*** Warning --- spoilers ahead!!****
This is my first review, not only on IMDb, but on any site of a TV show. But I had so many thoughts about this that I had to get them out and say something.
I discovered this show a few weeks ago on Britbox and for the most part, am so glad that I did! I'm going to sound like so many reviewers on here. Seasons 1-3 were just wonderful. It was delightful to watch them. I actually looked forward to coming home and watching an episode each night, as they were both relaxing but also challenged some of your thinking. What I enjoyed so much about these three seasons is that none of these characters are perfect -- but in essence, they are good. This is very hard to do with TV shows, in my opinion. Dr. Bramwell is a generally well-meaning person who truly wants to help people, but can also be snobbish, judgmental and even unkind. That being said, you can sympathize with where she is in life and what she hopes to accomplish. It was awesome seeing a strong, smart, independent woman doctor here. She made mistakes --- sometimes bad ones --- but for me, that made her character even more relatable and human. The characters on this show are complex and go far beyond being Victorian clichés. The end of season three was for me, the loveliest part of the show. You didn't know what might happen next, but it was handled in such a great way. As other reviewers have said, it's my opinion that the show should have ended there.
And then....there was season 4. I just got finished watching and I'm going back and forth between disappointed, angry and kind of sad. I don't really invest that much time or emotion into TV shows, but I enjoyed this one, and to see it come crashing down like that was hugely disappointing. I understand, I think, what the writers might have been trying to do and I appreciate that --- Victorian London could be an incredibly difficult and awful place for some, and Dr. Bramwell's fierce determination to find Dora is commendable. My problem is the complete and utter change of tone, style and intent on the part of the characters. There's nothing wrong with keeping a certain amount of consistency with TV characters. Shows make us think, but they can also provide a sense of comfort. To make such drastic changes was baffling. If the writers had decided from Season 1 to film the show this way, with this different tone, I would have understood. I may not have liked it as much, but at least I would have understood what kind of mood they were going for. Dr. Bramwell, though her cause to find Dora might have been worthy, quite frankly becomes insufferable, and I hate what they did with Dr. Marsham. I felt like I was watching an entirely different show.
I think, like others, I'm just going to pretend I didn't see season 4 and imagine that the show ends in season 3. It will leave me with much happier memories of this show!
This is my first review, not only on IMDb, but on any site of a TV show. But I had so many thoughts about this that I had to get them out and say something.
I discovered this show a few weeks ago on Britbox and for the most part, am so glad that I did! I'm going to sound like so many reviewers on here. Seasons 1-3 were just wonderful. It was delightful to watch them. I actually looked forward to coming home and watching an episode each night, as they were both relaxing but also challenged some of your thinking. What I enjoyed so much about these three seasons is that none of these characters are perfect -- but in essence, they are good. This is very hard to do with TV shows, in my opinion. Dr. Bramwell is a generally well-meaning person who truly wants to help people, but can also be snobbish, judgmental and even unkind. That being said, you can sympathize with where she is in life and what she hopes to accomplish. It was awesome seeing a strong, smart, independent woman doctor here. She made mistakes --- sometimes bad ones --- but for me, that made her character even more relatable and human. The characters on this show are complex and go far beyond being Victorian clichés. The end of season three was for me, the loveliest part of the show. You didn't know what might happen next, but it was handled in such a great way. As other reviewers have said, it's my opinion that the show should have ended there.
And then....there was season 4. I just got finished watching and I'm going back and forth between disappointed, angry and kind of sad. I don't really invest that much time or emotion into TV shows, but I enjoyed this one, and to see it come crashing down like that was hugely disappointing. I understand, I think, what the writers might have been trying to do and I appreciate that --- Victorian London could be an incredibly difficult and awful place for some, and Dr. Bramwell's fierce determination to find Dora is commendable. My problem is the complete and utter change of tone, style and intent on the part of the characters. There's nothing wrong with keeping a certain amount of consistency with TV characters. Shows make us think, but they can also provide a sense of comfort. To make such drastic changes was baffling. If the writers had decided from Season 1 to film the show this way, with this different tone, I would have understood. I may not have liked it as much, but at least I would have understood what kind of mood they were going for. Dr. Bramwell, though her cause to find Dora might have been worthy, quite frankly becomes insufferable, and I hate what they did with Dr. Marsham. I felt like I was watching an entirely different show.
I think, like others, I'm just going to pretend I didn't see season 4 and imagine that the show ends in season 3. It will leave me with much happier memories of this show!