There's a reason why the Stephen King novella was, in fact, a novella. There is only so much story you can wring out of the premise. King knew that, and so did Frank Darabont when he did the movie adaptation.
The TV version of The Mist, however, clearly believes this is a story that can be milked for as long as possible. After a couple of decent opening episodes, the story has slowed down to a crawl. The Mist of the title is purely there as a plot device to drive the human interest story. Now, that isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I doubt that is why most people are watching the show. In this show, though, the Mist is already playing increasing second-fiddle to the human drama in the same way that the zombies of The Walking Dead are now almost irrelevant to that show.
Six episodes in are we are already dealing with some of the most turgid and hackneyed story lines involving rape, crazy old ladies, mad doctors, and so on. The list is endless. Now, you can defend this and say the Mist is making the people act like this, but that doesn't change the fact that it is increasingly ludicrous to watch. It is putting me in mind of Shyamalan's The Happening, and that is definitely not a comparison that does it any favours.
The episodic nature of the show, of course, means that the story will never be as dynamic or as engaging as the movie, but even so... it is increasingly dull and predictable.
The choice to change the nature of the Mist, from something from another dimension, hiding monsters to a supernatural version, also seems a little weird. I get that they wanted to do something a little different with it, but honestly, the new Mist is kinda boring.
In fact, watching the Mist brings out the same feelings that I used to get when I was the designated driver on a lad's night out. Everyone else was having a whale of a time whilst I looked on, sober as a judge, and tried not to be embarrassed by what I was seeing. The Mist gives me that embarrassed feeling when I watch it. The sensation that I'd enjoy the whole thing a lot more if I was drunk.
It isn't badly made. It is decently acted. But it just doesn't make me want to tune in every week to watch it. It isn't gripping drama. It isn't scary and, after six episodes, I now have no real interest in finding out what the Mist really is, nor do I care about any of the characters in the show.
It's just... meh!
SUMMARY: Human drama (and melodrama) dressed up as horror. Not engaging and not very convincing. Read the story, or watch the movie. Both are better.
The TV version of The Mist, however, clearly believes this is a story that can be milked for as long as possible. After a couple of decent opening episodes, the story has slowed down to a crawl. The Mist of the title is purely there as a plot device to drive the human interest story. Now, that isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I doubt that is why most people are watching the show. In this show, though, the Mist is already playing increasing second-fiddle to the human drama in the same way that the zombies of The Walking Dead are now almost irrelevant to that show.
Six episodes in are we are already dealing with some of the most turgid and hackneyed story lines involving rape, crazy old ladies, mad doctors, and so on. The list is endless. Now, you can defend this and say the Mist is making the people act like this, but that doesn't change the fact that it is increasingly ludicrous to watch. It is putting me in mind of Shyamalan's The Happening, and that is definitely not a comparison that does it any favours.
The episodic nature of the show, of course, means that the story will never be as dynamic or as engaging as the movie, but even so... it is increasingly dull and predictable.
The choice to change the nature of the Mist, from something from another dimension, hiding monsters to a supernatural version, also seems a little weird. I get that they wanted to do something a little different with it, but honestly, the new Mist is kinda boring.
In fact, watching the Mist brings out the same feelings that I used to get when I was the designated driver on a lad's night out. Everyone else was having a whale of a time whilst I looked on, sober as a judge, and tried not to be embarrassed by what I was seeing. The Mist gives me that embarrassed feeling when I watch it. The sensation that I'd enjoy the whole thing a lot more if I was drunk.
It isn't badly made. It is decently acted. But it just doesn't make me want to tune in every week to watch it. It isn't gripping drama. It isn't scary and, after six episodes, I now have no real interest in finding out what the Mist really is, nor do I care about any of the characters in the show.
It's just... meh!
SUMMARY: Human drama (and melodrama) dressed up as horror. Not engaging and not very convincing. Read the story, or watch the movie. Both are better.