Rotten

I really liked Rotten, a tile that suggests a dramatic exposé which it is not, The drama is in its close-up look at real people working in the growth/ production of peanuts, garlic, milk, bees/honey, fishing (cod), and chickens. in the U.S. as well as the current state of these particular fields with regard to regulation, trade, consumer demand, profitability, etc.

It's very engaging, fascinating even, with honest and caring attention to the foods and those who produce them. I totally enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

Tl;dr: Read the last paragraph, and if that's tl, then my recommendation is to watch the garlic episode.

This series is definitely a slow burner. I stopped watching the first episode multiple times because I could not get into it but trudging through the tedious parts gives way to some of the best documentary work I have ever seen. This is the worst part about this series, the irregularity of the quality. Certain sections will be completely vapid and devoid of emotional investment from the audience whereas the best Rotten has to offer is a surprisingly touching and emotional story paired with legal and legislative conflicts.

The Peanut episode for example, is extremely boring. Easily the worst, I don't understand how they went through with this topic. Someone must have realized at some point that they were pretty much saying the same thing for 30 minutes during the episode.I feel like I could spoil everything that happens in this episode and it would change anything because most of the revelations and ideas brought up are extremely basic. If you have any experience with food borne allergies, be it personal or stuff you've seen on TV, this episode is a waste of time. The next episode, however, is completely different.

Now I may be biased because I love garlic (try chopped garlic with sardines and avocado on toast), but this episode is my favorite. In the description of the episode they bring up their a lawsuit. I could not have been more turned off but after watching it, this episode was the one that stayed in my head the longest. This episode could have been released by itself and I would be completely satisfied. The development of the plot is paced very well and it leaves so many questions unanswered. This episode leaves you frustrated in the best possible way. If you are going to watch any episode of this series, this one should be it.

An argument could be made for the chicken or cod episodes but if you've seen Food Inc., the chicken episode isn't as powerful as it could be although it is still one of the best. I should mention that this episode is definitely seperate from Food Inc. in a lot of ways, but it still touches upon similar topics. The Cod episode is good but it puts the legal controversy front and center whereas the garlic episode builds up to it which makes it more satisfying.

Plot-wise, there are three great episodes two good ones, and one bad one. The two good episode (dairy and honey) were still very good but not as well paced as the others.

The rest of what makes good TV is flawless, which is why I give it such a high score. The cinematography and overall directing is very good. The image itself is very crisp, and I noticed no errors in the sound design. Overall, the production quality is great. If I had to have one issue it would the song for the intro. It's starts very brutal and fits the rhythm of the video and I love it. But then, they bring in what I assume to be a brass instrument and it kills the vibe completely! They should have kept the ominous rhythm by itself and it would be fine.

After Food Inc., which to me was the pinnacle to food documentaries, I haven't had the same eye opening experience with any other documentary. Until Rotten. It tackles these issues from so many angles that you are bound to learn something new, be it from a human perspective, or a business or legislative angle. There are slow parts and one particularly slow episode (and it's a shame because I love peanut butter) which prevents this docuseries from reaching perfection but the parts that shine will leave you blind (in a good way???). This along with the production value is why I highly recommend this series.

Rotten is predominantly an American-centric documentary aimed at creating awareness around food-related crimes and scandals, particularly those which impact upon American food producers. Generally less emotionally 'shocking' than many similar 'food revolution' films, Rotten somewhat lacks information around how individual consumers might take meaningful action towards a better system, and acts instead to expose crime and corruption occurring, leaving viewers to draw their own conclusions. The series has a limited approach to tackling serious global food issues as, instead of looking at each issue from a broader perspective and investigating all components, it directs itself more towards discussing specific cases and individuals within each industry. Though only narrowly addressing the greater issues, the cases within themselves are interesting 'food for thought' and in the least the series may help to promote important wider awareness and discussion around sustainability, ethical food production, mass-scale production issues, food quality and responsibilities of producers and consumers.

The garlic episode was great. Idk what resources Netflix allocated to making those, but I often felt frustrated with the finished product. The issues tackled are huge, but all those do is scratch the surface, basically, and it's neither very satisfying or informative. A bunch of problems are dug out, 2 sides of the story are presented, the editing doesn't help, and there's nothing really helpful coming out of it. Sometimes it felt they weren't even talking to the right people, for eg taking a step back and thinking of Option C, when neither A nor B seems to work.

Each story is a deep dive into a narrow industry segment like poultry in America. It is educational and informative. I like programs like this that are presented honestly and without an agenda.