#and only like 15% of my feelings about how The Witcher Netflix has been adapted

[kuwdora]

I always have thoughts about book-to-media adaptations running in the back of my mind these days since it’s part and parcel of our fannish landscape. There’s just so much that goes into translating something from book to a visual medium. And then the adaptation fails in some small and/or large way and it ends up being a disappointment. (I think there’s also a lot to be said about adaptations that are more Successful than not and what success means in an adaptation…but I think that deserves its own post.)

I’m often considering a person’s entry point to adaptations, whether it’s through the media or the original source, and how that plays into people’s reactions about failures of adaptations or—like, what each person is wanting to get out of the adaptation if they know the original source material. And what they’re happy with when they’ve just discovered it through the adaptation.

Just gonna ramble a little bit about my own experience with being a book-to-adaptation person. I think even when writing and production circumstances are the most ideal, it’s still fucking hard as hell to adapt complicated narratives to the screen. Still. I’m not immune to heartbreak about seeing something play out badly because I had been so attached to the original book material.

When I was a little girl I picked up a fantasy book featuring a little girl protagonist. This main character was living in a foster situation, had dead parents, and a wishy-washy background she didn’t know much about. She was a little bit of a ruffian and kind of defied everybody and everything because she had a very strong sense of self and moral code. She is, of course, a child of prophecy and has a lot in store for her.

Over the course of the first book she ends up embroiled in some social and political intrigue and ends up going on a grand adventure. She meets an outcast who is is hated by humans but they use his services anyway because he’s good at his job. He ends up becoming her protector and guardian and would do anything for her.

She eventually crossed paths with a world-traveling misfit with who brought levity and a heart of gold to every scene. She also ended up meeting a very old, very beautiful witch also fell in love with this child and would move heaven and earth to protect her and help her survive and thrive.

The whole series deals with a lot of complex issues of the moral and social variety, and there’s a running theme about how men and institutions headed by men wield their power and try to impose their vision of the world on everyone. Particularly on women.

The little girl also eventually found out that her dad isn’t actually dead like she was told. The dad is alive and well and he’s asshole, also a bad guy. But he has the MOST CHARISMA EVER, holy fuck.

I ate these books up as a kid and reread them over and over and my brain and heart totally grew around them. I admired the protagonist and her sharp wit and mouthiness and determination. Her resiliency and perseverance to do what she knew would be right and just. As I got older and I reread the books and absorbed the more complex issues about personhood and agency. I thought more about how you can resist a bad situation or person when the world/person is trying to change you to fit their ideal. (That part was particularly important to me when I was young). But also the themes of good and evil, etc. I started seeing the politics and then understanding it more with every reread over the years when I started reading more history, more politics. It had always been there in the books but I could finally SEE it. It felt like a revelation.

A dozen or so years later it turns out someone was going to going to adapt these books! It was much discussed and heavily anticipated. These were well-known, beloved fantasy books from the 90s. Amazing characters and great scenes! Fascinating themes.

God I remember being so excited when I heard about the adaptation. And then I got to see it. It was the most confusing and disappointing experiences of my life. What I ended up seeing was pretty. Great costumes, CGI. Amazing actors! But everything that made the books interesting and magical and profound had been watered down, elided over the moral complexities. Or it outright changed things that would have fundamentally shifted the events of the rest of the books and make the adaptation even MORE incomprehensible.

I’m talking about the 2007 film adaptation of The Golden Compass from Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials. A lot of this probably sounds familiar to my Witcher mutuals, right?

Anyway.

The film had so many boycotts by the Catholic Church and other churchy groups in the United States for its depiction of institutionalized religion in Lyra’s world. So on the studio-side they made so many changes and demands that fucked the movie. So much doesn’t make sense or is just pales in comparison to what was actually originally intended.

After the film’s flop even more articles and reviews came out talking about Tom Stoppard’s original draft of the film and the director’s first take on the screenplay. Vulture read both versions and it's really illuminating what they discovered. The film was indeed supposed to be significantly longer but the studio wasn’t having it because they wanted kids to go and see this film and 2+ film wasn’t gonna be it.

Like. The studio was really hoping for another Harry Potter franchise and were treating this book-to-film more like a YA fantasy type of thing. When in reality someone wrote a sanded down version of the story for the screenplay that left me and a whole bunch of other people fucking jaded as hell. Because damn. Way to miss the fucking mark on an amazing fantasy series. 10000% missed it. I’ve blacked out most of the actual film from memory because I just could not believe it. The disappointment. The heartache of not doing the story justice.

