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Series Reviews

High Desert: An unimpressive Apple series you’re okay skipping

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High Desert is Apple’s poor response to Peacock’s Poker Face. While both shows share a similar premise, High Desert lacks the charm to make it successful. Instead of a quirky and fun journey through America, you get an unremarkable staycation in a sleepy desert town no one cares about. Whatever quirks this series tries to have made the series impossible to enjoy. While it may not be the worst thing Apple has done to us, it isn’t good either.

Peggy has led an impulsive life full of bad decisions and chaos. After the death of her mother, she decides to live a more productive life. She tries to quit drugs, becomes a private investigator, and tries to cut out the bad influences in her life. The problem is that Peggy has tried to reform several times but always falls back to her old ways. Will this be the new chapter in her life she keeps saying it will be, or will this be another of Peggy’s empty promises? 

This series is droning spastic series of events that grow unmanageably chaotic because the plot needs them to. The harder Peggy tries to do good, the more she makes it harder for people around her. By the end of her journey, she is still the same character, but now she’s created a mess even she might not be able to control. High Desert is a jumbled mess of unfinished plot points connected unrealistically by a single character, and it doesn’t work. It needed a lot more focus and a more charming character. 

Peggy is a selfish and frustrating character. I commend the actress for having fun with the role, but I couldn’t stand Peggy by the end. She sucks. Peggy is supposed to be a smart lovable loser so that the audience can overlook her general shadiness. Instead, it’s grueling to watch her move between her droning monologues full of lies as she makes things worse. They try to play it off like Peggy is the way she is because she loves it so much, but I don’t see it. It sucks to follow a character that can move through adversity easily and learns nothing from her journey. Not that anything happens during this journey. 

Most of the plot that exists in this series doesn’t matter. There is too much going on to cover in one go, but a lot of it only exists to spark moments of dialogue. Many of the plot points go unfinished and forgotten, others overstay their welcome, and some of them don’t make sense. All this unregulated chaos builds to a cliffhanger that only made me realize how much time I wasted on this series. Maybe the show was building to an eventful second season, but I don’t care enough to find out. Despite all the chaos, nothing remarkable ever happens.

The problem with this series isn’t that it is bad, there are worse shows out the. The problem is that there are better things you could be watching instead. High Desert is an unremarkable series with quirks that will probably annoy more than they entertain. If you watch this series, you won’t remember what you did. You can stream it on Apple if you have a membership, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch it. 

Series Reviews

The Last Thing He Told Me: The slowest suspenseful thriller about unconditional motherly love

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The Last Thing He Told Me is the slowest thriller you will ever have to sit through. While I am sure the target audience had a much better time with this series than I did, I can’t recommend it based on the pacing. Maybe the book is better?

Hannah is a wood spinner who lives a quiet life in Sausalito with her perfect loving husband and his angry teenage daughter. Hanahs peaceful life is taken from her when her husband disappears without a trace. In the wake of his disappearance, the two women find themselves desperately searching for answers, and the truth they find will change them forever.

The acting is the best part of the series, but it’s boring. While it may not be the worse suspenseful thriller I’ve seen this year, it is hard to recommend. The pacing hurts the narrative because there is too much filler. Whatever suspense and mystery this series creates is rendered ineffective by the constant flashbacks. I understand that the flashbacks explain why Hanah makes certain decisions, treats Bailey the way she does, and finds certain clues, but the series could have been shorter. It still wouldn’t be the best drama out there, but it would be better. Unfortunately, the series feels slow, and I stopped caring about the mystery early on. 

The characters are fine because the actors are good. I wouldn’t have stuck around as long as I did if it wasn’t for the actors. Hannah is a bland character who is unbelievably competent when she needs to be. I have mixed feelings about this character. I like that a lot of her actions are grounded by realistic limits, but things will always go her way. She has the supernatural ability to get out of any adverse situation because she didn’t grow up with a mother. This series has no stakes, so I stopped caring.

Bailey is a generic angry teenager, and although the actress does a solid job, there isn’t much to her character. She is used as a catalyst for a lot of the plot because she doesn’t do anything else. At the start of the series, she is your typical pissed-off edgy teenager with an unconditional love towards her mother and a frustrating amount of defiance. As she becomes closer to Hannah, she begins to disappear, only showing up when the plot needs her. For a series so focused on making sure Bailey can lead the kind of life she deserves, it’s a bit disappointing to see her disappear the way she does. Not that she had much of a presence, to begin with. 

The mystery is okay, but it doesn’t matter. This series is about the power of unconditional motherly love and will toss out plot, suspense, and mystery to show this. The series will take every possible moment to let you know that Hanah is a great mother who will do anything for Bailey, even though they aren’t related. It is a little nauseating how over-the-top and cheesy this series gets when dealing with the relationship between Hannah and Bailey. After a while, it becomes tedious filler to pad out the boring fantasy. 

The Last Thing He Told Me is hard to recommend because it is boring. I’m sure the people this was made for will enjoy it more than I did, but it wasn’t for me. You can stream it on Apple TV if you have a subscription, but there are better examples of this genre you could be watching instead. 

