Lovecraft Country

This series starts out very well hitting character development, backstory and monsters. A lot of action and likable characters. The series goes along just fine and is very enjoyable . . . Until it wasn't. It got stupid, preachy and disjointed toward the end. So promising, yet so disappointing.

I have not had a show relate so much to my inner nerd and suspense. This is an excellent show which gives factual Black history.

The biggest question I had about the show was how much of the horror themes were gonna be racial or Lovecraftian. As of episode three, the horror is fairly evenly balanced. There are a lot of scenes that focus on racial tensions and horrors that are extremely well done, and never feels like a slap-in-the-face message about racism. Rather they produce genuine tension and anxiety. As for the Lovecraftian horror themes, they are fairly sparse and scattered (nothing really happens until the end of episode one), but when they do show up, they are exquisitely well done and interesting. There are constant nods to Lovecraft, and his mythos- i.e. episode three is a love letter to "The Rats in The Walls"- and the story incorporates and weaves them in well so far, but it is only episode three. Now for why it may not be for everyone; it does have a complex story and method of delivery. A lot of information is alluded to, or glazed over so you really have to pay attention, and episode two was very confusing on the first watch and required two watches, paying close attention each time. It is not the show for you if you are looking for an easy story to digest, this one will make you think and put things together yourself. On the other hand, if you don't mind using your brain when watching this show, it's superb, especially for those who love and are familiar with Lovecraft and his mythos. The overall direction of the show is still a little unclear. It started out with a clear motive but switches up really quick. That is one thing I am still waiting to see is the overall story arc and direction. As I said though, it is only episode three of supposedly ten so far. I would highly recommend watching if anything mentioned about it sounds interesting.

The pacing from the first to the second episode was incredibly inconsistent. The first episode was enjoyable enough and showed great imagery of racism prior to the Civil Rights.

The second episode though - my god was that bad. Weird jumps between scenes, it didn't take time to develop the setting, characters, or do horror in any meaningful way. With this being commentary on Lovecraft, I would have thought there'd be horror, and not just vague illusions to tropes like cults or monsters. This was more of a middle grade dark fantasy story. Looking at the novel, this story was only a hundred pages long, and the HBO adaptation didn't add anything to it - so that is about the length of a middle grade novel. Adult horror is usually longer and better developed. With Jordan Peele involved as a producer, I'm really surprised by the low quality.

I really liked the first episode, it was a great pilot. Very refreshing and I would recommend everyone to watch it. I don't know what happened after, but the show quickly after the first one because very boring and unoriginal. I think they might went too far with the racism as well. Not because of the white people, but because it makes the whole story and character actions very predictable and cliche. A part from the first one, this show was a letdown.