The Institute

I was born early 90s.. I have seen almost every tv show released since 1999.

Feels like after the pandemic tv shows started to show cracks that were not as common when there were more "gate keepers".

Netflix model has caused the death of good writing, good directing, good acting and I feel like movies and tv shows may have peaked in the 2010s later end.

Movies and tv shows are not old as time, gone with the wind was 1939..it's 2025 and even with more money and higher picture quality...substance seems to be lacking?

MGM? What are they doing? The lighting of the scenes looks weird, I feel like I'm watching a YouTube show? I use to look forward to shows, Hollywood feels dead.

The beginning of book has a terrifying event that the TV show greatly waters down 😐.

That set up the expectations of what this show will be, watered down version of book.

This will not be horror nor thriller and more sci-fi drama if anything.

Thus my expectations have been lowered and so will continue to watch it for what it is, family friendly show. Even the aesthetics of show such as lighting suggests a more toned down feel compared to books.

Serviceable is best way to describe show if you read book. Cast and acting good, no complaints there.

It will be probably be more exciting for those who have not read books👍.

I love this book. One of my favorites from King's work in the last 10 years. When they announced this adaptation, years ago at this point, I was thrilled! Who could have known at the time that it would be sold to another network, and then severally delayed for years. Still, I was eager for this series and had high hopes. Finally, the series is released, and even though it's early on, I am having a hard time seeing this getting better from here. The pacing of the first two episodes was awful. There was essentially zero character development, even for the main characters like Tim and Luke. Everything so far seems rushed, and the deviations from the books thus far seem unnecessary. Why make Nicky's character more involved than he was? Why change Tim's journey and make it all center in Dennison? Simple things like that don't seem to have an overall impact that necessitated a deviation from the story.

I do hope it gets better.

At the time of this review there are four episodes available to watch.-

This show is pretty good. For me it mercifully buries a number of cliches under a layer of creative approach. I'm also a fan of the TV show "From" so use that to inform you what my tastes are like.

Some of the dialogue is cringe. Most of the acting is pretty good. One actor in particular is just reciting lines, Arlen So. Not really in the role at all.

Currently I'm looking forward to the next episode.

If viewed from the perspective of someone who hasn't read the book, the show isn't bad. It has a slow pace, but it's all buildup to The Institute "universe". There's not much horror (other than the nefarious reasons for the Institutes existence), no blood or gore. No monsters other than the humans lacking empathy and humanity. Acting is good, and I did become interested in the characters and what's to become of them as the series progresses. It's too early to tell if the writers will pull any punches, or let us have it.

The series may not be as good as the book or as true to its characters, but it's worth watching.