Lovecraft Country

Like many, I went into Lovecraft Country expecting a deep dive into the world of H.P. Lovecraft, especially based on the title and the initial trailer. I was hyped. But after the first episode, something felt... off. So I did some digging and found out it’s actually based on a separate novel that takes inspiration from Lovecraft’s work, while also critiquing some of his flaws—like his racism. Alright, I thought, I’ll give it a few more episodes to see where it goes. What I got was a series of disjointed stories that varied in quality, ranging from "okay" to "less okay." I struggled to find any consistent thread or connection pulling it all together. And by the end, I wasn’t sure if this was meant to honor Lovecraft’s legacy or take shots at it. Honestly, I think it was trying to do both.. (2020.11.03)

A very confused series, it can't compare itself at all with the amazing Watchmen, although the first few episodes (actually literally the first two episodes) were quite sympathetically directed towards just that. The biggest problem is the overcomplicated plot and the fact that after the initial enthusiasm I gradually stopped wondering what happens next, even though very serious topics were being addressed. In the last three episodes, Lovecraft Country picked up a bit again, but it didn't help it much overall. Well, every day's not an enlightenment. Even so, though, the series offered me quite a lot of moments to remember (a lot of them are very gory scenes the like of which I've seriously never seen), and I think I would like to watch the excellent first episode full of palpable Hitchcock tension again. (2020.10.21)