Aaron Sorkin once said that the worst sin a screenwriter can commit is telling the audience something they already know. This show clearly was not written by Aaron Sorkin. The dialogue is 90% exposition and the large majority of it is exposition we already know. Here is an example from the episode three:
"He's coming, isn't he?" "Who?" "Yeah, well, you know who. Morpheus. The oneiromancer. You know, the sandman, he's back." "The sandman? The one who puts the kids to sleep? He's a fairy story, Hettie." "He's no fairy story, missie. He's back and he wants his sand."
30 seconds spent to tell audience nothing they don't already know. The character who delivers this warning could be cut out from the show with no loss whatsoever. And so could the Dream's butler, whose only purpose is to deliver exposition and to say "but you must drink your chicken soup, my lord!" in an ever more irritating manner.
But the biggest crime the writers commit is wasting Charles Dance aka Tywin Lannister on a total joke of a character who lasts exactly one episode. The man could've carried the show all by himself, but instead he's playing a one-dimensional "angry man" who couldn't be more shallow if he was a paddling pool for unusually small babies.
The sad thing is, all the ingredients to make a great show are here. Every once in a while there is an intriguing development that could make us feel something, but the show always rushes past. The relationship between "angry" Charles Dance and his spineless son could've easily been the heart of an episode. Or the gay romance that goes from zero to "happily every after" in about a minute of screentime. But no, if we take time to develop our characters, there mayn't be enough time left for exposition!
<Disclaimer: I only watched the first three episodes, but every one of them leaves me more hopeless than the one before>
"He's coming, isn't he?" "Who?" "Yeah, well, you know who. Morpheus. The oneiromancer. You know, the sandman, he's back." "The sandman? The one who puts the kids to sleep? He's a fairy story, Hettie." "He's no fairy story, missie. He's back and he wants his sand."
30 seconds spent to tell audience nothing they don't already know. The character who delivers this warning could be cut out from the show with no loss whatsoever. And so could the Dream's butler, whose only purpose is to deliver exposition and to say "but you must drink your chicken soup, my lord!" in an ever more irritating manner.
But the biggest crime the writers commit is wasting Charles Dance aka Tywin Lannister on a total joke of a character who lasts exactly one episode. The man could've carried the show all by himself, but instead he's playing a one-dimensional "angry man" who couldn't be more shallow if he was a paddling pool for unusually small babies.
The sad thing is, all the ingredients to make a great show are here. Every once in a while there is an intriguing development that could make us feel something, but the show always rushes past. The relationship between "angry" Charles Dance and his spineless son could've easily been the heart of an episode. Or the gay romance that goes from zero to "happily every after" in about a minute of screentime. But no, if we take time to develop our characters, there mayn't be enough time left for exposition!
<Disclaimer: I only watched the first three episodes, but every one of them leaves me more hopeless than the one before>
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