*sigh* The season was a big disappointment. I wonder when Netflix decided to shorten the season (and series) because the season was all over the place and barely cognizant with the rest of the show. I enjoyed the early episode where they all traveled to Maine, and there were good moments otherwise, but overall: dropped plot points, uncharacteristic character choices/personalities, strange plot decisions that ultimately went nowhere, minimal music moments (although I giggled with the Baby Shark refrain), and more. It's like the showrunners read a semi-coherent summary of the show and ran with it rather than actually understand their own show.
I have to agree; I wanted to love it, but it ultimately felt weirdly both meandering and rushed. I think having a full 10 episodes might have helped to give the plot more room to develop. Also, aside from the occasional stylistic flourishes, I'm mainly here for these characters bouncing off each other, and with so few episodes it seemed like they really had to pare down to a few character pairings to highlight (Five/Lila, Allison/Klaus, Diego/Luther, even Viktor/Reginald) and I missed seeing more of the other dynamics.
Me not have seen any of this yet, but me am completely on board knowing full well show is and always has been wildly uneven. Somehow, that part of its charm. (And for whatever reason, me have more fun watching uneven show like this or Star Trek Discovery than something masterfully done like Succession or Wire). Anyway:
> it quickly becomes clear they don’t all have equally compelling material to work with
This has been show from beginning and big reason for why show is so uneven. But that largely because they struck casting gold with Gallagher and Ritu Arya (and Elliot Page reliably great, but they knew that going in). So it pretty much has always been Five and Viktor Show, but me not really have problem with that. It pretty much impossible to have balanced ensemble where every actor equally great. Cheers, maybe? WKRP? Me have to go that far back. Even Sesame Street have Bert and Ernie, and then less-enduring characters like Gladys or Dr. Nobel Price.
I was super pleased with the first two episodes, which I watched last night, so it's disappointing to hear that in some ways it totally falls apart (and that the S3 finale moments don't pay off even a little); and yet, I was only ever really here for the kooky vibes, the great cast dynamics, and Five - who completely stole the show from day 1. Glad to hear he (and Lila) get some good material.
*sigh* The season was a big disappointment. I wonder when Netflix decided to shorten the season (and series) because the season was all over the place and barely cognizant with the rest of the show. I enjoyed the early episode where they all traveled to Maine, and there were good moments otherwise, but overall: dropped plot points, uncharacteristic character choices/personalities, strange plot decisions that ultimately went nowhere, minimal music moments (although I giggled with the Baby Shark refrain), and more. It's like the showrunners read a semi-coherent summary of the show and ran with it rather than actually understand their own show.
I have to agree; I wanted to love it, but it ultimately felt weirdly both meandering and rushed. I think having a full 10 episodes might have helped to give the plot more room to develop. Also, aside from the occasional stylistic flourishes, I'm mainly here for these characters bouncing off each other, and with so few episodes it seemed like they really had to pare down to a few character pairings to highlight (Five/Lila, Allison/Klaus, Diego/Luther, even Viktor/Reginald) and I missed seeing more of the other dynamics.
Me not have seen any of this yet, but me am completely on board knowing full well show is and always has been wildly uneven. Somehow, that part of its charm. (And for whatever reason, me have more fun watching uneven show like this or Star Trek Discovery than something masterfully done like Succession or Wire). Anyway:
> it quickly becomes clear they don’t all have equally compelling material to work with
This has been show from beginning and big reason for why show is so uneven. But that largely because they struck casting gold with Gallagher and Ritu Arya (and Elliot Page reliably great, but they knew that going in). So it pretty much has always been Five and Viktor Show, but me not really have problem with that. It pretty much impossible to have balanced ensemble where every actor equally great. Cheers, maybe? WKRP? Me have to go that far back. Even Sesame Street have Bert and Ernie, and then less-enduring characters like Gladys or Dr. Nobel Price.
I was super pleased with the first two episodes, which I watched last night, so it's disappointing to hear that in some ways it totally falls apart (and that the S3 finale moments don't pay off even a little); and yet, I was only ever really here for the kooky vibes, the great cast dynamics, and Five - who completely stole the show from day 1. Glad to hear he (and Lila) get some good material.