The Chosen One

Pretty typical horror/adventure series about a small, secluded community that's also a cult. Nothing revolutionary or unforgettable but entertaining enough! There are some dumb plot holes here and there, the female main lead is kind of annoying, but overall is well done.

It's easy to simply point some of the series mistakes but I think it's important to analyse the production context. Brazil is famous for its soap operas which has been producing in the country for decades. For most actors and producers, being part of these novelas (specially the ones from Rede Globo) represented a turning point for their career. The thing is although the country is famous for making good soap operas, it's a format with certain artistic limitations. Nowadays premium cable companies like HBO and streaming services like Netflix are investing in new series formats in the country and bringing the opportunity to Brazilian creatives to explore some new genres that are not common in the country's filmography. The Chosen One as a mystery fantasy thriller series is an addition to this new phase. Some of the acting still bring a novela feeling but it's nice to see a fiction production set outside the Rio-São Paulo axis. There's certainly other points to improve in the series overall which would be interesting to see in a second season.

The lead character is incredibly annoying. The entire first episode is her telling everyone else how stupid everyone else is and that everyone regardless of knowing the situation must defer to her. Now on its own that's fine but time and time again she and her views on the people and village are continually shown to be wrong. She is the only thing that will stop me from watching. I get she's a doctor and the savior complex is inbred in most television doctors but the level of her superiority to everyone else continues even after everything she thinks is disproved she continues. But the worst of it is she is held in a building with a potential mob death she still gives the people holding her orders insisting she is still in charge. I know this is a tv show and she's a character in the show but I can't stand this show with her in it.

An intriguing/entertaining/convoluted look at the human condition and what happens when one's pride/hubris takes over. Also a look at what happens when lust inspires disloyalty and unfaithfulness to one's partner. When I first started debating watching this show I didn't think I'd be hooked from the first episode. I'm very intrigued by the clash of religious fanaticism with the overzealous drs who all have their own motives and reasons for doing them and finding out that none of them are truly good, moral, upstanding people. Additionally, with current events being what they are, I feel this is very timely.

The first few episodes were really suspenseful to watch, but it eventually becomes over-done with all of the crazy things that happen. I am giving this a 5, because the acting is very good. The writing could have been worked on a bit more to cut out some of the fluff and get to the point. It just feels like you experience climax after climax, but then nothing ever happens except a lot more of the same old thing. I am on the last episode....so glad I am finally there!