Missing You
I have to admit that I need to start each new year with a transplanted Harlan Coben miniseries. Damn you Netflix! You've created this addiction in me! Since 2020 Netflix has started each year off with a bang by dropping an addictive Harlan Coben adaptation invariably with Richard Armitage in some role. I mean, there's a fair amount of James Nesbitt too, but he's like the extra special sauce only available once in awhile. Last year though Fool Me Once left me feeling unfulfilled. By not focusing on the story that mattered and having a lackluster and unsympathetic lead in Michelle Keegan it made for a forgettable series. Unless you're me and spend all your time thinking how it could have worked if certain things had been changed. I mean, they had Joanna Lumley, literally anyone else could have made that work! Which is why when they announced that the new series was starring Rosalind Eleazar I breathed a sigh of relief. Best known as Louisa Guy on Slow Horses I knew in my bones that at least we had a lead that could carry the show. And I'm sorry if you're a fan of Michelle Keegan, but she was unable to rise to the challenge that is the flawed yet sympathetic lead needed for a Harlan Coben miniseries. And while Rosalind Eleazar is wonderful, her family secrets, her father's murder, her lost love, her second chance with her soulmate who just happened to be in So Solid Crew, that isn't what I loved about this series. This series begins with Kat finding her ex on a dating app. He disappeared out of her life overnight over a decade earlier without an explanation. See aforementioned family secrets and father's murder. Of course this leads her to investigate what really happened to her ex Josh. Traumatic revelations, eventual reconciliation, yadda yadda, you get the picture. But it's that picture on that dating app that is what draws you in. Because Josh's picture was being used to catfish people. It was a whole operation run by Steve Pemberton at his dastardly best. He was kidnapping and killing people once he'd gotten a hold of all their assets. He kept them prisoner in a farmyard, chained up like animals. But because of one woman searching for the love of her life this huge vast network of horror is brought to it's knees. But what really gets me is that these criminals, who, aside from their leader, aren't the brightest bunch, saw a picture of Ashley Walters and went, yeah, this hottie will bring the ladies to the yard and just used it on a public platform. Not really thinking about the consequences of what might happen if someone who knew him saw it. And, in fairness to the underlings, this is a man who just disappeared off the face of the Earth and a really dedicated copper couldn't find him, so, it would appear that this picture would be fair game. Then all the stars aligned and the exact wrong person saw the profile and started to pick at the thread. The whole sweater started to unravel, and while she's off trying to find answers about her own life she just incidentally stops evil in it's tracks. That's why I love this series so much. The random nature of the universe. Everything has to happen just right for all the dominoes to fall. Of course this is fiction, so Harlan Coben is able to put the dominoes exactly where he wants...but this still felt feasible. One of those too weird to not be believable stories. Damn. I admit it. I'm a Harlan Coben addict. I can't wait for the new year.
