I loved it. Most of the Pearson family are flawed human beings. They strive to be good people but they are flawed nonetheless. The show doesn't try to portray them as perfect beings. Jack who was abused as a child and carries the horrors of Vietnam inside but still tries to be there for his family. And does his best to break the toxic cycle of his family. Rebecca who was from a wealthy family and left all of that for love. Made some bad decisions along the way. After losing her beloved, grief consumed her. But her love persists. Kevin who always felt neglected and desperate for approval. After learning to shove his emotions down for so long that his empathic side rarely comes out. He has the best character development in the story. Randall who always questioned his place in the world. Torn between gratitude and sense of belonging. Kate who used food as her source of love. So sure that she was not worthy of love that she always takes it out on others. All of these characters have flaws but all of them are higly relatable characters. Family dynamic is a huge plus. I liked that about this show.
I really loved they way the story was being told. It is unique that we watch three timelines simultaneously.
This is a mediocre show with shallow characters and an even weaker plot. There are multiple reasons contributing to make this a mediocre show.
1. Nationalism
AMERICA!!!
Why do you have to shove nationalism down our throats when the antagonists are the alien overlords. There is no government or countries remaining after the attack.
2. Characters
Characters are one dimensional. The MC is portrayed as an intellectual specialising in history. When the show starts out they tried to show his intelligence and rational thinking. But as the show progresses he becomes dumb. Plans are horrible. He is impatient and takes unnecessary risks. Other characters are even worse. Most of the characters don't act like they are facing an alien invasion. And the characters have zero development.
3. Plot armor
There is some obvious plot armor to all the major characters. Even with 99% fatality rates, they survive multiple times. Shoddy writing makes the plot armor so obvious. Even with the stupidest plan they face no major deaths and with some lucks they succeed.
4. Plot
Plot is all over the place. The story is about an alien invasion of earth that focuses on US of A. The MC, a history professor is the main attacking force of the whole world. Don't worry he has his 3 sons as his back up. The direction tries to make the MC as masculine as possible, that it comes as a bit odd. The story is messy and feels like a 30 minute episode stretched to 5 seasons.
Initial seasons were a hoot to watch. Just pure wholesomeness. But the later seasons did bring out the glaring problems in the series.
Adam is not a relatable character. Most of the character developments in the show stagnates his development regresses.
He is extremely selfish. The show tries to show off his growth, by him doing hurtful things every episode then doing a grand gesture to make everything okay. He is really spoiled, it gets addressed in the show. Still he is really spoiled. His romantic interests seemed shallow. All of them follow the same pattern.
Side characters are mediocre at best. Beverly is often portrayed as a villain in most episodes. Murray is an absentee father. Barry and Erica are okay. The one thing i liked about the side characters are the JTP. That was a nice touch.
