em hope

I only just started watching it Wednesday evening but I finished the final episode on Saturday. I am a fan of Kirby but never knew about this show until I saw an advertisement for it, and I’m very glad I decided to give it a watch. At first, I wasn’t convinced. I’m not a big lover of very dramatic shows but I was pleasantly surprised as I carried on watching. Each episode was better than the last! I really enjoyed the humour as well. The visuals were very stunning, especially the 60s. SPOILERS AHEAD The characters were all well written, complex and acted beautifully! My stand out actors were Ginnifer Goodwin as Beth Ann, Reid Scott as Eli and Sam Jaeger as Rob. Beth Ann, in my opinion, was the best developed character and I enjoyed watching her journey to planning Rob’s death very much. I also enjoyed the story and how it was told. Each story felt relevant to the decade it was set in, which I appreciated. Beth Ann’s story and the journey she took of discovering how truly disgusting her husband was such a delight to watch, and I must say I cried when Claire admitted she was to blame for Emily’s death. Karl’s AIDS storyline was done well and I really liked how Simone never discriminated against him for his sexuality. Although Jade’s story/backstory was a little out there, I think it added a really cool and edgy touch. I also liked it because I had a bad feeling about her from the minute she came on screen and I love being right lol. Now, onto the things that made it lose a star. I really, really didn’t like the ending. It felt almost rushed and it didn’t answer every question. Also, it was advertised as though Beth Ann kills Rob, Simone kills Karl and Taylor kills Eli. Beth Ann and Rob were the only ones that kind of went through with this. I didn’t mind that Rob wasn’t killed by her, it makes much more sense that she plans his death due to the decade it was set in. Simone, technically, helps kill Karl but it’s basically euthanasia. I would like this ending for the duo if it wasn’t advertised as though Karl gets shot. Lastly, Taylor and Eli’s ending was the one I was most unsatisfied with. I wasn’t expecting their ending to be my favourite as they had been my least favourite decade throughout the show - but I was super underwhelmed. Eli gets stabbed by Jade, and I was fine with that because in the advertising for their storyline, Taylor was putting lipstick on using the reflection of a knife, so I assumed it was implying Eli’s death by stabbing. However, I was wrong. He lives and Jade dies (I assume, it was one of the questions that was never answered). But that doesn’t make much sense, because Eli was stabbed a good few minutes before Jade was. Taylor called an ambulance but surely they wouldn’t have left a dying person while saving another one? Maybe this is just me loving tragic endings but I would have loved for Jade to burn the house down, killing Eli as he went inside to save Taylor. Only because the burning of the house could have been a symbol for the ending of the curse that dreadful marriages live there. I would have preferred this rather than ending it on another wife killing her cheating husband just because it doesn’t finish the story. Despite me saying all of this, I do understand that the show is renewed for a second season and the house is necessary to keep the decades connected! Overall, a really fun show with some great humour. A nice amount of plot twists which kept me interested. The only downfall was the ending, for me.

I would give this a 2.5/5 stars. The refugee finding her Dad became overdone and I felt as though this became the main storyline. The majority of the acting was very poor, with the acception of Ruth Jones and Hugh Dennis. The storyline of Jerry finding his long lost brother was clichè and it didn’t do anything to the film, it was obviously a poor attempt at linking the character of Jerry to the primary school. I don’t believe the scene where Jerry was sneaked into the child’s house was appropriate. Also, the end scene where they performed to the town was way too long and i found myself getting bored a few songs in. I found some parts cringe worthy, too. This film doesn’t especially fit it’s target audience and the film as a whole doesn’t compare to the others.