But yeah…just… someone really thought The Golden Compass was gonna be a huge fantasy action/adventure hit because there were really cool talking animals.

It’s so fucking hilarious to me in retrospect. When you realize these books are Phillip Pullman’s AU fanfic/fix-it of Paradise Lost where Lucifer gets to have his revenge on the kingdom of heaven, there was noooo way that original film was going to even begin to set up a 3 or 4 film franchise. Nooo way.

The first book ends with an absolutely heartbreaking and horrific scene that is the catalyst for Lyra and what motivates her for the next 1500 pages of the series. I was there opening weekend in that theater for The Golden Compass. I have never been more confused in my LIFE while watching a film because they ended the film like 5 chapters before the end of the book. They lopped it off and made the first film a very strange Cliffhanger for a sequel that would absolutely never get made. I was flabbergasted.

The disappointment. The confusion. The despair. I was fucking depressed about it for a good long time. I had been so excited and been brimming with anticipation because I loved the books so much and I wanted it to be good and then what I got was….absolute garbage. To me. I mean maybe if I had been a little girl watching the film for the first time it would have been better. But as an adult who had spent the better part of my life immersed in Lyra’s character arc… I just. Could not feel more betrayed.

I can’t even be that upset anymore because I’ve had enough time to grieve and leave it behind. Then somehow the universe came together and HBO let Jack Thorne and company re-do the books as a series. It is a much more faithful adaptation. I’m too close to the book source to know if people who don’t read the books will get the same kind of experience out of seeing the show play through Lyra and Will’s experiences in the show.

The final season of His Dark Materials was also probably the most philosophical and abstract season of fantasy television I’ve seen. I fucking loved it. I don’t think it was perfect, but it was really enjoyable and did more to soothe my soul than I thought possible. It’s not a show for everyone—and I’m still not sure how it got made because HBO the last few years had been going through some changes. Maybe I’m very sentimental and forgiving, I don’t know. The narrative pacing was a bit weird to me in places and some of the dialogue was hit or miss but overall, I could not have gotten a better time from it.

That experience with the film a has made me much more intentional about managing my expectations of how I approach media adaptations.

Where am I starting with an adaptation? What am I hoping to get out of this? Who is making it and what are the production constraints working against it? How do I manage my expectations if I know the original source and what do I want from the visual media and acting? Etc etc. Do I want to go and read the original if I don’t know it already because I want to see what changes they made?

I keep thinking about everything with The Witcher Netflix. It’s so fucking difficult to get anything made through studios and networks (especially now, but even then in the late 2000s)… And when you’re trying to appeal to the widest audience possible, you’re only going to get so far when you’ve left the rest of the source inspiration on the table. And didn’t bother to make up for the difference in what you left there.

We all know how depressing it is. The streaming model has fucked television over completely. The depreciation of writers rooms… we had 20 and 22 episodes, and then 15 and 12 episodes. Filler episodes with great character moments. Space to flesh out complex narratives with nuance. And now 8 episodes as a standard runtime. The lack decent amount of time for production (including pre and post) to actually set things up in a way that serves the media narrative.

It’s so hard to cater to everyone when you’re drawing from a book/comic book. Also harder to cater to your specific audience. But when you’re trying cater to enough people so you don’t get cancelled and keep going to try and tell the story you’re trying to tell, that’s fucking hard and shitty and I don’t begrudge them for that. Even though it sucks.

Even though I can hate it as much has I can understand it. Wish it was different. Even though it can be a fucking travesty of epic proportions because these writers/showrunners/directors don’t get the space to actually flesh out what they’re trying to do.

Even if people are writing a very different iteration of the story that I don’t like/want/agree with/understand/etc.

That doesn’t even go into the issue of when showrunners and directors don’t understand the characters they’re working with or make fundamental changes because of their own vision, production constraints, and everything else. You might see a lot of this going around again with Red, White, and Royal Blue and what the director had changed in his film adaptation. People are worked up into a froth for very valid reasons. It’s all exhausting but this is all nothing new. Still demoralizing when people so attached to the original material.

Anyway. That’s….just some thoughts that have been sitting with me for awhile. Could probably ramble more if I can get the brain cells together.

