pmerrill-38726

What a strange experience watching this project. It touts itself as a "documentary" that involves toxic corporate management with a healthy dose of cultish inclinations.

But...it's really just a recap of Reuters and AP footage as well as their content. It really has nothing to say or add to the conversation about what went wrong at American Apparel. In fact, it (very literally) does NOT explain why the company actually declined (business activities). The narrative is so generalized that, at the end of the day, it doesn't seem to say much of anything at all. It uses the word "sex" as if it were a currency and would add more value to the docu-product.

You have around a half dozen sour ex-employees who dance around accusations in order to keep themselves out of court. There are NO "cult" topics or evidence. I will say that again. There is NO cult aspect to this at all. Unless you consider being able to pay people to do dumb things a "cult."

And therein lies the problem. I suspect that the makers of this project got to the end of their work and realized that they didn't actually have anything new to add to this narrative. So, some marketing folks added something more 'spicy' like the words 'cult' and 'trainwreck.'

This is just a long 60 Minutes segment (the producers of which would have exercised a lot more brevity and clarity) with nothing more to say than, "rich people are slimy." There is a kernel of something interesting here, but there simply isn't enough meat on that bone. Using interviews from a collection of employment oddities does little to add to the legitimacy of the insight.

In the end, I don't recommend this, and can't understand why anyone would.

From individual performances to special effects, after twenty years, this show still crushes most contemporary productions. While the story "loses it's way" late in the series," it's value is immense.

Well executed characterizations, fantastic conflict development, and a broad spectrum of human emotions relayed with a sincerity that is rarely found in sci-fi. The show relays "real people," from blue collar workers to the "elite class" very well. It's a "people first" story with everything else second. And that's why it works.

As the series continues, the writing suffers, unfortunately. It falls into the writing trap of the writing getting ahead of the actual narrative. Entirely too often we see it - the writers putting forth a story that they don't actually have a plan for. It's frustrating and shouldn't happen. But, it does.

This series could have been a top 10 of all time, but drops short due to that pitfall.

Highly recommended to all fans of cinema, writing, and drama. It is special when a production lifts itself above its genre, and should be appreciated.

So say we all.

Firstly - I am very impressed with the care and attention of the special effects of this show. They are fantastic. The cast is extremely good. It's hard to find fault in a casting. Mount is always reliable and he's easy to love. Romijn is probably the weakest of the cast, which surprised me. She doesn't quite seem to be comfortable with who the character is supposed to be. Her performance seems forced and uncomfortable.

Ok, now that's out of the way. The problem: writing. Oof. There are good writers out there. And writing dialogue is hard. You can message your content, but it needs to flow and shouldn't suck all the air out of the room. If you have to 'restate' your point, nearly directly to the camera, how much respect do you have for your audience?

I'm life-long trek fan. And they may be part of the problem. I'm not sure who is is for. It's not for 'kids," it's techno-babbl;e will put them to sleep in about four minutes. It's certainly not for adolescents. As it's too slow between action sequences with some of the most lazy exposition I've seen in a long time. Its campiness grinds on the nerves of adults, so I'm not sure it's made for them. Yes, the original is pretty campy. But - I don't think they did that on purpose. They didn't have to manufacture it. This? Eh....

It's a hard watch. The costumes are not great. The tendency to use too many close-ups reveals the synthetics' cheap nature. This is especially evident in any costume with anything reflective on it. They look like stickers and tape because they are. It's weird. The money spent doesn't seem to be distributed well.

I love the intent. I love that they WANT to layer in social messaging (a long-standing trek tradition). But, it feels lazy and forced. Every episode feels like "this is the one that's going to jump the shark." And it shouldn't feel that way.

Oh, and...writing note. You can't put TOS "main characters" into jeopardy because the audience knows that they survive. Therefore, you're wasting your time and ours. No idea why they routinely do it.

I'm glad that some people are watching this. But, I'm not sure why they are. Your results may vary. Live Long and Prosper.