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Reviews
All the Light We Cannot See: Episode #1.1 (2023)
Disappointing
Episode 1 is beyond disappointing :(
I was so looking forward to this and it's just a letdown.
Generally cheesy acting that feels like a high school drama production. Sets look cheap, and there's no real sense of the time period, and no real sense of the trauma of war.
So far, poor adherence to the book. Uncle Etienne looked/behaved nothing like the source material. Werner has yellow hair. The sequence of Reinhold finding Marie had none of the book's tension or build-up, and was frankly anti-climactic. Did the show's creators even read the book?
Everyone bizarrely speaks in a British accent, although some actors at times randomly adopt a sort of German-sounding twang. Would it have been so hard to hire actual French and German actors? I kept thinking that unless I'd read the book, it would be so clunky to follow what was going on and who these people are.
The only highlight were the scenes featuring child Marie. She was a delight to watch.
I can't continue with this series as I don't want to ruin such a beautiful and treasured book.
Maseukeugeol (2023)
Well acted, thought provoking
Mask Girl starts out deceptively. It first seems to be an awkward office drama, before unspooling into a very dark, but extremely well made thriller, that makes stark and uncomfortable observations about violence.
Mask Girl looks at the way people (most often women), are used and betrayed (often by men - although by women also, albeit in more subtle ways). Used for sexual gratification, for money, for social status. It looks at revenge, both in its violent and bloody forms, as well its petty but still damaging iterations in the schoolyard.
The male violence depicted is confronting and distressing in its realism. Mask Girl does not shy away from the ways both language and physical aggression are used to dehumanise, mock, control, and destroy women.
Mask Girl explores the origins of violence and other unsavoury tendencies. Momi's childhood, and that of her daughter, convey to us that it thrives when a child is unloved and unwanted. Joo Oh-nam's story explores the consequences of suffocating and poorly attuned parenting, while Ye-chun shows us the risks of loving but unavailable parents and poor boundaries. A common thread is the role of bullying in undermining self-concept and fostering an urge to escape and transform.
However, Mask Girl tells us that even where escape and transformation occur, the legacy of these beginnings is not so easily shed. Chun-ae could not shake her victimhood. Momi cannot lose her need to perform and be adored.
Mask Girl also forces the audience to confront our ideas about justified violence. Who deserves to be hurt, or even killed? Are we more sympathetic to characters that are beautiful? Why was the ungainly original Momi so frustrating; does her transformation make her more tragic and empathetic?
A stand-out performance from Yeom Hye-ran. Her emotional range is incredible.
Kwinmeikeo (2023)
Excellent
Completely addictive and riveting political drama, with some very solid humorous moments that balance the darker themes.
I don't think I've ever seen a more sincere and powerful portrayal of female friendships and relationships. Korean writers are by far the best at building complex, interesting, and strong, female characters. Television shows rarely centre female bonds like this. The characters don't sit around talking about men or their insecurities. Their relationships show depth and authenticity.
The performances by Kim Hee-ae, Moon So-ri and Kim Sun-Young were outstanding. The scene where Oh Kyung Sook and Hwa Soo break down together was so well acted, and genuinely heartfelt.
Another great Korean show.
Jiok (2021)
Fantastic show
It starts off a little strange, but evolves into a very well acted and thoughtful piece about judgment, righteousness, religion, and free will. It looks at how humans make meaning out of the nonsensical - how people will accept an idea if it protects them from the scary randomness of life and death.
The first episode was a little average, but I encourage viewers not to be perturbed. I think it would have benefitted from less overt CGI, and a bit of rethinking around how the creatures appear and disappear (it's a little theatrical and takes away from the seriousness of what is taking place). The glowing light, and the portal they jump into could've been left out.
Nonetheless, the story cleverly unspools across the six episodes and it's twists and turns are hard to see coming.
The performance from Won Jin A (mother of the baby) in particular was so moving, she nailed it.
Love & Death (2023)
Dull
It's just really dull. It's a shame because Plemons is a great actor, and I really wanted to like this. It is all over the place - with weirdly abrupt cuts between scenes (this feels sloppy rather than tone-setting), and many scenes just drag on. The script is not compelling, and Candy continually monologues in a way that is just boring. Olsen's middle-aged lady voice and mannerisms do not fit with her look and age, and it feels forced. It's as if the show is desperate to be sexy and desperate for Candy to appeal to men (as if this is the only way her character could make "sense"). The other characters are completely two-dimensional, although the idea that Betty is Not Very Nice is rammed down the audience's throat (as is Candy's husband's status as Weird Yet Endearing). In other words, it's reliant on tired cliches - rather than showing us who these people are. Further, there is no chemistry between Olsen and Plemons, making the build up to their affair again forced and dull. Finally, the lighting and sets are weird. It doesn't feel 80s. It feels like a weird 50s time warp horror movie that's gunning to be ~ unsettling ~. Disappointing.
The Last of Us: When We Are in Need (2023)
Slow and patchy
The pacing was again off. The first act was slow, making the climax feel rushed. The writing was lazy and cringeworthy in parts - David's villain monologue was full of cliché (honestly, how many times has a TV bad guy said "you remind me of myself"?). His character was generally overdone - he was wholly "bad", an aberrant evil that was too cartoon-like to be fully scary. The suspension of belief was also a little much. Somehow Joel goes from semi-comatose to disarming and killing multiple men and torturing two (adrenaline doesn't quite cut it, let's be real lol). Has Ellie never had a single vaccine in her entire life? She knows how to draw the needle but injects it directly into the wound? Why didn't Ellie use Joel's spike of adrenaline to quietly sneak them both out on the horse? Why did the townspeople do absolutely nothing while a building was set alight and their leader killed?
Also, it's a shame the show fell into the old rape trope. Why, why, why do showrunners think it's necessary? What lazy writing to lean into the destruction of women and girls. The scene with David was gratuitous. Finally, there isn't a single infected. The show can only ride so long on the premise that "this is ultimately about how people are bad!! This is about human relationships not zombies!!". There is zero sense that they are an actual threat. The show relies on gamers' nostalgia and emotional investment but as a standalone media it's just patchy.
The Twelve (2022)
Cringe
The show so far is unfortunately really cringeworthy. It feels like a high school drama performance. There is absolutely no subtlety; the upcoming conflict between the heavily stereotyped and one dimensional jurors is glaringly obvious (presumably the hipster lesbian will conflict with the old people, the brunette femme fatale has a dark secret, all is not as it seems in Georgina's "perfect" life, the old people will be boringly conservative and won't be able to fathom the funky photographer and her unconventional "cool aunt" ways). It's so heavy handed and overdone. The conflict between Diane and the dad's new wife was weirdly comical. Why is Australian TV always like this :(
Gold (2022)
Terrible
Very boring. Fast forwarded the last half hour just to get it over with. The characters are empty and there is virtually no plot - references to the 'compound' and 'out west' are a bit cringe (it feels like weak, barely developed storytelling). Zac's character does so many nonsensical activities that it becomes tedious and irritating to watch (sitting in direct sunlight rather than in his shelter, unnecessarily roaming around with bits of airplane). Watching him answer the phone is torturous. The dialogue and acting is clunky and poorly paced.