Fun fact: George RR Martin looked at the 2007 The Golden Compass film and said (paraphrasing here): “I am never, ever fucking EVER letting anyone make my books into a film. A television show is the way to go.”

Fun fact #2: James SA Corey (Daniel Abraham and Ty Frank) worked with GRRM extensively over the years and I think others have written more extensively about GRRM’s influence the way they wrote sprawling narratives with multiple POV characters. Anyway they developed a tabletop RPG that they eventually turned into novels that became The Expanse.

Which eventually got adapted to television. SyFy network was in a bidding war with Netflix for the show and out-bid Netflix. This was a show adaptation that did not hold your hand whatsoever. Fascinating, new, interesting. Faithful adaptation. Still got cancelled after two seasons. Even though both authors had become producers on the show and were learning more about production and writing teleplays from experienced sci-fi showrunners/producers/television writers.

Show was later picked up by Amazon to finish out the last few seasons. But I would bet my bottom dollar that both these authors watched how the Game of Thrones adaptations went and probably went “we’re not gonna let this happen to us.” And I think that’s reflected in the way they and their team were able to adapt the story faithfully with multiple huge and small changes specifically so it would work with the television medium.

#so rambly #next time I'll edit more #honestly this is still only like 30% of my feelings about His Dark Materials books #and only like 15% of my feelings about how The Witcher Netflix has been adapted #my crankiness about the way witcher netflix adaptation goes is so variable. i love. i hate. i'm confused and chill at the same time. #hurray for posting some rambly thoughts #and for years i've wished i had the brain and energy to write my like eight part essay about The Expanse adaptation #maybe this will spur me into writing about Lyra & Ciri & Teresa Duerte from The Expanse & how they're treated by the authors and narrative #my brain is soggy and worn down from capitalism but still always churning with thoughts #i need to practice being more pithy and editing but alas this is what i have right now #textpost #blogdora

[volfoss]

3, 15, or 18 for erm thae witcher

oh i am about to be the biggest hater known to man im so sorry

to preface. i avoid the witcher tags for the most part because its me and my 3 witcher mutuals against the world and everyone has bad takes all the time otherwise. so i do not have a TON of experience w fanon there but i have explored it a few times.

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

surprising amt of geralt is a nepo baby fanfics last time i checked the tag. i stay blissfully unaware a lot of the time w stuff. ACTUALLY. netflix witcher exclusive. when people are constantly talking about how geralt is such a good dad there when he has interacted w ciri maybe 3 times because they removed the really good bonding scenes from the books. i have to be a hater about it bc i think every other adaptation has handled their relationship better and i dont see the appeal of ohhh their found family (with geralt yennefer and ciri) in the shows. in the books yeah. but thats because they actually get time to spend together there. and they didnt make geralt suck as a character. also not on tumblr but the fucking team yenn team triss people on reddit. are we really going to ignore what triss did to that man?????

15. that one thing you see in fanart all the time

i dodge the tags like as much as i can but i feel a big thing is u can TELL what someone is consuming to be into this series because all netflix fanarts have been very um. weird about jaskier in a fetishizing gay men way (how they hc him not how i do etc). also sick of seeing 20 million fanarts where they completely erase every scar the characters have. if u draw geralt or ciri or even TRISS without their scars that are yk. supposed to be defining parts of their faces/character appearances i am blowing you up. stop yassifying grandpa please.

18. it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

there are two things that apply here imo:

1. the hexer adaptations. you guys just hate fun. in what world is an early 2000s short tv series that has the worst dragon cg due to a very small budget. it is one of the best adaptations of the first 2 books in terms of characters being in character and how they handle the source material. also outside of the one polish comic (the Betrayal/Zdrada issue of Prószyński i S-ka) it is the only adaptation to show geralt's past. it is also really fun with costuming too! they have a lot of clear inspiration but also like. objectively w their budget sometimes it looks bad. its charming to me tho and im SO sick of the netflix witcher hype. sorry #1 henry cavill hater for the role.

2. my BEST FRIEND angouleme. yeah she was only in 2 books but she is one of the characters of all time. to me she is such a good example of both geralts tendency to save people when he does not need to and how they will just let kids be so comfortable and safe around him. she is also just so fucking cool man and again w her being book only (for good reason but im dreading when those get adapted and people are weird about her) character i get why she doesn't get much hype but STILL. she is so fun she will see an insanely old vampire and be like hmm. nickname time for him. yes he could kill me but i stay silly about it.

