Reviews

This movie was trashy with mediocre writing... Yet I have no regrets watching it. I loved watching the cast engage in stupid debauchery. I laughed. I shed a tear. I got warm fuzzies. All in all it was a good time. It was more fun than your standard Hallmark Christmas movie.

Season 1 left me feeling like I was led on and betrayed by a plot that was ultimately a meaningless ode to interpretive dance. If I had reviewed this show then, I think I would have given it 3 stars. Season 2 redeemed itself about 100000 times over. It was paradoxically satisfying while leaving me thirsting for more. I went from hating his series, to thinking this may be one of the best things I've ever seen on television. 10/10, no hesitation.

I never really got into the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books as a kid. I would quickly get frustrated and skip to the back to read all the endings. This is very much in the same vein. After a few plays at a couple different (and rather uneventful) endings, I was ready to come on here and give this show a "nice try" rating and review. But then my husband took the controller and we ended up on an ending that was completely unexpected by either of us. He hates these types of shows and is not a Black Mirror fan, but was thoroughly entertained by the creativity. After watching some of the more interesting endings (and true to form, I did actually end up googling how to get to some of them), I realized that this endeavor encapsulated much of the Black Mirror genius that I love. I'm giving it a rating of 8 for creativiy, originality, execution and overall theme. If it were down to the stories themselves I'd only give it a 7. If I were to see this done again, I'd actually like a more complex variety of outcomes with more captivating stories.

Personally I loved it. It's the most original thing I've seen in a while. It's a bit like someone took Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Napoleon Dynamite, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Inception, stuck them all in and poured neon retro sci fi all over it. The acting was exceptional. Though the story does have a satisfying conclusion, the plot is for people who enjoy the journey more than the destination. It's not everyone's style, but for people who like a little weirdness, I think it will be incredibly satisfying.

Reading through these reviews, I was fascinated to discover that so many people gave this show a low rating based on conflicting political viewpoints reflected in a single episode (it seems). I never made it so far as to be offended by it. I have found this show to be ..well.. boring. There's really no other way to describe it. There is no character depth, and the plot is hollow. I have made numerous attempts to watch this show, as I have binge watched many shows in this genre : Midsomer Murders, Grantchester, Endeavor, Inspector Lewis, Inspector Morse, Ripper Street..etc. I even made it through all of Republic of Doyle, which I wasn't overly impressed by but still found more interesting than this.

Nearly every single time I have tried to watch it I have literally fallen asleep before the episode was over. Not because I was overly tired either, but because the content was so dry it lulled me to sleep. There is so much potential too, the infusion of history and the touch of Victorian gadgeteering both have great appeal for me. However, none of that matters if you can't deliver plot and character development that draws you in. I may be nearly alone in feeling this way, as it seems that even those who left negative reviews for political reasons seem to have enjoyed it more than I did (because they made it through enough episodes to get offended by one).

The reviews, awards and accolades this show has received would have me believing that this show is simply the best show that has ever been made and I am out of my mind for not enjoying it. A lot of the praise seems to be centered around the fact that this is an "unusual" show because it lacks excessive sex and violence. I feel those that share this sentiment simply are not looking hard enough. There are so many shows that do without these things that are far better than this one.

I tend to like shows that are centered around unraveling a mystery with just a touch of creepiness woven in. This show seemed to hit the spot, though it ended up being much more of a convoluted drama than I had anticipated. Turns out it is addictive too. It is a bit ridiculous at times.. and a bit cheesy.. but highly entertaining. As a bonus I have picked up some bits of Spanish (I've never even taken a Spanish class).Nothing terribly useful though, but now I do know how to tell someone they are lying to me, call them a liar or say I don't believe them. (There is so much lying going on in this show that I actually learned multiple ways to express or deal with lying in Spanish).I keep thinking that if people just told the truth, it would shave off about 5 seasons worth of content. Of course, what is the fun in that? Despite the flaws, I am thoroughly enjoying this show at the moment.

I found this show to be sufficiently entertaining. It's not deep or thought provoking, but definitely watchable. I think the reason for the low ratings is that people are comparing it to similar shows that happened to be exceptional. I haven't seen those shows, and I would rank this as an 8/10 in comparison to a grand scheme of television dramas. It definitely runs at a plot twist-a-minute pace, which is great for keeping audiences engaged but not as great for depth or intriguing plot development. I am fine with that. Its the type of show you can watch while simultaneously engaged in other tasks because it doesn't thrive on subtleties. Plus Daniel Sunjata is easy on the eyes.