I'm not someone who particularly likes prequels, but this previous week was the start of much-anticipated shows of two epic fictional realms of Westeros and Middle earth. House of Dragon streams on HBO (but for residents of Lebanon that won't be able to have an HBO account there are many alternatives for free streaming). Now House of Dragon takes us back to a period where the realm of Westeros was in prosperity yet same time of uncertainty. I will not go further in the storyline not to spoil especially for people that never Ice and Fire book or any of Martin books. 
I have to say the long awaited series as far as the first two episodes did not disappoint from visual and acting point of view. For many who watched the full eight seasons of Game of thrones could not wait for latest HBO especially that final season of GOT had disappointing ending. 
As for Rings of Power ( streams on Amazon Prime) which takes us thousands of years further even before the hobbits. Yet with so much potential to have a memorable show the first two episodes did not provide the effect I had with House of Dragon. But still I will continue with both shows to see where they go.  

The new series on Netflix got all the factors to become a hit. Yet there's still something missing in this show. In my opinion, the actors are brilliant and the production is superb, but something doesn't add up. Although it's a well-constructed storytelling script yet the episodes seem disconnected. You just feel that every episode could be watched separably and the main idea of the show still known. You start the premiere episode with a sort of introduction how the future after 350 years or so been altered. In a way where you can put the consciousness in another human. Well although the idea seems original it's been done in the recent season of Black Mirror. As for the whole idea of putting someone's consciousness after being dead in another body well in many religions, it's called incarnation.  

In general, the show is extremely exciting and worthwhile watching if you are science fiction fans.  It's got all the elements of an original show and potential to become a cult favorite. Although I hope it doesn't get canceled after a couple of seasons. Like they did with Penny Dreadful and before Deadwood & Rome, the latter is one of my favorite shows and deserved more airtime. Now back to Altered Carbon and the amazing the cast it's got lead by a new upcoming Swedish actor Joe Kinnaman has most known among comic fans for his role in suicide squad and as RoboCop in the rebooted version. The other actor James Purefoy is most notably known for playing Marc Antony in the short-lived series Rome.  In addition to an ensemble of the amazing actresses with the diversity of ethnicities. If anything this show recognized the diversity of the universe especially when you see the use of more than three languages including the Arabic. 

   On the weekend it was a marathon of Stranger Things, the first season was brilliant. The start of season two was relatively like season one and gradually the level of the thriller went up. My favorite part of this season was the involvement of the entire cast in the action.There are some nostalgic moments from the 80s with the arcades & when first personal video game console was released. The performances are amazing, especially the young cast they just click together. And one of my favorite actresses since I saw her in Edward Scissorhands, Winona Ryder. What a comeback she had since appeared in season one. Not going to spoil the season for you but I would say it's going to be more epic than season one. There will be more confrontations & a special appearance by one of the actors from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. For this Halloween season, it's the perfect treat you could ever have.