I did. It wasn’t perfect... but I’m definitely into it enough to keep watching.
I thought the set-up was pretty smart. One could easily be turned off by a story of a powerful man trying to get his son off for an obvious crime. But... it’s also hard not to sympathize with the son for what happened. There was nothing he could do to help, and while panic isn’t an excuse, it’s understandable.
Also, Cranston’s character is in a similar boat. He wants and fully intends to do everything the right way, but when he realizes that this won’t be a normal / fair fight (because the victim’s father is a formidable mob boss), he also panics and makes a similarly questionable decision.
Alan Sepinwall gave a fairly harsh review... a good man doing bad things to benefit his family is too close to Breaking Bad for us to not make that comparison. But, what show can live up to Breaking Bad?
That’s a fair point, I guess... but when the credits rolled, I found myself (very much so) wanting you know what happens next. So... I’m in.
This was to be expected going in, but this show is stressssfffuuulll. After episode 2, I don’t feel comfortable predicting where they are taking things. Looking forward to finding out though.
Well I watched both episodes... Tense is the perfect word to describe it. I'm in for it, you can't not watch to find out what the hell happens. This is a very common story in movies/TV but somehow this just feels different from those and I truly care about the outcome for everybody involved.
What a great show so far. It's a very well played out story in Hollywood yet adding a judge and the judges son makes it so much more tense and interesting. I think I might be 1 episode behind, what day of the week does this drop on the Showtime app?
I have been watching since E1. Is it the best show ever? No, of course not, but it is definitely worth your time. It's well acted, well written and suspensive and full of the whole "Going from bad to worse" on both sides. Because each side is initially completely clueless. It's now getting really interesting when the father of the dead kid is learning the truth.
I like it because it's a limited series. I know that no matter what, it will be done in 10 episodes. It won't be something that drags on long after it's DEAD. It's a Story, it's being told and either you like it or you don't. But you don't have to worry about season ending cliff hangers and potential cancellation etc.
it might seem crazy that the Father is trying to cover this up. But they lay it out pretty clear, that he already lost his wife and all he has left is his son and if he loses him, he will have lost everything. That's a big reason he is going forward with something he would otherwise never do. I also like how it all ties in with the Kofi's Family. That almost has a litte taste of "The Wire" in it.
With Cranston it's watch value goes up a notch, and Margo Martindale makes every show she is in better. My final score at this point (It's not over yet) would be a 7.5 out of 10. That could go up or down depending how it ends. There are far worse things you could be watching. Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. Just saying.
The greatest similarity to Breaking Bad - from an early point in the series, you know it is not going to end well, you just don't know how. This is painful.
I've been watching this not realizing there was a thread here, really enjoying this show. Tonally feels different than breaking bad, feels more like The Night Of if i'm being honest, which would make sense because the Director of this show directed that as well (I think).
I've been watching this not realizing there was a thread here, really enjoying this show. Tonally feels different than breaking bad, feels more like The Night Of if i'm being honest, which would make sense because the Director of this show directed that as well (I think).
Peter Moffat was a writer on both. But the directors have been different according to IMDB.
I dunno what I expected out of the finale. But now I kinda want those ten hours back.
I guess it did what it had to do?
I'm with you, the journey up to the end was amazing and then the finish just fell flat in my opinion. I'm not upset at all that I spent 10 hours watching it as it was intense as hell during a good portion of it but yeah the ending definitely fell short.
I dunno what I expected out of the finale. But now I kinda want those ten hours back.
I guess it did what it had to do?
I'm with you, the journey up to the end was amazing and then the finish just fell flat in my opinion. I'm not upset at all that I spent 10 hours watching it as it was intense as hell during a good portion of it but yeah the ending definitely fell short.
I have to agree. It was a very clunky, overly ironic ending. "It insisted upon itself". But yeah, up until the 3/4 Point of Episode 10, I was ready to give to rave reviews, but the ended was so obviously, intentionally trying to create some kind of Karma Message or whatever. I was disappointed in how they ended it. I would have to spend some time to think of a better ending, but I am sure I could come up with something. Spoiler, like even if Kofi's little brother killed Carlo it would have been better of an ending as in this cycle of violence never ends.
Would anyone want to watch a season two (not planned at this time)?
Honestly I don't think so. Yes you could have the fallout story of the judge and what ends up happening with the Baxter family but I really don't find the continued story of any of that interesting at all.
I dunno what I expected out of the finale. But now I kinda want those ten hours back.
I guess it did what it had to do?
