The Nanny

The pilot was a bit messy and hard to follow, but episode 2 was much better. Things are unwinding at a slower pace than I'm used to on typical TV shows--and I love that. There's something oddly ominous about things and the acting is pretty nice. It's not a 10/10 for acting, but it's decent enough that you can get lost in the story a bit. Amy Acker alone is a reason to stick around; she's fabulous and I worship her.

I don't expect this to be a 10 star show, not even a 9, but it's shaping up to be a 6-8 star show if the writers keep down this path, pace, and general feel. I'm hoping it ages like wine and myself.

I will update if things go completely awry and this review ages like milk.

The Watchful Eye has an intriguing plot. The show gives us great promise of a really good experience. Unfortunately, irrational deeds of characters destroy magic. Sometimes, the action is even funny. Usually we choose one or more characters to be our favorite. We sympathize and empathize. But I didn't find such a person. Everybody has repulsive negative sides here. Anyway, I want to know, what will be next. I really liked Netflix's series Archive 81. Unluckily, it was cancelled after the first season. This movie has a similar atmosphere and it's wonderful. Sure, not so deep. The mystical part of the series compensates for stupid and empty dialogues. I hope to see more mystics in the next episodes. Howbeit, if The Watchful Eye gets a second season, it will be strange.

I'm through episode 7 of this show and what started out as an interesting creepy premise is just going nowhere. There are long drawn out scenes where nothing happens, just a lot of slow monotone talking with no point. It billed itself as a creepy mystery, but it's just a slow motion drama fest. It's not scary, it's not creepy, it's not funny and it's not all that entertaining. On top of this, there are no likable characters anywhere to be seen. Everyone is annoying, deceitful or just plain awful, and that includes the main character. They have to have a modern agenda, too, so there are as many gay or trans characters as there are straight ones, just for the heck of it. Those who gave this show anything about a 5 must not expect much.

9 eps in and still waiting. This is a show that requires something else on the side; hence the "needlework", knitting, drawing, or solitaire on the side. It doesn't require full eye attention. How it rates above 6 is beyond me. Glad I'm not paying a subscription to watch it! Hoped it might provide something more interesting than the big N's increasingly long dragged out tales. One thing for certain is there's a lot of junk shows being made these days. Kind of like coffee - I'd rather have one cup of good coffee than 3 cups of cheap coffee. Hopefully all involved are newbies and they come out of this with an awareness of how not to do things. Unless this has a good punch-line finish I can't give it more than 4 as the filming was decent, acting mediocre... maybe 3 as I had to back up to understand some of the mumbly dialogue which might have sounded better if I had a high end sound system - or worse. When all said and done, this could easily been done as a less than 2 hour movie of the made for TV genre. DISAPPOINTED.

On the Acting:

Amy Acker pulls the beating heart from the characters she portrays and puts it on full display. Even characters that might seem unlikable on paper become people who are easy to empathize with and even love through her portrayal. Tory Ayres is no exception.

I seem to be in the minority with this one, but Mariel Molino does a great job of portraying Elena. The flattened affect seems to be consequence of Elena's upbringing and I found her believable, and easy to like and empathize with.

Kelly Bishop is as usual a delight to watch, I found Warren Christie's character compelling, and I think in general the actors portraying the older adults did well and were believable/ interesting to watch. The actors playing the kids also did well. Unfortunately the "young adult" group had acting that I can best describe as rough and I'll leave it at that.

On the Plot/Characters:

It's mostly typical freeform fare: there's a lot of YA drama and cheesy relationships which aren't my jam, but that's to be expected with my being in my mid-twenties and decidedly not the target audience here. Most of the side-plots involving the nanny group weren't all that interesting, and seemed shoehorned in at times.

That being said, there *were* some really interesting characters and plot threads to be found.

The Santos's family dynamics were really well done, and it's clear that the writers really thought about the kind of people who would come out of that kind of situation. And the parallels to the Ayres family are super neat to have. You have a parent who has done and continues to do awful things, and two children: one trying desperately to protect that parent and the other running as far as they can in the other direction.

The truth of Tory's character is slowly unfurled through the series and by the finale, you're on her side. Even if you didn't like her in the pilot, you don't want anything else bad to happen to her. How both Tory and Dick felt about their marital situation, and the beliefs they held with respect to themselves and each other made sense and informed what happened in the finale, making it as believable as it was horrifying and tragic.

The supernatural element of the ghost was not too overdone, and through how mad it drives Elena we understand Charlotte more as a character.

And overall the series' exploration of grief was well done, with the birthday episode being a real gem in that regard.

I would say that where this series shines is not in the investigation plot, but in the believable and compelling ways that character dynamics are fleshed out. The background we learn informs the characters' actions and emotions, and that is where it matters.