Look what we have here.
A historical drama that looks historical but everything else is borrowed from the 21st century. It's like any other teen show but they wear wigs and stays in this one. Stays, not corsets as they were erroneously refered to by Camille because someone in the writing team couldn't do their proper homework on historical undergarments and skipped a few decades in time.
This is the biggest pet peeve of any period drama fan who goes into a new show only to realize the producers have modernized the storyline to avoid alienating a younger demographic who might get too frightened by 18th century customs and mannerisms and switch off the tv.
According to tv producers, viewers just can't handle the fact that 300 years ago people talked and acted in a completely different way than today. It's a struggle for all of us out there who hope to get swept away and essentially to get a glimpse into a past time period without being thrown out of it violently by an array of hideous anachronisms.
It's better to include out of place dialogue and ridiculous situations to appease anyone but the standard period fan that chooses to spend their time and money to watch a new historical drama series. At least, they made some effort in the costume department and in general the show looks aesthetically pleasing.
What's the point of using the book title if nothing bears a resemblance to the source material, not even the protagonists themselves? Two originally pompous, self absorbed, privileged and vain aristocrats are given a homely origin story to make them more sympathetic, despite both of them being abominable human beings who use and manipulate anyone around them to their advantage.
They do not need to be presented as a poor servant girl that gets forced into prostitution after being thrown out on the streets and some rich heir who loses his noble title by his evil stepmom and makes money of off sleeping with wealthy women. They do not need to appear sympathetic by being scorned or faced with injustice in their youth nor do they need justification for their actions later in life. It feels disingenuous to present them as victims. They were aristocrats that looked down on other people and thought highly of themselves, period.
It doesn't require a tragic past or an explanation. Audiences do not need to feel for 'bad' characters; they only need to be intrigued by them which this show fails terribly at.
Besides that, i'm having a hard time believing these two would grow up to be like the two calculated and ruthless characters Glenn Close and John Malkovich played in the film adaptation. Camille and Pascal here feel like silly caricatures that yell and stomp their feet whenever something doesn't go their way. I find their actions ludicrous and nonsensical, like Camille's amazing ability to find dirt on everyone in Paris and blackmail with ease high rank nobles like the Marquis de Merteuil.
Everybody has gossip on everyone yet Camille is the one who can terrorize these dumb, reckless nobles with secret letters that happen to lie around out in the open whenever she visits a chateau.
The big scandal involving an affair between Marie Antoinette and a noble lady made me cringe; seeing the Queen crying to Camille about it made me physically ill. Writers just can't help themselves from including such garbage in the script for shock value.
The love story is as paper thin as their motives. There's no chemistry here. We do not understand why these two are drawn to each other or why they have the need to be together. They either scream at each other due to some obscene misunderstanding or plot against their sworn enemies.
Camille's predictable dramatic backstory is as contrived as Pascal's demand to get his precious title back from his stepbrother. If the characters were given more attention and more development instead of building momentum to create suspense we would have been more invested in the story. Essentially, we know nothing about the characters other than their quest for revenge and therefore when the pace starts to pick up somehow the pay off is unsatisfying.
For 8 episodes the plot moves sluggishly slow and when the big revelations happen it just feels anticlimactic. They managed to make a side plot about the sex work industry incredibly dull and stupid, now that speaks volumes about the quality of the script and how little effort was put into creating something decent. Normally this would be explored in the next season but the show got cancelled and it's no surprise it came to this.
With two faceless characters, clunky dialogue, contrived storylines and cringy plot devices , this show was doomed to fail. Perhaps Starz needs to invest in better stories without using click bait titles from much more successful adaptations.
A historical drama that looks historical but everything else is borrowed from the 21st century. It's like any other teen show but they wear wigs and stays in this one. Stays, not corsets as they were erroneously refered to by Camille because someone in the writing team couldn't do their proper homework on historical undergarments and skipped a few decades in time.
This is the biggest pet peeve of any period drama fan who goes into a new show only to realize the producers have modernized the storyline to avoid alienating a younger demographic who might get too frightened by 18th century customs and mannerisms and switch off the tv.
According to tv producers, viewers just can't handle the fact that 300 years ago people talked and acted in a completely different way than today. It's a struggle for all of us out there who hope to get swept away and essentially to get a glimpse into a past time period without being thrown out of it violently by an array of hideous anachronisms.
It's better to include out of place dialogue and ridiculous situations to appease anyone but the standard period fan that chooses to spend their time and money to watch a new historical drama series. At least, they made some effort in the costume department and in general the show looks aesthetically pleasing.
What's the point of using the book title if nothing bears a resemblance to the source material, not even the protagonists themselves? Two originally pompous, self absorbed, privileged and vain aristocrats are given a homely origin story to make them more sympathetic, despite both of them being abominable human beings who use and manipulate anyone around them to their advantage.
They do not need to be presented as a poor servant girl that gets forced into prostitution after being thrown out on the streets and some rich heir who loses his noble title by his evil stepmom and makes money of off sleeping with wealthy women. They do not need to appear sympathetic by being scorned or faced with injustice in their youth nor do they need justification for their actions later in life. It feels disingenuous to present them as victims. They were aristocrats that looked down on other people and thought highly of themselves, period.
It doesn't require a tragic past or an explanation. Audiences do not need to feel for 'bad' characters; they only need to be intrigued by them which this show fails terribly at.
Besides that, i'm having a hard time believing these two would grow up to be like the two calculated and ruthless characters Glenn Close and John Malkovich played in the film adaptation. Camille and Pascal here feel like silly caricatures that yell and stomp their feet whenever something doesn't go their way. I find their actions ludicrous and nonsensical, like Camille's amazing ability to find dirt on everyone in Paris and blackmail with ease high rank nobles like the Marquis de Merteuil.
Everybody has gossip on everyone yet Camille is the one who can terrorize these dumb, reckless nobles with secret letters that happen to lie around out in the open whenever she visits a chateau.
The big scandal involving an affair between Marie Antoinette and a noble lady made me cringe; seeing the Queen crying to Camille about it made me physically ill. Writers just can't help themselves from including such garbage in the script for shock value.
The love story is as paper thin as their motives. There's no chemistry here. We do not understand why these two are drawn to each other or why they have the need to be together. They either scream at each other due to some obscene misunderstanding or plot against their sworn enemies.
Camille's predictable dramatic backstory is as contrived as Pascal's demand to get his precious title back from his stepbrother. If the characters were given more attention and more development instead of building momentum to create suspense we would have been more invested in the story. Essentially, we know nothing about the characters other than their quest for revenge and therefore when the pace starts to pick up somehow the pay off is unsatisfying.
For 8 episodes the plot moves sluggishly slow and when the big revelations happen it just feels anticlimactic. They managed to make a side plot about the sex work industry incredibly dull and stupid, now that speaks volumes about the quality of the script and how little effort was put into creating something decent. Normally this would be explored in the next season but the show got cancelled and it's no surprise it came to this.
With two faceless characters, clunky dialogue, contrived storylines and cringy plot devices , this show was doomed to fail. Perhaps Starz needs to invest in better stories without using click bait titles from much more successful adaptations.