Solos | TV Show Review

 

At the time of writing, this show came out two days ago. It's a 7-episode anthology with episodes lasting between 20 and 30 minutes, which is why I was able to finish it so quickly.

This series explores what it means to be human, and the connections that humans share.

I'm not totally sold on this series. There were some things that I absolutely loved about it, and other things that I could have done without.

If you've read my blog before, you might know that I'm a huge fan of Anthony Mackie. Originally, I had only planned to watch his episode (Episode 2 - Tom), and that's what I did. I then watched the next one (Episode 3 - Peg) because of the connection there, which I won't spoil. But I found myself so intrigued by the descriptions of the other episodes, that I decided to just go for it and watch them all.

In order, the episodes star Anne Hathaway (Leah), Anthony Mackie (Tom), Helen Mirren (Peg), Uzo Aduba (Sasha), Constance Wu (Jenny), Nicole Beharie (Nera), Morgan Freeman (Stuart) and Dan Stevens (Otto - in the episode 'Stuart'). As you can see, the cast is really amazing, there are great actors here and they all do great jobs with their episodes. Of course, there are episodes that aren't great, but that is never down to the actors. 

When I was two and a half episodes into the show, I had a thought, and that thought hasn't left me even though I have now finished and had time to reflect on the show. I have no idea what it's about. I get the whole humanity thing, but I felt like the individual episodes had no connection, and some of them felt a bit purposeless.

However, I did enjoy the episodes as individual short stories. Speaking specifically about episode 2, which is what I started with, I absolutely loved it. It was so powerful, and unexpectedly emotional. It was also beautifully written, but then most of the episodes were. 

This is a sci-fi series, and most (if not all) of the episodes are set in the future. Because of that, I really enjoyed both the use of technology, and the use of pop culture references. Whether I liked the episodes or not, I always believed them.

Some of the episodes unpack really complex, thought-provoking issues, and the ideas and premises of each episode are really unique.

Another thing I loved about the episodes was that almost each one contained a beautifully written monologue. I don't think there are enough monologues in TV and film today, and the show used them really well to reveal things about these characters. 

For me, 20 minutes isn't long enough to capture the essence behind the stories of some of these episodes, and it leaves some (such as episodes 5 and 6), having no substance.

Speaking of episode 6, I thought it had such a good idea behind it, but ultimately nothing came of it, and that was really disappointing.

Part of the reason that I watched the show 'til the end was because I was waiting for a twist. Some profound link that could connect these stories and make the time spent on watching them worth it. Spoiler alert, but there was nothing, not in the way I wanted. Two episodes directly linked, and the link between the rest was tenuous at best. I don't understand why these stories were chosen for this anthology.

Overall, I did like the show, and there is an episode or two that I'll probably re-watch. But it definitely fell short of what it needed to be in order to work well.

2/5