, and a father/son story all rolled into one amazing series that ended abruptly and went under the radar for so long.

In this universe, Denethor II has reincarnated into a much more gentle, sweeter Dr. Walter Bishop who actually loves his son and will put his life at risk for his son over, and over, and over again.

I also have an undying admiration for Anna Torv’s Olivia Dunham (I’m planning a separate post of all my fictional female crushes over the years). I was so giddy to see her in The Last of Us — she’s an underrated actress who deserves to be in the spotlight.

3. LOST.

Probably the first TV show that I actually got seriously invested in as a young adult and since then I’ve watched it so many times in every phase of my life. I’ve named our new puppy after Penelope Widmore. My computer name is Not-Pennys-Boat. I’ve been thirsting after stranded-at-sea disheveled ruffians since Sawyer, who is my favorite character who was the antagonist at the beginning (I’ve been saying that Halbrand is the perfect mix of Sawyer and Aragorn).

Sawyer/Juliet is my absolute favorite onscreen couple, pre-Haladriel. Their chemistry is fire. They just work. (Hated him with Kate.) Just tell me this doesn’t scream Haladriel (aesthetically):

Bonus: scene look familiar? Desmond did it first 🔥

4. Outlander.

Ok, believe it or not, I wasn’t quite watching this for the copious amount of steamy sex just because I was watching with my husband AND my mom over the pandemic when we lived together, and needless to say it was quite awkward 😂 I have a particular inexplicable love for Scotland (despite having only gone there twice), so when I discovered the series I went head over heels in love with the landscape, costumes, historic details, music (Bear McCreary), mythology, etc. Oh, and the hot Scotsman too 🫠

Jamie and Claire are the epitome of cosmically connected soulmates, their love transcending across lifetimes. Their early sex scenes are 🔥🔥🔥.

Bonus fact: Sam Heughan was named after Samwise Gamgee by his Tolkien hippie parents. He’s been casually broadcasting that he wants a role in TROP. Could we help him? If enough of us use the tag #SamHeughanForCeleborn, will they give Galadriel the husband she deserves?

5. DARK.

Did I mention I’m a big fan of quantum physics, philosophy, time travel, and parallel universes? No? Well, this brooding German show just about represents everything I love. The perfectly planned 3-season show is everything you could ever hope for in a good TV series. It’s moody, intelligent, mind-bending, and heart-wrenching. Watch the first episode, and by the end of it, you’ll be hooked, I promise you. Oh and for the love of god, do not watch it dubbed.

6. Norsemen.

Ok, I don’t typically watch too much comedy. But I do like The Office. I also like medieval movies/shows. What if I said Norsemen was basically a medieval version of The Office? Oh, it’s so dumb. It’s so dumb I almost didn’t finish the first episode. But once you get in the groove, it’s hilarious as fuck. On Netflix.

7. True Detective.

I don’t know how many times I’ve rewatched this show — it’s my comfort show I watch by myself on my laptop on rainy evenings. I don’t know what that says about me, and I don’t want to know 😂

Aside from the intrigue of the creepy Southern Gothic and unsettling cult themes, I mainly attribute my obsession with the show to Matthew McConaughey’s brooding Rust Cohle. He’s tall and lanky, a total weirdo, a lone wolf, has commitment issues, single-minded about his job, and (a bit more than) slightly unhinged. Also known as my kind of dude.

8. Better Call Saul.

Greatest of all spin-offs, who knew that the show about the sleazy lawyer who represented the world’s greatest meth kingpin was actually a love story in disguise?

Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn as Jimmy and Kim are the perfect embodiment of a modern couple who are equals and opposites, bring out each other’s best and worst, and have an undying respect for one another which serves as the backbone for their relationship. They even take turns towing on opposite sides of the law, pushing and pulling each other’s inclinations towards Good & Bad, only to find each other drowning in the dense grey area that is all too real. They are the *could have beens* for Galadriel and Sauron in the best case scenario (I could go on with the similarities but I don’t want to spoil the show).

