Carnival Row
Bloated, weird, long and very simplistic, this show wastes talented cast and a very interesting premise.
“CARNIVAL ROW” had everything at its disposal to become a hit – interesting premise of society where humans live next to mythical creatures, steampunk undertones, interesting detective story, monsters lurking at night, a pretty decent cast, high budget by Amazon and involvement (if only partially) of Guillermo Del Toro. How exactly they managed to screw this all up is beyond my comprehension.
In return we have a show that drags 9 episodes which could have easily cut by 5. Interactions between various creatures and humans turns into very on the nose racial/social injustice metaphor. Detective story that starts nicely becomes one-man-chase-all-and-win debacle. Huge twist that series has is pretty much resolved by episode 3. Cast is wasted on telling the words screenwriters made their characters say.
Writing is the worst part of it. There are subplots that have zero effect on anyone involved and are just added to further bloat the plotline. Forceful exposition left and right. Add to this heroes acting extremely stupid and completely uncharacteristic to their defined motivations and personalities. It’s like a 10 year old has written this show for 6 year olds with the addition of weird and pointless sex scenes.
Shame really because there was so much hope for “Carnival Row”.