@susan and I just watched the first episode, and that was an experience.
Quick impressions:
I’m not sure I can do two seasons of that. It was great fun, but OMFG that was a new level of casual weird, and kind of exhausting.
We discussed that the level of distraction and uncertainty with the narrative is part of the experience, to induce as much as possible the mental turbulence of so many characters on screen.
I’m gonna add some more, with screenshots, me thinks. But for now I’ll leave you with this one tidbit: we’re pretty sure a character dressed as their mother for Halloween. Like, what?
Oh yeah, Susan, it is Pastiche - Wikipedia!
A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, or music that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche celebrates, rather than mocks, the work it imitates.
I was trying to pronounce this word, but I realized I have never heard it said aloud, and each time I tried it didn’t sound like a thing one says to another in polite company, so I went with homage. Anyhow, the first episode felt like a pastiche of reality-questioning thrillers, and reminded me of (in roughly this order):
- Dark City
- The Island (remake)
- One flew over the cuckoo’s nest
- THX 1137
- The Matrix
- Inception
- Fight Club
- Drop Dead Fred
And I think I am forgetting one… so yeah, that’s the kind of episode this is. Huh.
