Hemlock Grove

I'm not really in to making comparisons but this show sort of feels like Carnivale the way it's unfolding and telling you it's visual tale. There is some carnage, but it isn't as brutal as you would expect coming from Roth. Mostly it feels wonderfully strange, like a world you can't help but feel drawn in to. I've only watched the pilot so far, but I love that all the episodes are right there, one right after the next for immediate consumption! That is awesome. There is much going on below the surface and I can't wait to see how it unfolds. It's definitely a show worth watching. I'm looking forward to hopefully a second season, and more Netflix originals!

I cannot even begin to describe how awful my experience watching 5his show has been. And Its a shame because I imagine it could have been really fun if it wasn't for the god awful writing, and even worse acting. I am a huge Famke Janssen fan, and her talent is wasted on a character with a terrible English accent. All the other actors breath as much life into their characters as a coma does a person. The writing...I don't even know what to say. It took every bit of restraint to get through the first 2 episodes. I was going to continue to give it a chance but I just don't think I can. House of Cards was amazing. This is its polar opposite as far a quality. Watch it for yourself and make your own judgment, but for me, I want my 2 hours back.

The only thing I've expected starting to watch this show, is couple of episodes-boredom, distaste , quit , forget. Unexpectedly ,I've gotten so engrossed in it ,that didn't even notice, that the first season ended and I've started on the second!!! It is not for everybody , it is somewhat strange show , but it is masterfully takes over your mind and time ,without you even being aware of it! Definitely recommended!

To me, Hemlock Grove is like a gorgeous dress that doesn't quite fit. You'll wear it anyway because you love the idea of it so much, but you'll always be aware that it just doesn't look as great as it could.

The premise and the script scream for camp and witty - a la Buffy or True Blood - but the direction tries to make it gritty and serious like it's The Sopranos. The problem is that the story lines are just too ridiculous for such a somber tone.

Joss Whedon found the perfect solution to this in the Buffyverse - he made it tongue-in-cheek so that the silly stuff could just be silly and still work, and when things got serious, we really cared. I feel like the director(s) of Hemlock Grove could learn a lesson from that way of making a supernatural/fantasy drama. Or, if they wanted to go the dark gritty road, I wish they'd done it like the much missed Carnivale and focused much more on character development, keeping the supernatural elements teasingly in the background.

That's not to say this isn't enjoyable because it is. It just keeps frustratingly missing the mark in its attempts to be far more earnest than the premise warrants.

Some of the acting comes across as pretty bad, but I'm not sure if that's the actor's faults so much as it's very difficult for them to deliver their lines in the tone the director wants.

I'd hoped the criticism the first season got would be taken on board for the second season, but aside from Famke Jannsen getting rid of the ridiculous accent, that doesn't seem to have been the case.

This could have been the next big thing in supernatural shows. It's got the cool creepy town like Vampire Diaries but without all the Dawson's Creek stuff that goes on in Mystic Falls. It's got some familiar and well loved supernatural entities, and some we've never seen before. Landon Liboiron is great in his role as the gypsy Peter and Joel de la Fuente gives a good performance in an original take on the mad scientist trope.

I just wish they'd either stick with the scripts they're writing but camp it up in tone, or stick with the dark and gritty tone but change the scripts to suit that.

The graphics are epic and the characters are perfect, but the story line doesn't fit together very well. When I watched it I felt like they were trying too hard to make it look good and be plausible which is great but, the plot slipped through the cracks. It's a nice try but it could have been better. Also they had to many mysteries going on at the same time. It was hard to remember who knew what and how it all came together. They rushed things that needed time and dragged things out that needed rushed. It's a perplexing show and I don't regret watching it, I just wish things had turned out differently. It's a bit gory but interesting too, if you put up with it long enough to find out.