This one is going to be a hard one to write about. I was a fan of Neil Gaiman. I saw him speak twice and got to meet him at one of those events. He seemed perfectly lovely and dedicated to his fans. As we've since learned by the allegations that first broke on Tortoise Media this was all a front. A way for the spider to lure in the flies. The fallout was deservedly harsh, projects were scrapped left and right. The Sandman was almost completely wrapped when the news about Gaiman broke. Therefore production continued. What was to be done with the show could be decided later. After all Anansi Boys was completely finished when it was permanently shelved. Amazon got a nice tax write-off and got to appear as if they're supporting the victims when it was really all about the bottom line. But the thing is, The Sandman has a life of it's own. The fanbase is all-encompassing. Netflix knew that the clamor Amazon was experiencing over Good Omens was nothing to what they would face if this season never saw the light of day. Plus the team were claiming, whether honestly or to cover their asses, that the series had always been planned as two seasons and Gaiman wasn't really involved. Though I do question that second statement after reading some interviews. So season two of the show dropped in July with no fanfare and minimal press coverage. And I honestly didn't know if I'd be able to watch it. While having previously been a fan of Gaiman I had never been a fan of The Sandman comics. And oh how I tried. But I'd get about six books in, up to Brief Lives, and just throw in the towel. I never got any further and at least now I never have to force myself to finish this series. I am done with it. As for the adaptation, I did feel the need to tune in. The show worked for me where the comics did not. The rough edges and the excessive rapes had been sanded away. And at least we now know why Gaiman included so many rapes. Which actually made parts of this season a painful experience, and not just because of the autotuning of Ruairi O'Connor as Orpheus. When Nada confronts Dream about his treatment of her you are horrified thinking about how the man who wrote this put women in this same situation over and over again. And why bring back the rapist author, Richard Madoc as played by Arthur Darvill? Did they want to hit us over the head with the fact that Gaiman basically wrote his sick fantasies into this series? That Richard Madoc was his avatar in this fictional world. I mean, if Gaiman hadn't been such a good showman we should have seen what was right in front of us all along. Oh, the irony of the second series being about reconciliation and redemption after the first one was about reclamation and revenge. Because he denies it all. There will be no reconciliation for him. No redemption. And there can be no separation of art and the artist, he made sure of that. A part of me even wondered if originally Gaiman was supposed to be there at Dream's funeral next to Madoc. Thankfully that didn't happen. And even if their creator will forever be in torment, at least his creations were given a fresh start. They were released out into the world. They were set free. Hopefully not to ever be caught in their creators net again. Forever connected by somehow liberated.
If I'm honest the only reason Dept. Q came to my notice is because while promoting it Matthew Goode was talking about why he isn't in the final Downton Abbey movie, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale. To save you the bother, it wasn't a big enough role and he likes jobs that challenge him, in other words how Mary married two men played by actors completely uninterested in the legacy of Downton is beyond me. But that meant I was mildly interested to see him in this role that would lure him away from a five minute Ascot cameo. And once I learned it was a Scottish police drama, with quite a few of my favorite Scots, I wanted to see if it was better than the recent effort to reboot Rebus. I can definitively say that it is better than Rebus, but there's an equally forgettable quality to the show. Could it be that Goode's character, Carl Morck, is so abrasive and angry that it's hard to watch him? Yes. But thankfully the other characters soften his edges just enough that by the end of the first season he's bearable. Could it be that Matthew Goode needs to eat a few good hearty meals because he's so skinny he looked like a famine victim? Yes. It was very disconcerting. Could it be that I didn't give a shit about the missing woman whose cold case they are investigating because she was unsympathetic and was played by an actress I didn't care for? Oh, most definitely. I only wanted the case to be solved so that Akram Salim, who chose the case because he believed it could be solved, would get vindication. In fact it's Akram Salim and the other Department Q subordinate, Rose Dickson, that carry the show. One with their quiet intelligence, the other with their quirky hair. Seriously, you can go down some serious rabbit holes on the internet about Rose's hair if you so have the mind. But as much as I love these characters, they are also problematic, and not just the fact that Rose's hair never moves, seriously, go down a rabbit hole, I dare you, it's that Akram Salim, with his outsider status, not actually being a police officer but having been one in Syria before he left for the safety and education of his daughters, is the one used to work outside the system. This means using extrajudicial force. AKA he beats the shit out of people. And while it's used as a way for Carl to underestimate Akram and almost as a cathartic comedic action to relieve the tension of the constantly propulsive plot I have issues with it. They are using a Middle Eastern character to be the enforcer, and this just smacks of racial profiling. Yes he's calm and collected and a family man, but by forcing him to be the muscle they are diminishing him. Seeing as this show is getting a second season I can only hope they will address this. Because Akram and the rest of the supporting cast are what makes this show work. In fact, do we really even need Matthew Goode? Because the book The Keeper of Lost Causes was first adapted as a film for Denmark and starred Nikolaj Lie Kaas as Carl. And if you've seen Britannia, you know that Nikolaj can out act Matthew Goode any day. Damn, what I wouldn't give to just combine that film series and this television series into the ultimate Department Q series!
