Strange Angel

This show is fascinating and top notch in every way script/acting/production. I hope it is finding its audience and gets to finish telling it's amazing story!

This was the most intriguing show I've seen in years. To bad the powers that be have no confidence in those that watch. The acting was very good and the production excellent. The pace was a little slow and the storyline super complex. Kudos to the writers for their handling of the start of space travel, occultism, WWII, complex personalities and out and out madness so well.

The main character, Jack Parsons, was one of the most intelligent and odd people who were most influential to the future of America during the late 30s and early 40s. I think the series did a great job with extremely difficult subject matter. I had no problem following the story.

Compared with most TV series today points out some huge obstacles for this series. Watching this requires a longer attention span than Spongebob and more intelligence than the family dog. The writers had a LOT of very different subjects to educate themselves about - Then they had to educate the audience. Everyone involved obviously worked very hard to produce a series worth the time to watch. I wish that Hollywood thought better of their audience or maybe realized that curious Intelligent people are consumers too.

Maybe if we are lucky someone else will pick this series up and finish out the originally planned five seasons. I'm not holding my breath.

The is an excellent show that I desperately hope finds its audience. It is an excellent portrayal of late1930s/early 1940s California--as well as the seeds of the counter-culture movement and the ground-work for the evolutionary technological leaps made in California's aerospace industry (and ,later, silicon valley). It is told through an examination of Jack Parsons, a 'real-life' founder of the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) at Cal tech that would go on to become the center of the intellectual world for all things related space exploration.

Much like Kerouac's New York of the 1950s, California in the 30s was chafing against the "High Church" Protestant paradigm of what it meant to be 'American'. It was a hotbed of spiritualist movements, with reading groups and acolytes of Blavatsky, Gurdjieff, and a variety Rosicrucian/Kabalist/Hermeticist, teachings, popping up on every corner.

Into this mix, add the influx of serious intellect from Europe as it sought to escape Hitler's rise, and you have an extremely fertile ground for open-minded questioning of 'established truth' and important intellectual break-throughs. You also have the ingredients of what may become a ground-breaking tv show.

One thing that truly sets this series apart is that whenever this period of exploration into the Western mystical tradition is treated at all (in TV or Movies), it usually turns into a cheap excuse for regurgitating tired "Manson Family" tropes. Eastern Spiritual traditions = Good; Western Spiritual Traditions = satanic/bad. This show offers hope for avoiding this dichotomy as it explores the spiritual yearnings of occult seekers as essential to their creativity in the non-spiritual (real-world) realm.

I do worry a bit it will eventually play up the sensationalist, 'manson family/satanic panic', trope; If for nothing else, simply to attract more eyeballs. But at least the first handful of episodes are truly an excellent exploration of a unique cauldron of sociological, historical, and spiritual ingredients that work in California at the time.

Strange Angel, even in todays wide array of television shows, is truly a unique experience worth watching by seasoned media fans.

A description I like is combining the film the Aviator with David Lynch's new Twin Peaks. This may not be accurate, but it gives an idea of what one will be getting into. The presentation is really pretty strait forward - there aren't many cryptic film making techniques. The weirdness comes in the shape of reality bending scenes, and the crazy content. I would say if a viewer likes Man in the High Castle, they would probably also like Strange Angel. Strange Angel is way more grounded, being based in historical non-fiction, but both have very unique content, a slow pace, and a similar approach to main vs surrounding characters.

Strange angel is a period piece, taking place in the late 30's Los Angeles. The main character is a blue collar worker at a chemical plant, but has dreams of realizing practical rocket technology which he pursues with his academic, best friend. Combine this with an indoctrination into a sex cult, and hallucinations that both the main characters experience regularly? Things get pretty interesting. There is a beautiful mix of logic, science, science fiction and the occult.

But nothing moves in too much of a hurry. Despite rocket technology playing a major role, the pace of Strange Angel is pretty dang slow. This will be the limiting characteristic to many viewers, but it shouldn't be. This show is wildly entertaining. Episodes build up to big scenes, and the entire season builds up to an excellent final episode.

The casting is as good as TV gets. The two main characters, husband and wife, are immediately likable, and easy to route for. Both are textured, flawed individuals searching... for a better life? success? happiness? Interesting, because their goals are never really crystal clear, and there is a lot of dealing with daily events - just like in real life. But in spite of distractions, difficulties, set backs and conflict - the two are constantly trying to grow and evolve, while overcoming challenges. I'm not saying the viewer will always agree with choices made, or all their motivations, but everything is always so intriguing! Surrounding characters are equally well cast, and their activities always intertwine with the story of the Parsons (the main characters). There is a clear vision to the scripting, which likely took a great deal of work to refine.

I'm obviously a fan of everything this season has achieved, but the number one quality may be the camera work, cinematography. The visuals, their construction (effects), the design of shots, and the pace established is top notch. Really all the production is excellent, and Strange Angel lives up to the new norm of incredible, movie like episodes, that many recent shows achieve.

So why an 8, not a 9 or 10? Occasionally, even I want the show to get on with the content - where you know a big moment is coming, but the build up can at times feel delayed. I would have liked the season to include at least one more episode. While I loved the last episode, I was surprised how many questions were left unresolved. Really, Strange Angel has a lot of room to improve. I hope for not only a second season, but a completed vision (5 seasons to complete is what I read) - the unique nature of the show (and delivery method) makes me wonder about it's future.

But hopefully my concerns are for not, and the second season will get made. If this happens, this new intellectual property will likely gain the following it deserves. With all the entertainment fluff out there, it is nice to have some mature programming for adults.

Forget the ridiculously low reviews, this is a well done, interesting and imaginative show, most of the complaints are about the slow pace, which for most grown-ups who do not suffer from some form of ADD, is just fine. The three main characters are well played, the plot based on a true story has great potential, and the fantasy sequences are superb. And we haven't even started with the cult business yet which, based on Crowley's sexually charged form of occultism, will surely give us some compelling cinematography.