I wouldn't mind all the characters stories being fake if they were even a little interesting. I never cared about anyone other than Maura and we wasted so so so much time on everyone else and I have no idea why. Everyone else's story was just the most cliched bullshit, I felt like I was watching Days of Our Lives, and while I liked Maura's a bit more because it was tied into the mystery, "I put my child in a coma to stop him from dying" has also been done dozens of times before, and better. (I only watched the first few episodes of Dark so I don't really have any frame of reference, but this wasn't an amazing introduction honestly)

1. Ego Death - I May Destroy You
2. Time's Arrow - Bojack Horseman
3. Everyone's Waiting - Six Feet Under
4. Mizumono - Hannibal
5. Ruthie - Bojack Horseman
6. Stay Gold Cheesy Boy - Reservation Dogs
7. Michael's Gambit - The Good Place
8. All the Bells Say - Succession
9. The We We Are - Severance
10. The Fielder Method - The Rehearsal

only seen a few of these but

The Midnight Club: Probably my favourite of the bunch, although I've been stuck on episode 3 for a bit. I like the premise, I think the cast is really fun, and it has that certain Something that Mike Flanagan brings to all his projects. Something about it just draws me in, I don't know. It feels self assured. Admittedly I'm finding the horror story of the week in episode 3 kind of dull though, it's possible the show has a strong beginning and peters out given the lack of attention it's been getting and the lackluster reviews.

The Rings of Power: I generally feel more positive about this than everyone else, but it has..... issues. my current thoughts are dwarves>harfoots>numenor>southlands in terms of plots. The dwarf stuff I genuinely enjoy and have fun with, I would like. If the show were just that it'd be like a 9/10 for me. The harfoots I generally sit up and pay attention to, I'm intrigued by their story, but there are some things that just. Make me scratch my head (why are they so mean?? they're the meanest of any of the races, and I don't think we're meant to FEEL like they're mean, I feel like it's meant to be "necessary evil" or whatever but it just comes off as them being cruel assholes.)

Numenor just.... I find it interesting, it's fun to see what numenor is like, it's very pretty, but all the characters involved just feel so boring and flat. They just feel lacking in personality which is a pretty common writing mistake, especially with fantasy, "oh i'm just going to have this character's personality be that they're driven to fulfill their goals" but every character is driven to fulfill their goals! Characters should feel like real fleshed out people and not dominos falling in a rube goldberg machine. Just feels kind of soulless. and Really I feel the same about the Southlands but this feels even more straightforward good vs evil. And I just don't care about the romance.

Mike: I didn't get through the first episode, not that it seemed bad but it felt very similar to a lot of recent biopic tv shows. If you're interested in Mike Tyson's life it might be a fun watch or if you really like seeing a true life rags to riches story. I don't think it's good enough to appeal to people who aren't invested in the premise though.

Black Bird: Not exactly my thing but if you like true crime/serial killer shows this is very good, very creepy, the actors are amazing, the guy playing the serial killer will probably win. Wild that it's a true story.

I think this is a fun idea, listing shows and asking opinions on them, it'd be fun to do again.