It is no surprise that this series finds its way to AppleTV as there's a general type of series that seems to fit the ethos and culture of AppleTV and what it tries to curate as fitting content for its brand. It can be a positive in certain respects but it is often pretentious and this series encompasses the two.
In brief, the story centres around the world of wine and sommeliers, or oenology, being the study of wine. It follows the daughter of a dead man, a wine expert who tried to raise his daughter with the same passion for wine and it's supposed miriad nuances. An event took place when young and she has lost her "super" ability to know the wine, as confirmed by some dodgy science in the form of MRI scans, confirming something technical that shows she has a brain that is overly reactive to scent, and this is presented as akin to some superpower. In fact, the ability to memorise and recall scents is something we all have as humans, an inherent instinctual sense not limited to special individuals. This is presented here as something ephemeral almost, as if a special ability or gift. It sets the tone for a high amount of pretentiousness and hogwash around aromas, scent and the ability to discern them as if something outstanding.
There is a moment in the second episode where she struggles to recall her great ability to recognise scent and there is a big, laboured buildup and nearly pregnant effort until she eventually, triumphantly, magnificently pulls from the shattered recesses of mind, Liquorice!
To be honest, I almost fell off the chair and lost a lot of respect for the show as Liquorice is probably one of the scents nearly everyone in the world would recognise easily, or at least the aroma of Anise.
And so it goes on. As a production with deep French involvement, it's unsurprising that it seeks to bolster the pretention they've built up around the wine production sector and the pomp and ceremony, some might say hyperbole, which has allowed an industry to bring what was a staple drink of the poor when water was deeply unsanitary, fermented grape juice, into the realms of a luxury product, all through the use of marketing in the main.
As entertainment, it is tedious and very predictable, although it is saved somewhat by high production values and mostly decent acting. The problem, to paraphrase the old saying, is that the writers were looking at the world through Rosé tinted glasses.
Indeed the title alone, Drops of God, is sufficient in and of itself to convey how obese with contrived importance the approach to the overall theme of wine is here. It is a love-letter in many respects from the French to themselves, an indulgence of self delusion probably best not witnessed by the public at large.
If you buy into the idea that a decent wine can have notes of a hundred different ingredients that never touched the grape, then this is right up your alley. If however, the smell of verbal incontinence is greater than the aroma of the wine, then you may decide that it's more poo-poo than grand crus and a bit of a stinker.
Edit: Having stuck with this show and having given in to the contrived nonsense around the wine industry, and we all can accept that there is a lot of nonsense around wine and wine-tasting ... so much so that those methods have seeped into the coffee industry and others, chocolate etc. Anyway, having decided to let the BS wash over me, I stuck with it and was surprised that the story, particularly on the Japanese side became quite interesting and eventually the series redeemed itself. As a result, I upped my rating by two points and feel that a solid 6/10 is the benchmark for something good and worth watching. Part of the problem with drip-releasing episodes for Apple TV is that if the early episodes are poor, people will rate appropriately. Not many, like myself, will come back to amend their ratings. Apple should take heed of that.
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