For April’s expiration cycle, I was able to flag some key shows early. Maybe not so surprisingly, this didn’t really help me get on top of things. For better or for worse, I ended up focused on three TV series, now no longer available.
FROM
From the very beginning of the month, I dove into the series FROM, leaving me more than enough time to make it through Season 1. But only Season 1. This is yet another teaser series, offering a brief availability for the first season of a show that is available via subscription for Season 2 (and Season 1, come what May).
FROM was originally developed by YouTube’s paid subscription service… presumably to entice people to pay for YouTube. Just before filming started, however, YouTube Premium decided that the traditionally-created dramatic series was not their best money maker and shifted their focus to “unscripted” (reality) shows. Netflix sold the series to Epix, who began filming. Epix was later rebranded as MGM+ and is on track to release a third season of FROM later this year.
The free season on Amazon Prime comes with a price. Before each series, a pitch for subscribing to MGM+ must be endured. Once through wouldn’t have been so bad. A rotating set of ads, focusing on a particular series, might have been informative. Playing the same montage at the start of each episode was tiresome. It also suggests to me that their premium package is pretty weak. Outside of FROM, there is nothing in that ad that I’d be willing to pay extra for.
As to FROM, well… almost.
As I watched Episode 1, I wasn’t quite sold. The show was alright but seemed awfully derivative. A little bit of Lost, a little bit of Wayward Pines, plus a mix of any number of horror films – it didn’t quite hook me. That is, it didn’t up until the last ten minutes or so of that inaugural episode. There was something about how it introduced the “horror” aspect of the show that really made it all click. From (!) there, I committed myself to finishing the series without further distraction.
As the series went on, I began to really appreciate how it was put together. Yes it borrowed heavily from other shows but it also seems to have learned from them. I can see, and appreciate, how an episode builds tension by introducing elements that then become important. If I taught a film school class, I’d probably use this series in my course. The overall drive to figure out, along with the characters, the mystery of the show, is also compelling – even though I knew it was not possible for me to get anywhere. The end of Season 1 of a (at least) three season show must be expected to explain nothing.
Two
Having watched FROM‘s first season to exhaustion, and still having (what seemed like) plenty of time in April, I went with what was simply the highest-rated (per IMDb) series from my list. It also happened to be on Amazon, but so be it. I watched the first two episodes of Hannibal.
You might have noticed it expired from Amazon before, and not too long ago at that.
When I first saw the series on Amazon, I wasn’t exactly shivering with anticipation. You see, I have always considered The Silence of the Lambs one of the better movies out there (it didn’t make my list because I watched it before I ever had Netflix). I did not, however, think it needed a sequel1 – much less a lengthy set of sequels and prequels building the property into a franchise. This feeling was at least in part driven by some contemporary articles explaining that Anthony Hopkins was trying to retire and was really happy about reprising the Hannibal Lecter role over and over again.
I suppose that a series starring Mads Mikkelsen rather than Hopkins solves the second problem if not the first. I tried to solve the first by not viewing it as a “Hannibal Lecter” story but instead as a creepy detective story. That didn’t work so well either.
The problem I had was simply in the presentation of the show itself. The show was developed for NBC and started its run there in 2013. It was both popular enough and well enough reviewed to run for three seasons. Although it was praised for its visual style, I found that aspect of it more than a little distracting. I’m not sure I can even say what was wrong with it. I just didn’t care for it.
I will also add that something was wrong with the story. Perhaps because I so recently enjoyed Astrid, I found the characterization of detective Will Graham, the main character, to be a bit trite. He suffers from some combination of Asperger’s, sociopathy, and over-developed empathy – yeah, that doesn’t really make sense, does it? As a result, he struggles with the possibility that he might have the same tendencies toward murder as those killers that he investigates. Held up against a similarly constructed premise, but one that is much better done, I felt it fell short.
As a result, I stopped after only two episodes and decided to concentrate, instead, on finishing Medici while I had time.
Season Two, Part Two
In this case, I had plenty of time to watch. I began watching Medici‘s Season 2 almost two years to the day before I started up Season 3. I don’t even recall what I might have found less than compelling at the end of Season 2 but, from what I can remember, Season 3 does seem to have turned out better.
I suppose it is the bigger scope that helped me appreciate the last season a bit more. Rather than the personal drama of the Pazzi conspiracy, Season 3 focuses on Italy-wide and worldwide politics. If such a distinction can be made. It’s also likely that the show’s continuing success helped secure a bigger budget and more creative license as it went on.
The theme here is also in line with what I saw in Boss last month (and don’t look at this too closely if you don’t want me to ruin one or perhaps both of these shows for you). It would be quite scary if you knew your enemies were trying to assassinate you. Even more scary is when you realize that your time on earth WILL come to an end, and probably well before you are ready. When you’ve sacrificed your honor, your family, and perhaps even your immortal soul to accomplish something great in life, you’re probably not thinking about how fragile that life can be – even in the absence of assassins.
… and All the Rest
With what time that I remained, I found myself rewatching some favorite movies rather than chasing after all the new-to-me stuff. For that reason, if no other, I’m going to refrain from petulantly listing all the shows and films I didn’t get to watch. That would seem extra pointless, considering the extent to which I brought it all upon myself.
Game Pairing: Field of Glory: Kingdoms, assuming it comes out soon.
- This is far more complicated than it appears. You see, The Silence of the Lambs IS the sequel. That book was written seven years after Red Dragon came out. Even though the film version of Red Dragon came more than a decade after Lambs, that was the second film version of the book. The original Red Dragon adaptation was made in 1986, two years before Silence of the Lambs was written. It was called Manhunter. I’m mostly pretty sure that I watched Red Dragon at some point. Maybe. ↩︎
et tu, Bluto? 