rogue719

I started watching out of curiosity, having seen several clips from the show on YouTube. I was also intrigued by it's pedigree, created by Jonathan Nolan. Here is what I discovered: It's a show that starts off as a better than average procedural science fiction show. The case revolved around Four people, all very capable actors and a concept. As the show went on, the story leaped backwards and forwards telling parts of the story, but not just exposition, instead planting seeds of character development, showing us the good and the bad and how hard sometimes it is making changes from the set patterns of our lives. As it continued, it leaned into it's science fiction basis and added some more characters, giving us a larger, more epic story all while continuing to tell it's details in character arcs. As it wrapped up the final season, there is loss, there is fear, there is hope and finally, a very satisfying conclusion. I would recommend this series to anyone. No, it's not Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul or Mr. Robot, but it wears it's heart on its sleeve as it carries us to the conclusion. The casting is, for the most part, excellent, but more than that, the writing tells us the story through the characters and when it's all over, we celebrate and mourn with them.

Complex, cerebral and yet completely accessible to viewers because the characters are so well written. The show works on multiple levels to comment not only on the story but on society as well. For those who are more tech-inclined, it helps to know that the hacks shown in the show are real, can be accomplished if the conditions are the same. It also presents one of the very few realistic looks at how the FBI works, what their working spaces look like. The show appears to be about multiple things as it goes along, and it cleverly hides in the open, offering a slant to make the viewer think, oh, this is what it's saying, yet as you go on, the same scene in full context is about something else. Unlike some favorite shows, it doesn't give you question after question with no answers to nail down the show, instead giving you a question here, another here and then an answer or two, all leading up to a brilliant series finale that is totally satisfying to the viewer and leaves you thinking of it for days afterward. I can't figure out why this series didn't catch on in a bigger way. In my opinion, this is one of the best shows every created. It's worth your while.

Started with low expectations, but the movie moved along at a reasonable pace and the normal horror tropes used were handled ably. The story detailed small bits of expository information and handled them well, all the while building suspense. The cast is competent and interesting and the movie relies more on set up, anticipation and then payoff, rather than cheap jump scares (though there are a few of those as well). The one issue the wife and I had was that we felt the ending let us down just a little, but I would recommend the movie to others as an unknown horror that you will be caught up in until the final minutes.