jackiemirek

Four episodes in and there's absolutely no reason, and I mean none at all zero, that this story needed to last 7 or 8 hours or however long it's going to be. It's exceedingly boring and slow.

The initial premise is somewhat compelling and suspenseful, but after the husband is gone and the notes/ money are found... wow dull as bricks. I'm supposed to believe in some high stakes here. But where are they demonstrated? An entire episode looking for then talking to a lady at a church who's meant to remember something about a wedding from 2011. Another episode running around a university campus then chatting with a grumpy proffesor who's conveniently remembering something from 25 years ago about a bad grade. Meanwhile the mysterious cop from the first episode... is on a mission to "save the girl". Why, what does he suspect? He can't even foreshadow? Give me a break. Who are the scary people? What's the threat against wife and daughter? There's no way the wife is smarter than them, right? If she is, she's getting lucky because she's clueless. Why don't the feds detain the wife and start pumping her? Why isn't she mistakenly assumed to be complicit? Why not some clues or at least misleads about the PRESENT DAY and what might be happening to the husband? After four whole hours I'm supposed to care about a might be/ might not be white collar criminal and the totally unconvincing consequences he's supposedly left behind. This quickly ground to a halt and is operating entirely on backstory with the tension of a busted rubber band.

If this is based on a book it's one I might be forced to read on a plane and just fall asleep instead.

Is this the worst show I've ever seen? No it's not. But I'm not willing to revisit those at are worse to make sure, so, you've been warned.

Some of the comparisons for this show are apt (Nashville: country music industry set soap), a little puzzling (Yellowstone? Rich family in a red state.. nah Yellowstone is an unfunny, uneven Succession). But none are as accurate as Empire. Yes, the stupidly musical one where a character Surprise! Survived a terminal disease, and someone briefly went to prison where a cannibal was his cellmate. And that one hookish murder at the start of the show came to.... wait, let's just hope no one was paying enough attention and forgot by now.

The same ridiculous four cheese blend is at work in Monarch, where flimsy cliches pump the gas and brake so hard that nothing feels important and only Anna Friel was (sort of) taking this seriously until she realized where she was and gave up. That one dude who played Galivant is proving just how well he fit that role and man he prob wishes he was still doing it (I sure do). Trace Adkins and Beth Ditto... please just sing. Like all the time, like Jesus Christ Superstar. I'll just go with it. The teens. Ok god bless the kids they are boring as painted bricks and you forget about them even before they leave the screen.

Plot lines are exhausting. Just choose a bad reason. Cliched. Lacking credibility. Funny but not intentionally. General Hospital did it better, or whatever the one with the demonic possession was. Now that was riveting soap cheese. No interesting relationships, no one has any real chemistry. (Have we really gotten to the point where a woman marrying her uncle is a legitimate source of romantic chemistry on TV? Yes I think we have. How low is that bar oh god). Not buying any of the dumb romance things esp when they start with asking me to believe that a suitor is writing someone else's hit song in real time as romantic display. The sisterly feud? Groan. In the words of that main dude from Empire: "Please stop fighting, I'm going to be dead soon!"

There's way more thoughtfulness and far fewer easy spoonfed answers here than most of the reviewers would have you think. It's far from perfect, and doesn't reach the level of its closest comparisons "The Wire" and "The Night Of"/ But it's way, way too easy to paint this with the Woke brush and convince people that it's nothing but tropes at work. There are tropes, and there are common themes, into which category you fall depends on execution. I'd urge you to think about a few things.

If this show is so blatantly "all cops are bad", "all the poor black kids are totally innocent victims", and every BLM activist is the true hero, then please tell me:

Why is the character with by far the most internal struggle and most significant ongoing dilemma about loyalty versus doing the right thing, the younger white cop (1 of only 2 named recurring cop characters)? If he's the embodiment of bad in this supposed liberal fable, where does the agony come from?

Why is the impetus of all of his dilemma the evidence that his partner gathered on their corrupt boss when actually doing the right (but hard) thing?

Why is the young cop shown isolated and without a fictionalized and unrealistic "blue brotherhood" to fall back on and glean excuses from? That's not complex enough of a picture of cops for you?

Why in god's name is the undercover cop revealed to be stringing along and gaining intel on the defendant's mom a Black guy?

Why is the defendant's younger brother openly shown getting involved with and making money on unjustified crime? Why is the local shady (Black) kingpin try to manipulate the soon-to-be elected official? As a supposedly celebrated BLM neighborhood hero, why is she show taking the bait and not standing up to him?

Why is the shooting of the drug dealer in the first episode set up as a tool for the gang to retaliate against his mother? Where's the suggestion that the shooting of the drug dealer (who was also a snitch) was not justified? Oh yeah, there is none.

Bottom line: please think. Stuff like this isn't made to accuse anyone, to make you mad or guilty, or to serve some "agenda' like state sponsored television (what would that even look like? Lol). It's a story that hopefully engages all kinds of people and has some value, even if it's not perfect. No one can deny that such situations as on this show reflect true life in some way. Dropping your guard and giving stuff a chance won't bite. The great thing about movies and TV is that you lose nothing, you don't have to answer to or argue with anyone else. Just pay attention and think for a little bit, all by yourself. Don't believe the Florida politicians. Learning about bad stuff doesn't hurt you, it can make you better.