The Way

Love letter to 80s-style socially relevant sci-fi realism, especially Alan Moore and John Carpenter (the score and camera choices are Carpenter all over) and it's delightfully WEIRD. The fact that two of the main characters have unreliable grasps on reality let's them couch certain scenes in surreal imagery and concepts and it works really well.

People are either going to love it or hate it. I'm 100% across it's vibe. Tories will loathe it of course. They've done something utterly bonkers and ambitious and unique and I want more of it on my telly but I don't know how it'll be received being so niche and left-field.

This was a really odd piece of TV. It was almost impossible to pigeon hole and I think that's its major problem - there was too much going on and it mixed too many genres.

There was magical realism, sci-fi touches, documentary realism, theatrical dialogue and monologues - all roughly connected by some heavy-handed politicking.

There was a big lack of attention to credible characters and storyline and I'll be surprised if many people will see it through to the end - its just too messy a beast and one with very little pay-off.

At the end of the day a clunky experimental drama with a political agenda that will appeal to a minority and quickly disappear from memory.

I've only seen the 1st episode and honestly don't know if I liked it or not. The only thing I'm sure of is that any Welsh actor who didn't get a role in this should fire their agent!

It would be easy to dismiss this as a Michael Sheen vanity project and 'jobs for the boyos' (and girlos) but it's much more than that. In a world where our evenings are usually filled with crime dramas written by people who think having a female lead is 'edgy' and 'innovative' (where have they been the the last 10 years?) this is a welcome change.

So will I watch the remaining episodes? I'm not sure, I suspect all the surprise, magic and innovation was in episode 1. But if you are looking for something different: This is it!

Is it meant to be a spoof? It doesn't even work as that. Whirlpool of ideas but goes nowhere. Love Michael Sheen, dystopias, political thrillers, series with symbolism and which make you think but this was awful. Only thing that gives it any plus points is acting of Steffan Rhodri and Mali Harries which is commendable considering some of the lines they have to deliver. There are so many cliches and stereotypes shoehorned in. No explanation for how a minor riot suddenly leads to army, police and some mysterious armed security company being deployed en masse, or why a police state soon follows. Avoid.

I think perhaps people are hating on this show because they don't "get it".

It reminded me a little bit of "then you run" which also got bad reviews because viewers seemed to be expecting something realistic and sensical.

This show similarly is at times, dramatic and nonsensical in an almost comedic way. However, you wouldn't have to look far abroad from Wales to see places where simar circumstances to this premise have played out.

My point is - viewers in the UK who leave negative reviews believe so strongly they are safe from this type of upheaval or civil war that they are calling it dystopian.

Meanwhile, the Met has been using facial recognition on live security feeds in Greater London since 2020, have trialed and may continue to use Clearview AI (an extremely flawed AI policing system) and overseeing all online traffic through GCHQ.

Dystopian? I don't think so.

Writing is fantastic, especially in late episodes 2 and 3. I recommend a watch to anyone that enjoys analogous and meta-level dark comedy.