Herbalicious_690

Just awful. This feels like it is either the result of a failed student project or an attempt at money laundering. The gaps and pauses between the dialogue, the way everyone waits for their line and you can see them thinking of their lines as they wait for their turn, the calculated reactions, the stiff body language, the semi-practiced facial expressions, and so on and so on. Sometimes "bad" can be hilarious (if also a bit painful), but this is just pure excrement. I tried to find one redeeming quality, but no. Just . . . No. It's not even as good as when failed porn stars tried to go legit and fail dismally at that as well. I have no more words. Just say no, move on, and be done with it.

I have just finished watching the entire 6 part series. Yes the plot in the way it is presented is complex. We are presented with events and then history leading up to that event, more events and the histories leading up to those events, and so on. This makes for a complexity that requires some attention, although many hints are always on screen to tell us where in time each scene is located, past, recent past, and present. The complexity is a positive, but a casual viewer with the show on in the background with sparse attention paid to it will find it hard to follow the twists - you need to actually watch it.

It took me until the 3rd episode (first two with mild attention wandering) before I became absorbed, will probably watch again in a couple of weeks with fresh eyes.

Clever, a slow burn, this show is a bit of a gem. I would summarise it thus: Gold, greed, gowns (will make sense when watched), love, murder, mystery, mystique and revenge. A healthy dose of good viewing. I was sorry but also sated when it ended.

Well worth your time. Align your expectations with what I think the makers were trying to achieve though. This is a bit of a slow burn for me, with viewers circling the end of story rather than approaching the end from a linear past to present to end. It requires patience, and attention to what is going on, with various signals (e.g. dress colour pink, blue, black) indicating which stage of past, recent past and present you are in. The unusual aspect is this for me: the series is short, pace is not fast, but requires a reasonable intensity of the viewer to catch details. There is a disjunct between the pace of the series, and the effort sometimes required on the part of the viewer. I enjoyed this about the series though, rather than everything explained for the viewer so you can half-watch, switch brain off and still know what is going on.

Having said that, whoever wrote the advertising-lines on IMDB is quite a way off the mark (in my opinion). The text attempts to sell the series as some sort of fast-paced murder mystery from the USA for example "Adventure mystery set in the midst of New Zealand's 1860's gold rush period it has all the stuff that makes a good drama murder, love and revenge as men and women travel the world making their fortunes." Pushed my expectations into a different vein as to what I might see. Once I realised what this is - a character-driven story (very low on adventure) that unfolds in intentionally cryptic ways to reveal a complexity of plot, and most importantly, an understanding of different stages of character made more stark (obvious) by moving the viewer through (for example) past, recent past, and present, then past, recent past, present etc. We get to see the contrasts as character contrasts rather than linear development. The signals for "where in time" are all there to help the viewer, but you have to pay attention, and it will pay off. It took me to episode three to "get" it and fall in love with it. The viewer is circling the end of story, not just approaching it from past through to present through to end.

On the not so positive side, Eva Green just plays the typical Eva Green role, bring nothing new to the role than what we have seen from her before. Unfortunately for me, feeling typecast and therefore a little trite.

Eve Hewson is interesting to watch, her mannerisms and charm feeling a little restricted though. Unsure whether that is her scope, or the direction given to her. She does break out sometimes, however the feeling of slow burn is only enhanced by long periods with a limited range of expressions and emotional variance.

Solid work. Save it for a time when you can give it your attention.