Here and Now

Berkeley activists meet, marry, and settle in Portland. Holly Hunter is the middle-aged overbearing, controlling, former therapist wife. Tim Robbins is the middle-aged philosophy professor/author undergoing a mid-life crisis husband. They've raised a Brangelina family of black, light brown, and yellow children, including one lily-white child of their own. For good measure, their black daughter is married to a white "Republican before Trump" and their light brown son is gay and suffering from hallucinations about the number 11.

This show is the anti-"This Is Us." It's the "Look At Us, Ain't We Messed Up" show. At one point, I had to ask myself if I even care what happens to these people. In one way or another, the Gen Z children annoyingly comment about their rainbow family throughout the show. Predictably, married couples will cheat on each other, the children will do drugs, and everyone will wonder about the meaning of life and whether any of it is worthwhile. The show tries so hard at being relevant that it's already a cliche.

Three mysteries may have me tuning back in for a second flagellation. Why is the Vietnamese son celibate? Why is the Hispanic son hallucinating about the number 11? How is the Hispanic son related to his shrink? I don't know how long the showrunner can keep this shell game going, but he'd better come up with a better sideshow or I'll be heading for the exits before the reveal.

I liked this show a lot. Making fun of the quirks and neuroses of professional do-gooders in their home environment was fun. Each character was pretty well developed and well acted - I didn't have many, "huh? that character wouldn't do/say that" moments. No one was a cartoon-like hero or villain. I loved that you couldn't always guess where the story was going to go - psychodrama, family drama, social commentary, sci fi, suspense. Too many shows are so predictable that they're hardly worth spending the time watching.

Wow this was a rollercoaster mess all in one season, the show has declined from " wow finally a new intriguing show worthy of HBO classics!" To " what the hell am I watching?" To "ok I get why this was cancelled". The good: Fantastic actors, some likable characters, Portland as the city star is refhreshing and nice, show is open minded and reviewing real social struggles, it's weird and entertaining all at once. The bad: A supernatural experiment gone wrong. At some point you really don't know what you are watching. Is it drama? Is it scifi? Is it GOT? And sadly, the writers did take a bit too far the social politics conversations to a point of cringeworthy unnecessary plots (biggest of all was the Muslim psychologist and the son's connection). Overall, a memorable experience that sadly fell short of its premise.

Reminds me of the 2005 film Crash, only with a metaphysical bent. The acting is terrific, and the storyline gets more intriguing with each episode.

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect with this show. I saw Tim Robbins and Holly Hunter as leads, figured I'd give it a shot. First episode didn't make me a believer, since then I'm fully invested! Absolutely love the fact that I have no idea what ties Ramon and his therapist together. This has been the best storyline by far, and I'm curious if it somehow ties the whole family together. For the people bashing the show after one episode, give me a break. These characters have so many layers and the story seems to get deeper and deeper, therefore 60 min isn't enough. In this world of instant gratification as a norm, slow down....Watch ALL the episodes. If you still can't get into it, Peace. Go watch your teen mom or whatever.

Cheers