I was with this for 7 episodes, I loved it, loved the drama, the story, the mystery, etc then the final happened...
I honestly don't really get what the message here is...Is it ok to steal babies as long as you love them the most? Are all white people just simply racist? If you think a certain action is OK are you then above any kind of repercussion?
Let's start with Mia, she took $12000 (putting a price on a baby, an action she later condemns) to carry a baby for an apparant lovely but unlucky couple, she had some hardships and some losses and instead of dealing with them and moving on she dissappears and tells the couple she miscarried the baby, before changing her name and living on the run with said child. All this is supposed to show that she's a good mother... no wonder she tried to justify what she's done by interjecting herself into a custody battle. She obviously loves Pearl, that's not the question, but she has lied to her daughter her whole life, stolen a baby, effectively faked her death and lived life on the run, then intruded on the Richardson's and friends lives and still she feels like she can look down her nose at everyone else because she's black and not as privileged as her white neighbours...
Next we have Bebe. A truely sad story, a young desperate immigrant alone trying to raise a baby with no help. Very sad yes, but she abandoned her child, a hard decision to be sure, but one no less illegal or horrific. She left her baby out in the freezing cold, unsure if she would be found, then came back a year later and tried to act like a good mother who can do more for her child, despite being in the exact same circumstances as she was when she gave her up. The best thing she did for that child was to give it away, even though she did so in the worst way possible. She comes back and tries to win the child through legal means from the family that have taken her in and taken care of her and when that fails she proceeds to kidnap the child and obviously begin to live a life on the run as a criminal, who also happens to be an illegal alien in a country that is not shy about what little empathy it has for people in that situation....How is this best for the child, which according to her lawer is what Bebe was after all along?
Then we have the Richardson children. All of these children are the worst examples of spoilt privileged white teenagers. Tripp is a typical jock character who has zero charisma. Lexie is a spoilt, popular girl who has planned her future yet has no substance and actually has to steal some from Pearl. Moody is a typical angsty teen who feels like he is more spiritual than everyone else he knows, he tries to use his family's money (that he later decides is horrible) to try and buy affection then when that fails he flips and turns into an aggressive, possesive bully. Finally Izzie, a teen going through a lot, it is true, but the way she goes about it is entirely wrong. I don't have any sympathy for characters who keep trying to push their parents and start acting like a victim when there is consequences. All of this is forgivable until the final episode, when they decide that because they have stressed their mother to what seems like a mental breakdown, they are going to fix their lives by burning the house to the ground....Like what....?
The best feature of the show was the music and remakes of old 90's songs. The only likeable characters in this entire show were Pearl, Elena and Mia's brother who we only see in a flashback, they are truely the only ones who show any kind of progression at all.
I haven't read the book but from what I can tell from other reviews, this doesnt seem to be a good representation. This show had such promise and I got so excited when I saw the trailer as I love Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon but I have not been so dissappointed in the climax of a show in such a long time
I honestly don't really get what the message here is...Is it ok to steal babies as long as you love them the most? Are all white people just simply racist? If you think a certain action is OK are you then above any kind of repercussion?
Let's start with Mia, she took $12000 (putting a price on a baby, an action she later condemns) to carry a baby for an apparant lovely but unlucky couple, she had some hardships and some losses and instead of dealing with them and moving on she dissappears and tells the couple she miscarried the baby, before changing her name and living on the run with said child. All this is supposed to show that she's a good mother... no wonder she tried to justify what she's done by interjecting herself into a custody battle. She obviously loves Pearl, that's not the question, but she has lied to her daughter her whole life, stolen a baby, effectively faked her death and lived life on the run, then intruded on the Richardson's and friends lives and still she feels like she can look down her nose at everyone else because she's black and not as privileged as her white neighbours...
Next we have Bebe. A truely sad story, a young desperate immigrant alone trying to raise a baby with no help. Very sad yes, but she abandoned her child, a hard decision to be sure, but one no less illegal or horrific. She left her baby out in the freezing cold, unsure if she would be found, then came back a year later and tried to act like a good mother who can do more for her child, despite being in the exact same circumstances as she was when she gave her up. The best thing she did for that child was to give it away, even though she did so in the worst way possible. She comes back and tries to win the child through legal means from the family that have taken her in and taken care of her and when that fails she proceeds to kidnap the child and obviously begin to live a life on the run as a criminal, who also happens to be an illegal alien in a country that is not shy about what little empathy it has for people in that situation....How is this best for the child, which according to her lawer is what Bebe was after all along?
Then we have the Richardson children. All of these children are the worst examples of spoilt privileged white teenagers. Tripp is a typical jock character who has zero charisma. Lexie is a spoilt, popular girl who has planned her future yet has no substance and actually has to steal some from Pearl. Moody is a typical angsty teen who feels like he is more spiritual than everyone else he knows, he tries to use his family's money (that he later decides is horrible) to try and buy affection then when that fails he flips and turns into an aggressive, possesive bully. Finally Izzie, a teen going through a lot, it is true, but the way she goes about it is entirely wrong. I don't have any sympathy for characters who keep trying to push their parents and start acting like a victim when there is consequences. All of this is forgivable until the final episode, when they decide that because they have stressed their mother to what seems like a mental breakdown, they are going to fix their lives by burning the house to the ground....Like what....?
The best feature of the show was the music and remakes of old 90's songs. The only likeable characters in this entire show were Pearl, Elena and Mia's brother who we only see in a flashback, they are truely the only ones who show any kind of progression at all.
I haven't read the book but from what I can tell from other reviews, this doesnt seem to be a good representation. This show had such promise and I got so excited when I saw the trailer as I love Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon but I have not been so dissappointed in the climax of a show in such a long time