wantedtolikebut

I wanted to like this show so much. I like the cast quite a lot. And the first act was great. But when they left for the surface of the planet it all fell apart and became a tedious lecture. Bad writing. Humor falling flat. Nurse Chapel's character, as written, doesn't work. Even the background actors were badly cast throughout. PLEASE: going forward, if there is a season 2 -- be a serious sci-fi space opera. Because this is disappointing. Not as bad as the woke disaster Discovery, but not good sci-fi.

I love the show so far. Yes, the set-up and backstory in epi 1 is a little incoherent -- didn't love the cow -- but the acting is stellar and the mood is dark and compelling. Love Matthew Rhys and John Lithgow in this. Hoping they stay dark, but watch the tone of the humor. Promising! I could get hooked. Let's see...

I couldn't get past the hospital scene in episode 2. I don't like the writing--it's cloying. The Mother character is beyond irritating. Her comments in the hospital room made me turn off the tv. There are a lot of cliches. How this has a rating anywhere near the amazing "Fleabag" is absurd. FB has everything "Undone" doesn't--genuine humor, authenticity and originality. But I want to be clear--it's the writing that hurts this show. Bob Odenkirk is a great actor, and Rosa Salazar if terrific... it's her words that let her down.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Season one comments: I expected so much more from the show. It's as if casting were done for "Everybody Loves Raymond." Much of the humor doesn't work. It's way too talky. Sonequa Martin-Green is fine in the lead, but not stellar. The "Mudd" episodes were genuinely horrible. Shazad Latif is all wrong for his role, as is Mary Wiseman, among many others in the cast that just don't work. I liked Jason Isaacs as Lorca, but the twist in his story is absurd. I thought he was perfectly cast as a Picard-type, and I wanted him to show wisdom not be a bad guy from a parallel universe. There is far too much borrowed from the old shows and I want this Star Trek to go where no other Star Trek has gone before. Especially after "Battlestar Gallactica" raised the bar for TV science fiction. Battlestar was gutsy and had gravity. It's also a failure of writing. Discovery's grandstanding gets old very quickly. Stop talking so much and show me a bold new universe. Note: the season started strongly, but quickly lost momentum after the first Mudd episode and it was all downhill from there.

This show could achieve greatness if not for the tone deafness in the final minutes of nearly every episode, i.e. "We need a bigger boat" and curious song choices that aspire to be counterpoint but miss miserably. Acting, direction, soundtrack and production value are first rate. The writing struggles week to week, and I could argue that the show went off the rails when June did not leave Gilead at the end of season 2. Still it's inspired work.

I turned it off at "****." "Russian Doll" is a pretentious, over-written, trite, badly-cast, cliche-ridden Groundhog Day clone. Unsympathetic lead actress with a phony Brooklyn accent, and a bad clone of a Maria Schneider, Last Tango in Paris hairstyle. I HATED this. One of the worst things I've ever seen on Netflix. Yes, I turned it off early. But it's THAT bad. Ugh!

"Flipping Out" probably flies under a lot of radars. But it's a great show, beautifully produced, and just aired one of the most heartbreaking finales I've seen in years, showing real insight into the sacrifices people make to succeed in business. Love him or hate him (we love him), Jeff is a complex and compelling character.

I wanted this to be a shocking, dark thriller. I was looking forward to that. But, right from the start, it's so humorless, at least what I've seen so far. I keep trying to watch and then turning the show off. There's nothing especially original here. A ton of cliches. Yes, Amy Adams is good, but the character she's playing is so dour, so difficult to root for and so distinctly unentertaining. She's a difficult stranger plodding through life. It's a slog. Maybe it'll get better in the 2nd season? We'll see. Note: that's about as drab a show open as I've ever seen. anemic music. Aimless montage. Misses the southern gothic vibe completely, IMHO.

Oh, what could have been. The great actors in this amazing cast are continually let down by weak writing and spotty direction, especially in this 3rd season, and just when the show should be getting better, it's floundering. A mess. I still watch, hoping it will get better. But you've got scripts that sound like first drafts coming out of great actors mouths, and even they can't save it.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

There are aspects of this show that I love. Mackenzie Davis and Lee Pace are great actors in engaging roles. The backdrop for this story is fascinating. Fantastic show open, beautifully designed and that great ambient theme is wonderful, and grabs me every time. Love the soundtrack... Courtney Love, etc. There's some great dialogue. Scoot McNairy makes a sympathetic Gordon Clark. Some of the secondary characters are fun, such as Toby Huss as John Bossworth, among others. But there are glaring weaknesses that keep HaCF from reaching its potential. Conceptually, not enough happens. The showrunners are playing way too coy with Cameron and Joe. That frustrates the viewer. It becomes annoying that they can't move forward. Another big problem is that Kerry Bishé as Donna Clark is woefully miscast, and there are scenes where her performance makes me cringe. She plays Donna as tight as a drum, and I don't believe a second of it. So why am I still hooked? I watch because I want to know what happens to Cameron Howe and Joe MacMillan. They are not only compelling characters but, they are the show. Too bad the writers appear afraid to let go of their reins.