#asks #peepaw posting #im um. very passionate abt this series i will go silly style abt it

[gayregis]

wacky and definitely incorrect idea but,,,they killed off renfri in TWN because she'd take one look at duny and be like "ok thats a predator" (pavetta is 15?!?!)and unlike Netflix!geralt (who's very busy being mean and grunting and not talking to anyone)she'd actually get rid of him(Throw HIM off a ship, etc) before he had the opportunity to plot pavetta's murder an creepily gaze at ciri/ciri's potential for immense power

netflix nerfed themselves by controversially introducing a clear protagonist (Renfri) who's interesting and likeable and complex with a strong definable goal (revenge) and then immediately killing her off in favor of following the static antagonist (Netflix!Geralt) for the rest of the season. like interesting stylistic choice! I especially liked how they had him carry around her broach like a trophy!!! Totally not creepy to take something from the 18 yr old he could have avoided killing

uhhhhh i understand this take coming from solely the netflix show and seeing the witcher as a continuous story that’s like a bunch of episodes that fade into one another, but yeah, its a “wacky and definitely incorrect idea.” 

renfri continuing to be a character in the rest of the series wouldn’t make sense for a number of reasons. to begin with, she is confined to her own story. understand that these are short stories that are meant to stand on their own to each have certain messages. the lesser evil and a question of price are different stories and renfri belongs to the lesser evil because to kill her was “the lesser evil.” she isn’t meant to be a character outside of this story because the short stories aren’t really meant to overlap. they each have their own specific cast of characters, setting(s), plot, and morals that define them. i think the best way to think of them are like fables or folk tales. if snow white suddenly showed up in another fairy tale, that wouldn’t make any sense. i’d be like, get out of here, this isn’t your story!

not to say that it wouldn’t be cool, i mean, i definitely think it would be cool if princess adda and vereena teamed up and kicked geralt’s ass back to kaedwen, but that would defeat the entire message of both of their stories.

in addition, i think you are misunderstanding renfri’s character (but this is just my opinion and interpretation of the lesser evil). renfri and stregobor are both bad people, they are both evil that geralt is forced to decide between. i see way too many netflix fans saying renfi is cool/hot/sexy/a good character solely because she is a woman that fights with a sword and kills people, when in the witcher there are many women that fight with swords and kill people and the fact that they are woman is not really something the witcher ever focuses on. i don’t think sapkowski thought of making “strong female characters” to impress an audience like lauren hissrich did, he wasn’t trying to appeal to a diverse demographic by having more diverse characters. thus, it’s not really any better when a woman has a sword than when a man has a sword in the witcher. 

the sword is a burden. the sword kills, the sword is merciless. causing death with no feeling and no remorse is a bad thing, it is so horrific to geralt that it literally drove him to part with his daughter which he loved and adored and wanted desperately to raise, it drove him away from her because he was terrified that he would give this burden to her and thrust death and killing upon her. this is the message of the witcher, that to cause death is horrible. geralt was born into a profession that kills, he was raised and trained to kill, and he abhors this about himself, he loathes himself so viciously it annoys the absolute fuck out of anyone he’s around and they end up arguing with him that he needs to stop focusing on the fact that he’s a witcher and think about himself for himself. the fact of the matter is that 

a woman with a sword killing people isn’t a revolutionary thing in the context of the witcher, it’s not intended to be a feminist statement or a “cool” or good thing to admire. in other pieces of media, it might be because that’s their messaging, but in the witcher, the gender of the swordwielder doesn’t matter, it’s about how they wield the sword. there are certainly badass women in the witcher that are cool and easily idealized and seen as role models because of how cool and powerful they are, but you have to understand why they are powerful. renfri has turned to banditry because she was scorned from her royal inheritance, she feels cheated by fate. she is hateful towards her past and has no reason to adhere to peace, she is blinded by revenge. 

revenge is a very powerful and encompassing theme of the witcher. renfri is only one taste of it. revenge consumes another princess that later picks up the sword and turns to banditry out of desperation for something to rely upon and the feeling that she has been cheated by fate. she kills blindly because she is in pain. this is tragedy. this is sadness, cutting down innocents out of one’s own vicious pain is not an act to admire.