Bonus fact: Gennifer Hutchison was the writer for both BCS and TROP. This fact should speak volumes about the kinds of discussions that would have occurred in the writer’s room regarding the nature of Galadriel and Sauron’s relationship. Watch the show and you’ll understand.

I’ve got many more recommended shows, but I think these 8 have been my primary emotional support shows over the past few years. I debated including Raised By Wolves, but as it was prematurely canceled there isn’t a whole lot I could say about it, despite having a fantastic premise (and which I still recommend people watch).

No pressure tags (but also curious to know): @starlady66 @maironiiel @demonscantgothere @scriberated @wyrd-syster @formerlyir @nenyabusiness @thegreatzombieartisan and any others who want to join.

[davidtennantgenderenvy]

Every Actress I Have Ever Imagined Playing Riza Hawkeye

Scarlett Johansson (it’d be hard for me to see her as another iconic badass woman post-Nat but hot dang do those characters have some similarities

Carey Mulligan

Saiorse Ronan (younger Saiorse would have been my DREAM Winry but she’s starting to edge into Riza territory)

also maybe Florence Pugh (I thought she’d need a couple more years but cue all the commenters telling me they’re the SAME AGE o o p s)

Anna Torv (even though I haven’t watched Fringe)

Rosamund Pike circa Pride and Prejudice

Elizabeth Mitchell circa LOST

Claire Danes circa… earlier Homeland?

Jodie Foster circa Silence of the Lambs

Elizabeth Moss (can you imagine. The PERFECTION)

would 100% support Zendaya even if she doesn’t look exactly like her

For a musical version Caissie Levy or Brittain Ashford would be insanely dope but mostly I just wanna play her so badly guysssss

meanwhile I can’t think of any actors who are currently perfect for Roy (Daniel Henney or Ben Barnes would be fabulous if you aged them down 5-10 years or so) but I can think of at least two ideal genderbends (Michelle Dockery or Laura Donnelly no I don’t care that they’re British)

[nordiccowboy]

Hello! It’s about time I introduce myself. I never intended to post my art on here or even be that much active. I only wanted to use this blog to find inspiration for my art and writing (pinterest just wasn’t enough and I hate twitter lol) but then I realized how much I missed this place (I used to have another blog under a different name).

Call me Goblin or Billa. Early 30s. She/her lesbian. Occupation: village witch, cave dweller, trinket collector, lighthouse ghost. 18+ blog so minors dni should go without saying.

On my blog you will mostly find:

- movies & tv shows (mostly horror)

- games (red dead redemption, resident evil , silent hill, the last of us etc.)

- actresses that i love (alyssa sutherland, anna torv, jessica chastain etc.)

- art (including my own)

- rootin tootin cowboys

- things i find interesting

Art tag

Fic tag (coming soon)

[faerune]

ok ep2 was not as good as ep1 but it wasn’t bad either! tlou spoilers under the cut

i dont know how many times i have to say it but with zombie media i do not care about where the virus came from or how it started beyond little hints to speculate on i just don’t

the whole jakarta intro just felt pointless though props to the actress who played the mycologist i loved her she really sold the fear and hopelessness

bella ramsey really is just the best ellie i cannot believe the TALENT

im not a huge fan of anna torv as tess but she fuckin ATE UP this episode

did they flipflop the hotel lobby from summer in the game to this episode? idk weird but not something to nitpick

why was there a big ol group of infected rollin around on the street lmao

THE CLICKERS! THE DESIGN! THE ACTORS WHO PORTRAYED THEM!

so happy they used practical effects for them and the actors did an insane job getting the mannerisms right

the entire scene in the museum made me feel on the edge just like some moments of the game made me feel

the wooden plank scene!!! BEAUTIFUL SHOT along with ellie and joel’s ‘is it everything you imagined?’ dialogue loved it

pedro really nails the awkward roughness that joel feels with ellie initially. it’s clear joel /knows/ he could get attached to ellie and fights it so hard

:’) tess wanting to set everything right i love her that’s my girl

not....sure what the point of the weird fungus kiss was with tess at the end? it kinda soured her sacrifice cause it was just lmao....weird and odd like why add that just have her blow shit up

