Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsBase hit to first
Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2023
The show wasn’t a swing and a miss; more of a base hit to first, if we’re using baseball analogies. The show wasn’t terrible, and that’s the best thing I can say. First the good: Christoph Waltz is good as he always is, but he feels out of place in this show, maybe because it’s poorly written. Don’t get me wrong, he always shines in any role as the villain, but there’s only so much he could do with this material. Alas, he’s the only recognizable actor here; the rest of the casting budget was spent on no talent extras. As with all new Amazon big budget originals, this is based on a book, and maybe the book was better. I don’t know though I haven’t read it, and this show makes me not want to. (Check other reviewers here; maybe they can say.) It doesn’t matter though, any new show or movie should be able to stand on its own, based on a book or not. The show wasn’t interesting, fun, or engaging. Sometimes it was even depressing and almost morose. At times I felt I wanted to halt mid-season; however, I felt that if I was going to write a review, I should plough on to the end, which I did. As with most new shows, it had a first episode that seems to hook you, then, it seems to die from there. Then, it ends with a mildly more interesting last episode that hopes to tease the viewer to tune in for what may be a second season if the show tests well enough. The actor that plays Elaine (Brittany O'Grady) was good; I hope someone hires her on to star in a much more remarkable show that this. Here's the thing Amazon Studios needs to learn: in order for a show to succeed, you have the *care* about the characters. You have to be invested in them, what motivates them, and why they're doing what they're doing. I didn't care about these characters. I was bored with them early on (by about the 3rd or 4th episode a little voice said "uh oh" in my head). The most irritating thing, in the end, for me, even though I knew towards the last episode I was going to have a poor recommendation of the show, is that they left so many questions unanswered and so many plot threads left hanging. I still, at least, wanted to know why certain things occurred. Maybe they plan to tie these up in a second season, but I’ll never know.
Also, I don’t know why Amazon classified this show as a “dark comedy”. I know what a dark comedy is and this isn’t it. I’ve seen other reviewers here describe it as a “horror” or “drama”, and that might be closer. Maybe the book is a dark comedy?