I'm in the camp that considers this a criminally underrated series. I don't know how this one slipped by me, as I've seen most of the internet at this point but I never heard a thing about it when it was released.
My wife, on the other hand, found this show very dull and uninteresting until the last few episodes. I was hooked from the very beginning.
The universe that's been imagined here is pretty quirky. Imagine if the allies lost the war and there was never a splurge in technological growth aimed for the consumer market. Computers are still using green screens and dot matrix printers, although advances in programming are still ahead of where we are today.
Owen (Jonah Hill) is a schizophrenic who's been abused and taken advantage of by his family. He tries to keep his distance from his family but lacks the stability to support himself without their help.
Annie (Emma Stone, who puts in an incredible performance) is dealing with her own childhood trauma, where she had to play the emotional role of mother to her little sister, but remains and emotionally stunted adult. After more trauma in her adult life, she no longer knows how to be a functional human being.
Justin Theroux as Dr. James K Mantleray takes a smaller part, mostly appearing in the second half of the series, but creates a character so off kilter that every line he delivers is hysterical.
Sally Field as Dr. Mantleray's estranged mother (and as the artificial intelligence GRTA which serves as the operating system for these dream like experiences) delivers a lot of heart and more hilarity.
This is mostly a drama. There's a good amount of comedy. There are sci-fi elements. But at the end this is a story about people moving on and learning to leave their pain behind. For those who get emotionally invested in stories like these, the last few episodes hit pretty hard. The writing through some of the "confrontational" scenes is pretty spectacular.
The entire cast delivers but Emma Stone really takes it to another level in this series. The sets feel cohesive and keep you immersed in this alternative universe. I enjoyed the soundtrack so much that I've started listening to it on my downtime.
I'll remember this one for a long time. I plan to watch it again. Highly recommended.