BILL AND FRANK LETS FUCKIN GO

im so excited we get a backstory for them 

nick offerman is gunna be such a good bill im dyin

[smokeybrandreviews]

Paradise Falls

I’ve been relatively quiet about The Last of Us adaption because i wanted to wait until the thing ended to really dig into that content. However, the third episodes absolutely shattered that plan. I watched the thing Sunday evening. Sat on it. And then watched it again yesterday. It is f*cking exceptional. Seriously, episode three of The Last of Us is, without a doubt, some of the best television i have seen in me entire thirty-eight years on this planet. Everything about this episode was near perfect. Everything. All of it. From the direction to the cinematography to the use of silence and color to the writing and even the editing; This episode of TLoU was so brilliantly constructed, i was left speechless. It is a work of art. A technical masterpiece in terms of television production. And that’s just praising the actual meat and bones of the production, itself. The performances in this thing are what really sell it. The performances make all of the other aforementioned brilliance, look dull.

I’ll get to Nick Offerman in a hot second because, holy sh*t, but i need to take some time and give credit to Murray Bartlett. Goddamn, did he imbue this version of Frank with such emotional weight. He loved. He hated. He LIVED. All of this was given to us in the span of one hour, deftly demonstrated by Bartlett. Frank, in the game, is little more than character development for Bill. He’s a corpse when we finally see him. We never really see him alive or interacting with the love of his post-apocalyptic life. We are told all of this. The adaption SHOWED us all of that. Frank is a fully realized character, smarmy and sarcastic, but genuine in his earnestness. He is brazenly honest, living his life on his own terms, even surrounded by the emptiness of the apocalypse. I love the fact that we got time with Frank and i am so glad that Bartlett was able to make us care for a character that was little more than a course on a floor in a video game level. That said, as much as i enjoyed Bartlett’s Frank, for one episode, this was Nick Offerman’s show.

Bill is so much better a character in this adaption and that has everything to do with how Offerman portrayed this character. Bill in the game is kind of a dick. A life defending his oasis in a sea of plague will do that. Offerman definitely brings shads of that curmudgeon i know from the game but he is able to give Bill so much more humanity. The is an emotional nuance to Bill in this show that you don’t necessarily get in the game because it’s a game. You don’t send time with characters like you have the potential to do in a straight forward narrative. We got a whole hour with Bill and, later, Frank. We got to see them meet, fall in love, and live a life. A life where they grew old together. A life that was satisfying. And an end to that life which was much more meaningful than living on without his love. His purpose. Nick Offerman delivered a performance i had no idea was within him. This sh*t is star-making. This sh*t gets recognition. Seriously, if Nick Offerman doesn’t get a not from the Emmys or the Globed, we riot in the street. Ron Swanson came with the goddamn heat and he deserves gold for it.

In terms of the show, i still want to reserve judgment until this first season concludes but, these first three episodes? F*cking bravo. Pedro Pascal is a fantastic Joel and Anna Torv really stole the show as Tess. I was upset she met her end so goddamn quickly. Definitely wanted at least three or four episodes before she kicked the bucket. Ellie is still a question mark for me. I like Bella Ramsey as an actress and, in terms of performance, she’s fantastic, don’t misunderstand me, but this doesn’t feel like the Ellie i know. I see shades of her in there but so far, it’s ringing foul to me. We’ll see as time progresses but, overall, i love this show. The Last of Us is really f*cking food an i did not expect that sh*t coming out of Sony. I imagine HBO has a heavy hand in the quality we’re getting because, i mean, Morbius happened. Also, i just want to go ahead and say, out loud, the best thing about this show are the flashbacks and cold opens. Like, f*ck, dude, that very first one? Are you kidding me? If you're not watching The Last of Us, you're f*cking up bud.

