the whole concept is intriguing but it just feels so long. they could've wrapped this up in six episodes
well i can say this show is Good but not för People who dont like to Think . but i love this show
OMG so boring. The convo between Lily & Katie was some of the stupidest writing & acting. This show was boring to start with, this episode made it worst.
This all feels very drawn out at this point. Like Garland had an idea and then stretched it out across a series when it didn't need to be. All the pieces that have led to this point have given us nothing. Lily and Jamie are boring. Forest and Katie being in a relationship is a bit 'ick' tbh and not seeing it at all.
One point to note - I mentioned to a friend that I found Lily's portrayal very wooden and he pointed out that supposedly the character is on the spectrum? Which I understand must be tricky to portray but I've seen plenty of neuro-typical actors do it well enough before without seeming like a robot.
I have a very different vision for this show that I think would totally resonate with me. Clearly, I will never get that version of Devs, but still. Garland made a name for himself, directorally, by presenting worlds to us that felt so very bizarre compared to our own. Ex Machina and Annihilation are, in many ways, odysseys through the fringes of sciences, exploring concepts in ways more minute and varied than I'm used to seeing, which is probably why I love Annihilation as much as I do. I've never really seen anything like it (don't bring up Stalker, there's only cursory similarities).
But what I think I miss out of Devs, even for an episode that I enjoyed like this one, is the scope of Garland's other projects. It feels like there's a mismatch in the tone of the pilot and the execution of all other episodes so far. There is a hint that what the Devs unit is working on could change the world as we know it, but the crux of the show is tied up in a corporate espionage, detective thing. The vast majority of the series to this point has been focused on Lilly learning things that the audience already knows. As I write this, I realize there's some interesting parallels in that execution to the show's views on Determinism, but I think the plot here feels a bit lackluster. Often times it means I don't even feel like I'm watching science-fiction. I think this very well may be a me problem that is tied up in my expectations for what Garland typically does, but I'm really not sure.
This episode finally gets into some of the meat of the character dynamics that have been hinted at for awhile. Parallels drawn are finally inked. The chess board is set up for the final confrontation. I thought it was interesting because Garland, strangely, has a real knack for two people sitting in a room talking to each other about philosophy (see: Ventress talking to Lena in Annihilation or like all of Ex Machina). He has a way of making deadpan feel fascinating.
p.s. oddly, I think Garland could have drawn some inspiration for this series from the sequel to Annihilation's novel, Authority.
I wonder if a bug in Devs would count as Puck in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.
Shout by Daniel TernerBlockedParent2021-04-03T18:34:05Z
I feel like I’m watching a different show than most other commenters - I’m loving every second and the episodes are flying by. It’s tightly written and beautifully executed.