I'm with you, the journey up to the end was amazing and then the finish just fell flat in my opinion. I'm not upset at all that I spent 10 hours watching it as it was intense as hell during a good portion of it but yeah the ending definitely fell short.
I have to agree. It was a very clunky, overly ironic ending. "It insisted upon itself". But yeah, up until the 3/4 Point of Episode 10, I was ready to give to rave reviews, but the ended was so obviously, intentionally trying to create some kind of Karma Message or whatever. I was disappointed in how they ended it. I would have to spend some time to think of a better ending, but I am sure I could come up with something. Spoiler, like even if Kofi's little brother killed Carlo it would have been better of an ending as in this cycle of violence never ends.
Honestly I feel like had it ended any way other than the way it did it would have been better. I'm still glad I watched it, as the first 9.75 episodes were really well written and acted but the ending was a total cop out.
A season 2 where Bryan Cranston just burns the city down and takes the Baxter’s, Desire and all the dirty cops out together. I could get down with a revenge story.
It does seem like they filmed 2 endings. 1 if they get renewed where Adam lives. I mean why else show that big hug from Jimmy? There was clear intention there. And then when they realised they probably weren’t getting renewed they threw that ending together where the sons dies from karma.
I felt like this show was much more "The Ozarks" than "Breaking Bad." It was a fun watch, but the story is definitely played out at this point.
I felt like Adam's motivation for dating Fia was less than realistic. I mean, it makes sense in the "I've done a bad thing and deserve to be punished" kind of way though "Dead to Me" told that story better.
There wasn't ever any payoff for Adams inappropriate relationship with Frannie outside of his rejection being the impetus for her (the adult, and criminally responsible party to their relationship) to reveal Adam's crime to Charlie. Maybe that's a nitpick, as the consequences of inappropriate teacher/student sexual relationships wasn't the focus of the show. Then again, that's how they chose to open the first episode.
I enjoyed it for the most part, but I don't think I would recommend it to any of my friends or family who have less of an appetite for television.
Comments
I thought the set-up was pretty smart. One could easily be turned off by a story of a powerful man trying to get his son off for an obvious crime. But... it’s also hard not to sympathize with the son for what happened. There was nothing he could do to help, and while panic isn’t an excuse, it’s understandable.
Also, Cranston’s character is in a similar boat. He wants and fully intends to do everything the right way, but when he realizes that this won’t be a normal / fair fight (because the victim’s father is a formidable mob boss), he also panics and makes a similarly questionable decision.
Alan Sepinwall gave a fairly harsh review... a good man doing bad things to benefit his family is too close to Breaking Bad for us to not make that comparison. But, what show can live up to Breaking Bad?
That’s a fair point, I guess... but when the credits rolled, I found myself (very much so) wanting you know what happens next. So... I’m in.
This was to be expected going in, but this show is stressssfffuuulll. After episode 2, I don’t feel comfortable predicting where they are taking things. Looking forward to finding out though.
It does feel a lot like Walter White just stumbling his way through the cover-up. Still decent enough story so far.
I like it because it's a limited series. I know that no matter what, it will be done in 10 episodes. It won't be something that drags on long after it's DEAD. It's a Story, it's being told and either you like it or you don't. But you don't have to worry about season ending cliff hangers and potential cancellation etc.
it might seem crazy that the Father is trying to cover this up. But they lay it out pretty clear, that he already lost his wife and all he has left is his son and if he loses him, he will have lost everything. That's a big reason he is going forward with something he would otherwise never do. I also like how it all ties in with the Kofi's Family. That almost has a litte taste of "The Wire" in it.
With Cranston it's watch value goes up a notch, and Margo Martindale makes every show she is in better. My final score at this point (It's not over yet) would be a 7.5 out of 10. That could go up or down depending how it ends. There are far worse things you could be watching. Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. Just saying.
This got meh reviews, I don't know why.
I guess it did what it had to do?
I felt like Adam's motivation for dating Fia was less than realistic. I mean, it makes sense in the "I've done a bad thing and deserve to be punished" kind of way though "Dead to Me" told that story better.
There wasn't ever any payoff for Adams inappropriate relationship with Frannie outside of his rejection being the impetus for her (the adult, and criminally responsible party to their relationship) to reveal Adam's crime to Charlie. Maybe that's a nitpick, as the consequences of inappropriate teacher/student sexual relationships wasn't the focus of the show. Then again, that's how they chose to open the first episode.
I enjoyed it for the most part, but I don't think I would recommend it to any of my friends or family who have less of an appetite for television.