but on TV, “a girl has a sword” is such an incredibly revolutionary statement because everyone is starved for such a thing that they all become immediately thirsty to see more of this girl, more of her actions, even when she is not meant to be an ideal, not meant to be seen as something to emulate.

i think of the scene in baptism of fire when the rats arrive and begin to kill mercilessly, ciri runs men down. she ends up sparing one of the men, who saw such hatred and fury and pain in her eyes. when he returns home, he finds his own daughter trying to dress up like ciri, wearing her mother’s scarf tied around her neck and a stick tied to her back like a sword, because she thinks ciri falka and the rest of the rats are powerful and beautiful and wants to be like them, even when the girl she is dressed up as came a hair’s width close to slaying her father mercilessly in the street.

renfri is not a protagonist by any means. she is literally the antagonist of her own story. she’s a tragic character, her life was lost long before she gave geralt her ultimatum. 

i think what is important to keep in mind here is that these were meant to be adaptations of books. books that were published 30 years ago. if lauren hissrich and the rest of the team had done their jobs correctly and successfully, they would have abided by what was written and not written their own fanfiction which detracted massively from the themes and meaning of what was written. i understand that you dislike netflix geralt (who doesn’t?) but had they actually stuck to the books which they were meant to be adapting, you would likely like him. he doesn’t waste his time grunting instead of speaking. but netflix didn’t “nerf themselves” by killing off renfri... that’s literally what happens in the books that they are adapting, and in the books it happens for a clearer reason driven by themes and messages that the story conveys to you (not just flashy gore).

i also understand wanting to kill duny because he is a 30 yo engaged to a 15 yo pavetta, but that is more of sapkowski’s effect on the story as he treats this and other situations of dating 15 yo girls completely normalized within the fantasy society he has created, which is his fault as an author and not a character flaw of the characters in-universe. they didn’t have a choice for that to be normalized in their society, they’re characters. it’s wrong, but you can retcon it if you choose. also i think the idea of killing duny is just amusing because if you kill him, you would not get the massacre of cintra, you would not get cahir, you would not get rience, stefan skellen, vilgefortz and thus leo bonhart, schirru and thus nightingale and fulko artevelde and angouleme, there would be no stygga, there would be no lodge of sorceresses, there would also likely be no thanedd coup. the entire conflict of the entire series would just be gone. so interesting idea but it wouldn’t make sense at all and would defeat the entire story

#like idk i guess you can have fun with this AU in your head but this isnt the kind of storyrevisionism that i like for the witcher #ask #anon #renfri #the witcher #the witcher netflix

[instantdeerlover]

The Chicago (Quarantine) TV & Takeout Guide added to Google Docs

The Chicago (Quarantine) TV & Takeout Guide

If you’re like us, your nights currently revolve around three main questions: what to eat, what to watch, and what time to change into evening leisurewear. Because let’s face it, there isn’t much else to do and your ex still hasn’t changed their Hulu password. So we’re here to make sure you’re doing dinner and TV right. Below, you’ll find our picks for great delivery and a new or classic show to pair with it.

All restaurants featured on The Infatuation are selected by our editorial team. The Chicago (Quarantine) TV & Takeout Guide is presented by Uber Eats. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, supporting our local restaurant community has never been more important. Uber Eats customers can now give directly to the restaurants they love at checkout. 100% will go to the restaurant. Order now to support. See app for details.

   Featured In The Ultimate Chicago Delivery & Takeout Guide See all our guides the spots  Christina Slaton The Loyalist $ $ $ $ American ,  Burgers  in  West Loop $$$$ 175 N Ada St 7.8 /10

TV Pairing: The Americans (Hulu)

“I’ll be the first to admit that I enjoy some dark, dystopian stuff. The Handmaids Tale? Homeland? Yes, please. That said, these days I’m not always in the mood for shows that hit too close to home. But The Americans takes place during the Cold War, and there’s something almost innocent about an era where spycraft meant microfiche, tape recorders, and wigs in the trunk of the car. And when I’m watching married Russian spies and their children navigate 1980s America, I want to eat something that feels distinctly American: a cheeseburger with fries. And not only does The Loyalist have an incredibly delicious burger, but the name just feels oh-so-right.” -AK

Philly's Best $$$$ 769 W Jackson Blvd

TV Pairing: Battlestar Galactica (Netflix)

