I watched the first episo
I watched the first episode of Channel Zero and I’m intrigued.
As soon as the show came out there was the usual mindless hype, then the first real reviews I saw were rather negative. I’m not one to ever believe hype, but it has been an interesting puzzle to try and sort out my own opinions, which of course should be nigh impossible from only the first episode, but I damn well will try.
The acting is pretty stale compared to other hit shows, but I guess that would be typical for Syfy. I can deal with a bit of unintentional camp.
The tone is also modernly ADHD. Quick cuts to currently meaningless scenes and images abound in a desperate attempt to develop suspense, but this largely interferes with the pace and my ability to tell what’s going on. The episode was nearly over before I realized that the 2 child characters we were scatteredly following were actually flashbacks of the main character. This may be a greater testament to my aging ability to follow such story telling, but there are other aspects that genuinely bring out confusion rather than atmospherical unease.
So the story is a bit silly and forced. Sure, it may be hard to be otherwise when the central reveal of your story has been on the internet for years, but I still feel they could have toned back the tropey drama and let some genuine mystery unfold. As it is, there isn’t much for breadcrumbs to mull around inside your head, you simply have to wait for the next spastic action from our main character.
Having typed this out, I am less optimistic as to what the show realistically has in store, but at an arms length there is still hope. The hardest step of intertwining traditional characters into a short story that had none has been handled fair enough, and there is likely (hopefully) more going on than the typical horror tropes currently being presented. The costume and character designs are fantastic and are exactly what I would hoped an adaptation of Candle Cove would look like. So I think that the artistic vision for the show is genuinely well met, I just hope it doesn’t get shortchanged as these ideas are translated into direct character actions.
Despite my tone and concerns, I am optimistic and I aim to enjoy whatever is presented until it either pays off, or until I simply can’t. source: https://saturdayxiii.tumblr.com/post/151803373179
Post by: saturdayxiii