I was hesitant to start watching this, because I was afraid it would be like the domestic-violence-themed horror movie Invisible Man, in which a woman's life is methodically destroyed by a controlling psychopath. At the same time, one of the creators of this series did Maniac, so there was also a chance it would be weird and quirky and fun.
The end result is neither as grueling as Invisible Woman nor as fun as Maniac. Instead, it's an engaging mix of quirky humor and dark themes as a woman tries to escape the psychopath tech billionaire who is monitoring her through a computer chip in her brain.
The series is mainly a dark comedy, as protagonist Hazel moves in with her dad, who has a sex doll lover, and deals with a quirky group of good, bad, and somewhere-in-between characters.
I would have rated this 8 stars until the end, because the ending comes pretty close to ruining it all for me. To be fair, this turns out to be the first season of a continuous series, so this ending isn't final, but the story is clearly best as a mini-series so the fact that there even *is* a season 2 is itself a knock against season 1.
Below I explain why the ending sucks.
*************SPOILERS******************
I didn't like the ending because it's a bummer, but that's not why I think it's a genuinely bad ending. I do think this sort of Black Mirror finish feels "real" to a lot of people, so you can just bum people out and have them say, well, that's life, but I don't agree that bummer endings are inherently any more realistic than any other kind.
Here are my main objections:
* It's sudden: Yes, we know her father's dying, but still, when Byron suddenly, in the show's last 10 minutes, says, "hey, you're dad's dying, what, I thought you knew" it feels a bit Deus Ex Machina. And the way he does it - weirdly offhanded, as though she'd certainly know this thing about the father she wasn't close to - was odd even by Byron standards.
* It makes no sense: The dad had *decided* not to seek treatment, so "I can offer him treatment" is a weird offer to accept. Perhaps the series is saying Hazel is just as controlling as Byron, but if so that's not established.
* It wouldn't work: Herbert's a bit of a loner, but no, he's not going to be oblivious that there's no one there except Hazel, that if he goes into town no one looks at him, or that no one ever visits. He's not *that* much of a loner.
* Byron isn't a doctor: *Why* can Byron help? He's a tech guy. What evidence do we have that he can treat cancer?
*She knows Byron's a psychopath: She's going to put herself *and* her father back in the hands of this guy? Seriously?