I am not marking this out of ten because it would simply trivialise the effort the producers have made. I hadn't read the book but I have been close to someone who did commit suicide, hence my interest.
Whilst watching I dealt with it as a documentary about one suicide with no other intention than to set out the evidence of the person who died. By the end I could understand why the outcome had gone wrong for every single character involved, from any standpoint I chose to observe. I will watch it again but not for a long while because even now, after several weeks, there are scenes I remember more vividly than anything I have watched on TV or in a cinema for a long while.
There are times when this series is very hard to watch, and I paced my viewing according to how I felt at the end of each episode. I found all the characters to be complex and complicated, much more so the more episodes I watched until, by the end, I was left exhausted by the folly of it all. If that is what the producers set out to do to the viewer then they achieved it with several notches to spare.
I cannot dismiss it as irresponsible as some have done so, on here and elsewhere. I will not endorse it as a statement about suicide or how such tragic events can be changed because I do not believe that is the message the series delivers or intends to deliver. It left me on empty and I am pretty sure that is what I felt about the suicide I experienced up close and personal.
If you want to watch it then do so with an open mind but don't judge it before you reach the end. If you find yourself jumping to conclusions before episode thirteen then this 'documentary' is not for you.
Whilst watching I dealt with it as a documentary about one suicide with no other intention than to set out the evidence of the person who died. By the end I could understand why the outcome had gone wrong for every single character involved, from any standpoint I chose to observe. I will watch it again but not for a long while because even now, after several weeks, there are scenes I remember more vividly than anything I have watched on TV or in a cinema for a long while.
There are times when this series is very hard to watch, and I paced my viewing according to how I felt at the end of each episode. I found all the characters to be complex and complicated, much more so the more episodes I watched until, by the end, I was left exhausted by the folly of it all. If that is what the producers set out to do to the viewer then they achieved it with several notches to spare.
I cannot dismiss it as irresponsible as some have done so, on here and elsewhere. I will not endorse it as a statement about suicide or how such tragic events can be changed because I do not believe that is the message the series delivers or intends to deliver. It left me on empty and I am pretty sure that is what I felt about the suicide I experienced up close and personal.
If you want to watch it then do so with an open mind but don't judge it before you reach the end. If you find yourself jumping to conclusions before episode thirteen then this 'documentary' is not for you.
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