Pluribus

Two episodes in, I'm not sure what to think yet. The concept is original and there's definitely something interesting here, but as often happens with Vince Gilligan, it takes a long time to get moving. The slow-burn approach is intentional, yet at times it feels overly drawn out, and I caught myself skipping ahead during a few scenes that just lingered too long.

It looks great, the acting is solid, and the idea has real potential, but I'm struggling to feel fully engaged. I'm more curious than excited, and I still don't really see where the show is heading. It's not bad at all, just a bit too slow, occasionally dull, and not gripping enough from the start.

Hopefully it finds its rhythm.

We are living in a new world where basic stories need 40-50 hours to tell. Writers are obliged to barely advance plot points so that viewers have enough interest keep their subscriptions, and the streaming services their profits. Long gone are the geniuses like Serling, who could have told 80-100 original stories in the same time. Then we now have Gilligan commenting that the show is so slow because he wants viewers to "savor" it. BS. He wants to push out the show into a 4-5 season series for the cash grab, to maximize the cash return on his small amount of original ideas (and let's face it: this is basically the "Species" premise with some "Twilight Zone" ideas mixed in). At the end of Season 1, I'm bored with every single character. They just ran around in circles for 7.5 hours. To delay plot progression even more they throw in convenient flashbacks when the story starts to develop. If you want to "savor" something, watch a Kubrick movie. Those last 2-3 hours, less than 1/2 the time you'll waste watching season 1, and you get a full story. If I continue on with Season 2, Ill binge watch on at least 2x speed. I don't need to chew my food 1000 times before swallowing.

I really don't know what I think of this show. Is it genius or rubbish. Really it is the eye of the beholder and what mood you are in. The initial premise was great . The first 2 episodes fun and intriguing and then what appeared to be a metaphorical brick wall, a show condemned really by its own story limitations. Literally it appears to have no where to go but takes a long time not to get there. At least 3 episodes did nothing . I really mean nothing. The acting is good the filming looks great. The lead has a well fleshed out character but 9 episodes was too much. Its worth watching you could probably jump the middle 3 maybe 4 episodes you wont miss anything.

When I started watching it, the series had a 9.1/10 rating, so I was expecting something extraordinary. Maybe I'm jaded, but it definitely wasn't. Nothing revolutionary, nothing new. Not bad, but not innovative either.

The first episode is promising, but the second is rather boring...

We'll see if the rest lives up to expectations, but it doesn't bode well. At first glance, it looks like a series with only dialogue, differing opinions, more dialogue, and not much else.

To be continued...

Despite an interesting premise and a strong performance from the lead character, I can't see how this show can go on for long without becoming repetitive. The first two episodes already moves at a snails pace without anything of substance happening. Add to that a weak performance by the supporting cast, the majority of which plays the same character, I fear this show is off to a rough start but with Vince at the helm I'm still holding out hope that he might surprise me and turn this into another hit.