I'm not buying into complaints that this show is rudderless and has no clear political message. Nor do I accept some critics' myopic assessment that the show's only takeaway is that "dictatorship per se is bad".
In my opinion, what The Regime is really saying is: Be careful who you put in power, choose your leaders well. It doesn't even matter if you're in a democratic system or an authoritarian one. Not all dictatorships are failures. Lee Kuan Yew propelled Singapore to greatness. But in the hands of a bad leader -- who is prone to corruption, egotism, eccentricity, and even madness -- national policy can go pear-shaped and pull down an entire nation. Admittedly though, the risk may indeed be higher in a dictatorship because everyone else is too afraid or too weak and powerless to dare say no to a tyrant, much less seek change. The Regime is satirizing many heads of government and politicians; it never said it wanted to do a full-on geopolitical analysis although I think it sufficiently tackled the fundamental dynamic between a small nation playing against superpowers.
I really enjoyed this series. I liked its sardonic, deadpan, cutting and worldly humor. It is ridiculous but intelligent in its goofiness. You have award-worthy acting performances, especially from the two leads. The casting, production design, screenplay, cinematography, costume, and score are all A-game. You even have a kind of blazing hot Romeo-and-Juliet, scorched-earth weird love right in the middle driving the plot and spicing things up. For sure, both these crackpot lovers are absolute oafs. But they are so good at being bad I just couldn't look away LOL. That to me is real entertainment.
In my opinion, what The Regime is really saying is: Be careful who you put in power, choose your leaders well. It doesn't even matter if you're in a democratic system or an authoritarian one. Not all dictatorships are failures. Lee Kuan Yew propelled Singapore to greatness. But in the hands of a bad leader -- who is prone to corruption, egotism, eccentricity, and even madness -- national policy can go pear-shaped and pull down an entire nation. Admittedly though, the risk may indeed be higher in a dictatorship because everyone else is too afraid or too weak and powerless to dare say no to a tyrant, much less seek change. The Regime is satirizing many heads of government and politicians; it never said it wanted to do a full-on geopolitical analysis although I think it sufficiently tackled the fundamental dynamic between a small nation playing against superpowers.
I really enjoyed this series. I liked its sardonic, deadpan, cutting and worldly humor. It is ridiculous but intelligent in its goofiness. You have award-worthy acting performances, especially from the two leads. The casting, production design, screenplay, cinematography, costume, and score are all A-game. You even have a kind of blazing hot Romeo-and-Juliet, scorched-earth weird love right in the middle driving the plot and spicing things up. For sure, both these crackpot lovers are absolute oafs. But they are so good at being bad I just couldn't look away LOL. That to me is real entertainment.
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