Surprise Pikachu

I was excited for this having seen the trailer last week but it was falsely advertised as a survival series when it's not, more just a self reflecting drama piece I guess? The pace of the show felt incredibly slow and I found it boring overall. I gave it two episodes and I won't be watching more. If you're expecting something survival/wilderness-like, this is not it. I won't even go into how unrealistic the survival elements, when they were even present at all, were - it definitely was not created with the intention of making a survival series. The most exciting part is the first 10 minutes and then it all goes crashing down from there, literally.

I really enjoyed this show. It took a couple episodes for me to get into it, but after the second episode I was hooked. There are definitely references to the games (and I'm a huge fan of Resident Evil 4, which I still own on the Gamecube - as well as PC and Switch). I've also played most of the other games and the remakes coming out, and while this show is not a cookie cutter of the games at all, it manages to feel like a fresh (albeit Gen Z) take on the Resident Evil environment - key word being the environment and not the plot, as it takes elements from the world built by the lore, but applies it to different characters and scenarios (almost as if this show is a Marvel multiverse scenario, even though it takes place in 2022/2036 as a future to the Raccoon City events). It isn't really a horror genre like the games, so it doesn't really feel scary (although there are maybe a couple parts that fit this bill, but overall not a horror genre - so if that's what you're expecting, you might be disappointed), it fits into a more suspense/mystery vibe with some action/adventure and definitely some drama, so it's a different style show than what you might think of for resident evil and I get the impression that it's geared towards a broader audience than hard core OG resident evil fans - it might not be for everyone, but I don't think it's a bad show by any means. I'm not rating this five stars for a few reasons, but I enjoyed it so I'm going with a 4/5 rating, would probably rate 7/10 though. Biggest detractors for me were the main characters: I think the older Jade made some really stupid and entitled decisions that made me really dislike her character, some of her decisions lacked a disproportionate amount of common sense to the point that it was almost unwatchable at times. I didn't like Billie either as I think her character was all over the place and hard to pinpoint in terms of personality/overall character, and it's a bit disappointing that the two main characters are not very redeemable/likable - especially with their adult timelines (I do think the acting is good though - so this isn't the result of poor acting by any means). There are also a few parts that I felt needed more background and context in the first season (although I'm sure we will get it if there is a second season). So I don't think this is a 5 star show, but I do think it is an enjoyable watch and decently good, at least enough that I would watch a second season. I'm surprised by how low some of these ratings are and I don't think it deserves the hate it seems to be getting. Is it the best show ever? No. But is it interesting and enjoyable? Absolutely. Give it the first couple episodes and decide for yourself, but don't let these low ratings turn you off from giving it a try. Personally, I'm glad it is different from the games, given that the games are cinematic masterpieces on their own; we don't need (more) resident evil shows/movies emulating the games because of this. We all saw how Uncharted turned out. We don't want another Uncharted. This is definitely a stand alone that isn't trying to be a carbon copy of what we've already seen and played with the franchise.