I've read a number of reviews who said "Pocket Savior" was better than episode 1, "The End". And... I'm not seeing it.
Yes, we get to see more of the pre-Captain Trips world, and a bit more of the during-Captain Trips world. But then again, we get more of the back-and-forth time-line jumps, and they're even more confusing than in "The End". It doesn't help that Nadine and Rita look a lot alike. I get that Larry is supposed to be drawn to woman of a certain "type". But we're never told why, and it never seems to have any significance to the story.
Yes, in the novel Larry eventually picks up Nadine after (spoiler) Rita kills herself. And he does it to try and redeem himself, for being a bad person in his past life. But the similarity between Nadine, and the white-haired Rita, makes no sense then. If there's a similarity there, presumably it means something. And if it doesn't, what's the point of choosing them to be so similar?
The timejumps also get a bit confusing when the episode starts with Larry in the hardware store, apparently alone. But then he goes back to where not only Nadine and Joe are camped, but a bunch of other survivors as well.
And then characters like Nick Andros are just... introduced. Granted, Nick kinda gets the short-end of the stick in the novel, too. King makes him out to be a lot more significant than he ends up being. But shouldn't the episode address some of the problems with the novel? Here he's just Abigail's doorman. Big whoop. Maybe he'll be more significant in later episode, but from bad beginnings come bad ends and all that.
And "Ralph Brentner" in the comics becomes a female "Ray Brentner" in the show. Girl power! Does it really signify anything important when minor characters get a gender-swap? Not that Nick ever becomes a major character even though he's often described as such, but what's the point if the production staff only gender-swaps minor characters? They want to make a statement, have Nick become Nikki.
Nat Wolff as Lloyd isn't bad, and Lloyd's interaction with Flagg is pretty good. Wolff does a good mix of animal cunning and stupidity, and I look forward to seeing him become smarter, apparently under Flagg's influence. I'm also looking forward to Ezra Miller as Trashcan Man. And seeing Las Vegas: the production staff is holding their cards tight to their vest. Unlike Boulder, which we're already seeing thanks to the flash-forwards.
Jovan Adepo is... okay, as Larry Underwood. He doesn't have much to do, playing the narcissistic rock star. And at least the character in the novel amounts to something. Not that most of the "good" characters in the novel do. We'll see if the series changes that, or if it can overcome the inertia of "evil" just being more appealing because it's more charismatic and thus more appealing. I find what's going on with Flagg, Harold, Nadine, and Lloyd more interesting than Stu, Frannie, Larry, and Nick. Just like in the novel.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
Yes, we get to see more of the pre-Captain Trips world, and a bit more of the during-Captain Trips world. But then again, we get more of the back-and-forth time-line jumps, and they're even more confusing than in "The End". It doesn't help that Nadine and Rita look a lot alike. I get that Larry is supposed to be drawn to woman of a certain "type". But we're never told why, and it never seems to have any significance to the story.
Yes, in the novel Larry eventually picks up Nadine after (spoiler) Rita kills herself. And he does it to try and redeem himself, for being a bad person in his past life. But the similarity between Nadine, and the white-haired Rita, makes no sense then. If there's a similarity there, presumably it means something. And if it doesn't, what's the point of choosing them to be so similar?
The timejumps also get a bit confusing when the episode starts with Larry in the hardware store, apparently alone. But then he goes back to where not only Nadine and Joe are camped, but a bunch of other survivors as well.
And then characters like Nick Andros are just... introduced. Granted, Nick kinda gets the short-end of the stick in the novel, too. King makes him out to be a lot more significant than he ends up being. But shouldn't the episode address some of the problems with the novel? Here he's just Abigail's doorman. Big whoop. Maybe he'll be more significant in later episode, but from bad beginnings come bad ends and all that.
And "Ralph Brentner" in the comics becomes a female "Ray Brentner" in the show. Girl power! Does it really signify anything important when minor characters get a gender-swap? Not that Nick ever becomes a major character even though he's often described as such, but what's the point if the production staff only gender-swaps minor characters? They want to make a statement, have Nick become Nikki.
Nat Wolff as Lloyd isn't bad, and Lloyd's interaction with Flagg is pretty good. Wolff does a good mix of animal cunning and stupidity, and I look forward to seeing him become smarter, apparently under Flagg's influence. I'm also looking forward to Ezra Miller as Trashcan Man. And seeing Las Vegas: the production staff is holding their cards tight to their vest. Unlike Boulder, which we're already seeing thanks to the flash-forwards.
Jovan Adepo is... okay, as Larry Underwood. He doesn't have much to do, playing the narcissistic rock star. And at least the character in the novel amounts to something. Not that most of the "good" characters in the novel do. We'll see if the series changes that, or if it can overcome the inertia of "evil" just being more appealing because it's more charismatic and thus more appealing. I find what's going on with Flagg, Harold, Nadine, and Lloyd more interesting than Stu, Frannie, Larry, and Nick. Just like in the novel.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?