[joels6string]

Wow, you and your anons are being so rude about the actress playing Tess. She gave one print interview about her character and story that we haven’t seen play out yet and suddenly Anna Torv is enemy number one because romance was mentioned. I mean, do you really think one actress, who has had a steady but not well known career, could influence something as big as TLOU by assuming(with literally zero proof) she is the one who suggested the plot point? Just for *double checks anon’s logic* the ability to brag about it in an interview?!? I thought tumblr was over it’s whole “don’t like an actress cause her character gets to experience romance with the man I fantasize about” type of bullshit. Female characters like Cara Dune are safe to like cause they aren’t a romantic rival. It’s blatant misogyny hidden behind the good ole “but I like my female characters independent, don’t need no man!” It’s just gross, mate.

Oh please take it somewhere else. My main issue from the start has been adding some bullshit romance plot to a zombie series that already has an established story because somehow that's going to make it better. I'm sure HBO will add them fucking because they can't have a series without sex in it. I've been happily locked down in real life for over 10 years I don't need to defend a fantasy about a fictional character MADE OF PIXELS lol. I know the romance point came from Mazin, I have no doubts about that.

I don't control what people put in my ask box, I couldn't care less about this actress besides the fact her comments about Tess "being a top" are outright stupid.

[alexturner]

anna torv emmy campaign starts NOW!!!!!!

[smokeybrand]

Paradise Falls

I’ve been relatively quiet about The Last of Us adaption because i wanted to wait until the thing ended to really dig into that content. However, the third episodes absolutely shattered that plan. I watched the thing Sunday evening. Sat on it. And then watched it again yesterday. It is f*cking exceptional. Seriously, episode three of The Last of Us is, without a doubt, some of the best television i have seen in me entire thirty-eight years on this planet. Everything about this episode was near perfect. Everything. All of it. From the direction to the cinematography to the use of silence and color to the writing and even the editing; This episode of TLoU was so brilliantly constructed, i was left speechless. It is a work of art. A technical masterpiece in terms of television production. And that’s just praising the actual meat and bones of the production, itself. The performances in this thing are what really sell it. The performances make all of the other aforementioned brilliance, look dull.

I’ll get to Nick Offerman in a hot second because, holy sh*t, but i need to take some time and give credit to Murray Bartlett. Goddamn, did he imbue this version of Frank with such emotional weight. He loved. He hated. He LIVED. All of this was given to us in the span of one hour, deftly demonstrated by Bartlett. Frank, in the game, is little more than character development for Bill. He’s a corpse when we finally see him. We never really see him alive or interacting with the love of his post-apocalyptic life. We are told all of this. The adaption SHOWED us all of that. Frank is a fully realized character, smarmy and sarcastic, but genuine in his earnestness. He is brazenly honest, living his life on his own terms, even surrounded by the emptiness of the apocalypse. I love the fact that we got time with Frank and i am so glad that Bartlett was able to make us care for a character that was little more than a course on a floor in a video game level. That said, as much as i enjoyed Bartlett’s Frank, for one episode, this was Nick Offerman’s show.

Bill is so much better a character in this adaption and that has everything to do with how Offerman portrayed this character. Bill in the game is kind of a dick. A life defending his oasis in a sea of plague will do that. Offerman definitely brings shads of that curmudgeon i know from the game but he is able to give Bill so much more humanity. The is an emotional nuance to Bill in this show that you don’t necessarily get in the game because it’s a game. You don’t send time with characters like you have the potential to do in a straight forward narrative. We got a whole hour with Bill and, later, Frank. We got to see them meet, fall in love, and live a life. A life where they grew old together. A life that was satisfying. And an end to that life which was much more meaningful than living on without his love. His purpose. Nick Offerman delivered a performance i had no idea was within him. This sh*t is star-making. This sh*t gets recognition. Seriously, if Nick Offerman doesn’t get a not from the Emmys or the Globed, we riot in the street. Ron Swanson came with the goddamn heat and he deserves gold for it.

