Come watch Netflix's Marco Polo with The Hype TV Club in October!

[E-Man]

Marco Polo​

Any Hype members are welcome to join us in our viewing of these shows.
The Discussion Thread: http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=491461


The only rules are

• Only shows on the list will be selected
• Only the first season is required for the monthly viewing. If a show has multiple seasons
• Each show on the generator has a minimum of 10 episodes per season, if not, we will watch S1&2
• ALL spoilers must be tagged as such, as none of us have seen these shows before aka don't be a jerk
• Any posts not following the spoiler rule as subject to Deletion

This month we're going to watch Marco Polo, a Netflix original that debuted last year in December. We'd like for you to watch along with us and discuss your feelings on the show. All opinions are welcome as long as they follow Hype rules. So speak your mind with us as we figure out if we like what Netflix has to offer with this show.

So what is Marco Polo?
As a youth of 15 or 16, Marco Polo first met his father and uncle and embarked on an epic adventure, crossing thousands of miles of unforgiving terrain, through political unrest and upheaval, to the court of Kublai Khan in what is now Beijing. A Netflix original, rife with warfare and political/sexual intrigue, spotlights the years at the Chinese court and the journeys. A global roster of stars includes Italian newcomer Lorenzo Richelmy as Marco. Filming sites are Italy, Kazakhstan and Malaysia; producers couldn't get permission in China.

 

[ComicChick]

has anyone else started this?

i'm about a third through the second episode. not sure i'm digging it tbh

it's basically showing the details of the court of China/Mongolia during the rule of Kublai Khan shown through the eyes of Marco Polo.
Be forewarned there is nudity and concubines galore smh

there seems to be another storyline of a brother and a sister who are part of the court.

the only character i like so far is the blind man who trains in combat. meh

 

[E-Man]

I'm three episodes in now, and I'm really enjoying this show. What's nice is that this coincides with the world history courses that I'm taking currently, so seeing the Mongols during Kublai's reign over his area is pretty cool. I like the intrigue with Mongolia and China. I wonder how far they're going to get with the Mongolian empire because there are so many fascinating places that they can take this even beyond Marco Polo himself. I do hope that they spend more time on the Silk Road considering the way the Mongols secured the trade routes was the most interesting contribution that they gave to the world.

 

[James]

I found most of the show fairly slow, but the last couple of episodes really pick up. Hopefully season two can maintain the pace of the latter episodes.

The more Hundred Eyes, the better!

 

[E-Man]

I like the slow burn of the show since we're dealing with something historical. I know that creative license would keep things from being accurate to the real life story that happened, but I can deal with them slowly building things since the Mongols were already dominant at that time.

 

[E-Man]

The Chinese chancellor is a really ****ed up man. Here's to hoping this bastard takes an arrow to the chest.

 

[ComicChick]

if that's who i think it is, multiple arrows to the chest

 

[E-Man]

if that's who i think it is, multiple arrows to the chest

Did you finally watch the part where he [BLACKOUT]broke his niece's foot[/BLACKOUT]? I could have really used Hawkeye doing his thing after that scene.

 

[ComicChick]

i'm going to assume you are ahead of me so i will not read that spoiler yet lol

 

[E-Man]

Episode 5 was straight up awesome. Bunch of crazy stuff happened, and episode 6 was very good as well. I like how they have set up so many different parts of the Khan's kingdom. I find myself rooting for them sometimes and despising them other times because they are very complex. For instance the prince comes across like a punk ass that needs an uppercut sometimes, but when you see him trying to live up to his father you feel a little sympathy for him. Then he goes out and does something good that gets you behind him before telling his cooler but bastard brother something that makes you wish that he'd take an arrow to the knee.

He still isn't as bad as the Chinese chancellor though. **** him and everything he stands for. I am bad with names on this show because the audio can be a bit low at times, so I call him Mr. *******.

 

[ComicChick]

i just finished Episode 5 and it is getting better. i hate the Chancellor so much. My faves are probably Kublai and the blindman.

I don't see the importance of the Blue Princess or whatever she's called yet

 

[E-Man]

I think that the Blue Princess' importance comes with another faction within Mongolia that wishes to take the Mongols out. My guess is that she could be used to rally some agents against Khan since there are some of her people that got away. The Mongols have so much land, but they won't be able to sustain themselves for so long without a great leader like Kublai to keep enemies in check. That's one of the more fascinating part of the reign of the Mongolians. Chinghis, or Genghis if you prefer, was a visionary that built the largest empire the world has ever seen, but without his leadership the Mongols were just kinda meh. His grandson Kublai was pretty much the only leader post Chinghis that knew what he was doing, and once he died that was basically a wrap. I wonder how this show is going to deal with that because the history of the Mongols and Marco Polo is kinda sketchy in the first place.

 

[ComicChick]

starting episode 6 now. the costumes are pretty darn great on this show, especially the Empress' garb.

hate the Chancellor, wish someone would take him out. Khan's bastard sons are pretty likeable. i like them more than his real son i think lol. i think i like byamba (sp?) more than the others

 

[ComicChick]

Empress is bad ass. that's pretty much all i have to say

fun fact:
Khutulun is one of the most powerful women who ever lived. It was said that any man who wanted to marry her had to beat her in a wrestling match. If they won, she would marry them, but if she won, she got their horses. She wound up getting 10,000 horses and the musical Turandot is about her.
she's the Xena basically lol

 

[E-Man]

The Empress is a lot like Kublai to me. They both have some truly ****ed up moments, but they tend to redeem themselves a little with moments of coolness and badassary. They also follow in the footsteps of an empire that sort of demands that they keep order every now and then by doing some crazy things. I look at Kublai's relationship with Bayan the blind monk. In one conversation you can tell that they tolerate each other because they are both useful to the other's self interests, but they are still enemies in the end.

Also if Bayan dies I'm blaming Toonth.

 

[ComicChick]

just finished episode 7. thought that was a great episode

 

[E-Man]

This was a damn good show. They built up so many interesting characters in just ten episodes while some shows can't even muster up anything near that in over 20 episodes. Many of the characters are too complex to like or dislike. Sure I've got people I outright love like Bayan and his badassary, and then there's despicable people like Chancellor Sidao. But many of the characters have moments where I find myself rooting for them after hating them. A good example would be of Ahmad. Who does this ****er think he is? He can't be trusted at all, but is he really worse than the Khan? Then with Kublai it's easy to root for him to succeed sometimes, but then he does something really ****ed up that makes you shake your head. Same with the Empress. They are not above politicking to get what they want, and there are shades of gray that had me hooked all season long. I will definitely be watching season two in December.