“I named my dog Cylon. I had my wedding party walk to the drums from the theme song. Everyone is tired of me talking about this f*cking show. So, I get it - enough is enough. But I feel like I have a responsibility to let everyone know how excellent this series about self-willed robots is, especially with Westworld circling the drain. After all, someone did the same for me - back in the dark ages when Netflix DVDs had to be sent to your house. I would rush home to check the mail and order a cheesesteak from Philly’s Best along the way. This show and that sandwich are forever linked in my mind. Plus, handheld food means never having to take your eyes off the killer robots on the screen.” -AK

 Christina Slaton Happy Camper $ $ $ $ American ,  Bar Food ,  Pizza  in  Old Town $$$$ 1209 N Wells St 7.4 /10

TV Pairing: Parks & Recreation(Netflix)

“In Season 3 of Parks & Recreation, there’s an episode entitled “The Fight” that I’ve watched about a hundred times, usually when I’m very hungover. It’s 25 minutes of perfection built around a fictional liquor called “Snake Juice,” and shows every main character plastered from said spirit along with the aftermath of it all the next day. What does this have to do with Happy Camper? Just the fact that their breakfast pizza is what we - you, myself, Ron in a tiny hat, Janet Snakehole, and Burt Macklin - can all agree does the body well after a Friday or Saturday night featuring too much Snake Juice. Or, any day really. What is time anymore?” -MB

Sorry—looks like you screwed up that email address

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plus more restaurant intel you won't find anywhere else. TRVL ATL ATX BOS CHI LDN LA MIA NYC PHL SF SEA DC Subscribe Smart move. Excellent information will arrive in your inbox soon. Do you have friends and family who also eat food? Enter their emails below and we’ll make sure they’re eating well. (Don’t worry, we won’t subscribe them to our newsletter - they can do that themselves.) Help Your Friends No Thanks Well done. You’re a good person. All good. We still like you. Want to quickly find restaurants on the go? Download The Infatuation app.    Sandy Noto The Spice Room $ $ $ $ Indian  in  Logan Square $$$$ 2906 W Armitage Ave 8.2 /10

TV Pairing: The Killing (Netflix)

“This show got a lot of sh*t - mainly because of the red herrings, cliffhangers, and relentless rain. Now we live in a world of streaming, where red herrings and cliffhangers are meaningless. Meaning these days we can enjoy The Killing for what it’s really about: the relationship between broken cops Sara Linden (Mireille Enos) and Stephen Holder (a fantastically trashy Joel Kinnaman). And nothing goes with the chill of this absurdly moody show better than the rich curries from The Spice Room. No, it won’t change who killed Rosie Lawsen, but honestly, that’s never been the point.” -AK

Carmela's Taqueria $$$$ 1206 W Lawrence Ave

TV Pairing: McMilliions (HBO)

“The first time I watched Supersize Me, I couldn’t help but crave a large order of fries from McDonald’s. Then, when I watched McMillions, an HBO miniseries that shows how McDonald’s was scammed out of more than $20 million through their Monopoly game, it immediately gave me a hankering to somehow screw over McDonald’s myself. Because when I was a kid, I was obsessed with collecting all the pieces and winning a bunch of money - but in reality, I had no shot to ever win. I don’t know what I would have done with my earnings back then, but if I pulled off this big of a heist today, I know exactly what I would do - fund a second location for Carmela’s, my favorite taco place in Chicago, to open in New York (where I live now). I miss their incredible al pastor tacos and tortas so much that I have dreamed for years of how to acquire enough money to make this possible - and watching McMillions has given me a new fantasy to think about.” -CM

 Sandy Noto The Momo World $ $ $ $ Nepali  in  University Village $$$$ 727 W Maxwell St 8.6 /10

TV Pairing: Orphan Black (Hulu)

“If you don’t know, Orphan Black is about a bunch of clones finding out that they’re clones and figuring out why. And the actress (Tatiana Maslany) who plays all these clones somehow manages to make them all feel like completely different people. When I look at a sea of fantastic dumplings from The Momo World on my coffee table, I feel like I’m looking at a bunch of Sarahs, Alisons, Cosimas, Rachels, and Helenas. They’re all momos, and yet different and unique in their own way. And just like with the show, I love them all and it’s impossible to pick a favorite. Don’t make me.” -AK

 Sandy Noto Monteverde $ $ $ $ Italian  in  West Loop $$$$ 1020 W Madison St 9.0 /10

TV Pairing: Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Netflix)

“You know how some people put on Friends or The Office just to relax? Well, for me that show is Buffy. Sure, at first the ’90s outfits, chunky highlights, and ridiculous monsters are a little distracting. But after the episode “The Puppet Show,” you’ll forget all about it. All seven seasons create a perfect story arc - one that makes you laugh, cry, and contemplate your spiritual existence. A meal at Monteverde is like that too. This Italian restaurant never misses a beat, and as far as a spiritual experience, eating the Neapolitan alla ragu on my couch comes pretty damn close.” -AK

Mr. Beef $$$$ 666 N Orleans St.