The first scene ... with the 'Mission Impossible' mask removal... was HORRIBLE. Jump the shark horrible. But then the rest of the show was excellent. So I'm happy that the show recovered. But a bunch of us watching audibly gasped/laughed out loud/screamed at the TV at the end of scene 1. Writers: was that even necessary!!!??? The show would have been better without it, imho.

Update: 06/23: "American Gods" is cringe-worthy, cliche-ridden faux surrealism. It's such an awful show. Not even deliciously horrible. Just an exhibition of bad taste. The fact that this show has a score of 77, and "Twin Peaks: The Return" has a score of 74, is a JOKE. Update 5/24: Yeah, that's it for me. Done with this show. There are so many problems. But the casting of Ricky Whittle as Shadow Moon is the main issue. It makes me think of how good Tom Hardy is in "Taboo" which is a great show no one is watching. "American Gods" is a terrible show everyone is watching. Welcome to America where the Gods are bad storytellers. ....................................................... Last night's episode was unbelievably pretentious. And it has nothing to do with the subject matter--that I love. It's that the execution is poor. A mess. From some bad casting to sophomoric direction... I think I'm done with this show. ..........................................................................."American Gods" is off to a rocky start for me. I am surprised by its weaknesses--the directing and the visual effects, particularly. In the two episodes I watched so far there are more gratuitous Extreme Close-Ups than in a student film. An ECU of a match strike doesn't lend specificity, it lends tedium. The digital effects are inconsistent, and downright tacky at moments. I borderline hate the show opening. For me a great show open tells a short story in an innovative, concise visual style. Take the open for HBO's "Westworld" for example -- that's a stunning open. "American Gods" open is an unfocused mess. Some choices are inspired--Ian McShane as Mr. Wednesday, Gillian Anderson as Lucille Ball, for example. Ricky Whittle as Shadow Moon has yet to grab me. Two episodes in, that's a bit concerning. I'll keep giving this a try though. I want to like it.

I'm a fan of this show. It does what it does rather brilliantly. I agree that Tatiana Maslany and her portrayal of the sestras is a tour de force. She's a remarkable actress. I love most of the supporting cast. I admire the direction. The show is a lot of fun. However, I want to call attention to the absurdity of grading systems such as this. "Orphan Black" is at 8.8. "Twin Peaks: The Return" is at 7.4. Twin Peaks is groundbreaking television unlike anything we've seen. Sigh.......... who cares, right?

Update: 5/23 -- Episode 6 was brilliant and extraordinarily moving. Directed by Carl Franklin, the show came back to life for me. Laurie's Judas story. Kevin and Laurie's genuinely beautiful final scene. Great storytelling. I hope the rest of the season is this good. .............................The first episode of this season was an engaging triumph. The second, third, and now fourth episodes were a frustrating mess. Last nights episode was borderline incoherent, and not in a good way. And with horrible music cues--not effective counterpoint, just pretentious. Even the orgies were boring. I'm losing patience with the show... but... in total, I still love it. The writing is wildly inconsistent. I'm starting to believe that the showrunners don't know where they are going, and that this will be another trainwreck at the end like LOST -- that baffling, incoherent Allison Janney Mother episode? Thing is, in retrospect, I still love LOST. Even though the final episodes were tedious and did not satisfy. And perhaps this show will be the same? It's looking that way.

Great show. Great main character. Beautiful. Powerful. The setting. The wardrobe (that hat!). All the departments sparkle. The story's currently a bit of a mess. But unlike "Legion," which I have given-up on, "Taboo" has heart and soul and maturity. It doesn't quite know what it is yet. It needs to find it's spine after this year's set-up. Writers: what is "Taboo" about? Witchcraft? Colonialism? Personally, I'm very interested in the hero's flaws and his relationship to his mother, the witch. I want to see that relationship, and not just quick cut flashbacks. I want to see Tom Hardy confront his demons more directly. I want more taboo. I look forward to next season.

Most appear to be gushing about this show so I tried again. And again. In the three episodes I watched I found the same pretentious tone throughout. I found overwrought acting, uneven direction, sophomoric writing, and all about as subtle as a train wreck. Everything's so on-the-nose. It's so full of itself. Not smart. Not funny. Not visionary. It's a mess. It's pretty, I'll give it that. But there's a far prettier show on the same network called "Taboo." That's the show I'll stick with; it has a core of something much more authentic. "Legion" has the heart of a rock video.

"Girls" is a big pile of malignant narcissism. Why all this self-loathing? And why is this a television show? It's in no way insightful. These people are vapid, duplicitous and petulant. Ugh. I prefer "New Girl" to "Girls." At least those writers appear to love their characters.