Big name casts don’t know how to share the screen, but they should take notes from these shows.
The Crowded Room
I didn’t really know what to expect going into this show. After the first episode, I figured that it was about one of Hollywood’s favorite mental health issues because of the way the main character (Tom Holland) and the people around him were behaving.
The series starred Tom Holland as Danny - a young man who finds himself arrested following his involvement in a mass shooting, Amanda Seyfried as Rya - the psychologist hired to figure out what Danny might be holding back about what led to the shooting, and Christopher Abbott as Stan - Danny’s defense attorney who works very closely with Rya. It’s set in the 1970s where a gun is fired into a crowd of people in a very busy area of New York City thankfully no one is fatally injured but Danny is caught being involved in the incident. He is quickly brought into a police station and sent to Rikers Island but not until he meets his new psychiatrist that the arresting officers bring in to judge his mental state. Rya gets to the bottom of what caused the incident, what Danny’s life has been like leading up to this event, and what on Earth happened to Danny’s twin brother when they were little boys.
I loved this show (I’m gonna say that about all of these shows). As audience members we’re catapulted into this world and this mystery with Rya, however we don’t see the real Danny like you and I would because of how the writers are telling this story. In pretty much every episode until we figure out what is really going on, we see Danny suffer abuse from the hands of bullies, step-fathers, love interests, etc. He is constantly being pushed and constantly being saved in the nick of time. Tom Holland’s performance is completely captivating, like all of his performances before this (and I’m sure after this) we see him go through an emotional journey. Amanda Seyfried is playing more of a detective role in this series as she uncovers what led to this moment in Danny’s life. And while Holland takes us on an emotional journey, Seyfried is the reason we feel sympathy for Danny. These are two A-list celebrities and they found a way to work together in this series so that neither one of them is stealing the camera from the other.
Full Circle
Not as much as an all-star cast, but definitely big personalities. The cast includes Claire Danes, Dennis Quaid, Zazie Beetz, Jim Gaffigan, and Timothy Olyphant. After Danes and Olyphant’s son is supposedly kidnapped by a group of unknown enemies out for revenge against Danes’ family (more specifically her father, Dennis Quaid), Danes’ family is bombarded with questions about what happened with two feuding families all those years ago.
These are all deeply flawed characters, but Zazie Beetz is the best of them. She is the only one who is out for the truth and while she makes many mistakes along the way she is truly trying to figure out who the enemies are, what they have to do with Danes’ family, and what exactly the circle is. I have one episode left of this miniseries and I honestly can’t wait to figure out what exactly is going on in this conspiratorial mystery.
Special Ops: Lioness
Okay, this is the A-list of the A-listers. It has Morgan Freeman, Zoe Saldana, and Nicole Kidman, all of whom are bringing their A-game. Saldana plays the leader of a group of mercenaries and a female spy trained by the US government to befriend a woman who has close connections to male terrorists. For example, the woman Saldana’s spy is ordered to become close with is a known terrorist’s daughter. The daughter is very sweet and kind to the spy, but knowing her ties to her father and his cause it’s hard to truly trust her. Kidman is Saldana’s superior who knows of her covert ops, but has her missions going under the radar of the rest of the US government. I have not had the pleasure of meeting Freeman’s character yet but I’m sure he won’t disappoint.
This amazing series created by the same person responsible for the Yellowstone franchise (Taylor Sheridan) has its dark moments. But none of the episodes have disappointed yet. Every single one is entertaining and captivating. I am begging you to watch this series.
Comments