133
280
20
4
4
8
1
8
1
2
9
2
2
1
2
4
1
2
9
13
16
3
Missing the Forest for the Trees
God, was this a disaster of epic proportions (and not in an entertaining way)!
If I had to summarize its problems in just one sentence, I would say that they went for what was obvious and advantageous rather than what was challenging.
S1 of Only Friends was messy (intentionally), but there was more to it than that. It didn't just point the camera at its possessive, broken protagonist hitting on someone and then shove a cheeky third party in the picture. Through its leads and their problems and mistakes (romantic and not), they thoughtfully weaved a narrative about second chances. How you can't always tell whether they were deserved or not. How some people change, and some never change. Time is what reveals it.
Only Friends: Dream On seemed to look at the success of Only Friends and miss the core of it: This is about hook-ups and flirting in front of a crowd! It wanted the messiness without challenging views or casting any of its actors in a bad light as their characters. Likely because of changes in the crew and the creators wanting to make sure their fixed pairs didn't appear blurred, if you ask me. Which, if you're making a second season of Only Friends, should not be one of your priorities!
Predictable and safe. That's what it was.
Without intending to, they made one of their leads into a painfully oblivious villain, dragging others down and going back on his word, all the while bemoaning slights against him as if they were daggers to the heart. Meanwhile, viewers were meant to sympathize.
I could not find a deeper meaning here, no matter how hard I racked my brain, probably because there wasn't one from the start. If it was supposed to be "wanting someone you shouldn't," based on the conclusion, the drama seemed to disagree with its own messaging.
And what was originally a unique storytelling device: interview-like segments interspersed throughout to get a read on the characters' thoughts, became characters performing for the camera, and ended up feeling like an exaggerated, dragged-out wink and nod to the audience as if to say, "See what we did! It's just like you remember! Aren't we cool?"
Fitting for a story centered around a stage play to feel like bad theatre.
I'm disappointed and in the mood to go rewatch the original Only Friends.
Side Note: Rome and Raffy and Dean were the saving graces of this drama.
If I had to summarize its problems in just one sentence, I would say that they went for what was obvious and advantageous rather than what was challenging.
S1 of Only Friends was messy (intentionally), but there was more to it than that. It didn't just point the camera at its possessive, broken protagonist hitting on someone and then shove a cheeky third party in the picture. Through its leads and their problems and mistakes (romantic and not), they thoughtfully weaved a narrative about second chances. How you can't always tell whether they were deserved or not. How some people change, and some never change. Time is what reveals it.
Only Friends: Dream On seemed to look at the success of Only Friends and miss the core of it: This is about hook-ups and flirting in front of a crowd! It wanted the messiness without challenging views or casting any of its actors in a bad light as their characters. Likely because of changes in the crew and the creators wanting to make sure their fixed pairs didn't appear blurred, if you ask me. Which, if you're making a second season of Only Friends, should not be one of your priorities!
Predictable and safe. That's what it was.
Without intending to, they made one of their leads into a painfully oblivious villain, dragging others down and going back on his word, all the while bemoaning slights against him as if they were daggers to the heart. Meanwhile, viewers were meant to sympathize.
I could not find a deeper meaning here, no matter how hard I racked my brain, probably because there wasn't one from the start. If it was supposed to be "wanting someone you shouldn't," based on the conclusion, the drama seemed to disagree with its own messaging.
And what was originally a unique storytelling device: interview-like segments interspersed throughout to get a read on the characters' thoughts, became characters performing for the camera, and ended up feeling like an exaggerated, dragged-out wink and nod to the audience as if to say, "See what we did! It's just like you remember! Aren't we cool?"
Fitting for a story centered around a stage play to feel like bad theatre.
I'm disappointed and in the mood to go rewatch the original Only Friends.
Side Note: Rome and Raffy and Dean were the saving graces of this drama.
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