Manhattan

I went in with low expectations. After all, how great could a show on the WGN network, with a presumably tiny budget, be worth a flip?

I'm SO glad I tried the show. From the pilot on (I'm on Episode 5 now), the show quality has been stellar. The acting is superb; the casting choices are brilliant. This show ranks with the best shows from HBO, Showtime, AMC, or FX.

I'm totally speculating, but I "imagine" some of the Breaking Bad crew in New Mexico is working on this production. They make good use of the New Mexico landscapes when appropriate, giving the show a nice organic feel.

Sure, the show is fiction, but the major elements that the show is based on are true. This is a great way to get some perspective on the war, the Manhattan project, and the lives of those who were involved with the project.

In summary, give it a chance ... highly recommended!

Viewed the first season over the past week on Hulu. Started out a bit boring, then a few sub plots were introduced that seemed pointless at first. But wow!! By the last 2-3 episodes I couldn't stop watching. The character development is very slow, and we are shown the worst of everyone first, it seems. As the show progresses, we see almost everyone has some redeeming humanity (and secrets, always secrets). The backdrop of all this is the cinematic paradise of the American Southwest circa 1940, and a war story that we all know how it ends. I feel like I was invited on a blind date, only to find by the end that I have made all kinds of new friends. I hope to hear WGN is going ahead with season 2.

I started out as a big fan of this show, partly for the science, whether or not it was accurate relative to history. And I was prepared to put up with the soap opera, "Dallas" qualities. But, I've become increasingly dissatisfied with the prurient and, mostly, implausible story lines. The writers seem to have dedicated themselves to fabricating multiple subplots that they think will dazzle in complexity........flashbacks, dream sequences........not to speak of eavesdropping and other tired devices. (I'm waiting for amnesia.) To me it's turned into a mess, and I've begun to have this visual image 4 or 5 Fonzies lined up on water skis. Sadly, I've decided to tune out.

{review based on the Pilot + scenes from the 2nd episode}

This a semi-fictional depiction of what happened in Los Alamos, New Mexico during World War II. As you probably know the Manhattan Project was a research and development project for the first Atomic Bomb, thus the name of the show Manh(A)ttan with the middle A stylized as separated.

The series follows the lives of the families living in a strict, military controlled, village in the middle of the desert. In that place paranoia rules. Because of the big secret (the development of the "gadget" as they call it) everyone is considered a possible leak or a suspect for espionage. Their correspondence to the outside world is controlled, the army makes random checks to them and their belongings, they even have to take polygraph tests if they seem more suspicious than others.

The production has nothing to envy from a feature film. Attention to detail. Countless extras and above all a remarkable cinematography. The way they make you feel the "space", the atmosphere of this place is extraordinary.

I hope it will continue in the same fashion and not consume itself in many subplots and little dramas that will make it tiresome. (If it does, it wouldn't be the first time a great pilot is followed by mediocre episodes). But for now...

***Highly recommended.

{{{UPDATE after having seen 9 episodes}}}

Unfortunately my fears have been realized. The show is full of pointless subplots and is now boring and far from entertaining.

Oppenheimer's screen time is measured in ...seconds in the 10 hours I wasted to watch this.

The race for the atomic bomb and WW2 is almost absent.

It's all about the lives and the little dramas of the wives, the mistresses and the ..$2 prostitutes who live in the camp. Who gets high with what, who is screwing whom etc.

Maybe they should change the title to MANHATTAN HOUSEWIVES.

***Overall: Avoid it. I'm changing my rating from 8 to a (very generous) 4.

Terrific drama, riveting history, intense inter-relationships, great performances. Why is this show so unrecognized?

Why haven't many of these actors I love here gone on to greater things? (Rachel Brosnahan is the one exception.) I wish the writers director & cast would make something again.