Fire Island, The Essex Serpent, and RIP Made for Love
Gay beaches and gothic coasts, plus a fantastic show gone too soon
Hello!
On this week’s episode of Criticism Is Dead, we discuss Fire Island and The Essex Serpent, two seaside romps with old-fashioned sensibilities.
Click here to listen to the full episode on the web
Or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, Google Podcasts, or other podcast apps.
01:32 Hulu’s Fire Island may not reach new heights (or depths), but it’s perfectly sweet and funny in its take on Pride and Prejudice.
Fire Island has a lot of things going for it: its amazing cast (including, but not limited to, Joel Kim Booster and Bowen Yang), a fun setting that somehow maps perfectly onto the hierarchies of Jane Austen’s Regency world, and nice chemistry between most of the characters, whether they’re friend, chosen family, beau, or foe. But the writing leaves something to be desired, especially when it comes to the core of these characters and their relationships to each other: Who is Noah? What values or experiences inform his emotional distance towards romance and his attitudes toward life in general? What’s the underpinning of his friendship with Howie? Maybe the Quibi series that this was originally supposed to be would have given more room to deepen the character development — I guess we’ll never know. Still, a cute watch!
22:42 The Essex Serpent, streaming on Apple TV+, toes the line between gothic eeriness and conventional romance, to highly watchable effect.
The Essex Serpent is a grower: Once you get into it, you have to immediately watch all the episodes, and when it’s over, you’re left wanting more. (Sorry to disapoint, but there will not be more, as this is a limited series.) It does this in part through a sustained air of suspense throughout the first few episodes; then the interest shifts primarily to protagonist Cora and her solar-powered, self-centered, gravitational pull. Unfortunately, the romance does end up subsuming more interesting questions of science vs. faith vs. nature, culminating in a finale with a clichéd “happily ever after” ending. But it’s a pretty good ride most of the time, which is more than you can say about many shows!
40:22 Plus, we’re weeping over the cancellation of Made for Love.
Season 2 was phenomenal (better than season 1, previously discussed here). There are so many questions we’ll never get answered :(
Bonus links
Molly Fischer on the rise of “I.P. TV.”
That’s it for now. See you next week!
— Jenny
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram!
Please rate/review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, Google Podcasts, WHEREVER, and tell a friend about us!
Inquiries, complaints, and recs for what to watch can go to criticismisdead@gmail.com.
Some credits:
Music: REEKAH
Artwork and design: Sara Macias and Andrew Liu