dvo_on

But i do feel bored. Predictable. And out of place in this so-called dystopian world.

1) What are the actual rules of this so-called long walk? I am no reader of the book, so I'd thought they would explain to non-readers. Besides constant pace of 3mph, and no deviation from path. Are there any other rules?

2) What is the actual purpose of the long walk, besides winning? How does this "win" relate to the long walk's world? No idea. Not established.

Unlike another franchise, it shows why people volunteered, and ultimately how that world relates to that winner of a televised competition. It makes the non-readers understand why they signed up in the first place and therefore sets an anchor.

3) In this long walk world, no matter how "dystopian" it is said to be, we get saluting police officers, random specks of one or three onlookers (no cheering, always emotionless faces), and it looks almost identical to our real world...so what is so dystopian about it? Na-da. Unexplained.

4) Why televised? No idea, just because it is.

5) Why volunteer? Other than wanting to be a winner, it goes back to point (2) how does it relate to the world again? Not explained.

6) If it is a competition, why is everyone so civil, friendly and tame? Where are the cutthroats? What is stopping a purposefully placed foot to trip an opponent? Why drag it on for hundreds of miles, when it could be deliberately ended within 50meters or less? Is the world sexist? If not, where are the female competitors? Crickets.

So many questions, about this long walk competition and the world itself.

Since it did not set all these up, why should I care about A, B, C, F, G, M, Z's sob stories and camaraderie? I don't.

7) From the get-go, it is setup as to who will be surviving. This or that. All the rest are just story fillers and cannon fodders.

8) What is with the villain's performance? Should be dialed back a notch or two.

9) It fails to show true exhaustion and weight of actual characters that are physically, mentally drained after hundreds miles of walk without any stops. We are talking days of no sleep. No toilet breaks. No feet resting. One steep slope. Very hot days. Cold nights and wet ones too. And all these while, their strides is almost equivalent to the start of the movie. What gives?

The only time it shows these is only when a cannon fodder's time is almost up. And that usually last for mmm...15mins or less before they bite it. How about the rest? So much energy to yap all the way through hundreds of miles with nary a change in their tone from start to finish?

Overall...zzz.

This was reviewed after 100% completion of the series. I was not interested in this until about its 4th week. Only then did I gave it a try...and boy...was I wrong to dismiss it.

Really enjoyed every single episode. The Penguin is a villain all the way through. We as viewers can empathize or root for him, but the writers always made it clear that this is a story of a villain. There is no anti-heroism nor is he misunderstood. They did not take the easy way out to make Oz Cobb a villain based on circumstances either. And for that...really appreciate that they were still able to make a very intriguing series based on a real POS that drew me in week after week thereafter.

One of the best stories ever made. Irregardless of its medium. Very enjoyable. Thank you to all involved for making me believe that a penguin flew and stick to its landing at the very end too. Cheers.