madisonchristinewoodward

The idea of matching people and seeing if they can truly make it work despite never meeting is intriguing. In doing so they remove some of the early disqualifications we often do with dating, and I think it's an interesting concept to explore.

I really enjoyed the first season before they really got their footing. It felt more raw, and the pacing was much better. Having watched later seasons, they have really dragged out the storylines. About halfway through the season you expect to be almost done but realize you're essentially just ending the honeymoon episodes. It's become a bloated series that ends up being boring more often than necessary due to fluff.

Additionally, the matchmaking is questionable. They supposedly talk to these people and match them based on core values, yet some couples end up having huge rifts about basic things like approach to communication or gender roles. This part of the process also isn't transparent and it seems to be much more about reality casting than matchmaking, which is fine, but it feels disingenuous to turn around and constantly tell the couples to trust the experts.

On the positive side this show feels much more authentic than shows like Love is Blind or anything from The Bachelor (which can also be entertaining, but more performative). It's way less common to encounter someone who is looking for fame, and they mostly seem to have average jobs and backgrounds.

Overall, I want to love the show but think they need to tighten it up. There's a lot of potential if they would rethink their pacing and even matchmaking process.

I wanted to like this series and I actually think it was better than similar work (like haunting of hill house), but it misses the mark.

First, it's way too long. This series didn't need 7 episodes of 60 mins - they could've tightened up the story and done the job way better in 4-5 episodes. This would've improved the pacing and kept the story together better.

There were also a lot of long monologues or expositional moments that were unnecessary. They came off very cringey and like the writer wanted to get their "take" on life, death, and spirituality out into the world and chose character monologues to do it. Surprisingly I think the actors play them well, they're just don't add enough to the plot (especially given how much time they take) and come off as pretentious writing.

In terms of acting, I will give credit to Linklater - I think his performance is really sincere and does well to capture deep commitment to religion without coming off inauthentic or cheesy.

The graphics/visuals weren't amazing for a couple really critical aspects of the story. That's not a huge deal but sometimes it was a bit distracting and felt cartoony.

Lastly, the show almost feels like it tells two separate stories, split around the middle. The first half has a lot of spooky elements, and lends itself to some "horror" which I really enjoyed. The second half it kind of shifts, and maybe it's because they make the "reveal" obvious a little too early but that horror element just disappears and it becomes just a corrupt religion story. It really took away the tension and mystery that was keeping me intrigued in those first episodes.

Overall I think the plot had a lot of potential and it was a really interesting idea - the execution and pacing just wasn't right.

I saw her original stand up on Netflix about a year or two ago and liked it, but it wasn't amazing. I thought this one showed so much growth for her as a comedian and in her confidence. She has great timing and the jokes toe the line between upbeat and serious commentary, without bringing the mood down. I'm excited to see what else she does going forward!