rabbitmoon

This is such an important story, in raising awareness about very real forces of malevolent human intent which of course are still rampant today. Many sociopaths, narcissists, predators still get away with it.

This series stands alone from the documentary which I feel is irrelevant to keep comparing to. It's fascinating to see how much thoughtful detail is given here to explore how people unwittingly allow themselves to become manipulated, how their whole reality can slowly erode at the edges without being noticed. The writing, performances - every aspect really were just so top-notch. Every episode is progressive, fascinating and heartbreaking in different ways. It was just perfect.

Bravo to all involved, you created something quite brilliant here.

This episode felt like an AI written parody of Succession so far. All bark, repetitive CEO discussions that we know by now are irrelevant, the usual interludes of Greg, Roman etc giving their clichéd character flourishes. There is no real plot dynamics here, no suspense, it's just treading water over and over.

I hope this season improves. There were moments of greatness sprinkled in the first two seasons, but with a lot of flab and bloat while buying itself time for more focused storytelling. This entire episode felt like flab/bloat to me. Everything Logan spouts some self-conscious insult it feels try-hard and unnatural.

Oh look, another new film with supicious amounts of 10-star reviews, left by names ending in five digits who only have one or two conveniently praising reviews.

These people are clearly paid by distributors/producers to praise the film. Which is basically CONNING you into wasting your time. The film is so obscure it doesn't even have a review on letterboxd yet - do you really think all these people legitimately saw it, and decided to create new accounts to gush about it? I very much doubt it.

Don't fall for shill reviews! Don't fall for shill reviews! Don't fall for shill reviews! Don't fall for shill reviews!

This episode is really disappointing, especially after the growth in quality and complexity of season 5. The story relies entirely on hoping the audience finds it somehow eerie or scary - if you don't, if you're more plugged into character, theme, depth or anything like that, then there is nothing to see here. Mulder/Scully revert to the same tired belief debate from earlier seasons, as if it's supposed to be interesting. It's just ridiculous, aimed at 12 years old kind of stuff. A shame considering Vince Gilligan wrote it. A far cry from his later grasp of story dynamics and depth of character.

The first episode had promise, but sadly this has settled into a narrative masturbation exercise and eschewed any residual emotional honesty it had. At the beginning there was emotion - his relationship to his partner, trauma of what happened to his dad, panic/anxiety/paranoia. By E04 this has all been wringed out - we're left with clunky 90s style social-engineering (any probabilistic psychology presented as certainty isn't fun or witty - it's massive cringe), absurd character contrivances to forward the story. It's gone from vaguely respecting the audiences intelligence to appearing like a show aimed at teenagers. The exposition dump during the safehouse scenes was incredibly lazy in terms of writing. I've given up.

This show plays like full-on satire of true crime docus. The fact it's a "cold case" but with nothing new (of true significance) to add. An actress pairing with an unconvincing TV forensic psychologist who asks leading questions and seems like parody. The sinister strings music that plays over landscapes colour-graded to look like scandi-noir.

The two arrive at a woods in their car, Emilia Fox saying woodenly "so why are we here?" Wilson: "well this is where the bodies were found, of..." As if she doesn't know what they're supposed to be investigating! The scriptedness for the sake of exposition is so awkward and clunky.

Wilson says things like "so you think there's a chance, even a small chance, that this man could have been the killer?" The interviewee will say, ominously, "yes, yes I do" then Wilson will slowly nod is burrowed-brow as if this counts as a definitive, heart-breaking conclusion.

It's all absolutely insane. I really wish Philomena Cunk had been the "partner" as it would have been a lot more congruent with the vibe.

It niggled me throughout the show who Evans' portrayal reminded me of. Then, at the end of episode nine, that dead-eyed thousand yard stare triggered something - I has to pause, and finally it hit me. Peter Gibbons from Office Space. That weird, post-hypnotic trancey way of talking is exactly the same!

Also, great seeing Penelope Ann Miller (the teacher from Kindergarten Cop) as his mum. I had a crash on her as a kid. Not so much now.

In the first five episodes I was craving more of a backstory to a victim to balance it a little and build empathy. Episode 6 felt like it had heard me (although Tony probably wouldn't have). I do feel that the show tipped it's creepier, more compelling elements into the first half for the sake of that Netflix style addictive engagement, the latter episodes steer a bit too much into "well, then this stuff happened I guess" territory. But it's all interesting, just in different ways.

