R-Sula

Hardcore fans like to call Star Trek Voyager more suitable for "casual" fans, which means that this is the most approachable Star Trek TV series out of all Star Treks.

Voyager was similar to the original Star Trek with the same kind of balance between a sense of danger and the wonders of exploring different imaginary cultures, and without the mind numbing minutiae of keeping track of the sanctity of the story continuity or the micro-interactions between every single commanders in every fleet in some unnecessarily complex space war.

Every episode resets clean - to some fans' dismay - like a bitesized sitcom of the 90's, and I see that as a plus. You don't need to worry about jumping into the middle of an episode not knowing what had happened or spoiling what will happen, as every episode is a self-contained story, a single 45-minute episode you can enjoy at any time without the need to binge everything to understand what's going on. It's not so different from watching a random episode of Futurama or Friends. It's a guaranteed joyride, with Star Trek flavor.

The characters are interesting and likable. Unlike other Trek series, the technobabble is reduced to the minimum and the writing is more fun and intimate instead of stoic and serious. Captain Janeway is a flexible, warm yet tough leader and she sticks close to her moral compass. I don't always agree with her decisions, but that's the point. You see the ex-Maquis Chakotay and B'lanna slowly integrates with the crew, with the latter falling in love with Tom. And the cast was taken to the next level with the introduction of Seven of Nine, who does not need further introductions.

While I find other ST series kind of dry, ST Voyager is full of warmth. I genuinely cried at a few moments in the story. Despite the lack of emphasis on continuity, the story does keep track of how far they had travelled and how characters had grown and related to each other. Season 4, for example, had one big arc on the recovery of Seven of Nine with a couple smaller arcs on the Hirogen and the message from the Federation. There were also occasionally some two-parter episodes for a deeper storyline.

One might question how this small starship managed to survive so many hijacks and attacks within the course of 7 years with the crew seemingly still content as if nothing happened... but Star Trek has never been The Expanse, so it's pointless to try to compare Voyager to that. Deus Ex Machina (e.g. Q or usually some brand new unexplained scientific phenomenon) has been pretty much a main character of Star Trek since the original series. Star Trek has always been about the optimism of utopian futures and the pacifist and empathetic attitudes towards cultural conflicts. I much rather enjoy the guaranteed safety of this wonderful crew before I choose to watch an episode, in fact. It's nice to know that the crew will survive no matter what crazy difficult challenges they face. It's the optimism we need today.

Anyway, ignore the toxic fandom gatekeepers - get a nice warm cup of coffee like Captain Janeway, and enjoy the show for what it is.

I binge watched the series all at once, and have lots of thoughts. The anti-superhero trope is strong lately, like 'Umbrella Academy', and 'Brightburn', which I generally enjoy. I'm not sure 'enjoy' is the word I'd use to describe this show though.
The main "superheroes" (called 'Supes') are direct evil twins to Superman/Captain America, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, etc. I would argue that there are NO superheros in this show, just super-villains. The vigilantes trying to expose and destroy the Supes are known as 'The Boys', thus the show's title.

But this show series has some triggering issues:
1) The show is based on a comic book series, but with widely varying character development, origin stories, and plots. If you can believe it, the show is MUCH LESS violent and darkly twisted than the comics. And yet still, this is a very violent and visually gory show. Like Robert Rodriguez/ Quentin Tarantino level. Be forewarned.
2) There's some overt plot lines along misogyny. Most of the women characters are victimized, assaulted, exploited, and otherwise manipulated, included the Supes. There's several rape references - and it is implied that the male Supes are repeat offenders. There is 1 woman vigilante of the Boys, who is actually the physically strongest of the group, but is mute and is only known as 'The Female', even after her name is revealed as 'Kimiko'. And more obviously, though she is a woman part of the team, they are still known as, and the show is still called, "The Boys".

3) There are also overt plot lines along homophobia - literally "fear of being gay". Supe 'Ezekiel' is an evangelist described as "Pray the gay away" who secretly engages in sex with men at a supe underground sex dungeon, and the video footage of his exploits is used to blackmail him. The Senator unknowingly has sex with the supe "Doppelganger" who turns into an obese man during coitus and takes pics, which is used to blackmail him. And supe Queen Maeve is tormented by feeling forced into the closet, unable to reveal her queer sexuality lest she be ostracized from The Seven.
Sigh. The more I think about it, and the more I learn about the source material, the less I like this show. Meh.

Why is nobody talking about this show? Jim Carrey’s big return has to be my favourite TV show of 2018. I have never seen a show quite like Kidding before it’s unique visual style transformers what could be a mildly interesting concept into a masterwork about a damaged artist.

Michel Gondry, who previously worked with Carrey on 2004′s “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, directed 6 of the 10 episodes and his music video inspired aesthetic can been seen in every inch of this show.

The cast is absolutely fantastic with Judy Greer finely being given the chance to deliver a performance as good as her scene at the end of “The Descendants”. Of course the star is Jim Carey who gives what might be the best performance of his career as a children’s entertainer dealing with depression after a traumatic event.

I have tried to keep this a vague as possible because I cannot recommend going into this show blind enough. Kidding is a show that has to be experienced, a show that is truly pushing the television medium forward. If you are looking for an artistic yet poignant depiction of mental health, sexuality and grief then this might just be what you need to see.