We love a good series. Here’s our (Matt and Lucy’s) review of the three series binged in March:
ONE DAY - Netflix
In a nutshell - Dexter and Emma meet on the same day—15 July, over a 20 year period. On their first meeting, 15 July 1988, after graduation from University, Dexter and Emma spend a platonic night together and agree to "just be friends." The series follows their lives one day of each year.
Lucy: Literally could not get enough. You will want to binge this and it’s short episode time makes it perfect to inject snippets into your day. It's very sad yet so cleverly created. It’ a series that you will think about long after you finish it. Potentially controversial but I didn’t love the character of Emma, however what I found lacking in her, Dex made up for. I think the resonance of it makes us reflect on how quickly our life goes. One day of every year, shows the marked change and pace of life and the swift elevation from carefree teenagers to the complexities of being an adult that happen so incrementally overtime that we don’t notice. You’ll cry (A LOT) and wonder why did it have to be that way, but again a reminder each day is precious. A true modern love story. 10/10
Matt: Based on a book, made into a movie with Anne Hathaway as Emma, Lucy would have preferred her, then a TV series where they can maximise the format into 14 episodes.Had some really good bits, but it was also quite dull in parts. Definitely tuned out occasionally. The nostalgia kept it interesting. Now, I am a huge sook so the eyes welled up in the last couple of episodes, but I challenge anyone with a heart not to feel Dex’s pain. Anyway, Lucy you are insane, 10/10??? These numbers are reserved for The Sopranos, Breaking Bad and The Office. It was a 5/10 for me.
APPLES NEVER FALL - Binge or Foxtel
In a nutshell - Apples Never Fall follows the tennis-obsessed Delaney family, which includes two recently-retired parents and their four adult children. Matriarch Joy has gone missing, so there is an intriguing “what happened to mum?”
Lucy: Great, easy watching. The characters and the family dynamic of four siblings and their parents is relatable. I always love it when different episodes are told from different perspectives of the character. It's a bit of a thriller and hard to predict the twists and turns as the family try to uncover what happened to their mother after she disappeared. I’m a massive scaredy so if that’s you, you’ll be fine with this, nothing to provoke nightmares.
7/10
Matt: A melodrama of unlikable characters, except for Alison Brie. I’ll watch her clip toenails. It got worse each episode somehow. Felt like the writing was daytime TV movie level. Sam Neil, you should have stayed in Jurassic Park. I reckon the director used the worst actor as the barometer, not the best. The best part of this hot mess was that it was filmed on the Gold Coast so our economy was the only beneficiary of this nonsense.
3/10
EXPATS - Amazon prime TV
In a nutshell - Set in Hong Kong, the plot orbits the abrupt disappearance of Margaret's youngest son during a nighttime market excursion. The convergence of three American women, their clandestine affairs, amorous entanglements, and deceit unfurls against the backdrop of the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests in Hong Kong.
Lucy: I love Nicole Kidman’s acting. And her living every mum’s worst nightmare meant every session watching it was a huge perspective check for me. The cinematography was incredible and the depiction of Hong Kong and the intricate and complex relationships of ex-pats, locals and immigrants was captivating. I got the bonus enjoyment of Matt’s frustration at the slow pace of the episodes. I actually love the slow pace of things happening as it’s such a parallel to everything else we watch moving so fast. It didn’t end tied up in a neat bow, again like One Day and I find this a bit discombobulating but that’s life I guess.
7/10
Matt: Ok, save the worst for last. Apart from the HK landscape, this festering turd of a show had nothing to offer. Zero characters with any redeeming qualities and a storyline written by someone living in a padded room. Shit acting all round and someone really need to tell Nicole to ease up on the injectables. She’s starting to look like Michale Jackson. And this “show” required her to do multiple close to camera scenes expressing emotion. Hard to do when nothing on your face can actually move. The stupidity of this show actually make me angry. 2/10, one for Hong and the other for Kong.