Nine Perfect Strangers

Ok, obviously I haven't finished the series so there are no spoilers here.

But this show is the one that really sealed in Michael Shannon's incredible range for me. It's astounding how much different he can be from his bad guy persona or his mafia/crime boss characters. Honestly, he makes the whole show for me. I can't believe it's the same guy.

I'm sure the other actors are absolutely killing it. I think Melissa McCartney is also showing some range but Michael Shannon just dominates the screen for me.

Worth watching.

The storyline was muddy and the point of the story only became clear in the last episode. Melissa McCarthy was the shining star. The relevance of Masha having a Russian accent was unclear, but the accent wasn't convincing and didn't further this confusing story. Nicole Kidman could have benefitted from a dialect coach.

Fantastic cast totally torpedoed by terrible pacing and direction. The longer it goes on, the less interested I am in the characters' outcomes.

Firstly, I think you need to watch the entire season to get what the series is on about, and if you don't like it then, that's alright, but judging this show based off the first couple episodes is nugatory because the the whole season is about what's gonna happen at the end. So don't watch it if you're unwilling to go the distance, which isn't that far, just 8 episodes.

At first, I thought it was going to have a "White lotus" type of ending, just some cliche finale where murder happened and the culprit is revealed, but not in a million years would I have guessed the direction the show was going even though there were several inklings along the way. I don't think it's the best show out there or anything, but it definitely doesn't deserve poor ratings; the first couple episodes weren't bad either, just left you a little all over the place because you don't get to piece together the full story yet, only that something unorthodox is happening so it's definitely worth a wait till the end before making up your mind about it. And if you are prudent when watching each character's story, there could be a thing or two you can learn from it as well.

If you liked Big Little Lies and were waiting for something similar let me tell you this show has the perfect ingredients.

Based on a book by the same author, check.

David E. Kelly behind the project, check.

Nicole Kidman as the lead, check.

What else do you need. Just put your trust in these talented people, sit back and wait to be entertained.