Based on critic reviews, Ratched season 1 suffers from fluffy melodrama. The eight-episode Netflix series was created by Ryan Murphy and Evan Romansky, and serves as a prequel to Ken Kesey's 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which inspired Miloš Forman's 1975 movie adaption of the same name. Overall, critics seem to believe that the story doesn't hold up, and that the main antihero of Ratched season 1 doesn't have enough depth as a character.
Set in Northern California, Ratched season 1 follows Mildred Ratched (Sarah Paulson). After forcefully earning a job at Lucia State Hospital, she waits the arrival of Edmund Tolleson (Finn Wittrock), her serial killer brother who will temporarily stay at Lucia for a psychological evaluation. Meanwhile, Mildred builds a friendship with a woman named Gwendolyn Briggs (Cynthia Nixon), and realizes that there's potential for a romantic relationship. The final episodes of Ratched season 1 on Netflix explore Mildred's attempts to maintain a healthy relationship with her brother before he's executed for his crimes.
Ratched season 1 currently has a 61 percent Tomatometer score at Rotten Tomatoes, however it has a 43 percent score from top critics. In general, critics seem to believe that Murphy and company took a safe route with the visual and thematic approach, and the plethora of bold colors almost creates a fantasy world rather than capturing the atmosphere of a real-life psychiatric facility. As usual, Paulson provides a strong performance, but doesn't match the intimidation factor that Louise Fletcher so memorably conveyed in the film adaptation. Critics appear to appreciate the overall style, but seem more concerned about the flimsy script and the fact that Paulson doesn't deliver a big time performance. Here are some negative takes on Ratched season 1.
"No longer a chilling avatar of implacable, self-satisfied state violence who needs no reason to exist other than that the system will always find people like her to keep running, Nurse Ratched is now just another poor, misunderstood antihero."
"The name Ratched calls to mind words like 'ratchet' and 'wretched,' but in this slick, inconsistent series she's more a jumble of qualities whose truths are coyly withheld from us."
"'Ratched' tries, for a while, and it looks awfully good doing it. But it gets waylaid in spectacle and lurid melodrama."
"The more fundamental problem with Ratched isn't that it's an unnecessary, ill-fitting origin story for a formerly iconic character. It barely works as a story even if you ignore the name and consider this the first adventure of a brand-new character."
"As an ostensible origin story for Nurse Ratched, the towering villain of Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ratched is a confusing character study that never quite gets a grip on the character it's studying."
Some critics have applauded the viewing experience that Ratched season 1 provides. The throwback appeal seems to resonate with many viewers, and there's a touch of Hitchcockian suspense that builds to big moments in each episode. And while Paulson's portrayal may not hold up to Fletcher's iconic interpretation, one could argue that Murphy and his collaborators made a smart move by writing a timely version of Mildred, a woman who has yet to truly become hardened by her experiences. Here are some of the positive commentaries about Ratched season 1 on Netflix.
"'Ratched' is garish and gorgeous all at the same time; horrific and occasionally poetic; glamorous to an almost laughable degree; thrilling for a while and then puzzlingly dull for stretches, only to become interesting all over again.
"While there are layered mysteries and enough subplots to fill the Grand Canyon, Ratched never loses itself in trying to be anything other than what it is: A throwback to the days when stories kept their audiences guessing, right up until the very end."
"If you're looking for a legit origin story here, you'll probably walk away unimpressed. Yet if you're here for the discombobulating fever dream, this quasi-nightmarish series will have you covered."
"Ratched works very well as a moody, sensual thriller even if it's not so much an intellectual exploration."
"Ratched is style over substance again. But what style."
Overall, Ratched season 1 appears to be an acceptable Netflix production. Plus, it clearly sets up a second season that will presumably expand the narrative elsewhere, and will hopefully show different sides of Mildred. Ratched season 1 on could merely be a primer for a darker second installment.
from ScreenRant - Feed https://ift.tt/33FI9FA
0 Comments