![]() ![]() ![]() It's heartstoppingly brave, rolling the emotional dice again and again. The perfect summation of and climax to everything that's come before. The performance towards which everything had led. ![]() For the record, episode 7 had been a delight and 9, if not special in its own right, at least an improvement on 8. As though someone had pointed out that this was meant to be a comedy. Episode 8 was an attempt to broaden the humor at the expense of the humanity. It's as though the writers had forgotten, or worse had never understood what made this series so wonderful. It's not that it's bad, it's just that its sensibilities suddenly resembled humdrum American TV and thus became deeply unnerving. ADDENDUM I've now watched the final four episodes, during which I mentally knocked off a point (episode 8) and put it back on for episode 10. It likes its characters, for all their flaws. It's a feel good show in the best possible way. It works its magic more subtly, and sometimes more effectively. Mozart in the Jungle is not highbrow entertainment. His portrayal of Rodrigo, the infant terrible of the conducting world, is nothing short of brilliant and creates, most appropriately, the bright star around which everything revolves. As an outsider, I have no idea how much of his character was on the page and how much was his own invention but the results are spectacular. Lola Kirke is a wonderful lightning rod, if gaining weight by the episode Saffron Burrows is fine, if somewhat less interesting than in her pre plastic surgery roles Bernadette Peters is terrific Malcolm McDowell is the perfect exiting Maestro. There are a few stereotypes amongst the smaller roles but the big ones, the roles that anchor this series, are well written and perfectly cast. This is no guilty pleasure in which you know you're being manipulated but you're going along for the (very fun) ride. Occasionally, it's laugh out loud funny but mostly it's genuinely affecting. So, what makes it quite so enjoyable? Firstly, it's genuinely good - a perfect cast delivering tonally perfect performances with a script that delivers reality plus a few extra percentage points. I like it so much that I'm not bingeing but rather rationing myself to a meagre 25 or so minutes each day. I like this series so much that it's hard to see it objectively. This review is based on the first six episodes of the first season. ![]()
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