Series Reviews

Series Review – Roar (2022)

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Image by Ian Lindsay from Pixabay

Roar is a horror anthology series on Apple TV that deals with women’s issues. Each episode is a different scary story that tackles a specific issue. The show deals with subjects like discrimination, sexism, and abuse, to name a few. If you like shows like Black Mirror, you might enjoy this more than I did. Ultimately, while many of the concepts were interesting, I was left with a disappointment that makes it impossible for me to recommend this show.

There are a few technical issues that are hard to ignore with the acting and writing, but ultimately the show’s biggest issues are with the pacing and endings. The endings ruin this show for me. The show does a decent job at setting up an interesting narrative, only to fall flat as it struggles to achieve its empowering and happy ending. As a result, this show becomes very preachy, and the narrative suffers for it. I don’t mind morals of female empowerment, but in Roar, it seems forced and out of place.

Each episode is limited by the same simple formula. A woman encounters an issue that gets personified into some kind of magical and inexplicable presence. The presence can be a disease, a person, or even a monster. The idea is that the issue the protagonist faces is tangible and something they can overcome. There is some solid setup and buildup, but it is all wasted on some ex-Machina. The protagonist will always easily overcome their ordeal, and the episodes will sort of just end. It is very anti-climactic and a waste of some interesting concepts. It also creates an issue with the pacing that I cannot overlook. Halfway through the episodes it feels like there is a sudden rush towards a happy ending. 

As is tradition with these types of shows, not all the stories are good. Some stand out, but it is always a gamble on what you are going to get. If you enjoy this type of storytelling, you might have a better time than I did. I would suggest you skip it because none of the stories are good enough to earn a recommendation.   

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Series Reviews

Series Review: Surface (2022)

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Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay

Surface has to be one of the most disappointing psychological thrillers I have ever watched. While it may play around with some interesting concepts, it falls flat and even has the gal to sequel bait. If you have an Apple TV subscription, I suggest you skip this series.  

After a failed attempt at suicide, Sophie finds herself alive but without any of her memories. Now she must begin her life anew as she scrambles to reclaim her memories and learn who she was. However, her search becomes complicated as she begins to uncover the dark secrets that surround her life. Will she ever be able to make sense of her past? Will she be able to become who she once was? Will she like what she discovers?  

The acting is okay, but there are some cringe-worthy line reads that are hard to overlook. The pacing is a huge problem, and the show will often rely on sex to act as filler. The series has some interesting twists but chooses to do nothing with them. Instead, you follow Sophie down a convoluted rabbit hole that leads to disappointment. The show ends on a cliffhanger, but not one strong enough to keep me invested in the series. I will honestly forget that I watched it when the second season comes around.  

This show has a cool premise. I liked that the main character is piecing together her own mystery. Each piece gives Sohpie new perspectives and theories, but none of them ever make her whole. Whenever she begins to get a grasp on her reality, some new piece of evidence proves her wrong, and she has to start over. This of course becomes very convoluted. 

I liked that there is a separation between Sophie’s identity post and pre-suicide attempt. It is an interesting way of looking at personality because it begs to question of who the real Sophie is. The more she finds out, the bigger the separation grows between who she believes she is and who she actually was. Unfortunately, this show isn’t as interesting as its concept. Instead, this is a slogging series of misdirections. Skip it.

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Series Reviews

TV Series Review: Loot (2022)

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Loot is a wholesome comedy on Apple TV that you should consider watching. Apple is in a great position for streaming because of all the fantastic original content it has available. If you don’t have a subscription, find out if your cell phone or internet provider has a trial available. But, even without the trial, a paid subscription is worth $4.99 a month.

Loot tells the story of Molly, a woman who divorces her cheating husband. Molly wins 89 billion dollars from the settlement, and the series focuses on the aftermath of the divorce. At first, Molly uses partying and drugs to dull the pain, but these prove temporary fixes. Molly can never forget or escape the damage done to her pride and reputation. At her lowest, she decides to become more involved in a charaity created in her name. Will she find meaning and fulfillment in this new role, or will she grow bored and go back to living her life of fantasy and luxury.

Maya Rudolph is a treasure, and this show is a fantastic example. But this show is nothing without its equally fantastic costars. The chemistry between the costars is what drives the narrative and gives the show its charm. I loved watching unlikely friendships form, the fun banter, and watching Molly grow because of the people she has surrounded herself with. If you aren’t laughing at how funny this show is, you will be smiling at how heartwarming.

The story is a fun redemption arch. Molly is an out-of-touch billionaire who makes a lot of mistakes because she doesn’t know how the real world works. A lot of the humor comes from her not being bound by things like rent, work, or even laws. Molly is making an effort to change, and I am excited to see where her adventures go. 

While this show is a comedy, it makes important criticisms about how society treats women. Molly was cheated on, but she is the one that has to deal with her husband’s transgressions. While her husband lives his new life with his new partner, Molly’s whole life has been destroyed. Her friends, the life she had, and even her identity have been taken from her. She is now the divorced billionaire who was cheated on, but she desires to be more than that. There is an unfair amount of stigma and pressure put on Molly, but it is fun to see her find the strength to find who she wants to be and now what society wants her to be. She won’t let society choose what she is supposed to be and that should be enough reason for you to give this show a chance. 

Go watch this on Apple TV.