Mayday had promise, but fell flat. It is a British series which, to me, made it unique and refreshing, but it portrayed its citizenry as immature, government coddled, children. Having spent time in Europe, such was not my experience and if currently a British citizen, I would take issue.
Examples of my assertions: Working was a novelty, to those residing in the small town where Mayday takes place and this provides plenty of time for everyone to muck about in everyone's affairs. I couldn't help wondering during the show "Who is paying for the pints?", "Who is paying for rent, heat, food, petrol, etc. and from where is this money magically appearing?" But wait, some did have jobs: Malcolm, the failed developer, who can't face his wife and spends large amounts of money (again, if he is a failed developer where is all this money coming from?) paying to watch teenagers fornicate.(He was of such weak character he didn't even bother to report the murder?) Steve, the failed father, who lacks the spine to make hard decisions regarding his mentally ill brother and must have committed some terrible atrocity to be stripped of all his parental rights. (Steve should have been the killer. It is universal truth "There aren't good and bad people in the world, only good and bad haircuts." (Sam Malone) Alan, police officer and murderer, enough said.
Of the major characters, the vast majority working were evil, while the vast majority supported by those working were just misunderstood--What a charming message.
Aside from glorifying sucking off the public tit, either from poor editing, lack of time, lack of funds or writer laziness, a great number of items were brought up in the story only to be dropped. While the foolish might find this "mysterious" to those who value their time (see "jobs" above) this is a colossal waste.
Examples that come readily to mind: Where did the rocks come from that repeatedly hit the sister in the face? To those who assert some mystic rationale, what was the purpose? Before answering, take a moment and see how far out in speculation land you have traveled, good story telling leaves speculation to a minimum. Again with mysticism, an explanation of the occasional, blurry off center frame filming (which usually denotes the supernatural, drug use, or insanity) would have been helpful Additionally, if speculation was the intended reaction from the Mayday creators, it appeared very plausible that Linus made extra cash doing cam to cam shows with gay men on the computer and that Malcolm was paying not to watch teens have sex, but to watch Linus have sex.
More speculation, of course Everett was having sex with Hattie, that seemed obvious.
I don't remember getting a concrete answer on how Hattie got up into the tree, perhaps we are meant to speculate.
Alan, the police officer....just up and snapped, I guess. Fiona, the nosy and mistrusting wife, didn't see it coming? No buildup? No series of instigating events? Alan's just one of those people with jobs, bound to snap.
Maybe, I'm right, maybe I'm wrong, maybe you agree, maybe you don't and during the show, such speculation was fun and prompted discussion but, having the show end with so many loose ends, again feels lazy and wasted my time.
To end on a positive, Gail (Lesley Manville) provided a brilliant performance.
Examples of my assertions: Working was a novelty, to those residing in the small town where Mayday takes place and this provides plenty of time for everyone to muck about in everyone's affairs. I couldn't help wondering during the show "Who is paying for the pints?", "Who is paying for rent, heat, food, petrol, etc. and from where is this money magically appearing?" But wait, some did have jobs: Malcolm, the failed developer, who can't face his wife and spends large amounts of money (again, if he is a failed developer where is all this money coming from?) paying to watch teenagers fornicate.(He was of such weak character he didn't even bother to report the murder?) Steve, the failed father, who lacks the spine to make hard decisions regarding his mentally ill brother and must have committed some terrible atrocity to be stripped of all his parental rights. (Steve should have been the killer. It is universal truth "There aren't good and bad people in the world, only good and bad haircuts." (Sam Malone) Alan, police officer and murderer, enough said.
Of the major characters, the vast majority working were evil, while the vast majority supported by those working were just misunderstood--What a charming message.
Aside from glorifying sucking off the public tit, either from poor editing, lack of time, lack of funds or writer laziness, a great number of items were brought up in the story only to be dropped. While the foolish might find this "mysterious" to those who value their time (see "jobs" above) this is a colossal waste.
Examples that come readily to mind: Where did the rocks come from that repeatedly hit the sister in the face? To those who assert some mystic rationale, what was the purpose? Before answering, take a moment and see how far out in speculation land you have traveled, good story telling leaves speculation to a minimum. Again with mysticism, an explanation of the occasional, blurry off center frame filming (which usually denotes the supernatural, drug use, or insanity) would have been helpful Additionally, if speculation was the intended reaction from the Mayday creators, it appeared very plausible that Linus made extra cash doing cam to cam shows with gay men on the computer and that Malcolm was paying not to watch teens have sex, but to watch Linus have sex.
More speculation, of course Everett was having sex with Hattie, that seemed obvious.
I don't remember getting a concrete answer on how Hattie got up into the tree, perhaps we are meant to speculate.
Alan, the police officer....just up and snapped, I guess. Fiona, the nosy and mistrusting wife, didn't see it coming? No buildup? No series of instigating events? Alan's just one of those people with jobs, bound to snap.
Maybe, I'm right, maybe I'm wrong, maybe you agree, maybe you don't and during the show, such speculation was fun and prompted discussion but, having the show end with so many loose ends, again feels lazy and wasted my time.
To end on a positive, Gail (Lesley Manville) provided a brilliant performance.