I hate the main character. He is so irredeemably unlikable, it's practically unfathomable that someone would write this, and it would get greenlit for production. Aside from being more boring than watching paint dry, one of the oddest things about this show, which is incredibly irritating, is the audio. In at least two of the first five episodes, they employed this background audio, which in one case sounded like a cellphone notification and in the other, a high-pitched squeal. I can't believe that no one caught this in post, b/c it's so hideous to listen to.
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@jmg999 It's such a pity, too, since Diego can be so immediately charming. It's like the leads showed up and they handed them the script right off the plane and told them to head to wardrobe because they'd be shooting in an hour. I noticed the same thing with Katie Sackoff's character in her introduction in Mando'.
Review by Andrew Bloom
VIP9[7.8/10] Another winner. Death seems to be a fact of life where the Rez Dogs come from. Elora lost her friend and probable crush Daniel. Coach Bobson seems to be on the path of losing his daughter. Both of them lost Elora’s mom, as a friend or as a parent. It’s a consequence of living in a place where prospects dwindle quickly, hope trickles slowly, and escapes are both plentiful and dangerous. That doesn’t make it easier.
The friendship that emerges between Elora and her old basketball coach is all kinds of endearing. The ridiculousness of an ill-fated driving test that turns into a shoot-out at a seedy motel that turns into yet another visit to the meth heads’ salvage (nee scrap) yard is amusing in that wry way Reservation Dogs pulls off so well.
But the main event here is recollections of loss. We get more of the story on Daniel, and holy hell, is Elora stumbling on his suicide in their hangout a jolt of cold water to the heart. We get glimpses at Daniel’s problems, from a difficult homelife that makes it so he “can’t go home,” to behavioral issues that leave him easily fixated on things like opening cars or fast dancing to slow music. We see more closely just how attached Elora was to him, and more of why our heroes internalized his dream of going to California.
It’s sad stuff. Being a teenager is already so hard. Being a teenager with no home life to fall back on, with apparent mental health issues makes it even harder. Your heart goes out to Daniel, not just because we get a picture of him through brief glimpses and his friends’ remembrances, but because he stands in for so many real young men and women, struggling with the hardships of life at a time where it’s so easy to be overwhelmed.
Despite that, there’s a real undercurrent of sweetness to this one, of Elora finding solace in an unlikely place, of she and Coach Bobson bonding over fond recollections of Elora’s mom, of him giving her a passing grade on her driving test despite (or because of) their questionable escapades, of finding out that the indigenous word he thought meant “white warrior” actually meant “toilet” in a reveal that’s both amusing and a sign of trust. There are silver linings to the bad things in life, people we can bond with or show compassion to. This episode is a lovely tribute to that idea, even as it delivers one of the series’ most heartbreaking scenes yet.
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@andrewbloom Always love your writeups on each episode!! <3
Review by Andrew Bloom
VIP9[7.8/10] Another winner. Death seems to be a fact of life where the Rez Dogs come from. Elora lost her friend and probable crush Daniel. Coach Bobson seems to be on the path of losing his daughter. Both of them lost Elora’s mom, as a friend or as a parent. It’s a consequence of living in a place where prospects dwindle quickly, hope trickles slowly, and escapes are both plentiful and dangerous. That doesn’t make it easier.
The friendship that emerges between Elora and her old basketball coach is all kinds of endearing. The ridiculousness of an ill-fated driving test that turns into a shoot-out at a seedy motel that turns into yet another visit to the meth heads’ salvage (nee scrap) yard is amusing in that wry way Reservation Dogs pulls off so well.
But the main event here is recollections of loss. We get more of the story on Daniel, and holy hell, is Elora stumbling on his suicide in their hangout a jolt of cold water to the heart. We get glimpses at Daniel’s problems, from a difficult homelife that makes it so he “can’t go home,” to behavioral issues that leave him easily fixated on things like opening cars or fast dancing to slow music. We see more closely just how attached Elora was to him, and more of why our heroes internalized his dream of going to California.
It’s sad stuff. Being a teenager is already so hard. Being a teenager with no home life to fall back on, with apparent mental health issues makes it even harder. Your heart goes out to Daniel, not just because we get a picture of him through brief glimpses and his friends’ remembrances, but because he stands in for so many real young men and women, struggling with the hardships of life at a time where it’s so easy to be overwhelmed.
