Roma73

I grew up amidst rich esoteric eccentrics, and some things rang familiar, like Durek Verrett's past life memory of being an Egyptian royal. Why was no one ever a farmer in a prior life? Statistically much more likely. The fact that I've already met a dozen Cleopatra reincarnations does make one wonder...

Racism is covered one third into the docu, which seems fair enough. Always needing to negotiate your place, Verrett explains - yeah, that sucks. Racism is real and terrible, just like sexism (many women can relate to this negotiating too), and other kinds of discrimination. But in Verrett's case, not all the hate is coming from that corner.

Mostly, I think, the issues people have with him are not about him being black, gay, flamboyant or even American, but a freaky, unethical, spotlight-craving con-artist, and his privileged, psychic-wannabe princess an attention-seeking fruitcake.

I'm guessing this documentary, while strongly edited in their favour, will only strengthen these impressions.

That said, I do prefer this improbable couple to the other "royal rebels" they compare themselves to: Harry & Meghan. Because at least they own their craziness. Whereas self-serving, self-righteous, self-everything H&M bored me to death, the follies of these two self-absorbed zanies kept me upright.

An extra star for that.

Impressions after finishing season 3:

* Fine actors (mostly, and save for the occasional over-acting) * Great setting * Effective set design and makeup * Fine camera work * Great idea, too... initially

The Hotel California-like plot is intriguing for sure. Imagine yourself driving around with family or friends, driving into some shady village, only to realize there's no way out. The road just goes round and round. To make matters worse, every nightfall, spooky humanoid monsters slaughter anyone not safely inside a building.

However. As talented writers know, a good idea does not a story make. The hardest part is not that one brilliant idea but the execution, which obviously includes the end. And here's where I'm growing wary. Where is "From" leading us?

I'm starting to suspect either (or both) of these two things could be happening here:

1) producers are pushing to stretch it out for as many seasons as possible.

2) the writers have no idea how to end this. Maybe they don't even have an end - they just had an idea. Much like kids who've created an escape room so complicated they have no idea how to get us out.

I might be wrong. There might be a team of geniuses on it, soon to blow us away with an ending none of us could've imagined. The illusion of investment has taken me this far; I just really hope I won't feel cheated.

In the meantime, questions and mysteries are thrown at us, crazier as we progress. Sometimes things seem unnecessarily convoluted: well-willing phantoms speak in riddles for no good reason, messages supposedly left to help are left in childish codes (like backward letters).

Another issue I have with the series is that few characters are likable or interesting. They're then pushed into soapy dramas I don't really care about because I don't really care about them. Also, a few of them are become more annoying over time: more shouting, more screaming, less substance. The dialogues are often flimsy and lacking in depth.

So. Kudos to actors, set design and camera work. But writing department and whoever is ultimately in charge of this could do better. By which I mean: ending this yesterday. Please, let's have that resolution and let's have it now.

I'm giving it one more season. No resolution in season 4, and I'm out. If the ending is amazing, I'll add some stars. If it sucks, I'll knock some off.