Reviews

I'm definitely many years younger than the majority of those who grew up with the show, so I will certainly not share the same sentiments about it. Petticoat Junction is an odd little show, but it's very charming especially in its first few seasons. It's a piece of media that falls in line with the interest, or trope, of hillbilly or western shows that were popular in the 60s. Especially being that it coincides with Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres. If you're looking for something that's mildly entertaining and enjoy that realm of shows, it's definitely worth a watch. Although, I do have some reservations.

My first is that I find uncle Joe to be a bit annoying at times, but I feel the same way about Kate as well. I understand what they were going for in terms of the dynamics and personalities, but their characterizations just throw me off and make me want to rip my hair out If I watch the show for more than a few episodes at a time.

Secondly, this ties back in with it being a product of its time. There are certainly episodes that have not aged well into the 21st century. For me, that specifically falls onto "Local Girl Makes Good" and somewhat "The Ringer" in season one. While Kate is certainly the matriarch and glue that holds everyone together, it just gives me an itch that the girls feel like eye candy and initially are given distinct personalities, the tomboy, the boy crazy one, and the studious book smart one, but eventually culminate into mostly having boy troubles and not caring for much else until later seasons. Kates advice regarding that also tends to feel outdated in some circumstances.

With that said, it's definitely worth a watch for a younger audience, the show has some great core values and funny moments. However, keep it in the back of your mind that things are not like the were in that time period, because as a new viewer some plot lines, comments, or advice my throw you off.

Also, the Indian statue gets me every time.

So, there are many things about this series to explore, I'm going into the fourth episode as of the moment, so my mind can definitely be changed. Here are main takeaways though:

-The acting is decent, it feels awkward and flat at points for example, some of the interactions between Katara, Sokka, and Aang in the first episode and the romance between Suki and Sokka in the second.

-The changes make sense. People may disagree on this, but there's an entirely different tone between real life people and animated characters. Capturing the kind of goofy nature that mirrors a very dark topic is difficult. They definitely work some humorous moments in, but it's certainly more serious than the original show.

-Some of the shots feel strange. The bending looks amazing, but they could've made some better creative choices with the CGI alongside some of the camera angles. It doesn't look like crap, quite the opposite honestly. It just feels off occasionally.

-They do a very good job at maintaining important character arch's and plot points so far. You're definitely not watching the original show, but if that's what you want then watch it. Don't bother with an adaption. I think the creative decisions make sense though, they fall in line with what the characters need to learn.

-The first episode is very fast paced, but that's the nature of the beast. They wanted to present the actual events of the genocide, and I think that background sets the tone for the series. Due to that, the first episode and a half are consistently hitting major plot points so it's a little speedy, but it does start to calm down a bit and flow into the third episode.

Overall, so far, I think it's a well made faithful adaption that's a little more on the serious side of things. It's still playful, but it's definitely different. I don't find it to be a "bad" type of different, but the focus on certain plot points come from a new angle is interesting to see.