Pennyworth

I enjoyed Pennyworth a lot more than I expected I would. A show based off Batman's butler didn't really seem that exciting but I couldn't have been more wrong. This isn't Alfred the butler, this is Alfred the soldier/spy. The cast all do a great job, especially Jack Bannon who plays Alfred. He just makes Alfred so damn likable. It has the look and feel of a good 60's spy series. Everything from the cinematography to the wardrobe. They are now on season 3 and each season has been just as entertaining as the others. I'm glad HBO Max picked this up so it's available to a larger audience because this show deserves it.

With a darkish but not gothic London in the 60's backdrop this story had me hooked almost from the beginning. The DC tv shows just keep getting better.

The characters' lines are well written and their silent responses effective in pulling me into the story. Nudity, and graphic violence are somewhat following GoT so there there are people I wouldn't recommend this to, but those depictions are effective in portraying this dystopian alternate England in the grey, dark, world parallel to Batman's Gotham City in the US.

I just wanted some background TV while my attention was diverted amongst other activities. Didn't take long to stop what I was doing and get right into this. Recent DC shows have been pure garbage, whilst this is closer to Gotham in its Elseworld-ish quirky grimness. But less quirky, even with inclusions of Jack Ripper, Aleister Crowley and the Queen. Excellent production all-round, stand-out performance from Paloma Faith playing a woman who's a wee bit mad. If I was aware they'd do the left vs right political dynamic throughout season 1 I wouldn't have watched it, but surprisingly it was done well. The only problem is I now have high exceptions of season 2.

Wether we like a series or not, we should all object to companies/studios canceling a well developed series without a proper wrap up. The amount of disrespect this shows to loyal viewers is glaring and it's happening much more frequently. I did enjoy the series and for whatever reason the owners of HBOMAX decided to cancel it ... obviously that's their prerogative. But to cut it off at a cliffhanger without an ending? Well that just means I am done watching series content on these services until each and everyone I want to see is finished properly (Final Season).

I was blindsided on this one because I didn't check, before I started, wether the series would be continued ... my bad. But because of this more frequent type of behavior from production companies, I am one of many people who have refused to begin series until several seasons have been made and news of renewals are posted. And when I find a series will be canceled prematurely, I don't even start it.

FYI, I could care less about what the new directors' visions for the DC universe are. But the new owner of Warner Brothers better start caring about the people, like myself, who will not be investing another penny (long term) into a service that ends series without closure. And you know what that means Mr. Zaslav? One word ... CHURN.