Carmen Sandiego (Netflix)

[Reverend]

It's a matter of is the extra labor worth it to the retailer.

That's kinda my point though: what extra labour? It was to be calculated at the till anyway, no? And it takes exactly as much labour to price each item, regardless of whether the price is with or without tax. I mean it's not like they expect the customers to calculate it for them and take their word for it.

Bleh. I don't think there's any logical way this will make sense to be besides "hope people are too lazy to figure it out in their hands and spend more than they really intended because fuck it, who has time to math!?"

 

[fireproof78]

That's kinda my point though: what extra labour? It was to be calculated at the till anyway, no? And it takes exactly as much labour to price each item, regardless of whether the price is with or without tax. I mean it's not like they expect the customers to calculate it for them and take their word for it.

Bleh. I don't think there's any logical way this will make sense to be besides "hope people are too lazy to figure it out in their hands and spend more than they really intended because fuck it, who has time to math!?"

The company I worked for would prefer people to ask an associate. I often had no problem calculating the number for customers to help them out.

It also reduces price switching, accusations of false advertising (a common thing across state lines), and struggles with tax exempt status (another thing with state lines in the US).

Labor costs include keeping track of the tax rates (state, county, city). For 500+ stores across 11 states, that adds up. Again, the company I worked for would rather people talk to an associate than deal with several sign batches to be produced and printed at the store level.

It sounds small but it adds up. At least, in my experience.

 

[Christopher]

Remind me -- how did we end up talking about sales tax in the Carmen Sandiego thread? I mean, it's not like Carmen actually pays for stuff...

 

[fireproof78]

So in the UK the price on the tag is the full price you end up paying?
I used to be in the toys department at the store where I work, and I couldn't even begin to count how many time I heard parents explaining to their young kids that they had to make sure they had they had enough money to cover the tax on top of the price on the tag.

Remind me -- how did we end up talking about sales tax in the Carmen Sandiego thread? I mean, it's not like Carmen actually pays for stuff...

Because I read a post from back in February and didn't bother reading the date...

 

[JirinPanthosa]

The only way around it is to input word 5 of paragraph 3 of page 133 of the tax code.

It’s probably ‘the’.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Second season is out.

I'm four episodes in and I'm loving it as much as the first season. Aside exploring Shadow-San's history and ACME's pursuit of Carmen, the series is more episodic than before, focusing on the individual capers. I'm sure that'll change as the season progresses, particularly regarding Carmen's parentage which was hinted at in the first episode.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Finished the season and I continue to love it. Just like the end of last season, I can't wait for the third season, especially with all the twists and turns of the last couple of episodes.

 

[Christopher]

Man, the opening scene of the season 2 premiere was really trying to be Samurai Jack.

I've never liked the Shadow-san character. He's a stereotype, dressing and acting like someone out of an Edo period drama instead of a modern Japanese citizen, and his character name totally mangles how Japanese honorifics work (like in episode 2.3's flashback where young Carmen called him "Instructor Shadow-san" instead of "Shadow-sensei" or "Shadow-shishou"). But they have added some nuance to him, and episode 2.3's depiction of Japan did a relatively decent job for an American show of portraying Japan's modern side as well as its traditional side, though I still think it leaned too far toward the latter.

(Oh, and one more thing I happened to learn just a day or two ago -- apparently most Japanese people don't say "sayonara" anymore, since it sounds old-fashioned and overly permanent, as if it's a final farewell. But it's far more commonly used by Westerners trying to sound Japanese, so the VILE boss saying it here made sense.)

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Having lived in Japan for four years, I thought its depiction in the third episode was very good on all sides.

 

[Christopher]

Having lived in Japan for four years, I thought it's depiction in the third episode was very good on all sides.

Yeah, it makes up for the silliness of the character himself. Unfortunately, that silliness remains. I guess we could assume that his period-drama dress and manner are a conscious affectation like the trademark looks of the other VILE members, and perhaps a way of acknowledging his estranged brother the historian; but the misuse of the honorific as a permanent and unchanging part of his name still irritates me. (Though at least they gave him a real name, Suhara.)

It's just that it bugs me the way American productions sometimes tend to portray all Japanese people as constantly wearing traditional dress and living in pre-modern homes with rice-paper walls (e.g. the movie Isle of Dogs). It's favoring exoticism over authenticity. (Although Japanese media sometimes do the same with Americans, e.g. assuming we're all cowboys.) But I guess Carmen has balanced that somewhat with Paper Star, who's apparently Japanese or Japanese-American (what with the origami, plus she's voiced by Kimiko Glenn) and has a look that might be based on the gyaru fashion trend. And now there's that Dokuso character (whose name means "toxin," befitting her expertise), though I don't know yet if she's recurring. Having more Japanese characters with modern looks helps offset Shadowsan's look by making it clear that it's his personal affectation, and episode 3 did a good job establishing why it is.

 

[Christopher]

Really impressive fight choreography in episode 4. I wish the animation were a little more fluid/naturalistic, which could've made it even more impressive.

And they finally got Shadowsan a change of clothes.

 

[Christopher]

Just finished bingeing the rest of the season. The show keeps improving. There was some really effective drama and character development here, as well as excellent action, and some clever caper sequences like the Swan Lake heist. It was also able to go a bit further with adult themes (like death, although still fairly indirect) than it could on a commercial network.

I still wish it focused more on the educational aspects and problem-solving, though, for the kids' sake. And though I was glad we saw little of Devineaux this season, it unfortunately looks like he's being brought back to a central role in season 3.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

The show will be releasing a Choose Your Own Adventure-style episode on March 10.

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I'm definitely looking forward to having fun with this. Plus, we finally get to hear THE song.

 

[DigificWriter]

Now this is both interesting and cool.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Reminder that the special episode is out today.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

So I finally sat down and ran through the episode, chasing down all of the dead ends, the roundabout loops, and secret endings. Initially, I thought it wasn't going to be a true "Choose Your Own Adventure" because I happened to do such a good job missing most of the pitfalls (until the third mission) until I went back, changed my choices, and discovered the consequences of certain routes. While it's not quite the rabbit hole experience of Black Mirror's "Bandersnach," overall, it's a lot of fun and a great addition to the series.

At the end, there's a bonus scene where...

Spoiler: Bonus scene!

...the entire cast performs the full a cappella song! The snippet we see in the trailer is part of the regular episode but that's all we see until the end.

After all is said and done, The Chief reveals that there are eight endings...

Spoiler: All of the endings!

...the biggest divergent points are when you decide whether to help Tigress from the pit and whether to trust Jules. When following up on those choices, you either end with rescuing Ivy and Zack and returning the stolen treasures, or end with them being mindwiped, with one of the endings with Carmen also being mindwiped (which is a great lead into the old games and shows). The remaining four endings are from when you make a poor choice that leads to the treasure either not being stolen or compromised in some way, leading to Ivy and Zack being mindwiped.

Has anyone else watched it yet?

 

[The Nth Doctor]

The third season is just around the corner and here's the new trailer!

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Is anyone else still watching besides me? If not, then y'all missing out!

 

[DigificWriter]

I really should rewatch the first two seasons and check out the Interactive Special, because this show is fun.

 

[UssGlenn]

I'm still watching, new season looks good.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Good to know I'm not the only one!

The new season is out now. I watched the first episode which continues Carmen's search for her mother. However, after I watched that one, I've decided to back and rewatch the first two seasons. I meant to do it sooner but I kept forgetting and then bam, October 1 arrived.