Class of '09

This show had a lot of promise. You have Kate Mara and Brian Tyree Henry as well as the excellent Mark Pelligrino playing a Joker type villain. The miniseries begins grounded but falls into extravagant superhero-esque plot contrivances. The cgi is particularly awful when catastrophic scenes or fake mist are put onscreen.

I really was rooting for this show with its ambitious three decades spanning story, but the far-fetched plot and poorly executed action scenes left me feeling cold. It is a shame but thankfully it is only a miniseries that will not continue on.

I have not heard anyone talk about this series, and it is probably for the best.

What if Artificial Intelligence entered the criminal justice system?

This series deals with a possible scenario. Considering this series was shot before Microsoft went public with their AI system and Google Bard is in hot pusuit, the makers could be said to have made a pretty impressive "prediction" of where AI is headed.

It's no more about the jobs that may be lost due to big tech companies and their elite CEO'Ss employing AI for economic benefit. It's a question now of what if AI prosecutes the innocent, or maybe ... what if AI finds these very same elite guilty of crimes? A computer incapable of being bribed, coerced or influenced.

The possibilities are endless. Thos series on Hulu is watchable, gripping, and takes viewers down a dark tunnel we're only beginning to wake up to.

Shaune B. Ryder.

I like the show, it's a solid 7.5. I think there was an expectation that this show would be more faced paced because it's an FBI show. Maybe the trailer didn't do it justice in terms of setting expectations to its space. But I like the characters and with the past, present, and future, it manages to capture the depth of the characters and character motives in a short time. I'm especially enjoying the slow burn and relationship between Or and Poet. I hope it goes where I think it's going. Overall a decent show that I'm excited to finish watching. I do wish they released all the episodes at once, I don't like shows that I have to wait for, I think that method is very outdated. A show for me is most enjoyable when watched over a short period, but especially this show where each episode is important for the next one. I probably would have rated this a lot less if I didn't start watching now and have access to the first four episodes all at once.

While the cast is more than passable (BTH is wonderful as always), and the directing is fine, this style of storytelling is simply not conducive to getting the point across. Three stories from different stages in these characters' lives are interwoven seemingly at random, and regardless of intention, there seems to be no reason for this so far. The scripts feel like they were written for the sole purpose of using a confusing/interesting method of storytelling, and don't feel any deeper than that. And even if it eventually ties together in a compelling way, only one of these three storylines has any intrigue. Perhaps it will right itself later on, but as of now, there isn't much to latch onto.

Maybe this was a case of too many cooks in the kitchen (read: too many producers with script notes) but it had such a great first half (perhaps first 3/4) and then just felt like it shed all of it the elements that were keeping it artfully together to do a mad dash to the finish line. It needed at least an extra episode--these 8 episode runs are almost never nearly enough and it seems like the HBO model of 12 episodes for a show, or season of a show, has always felt the best to me, not too long not too short. Class o'09 was a nuanced exploration of the good and bad potential for using AI in law enforcement. I know personally I would generally fall on the negative side of the debate for using AI but the show did a great job of demonstrating that there are potential upsides if there were ever real checks and balances baked in. But then, right around the time the show felt it had made its philosophical points, it just rushed to end everything and tie everything up in a tidy gift bow. If I had to guess, I'd say there were budgetary constraints foisted on the writers. I bet they had great scripts and had to cut them down. I mean, even the last episode was kind of unceremoniously short compared to the rest. Also there were a couple characters that felt very tacked on that I wonder if they had a more fleshed out backstory in earlier script revisions. Regardless of all that, the two lead characters, Poet and Tayo, really carried the show with their performances and made the overarching themes of a Pandora's box and a Golem convincing as realistic possibilities. Also, I'll say that I've never before watched a show that made me wish I'd had different goals when I was younger and had considered the option of joining the FBI. And I don't feel like this show serves as copaganda while it also doesn't serve as the opposite. To sum up, I've seen a few other shows fall harder off the cliff in a run up to ending the series or mini series and this show didn't come close to those *cough cough Dexter cough cough*. Definitely an entertaining and thoughtful watch that I wish I could have given a 9 or 10 but the last episode I rate as a 4 so that brought down the average.