I really enjoyed this show. It's a little cheesy sometimes and some action scenes feel very slow and unsuspenseful, also the guy who plays Elvis is not the strongest actor, but apart from that it was great. Solid and interesting world building (the fact that this show is set in Mexico and therefore brings in culturally specific supernatural elements made it even more interesting) , cool characters (I especially liked Nancy) and a good story.
I would say this was one of the best supernatural shows of the last few years. The first one since the early seasons of Supernatural and season 1 of Wynona Earp that really hooked me. I am super excited for a second season, hopefully we will get one. This could be great!
Reviews
4 Reviews
On My Block
(2018–2021)
It has its flaws, but I still enjoyed it
17 March 2018
I watched On My Block in one go, which is always a good sign.
Overall, I liked the story. Four teenagers have been friends for years and are now facing numerous challenges that come with first love and growing up which threaten their friendship.
The main characters are all people of color who live in a poor neighborhood which is a nice change to your usually very white middle class coming of age setting. There have been quite a few more diverse TV shows lately which I think is really great.
However, there are some problems with this show (hence the seven star rating). The acting is mediocre at times. Especially the actor who plays Cesar (a teenage boy who follows in his brother's footsteps and joins the local gang) was not convincing to me. He didn't really portray much emotions which is a bad thing if you play a character who has such a serious storyline. Some scenes, especially in the first few episodes, felt awkward. I can't exactly point out why that was. I blame it on the acting and maybe also the camera work. I also haven't made up my mind about wether or not I like the characters. Sometimes they are real assholes and/or don't feel like realistic, complex human beings. Other times I really liked them. I'd say that the girl,Monse, is my favourite and gives the most consistent (good) performance. There were some sexist tropes that bothered me but I won't go into it here. It would have been cool if the creators had realized this and deconstrucetd it in the same way the deconstructed other elements / tropes but you can't have everything and it's probably only a minor detail for most viewers.
In conclusion, I enjoyed the show and might even watch it a second time. It made me laugh out loud on several occasions even if the humour wasn't always my taste. It's not a master piece, it doesn't stand out but it's also better (I feel) than your average TV show and offers an original take on an old concept.
However, there are some problems with this show (hence the seven star rating). The acting is mediocre at times. Especially the actor who plays Cesar (a teenage boy who follows in his brother's footsteps and joins the local gang) was not convincing to me. He didn't really portray much emotions which is a bad thing if you play a character who has such a serious storyline. Some scenes, especially in the first few episodes, felt awkward. I can't exactly point out why that was. I blame it on the acting and maybe also the camera work. I also haven't made up my mind about wether or not I like the characters. Sometimes they are real assholes and/or don't feel like realistic, complex human beings. Other times I really liked them. I'd say that the girl,Monse, is my favourite and gives the most consistent (good) performance. There were some sexist tropes that bothered me but I won't go into it here. It would have been cool if the creators had realized this and deconstrucetd it in the same way the deconstructed other elements / tropes but you can't have everything and it's probably only a minor detail for most viewers.
In conclusion, I enjoyed the show and might even watch it a second time. It made me laugh out loud on several occasions even if the humour wasn't always my taste. It's not a master piece, it doesn't stand out but it's also better (I feel) than your average TV show and offers an original take on an old concept.
Here and Now
(2018)
The second episode is just bad
20 February 2018
I liked the pilot. The dialogues were good, the characters interesting, some scenes were emotinal. Overall, a good start.
But the second episode is just so bad, I couldn't get through it without skipping half of the scenes.
The characters are super annoying. I can't identify with any of them (except maybe the youngest brother).
The show tries really hard to insert some social commentary (they are not subtle about it at all) and fails miserably.
After the first awkward "let's talk about social justice and feminsms"-scene I thought that okay, this is setting up one of the characters that were introduced shortly afterwards. So I forgave them for it.
The second scene made me cringe so badly, I eventually skipped forward.
Politically, I believe in most of the things that this show shoves in our face (feminism, white priviledge etc.) and I like shows that actually adress some of these issues in a good and interesting way (for example, I loved One Day at a Time). But this is just too preachy, even for my taste, and annoying and it feels like pandering.
So I won't continue watching.
The mystery element (the younger brother seeing the number 11 11 and having some kind of connection to his therapist) is not enough to keep me interested.
Godless
(2017)
I enjoyed it
24 November 2017
I watched Godless in two sittings and overall liked it. The scenery was beautiful. I liked the acting. I liked most of the characters and some of them really grew on me throughout the episodes. The overall atmosphere of the show was great and felt realistic.
There were some downfalls, however: The relationship between two of the characters (the hero and the antagonist) was lacking depth which was disappointing to me. There was a lot of romance which is fine for a Western, I guess, but I could have done without it. I also don't need to watch a character ride through the country for what feels like forever and I don't need minute-long montages of people sleeping and thinking and dreaming of a better life. But again, I guess that's typical for a Western, so it's fine. Not all of the (sub)plots worked for me. There is one character in the show who just rides through the country in search of something for most of the show, which was a bit boring, to be honest, and didn't really lead to anything.
I am not a huge fan of Westerns and I didn't enjoy / watch Deadwood or Hell on Wheels but I liked Godless and might even re-watch it at some point. Also, I don't care too much about historical accuracy. I like quiet and slow TV shows with well developed and interesting characters, beautiful / lively settings, good music and an intriguing story- line. Godless met most of these criteria, it's not great but it's good enough. I do feel like the show could have been much more, so I felt a bit disappointed in the end. But, like I said, I still enjoyed it.
There were some downfalls, however: The relationship between two of the characters (the hero and the antagonist) was lacking depth which was disappointing to me. There was a lot of romance which is fine for a Western, I guess, but I could have done without it. I also don't need to watch a character ride through the country for what feels like forever and I don't need minute-long montages of people sleeping and thinking and dreaming of a better life. But again, I guess that's typical for a Western, so it's fine. Not all of the (sub)plots worked for me. There is one character in the show who just rides through the country in search of something for most of the show, which was a bit boring, to be honest, and didn't really lead to anything.
I am not a huge fan of Westerns and I didn't enjoy / watch Deadwood or Hell on Wheels but I liked Godless and might even re-watch it at some point. Also, I don't care too much about historical accuracy. I like quiet and slow TV shows with well developed and interesting characters, beautiful / lively settings, good music and an intriguing story- line. Godless met most of these criteria, it's not great but it's good enough. I do feel like the show could have been much more, so I felt a bit disappointed in the end. But, like I said, I still enjoyed it.
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