When I first watched The Haunting of Hill House I realized that for the first time an adaptation got the source material. Not that it was actually a direct adaptation of Shirley Jackson's work. It was reinterpreted and remolded and what Mike Flanagan did was create a series that is in the spirit of the original and a loving tribute to it while being its own thing. It was the start of his Netflix empire, the Flanaverse. And the start of his "house" series. Because audiences adored The Haunting of Hill House and were demanding more. More of Mike Flanagan's unique take on classic literature. More spooky tales in amazing structures. They got their wish two years later with 
The Dead Boy Detectives have had a rocky go of things. It seems like they are destined to forever be DOA. Ironic really. They premiered in The Sandman comic way back in 1991 in issue #25 and despite having read and reread "Season of Mists" quite a few times they were completely and utterly forgettable. Or at least that's how I felt. But I have issues with The Sandman. In the intervening ten years between their introduction and Ed Brubaker writing them a four issue miniseries which you just cannot find anywhere Charles Rowland and Edwin Payne picked up their raison d'etre with the moniker of "Dead Boy Detectives." Their first appearance on screen was in Doom Patrol in 2021 with Sebastian Croft and Ty Tennant, yes David Tennant's stepson Ty, playing the roles. Which resulted in Max wanting to do a spinoff that got stuck in developmental hell and when Netflix realized they might have a hit on their hands with The Sandman it seemed logical for them to scoop up Dead Boy Detectives. But not as Max had envisioned it. A whole new very peak CW version starring Jayden Revri and George Rexstrew with in-universe crossovers with The Sandman. Because two dead boys are kind of in the remit of Death... So yes, this show has Death! And when this show premiered on Netflix it got a loyal following almost instantly. It's like all of Neil Gaiman's shows put into a blender and coming out as a show that could air between Smallville and Veronica Mars. I mean Blake Neely even did the music and he did ALL the Arrowverse! Which, yes, I know, it's not peak CW, but at least it's CW. It was a cute show with overarching themes of acceptance and love while also sticking to a slight monster of the week format. The show consists of eight episodes and for me personally it didn't really click until episode three, "The Case of the Devlin House." Our leads get caught in a murderous time loop with "Owner of a Lonely Heart" proving that it's a song that doesn't get annoying no matter how many times you listen to it. This is when I finally connected to the characters. This is when I realized I could watch ten seasons of this show and never get bored. I should have remembered that Netflix hates their viewers and never wants them to be happy. Though personally, I don't blame this cancellation on them. But before I go into that I need to discuss Lukas Gage as the Cat King. Lukas Gage is having a moment. Within the last three years he has shown up in seven shows I've been watching. And been spectacular in all of them. Even when he's a complete a total asshole, he's such a spectacular one you have to applaud him. He was perfect as the Cat King. He WAS a cat! But more importantly, he was a wonderful sexy foil for Edwin. He helped Edwin come to accept himself while also being so damn sexy. I mean, I know we're not getting more of this show, but can I get a Cat King spinoff? And that's the sad truth, we're not getting ten seasons of this show. We're not getting more than the eight episodes we've gotten because of Neil Gaiman. And for those who claim, this isn't fair on the fans and he didn't have anything to do with this show... Um, first, he created the characters AND wrote all of Death's dialogue, but more importantly, he is an abuser and Netflix and his fans can't condone this by turning a blind eye so they can be entertained by a show. There are bigger things in life than television shows. So yeah. I'm sad that this show is more collateral damage from the truth of Neil Gaiman being revealed. But I don't know if I could go back and watch this show knowing what I know. Things have shifted. This dark yet hopeful world that Gaiman created in his works was a false reality that he used to lure his fans into his web. And that web needs to meet a blowtorch.
