Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2016 16:31:15 GMT -6
NBC will debut its latest original miniseries The Slap on Thursday, February 12 at 8/7c. leading into The Blacklist and Allegiance. The miniseries stars Peter Sarsgaard, Uma Thurman, Zachary Quinto, Melissa George, Thandie Newton, Thomas Sadoski, Brian Cox, Dylan Schombing, Lucas Hedges, Makenzie Leigh, Maria Tucci, Penn Badgley and Marin Ireland.
Read on for my thoughts on the new family drama after screening its first two episodes.
Over the course of two episodes of NBC's new miniseries The Slap, I laughed so many times. That's not a compliment because The Slap views itself as a serious drama with big ideas on its mind. The end result is just unintentionally hilarious. That simply can't be the reaction the creative team wanted. You simply can't assemble a talented cast like this just to have me laughing at the cliche, over-worked and underlined ideas and plot turns. That's what The Slap is though. The show was based on an Australian miniseries which was based on a book. I can't speak to how those two presentations of this material worked. All I can speak to is how bad NBC's The Slap is.
The Slap has a pretty simple premise. It showcases what happens after one man, Harry (Zachary Quinto) slaps another couple's (Melissa George & Thomas Sadoski) misbehaving child at a backyard barbecue. The ensuing drama tries to dig into themes of institutions such as family dynamics, generation differences, marriage and the legal system. It goes without saying that a person shouldn't slap a child who isn't his or her own. And yet, The Slap goes above and beyond on presenting why every character involved is a terrible human being. Every single character deserves to be slapped. Unfortunately, only one occurs. The Slap wants to start a discussion about what life as a parent and member of a family means in 2015. It does not open that discussion because it is always so strongly pointed in one direction so that the audience can understand every single thematic and narrative thing that happens.
Written by playwright and Brothers & Sisters alum Jon Robin Baitz and directed by Olive Kitteridge's Lisa Cholodenko, the incredibly talented cast of The Slap often elevates the material they are being asked to deliver. But the way this story is being told keeps anyone from feeling multi-dimensional. The show deposits that the only way someone would slap another couple's child is if he has an established history of anger problems and rage outbursts. Similarly, the only way a child would need to be slapped is if his parents
are horrible yuppies who coddle him. The toddler is misbehaving all throughout the party. Whenever he gets in trouble, his mother, Rosie, punishes him by breast-feeding him. So often, we are asked to look down at the decision-making skills of Rosie and her artist husband Gary. To the point where we are happy that someone is finally doing something to discipline their son. That's a horrible perspective to have. It points the audience in such a strong way to one point-of-view that it hinders the show from presenting multiple ideas.
That last fact actually does hold some interest because the show does play somewhat with shifts in perspective. Each episode is told from the point-of-view of a different person who was at the party. So, the first hour is seen through the eyes of Hector (Peter Sarsgaard), a civil servant hosting the party in celebration of his 40th birthday. The next is from Harry's perspective. I was hoping that the things that bugged me in the first episode were simply because it was how Hector is seeing the world. He's a man going through your typical TV mid-life crisis - growing distant from his wife Aisha (Thandie Newton) and kids, unhappy at work, non-confrontational, eying the teenage babysitter (Makenzie Leigh). He would rather sit in the corner and listen to his slow jazz records. That's the mood that is established in the first episode. And it does fit that character.
But the show doesn't shift from that mood and world view during the second episode. Harry is a very different character. He's a powerful man who thinks he can get whatever he wants if he just heavily pursues it. As Victor Garber's incredibly unnecessary narration points out, he is a warrior who believes success comes to those who take it for themselves. He's a destructive presence with no regard to the consequences of his actions. He thinks he's above any kind of legal repercussions because he has money. It's a character that Quinto plays well even though he is meant to frustrate the audience. And yet, it's much easier to understand him than it is to make sense of whatever George and Sadoski are doing.
The Slap's biggest misgiving though is that it all feels completely meaningless. These characters are all horrible. No one seems to be happy. More importantly, these characters don't have real meaning to each other until the titular slap happens. Hector and Hugo are cousins who are more like brothers. That explains why Hector is willing to help Hugo after the legal trouble starts. Brian Cox and Maria Tucci are Hector's very Greek and opinionated parents. They are essentially the over-bearing and old-fashioned parent caricatures. Every one else at the main party is a friend to this family. And yet, I have no clue why these people are friends. It's cool that Uma Thurman is playing a writer-producer of a Gossip Girl-esque show. But why is she friends with Aisha? I have no clue. That becomes a huge problem when I have no idea why Rosie, George and their son are at this party in the first place. They don't have a relationship to either Hector or Aisha. They just show up and are a part of this large assembly of people. They are only at the party in order to stand in opposition to everything that Harry believes. The show is so focused on building up the tension between the two before the slap that it forgets to establish why all of this matters.
A show that doesn't make sure that its story matters doesn't deserve that much attention. I've seen two episodes. The only reason I would check out the third is because it's told from the Thurman character's point-of-view. I'm interested in seeing how that character plays a part in this story. That intrigue isn't enough to carry me through the rest of the season. I'm actually dreading whatever the Rosie-centric episode will be about. That character is insufferable and a whole episode devoted to her could be devastating. And yet, the show could be presenting her in that way so strongly in the beginning just to make the emotional realities of the situation different when they get told from her point-of-view. That doesn't seem to fit the style of the show though. The events of the party are told as fact. They don't vary from person to person. So that just makes The Slap full of plot but no substance.
