I guess it was impossible to hold the same level of absurdity as The Favourite for a 10 hour show, but I was still disappointed with how TV-show-y it started to become. The humor and ridiculousness is on point throughout, I just started to get used to it and it started to feel like a TV show-ass TV show, somewhere in between a work-place sitcom and Game of Thrones (the imagery and tone never matches what The Favourite, but no one can copy Yorgos Lanthimos so I"m glad this show mostly didn't try). I also had assumed it would be a miniseries rather than a seasonal thing, so I ended up a bit disappointed with the pace of the show. With the coup declared within the first 2 episodes, but not paid off until the final one of the season, it started to feel a bit too procedural.
That all sounds negative, but I really enjoyed watching the show and I'm looking forward to the next season. I was frequently squirming thinking about how Catherine's plans were going to fail spectacularly, even though I know that she has to win in the end. A lot of the characters ended up being much more interesting than I was initially expecting, also. I especially loved Elizabeth, Georgina, and Marial and how they played off of Catherine and Peter. The way the show blends old-timey language ('japes', 'huzzah!') with things like calling each other 'fucking idiots' stayed funny throughout. I guess that's part of the point of the show (and The Favourite) - presenting these big historical figures as stupid and silly and petty, in a way that they would have to have been, but which most historical accounts choose to ignore in place of presenting everything as refined elegance and beautiful nobility and shit.
Review by Sahil TandonBlockedParent2020-07-13T02:06:48Z
I guess it was impossible to hold the same level of absurdity as The Favourite for a 10 hour show, but I was still disappointed with how TV-show-y it started to become. The humor and ridiculousness is on point throughout, I just started to get used to it and it started to feel like a TV show-ass TV show, somewhere in between a work-place sitcom and Game of Thrones (the imagery and tone never matches what The Favourite, but no one can copy Yorgos Lanthimos so I"m glad this show mostly didn't try). I also had assumed it would be a miniseries rather than a seasonal thing, so I ended up a bit disappointed with the pace of the show. With the coup declared within the first 2 episodes, but not paid off until the final one of the season, it started to feel a bit too procedural.
That all sounds negative, but I really enjoyed watching the show and I'm looking forward to the next season. I was frequently squirming thinking about how Catherine's plans were going to fail spectacularly, even though I know that she has to win in the end. A lot of the characters ended up being much more interesting than I was initially expecting, also. I especially loved Elizabeth, Georgina, and Marial and how they played off of Catherine and Peter. The way the show blends old-timey language ('japes', 'huzzah!') with things like calling each other 'fucking idiots' stayed funny throughout. I guess that's part of the point of the show (and The Favourite) - presenting these big historical figures as stupid and silly and petty, in a way that they would have to have been, but which most historical accounts choose to ignore in place of presenting everything as refined elegance and beautiful nobility and shit.