I legit thought that the book, The Three-Body Problem, was a murder mystery. I mean why else would it have had "Body" in the title? They're corpses right? Wrong. I now know it refers to celestial bodies... But until I watched this show I would have put money on it being some sort of procedural. At least there was a cop played by Benedict Wong, so I had something right. Maybe? Well there are "unexplained deaths" so I'm sticking to a partial victory no matter how slim. My first exposure to Liu Cixin's novel is a little infamous as it went from my friend Aaron's favorite book to his most hated book in the span of a month. So when I heard it was going to be adapted by the creators of Game of Thrones for Netflix, and knowing how Aaron feels about that show, I thought that there was no way it could possibly be good and it would probably really piss off Aaron. So of course I suggested we watch it together on our Thursday Night Teleparty. And the problem with this was this is a show that needs to be binged. 3 Body Problem doesn't work spread out over weeks. You need to keep that threat of alien invasion at the forefront. I mean, sure, this is probably the longest game of an alien invasion in probable history. They won't arrive for a long long long time and made first contact decades previously. But the horror, the danger, there's an immediacy to it that suffers over the long haul. A countdown clock can not strike fear forever, eventually there will be fatigue. Though what I found oddest about the show is that while it is obviously science fiction it leans very strongly into the horror genre. You thought Game of Thrones was bloody? Wait until you see poor old Alfie from Lark Rise to Candleford disassembled. His body is sliced into a bloody morass by nanofibers. Jonathan Pryce meets the same fate. At least he had two seasons on Game of Thrones before he went boom with the Great Sept of Baelor. And this is my problem with the show. There's a rotating door with the cast. As soon as you like someone they're dead. I mean, I don't think I can even figure out how many characters died this season without multiple flow charts and perhaps a white board. But of the core college group that are these oh so great scientists that are our only hope? Of the five of them two are dead by the end of the first season. Because OF COURSE this is getting a second season. Why wouldn't it be? They're the Game of Thrones creators. Let's just totally ignore how that show tanked and there is no fanbase anymore and concentrate on the earlier seasons when it was all anyone was watching. But back to 3 Body Problem, how are they going to keep me invested if anyone I get attached to might go all 'splodey at a moments notice? Then there's the tonal shifts. The smaller collegiate setting with depression and video games and somehow now we're at the UN!?! The characters are the only way to keep this sliced ship from sinking, and if they're all dead... Well. Needless to say, I'm very interested to see if they can keep this show afloat.
While no one was really paying too much attention Harlan Coben has made himself a little dynasty over at Netflix. While everyone was obsessing over Bridgerton or pouring over the details of Ryan Murphy's deal with Netflix for the last six years Coben has delivered eight shows that are solid and addictive mysteries. The recipe was simple; take one of his books, change the setting to England, add Richard Armitage, and voila, hit show. But a hit show without too much coverage. It's like how Suits emerged out of the mists of time to become popular again. Harlan Coben's adaptations succeed whether they're talked about or not. And Fool Me Once is the only one I've really seen talked about. Which is a shame. This adaptation just didn't work. Could it be too little Richard Armitage? Perhaps. Could it be that despite being the darling of British television I found Michelle Keegan flat and incapable of shouldering the duties of leading lady? Oh, most definitely. Joanna Lumley should have killed Michelle in the first episode and made it her own. The problem with this adaptation is at its heart it's about a British drug dynasty like the Sacklers, but told in the stupidest way possible. This is buried so deeply in the narrative it only becomes clear in the final episode when Michelle Keegan's Maya confronts her husband's family. I would have far rather watched eight episodes of Maya living this half life between the world she was born to and the world she was thrust into because of her marriage than her wandering about being wooden looking into the deaths of her husband and her sister, one of which really makes no sense when you learn the truth. Which just lends itself to the convoluted nature of the entire show. So much is not explained and left unresolved. If you like your mysteries with a big helping of vague, well then, this one's for you. The lead cop, played wonderfully by Adeel Akhtar, is taking drugs produced by the "Sacklers" and is having severe health issues. Are we ever told why he's on medicine that he pops like candy? No! And then when he's at the doctors trying to figure out why he's blacking out, when the doctor is talking the sound fades away. So... No idea what's going on there. So much is not knowing what's going on or just assuming the audience doesn't care about a single detail. Like Maya's sister gave up a baby for adoption. Why did she give the baby up? Did her husband know? Or did Maya's friend actually have kids? I never saw these kids or even pictures of said kids. These little things keep building over time until I was just so frustrated that I'm glad Maya died. This show explained nothing, underused great actors, and overused incompetent ones. I kept thinking that this could have been something but in the end I just no longer care. Yes, it was slightly redeemed by vigilantism with dire consequences, but it was too little too late.
