1. Decided to try just one episode of
The Haunting of Hill House - the new adaptation on Netflix - thinking, eh, I'll just see what all the buzz is about, then I'll jump over to
Daredevil S3. Seven episodes later, I'm taking a break to cleanse the palate before bedtime with The Great British Baking Show.
Yes, it is THAT good. Compelling and unnerving. Possibly the scariest thing I've seen in a long time. Think Shirley Jackson's Hill House meets well Stephen King by way of Edgar Allen Poe. It's told in a sort of flashback style -- over twenty years later, the Crain family is still struggling to deal with the trauma of living in Hill House. The series picks a different point of view for each episode. We start with Steven Crain, who has written a pseudo memoir of living in a haunted house, even though he never saw any of the ghosts in the house and doesn't believe in any of it. Or so he says. Then in the next episode, we shift to his sister Shirly or Cherly, who runs a funeral home. And next Theodora, who is a child psychologist. Luke, a recovering heroine addict, Nell, who struggles with sleep paralysis (the twins). Hugh Crain, their father who restores old houses and flips them. His wife, Olivia, an architect, who aids him in flipping them and dreams of designing and building their own forever house.
( vague spoilers in review )2. Television reviews...
* To date,
9-1-1 by Tim Minear, Brad Falchuck and Ryan Murphy, starring Peter Krause, Angela Basset, Aisha Hinds, Kenneth Choi and Jennifer Love Hewitt is the best of the Fire Fighter/Emergency Response dramas. If you have to pick one -- go with this one. It's not to hard to jump into. And it's the most realistic of the bunch.
Station 19 is a bit like Grey's Anatomy, it's more of a relationship drama than a action drama or medical/fire fighter procedural. I wouldn't call it a soap opera, since it doesn't slide over the top. But it's not very realistic in regards to the fire-fighting and cop procedural bits. I only believe two or three of the characters are fire-fighters, the women I don't believe at all. Fire-fighters have to lift 400 pounds, they are big and muscular. And they do not talk about sex or who is sleeping with whom. Also tend to be rather conservative and tough talking. (I know several in my workplace.)
*
The Rookie -- it's better than expected. Fillon is charming in the lead, yet, it is really more of an ensemble piece than Castle. Each Rookie is followed, and we're in various perspectives.
And we really don't see that much of Fillion in the first episode. I was surprised to see it focused more on everyone else -- with some compelling performances by supporting cast. I think Nathan Fillon is the tag to pull people in.
I don't know if I'll stick with it though, since it's a bit like Station 19 in that it's not all that realistic and feels more like a relationship drama, and power play, than cop procedural. The cop bit feels more like a back-drop for everything else.
*
A Million Little Things -- now that I've seen five episodes of this, I'd say it fails in it's attempts to reprise Thirty-Something or be a Forty-Something take on This is Us, as an ensemble.
The drama feels a bit overwrought, and the character overtly weepy. It's a drama about suicide and the whys and wherefores of it, but fails in that all the characters are ...well, upper middle class.
And their angst is either of existential origin or fear of losing the good life. Or not doing what they love. It's a good commentary on what's wrong with our society.
Example?
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