As a huge fan of Markiplier I went into this series with a lot of hesitation, since most youtuber made series aren't very good. I was especially hesitant because I saw that the reception on IMDb is straight 9's and 10's, which means that either this show is on the level of Breaking Bad and True Detective, or that it's being bombarded by Markiplier fan reviews. I think you can decide that for yourself. But I was still excited, since I've seen youtubers make good films before, like Talk to Me by RackaRacka (which has a 7.1 on IMDb, since people were actually being constructive towards it)
But I can't even lie at this point. Without Markiplier being the lead in the series, there would be no series.
Don't get me wrong, the concept is really interesting. There's some good practical effects, some nice looking shots, and some okay performances from the female supporting characters. This show is the type of show I like- a horror, trippy, post apocalyptic edge-of-your-seat thrill ride. But I can't just ignore how amateur the entire series is.
The main performances, the character writing, the editing, the sound design, the script is all very amateur. Like I understand what they're trying to convey with each moment, but it feels extremely forced and scripted, you are never able to actually suspend your disbelief enough to put yourself in the shoes of the characters.
The script is all over the place. One moment a character will be freaking out about how all their friends are dead, then they'll be cracking a one liner to their friend. As many people mentioned before, the script is inconsistent and important details are ignored or forgotten about from scene to scene. The editing is jarring and obviously not professional. The dialogue is cringe-inducing and super forced. The characters themselves are all one-dimensional and are insanely inconsistent with how they are feeling, to the point where it's hard to take it seriously.
It's not a bad show, like I said, there's some well-done aspects to it. I think if Markiplier wasn't the lead character, and they had a professional team to make the concept work, this could've been a 8/10, tense, mind-boggling show. Instead the potential of the interesting story is really bogged down by how amateur the show is. It's impossible to care about the events of the show or any of the characters when it's so forced and cringe-inducing.
I'm definitely interested in Markiplier's future films, especially his Iron Lung adaptation, but I really wish he, or his production team would work on getting more professional people to work with him. His concepts are amazing, but he deeply needs help executing them.