What did I know about The Witcher prior to Netflix's announcement that they were making a TV show? That it was a popular video game. What did I know about The Witcher after Netflix's announcement that they were making a TV Show? That it was a popular video game, there were also books, and Henry Cavill was going to play the lead and was a big fan. The thing about the show is it's actually hard to get into. The first season has I don't know how many timelines and tries to impart the mythology of the world via osmosis. This is not a method I would recommend to anyone trying to impart large chunks of knowledge. It's very confusing. Even to those who are rewatching, so say my friends. I'm not the biggest fan of the info dump, but I wouldn't object too strongly in this instance. In fact I think I might have learned more from The Witcher: Blood Origin about the mythology and history of the Continent than I did from the main show. This all led me to prefer the one-off episodes. Sure, they were mainly monster of the week episodes, but if anyone says anything bad about the creepy incest episode "Betrayer Moon" or the just insane reimagining of Beauty and the Beast "A Grain of Truth" I will fight you. Once I get my hands on a Witcher potion. The thing you have to understand about The Witcher, from what I can see, it doesn't really have any pretensions to be something it's not. It's not trying to be something more like The Rings of Power, it's just trying to be itself, which is Xena: Warrior Princess with an actual budget. You even get the off-the-wall cameos like Molesley from Downton Abbey to Simon Callow who wandered by for two episodes as an eccentric bookseller with a rather fiery end, to Graham McTavish obviously playing the role Simon Callow wanted, nudist talking to owls. In other words all I'm asking for is a Bruce Campbell cameo. Hell, I'd even watch Bruce as Geralt more than I'd watch the least Hemsworth brother take on the role. And serious question, do we think this is a option? Because I am not joking about preferring a Bruce Campbell version seeing as there's no way in hell I'm watching one with that Hemsworth on board. So in a moment of clarity, I will confess that this review is for the final season of The Witcher. Let's face it, it's how we all feel. I even wonder if Netflix feels the same way, there was an odd survey they had me fill out back in July... And given the way it ended, I don't know if I want to give them a second chance. The first half of this season was oddly informative and didn't confuse me in the least, except for the part where like no one told Ciri her father is alive. It's like they realized from The Witcher: Blood Origin that an audience wants a comprehensible story. They also got the memo that Jaskier should be in every episode AND have an adorable love interest AND a rival, bringing on a marvelous bard who so breaks the forth wall. But then "The Witcher Red Wedding" happened. And while it was magnificent, the writers forgot that in the world of Game of Thrones that the "Red Wedding" was quickly followed by the even more spectacular "Purple Wedding." Here we got a grumbling deathbed Geralt and a vision quest Ciri. Oh, and no resolution. Don't forget the fact that they wasted their last three episodes and in particular their final episode on nothing. What a waste of a Witcher. I think that should be one of Jaskier's final songs.