In terms of the show, i still want to reserve judgment until this first season concludes but, these first three episodes? F*cking bravo. Pedro Pascal is a fantastic Joel and Anna Torv really stole the show as Tess. I was upset she met her end so goddamn quickly. Definitely wanted at least three or four episodes before she kicked the bucket. Ellie is still a question mark for me. I like Bella Ramsey as an actress and, in terms of performance, she’s fantastic, don’t misunderstand me, but this doesn’t feel like the Ellie i know. I see shades of her in there but so far, it’s ringing foul to me. We’ll see as time progresses but, overall, i love this show. The Last of Us is really f*cking food an i did not expect that sh*t coming out of Sony. I imagine HBO has a heavy hand in the quality we’re getting because, i mean, Morbius happened. Also, i just want to go ahead and say, out loud, the best thing about this show are the flashbacks and cold opens. Like, f*ck, dude, that very first one? Are you kidding me? If you're not watching The Last of Us, you're f*cking up bud.

[celoewe]

Anna Torv: "TV allows you to tell much more than a story" [x]

“The acclaimed actress who participated in hits like Fringe and Mindhunter stars in this new series that reveals that the real story is often written behind the scenes.”

[newsatsix1986]

The Newsreader Wins Two Logie Awards!

Well Newsreader fans, after what was looking to be a rocky start to the night, The Newsreader finally got a sweet taste of victory.

The show itself won Most Outstanding Drama, and our dear, dear leading lady Anna Torv rightfully took home the Most Outstanding Actress, which she so definitely is. We got a delightful speech on stage by the crew who were at the Logies, and Anna filmed an adorable little video for us too!

To say that I am thrilled and proud is a total understatement, and I know all of you are too. I cried, I screamed, I cheered. What an amazing result. Now to try to sleep like a normal human being! 😂

The Newsreader - Australia's best drama overall, and Anna Torv is now the Queen of Australian television for 1986, 2021 AND 2022. Cannot get any better than that!

@dontwanderoff @fazcinatingblog @acrazyobsession

[we-pay-for-everything]

What do you think about Olivia Dunham, FauxLivia, the observers, Henry/Etta?

I love Olivia. She was probably my favorite character. I love how warm, kind, strong she was. She was introverted like me, and just a really good person. I love characters like that, who are good and warm and emotional and strong (like Elena in the first seasons of TVD). I like characters who aren't too flashy, who look and sound pretty normal, and are motivated by very normal things, even though they are anything but. I liked the actress's acting a lot too. I love subtle, natural acting. She was comforting to watch. Her voice is so nice, and she's super pretty!

FauxLivia is good too. I prefer the original Olivia, but the other Olivia was good too. She was more impulsive, carefree, and extroverted since she hadn't experienced the trauma our Olivia did. But it was interesting that this "improved" version of Olivia wasn't necessarily better than our Olivia. Overcoming trauma made Olivia more compassionate, motivated, patient, and responsible than Fauxlivia; that compassion and desire to help people from situations like hers made her stronger and a better agent than Fauxlivia too. I'm not trying to romanticize trauma, but I think everyone who's experienced it wishes they could be "normal" and think that would make them better off; so it's nice that while Fauxlivia may've had an easier life and was definitely happier for it, Olivia was better in a lot of ways and she eventually became happier too. I think it's hopeful. Fauxlivia was carefree and fun and had a dream life, and Olivia needed to loosen up and give up control, but being strict with herself was also Olivia's strength. I'm uptight like Olivia, so I liked how everyone loved her despite Fauxlivia being fun and easygoing. They showed that Olivia's weaknesses or limitations were at the core of her, so she would be entirely different without them - that means her qualities wouldn't exist without her weaknesses, and that she needed to love her flaws as much as her strengths... I really love that idea. Angel made me love some of my flaws for the same reason. I realized I didn't love him in spite of him being quiet, brooding, and uptight, but because of it, because I related to him and enjoyed those traits in him. But, anyway, I liked how they wrote Fauxlivia and how Anna Torv player her. I liked Fauxlivia's relationship with her colleagues in the other world and in "our" world too. I'm happy she got her happy ending. I'm also happy that she wasn't just written as the lesser Olivia. Obviously, she was initially supposed to be the "superior" Olivia, in order to make Olivia feel insecure of herself - until Olivia eventually realized that Peter loved her and not Fauxlivia and that Fauxlivia wasn't better than her. However, Fauxlivia was still a strong character with her own goals, struggles, motivations - at the end of the day, she was just as amazing as our Olivia; Fauxlivia isn't better than Olivia because she never experienced any trauma, but she isn't any worse for not having a sob story either. Fauxlivia and Olivia are just different people with their own unique charms and qualities.

