Season 5 has been an absolute grind to get through. It feels pretty clear that the show is not committed to progressing any storylines or allowing things to change. Where are we now that we weren't at the beginning of this season? Or that were weren't at the beginning of season 4?
While the show is always capable of bringing out some astoundingly gripping moments (the double execution, Pasha's wrist-slitting), they are small moments amidst a whole season of the show sitting on its hands. Philip and Elizabeth aren't even that sympathetic anymore, and the lack of communication between them is making things stagnate. Hell, their innermost thoughts are barely coming across to us as viewers.
On the plus side, the acting remains stellar.
Paige's story remains interesting, but again, it just seems to have reached a halt. Some effort was made to (finally) give Henry more to do, but like all the other storylines it appears to have just sputtered out after a long and unnecessary crawl. It's also ridiculous just how much work Philip and Elizabeth are doing, to the point where the show suddenly re-introduces someone that we haven't seen in a long time and we have to try and remember what the deal was with them. In this case we had the teenager Kim, a random pick up of Martha's storyline in Russia (which was heartbreaking) and a completely dead-end plot with Philip's son. And why the hell are we spending so much time with Oleg in Moscow?
What hurts most is that even with the finale, there was no forward momentum or establishing of where they wanted things to go for the final season. Give us something: the Jennings make the decision to go to Russia, or to hide in America to try and live a normal life. Or Paige tells Henry what's really going on. Or Stan discovers who P+E really are. This show was vibrant and exciting from seasons 1-3, but it looks like it's going to fade out with a whimper.
Review by LeftHandedGuitaristBlockedParent2017-10-03T11:22:29Z
There's a slow burn, and then there's this.
Season 5 has been an absolute grind to get through. It feels pretty clear that the show is not committed to progressing any storylines or allowing things to change. Where are we now that we weren't at the beginning of this season? Or that were weren't at the beginning of season 4?
While the show is always capable of bringing out some astoundingly gripping moments (the double execution, Pasha's wrist-slitting), they are small moments amidst a whole season of the show sitting on its hands. Philip and Elizabeth aren't even that sympathetic anymore, and the lack of communication between them is making things stagnate. Hell, their innermost thoughts are barely coming across to us as viewers.
On the plus side, the acting remains stellar.
Paige's story remains interesting, but again, it just seems to have reached a halt. Some effort was made to (finally) give Henry more to do, but like all the other storylines it appears to have just sputtered out after a long and unnecessary crawl. It's also ridiculous just how much work Philip and Elizabeth are doing, to the point where the show suddenly re-introduces someone that we haven't seen in a long time and we have to try and remember what the deal was with them. In this case we had the teenager Kim, a random pick up of Martha's storyline in Russia (which was heartbreaking) and a completely dead-end plot with Philip's son. And why the hell are we spending so much time with Oleg in Moscow?
What hurts most is that even with the finale, there was no forward momentum or establishing of where they wanted things to go for the final season. Give us something: the Jennings make the decision to go to Russia, or to hide in America to try and live a normal life. Or Paige tells Henry what's really going on. Or Stan discovers who P+E really are. This show was vibrant and exciting from seasons 1-3, but it looks like it's going to fade out with a whimper.