I enjoyed the episode, but can never fully love it as with S1&2. There's something so jarring and incongruent about the production value against the silliness of many moments.

As usual, the hitsquad were completely incompetent, not even managing to walk into an office and shoot a man. The bunkhouse stuff was so unclear I had no idea what was actually happening. Beth emerges like Wil E Coyote after an ACME bomb. Fire engines have blockaded the road and other first responders are on the scene - yet noone thought to check the building? So she swiftly satisfies Paramount's Big Tobacco sponsors (probably to pay for the subsequent action scene) while looking like she did at the end of Eden Lake.

Dutton gets released with a motorcade because he's the presiden- I mean a struggling ranch owner, who had no guards in the actual hospital. Jamie had no attack at all, so yeah good plan Jamie, the culprit doesn't look at all obvious.

My favourite moment was Kayce emerging like Jon Snow cosplaying as a tree. Followed by Winnie The Cowpooh throwing a snake.

What the hell are those buckle bunnies up to? Are they on the payroll or what?

The problem with this season is that it's lacked dramatic tension. No real sense of threat beyond small bursts of violence. "Should we take the half a billion dollars?" Gosh, what a dilemma.

Instead, all the true threat has been rammed into a minute or so of shock-cliffhanger. This is bad writing, as besides those moments of "oh no!" the rest of the episode is as similarly dull an unengaging as the rest of the season.

There are so many cringe moments. Jamie suddenly turning his back on a lifetime of family after one conversation with a relative stranger (literally). It's trying for shakespeare, but comes across as emotionally ignorant and immature. Rip digs up his mother for her ring, seriously? Jimmy's girlfriend says she loves him - the kind of conditional, manipulative love where your self-worth is tied up in what you do to impress her, a really nice message for young guys. Falls off his horse again - milking the same idea for some "oh no!" despite no one giving a s**t by this point.

This season really has been pretty trashy, rushed and poorly written. I'm sure it's hardcore fans won't notice though, halo-effect bias and all. I'm equally sure that if they revisit it in another ten years or so, they'll feel slightly embarrassed at how lame it actually is.

The precredits segment shows Colby and Teeter frantically getting out of their river-bashing AT NIGHT. What?! This happened mid-day, not even evening. Colby goes for an emotionally incongruent kiss, because that's a priority when someone needs urgent medical attention. They seem such a well suited couple, just lovely. Cut to Walker getting kidnapped, because apparently if he gets into a barfight he might spill the beans on a murder without remembering that he was framed for it with his prints all over the car. Winnie The Pooh forgot too, and deems it easier to kill or re-recruit the poor fella, as that won't cause more complications at all. It's no problem, Walker is still homeless as his regular gigs can only afford musical gear, regular laundry, clothes and high grooming standards.

Post credits it takes Monica less than a minute to start whining. This scene is really important to the building tension of the story, because we learn that it's parents evening at school tonight. Kayce wants Tate homeschooled, because the ranch isn't about to get bought or experience any financial pressure at all. The only teacher a kid needs these days is an old man who can barely talk. Monica's completely let go of having brains blown out all over her face, the risk she was put in. Not sure she ever did discuss it with Kayce, parents evening is more important.

An ambush on Wade and Smithers becomes so exciting as a set-piece that we need to intercut it with the Duttons having lunch and talking about nothing important. The kindest thing to do to an assault victim with potential PTSD is have her see a gory hanging before shoving a hot brand between her breasts. I'm sure women love that.

Meanwhile Jamie realises his fake dad and real dad starred together in No Way Out, which may as well be the title of Walker's memoir.

One episode left, and I can't WAIT to see the resolution of the Duttons going after some investor-yoga-fishing guy whose motives and threat are still unclear to me. What else is there to tie up? I can't think of anything. The subplots have been so stop-start and disposable this season.

While watching S1&2 I would think "this is a great show". While watching S3 I've consistently thought "this is a terrible show". It's embarrassing and cringe in places, the stories and editing are so off you can see the actors struggling to engage with their lines and apparent motives. It all feels like rushed first drafts, barest sketches of ideas coddled together and thrown together for the same of runtime.

