I've been watching The Mist on Netflix and I'm enjoying it. I never saw the movie, but this show is making me want to read the book. There are some things that I don't understand about Nathalie and I think reading the book would fill in some gaps. For a moment, I thought it was Mary Gross playing her because her voice reminded me of Janice Zuckerman in Feds.One of the things I love about the show is seeing how many subplots there are and how they tie them in together. They convey a lot without a ton of exposition.
They're also really good at heightening the stakes in a way that lets the secondary characters be more than cardboard cutouts.
There are so many plot twists that I don't see coming even when there has been subtle foreshadowing because I'm just so busy following the main plot lines, which are full of chaos.
I'm a little confused how an entire mall has almost no food when there aren't that many people that have taken refuge in it. Malls usually have food courts and stores that sell some food to thousands of people each day. The electricity is working, so they could freeze some things and cook. That piece seemed like a Deus Ex Machina plot point to me.
I'm caught up on all the episodes that exist currently. As such, I've been left on a cliffhanger. They're good at those too.
As far as horror goes, it's on the light side. It IS hard to scare me these days though. I think it may be part of keeping the budget low. The less they have to show, the cheaper it is. With everything shrouded in mist, most things don't have to be clearly shown. Throw in some fake blood or some special contact lenses and a little face makeup and they get away with a lot for a little. There is a terrifying human element that is going on, but I can't say that it has me really invested and I'm not sure why that is. I suppose I haven't fallen in love with any of the characters. Maybe most of them I haven't gotten to see enough. It's kind of an ensemble piece, so it's rarely told from one main viewpoint.
I think I can compare it to Walking Dead a little. The thing with Walking Dead is that we're with Rick Grimes from day one. He wakes up in the hospital and has no idea where his family is and we spend a lot of time seeing the world through Rick's eyes. Yeah, it cuts to Daryl and other people here and there, but you're never in doubt who the main character is. The story is primarily about a former Sheriff trying to raise kids in a zombie apocalypse. I suppose I'm not entirely sure who the main character is in The Mist. It's an apocalyptic story about some mysterious mist that seems to know things about everyone in town. Stephen King likes that as a theme. He used it in The Storm of the Century also. I think there are just too many unknowns currently to have me care enough about the story. I'm intrigued, but not completely hooked.
The acting isn't Oscar winning, but it's better than a lot of other shows I've seen. I wasn't a fan of the acting in Bitten if you want an example. I think it's got better acting going on than that. I feel like it's not as good as Orphan Black and a far cry from The Walking Dead though. I'm also more invested in Stranger Things than this one.
Anyway, I thought I'd give my impressions of season one. I hope it gets better. In the meantime, I'm going to make some time to watch the movie this week since people have told me they liked it. Part of me feels like I may ruin some of what may be coming in season 2 by watching the movie, but I don't want to wait a year to understand some things. Also, the movie came out first, so I'm really just catching up to where other people are with it.
Guid cheerio the nou,
R~
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