I'm neutral on the Observers. I thought they were pretty cool, mysterious, and interesting, and I liked the little boy, but I liked the Observers better before the last season. I don't like what they represent - the cliché that emotions make people weak. They're supposed to be so smart, but any smart person knows you can't live without emotions; emotions are as natural as breathing. Stress, fear, sadness are great motivators, as are joy, compassion, love. Emotions give you a reason to live and to improve your own condition and that of others - this is what drives innovation. I think it's stupid that the Observers would be "super humans" because they suppress their emotions; our emotions play a huge role in the normal functioning of our brains and bodies. I don't like the argument that the Observers' world is fairer than ours, but sadder because love is the reason we live. The natural conclusion is that we're better than they are and they need to be erased. That's how these stories always go - people suck but free will and feelings need to exist because they make us "human". That's bullshit. Emotions aren't why the world is a mess. They are what makes us human, so any positives we have come from them too - if our world is getting any fairer it's because of emotions like empathy and love, and technology exists because we want to make the world better for ourselves and our loved ones. The planet would for sure be better off without humans, but saying the world would be fairer if humans weren't emotional is like saying a person would be happier never having been born - it's a contradiction imo.

Do you mean Etta, as in Olivia and Peter's daughter? I liked her, but she was just someone who spent her life trying to find her parents. That was her entire personality and story, so she was quite an underdeveloped character and died before she could become more interesting.

Thanks for the ask! This is bringing back memories. I kind of want to rewatch Fringe now.

[scentofdriedflowers]

I kept finding this clips on my dash about Station 19 and seemed cool and they had also a wlw couple with what seemed like a good chemistry for what I could see from gif and videos, and I like firefighters tv shows sue me lol, since Third Watch so yeah I feel old lol. I tried with 9-1-1 but eh didn't spark the interest in the characters.

So anyway I discovered that it's a grey's anatomy spin off and I was like oh dear no no no don't go there don't go there you suffered ENOUGH, there's a reason why you stopped watching since Lexie died

But I tried the first few episodes because I do not listen to myself and I wanted an 'easy' show to watch just to pass time anyway so I started it and DAMN IT 2 weeks later I already finished season 4 lol! pass time my ass, lol so yeah I like it and I loooove Maya and Carina so much!😭😍

But I love all the team and their dynamics together tho, they are really a good big family! Travis is the sweetest stop hurting him! Andy and Maya's friendship is my favorite! not always easy but truthful and honest. Maya, oh my sweet complicated broken bisexual bean, she's uugh so hot she physically reminds me like a mix between Anna Torv and ARod (the soccer player Amy Rodriguez), and she's a good captain really, she deserves more credits, she learned from her mistakes, and Vic! I love her, she's freaking beautiful, tall, sweet and she's hilarious😄 and she just needs love, give her love!

And then with Carina, I love her, I can understand all her italian rambling because I'm italian too! and finally you got an italian actress and not one that only pretends to be italian with a weird accent! thank you! since I never saw her in Grey's is she from Sicily like Stefania? the episode with Andrea broke my heart they were so sweet together, the DeLuca siblings why?!!😭😭😭

Anyway yeah I like it and I'm gonna go reblog some Marina gifset because they're the cutest and I can't believe they're the most normal couple there lol can you believe? despite their problems, but that's normal, it's life! Maya-monogamy is for the weak-Bishop has the healthiest normal relationship there?! lol😄😄 (I'm dreading the Carina visa situation now with shondaland you never know ugh but I hope for the best)

If Carina goes to Italy tho, and doesn't come back with a suitcase full of food, she's not a true italian tho, especially if she's from the south! do your homework writers lmao!😄😄ahahah bye!

