Christian McDowell

Had House of Card vibes with breaking the fourth wall. Found the plot interesting centered around the media privacy bill, with the concepts of freedom of the press and government censure very important especially to us Americans. While I don't very much agree with the idea of a monarchy in general, I did find the concept of it being used as a check against parliament if used to protect the inherit natural rights of man. I wish the story had focused more on this tenuous issue with plenty of suspense build up that could be made rather than the family drama. I found Prince Harry's side drama to be of little value in the story outside of the girl being exposed and Harry receiving his father's blessing to be treated as a commoner. The story ended very poorly for Harry because of his Brother and sister-in-laws demands. This now leads me to the main antagonists of the story, dare i say, Prince William and Princess Kate. I found William to be quite impotent in character and will, only being pushed by his slithering, scheming wife Kate. Kate to me was an absolute villian, someone whose presence just fills one with anger and spite towards a character (not the real person of course). For King Charles himself I thought I would see a much more clever character though an honest and well intentioned (Not your evil Francis Urquhart/Frank Underwood type ruler though). The lines spoken by himself saying that he'll be the greatest king of all seemed childish and opposite the demeanor of a man which seeks to be a solemn wise ruler, to be an actual check to parliament without sounding either stupid or vainly ambitious. If the intention was the to be the later it was poorly received and poorly shown in the movie. Charles' character was very intriguing at the beginning as was the whole story but fell quite flat soon after the family drama occured. If the family drama was to be pivotal then at least make the story more thrilling and smart. The story seemed to end on such a stale low with the abdication of Charles and William and Kate's coronation. For the story to set up Charles as such an ambitious king I would have thought he would not cave so easily to William and Kate's demands. Last but not least I thought involving Princess Diana's ghost was very tacky if only because it seemed like everyone in the family could see/hear her. Her ghost was simply the to give both Charles and William, blind ambition, rather than any meaningful guidance or wisdom, or even reference moments they had shared together when she was alive. Using Diana's ghost could have given Charles' character added depth and mystery but instead just makes it seem like the whole royal family has a mental illness in the movie. Overall, very disappointed with the movie's direction. The main actor does a fine job though as Charles and I only wish i could have seen him given a stronger character to play than the one written. The story is great right until ghe family drama causes it to fall apart. There's no pay off just disappoinment. I'd watch it up through the til the news and protest montage and then turn it off, much better ending there than what they ended up doing. Such a shame, movie had real potential.

This show while a great premise just falls flat, and its due to two main things, believability and the main characters. The believability is hard to get through as the locations are all pristine and no bodies or decomposition or any sort of mess outside of what the characters make. This is contrary to not only the genre of post-apacolyptic survivalism but also how things would play out in real life. Gasoline, which is even explained in the show as expiring in a year or so, yet they can still drive anywhere and anytime for the most part Also actions and dialog that takes place are in many cases implausible. Jokes and skits set up in the show with few exceptions (Mike's pranks we're the only funny parts I've enjoyed) are just not funny and actually painfully stupid to watch and listen too. This leads to the next problem with the show - the main characters, Carol and Phil/Tandy. The supporting cast is actually enjoyable and sensible for the most part but the two main characters literally make my IQ drop Everytime they open their mouths. Sadly the supporting characters usually at some point get fed up of call Phil out on his stupidity. Carol is just an annoyance and while the show tries to make her the moral compass of the group, her demeanor just begs to have her left behind whenever the group moves. The supporting characters like Erica, Pat, or Gail are more relatable and seem to represent the audience but then let themselves become irrational into believing or allowing whatever stupid plan or epiphany Phil has to come into play. So many poor situations that didn't need to happen occured because the writers of this show treat the audience as idiots. To be honest they would have been far better off making Mike the main character and go from there, even making Phil and Carol side characters for pure dumb comic relief but definitely not the mains. A post-apacolyptic comedy can be made that is not only funny but believable and doesn't great your audience like brain dead zombies. This unfortunately isn't it. Save yourself the brain cells, pass and watch something that actually is well made. P.S. Makes me sad to see how many people not only give this show a pass but enjoy it. If you're wondering why dumb poorly made shows are getting air time - well you got your answer...