not_an_octopus Reviews

The Regime (2024)

I got it, I just don't like it.

[4/10 · 1 April 2024]

Several people have mentioned that the negative reviews are from people too dense or too uneducated to see this series as anything but brilliant. That's an uneducated take in itself. It is possible to both understand the satirical narrative of the series and its winking lambasting of geopolitics, political theatre, and the delicate dance of those who keep the powerful in power, and still find it unpalatable.

It's not a bad series; the acting and cast are fantastic, and there is an interesting story being told. But it's buried beneath so many layers of mismatched cinematic styles, jaunty musical score, and washed out color palettes that the effect was like a confusing mishmash of distinct film styles like Expressionism, Film Noir, and Postmodernism. Each of these styles are great on their own, and perhaps there is a new genre of television being formed in the making of The Regime. It's promising, it's bold, but was ultimately too distracting for me to get lost in the narrative.

Constellation: These Fragments I Have Shored Against My Ruin (2024) Season 1, Episode 8

Could have ended on a satisfying note.

[3/10 · 28 March 2024]

This season was building to something so fantastic, only for it to culminate in a spectacularly hollow nothingburger. Biggest contrivances: characters making stupid decisions that go against their personality and intelligence in earlier episodes; the absolutely disappointing red herring of the CAL project; Bud/Henry inexplicably switching places; the inane pointlessness of Magnuss; electroconvulsive therapy being practiced in the 21st century; the fact that this series will likely be cancelled before it can get a second season to resolve this nonsense.

This show had so much potential and I'm so sad to see it end in a hollow shell of what it was when it started. It's clear they're trying to stretch content to bridge toward a second season, but the way shows are cancelled on a whim these days there is little hope we will ever get resolution.

The acting in this series was fantastic. Noomi Rapace was phenomenal. The twin girls who played Alice displayed great range. And I just want more and more of Johnathan Banks playing cranky kind-hearted old men.

American Nightmare (2024)

No Victim Should Have Such Need for a Hero

[9/10 · 23 January 2024]

"They were calling this woman a liar on national news," Dublin Sgt. Misty Carausu says of Huskins in "American Nightmare." "But I just wanted to reach through the computer and give her a hug and say, 'I got you.'"

Sergeant Misty Carausu is the hero of this story and is an example of how law enforcement should approach listening to victims of violent crimes. Denise and Aaron were blamed for the crime that happened to them and were publicly humiliated all because of an infuriatingly narrow-minded police force who ignored evidence, disputed victim testimony, and treated victims like perpetrators. When the real perpetrator was finally caught, and found to be a serial rapist, they not only never took accountability for their mishandling of the case, they awarded the officers responsible. To this day the officers involved have never faced consequences or repercussions of any kind.

This documentary series took many gut-wrenching and unexpected twists and turns, but in the end all I could think was how lucky Denise and Aaron were to have Sgt. Carausu be the one law enforcement official who took their story seriously.

Lessons in Chemistry (2023)

Please give us female protagonists who are not one-dimensional

[4/10 · 21 November 2023]

I wanted to like this series. I really like Brie Larson. She is a fantastic actor. The plot is intriguing and relatable. The production quality, costumes, lighting, and scenery are all fantastic. But no matter how I tried, I could not get past the hamfisted Not Like Other Girls vibe of the script.

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl meets Girl Power meets subdued Generic Intelligent Female Nerd cliché was so heavy-handed it was impossible to suspend disbelief and get fully sucked into the story.

There is a way to give female characters fully-formed personalities that are non-stereotypical. A strong female character can be intelligent without being irredeemably irascible. There are ways to contrast social dynamics beyond parochial clichés. But instead it felt like the show took the stereotypical, easy route, which once upon a time filled a gap but is no longer fulfilling or believable.

This entire series deserved better. It needed someone with a clearer and more nuanced grasp of of feminist theory, history, and the ever-uphil battle of educated women in traditionally patriarchal spaces.

Navajo Police: Class 57 (2023– )

K'é and Diné Culture meet modern militarized policing.

[10/10 · 15 November 2023]

I'm glad to see the Navajo People represented in the mainstream. I grew up next to the Navajo Reservation and am familiar with the people, the culture, and the issues that affect the Diné people on the Reservation. Diné values include K'é (family), hózhó (harmony/balance), and ceremonies that celebrate mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. This doc takes until episode 2 before it points out some of the serious gaps in leadership at the Navajo Police Training Academy, which appear at odds with the traditional Navajo values of balance and harmony.

At one point, a training officer is lecturing the recruits on the impact of domestic abuse and generational trauma, citing the mental, emotional, economic, and physical impacts. This is juxtaposed next to scenes of the trainers themselves shaming, humiliating, discouraging, and belittling their own recruits. It's important to train first responders to get used to stress, but the Academy's heavily discouraging approach from day one focuses on how so many will fail, emphasizes how weak and "mental" they are for showing discomfort, and seems to be pushing out the recruits they so desperately need.