Despite that, there’s a real undercurrent of sweetness to this one, of Elora finding solace in an unlikely place, of she and Coach Bobson bonding over fond recollections of Elora’s mom, of him giving her a passing grade on her driving test despite (or because of) their questionable escapades, of finding out that the indigenous word he thought meant “white warrior” actually meant “toilet” in a reveal that’s both amusing and a sign of trust. There are silver linings to the bad things in life, people we can bond with or show compassion to. This episode is a lovely tribute to that idea, even as it delivers one of the series’ most heartbreaking scenes yet.
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@gautamhans Thank you so much! I'm looking forward to the new season.
Vanya is the worst part about this season.
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@elicx I actually liked her a lot. My fav after Klaus and Number 5. Yes, any movement on her is slight and minimal, but she's supposed to be introverted! Are people annoyed her storyline was a bit of a repeat?
Shout by Speed Demon
VIP7It's not as good as I was expecting, but still giving it more time to improve. Got to episode 3 and it's worth continuing - just don't expect a ton of laughs.
Martin Short is definitely the best actor in the show, with Steve Martin surprisingly not quite up to his best. Selena Gomez should stick to singing 'cause she certainly can't act.
Overall it's amusing and worth spending time watching - looking forward to the mystery unfolding.
7/10(8/8/22) Season 2 - Getting stupider by the episode. Complete mess compared to season 1 - 4/10
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@speeddemon LOL at "Selena Gomez should stick to singing". Guessing you are younger than a millennial? Gomez was an actor well before she was a singer :smile:
AWH MAN!!! I thought it was coming this year!!! That sucks!!! :rolling_eyes:
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@cinematicthrowbacks Why did you rate an unreleased movie an eight?
I felt that this show really should be evaluated in three parts, as it’s almost as if there were three shows in one. The first season was based on the novel of the same name, so the writers had clearly marked signposts to follow. As the novel was quite compelling, so too was the first season of the show. However, this is where the book ended, and the writers had to take up the slack. The natural progression of events led them to follow the court case surrounding the death of Hannah Baker, as well as the criminal trial of Bryce Walker..
I felt that these two seasons should be evaluated in terms of being different shows. The first season was clearly the best season of the four b/c, that’s the material the book covered, and the writers didn’t have to come up w/ any of their own material. The second season, although panned by some fans and critics, still followed the same themes of the first season, yet it was not up to par in terms of storyline or writing.
The third and fourth seasons should be considered a third show all on their own. While they did stick to similar themes from the first and second seasons, the writers clearly had no plan in place to go beyond the end of the novel. These last two seasons, especially, felt completely disjointed from the first two. The third season was long and drawn out, and the payoff in the end was neither surprising nor all that interesting. If they had maintained more of a mysterious atmosphere over what they were doing, it might have been better.
The fourth season was just a mess. Watching a main character who’s moody, bitter, angry, intense, depressed, and slipping into schizophrenia is not a compelling watch. They began this in season three and continued on in season four. It really added no particular value to the show or the character of Clay.
As for the storyline in the final season, it was absolutely ludicrous. I won’t go into the details, but suffice it to say, the writers really didn’t put much thought into what they were doing. The last two episodes of the show were especially pointless. The prom episode was completely unnecessary, as was the finale, at least the way it was filmed. And, it certainly didn’t require 90 minutes to portray the events of what happened in the finale. Not to mention, the last scene of the show was absolutely awful.
I think that the worst part of this show, however, was the treatment of two characters, Bryce Walker and Montgomery de la Cruz. In the third season, the writers actually spend quite a few resources rehabilitating the image of Bryce, as if there was some redemption to be had for him. He was a serial predator, and his actions would have stemmed from a deep-seated psychological disorder that wouldn’t have simply gone away, b/c he acknowledged his wrongdoing and felt bad about it. They did something similar w/ Monte in the fourth season, and I felt that it was incredibly disingenuous, dangerous, and irresponsible to take this path, b/c it showed that they really hadn’t researched the topics they were writing about. It was really surprising to watch this, and even both of Jessica’s relationships w/ Justin and Diego were quite questionable, especially given her role as head of the women’s rights movement on campus.
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@jmg999 I like your comment. But I disagree with this statement: "Watching a main character who’s moody, bitter, angry, intense, depressed, and slipping into schizophrenia is not a compelling watch."
You could do a really interesting character out of that, look at The Silver Linings Playbook - without the schizophrenia - , the problem was the writers, they couldn't write it compellingly.
Slow and boring as hell! I don't know why this is a 7. Do yourselves a favor and skip this one. Thank me later.
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@helios quiet down while the adults are watching a movie please
Slow and boring as hell! I don't know why this is a 7. Do yourselves a favor and skip this one. Thank me later.
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@helios maybe it's not for you. You can go back watching popcorn flicks like Marvel movies.
