Flesh and Bone

"Dark side of the ballet world" stories are always pretty intriguing, and "Flesh and Bone" is the ultimate take on that concept. I was thoroughly hooked from the first episode, but with each subsequent one, new twists were revealed that made the wait for the next episode (because, y'know, life gets in the way of TV-watching) interminable. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next.

I have a high tolerance-- and appreciation-- for twisted stories. This one, even by my standards, is super dark. Part of what makes it that way is that the darkness isn't contrived-- it isn't like these people are fighting literal demons or enduring the apocalypse or something. Instead, several of the characters are dealing with fascinatingly complex emotional stuff that motivates all their behavior, all their choices, and provides an understandable context for behavior that would be incomprehensible if it weren't for that. But you DO understand it, and there are numerous moments when you watch what a character is doing and think, "wow, something is really, really wrong with you."

This is helped along by very good acting. I've seen varied reviews on the acting, but I found it extremely impressive, especially when the actors were sometimes given material (i.e., dialogue) that wasn't necessarily the best. Sarah Hay as Claire is terrific. She is not only a technically skilled dancer, but she shows the vulnerability and toughness that this character needs to carry the show. She's completely believable in the role-- and I have to say, having looked her up, I love that one of her few acting credits is for the "Mary-Kate and Ashley's Ballet Party" video (when she was much younger). Given how skillfully she handles the screwed-up material of this show, it's kind of delightful that she got her start in an Olsen Twins video.

People have talked about how good Ben Daniels is in his role as the guy in charge of the ballet company, and he is, but I want to talk about Josh Helman, who plays Claire's messed-up brother Bryan. There's a moment, toward the end of the season, when the father smacks him, and he turns to him with a look that sent an actual chill down my spine. I watched that moment three more times just for the pleasure of seeing acting that good.

Damon Herriman in the role of Romeo, the homeless guy, is very good too. I didn't love this character conceptually, but it was Herriman's acting that made it work for me. The "homeless guy living in an aesthetically pleasing little fairy den on the roof" thing is not exactly believable and vaguely insulting, and when you add in the "mentally ill guy as prophet" aspect, it's even harder to love. But that's not Herriman's fault, and he gives the character a vulnerable appeal that I could appreciate.

The only thing I really found fault with was the final episode. I should have seen those resolutions coming, but it drew attention to how the whole "fairy tale as allegory for Claire's story" aspect was clumsily written all along. I get what they were going for, but in order for it to work, you had to buy into the idea that 1) all these people would let Romeo get that involved in their personal lives and that close to their physical selves in the first place, no matter how obviously crazy he was, and 2) agree that Claire was not complicit in her own problems to some degree, when-- I'm trying to avoid spoilers here-- the show had been asserting the idea that she was. There are plenty of moments when Claire is presented as a victim of her circumstances, but there are lots of others where she goes out of her way to keep the fire of those problems burning. Which is psychologically interesting, but makes it so that when Romeo sets out to be her champion, I thought, jeez, if you're so perceptive about people and their lives, shouldn't you have noticed that Claire is causing this guy the same problem he's causing her?

Overall, though, the season was more than enjoyable. I was sorry that it ended in so few episodes, because the conflict was good enough for a season three times as long.

What a beautiful and breathtaking series ! Enjoyed every minute of it. The acting is superb. The story is so sad, yet so beautiful. The dancing is amazing. The story goes deep and I think one has to know a little bit of life to appreciate it. Sometimes life is not like Modern family, but about disrupted families. What I especially love about the story is that no one is really good or really bad. That 's why I like the role of Romeo so much, half an idiot, half a philosopher. He seems to be speaking nonsense but in fact he's great. Hope there will be a second season; there is a lot more to say about Claire and ABC. I feel this was just the beginning. Compliments, bravo!

I rated this show based on how the first season of it made me feel.

There are people complaining that the show about ballet doesn't have enough ballet in it. How short-sighted of them.

This show is not about ballet. It is about its protagonist - Claire. Or Clementine, as she's passionately nicknamed by an eccentric supporting character.

This is a show about inner darkness, and Claire striving to find a way out of hers.

With its spectacular cinematography with a carefully muted color palette, with the rich, dramatic, beautiful soundtrack, the whole thing has this surreal, almost David Lynch-like feel to it, it is filled with pathos, emotion, drama.

We are shown scenery and people, but we are made to see feelings.

There's nudity in the show, but it is not just thrown in "because they could". It is clearly part of the vision. People's emotions get stripped raw, and sometimes, so do their bodies.

I don't like pretense. I snub my nose at "Sundance Festival winner" type films. I don't like long pointless stares, long shots of swaying grass, camera angles that linger too long for no discernible reason - that sort of thing.

This show can be on the surface mistaken for a pretentious one. It could've gone that way very easily. For example, a long ramble of aforementioned supporting character could've been seen as a pretentious scene-filler - but, the actor is exceptional, and, like in David Lynch's surrealism, it all makes a certain kind of emotional sense.

The soundtrack doesn't just clank in background to match the tone of a scene. Like the camera, the music here is an actor with a voice of its own.

It feels like a part of a deliberately painted picture. It's not what the characters say or do, but why they're driven to it.

All of the cast are picked perfectly, and they feel real. Claire does not seem like an actress playing a role. She's simply Claire. It's hard to believe that the actress wasn't already Claire before the filming even started.

This show transports you into another world. It is an emotional journey, a rich atmospheric drama. It makes you feel what the protagonist feels, if you let yourself open to it.

Compared to this work, "Black Swan" is a pretentious flash in the pan. There's something grand here at play.

Let it play.

Ballet is like an obsession. If Black Swan did teach us one thing then it clearly was that. And the show that ran for a season on Starz is clear in its intentions to be a somewhat spiritual successor or at least in the same ballpark. Having one of the dancers from that movie playing the main role here is a start. And Sarah Hay learned Ballet as a young girl, something you can tell by watching her move (though I'm not sure if you can tell more as the teacher/director and some others seem to be able to).

So with a limited knowledge of the art itself, I can say that it is riveting and it looks phenomenal. But the show also dares to explore darker themes and backstories of the characters. You may be able to guess the connections between them (or rather their relationship), but there will be surprises along the way.

If you don't mind complex characters, blood (sweat) and nudity (including lewd acts as some might proclaim), this is really interesting. The character journey is really something and while you can guess to a certain extend where this is heading, the performances make it more than worthwhile

This is so bad that it's literally laugh out loud funny. The dialogue of the Ballet director queen is predictably ridiculous and unreal. Every aspect of this show is predictable because all you have to do is just picture the dumbest direction the scene could possibly take and there it goes.