Leethal1
Cringey, Cheesy and unfathomable. I am utterly shocked as to why rotten tomatoes has the ratings sooo high on this. 9 times out of 10 I agree with rotten tomatoes. THIS???? WTH? This program is squeaky clean. No gritty real life feel, no sense of dread or apprehension. It feels like a cross between 7th heaven/ hallmark movies and early 90s "bad" Stephen king low budget films. My wife and i preempted most of the lines of dialogue...which just made us wince more as we watched the first episode. I feel like this type 'story' has been told many many times before and much much better than this disappointing mess.
ricktobin-32370
As an avid watcher of the outlandish, I found this premise intriguing, but as a writer I believe in holding judgement and to not use the ruler of historical data, mythology or other TV programs and movies as a basis for comments when considering a new body of work as a whole. This is a fresh creation. Let critics say what they like. My perspective is from one who writes actively and evaluates from the side of the inkwell...not the spear.Yes, some of the acting is primordial and overly starched. There are a host of characters that are unlikable within almost all parts of their personalities. In short, it is not a deluded fantasy but one that is diluted. An exciting, rushing river becomes a swampy delta, eventually, if there are too many draining tributaries. Here, the writers and producers have tried to create a plethora of characters in order to connect with a larger audience base. That keeps pulling the viewer's interest away. In a book that can be effective for depth and texture, but in a one-hour show it requires far too much attention for today's average audience. Yes, I'm aware of the success of the complexities in the Game of Thrones and the Tolkien series, and of course there is Harry Potter and his gang. However, those all came from beloved books that many readers translated directly to screen performances. Siren has no such immense following. Siren is also not a three-hour screen extravaganza.At this point in the season, in late May, I'm looking for something surprising, not just some extraordinary CG effects. I also don't want cheesy, almost required man-love-fish entanglements. What for me would be useful is to have the military give up their efforts. That's distracting. Have their black budgets pulled and then let the repercussions of their over-fishing be the big concern, for now it will drive the mer back to the fisherman for revenge. Also, let the Native Americans participate more appropriately. They knew these creatures long before white men came along. I suspect there is a lot of interesting legendary material available from the Northwest tribes, including ceremonies of healing and protection.I also believe the curio shop owner should be a much more important character...and she's certainly a better actress. Perhaps a bit of transformation on her part would be interesting...especially since we've never seen her touching water.Whatever the case, there is a base here to develop a longer and more compelling series, but like others have said, if this becomes another Twilight homage, then I'll be refreshing my video hunger on The Expanse.
