Hi WWW
At first I was put off with the premise, gleamed only from the promo shot, which I thought would simply be a psychotic nurse.. but I took a chance.. and this wasn't that.
It's a Hitchcockian-Capraesque series, laid out like a film in series form. It put me in mind of Arsenic and Old Lace.. but much more predominantly, it put me in mind of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents..' which was an anthology series very much in the vein of The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, but with a non-supernatural (iirc) and instead psychological slant.
With the Hitchcockian-Capraesque theme being so strong, I couldn't help but think by the fifth episode 'I wish they had done this as an anthology.. a modern 'Hitchcock Presents.. but by the showrunner for this.. Ryan Murphy Presents.. with Sarah Paulson etal~ doing a AHS (set cast but changing roles).. one film serialized as a series'.
Now back to Ratched..The main and real star of this show was wardrobe/continuity director/Prop Department.. lighting ranged from 6 out of 10 to 9 out of 10, same for cinematography,, direction was OK.. ranging from 5 to 9 out of 10, couple of shaky camera moments that were off putting. Makeup was excellent and very on piste for how stylized this show is.
And to be clear.. this show's stylization is *excellent*.
Sarah Paulson, gave solid competent performances, and even in one moment moved me. Finn Wittrock.. was competent, although.. I note he didn't have much in the way of dialogue that could show his acting to any degree. Cynthia Nixon, I enjoyed her performances less so. Aside from Ms. Paulson.. the real surprise was Charlie Carver, who delivered a solid performance each and every time he was on screen, without exception.. I would award him my 'best in cast' if it wasn't for Ms.Paulson. Judy Davis.. as a villain had her moments, but the overall performance, I was less impressed with. Sharon Stone, while I want to say she did well, I felt she was only middle road 5/10.. not quite 'phoning it in' but.. not great, her death scene was her stand out moment. I actually have a 'worst in cast' to award this time.. Jon Jon Briones.. I felt like he was new to acting..which he is not.. even having been in AHS..he couldn't cut this level of production and it showed. Vincent D'Onofrio had some good moments but also a few shaky ones. Notable & special mention to Alice Englert who acquitted herself admirably.. outshining many of the main cast.
Music was.. very Hitchcockian.. at a few points I just expected it to burst out into the Alfred Hitchcock presents theme..
The script.. erm.. the first episode drags on without anything much happening.. after that it's all slow boil.. a 'slow boil thriller' to coin a phrase. The ending was.. wow that was a bad ending.. however with it having a second series order from netflix I guess.. also I don't know the book it's based on so.. I guess all that remains is to wait and see.
With Alfred Hitchcock sadly no longer with us.. and no one .. except perhaps M.Night Shyamalan, but he is much to much of a butterfly mind to keep consistency.. that he enjoys changing projects often.. so with no suitable alternatives for modern Hitchcockian adventures..
This team on Ratched have came the closest to the great Aghast-arama himself, since he himself was alive. I would enjoy to see this team go on together.. perhaps even doing remakes of Hitchcock's (now) public domain films and TV..
peace
Dava
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