The Navajo Nation is a close-knit community who rely on the values of K'é and Hózhó to keep them grounded to their culture. They're aware of how the loss of their culture has led to many of the problems faced by people still trying to survive on the Reservation. However, the way the academy operates, it seems like there is a notable lack of support to succeed. I'm not even sure what the Academy's values are, except that it's difficult and important to be in control of yourself. At no point did I notice any of the trainers offer helpful advice on how to self-regulate during stressful exercises, how to breathe correctly to control your fear, how to feel feelings without allowing it to control you; instead it was constant put-downs and admonishment for these young people trying their level-best to live up the the impossible expectations set before them.

There's an attempt to tie community values into the training, but the Academy is clearly needing more of its own balance if it's to see its graduating officer numbers rise to the level of need on the Navajo Reservation.

Shining Vale (2022–2023)

Cute quirky horror comedy.

[8/10 · 6 October 2023]

Shining Vale is an offbeat horror comedy series that's the perfect mix of spooky and silly. It's like The Shining meets American Horror Story meets Beetlejuice. Courtney Cox and Greg Kinnear play Pat and Terry Phelps, a dysfunctional couple trying to reconcile after Pat's recent infidelity. The family relocates to a remote house in Connecticut with their two teenage kids, Jake and Gaynor, played by the talented Dylan Gage and Gus Birney. It's not long after arriving that Pat is seeing ghosts and things begin to go haywire. The series takes until episode 2 or 3 before it finds its momentum, and then it's full speed ahead with quick dialogue, sharp one-liners, and some fantastic roles by the incredible Judith Light, Alysia Reiner, and Mira Sorvino. Shining Vale is exactly the type of fun horror comedy series that's been missing from television.

Phrogging: Hider in My House (2022– )

Make sure your crawlspaces are locked.

[8/10 · 5 October 2023]

Phrogging: Hider in My House is a tense, unsettling series featuring stories of real people who found strangers living in their homes. Each episode features a different family or group of friends telling their story of how they came to discover there was an uninvited stranger fully infiltrating and invading peoples' homes. The episodes are edited to juxtapose first-hand accounts with actors doing dramatic reenactments. It's an engaging way to tell a story. The series' tone is well-balanced and does a good job of emphasizing the seriousness of the story without being overly-dramatic. The people and stories featured in each episode are all unique in their own way, so it never really feels repetitive, even though each one ends in a similar fashion. It's an easy watch with the right blend of suspense and tension perfectly timed for creepy Halloween binges.

Harlan Coben's Shelter (2023)

Generational Trauma

[7/10 · 19 September 2023]

I went into Shelter with no expectations or knowledge of the plot and was immediately drawn in by the story. It has an intriguing premise for a mystery and pointedly touches on themes of generational trauma, abuse, grief, and loss. The actors who play the main trio of high school friends (Jaden Michael as Mickey Bolitar, Adrian Greensmith as Arthur "Spoon" Spindell, and Abby Corrigan as Ema Winslow) have great chemistry with one another and an easy rapport. Much of the storytelling is reflective of different people hiding secrets from one another, which makes people behave strangely. I wish the storyline with Mickey's Tennis-Pro mother kitty (Narci Regina) would have played out a bit more, untangling the differences between depression and grief. The sex-trafficing storyline felt a bit muddled and rushed, and I'm not sure why because there was a lot of potential for substance there. The baddies in the series were a little over-the-top, but that seemed to fit with the overall dramatic theme of the series. In all, I felt this was an engaging and entertaining series good for a weekend binge.

Dear Child (2023)

Plot holes galore

[4/10 · 15 September 2023]

Dear Child has an interesting premise and lots of intriguing storytelling elements. Abduction, Stockholm Syndrome, parenting. There are familiar themes and a crime-element that sets this series up to be something really special. Unfortunately I began to feel around the 3rd episode that nothing was happening to actually tie in the plot points in a way that moved the story forward. This is frustrating considering the series had a great cast and good dialogue. However, so many threads were abandoned and I found myself fast-forwarding through several scenes in an attempt to find some substance. Much of the story felt like filler, and many of the leading or intriguing aspects were completely abandoned. It felt like someone started out writing this with a real direction and narrative focus, then got distracted or rushed and had to piece together some loosely-related plot points to make something resembling a coherent ending.

DO NOT expect questions to be answered, do not expect characters to react in intelligent or realistic ways, and especially don't hope for any of the "mystery" to lead to a logical or satisfying conclusion. In all this is a series that could have been a decent 75-minute movie of the week.

Miriam Margolyes: Almost Australian (2020)

Mateship

[8/10 · 30 August 2023]

Miriam Margolyes: Almost Australian is a charming series about connection, culture, and country. Miriam is a delightfully no-nonsense woman who does not shy away from sharing her opinions. This personality type is understandably not universally-appealing but I find her authenticity extremely refreshing. Miriam has the moxie of a New Yorker and the refined speech of a Proper British Lady. In short, I was charmed. The stories of the people Miriam connects with on her travels are the heart of this docu-travel series. The audience travels with her as she forges meaningful bonds with various communities. She interviews many people from many different walks of life and always keeps and open mind and kind heart. The message is simple, maybe even at times reductive. However, this is an easy bump to navigate through the 3 episodes because of the level of genuine connection and engagement Miriam is engaging with the real people she meets along her journey. Finally, I was having a bad day today and watching this series helped make it just a little bit better. Overall score 8/10, highly recommend.

