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Reviews
Carnival Row: Original Sins (2023)
Destroying the characters
This episode spells the death of what has been an excellent and intelligent show so far. In the previous episode two of the most important plot-driving characters died, now Philo is going mad linked to a flashback with information he's known since season 1. Philo was deeply conflicted about his identity in the beginning and after working through that for a season and a half seems to break now for no reason - it feels contrived and meaningless.
Now Vignette and Tormaline are also regressing to where they were previously in season one, abandoning or going back on their beliefs. The character arcs are going in circles. It's really sad because it undermines the integrity of the remaining core characters. This contrived regression of Philo, Vignette and Tormaline combined with the removal of the antagonists kills the majority of the plot dynamic and character building all in one fell swoop.
There was so much potential in the world and characters that had been built. It seems so strange the writers decided to destroy of damage so much of what they'd carefully built up to this point. Maybe they swapped writers at some point? I don't know, but it seems like the careful foreshadowing and subtext of season one are truly dead.
Well done on season one, it was excellent, but season two was mortally injured here, even if it was funded to limp through to the end.
The Revenant (2015)
Into The Wild meets Avengers
The seeming invulnerable Leonardo DiCaprio tries hard to make a terribly unrealistic and linear plot into something watchable.
I lost count of the number of times where DiCaprio had to rely on a superhuman strength to do something no normal person could do. Equally the miraculous 'Deus Ex Machina' moments were hard to repeatedly ignore.
Of all the films I've seen in the last 5 years this is the one I most wanted to turn off before the end.
If you really want to watch it, I'd recommend doing so at double speed. The dialogue is irrelevant, but the scenery well shot.
If you want beautiful scenery and a better plot watch Into The Wild or David Attenborough.