The first episode of this series had my curiosity piqued, although right off the bat, I didn't care for the obviously shallow and phony characters of Elliot and Portia. At that point, I didn't quite get that this was supposed to be a dark comedy, I guess. Even so, I chose to keep watching more episodes as the story drew me in (but not necessarily the characters.) But yet I HAD to know what was going to happen next. So I binge watched all 5 seasons.
Although Season 1 is based on trying to find a missing woman, it's really what happens during the search that is intriguing.
The surprising season one ending where Keith gets killed was a great episode. The fallout from that act dominates Season 2, which was also great overall, even though we see Dory spiral more and more into someone who lies convincingly to others and maybe even to herself. Phoebe Tyers gave a fabulous performance as the unhinged neighbor April and her twin June. Dory winds up killing April because April threatens to expose the details of the murder of Keith. The show was still quirky and entertaining throughout Season 3.
Season 4 was pure psychological horror to watch, as Dory became Chip's prisoner. But the performance of Cole Escola as Chip is worth watching the entire series for- he's fantastic as the terrifyingly manipulative Chip.
Near the end of Season 4 of this show it becomes apparent that ideas were running out and it was time for jumping the shark when Dory dies and then envisions her own funeral. How on earth could the series come back from that kind of story arc, unless they had actually gotten rid of the main character Dory? Of course that wasn't going to fly so welcome to Season 5, the most annoying and outright ridiculous of all. Dory came back from being dead for 37 seconds and then has some sort of epiphany where she wants to spread love and healing to everyone in the world. She's clearly off her rocker and so is the entire storyline that follows. What REALLY angered me about Season 5 was SO much. I hated how Dory became a nauseatingly new age-ish guru, how incongruous 5 was to the other 4 seasons but even worse than that, the show had to sink so low into ending with a zombie apocalypse. Seriously?!?!?!!? Had I known that was going to be the way the series wound up, I would NEVER have watched this series at all. I didn't sign up for some brainless zombies-are-taking-over ending.
But why did I watch this series obsessively? Why should anyone? What's to like about it? In the end, it was for me the high quality of the acting which kept me engaged -and about being kept on the hook desperately wanting to know what would happen next. All the cast did a wonderful job with their respective roles, even if their characters were flawed individually in various ways. The many minor or background characters were also distinctive and entertaining, including Dory's lawyer and the prosecuting D. A. I just really hated Season 5 from the beginning of it and just slogged through it, unfortunately at that point wanting to get the series over with already. The final episode of the series was the worst of all and ultimately slapdash and unsatisfying.
Although Season 1 is based on trying to find a missing woman, it's really what happens during the search that is intriguing.
The surprising season one ending where Keith gets killed was a great episode. The fallout from that act dominates Season 2, which was also great overall, even though we see Dory spiral more and more into someone who lies convincingly to others and maybe even to herself. Phoebe Tyers gave a fabulous performance as the unhinged neighbor April and her twin June. Dory winds up killing April because April threatens to expose the details of the murder of Keith. The show was still quirky and entertaining throughout Season 3.
Season 4 was pure psychological horror to watch, as Dory became Chip's prisoner. But the performance of Cole Escola as Chip is worth watching the entire series for- he's fantastic as the terrifyingly manipulative Chip.
Near the end of Season 4 of this show it becomes apparent that ideas were running out and it was time for jumping the shark when Dory dies and then envisions her own funeral. How on earth could the series come back from that kind of story arc, unless they had actually gotten rid of the main character Dory? Of course that wasn't going to fly so welcome to Season 5, the most annoying and outright ridiculous of all. Dory came back from being dead for 37 seconds and then has some sort of epiphany where she wants to spread love and healing to everyone in the world. She's clearly off her rocker and so is the entire storyline that follows. What REALLY angered me about Season 5 was SO much. I hated how Dory became a nauseatingly new age-ish guru, how incongruous 5 was to the other 4 seasons but even worse than that, the show had to sink so low into ending with a zombie apocalypse. Seriously?!?!?!!? Had I known that was going to be the way the series wound up, I would NEVER have watched this series at all. I didn't sign up for some brainless zombies-are-taking-over ending.
But why did I watch this series obsessively? Why should anyone? What's to like about it? In the end, it was for me the high quality of the acting which kept me engaged -and about being kept on the hook desperately wanting to know what would happen next. All the cast did a wonderful job with their respective roles, even if their characters were flawed individually in various ways. The many minor or background characters were also distinctive and entertaining, including Dory's lawyer and the prosecuting D. A. I just really hated Season 5 from the beginning of it and just slogged through it, unfortunately at that point wanting to get the series over with already. The final episode of the series was the worst of all and ultimately slapdash and unsatisfying.