Strange Planet (2023– )

Gratitude.

[9/10 · 9 August 2023]

As a fan of the comic, the tv adaptation of Strange Planet is not exactly the same as the source material, but that doesn't mean it's less creatively valid. In fact, the series adds layers of depth and nuance to Nathan Pyle's characters that is indelibly charming and comforting. That warmth is not subtle, it's intentional. It's the series' heart-on-its-sleeve approach that adds an emotional depth and dimension that's filling a certain entertainment gap. There are so many lonely people in the world, and Strange Planet is about connection. Shows like Community are hungered-after cult classics for a reason. Hopefully Strange Planet is allowed to stick around long enough to make a similar impact.

Extrapolations (2023)

There are just 20 companies behind one-third of global pollution. Who exactly is the target audience for a series like this?

[5/10 · 9 April 2023]

I shut lights off when I leave rooms, I conserve water, I recycle. Yet in the time it takes me to write this review, 20 of the world's worst polluters will contribute more to global warming than my household could in my entire lifetime.

Series like Extrapolations are trying to convey an important message. It has an all-star cast, well-developed characters and multi-faceted storylines, but ultimately, what is a series like this hoping to achieve? The average person can only do so much, yet we're expected to shoulder the burden that belongs to the world's most powerful.

I appreciate the intention of series like this one, but ultimately for me it misses the mark. I can't stomach the anxiety of being told things are horrible while doing my level best to be a good steward of our planet. I wanted to like this series but found it discouraging and tone deaf at best.

Into the Dark: All That We Destroy (2019) Season 1, Episode 8

How unethical and stubborn would you be to protect your child?

[5/10 · 4 December 2022]

The three young leads of this episode, Aurora Perrineau, Dora Madison, and Israel Broussard did an amazing job. The story could have been more fleshed out, and began to feel repetitive and frustrating, but the acting was engaging enough to keep me watching. Suspended disbelief notwithstanding, the thing that frustrated me the most about the story was how it makes no sense for a scientist to keep running the same experiment over and over again without changing any of the variables and still expecting different results. F the clones are born with a blank slate and no memory of their previous selves. If the clones are born with a blank slate and no memory of their previous selves wouldn't it have been easier to kill the son and raise his clone? This oversight felt like a flimsy premise to showing women being brutalized over and over again.

Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me (2022)

Honest, raw portrayal of the toll of inauthenticity.

[7/10 · 5 November 2022]

Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me is an engaging and engrossing view into the life of a pop culture machine that both nurtures and deprives the protagonist of her most valued need for connection and authentic living. The documentary takes us through Selena's life; from her humble beginnings as a child actor, to her struggle with autoimmune disease at the height of pop stardom, to a mental breakdown that lands her in in-patient treatment.

As a mental health professional who also struggles with anxiety and depression, this is one of the most raw and honest depictions of mental health I've ever seen. One of the more poignant themes is how much Selena is affected by being caught up in an existential struggle for authenticity, in which she surrounded by yes men and people who don't appear to have her best interests at heart. There are many poignant moments in the documentary, and I am not a good enough writer to explain them all. I just know that there is something uniquely special on display here.

If you struggle with your mental/physical health at all, this is a good documentary to watch to see how our struggles are all essentially the same; that we all struggle with stress and pressure and how we are all at our center living life for moments of connection, peace, and meaning.

The Watcher (2022– )

Ryan Murphy gives us another unique mystery with an all-star cast.

[8/10 · 15 October 2022]

The Watcher is a delightful genre-straddler of a series. Think The Burbs meets American Crime Story meets The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window. It's equal parts kitsch, mystery, and comedy/drama. If you are a fan of Ryan Murphy, there's a good chance you will like The Watcher's off-kilter brand of mystery. Our first clue this is not your run-of-the-mill mystery story is its well-known cast of comedic character actors. Legends like Margo Martindale, Richard Kind, Noma Dumezweni, and Jennifer Coolidge cloud the narrative with their special brand of subtle humor and talent for ambiguity. Honorable mention goes to Mia Farrow, who, as a horror legend herself, feels purposefully out of place in the story as the quirky, Wednesday Addams-esque neighborhood historian.

Lead actors Bobby Cannavale and the criminally underrated Naomi Watts round out the main cast, leaving the viewer feeling understandably bewildered at the chaos surrounding the series' two main protagonists. Because this is based on a true story, there is a sense of unease that pervades as you try to figure out what's happening. I held off on reading the story this was based on in order to suspend disbelief, and I'm glad I did. The Watcher is not a perfect series, but that's part of its charm. I watched all seven episodes in one beautiful fall afternoon. It's the perfect cozy mystery for a relaxing weekend.