It was 2018 when I first heard about Mike Flanagan. He wrote and directed the most perfectly modernized and expanded version of The Haunting of Hill House for Netflix. It was the first time that I really felt that someone understood what Shirley Jackson was trying to do, and yes, that meant no Owen Wilson being decapitated I'm glad to say. He followed this up with 
The Case of the Gypsy Good-Bye by Nancy Springer
Catt Out of the Bag by Clifford Witting
Who would have thought when Harlan Coben signed his five year multi-million dollar Netflix deal in 2018 it would bring about this interesting subgenre of transplanting his American stories onto British soil with beautiful house and cars you doubt any of the characters can actually afford and Richard Armitage always on hand. I for one am glad this came about. They are immanently bingeable and tie everything up so nice and neat at the end with a large helping of loss that they are perfectly suited to the times we find ourselves in. Not to mention the casting, oh dear lord, it's like someone stole a peak at my list of favorite actors and brought them all together for one project. Or that Richard Armitage is actually getting to show what a great actor he is. I feel so bad for some of the productions he's ended up in, yes, I'm looking at you Hobbit franchise! The miniseries follows Cassie, a stripper, who left that life behind seventeen years previously and is now about to get married to the father of her three children when she makes one little mistake and her past life bleeds into the present with a trail of bodies, often at the hands of a young couple who are musical theater buffs and whose "thing" is choreographed killing. It's riveting and absurd all at the same time. And while I was able to guess the real serial killer due to that old system of means, motive, opportunity, and casting, leaning heavily on the casting, the reveal is so magnificently acted that figuring out who the killer is in advance doesn't diminish the reveal. But what made me really love this production was Eddie Izzard. I have been a fan of Eddie since I first saw Dressed to Kill when it aired on HBO in the summer 1999, right after the David Bowie VH1 Legends episode aired that Eddie just happened to narrate. The following year was the first time I saw her on stage. I have seen Eddie on stage almost more times than I can count, and the most recent time in 2017 I actually got to meet her. Eddie as the drug addict lawyer Harry Sutton who helps anyone down on their luck was the linchpin of this series. Troubled yet wanting to do better, wanting to help. The dinner Harry has at Cassie's house with her family, for a moment it shows what Cassie's life could be with the past and the present as one. But more than that, I am very glad that someone on the production is obviously an Eddie Izzard fan and added a little something special to the set design. I mean, they HAD to name that pet shop Harry runs his law practice out of Hannibal's Animals after Eddie's bit about strapping two elephants to your feet and skying down the alps right? I mean, there's the other possibility that it's named after the TV series she and Richard Armitage both played killers on... But I like to think it's about the elephants.
The Lives of Saints by Leigh Bardugo
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Last year when the rest of the world finally discovered Leigh Bardugo through the Netflix series Shadow and Bone I felt a little smug because I've been a fan since the beginning. I also might have said "I told you so" to several bookish friends who immediately picked up the books I've been recommending for years just because they loved the show. But due to my ever expanding to be read pile there were a few books I hadn't gotten around to in the series. In other words, anything written after Crooked Kingdom. Therefore the show provided me with an opportunity to revisit my friends in the Grishaverse and to finally get to the King of Scars duology and the two companion books. I spent exactly a month held rapturously in thrall to Leigh Bardugo's gift of storytelling. I loved it so much I might just have to do it again in the near future. But until that time I can relive it all with you with my Bardugo Bash! A month long celebration of the Grishaverse! We have to do something to tide us over until season two or the next re-read right?
Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
My late teens coincided with Ewan McGregor being the darling of Indie films. For those who were introduced to him through Star Wars and his portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi, or, dare I utter the title, Moulin Rouge, let me tell you something, you are missing out on a whole heck of a lot of Ewan. As in all of Ewan. As in, he's naked. A lot. Like a lot a lot. Like full frontal in Velevet Goldmine, and in The Pillow Book, it's not just him naked, but his naked skin is then turned into a book and an old man does very inappropriate things to it... And let me tell you, that was memorable and creepy and it's been twenty-five years and I can't get it out of my head. When he was cast in Star Wars there were many jokes circulating as to how he'd get his "lightsaber" on screen... unless there is a cut of Star Wars I don't know about that didn't happen. Yet. Who knows what's going to happen on his Disney+ series. So, my point is, Ewan became mainstream and I missed the edge, I missed that wild abandon that marked his earlier roles. Seriously, Curt Wild in Velvet Goldmine, damn! Which is why I was so excited about Halston. It felt like it was a return to his roots while also being "Ryan Murphy Mainstream." The show is interesting in that while it does show a lot of the orgies and male prostitutes that surrounded Halston there's a disconnect. The pairings are very flat and emotionless and there's not as much naked Ewan as you'd expect. But it works. It's compartmentalizing Halston's life and it shows that his real passion, his real emotions, are for his work. With only five episodes Murphy does a wonderful job of showing us this way of life Halston lived and then how it all broke down. The series would not have worked with someone of lesser abilities than Ewan. He has the suave masters of the universe vibe that gets chipped away at piece by piece and the man who was almost glacial at the beginning is a sympathetic wreck by the end. It's a wonderful little piece that gives you insight into a man who changed fashion and a different time from the one we live in now. Looking back at Halston's life it's amazing how much he shaped the look of my childhood. He was one of a kind and deserved this tribute to his life.
