Eric

A lot of what's done here is great. The 80's setting is faithfully recreated, from the overly-tagged subway cars to grainy, vintage police station.

For that reason I gave it a 5/10. There is interesting stuff here.

Problem is, you are going to hate almost every character. Most of them are insufferable bleep holes, the main character most of all, and even the puppet is incredibly unlikable.

Will it entertain you? Perhaps.

But go in knowing that this show may well annoy you way more than it entertains you.

I know for some people that's not a huge dealbreaker, but for me, I kind of wish I could get my time back.

Benedict did a phenomenal job acting. Honestly, all the acting was great (even the kid). But there were entire unnecessary scenes that caused the show to feel like it was dragging. The timing was inconsistent, and the direction was weak. I kept thinking, "David Lynch would've done a better job with this." It was watchable, but only in the sense that I could be up doing things around the house or working on other things. It wasn't riveting enough to focus on. There were redeemable elements, like the fact that it represented the 80s more accurately than Stranger Things. Everything really was brown. I would not ever watch this or anything like it again. I'm not sure this was worth being a series, though. Maybe a movie, with all the boring parts cut out. But definitely not a series.

I am conflicted. It's not a bad show, but I feel like it's been misleading in its advertisement, at least. When I read the premise, I expected something like a look back at father-and-son bonding experience, and the affect of separating the two due to cruel circumstances. But it does not really have much (if any) of that.

Other has pointed this out, that it tries to cover a lot of social issues. The issues covered are absolutely valid, they are important, and it may, indeed, be a good idea to cover them in a good show. But the way the show does it is very shallow and narrow. Even Vincent's mental illness (and anguish) is... Just too obscure, too wishy-washy and, in the end, somewhat pink-glassed. And Vincent's and Edgard's relationship is not described at all besides a few inconclusive scenes in 1st episode. I get it that lack of true connection between them could be the point, but it and both sides' reaction to it is just not believable. A short story "Father Dearest" I wrote a decade or so ago is about the same thing, and it is way more detailed and believable, and I am not a professional writer.

The second main storyline was way more interesting for me, because it was a detective work, and Ledroit felt way more human to me. It genuinely felt like he is an honest, but not perfect cop, that wants to really help the world. It might have been a bit cliched at times, but still good. It also worked nicely in terms of introducing little threads here and there and then converging them all at the end to show bigger picture. Predictable to an extent, but still good and satisfying.

But even this storyline, human connections felt... Underdeveloped. And this is the ultimate blow to this. The actors are amazing here, the way they bring the characters to life gives those characters weight, like there is a big background story behind each and every one of them. Those background stories are not tapped into, though. I get it, that in some cases it's done for the sake of "suspense" and mystery, and in some - to make things feel more "natural", but I feel, that if they stretched the show just for 1 or 2 more episodes by leveraging flashbacks, they could have enriched the characters and made them more relatable.

Unfortunately, that's not the case. You can definitely enjoy the show thanks to the actors, and you probably will be satisfied with the end of the investigation here, but the overall ending of the show will probably leave you somewhat empty.

It feels like the purpose of this show was to adress as much societal issues as possible, and weave that all into a story.

It adresses; mental illness, addiction, gay discrimination, AIDS neglect, pedosexuality, gentrification, institutional racism, parental neglect and abuse, homelessness, corruption,....and I'm sure I missed a few.

When you strip it down though, to the centre of the storyline, the boy who's missing and what's going on with him, you're left with not a whole lot of substance to that.

Whether you like the show or not, it's strength will have to be working all those societal issues into one show, one story.

For me, I would have liked more substance to central storyline about the boy, and not all the sidesteps to add moral value.

And the show is a bit too long.

Frankly, I don't understand the mediocre reviews.

It can be a product that some might not like and deserve a poor rating based on personal taste, or it can be liked and then be a true rare gem.

There are very few standalone series like this, so well narrated, that can boast such a good performance from all the characters involved. Therefore, it definitely cannot be considered a mediocre product deserving of a 5, 6, or 7 rating.

Benedict Cumberbatch plays a character with whom it's really difficult to empathize; all the characters are so human that it's hard to see them as purely positive, all with their light and shadow.

Try it, it's a special series.