The Lake

This is a comfort food watch with an edge. I love that it's not shying away from adult themes and language, but is also very sweet. I also enjoy the diverse cast of characters, and the actors are very believable in their roles. I have LOL'd several times, and I also feel empathy for the characters, even Maisie. Granted, I am 3 episodes in, but I can feel I'm on binge with this one. Another reviewer mentioned Schitt's Creek; if you liked S1 of Schitt's Creek at the time it was released - before it was all the rage, I think you would love The Lake also.

The theme is simple and straightforward. To some people it may be a bit boring and lack of freshness. But that's fine. What really ruins the show is the main character Justin. I don't know what's wrong with the writer and the director, but it seems that they intentionally make the character extremely unfit the social setting. They make the character so unnatural and weird for the environment as if Justin is very incapable of interaction and relationship. Who would introduce himself as a 'birth father' to a total stranger? An openly gay becomes a stammer before a cute boy? So unrealistic. Jordan Gavaris overplays the character in many ways, making almost every joke/funny scene unbearable to see. Half of the time I wonder why he portrays the role in such a dramatic way. Justin talks like a nonstop nagging 48 year old person who has a screw loose or something and talks in high pitch.

I thought they stopped writing bad sitcoms like this in the 1980s, but here we are. It's a sitcom, so you expect the over-the-top plots and ridiculous behavior, but what you don't want it tired repetitive jokes. That is just lazy, low bar writing, which this has plenty of. For example they play the 'I'm her father - I mean birth father!' joke at least half a dozen times in the first episode alone. Then the lead, Justin, has a crush and makes a sexual innuendo joke 'by mistake' at every meeting, greeting, goodbye, etc. It's just such lazy writing you could make a drinking game out of it.

The location is lovely. I've never had a summer house to go to, but in the movies it is always like this, so it is a nice fantasy to live. The characters are kind of entertaining, the premise of the adopted daughter having to get to know her birth father is a great one to have fun with - but 2 episodes in - and they haven't begun to mine it for all the humor it could have.

Again, it just comes down to poor writing. Had promise, but fails.

A lot of content that kids don't need to hear or see.. me as an adult likes the show! Lots of F bombs and verbal descriptions of heterosexual and homosexual situations.

So many shows these days mistake rapid-fire dialogue for wittiness. It is an attempt to make the character sound quick and with it, but it frequently makes them have dialogue that sounds forced and pathetically unfunny. That is the case here. The first of a few flaws. The quality shows have characters that speak with natural rhythm. The development and interaction flows evenly and the humor is naturally funny. The characters in The Lake come out of the starting gate trying to entertain the audience by forcing the issue. There is also a believability factor missing here. The relationships just don't feel real or believable.