Review by anonymous
June 24, 2019What I liked
The characters are fun and well cast. The world building is both effective and very funny. There’s a fun logic to this post-apocalyptic future that you begin to get after Chandler praises her goddess Bey a few times. There’s also a lot of playful references to how virtually all of the actors and artists were too weak to survive the apocalypse. As an artist who will probably die in the apocalypse, I really appreciated that this show is chock full of dark jokes for anyone who’s been told to choose a more practical career. While there are a lot of inside jokes for those struggling in Hollywood, I’m pretty sure the overboard characters and fun plot will win pretty much anyone over.
What I didn't like
This show has no major issues, everything makes sense and everything lands. So this is going to get VERY nit-picky…
Scenes flip quickly and often end abruptly. There’s a little bit of finessing that could be done as scenes begin and end. It’s possible simply switching up where the cuts happen would resolve the feeling of whiplash.
MINOR SPOILERS:
There’s a scene that introduces the side-characters of Highland and Crenshaw that could be streamlined a touch. The idea of these thugs holding mandatory book club instead of gang-bangs is legitimately funny, as well as the “conjecture” punchline, it could just be smoothed out a little. These very funny ideas are slightly buried by the lead-up. Perhaps a more significant attitude shift when it becomes clear they’re not a threat? There’s also a romantic thing that is set-up for one punchline and I would have loved to have seen it mined for just a bit more.
My overall impression
I knew a Matthew Robinson/Robby Devillez show would be a good bet. This is an inventive and very funny piece skewering the film industry, theater, and in general all us artsy types. It’s a sardonic take on the “save the community center” trope set in the post-apocalypse. I laughed very loudly very often.
