The Arrangement

I'm not usually one for incredibly dramatic soap opera shows but this one pulled me in. At first glance and in any advertisements, it looks like a stereotypical Hollywood soap opera of a 15 year old's imagination. To my surprise, it was not. There are definitely scenes that have that feeling, but they are few and far between.

The show follows a Hollywood star, with a past of his own, offering a struggling waitress a contract for fortune and fame and 10 million dollars if she will agree to date, marry, and have a future with him, among other stipulations. Obviously she agrees, or else there would be no show, and the story begins.

The show then begins on a complicated and twisted path that leaves the audience guessing and holding their breath for whatever comes next. The actors make the story believable and interesting and are enjoyable to watch on screen. While slightly predictable, the show offers an inside look at Hollywood and an exaggerated "true" story of the real pitfalls.

I found it incredibly interesting binged all twenty episodes in a few days. I'd say give it a chance if you're trying to figure out if you want to watch it or not, but give it a few episodes to develop.

Every single scene looked like a setup for a porn scene. All of the elements are there-- cheesy lines, shallow plot, beautiful and perfectly proportioned women and men that are nice to look at (with mediocre, but not horrible, acting talent), with some bikini moments and plenty of flirting. They seem like they're just a step away from throwing it all down and going at it, but then each scene just ends, and it transitions to yet another scene that appears to be another setup for porn. I'm too old for that stuff, to be honest, so I held my finger over the fast-forward the whole time expecting to skip over something that never showed up.

The conversation does get a little risqué at times, but compared to other PG-rated shows, this one is mild.

Overall probably not worth spending your time with.

I thought the premise of the show would be interesting, and found the first few episodes engaging, so I stuck with it. I'm glad I did. It's a good show - a bit cheesy at times, and some of the supporting actors are annoying, but now in season 2, it's still fun to watch.

I'm not a fan of the primary actress, but it works and is entertaining. Good, soapy, cheesy, entertaining fun.

Strong points: It's romantic, but not too cheesy, and it's interesting. Christine Evangelista is very beautiful, she is very sexy, sensitive and I for one think the role fits her. Josh Henderson is also pretty OK and well, Lexa Doig is the cherry on top for me (loved her ever since the Andromeda series). There are also virtually no stupid lines, no unimaginative and dumb discussions like you see in other shows.

Weak points: I tend to think the writer(s) rushed events a little bit. Not gonna say where since I don't wanna be a spoiler, but those who watch the movie will probably see where that happened. I'll watch more episodes though, in order to see if my impression is justified or not. The movie is also somewhat predictable, at least up to the point in which I've watched it. However, that's not entirely a problem since a little bit of predictability is healthy. I've seen many other shows with great potential being destroyed by the "unexpected events" and by "unlikely alliances", which in reality could never happen.

All-in-all, don't expect a Game of Thrones type of story-arc. But if you want to watch an easy-to-watch romantic show with OK lines and beautiful, talented actors, then this is a good show to do just that.

Normally, I'd give it an 8 or 9 tops, but given it's seriously underrate as of now, I decided to give it a 10. Christine Evangelista and Lexa Doig deserve it.

I also don't like to comment on other user's reviews, but 1-3-4 stars? C'mon... It means those people have really no clue what a 1- 3-4 stars movie actually looks like. Also, some seem to have a problem with (and I quote) "beautiful and perfectly proportioned women"...which in itself says enough about that person's character and his review.

This was a really nice surprise. I had no idea what it was when I started watching, and at first I thought it was gonna be another sappy, romantic, fanfiction-y sort of thing, but I'm so happy it wasn't. I actually really, really liked it. The amount of romance and suspense combined was right up my alley, and I think most of the actors did a really great job. I didn't really know any of them beforehand, and so I also didn't expect a lot from them. I could've, though. They had me convinced. I watched all 20 episodes in 1.5 days, and my only regret is that the show got cancelled. I'm a fan.