Gwilym Mumford of the Guardian feels much the same, a show that could have been a lot better had it not to carry the True Detective brand like a millstone around its neck…
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Speaking of which…
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“Per HBO, the season is the most-watched installment of the show to date, with 12.7 million cross platform viewers. The season finale on Feb. 18 was the most-watched episode of the season, drawing 3.2 million viewers across HBO and Max. That represents a 57% increase over the show’s premiere viewership in January.”
Seems to have been a big success for HBO.
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I was eager to watch this. The first episode, as pointed out, was a weird mix of character exposition with the plot barely advanced, almost intruding on rather unsurprising scenes of broken families.
The setting was so great, and the promise of a Carpenter‘s The Thing like research station offering a fascinating mystery, with Jodie Foster as a cop - wonderful.
But the first episode was a masterclass in cramming in everything instead of having the characters slowly reveal themselves through an examination of the mystery.
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I’ve seen only the first three episodes; the main problem for me - as with Succession - is how the show makes it hard to root for its characters. They’re not obnoxious bores as Succession’s but difficult to relate to, like or spend time with watching how they unravel the mystery. Frustrating because I think they are actually interesting enough.
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I tried the second episode and could not engage with it either.
So I gave up and looked up the explanation for the case in the finale.
What a let down.
Well, this season apparently was released at the right time, and curiosity was high. Hence the big ratings. And the offer for the next season.
But what made me interested in the previous seasons I did not see here.
In the end, the first season was great and should have been contained. One mini-series, goodbye. The third season was very good. The second had its moments. But none of the follow-ups were necessary.
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Yes, I agree completely. She mentioned Twin Peaks. I felt like they were trying to emulate the off-kilter supernatural atmosphere of that series, but then worked so hard to explain everything (all while insisting that not everything can be explained) that it fell flat. What’s most surprising to me is that even Jodie Foster couldn’t elevate the material beyond its pedestrian tropes.
Part of what is so strange is that this season opened with one of the creepiest tableaux I have ever seen … and yet it was sapped of all its terror and mystery halfway through.
One wonders what Night Country could have been, all on its own, without the trappings of True Detective. Maybe we’ll get a better sense of that in Season 5. But I don’t know if I will care to watch. It may not matter, since apparently many others are.
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If she was going for a Twin Peaks vibe she definitely missed its sly, weird humor and went for an uneasy mix of out of place jokes and shocks. The discovery at the beginning of the second episode for example felt completely unearned to me because…
Summary
I did not believe for a second that the cops would just use the chainsaw at such a tableau and then photograph the commanding officer. To have one of the victims then survive and scream only after all that time was such an obvious attempt at sudden shock (and copied the “Seven”-gluttony victim shamelessly).
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One reason I thought of Twin Peaks was because of how Bob-like Travis Cohle (one of many needless callbacks to Season 1) seemed to be. But while Bob was terrifying, Travis was just … there. Kind of like everything else in this season, now that I think of it.
Rose was one of the most interesting characters, but apparently her main reason for being there was to help with body dumping and discovery.
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‘The Bear’ - episode “Review “
What a beautiful, fabulous tour-de-force descent into utter madness, chaos, Fender-smashing havoc. One great moment for the series and the art of tv. Hugely recommended.
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It kills me to not see those Italian locations in color…
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Probably the least charming and visually uninteresting version they could make…what a waste of time and resources
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Seeing this trailer I can only repeat my conviction that the story ought to have been done in colour. But be that as it may, this seems to twist the tale significantly:
- all the main protagonists seem to be older (about a decade?) than their counterparts on the page
- this Ripley would seem not just older but also a seasoned and unscrupulous criminal already with no actual moral passage left for him to go down.
The latter point to me indicates a misreading of the character much like this old Dell paperback cover of an evil leering protagonist we actually find nowhere in the Ripliad.
There is one passage in Ripley’s Game that describes him enjoying killing his mafia marks, but this is a) atypical for Ripley and b) more in a kind of angry hatred for bullies and the kind of brute that regularly populates the mafia’s rank and file.
Ripley’s main trait is his charm and his honest wish to get by without using violence. Repeatedly he goes out of his way to try and convince his victims not to force him to extreme measures. Ripley doesn’t enjoy killing and would rather avoid it, chiefly because it’s an enormous nuisance.
What I seem to observe in this trailer suggests rather Tom Moriarty having smashing good fun and already looking forward to getting rid of a few more unsuspecting douchebags. In short, not what I would consider the Tom Ripley of the books. No doubt, this too could be an interesting couple of hours of idle streaming. I’m just not all that interested right away.
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I just went through the Psycho movie series again and that got me thinking about Bates Motel. I’ve never seen it. Is it worth it?
My husband liked it, but I never felt much interest.
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I loved it, but is it a necessary addition to the first movie and its extremely good sequel?
I don’t think so. Great acting and atmosphere, though.
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I just discovered this series about a month ago and have now binged watch 4 seasons. It is unusual that I watch a show so quickly. I am going to “try” to give it a rest so I can enjoy it over a longer period of time. This is likely my favourite show I discovered since 2020 minus the Blacklist. While Bosch is much better overall, there was something about James Spader’s character that was so addictive and fun (though I found the series finale very disappointing).
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‘Resident Alien’ - weird mix of comedy, mystery and sf-farce. I don’t know the comic book source but three episodes in this is surprisingly engaging and makes me curious to check that out, too.
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