TV Pairing: Beforeigners (HBO)

“The premise for this Norweigan show on HBO immediately got me hooked - people from the past (any time period, from the Stone Age to the Viking Age to the 19th century) start to magically appear in present-day Oslo. Hence they are labeled “beforeigners.” It’s a really cool show that explores what it’s like being an outsider and having to adapt to situations that are out of your control. That’s exactly how I felt the first few times I walked into Mr. Beef. This spot on Orleans has a list of 15 rules inside the restaurant like “No Bathroom,” “No Stupid Questions,” and my favorite “No Mhhh’s, Ughhh’s, Or Duhhh’s.” It took me around 10 times to get used to how it works here, and like a beforeigner, I had no clue how to order without being insulted. But the place grew on me, and since restaurants have been closed for dine-in, I’ve missed their incredible Italian beefs with spicy giardiniera, and their even spicier insults. But in the meantime, at least I can get yelled at on the phone ordering their food.” -CM

 Sandy Noto Big Jones $ $ $ $ American ,  Southern  in  Andersonville $$$$ 5347 N. Clark St. 7.9 /10

TV Pairing: Justified (Hulu)

“This fantastic show about federal marshal Raylan Givens takes place in the hills of Kentucky, and I can confirm (don’t ask how) that Justified’s oddly tasteful portrayal of hillbillies is alarmingly accurate. While this pairing isn’t the most subtle, ordering food from Big Jones while watching this show is the way to go. This place focuses on old-timey Southern food and doesn’t f*ck around with its classic recipes. The Bluegrass Barbecue Bonanza is big enough to feed four and includes toasted buttermilk pan bread, smoky baked beans, and burgoo. Basically exactly what I think would go perfectly with moonshine. Also, Timothy Olyphant could just be sitting in an empty room and I’d watch him for hours. And yes, I know how that sounds.” -AK

Gadabout $ $ $ $ American ,  Latin ,  Mediterranean  in  Andersonville $$$$ 5212 N Clark St 7.6 /10

TV Pairing: The Witcher (Netflix)

“No show has confused and entertained me as much as The Witcher. It has mages, mythical creatures, three timelines, and dialogue that you don’t realize is being intentionally funny until episode three. Plus, it makes zero effort to explain what’s going on. In fact, Netflix created an app just to help us sort it all out. But it’s such a fun watch that none of this matters. And Gadabout’s all-over-the-place menu (where corn and poblano empanadas exist next to bonito-topped pancakes) confuses and delights me in the same way. That said, I still don’t understand exactly what the hell a “Child Surprise” is. If you do, hit me up.” -AK

via The Infatuation Feed https://www.theinfatuation.com/chicago/guides/the-chicago-quarantine-tv-takeout-guide Nhà hàng Hương Sen chuyên buffet hải sản cao cấp✅ Tổ chức tiệc cưới✅ Hội nghị, hội thảo✅ Tiệc lưu động✅ Sự kiện mang tầm cỡ quốc gia 52 Phố Miếu Đầm, Mễ Trì, Nam Từ Liêm, Hà Nội http://huongsen.vn/ 0904988999 http://huongsen.vn/to-chuc-tiec-hoi-nghi/ https://trello.com/userhuongsen

Created May 20, 2020 at 02:14AM /huong sen View Google Doc Nhà hàng Hương Sen chuyên buffet hải sản cao cấp✅ Tổ chức tiệc cưới✅ Hội nghị, hội thảo✅ Tiệc lưu động✅ Sự kiện mang tầm cỡ quốc gia 52 Phố Miếu Đầm, Mễ Trì, Nam Từ Liêm, Hà Nội http://huongsen.vn/ 0904988999 http://huongsen.vn/to-chuc-tiec-hoi-nghi/ https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xa6sRugRZk4MDSyctcqusGYBv1lXYkrF