Kaleidoskop

I was really looking forward to watching this show. The trailer was appealing, it looked like Ocean's eleven meets Tarantino, so I binge-watched it as soon as it hit Netflix.

But unfortunately, due to the gimmicky "any order will do" structure, the tension doesn't build up, the script had to be "neutral" in every episode so as not to spoil the other ones, should you watch them in a different order than the default one listed on Netflix.

Bottom line, there's too many unnecessary episodes, lingering on back-stories that could have been wrapped up in a few minutes, and not enough about the heist itself. Many important details are rushed or simply overlooked, while other quite insignificant ones are explained in excruciating details.

I really hoped I'd be hooked and amazed. Didn't happen.

Yes it could have been better. It's not perfect, but really what is. I watched over two nights in the order Netflix gave it me and I thought it was fine. If you need to watch it in chronological order, you'd missed the point. And those who say bad script, bad acting, bad direction blah blah. Tell you what, why not get off your couch and do better. Write something great, pitch it to Netflix. That's the problem with most couch critics, they love to trash everything, yet don't have an ounce of creative ability. Some shows deserve a bashing, because there is some absolute trash being made, but this isn't one of them. In my opinion...of course.

For the most part I enjoyed the story but the random playback of episodes that was the hook by Netflix didn't work in my opinion. I personally feel I would have given more stars and be invested in the characters and story if it had unfolded based on timeline. I'm not a fan of series that use flashbacks in general and with the episodes playing in a non linear order felt jumbled at times.

That being said the characters were well flushed out and the actors cast did a great job. The final episode ( which is the same for everyone) did close a lot of gaps in the story and was a satisfying end to the limited series.

The main draw for this show is that you can watch any episode in any order. Although, the majority consensus is to watch the WHITE episode last as it provides all the answers.

Now, the way this is written is to have episodes without cliff hangers. Meaning you get a snapshot of the story, you have questions and some of them get answered by another episode.

In fact, you should credit this for giving it's viewers some intelligence.

It's watchable, interesting and always revealing.

I did figure it out before the WHITE episode (well most of it except I got the motivation wrong).

Look it's not like you couldn't episode shuffle with other competent shows. Where action had already taken place, you get an idea of what happened then you watch the actual episode where all the action took place and go oh I get it.

As heist movies go, it's ok. As novel storytelling ideas go, it's ok.

As a full 8 episode season goes, yes I would say it's fun, enjoyable and worth watching. It's always engaging which is the key to keeping the audience on your side.

A good binge worthy show.

Are you fed up with stories? Aren't they all becoming way too predictable, with their structured beginning, middle and end and cliched character arcs? Don't you wish for something novel, something that captures the unpredictability and 'chaos' of reality?

'Kaleidoscope' attempts something which, on the surface, appears quite revolutionary - the viewer is able to watch the episodes in any order and is encouraged to experiment - but is this merely a cheap tacked-on gimmick thought up at the last moment to try and inject some interest into an otherwise generic 'heist' drama?

Or is it something well thought-out that is intrinsically connected to the theme, plot and characters?

I'd say it's the former.

There was certainly nothing here that would entice me to ever watch the whole thing again in a different order. All the novelty of this approach achieved was a sense of dissatisfaction, distraction and a feeling that maybe it would have been better in the 'proper' order - whatever that was?

As for the drama itself - it was mildly entertaining nonsense.

The pacing was reasonably handled, it has a pretty decent cast and the heist itself was quite fun - all of which lift it just above average.

On the negative side, there was some terrible 'de-ageing' employed in one episode and I feel for the viewers who end up watching that one first. Also, none of the characters were particularly believable, there were multiple plot contrivances and the character arcs were limited and predictable. In other words, the story wasn't very well written - putting it in a different order isn't going to fix that.

I can't say which order I watched it in without delving too much into spoilers, on the other hand the whole concept means spoilers will occur for some as a consequence of the order they watch it in. All in all - a failed experiment.

For any other budding writers - master the basics before you mess with the formula.