This show is fantastically written, directed, edited, performed, scored and produced. It's a gift from some other realm of superior TV production. The reviewer here complaining about language though! Have you actually followed the story? The idea that the nightmarish threats at play here are perfectly fine and comfortable, but a bit of effing is cause to throw the TV over and refuse to finish the series is completely insane. It's a gritty thriller for f's sake! Would you rather the characters dressed like teletubbies too? Frankly, this show shouldn't be watched by snotty highhorse churchy sorts, so please don't watch and enjoy it.

This episode was ridiculously tense, after the first half hour I thought the episode was about to finish but then it just keeps going. Consistently excellent production values, brilliant writing, I love the soundtrack and night-vibes photography too. Always a pleasure to see the excellent magician and all-round nice guy Andy Nyman as the Home Secretary. I normally find BBC stuff too theatrical and 'acted', directors are usually poor at having the confidence and drive to really make a story come to life. Here though it's a different level, it reminds me of the good ol' days of 24. Top notch gripping stuff, and nightmare-fuel if you consider the very real implications of what's going on. Tremendous stuff, congrats to all involved.

The story has been so weak this episode that the precredit sequence - normally something enticing and setting the mood - is given to a few seconds of a cowboy we don't know riding next to a bull. Exciting stuff. Don't worry, it will become super relevant to the nail-biting idea of looking at horses to buy. Bob the cowboy (some real rodeo I take it) has such bad acting skills the shot cuts before he's even finished talking.

Dutton says "expensive taste runs in the blood" to which Tate says (about Kayce) "That's what it'll take as he's broke", because all six year olds talk like Taylor Sheridan.

Dutton says "secrets are like a callous on the heart, tell enough of 'em and soon your heart won't feel a thing" despite secrets being something you don't tell. Sheridan's on fire this season, or at least his typewriter might be.

Monica hasn't whined enough recently so happily agrees to get kidnapped so a long-range sniper borrowed from Wind River can hopefully aim perfectly at a struggle and cover her face in brain. She's cool with that as long as she can have a nice shower and whine at her husband some more.

Beth turns into a vile monster again amidst some stock-shenanigans that make as much sense to me as watching Wall Street when I was 8. Rip meanwhile has turned from The Punisher into Winnie The Pooh with a cowboy hat.

Excuse for violence #2 this episode is Colby and Teeter (Tater? Potato? Who cares) getting trampled by Wade and his Smithers, while skinny-dipping, which cuts to the next scene with no progression because the writing and editing this season is being tackled by a pack of feral children on activities day.

But all sympathy goes to Dutton and his TERRIBLE, nail-biting nightmare of a dilemma of turning down half a billion dollars, something we can all relate to. I wish I could give him a hug (and some cough syrup).

Just three episodes left after this and STILL nothing is really going besides soap-opera shenanigans with awkwardly shoe-horned action set-pieces that go absolutely nowhere. All that stuff about the livestock agent killing those guys before, all wrapped up with no repercussions. Jimmy getting absolutely quadrospazzed, now is walking around perfectly fine. Girl goes missing - big storyline! Oh no, she dead, end of. Random shootout with shotgun-through-door (straight from Sheridan's Wind River, like he's not even trying anymore), Kayce doesn't even check the trailer to clear it! Dutton moping about with his gravelly overwritten wisdoms and absolutely NOTHING to do. He says here that he's tired - yeah, you and me both buddy! This stuff is tedious as hell. But it's ok - because there are still thrilling scenes here like Jamie waiting in an office, an irritating back-seat passenger and Rip kicking a tyre. Woohoo! Also today I learned that you can lasso the head of a driver of a travelling car through an open window, who knew? This season was clearly churned out for the sake of commercial longevity, there's no point or soul to this season at all.

Literally the only thing threatening the Duttons here is an offer for half a billion dollars. Gosh! Edge of the seat stuff! What a terrible predicament for people in this era of economic crisis to relate to.

If that's not enough of a threat, then you can be thrilled by an old man looking after buffalo, handing legit papers over a fence. Tense stuff!

If that's not enough, you can marvel at a kitchen squabble where a grown man (also the new governor? I can't keep track with all the excitement) shouts "I hate you I hate you!" to his dad and punches a window.

