finished the 1st season. i really wanted it to all fit together for me but by the end, i had the same feeling i have for a lot of these high concept shows. it just petered out, never found a central theme that held it together, and 3 major flaws sunk it for me ultimately.
my favorite character was armand, poor guy. the actor playing him was outstanding, and i'm glad that an australian actor got to actually keep his accent. it fit well with the environment.
obviously the aesthetic was gorgeous, and well shot. definitely serves as an advertisement to visit hawaii. the mossbacher family was interesting, steve zahn always being a scene magnet. the son's arc was a nice touch, could serve as a larger lesson in ditching phones for "living".
much of the agenda of the show was very obvious, and extremely on the nose. that was disappointing coming from mike white, who does have a skill for subtlety. however, his sharpness could've been dulled by getting to write basically a 6 1/2 hour long movie. this would've probably been an awesome 110-120 minute long film, condensing some of the bloatedness and shearing off some characters. it started out promising enough, but as it went on like episodes 4-6, it just lost it.
that brings me to the flaws:
1) as previously stated, the shane character and the honeymoon story with his wife, rachel. it doesn't work. shane is all douche and no redeeming qualities. i kept thinking, this kind of crisis from the woman comes from arranged marriages or royal marriages. i think it was a mistake to make her both a naive innocent victim but also coming from a background of clickbait journalism. the latter would've made more sense to be paired with shane. molly shannon chews up a ton of scenery as the controlling, passive aggressive mom. but again, it's like...deleted scene material. it adds nothing to the story except puts way too fine a point that this is a rich momma's boy. the conclusion of the story is also lame because the would-be irony is lost in the fact that rachel's character isn't consistent or believable enough for any of it to make a difference. shane didn't deserve to have a poignancy.
2) the paula character doesn't get a pass. i'm supposed to believe that she suddenly changes from being a drugged up self-indulgent college brat (that must also come from a privileged family to go the same college as the daughter whom she's friends with) to a worldly wannabe activist? i was hoping there would be something more to that, a self-aware ironic twist about her being suddenly so aware of oppression after fucking the staff boy. but no, it's suddenly, oh...weepy time. that fell flat.
3) the staff vs. the guests contrast wasn't nearly dressed up enough. belinda, the massage therapist therapist who befriends coolidge's character, is set up (again, painfully obviously) to be let down that in fact...she's not going to help her get her business off the ground, no, she just leaves her...what, was that, like $5k? uh, plenty of cash to start your own business or get something going. in fact, there is a pretty touching true story of that very thing happening about 30-40 years ago of a restaurant chain called "cest la vie" and it all started from a mexican taco stand. instead, we're supposed to feel bad for her as being "paid off" or something. that missed the mark. there's absolutely no reason belinda is in the last shot, welcoming the next group to the resort. if you're going to have us sympathize with the help, make them the only redeemable characters and the ones we latch onto. this was too all over the place with how we were supposed to connect with everyone. there are clear shitheads that aren't developed at all, then there are characters that are given slapdash arcs that are way too convenient and contrived.
there are some laugh out loud moments, and i wasn't ever bored with the show. but it definitely wasn't enough to continue with the other seasons. even knowing it starts all over again with new casts and characters...i just don't care enough to keep up with it.
i think this show, for me, is overrated. it's not that insightful and the satire is thin. again, kind of a let down from mike white.
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