[thevisualtwins]

HBO trusts Neil Druckmann! [SPOILER ALERT]

Video game players are looking forward to 2023: 2023 is the year of the The Last of us series' broadcast (also nicknamed TLOU by fans) by HBO. The TLOU series is inspired by the eponymous apocalyptic video game created by Neil Druckmann. In the context of the TLOU series’ shooting, HBO has currently spent ten million dollars: the series is one of the most expensive series ever made. This series project looks promising and fanatics hope their audience's expectations will be up to it. Nevertheless, the risk remains significant for HBO: turning video games into cinematographic adaptations is not always well regarded by the audience and the critics. They are not always unanimous. The pressure is more strenuously felt by the producers and the HBO television channel, especially since the second installment in TLOU game series was the best-selling video game in 2020, when it was released. Its success has been gigantic, even if fanatics are still torn about Joel's death. But don't worry, fanatical audiences of the TLOU video game saga can count on HBO’s professionalism: their editorial line aims to offer its audience an original series, where the staging and the dramaturgy are very well crafted, like Succession, L'amica geniale, or Euphoria. All these aspects raise an important question: how can we explain that HBO is so confident in the TLOU series' success? 

Before reflecting further, here are a few things you should know about the creation of a video game such as The last of us (this information will be essential to understand the arguments in the following paragraphs). The animation technique used is motion capture, a process where the actor/actress is in a black jumpsuit and has many sensors on his/her body, from head to toes. The actor/actress must reproduce realistic movements in a movie studio. There is no scenery and accessories are made of plastic or metal. The motion capture actor has to interact with them. The motion capture technique allows to "capture" the actor’s facial movements and facial expressions. The motion capture process has already been used in several movies, like The Planet of Apes or Spielberg's Tintin and the Secret of the Unicorn for instance. 

The future success that HBO imagines in the TLOU series can be justified in several ways. Neil Druckmann, the creator of the TLOU video game, is also the creator of the eponymous series: he already knows the scriptural and graphical universe, as well as the TLOU fans’ expectations. The TLOU series casting is sought-after and most of the chosen actors look like the characters in the game. On one hand, Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal, respectively chosen to interpret Ellie Williams and Joel Miller in the TLOU series look like the characters of the video game saga (where Troy Baker stars as Joel and Ashley Johnson as Ellie). Fans were also very positively surprised by the announcement that Anna Torv would be joining the cast of Neil Druckmann's series. Known for her role as Olivia Dunham in the sci-fi television series Fringe, she will star as Maria. It seems that TLOU fans are on board with this and have immediately “adopted” her as a well-fitting Maria. I personally agree that her joining the cast is a good thing: she is a talented actress and bears strong physical similarities to Maria’s character. 

On the other hand, other characters do not look like their video game counterparts, at list physically speaking: it is the case for Nico Parker who will interpret the role of Joel's daughter, Sarah. The actress does not look like the video game actress named Hana Hayes. This casting choice is a way for Neil Druckmann to add novelty and innovation to his apocalyptic universe (2013-). However, this is not only the expression of his artistic point of view, but also a commercial choice. Neil Druckmann willingly chooses famous and popular actors. Bella Ramsey is already known for her role as Lyanna Mormont in the Games of Thrones (GOT) series. As for Pedro Pascal, he played Oberyn Martel in the same series. The actor also starred in the Disney+ series The Mandalorian. Lately, Pedro Pascal has become a symbolic figure of big-budget creations.

Plus, this HBO series intends to highlight its differences from the original TLOU saga. According to the Comicbook website, the series will take place in 2003, and not in 2013 as in the original video game. This choice of the timeline can make the audience curious and even more impatient to see the changes made by Neil Druckmann. Neil Druckmann also thinks he may not immediately create a third video game installment. The TLOU series can then become a new means of creation to complete the video game. All these news and expectations are enough to make fans curious and to encourage them to watch the TLOU series. 

One thing is clear, HBO does its very best to make the TLOU series attractive. The channel believes in the success of this creation; the fans and the targeted audience are faithful. All we have to do is make an appointment in 2023 for the TLOU series release.