What the hell happened to this show?

Oh, also, random women infiltrating the ranchers to then ride buffalo in the night, because Kip has apparently disappeared from existence on this episode.

S1 & 2 were so oomphy in drama and dynamics, always something to be worried about and hoping for. Five episodes in to S3 and it hasn't picked up a single interesting thread. Instead, an annoying cowgirl brought in just for lolz, a bunch of unrealistic HR musical chairs, an investor throwing his fishing rod down because he's angry about his stock falling. Gee whiz! The flashback prologues used to have relevance to the story, here it just feels like ret-conning filler. It honestly feels like a bunch of deleted scenes. When you think about the dramatic tensions in S1, the various pickles and problems, murders and coverups, S3 feels like another show.

The first two seasons felt like tight thrillers. So far, S3 feels like a very dull lifetime drama. It's indicative that the credits sequence in E4 feels likes it from another show, after jokey nonsense with Jimmy and the girl the sweeping, epic tones of the theme feel completely mismatched from what we've just seen. There are no threats here, just vague corporate fluff with no charisma, memorable characters or dynamics.

Imagine if a virgin girl fell of a horse, a guy walks into her hospital room and says he wants to have sex with her - for no reason beyond her winning a rodeo. Doesn't really know her at all. The girl says she's in bad shape, worried about her back. The guy carries on anyway and shags her - and this scene was played for laughs? That's a gender reversal of what we're shown here as some misguided attempt at comedy. All I could think about during her kissing him was how much he would stink, as if he'd have a single flicker of libido in his post-surgical state. Cringe.

Then we have Kayce's kid wondering half naked into the woods. He once did similar and almost drowned in a river, but that's ok, haha! Let's just make out on a rock here by the river! Oh look a wolf, what about our son? Oh well, forget him, let's make out! It's just absurd. I have no idea what a scene like that was written for, most of these episodes have felt like "filler" so far.

Then we have a shoe-horned bit of action using the most clichéd, stereotyped biker gang ever filmed.

The most cringe, almost satire moment has to be Chief Rainwater (who's had nothing to do this season) wafting sage over his head after a <1minute meeting.

This episodes cringe profundity trophy goes to Kayce, saying "live each day like there's no tomorrow - one day you'll be right". Ugh.

Four episodes already and all that's happened is two guys killed in a trailer (dealt with), Jimmy fell off a horse (gets laid), clichéd bikers cut a fence (then go home). Wow, gripping stuff.

Sometimes you sit down and just want to see a tight thriller. Genuine suspense. The kind of thing you would rent from a videostore in the 90s (Basic Instinct, Dead Calm, Silence of the Lambs, Cape Fear etc). Sadly, that experience is VERY hard to come by - you need to basically rewatch old films you already know, or risk wasting time on an absolute dud with shoddy performances and script, CGI explosions etc.

Emily the Criminal was a HUGE breath of fresh air on this front. It's been so long since I saw a genuinely fantastic thriller that it caught me off guard and me literally wanting to pause at points because it was that intense. The performances are terrific all round (not just Aubrey), the direction and writing is top-notch. Brilliant pacing. Excellent characters with arcs. Great soundtrack. There's literally nothing I'd want to improve, its just that good. One of the things I loved most was the naturalistic, organic feel to everything - I've become so sick of that digital-looking theatrical reading-from-a-script soulless vibe that seems to plague so many modern films. This felt like it was from a great era of the past, not audience pandering or trying to shoe-horn twists everywhere, it was just solid. I'm sure it will remain my surprise favourite of the year. Well done to everyone involved, I'll be certainly waiting, wanting and watching for more of John Patton Ford in future.

This episode is the first that had me yawning and checking how much was left. It was almost a parody of itself. There's only so much cow-lassoing, croaked out Dutton profundities and smiley Rip I can take. Where's the drama? You can't crank it up to S2's climax then wind it all the way back to a happy-clappy cheesefest, it almost gave me anti-drama whiplash. Where are the threats? I couldn't even care for the dumb agents trailer-swerving oversight. Am I supposed to be anxious about murderer-Jamie's predicament in hiring a new agent? Or care about Rourke building a city? I miss those psycho casino brothers and Dan Jenkins, they were all so good and the show feels empty without them.

