TOTDY is a pretentious, self-indulgent, narcissistic,navel-gazing, misogynistic, slow-moving mess that does look great but offers nothing in the way of plot, character development, nuance, real tension or, indeed, meaning. It's what happens when a studio (Amazon Prime) just hands out money to a self-professed auteur without any restrictions. So far, so bad.
After three relatively potent episodes, the rot is inevitably setting in. Not because Episode 7 is noticeably worse than the the one before, it just all become stultifying and, oh so repetitive. Refn has run out of visual ideas. That's a shame, as the plot is actually thickening - or at least it should be. From this point on TOTDY is just a monochromatic, dreary, ponderous drone. Fans of screen violence can rejoice, as the show is getting more brutal. That doesn't make it any more suspenseful, and again there's barely a real human character anywhere to be seen. The gang war between the Mexican cartel and the homegrown black gang lead by Babs Olusanmokun intensifies, and yet, Refn somehow manages to drain all of the potential suspense. Again, there are no twists here, TOTDY has now become a monotonous, depressing, slow-moving dirge of a show. But Refn clearly relishes violence for its own sake. Which is a good thing, kind of. Shows he doesn't just relish pretentiousness, narcissism, and lobotomized pacing for their own sake.
Alas, by this episode we're again starting to loose some of the more colorful characters - leaving behind the robotic Martin, Jésus and Jaritza.
After three relatively potent episodes, the rot is inevitably setting in. Not because Episode 7 is noticeably worse than the the one before, it just all become stultifying and, oh so repetitive. Refn has run out of visual ideas. That's a shame, as the plot is actually thickening - or at least it should be. From this point on TOTDY is just a monochromatic, dreary, ponderous drone. Fans of screen violence can rejoice, as the show is getting more brutal. That doesn't make it any more suspenseful, and again there's barely a real human character anywhere to be seen. The gang war between the Mexican cartel and the homegrown black gang lead by Babs Olusanmokun intensifies, and yet, Refn somehow manages to drain all of the potential suspense. Again, there are no twists here, TOTDY has now become a monotonous, depressing, slow-moving dirge of a show. But Refn clearly relishes violence for its own sake. Which is a good thing, kind of. Shows he doesn't just relish pretentiousness, narcissism, and lobotomized pacing for their own sake.
Alas, by this episode we're again starting to loose some of the more colorful characters - leaving behind the robotic Martin, Jésus and Jaritza.