Anybody see this show yet?
Read on for my thoughts on the new family drama after screening its first two episodes.
Over the course of two episodes of NBC's new miniseries The Slap, I laughed so many times. That's not a compliment because The Slap views itself as a serious drama with big ideas on its mind. The end result is just unintentionally hilarious. That simply can't be the reaction the creative team wanted. You simply can't assemble a talented cast like this just to have me laughing at the cliche, over-worked and underlined ideas and plot turns. That's what The Slap is though. The show was based on an Australian miniseries which was based on a book. I can't speak to how those two presentations of this material worked. All I can speak to is how bad NBC's The Slap is.
The Slap has a pretty simple premise. It showcases what happens after one man, Harry (Zachary Quinto) slaps another couple's (Melissa George & Thomas Sadoski) misbehaving child at a backyard barbecue. The ensuing drama tries to dig into themes of institutions such as family dynamics, generation differences, marriage and the legal system. It goes without saying that a person shouldn't slap a child who isn't his or her own. And yet, The Slap goes above and beyond on presenting why every character involved is a terrible human being. Every single character deserves to be slapped. Unfortunately, only one occurs. The Slap wants to start a discussion about what life as a parent and member of a family means in 2015. It does not open that discussion because it is always so strongly pointed in one direction so that the audience can understand every single thematic and narrative thing that happens.
Written by playwright and Brothers & Sisters alum Jon Robin Baitz and directed by Olive Kitteridge's Lisa Cholodenko, the incredibly talented cast of The Slap often elevates the material they are being asked to deliver. But the way this story is being told keeps anyone from feeling multi-dimensional. The show deposits that the only way someone would slap another couple's child is if he has an established history of anger problems and rage outbursts. Similarly, the only way a child would need to be slapped is if his parents
are horrible yuppies who coddle him. The toddler is misbehaving all throughout the party. Whenever he gets in trouble, his mother, Rosie, punishes him by breast-feeding him. So often, we are asked to look down at the decision-making skills of Rosie and her artist husband Gary. To the point where we are happy that someone is finally doing something to discipline their son. That's a horrible perspective to have. It points the audience in such a strong way to one point-of-view that it hinders the show from presenting multiple ideas.
That last fact actually does hold some interest because the show does play somewhat with shifts in perspective. Each episode is told from the point-of-view of a different person who was at the party. So, the first hour is seen through the eyes of Hector (Peter Sarsgaard), a civil servant hosting the party in celebration of his 40th birthday. The next is from Harry's perspective. I was hoping that the things that bugged me in the first episode were simply because it was how Hector is seeing the world. He's a man going through your typical TV mid-life crisis - growing distant from his wife Aisha (Thandie Newton) and kids, unhappy at work, non-confrontational, eying the teenage babysitter (Makenzie Leigh). He would rather sit in the corner and listen to his slow jazz records. That's the mood that is established in the first episode. And it does fit that character.
But the show doesn't shift from that mood and world view during the second episode. Harry is a very different character. He's a powerful man who thinks he can get whatever he wants if he just heavily pursues it. As Victor Garber's incredibly unnecessary narration points out, he is a warrior who believes success comes to those who take it for themselves. He's a destructive presence with no regard to the consequences of his actions. He thinks he's above any kind of legal repercussions because he has money. It's a character that Quinto plays well even though he is meant to frustrate the audience. And yet, it's much easier to understand him than it is to make sense of whatever George and Sadoski are doing.
The Slap's biggest misgiving though is that it all feels completely meaningless. These characters are all horrible. No one seems to be happy. More importantly, these characters don't have real meaning to each other until the titular slap happens. Hector and Hugo are cousins who are more like brothers. That explains why Hector is willing to help Hugo after the legal trouble starts. Brian Cox and Maria Tucci are Hector's very Greek and opinionated parents. They are essentially the over-bearing and old-fashioned parent caricatures. Every one else at the main party is a friend to this family. And yet, I have no clue why these people are friends. It's cool that Uma Thurman is playing a writer-producer of a Gossip Girl-esque show. But why is she friends with Aisha? I have no clue. That becomes a huge problem when I have no idea why Rosie, George and their son are at this party in the first place. They don't have a relationship to either Hector or Aisha. They just show up and are a part of this large assembly of people. They are only at the party in order to stand in opposition to everything that Harry believes. The show is so focused on building up the tension between the two before the slap that it forgets to establish why all of this matters.
A show that doesn't make sure that its story matters doesn't deserve that much attention. I've seen two episodes. The only reason I would check out the third is because it's told from the Thurman character's point-of-view. I'm interested in seeing how that character plays a part in this story. That intrigue isn't enough to carry me through the rest of the season. I'm actually dreading whatever the Rosie-centric episode will be about. That character is insufferable and a whole episode devoted to her could be devastating. And yet, the show could be presenting her in that way so strongly in the beginning just to make the emotional realities of the situation different when they get told from her point-of-view. That doesn't seem to fit the style of the show though. The events of the party are told as fact. They don't vary from person to person. So that just makes The Slap full of plot but no substance.
Anybody see this show yet?
