StartUp

There are moments in this show where the editing, cinematography and vision are pure genius, such as a fuel gage on empty, or a lone figure in basketball court. There are lazy moments as well, but less so, such as flashes of the same pair of tennis shoes shown dangling from a telegraph wire. To the overall viewing experience, not a big deal at all. The leads are all brilliant actors, and wonderfully charismatic. Lesser characters are also engaging. The action is brilliant, timely, brutal, meaningful, visceral, moving. The script is punchy, fast, true. Culturally illuminating.

My only real concern is why the leads, whom are all portrayed as highly intelligent, keep bumbling into disasters that basic prudence could have avoided. Such is the currency of great character plays and situation dramas I suppose.

Despite scratching my head once or twice, StartUp was riveting. Highly recommended.

This rate is related to Ronald and only Ronald, a great actor and speaker.

..There is a lot to admire in this series. Would I recommend it, yes but with reservations. I really admired the cinematography and the sets. The interiors of the upscale houses and apartments reminded me of Michael Mann's Miami Vice. The lighting of the outdoor scenes that were shot at night was exceptional, whether it was the slums or downtown. This Miami was part of the story and its contrasts beautifully rendered.

On the other hand I felt the narrative dragged too often for my liking. There were many scenes where I felt "what was the point of that?" It was not quite plodding but pretty close to it. There are many long scenes where 2 or 3 people are just in conversation. I understand that the point of these scenes is for the viewer to gain insight into the characters personality and motivations (as they were not about developing the plot), but at the same time they needed to be witty or dramatic or insightful or clever. There are too many conversations that don't meet any of those criteria or increase our empathy.

The acting was almost uniformly good. Edi Gathegi is an actor with huge screen presence, something you can't learn, you either have it or you don't. His performance here is magnetic and one of the best things (if not the best thing) about the series.

The plethora of sex scenes (particularly in the early episodes) felt gratuitous. Sadly this seems to be fashionable, maybe it's an attempt to appeal to a certain demographic. But I don't like it.

I enjoyed the interesting and often ingenious plotting. Its an old story i.e. one innocent act sends a characters life spiralling out of control into dark and dangerous places. We have seen this many times before. But in this series we are intimate witness to 4 lives simultaneously spiralling out of control in very different but connected ways.

The final acts in episode 10 are moving and very powerful, nicely setting up a second season. Starup has the potential to develop as one of the best series in the genre. For that to happen season 2 needs to build on what is good i.e. direction, acting, plot, cinematography, lighting and remove what is less good i.e. gratuitous sex and pedestrian narrative pacing.

I look forward to season 2.

WE NEED A SEASON 4 THERE ARE SOOOOO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

I just finished the final episode of this series and must say it was both refreshing and entertaining at the same time. It shows how not to quit when you set out to do something you strongly believe in even though obstacles gets thrown in the way. Edi, Otmara, Adam and Martin Freeman all played their roles extremely well, so for people interested in something fresh then give this series a try. It has a bit of everything and keeps you wanting more and also makes you want to root for the underdogs and they certainly kept trying as the story builds. Even Wayne Knight managed to be in it and got a few chuckles out. Kudos to Crackle for bringing us this wonderful new series and hope to see a second season in the near future.