Here and Now

I rewatched the first episode after a slightly distracted initial watch. It's a dense story, with several familiar plotlines somehow twisted in the proper way. I saw a review about it being "leftists". That is missing the boat entirely. There is certainly a political thread, how can there not be in this day & age, but there is a self-deprecating view of the progressive ideals. One that doesn't negate but simply shows depth. Underneath all of this lye a mystery that intrigues and promises some surprise.

I watched the pilot solely due to the fact that Tim Robbins was in it. In contrast to a couple of the other reviewers, I found it to be smart and funny. True, some of the themes that were explored are not exactly novel, but I thought they were handled with skill and delicacy. The cast is great. The production values are very good. The story-lines are intriguing...especially the curve balls presented by the son who hallucinates/dreams about the number eleven and the mysteriously celibate Asian adopted son. I'm definitely going to keep watching.

I liked this show a lot. Making fun of the quirks and neuroses of professional do-gooders in their home environment was fun. Each character was pretty well developed and well acted - I didn't have many, "huh? that character wouldn't do/say that" moments. No one was a cartoon-like hero or villain. I loved that you couldn't always guess where the story was going to go - psychodrama, family drama, social commentary, sci fi, suspense. Too many shows are so predictable that they're hardly worth spending the time watching.

Berkeley activists meet, marry, and settle in Portland. Holly Hunter is the middle-aged overbearing, controlling, former therapist wife. Tim Robbins is the middle-aged philosophy professor/author undergoing a mid-life crisis husband. They've raised a Brangelina family of black, light brown, and yellow children, including one lily-white child of their own. For good measure, their black daughter is married to a white "Republican before Trump" and their light brown son is gay and suffering from hallucinations about the number 11.

This show is the anti-"This Is Us." It's the "Look At Us, Ain't We Messed Up" show. At one point, I had to ask myself if I even care what happens to these people. In one way or another, the Gen Z children annoyingly comment about their rainbow family throughout the show. Predictably, married couples will cheat on each other, the children will do drugs, and everyone will wonder about the meaning of life and whether any of it is worthwhile. The show tries so hard at being relevant that it's already a cliche.

Three mysteries may have me tuning back in for a second flagellation. Why is the Vietnamese son celibate? Why is the Hispanic son hallucinating about the number 11? How is the Hispanic son related to his shrink? I don't know how long the showrunner can keep this shell game going, but he'd better come up with a better sideshow or I'll be heading for the exits before the reveal.

Wow this was a rollercoaster mess all in one season, the show has declined from " wow finally a new intriguing show worthy of HBO classics!" To " what the hell am I watching?" To "ok I get why this was cancelled". The good: Fantastic actors, some likable characters, Portland as the city star is refhreshing and nice, show is open minded and reviewing real social struggles, it's weird and entertaining all at once. The bad: A supernatural experiment gone wrong. At some point you really don't know what you are watching. Is it drama? Is it scifi? Is it GOT? And sadly, the writers did take a bit too far the social politics conversations to a point of cringeworthy unnecessary plots (biggest of all was the Muslim psychologist and the son's connection). Overall, a memorable experience that sadly fell short of its premise.