The Essex Serpent

"The Essex Serpent" begins with great promise, but unfortunately fails to maintain its initial momentum. The series successfully establishes a suspenseful and intriguing atmosphere in the first few episodes, drawing in viewers with its eerie and mysterious storyline. However, as the plot progresses, the show loses its way, and the middle section drags on with little payoff.

The final few episodes of the series are particularly disappointing, as the story descends into a predictable and formulaic soap opera. Any tension and intrigue that were built up in the early episodes are lost, and the ending feels unsatisfying and generic.

Despite these flaws, "The Essex Serpent" does have its strengths. The show boasts an impressive cast, led by the talented and versatile actress, Claire Danes. The production design is also noteworthy, with the show beautifully capturing the atmospheric setting of rural England.

Ultimately, while "The Essex Serpent" has its moments of brilliance, its lackluster middle section and predictable ending prevent it from reaching its full potential.

Very intriguing. I guess I can't fault people for their opinions but when I read so of the stuff on here sometimes I wonder what people expect out of these shows.

It's good. Makes we wonder what will happen next. I can't imagine the twist that's to come. Characters are diverse and seem to all have lives and their own struggles.

To me the show comments on society and each of the character's roles/struggles within.

In closing, the pace is slower than people are used to I guess. Their are 80 stars jockeying for screen time. No CGI monsters tearing the city apart. Just something pleasant to watch with a spouse or loved one on a Sunday afternoon.

Good show.

Started off well with a smooth flow of anticipative suspense and possibilities. Then it quickly regressed to absurdity where logical actions cease to exist. Not referring to idiotic superstitions nor content of plot. It had promise but 3 key events clearly exposed either lazy or imbecilic writing. It's incomprehensible that the key characters are unaware of all the signals of sexual tensions amongst the group. It's outrageous to even conceive the urgency to fornicate in wide open public view when one had just departed, and inches away, from a possible serious witch hunt crisis. Lastly, it's just nonsensical to earnestly reveal one's most protected vulnerability in a crime encounter when the perpetrator could have had been simply satisfied with his original demand instead of the victim's futile dramatics of defense resulting in the unnecessary. The series ended with an emotional feeling summation of what I would term, rubbish illogic.

I'm really not sure how I feel about this story but it isn't happy. I love period drama, I'd never heard of this, just found it and thought it looked good. I watched all six episodes today.

The score was beautiful, the cinematography and the costuming were wonderful. It was visually so pleasing no matter in the London slums or on the Essex marshes. I feel like some of the overview shots of the marshes were really marvelous.

I'm a fan of all the main actors: Posey, Danes, and Hiddleston and I feel like they did their best with the material. Posey was soooo underused though.

The story was so awful. It started out great but other reviewers have pointed out how implausible the relationship issues become in episode 4. By the end of the birthday party you pretty much know everything that will happen ... and it does. The story falls into predictable Victorian tropes and I feel really let down. In some ways, I finished it because I wanted to know what happened because I was hoping it would surprise me. It did not and the ending was wholly undeserved.

Not all of the Essex has such an harsh landscape but the area where this story is located is very realistic. Surprisingly it isn't the Serpent which takes centre stage of this drama but rather the beautiful description of the main characters. Played all by big actors, it is their rather modern exchange of dialogue which is the star of this story. Period dramas can be very similar but one of the most entertaining character of this unpredictable short series is the doctor/innovative sergeant Luke. There are moments when his dialogue resonates in such a current way that you doubt if you are really watching a period drama. And again it will be all down to the characters to spin the audience away from the rather heavy setting. So don't be put off by gloomy landscapes and heavy period interiors. It is the story delivered by the characters the real star of this mini series.