There are some clear pros here - a fascinating true-life crisis, some great performances, and a build-up of tension. In those respects, along with the relative foreboding chaos and problem solving, it reminded me a little of the much superior Chernobyl.

But from an engagement perspective, it felt quite weak. So many characters are set up and developed who have no resolution. Eg the corporate helper guy who gets involved and then is just dropped. Vera narrates over the first episode, but then becomes a background character (and the narration is dropped). Non-linear editing is employed where different moments are intercut, which often becomes completely confusing and inconsistent. It ends in quite a downbeat way without any final title cards explaining the overall stats of what happened (lives lost, saved, what happened to people). With better writing and story dynamics it could have been SO much more engaging and fulfilling, building more emotional connection rather than just relying on a blanket of consistent chaos. I appreciate its trying hard to be docu-style and refrain from artifice, but in the end it felt like thin disaster-porn stretched out across five episodes. It was interesting and fascinating at times, but the shifting focus and lack of overall story arcs left me feeling quite distant.

The first episode seems to rely on its atmosphere and idea more than its writing or craft. Farmigas spiritual narration is ludicrously trite and distracting, especially at the very end saying "God help us ALL!!" it sounds corny. There is some shocking editing - we see Farmiga, then follow another nurse with her back to us, for a while, assuming it's Farmiga until realising it isn't. A woman sits on stairs looking through photos, intercut with her smoking (and not looking at photos). I couldnt tell if this was a flashback memory until realising no - they literally just intercut the two shots hoping noone would notice the glaring inconsistency. It's really jarring to watch how unmatched the two shots are. Also lacking a decent foreboding soundtrack to drive home some tension. The use of 4:3 footage without trimming to the same ratio is also off-putting, it distracts from the immersion.

I'll admit by the end of the first episode, despite a few issues I felt like watching the second. I just finished the whole thing, and am blown away by how terrible it progressively becomes. I can't even begin to criticise the writing - I don't know where to start. By the last episode, any residual emotion or knowledge of character motive has been completely wrung out by an overly scatty, convoluted plot that makes no sense and is full of holes. Its like watching a fancy CGI screensaver made of random cut scenes from videogames.

I watched this a lot as a kid in the 80s, always recording and rewatching when on TV. I loved it then, as an adult it's hard to remember why. The short story takes a while to develop, while acclimatising to kids who have no hardships, struggles or things to overcome. I can't imagine younguns now lasting more than a minute before reaching for their handheld games. The direction from Craven is pretty poor, the acting from peripherals pretty terrible, and the script corny and uninteresting. Maybe as a kid I just thought "Ski" was cool? The soundtrack is good though, at times it vibes of Beverley Hills Cop (for kids).

It's always nice seeing montages of film clips, if only to discover new treats. I watched a third of this on 1.5x speed, which made Cousins' monotonous, slow narration sound vaguely more normal. But then the clips were too fast. Cousins really is a pompous dousche. He describes the opening credits of Deadpool as if we need to be told that they're somehow edgy or different. He explains that they 'pushed the boundaries of comedy' or something. And on it goes. He seems to think he's some appointed superiority on the real poetry of cinema, here to hold your hand through stuff that never would have occured to you before. Even explaining how 'passion' drives cinema. Yet his own narration is so passionless, so pretentiously lofty in its delivery, he commits a huge sin in boring you rather than exciting you about cinema. I prefer Scorsese or Tarantino riffing on their observations anyday. Cousins should really be making hypnotherapy CDs.

The first few episodes are terrific with good writing, outstanding performances and interesting themes. Each episode left me thinking "wow", and feel more substantial than most modern films. The fifth episode was also great, reaching a sort of theatrical climax set in a house, with flashbacks used to add depth to one character.

Sadly, episodes 6-8 are a disaster. Its like someone gave up trying, or they switched writers with someone who didn't understand the show. Subplots and characters develop out of nowhere that go nowhere. Things have been building up the whole season also go nowhere. There is no satisfaction, catharsis or fulfillment. The whole story seems to cancel itself out, with certain things left completely unresolved. Other strands are resolved in the most contrived, corny ways that don't ring true with the episodes that went before, like characters have just switched overnight. It was the most confusing lack of consistency I've ever seen in a series (and that includes Dexter and GoT).