Ah, where to begin.
"Hemlock Grove" has some of the lowest points I have seen on TV the last couple of years, from laughable dialog, direction without, editing that makes you cringe and a plot that seems so badly put together that you wonder if there is ever going to be a payoff.
I really liked House of Cards, so I thought I would give Hemlock Grove a chance. I am not in the main demographic, I guess; being a male in my late thirties, my fascination with werewolves and vampires was pretty much over in the nineties.
After having seen four episodes, noticing to myself that I actually uttered "WOW, I can't watch this crap" out loud to myself, I turned the series off and took a nap.
Luckily, when I woke up, there was nothing else to do, so I continued watching.
And they make it work, somehow. Characters that early in the season were just irritating, like Famke with her extremely fake British accent, start to grow on you. In no way is this masterfully done, it just goes from being bad in the first few episodes to decent in the latter. Some characters will still annoy you, but at the end of the season, I ended up actually liking most of them; even the Dictaphone wielding and constantly over played Dr. Pryce.
In a series where one of the main guys is a werewolf, this is largely inconsequential. These things are downplayed, and while it has some forced relevance to the plot, things could easily played out differently. Still, for what it is, it is good enough.
What surprised me, tho, at the end, after having watched the whole series back-to-back, is that I actually liked it, despite its many, many flaws. The plot is largely driven by foreshadowing, but most open ends are tied at the end of the season. And some of the themes are good, although being presented in an overly simplistic manner. Some of the imagery is at times excellent.
At the end, it is the characters and their relationships that pulled me in. Again, it is by no means masterfully done, often it is forced. But somehow it works, almost by necessity. The two main guys come off as OK with their somewhat homo erotic and under developed relationship. But you understand that they are driven to each other out of necessity. Stand out characters are Shelley, who at the same time is extremely powerful and very vulnerable, and Letha, who is embodies a raw and sensual youthfulness that is convincing. These two female characters are no doubt the strongest, both from an acting point of view, and just as fleshed out characters. They are likable, because they are well done, both in the fiction and in the craft bringing them to the screen.
To summarize: Yes, it is bad. Most comments on here bashing it are 100% correct. Still, I really liked it; it has some X-factor that appeals to me although I'm not in the demographic, and a lot of it is laugh out loud bad. I don't care for Twilight. True Blood makes me cringe to the point I need to turn it off. With Hemlock Grove, I'm actually hoping we'll see a second season.
"Hemlock Grove" has some of the lowest points I have seen on TV the last couple of years, from laughable dialog, direction without, editing that makes you cringe and a plot that seems so badly put together that you wonder if there is ever going to be a payoff.
I really liked House of Cards, so I thought I would give Hemlock Grove a chance. I am not in the main demographic, I guess; being a male in my late thirties, my fascination with werewolves and vampires was pretty much over in the nineties.
After having seen four episodes, noticing to myself that I actually uttered "WOW, I can't watch this crap" out loud to myself, I turned the series off and took a nap.
Luckily, when I woke up, there was nothing else to do, so I continued watching.
And they make it work, somehow. Characters that early in the season were just irritating, like Famke with her extremely fake British accent, start to grow on you. In no way is this masterfully done, it just goes from being bad in the first few episodes to decent in the latter. Some characters will still annoy you, but at the end of the season, I ended up actually liking most of them; even the Dictaphone wielding and constantly over played Dr. Pryce.
In a series where one of the main guys is a werewolf, this is largely inconsequential. These things are downplayed, and while it has some forced relevance to the plot, things could easily played out differently. Still, for what it is, it is good enough.
What surprised me, tho, at the end, after having watched the whole series back-to-back, is that I actually liked it, despite its many, many flaws. The plot is largely driven by foreshadowing, but most open ends are tied at the end of the season. And some of the themes are good, although being presented in an overly simplistic manner. Some of the imagery is at times excellent.
At the end, it is the characters and their relationships that pulled me in. Again, it is by no means masterfully done, often it is forced. But somehow it works, almost by necessity. The two main guys come off as OK with their somewhat homo erotic and under developed relationship. But you understand that they are driven to each other out of necessity. Stand out characters are Shelley, who at the same time is extremely powerful and very vulnerable, and Letha, who is embodies a raw and sensual youthfulness that is convincing. These two female characters are no doubt the strongest, both from an acting point of view, and just as fleshed out characters. They are likable, because they are well done, both in the fiction and in the craft bringing them to the screen.
To summarize: Yes, it is bad. Most comments on here bashing it are 100% correct. Still, I really liked it; it has some X-factor that appeals to me although I'm not in the demographic, and a lot of it is laugh out loud bad. I don't care for Twilight. True Blood makes me cringe to the point I need to turn it off. With Hemlock Grove, I'm actually hoping we'll see a second season.