andrewsk8

After two strong episodes in a row I guess I can forgive this one being pretty bland. The premise was ok but the story never really went anywhere and felt very rushed at the end. Morty had some funny scenes, and there were a couple of gags in Rick's side story that were not bad, but overall it was probably the least interesting Rick adventure I can remember from the whole show to be honest. Not really much to say other than I doubt I'll remember this episode by the time the next one comes out - I just hope it's back to the level of the first.

The first two episodes of this show were so promising - the premise was intriguing, there was some great acting from Bateman and Mendelssohn particularly and it was genuinely creepy and mysterious. I was so excited to get stuck into a new series and couldn't wait for episode 3. However, unfortunately, it transpired that I had already watched the peak of this series, and the trough that was to follow was a deep one.

This is one of the worst examples of a show nosediving that I have seen since Game of Thrones, and it plays out over 10 episodes rather than 8 seasons. All of a sudden, from episode 3 onwards, it's as if the whole cast and crew suddenly changed and began making a different show. The mystery and intrigue that were captivating in episodes 1 and 2 were replaced by nonsense plot lines and illogical character choices. Old characters gave way to new ones that are fractionally as interesting or well written - in particular Cynthia Orivo's Holly, who might just be the most "Stephen King" character I've ever seen... in a bad way. As the show transitions jarringly from mystery to full-blown supernatural, it quickly descends into farce, but somehow manages to do so at such a trudgingly slow pace that at times I genuinely struggled to stay awake. Huge plot holes emerge and even characters that began the show as interesting (Mendelssohn's Ralph and his wife particularly) became lifeless and flat. Finally, after weeks of hoping the next episode would bring us back to the quality of the first two, it ends, unspectacularly and in a manner and setting that feels so distant from the beginning. Had I been granted a glimpse into the final episode from episode 1, I wouldn't have bothered enduring the slog of 8 episodes of ridiculous filler in between.

All I can really say to its credit is that the first two episodes stand up as so good that, somehow, even after 3, 4, 5 woeful episodes in a row, I still stuck it out till the end. That should be testimony to how good the opening was. Otherwise this show would probably go down as a 2 or 3 for me.

In 25 years this film will have a weird cult following, and an aged James Franco will make a "meta" film about it. Until then, it will remain universally regarded as an utter shambles.