carol rhoades

I thought I would like this show after hearing a lot of positive reviews. I’ve watched all the episodes so far and tried to enjoy it, but it falls flat every time. There are no rounded, complicated characters to provide interest or depth. There’s no tension or mystery in the stories. Elsbeth always jumps to the correct conclusion based on random clues that are not in themselves conclusive, which to me is lazy writing. This is my biggest reason for my low rating. Along the same lines, she always cusses out the killer without considering other suspects which is so uninteresting. I do like her tote bag fetish and storage closet office. Those are fun. Also on the positive are the actors.

Painful to watch as well as listen to as the music grated in way that said “How dare you…” over and over. The writer and directors disdain for accuracy when it didn’t suit his narrative felt like an affront to the audience, among others. I enjoyed the initial scenes when Norma Jean was a young girl but then it devolved into this psychodrama dream state that was a sexpot, starlet, bombshell version of Nightmare on Elm Street. The JFK scene was totally unbelievable and unwatchable. It went down from there, no pun intended. On the plus side, costumes were lovely and at times she really did look like Marilyn.

Loved Angela Basset in this sequel. Letitia Wright was almost as wicked and fun as in BP1, but with King T’Challa gone, she had to be more serious. Special effects were on point and there was plenty of tension. The plot was a little strained but overall it was as good as I’d hoped for.

The original was bad for being so predictable. I had really hoped for e. a big improvement but am feeling very disappointed. It’s all over the place and doesn’t really make sense. I know writing is hard, so I feel bad about the 2 star rating. There are some really good actors in this show but they just can’t save it.