In the Dark

In the pilot, the main character is a drunk sex addict. It shows her as a real person and tries to delve into why she is rough and not willing to let others get close to her, including her roommate and family. Other reviewers get offended that they dare show her like this, as an addict. They say it's a bad representation of blind people. But she's not meant to be all blind people, she's meant to be her. Why does any disabled person on television have to be a shining example for all people with that disability? Answer: they don't. There are many blind people in the real world that aren't always polite and I'm sure most of them are tired of people asking why they're blind. The show goes to extremes trying to give viewers a glimpse into the life of a blind person without sugar coating it with a world of encouragement and trying so hard. It starts off well letting you know the blind character is a real person and not just included in the show for the sake of inclusion. It lets you know the character sees herself as excluded. The start of the series has a lot of potential specifically because it shows people aren't all perfect, that being blind isn't the only flaw blind people can have, and it shows a desire for change. That's the start of a good story. Identify how things actually are, identify how the character wants to change and how they will try to change. No she's not the Wonder Woman of blind people, but she is not supposed to be either. This isn't a buddy-buddy sitcom, or a teen romance, it's a dark drama.

The lead character is likable, as is the rest of the cast. They're adults instead of annoying teenagers, by adults I mean in their 20's, which is refreshing for a CW show. Now that it's on Netflix it will reach a wider audience, and while I admit I gave up on it a few times while attempting to binge watch it, I always managed to come back to see what happened, and i'm Glad I did. Nothing groundbreaking here, but it's a decent mystery, with some twists, while also managing to be comedy/drama with likable characters.

Season 1 and 2 were gripping, entertaining and fun to watch. Binge watched them, actually. Season 3, however, is so far-fetched, dragged out while being extremely boring, I kept fast forwarding for something to happen. Really disappointing.

This show has a lot of potential. The character development is starting out well. After the first episode I want to know what happened and look forward the journey with these people. I don't understand the bad reviews. It's a crime story with a different twist. Try it.

I was expecting to hate this show - I wanted to hate it. I fought all my life to be treated as an equal, and then some idiot decides to portray a blind woman as a drunken, self-pitying mess who sleeps with married strangers and exploits her disability to cut the line at the drug store? Gee, thanks...

So I was very surprised to find I didn't hate it - not even a little. Let's start with the things this show does well - it's funny. Not laugh-out-loud funny - because we all know it's rude to laugh at the blind, right? - but quietly funny. Murphy's roommate (Brooke Markham) proves that a woman doesn't have to be tall and skinny to be beautiful. Kudos to Hollywood for finally accepting what the rest of us have known all along. I love the neurotic mom, whose entire identity is wrapped up in being the mother of a disabled child, because even though the non-disabled world may not realize it, that's a thing. And I love that we are finally seeing a blind person who is not a saint, a victim or a superhero.

I've only seen the first episode, so I don't know if Murphy's bereavement will be the catalyst that shocks her back into the real world, but I sure hope so because this could be a good show if it follows a young woman's journey from someone who is defined by her limitations to someone who can see beyond her limits.