I'm that person who picks apart a show as I'm watching it. What is happening, who is to blame. I don't just want to get to the bottom of it all before the reveal, I need to. So while I actually got the ending of Behind Her Eyes wrong I was technically right. Confusing no? But that's what Behind Her Eyes is all about. It's about gobbling up each and every clue you're given and trying to piece together the puzzle until at the end you didn't quite see it coming because it changed the rules while you weren't fully aware that it did. The show starts out with the classic comedy trope, what if you met a handsome stranger at a bar and you find out the next day he's your new boss? That's exactly what happens to Louise. The problem is her connection to David is electric. It doesn't matter that David is married, that Louise even ends up befriending his wife Adele behind his back, they are drawn to each other like magnets. Though Louise suspects that David doesn't understand his wife, but, for me, I knew from day one that Adele was the problem and David was right. Why else would she be so closely monitored and medicated by her husband? It didn't feel like control to me, it felt like barely maintained equilibrium. But while a three-hander show about infidelity isn't that original, this show has something else going for it, lucid dreaming. Yes, it might seem odd that the other aspect of a show about a torrid affair would be about lucid dreaming, but that's what sets this show apart. I have known about lucid dreaming as a cure for night terrors for years. But I'm actually able to exert some control in my dreams anyway and I'm not full into night terrors, but the possibility of complete control over your sleeping mind has always been interesting to me. So while Louise's dreams are kind of cartoonishly bad and then cartoonishly good, I mean, they're happy and Disney and she's in the land of the Teletubbies where there are no shadows... this is all leading somewhere deeper. It's not about the first door, it's about the second door. And it's all about Adele's past and her friend Rob who she met in rehab. Rob is the key. He's also an amazing actor. In a show with such a strong cast that boasts Tom Bateman and Eve Hewson, well, it's impressive that Robert Aramayo stands out. And yes, his real name is Rob too!
The Gillian Anderson version of Bleak House first aired as I was just getting back into Masterpiece. It's not that I'd taken time out from the show per se, it's just that life, combined with school meant that several seasons of Masterpiece were seen by me after the fact when my friend Jess would tell me to rent a specific show from Netflix. Yes, this was when Netflix was still only discs you sent away for. So I'd often spend the summer vacation watching the notable shows that had aired on Masterpiece earlier in the year and had now been released on DVD. The other reason I got back into Masterpiece was perfect timing. I could never watch the eight o'clock broadcast because other family members had the television at the time and for some reason our second PBS station decided to re-air that night's episode of Masterpiece starting around midnight. That meant I could finally curl up with my cat and be assured we wouldn't be accused of co-opting the television. So I settled in to watch Bleak House. The fifteen episode miniseries actually aired as eight on Masterpiece, so for eight weeks I was there for all the twists, turns, and explosive reveals of the people connected to the Jarndyce v Jarndyce case. And I kind of found it meh. I wasn't good at following the plot from week to week and just kind of forgot about it. Until I made a list of suggested viewings for a friend of my mom's and well, Nancy was VERY mad I didn't like Bleak House. Apparently it was her favorite. Therefore I had to give it another try. And yet she wouldn't give Poldark a second try!?! Just saying... So I sat down and watched all of Bleak House over three nights and you know what? I really liked it. I knew what was going to happen more or less so I was able to take joy in the characters, which is what this adaptation is all about. SHAKE ME UP JUDY! Also, Bleak House works better, in my mind, binged. Watching it over too long a period of time doesn't work. We are no longer in the age when we had to wait months for Dickens to actually write the next chapter, so why wait? That's right, why wait? Go watch Bleak House today. All of it! 
