I have to say, I was not exactly wowed like I was with House of Cards.
Some of the acting was spot on while others seemed to have missed the mark. Also, lots of cliches and predictability to go around.
All that said, I intend to keep watching. There are some characters I find interesting. The rich evil mom for one. Also, I’m curious to know what’s going to happen with spoiled rich kid. (I actually think I have a good idea, but still, I’d like to see it all play out.)
Over all, I rate this series good junk food for the brain. Don’t expect to be moved by this series.
Like you, I’ve watched the first two episodes so far. I was a bit surprised that the gypsy kid actually turned out to be a werewolf, as that seemed too obvious. Likewise, the gypsy/werewolf kid called the rich kid an “upir,” which is a Russian term for a vampire, and his ability to “glamour” people with his eyes seems to bear out that description. The characters are interesting and there’s a vagueness about the whole thing that gives an uncertain feel as to what is going on. Hopefully it won’t devolve into simply another run-of-the-mill vampires vs. werewolves story.
I’m up to episode six and I’m liking it so far. I’d actually bought the kindle edition of the novel last month when Amazon had it on sale, but hadn’t gotten around to reading it yet; the series is making me move it up on my to-read list.
Going into the series, I was aware it would feature werewolves, but didn’t know it would also feature some form of vampire, so Roman’s (the upir) nature confused me at first – I thought his bloodlust was due to his werewolf nature. When it turned out Peter was the werewolf, and he identified Roman as an upir, I had to look that up to figure it was a vampire (albeit a specific type of “daywalking” vampire).
It’s intriguing because it seems to be building on traditional mythologies while maintaining a few internal mysteries as well. There is a back-story to these characters that we don’t know, and we’re not always in on it when they talk, so it enhances that mystery. (I’d said to a friend the characters sometimes seem to speak in code, because we don’t always know what they’re referencing.) Given the entire 13 episode run is done, I hope the writers will actually deliver on wrapping up those mysteries and delivering some answers.
Like:[ul][li]What exactly is Olivia’s (Roman’s mother) story? Is she some kind of supernatural being (or just a supernatural bitch)?[]Will Roman discover what he is? (And what will he do about it?)[]What the hell is the deal with Shelly? (Roman’s giantess, deformed, mute sister.)[/ul]At any rate, it seems the shadowy past of the Godfrey family, not to mention the nefarious undertakings of Dr. Pryce, should make for plenty of material should there be more seasons.[/li]
Oh, and just to mention, there are a couple of Battlestar alums here - Aaron Douglas as Sheriff Sworn and Kandyse McClure as Dr. Chasseur. I also think Famke Janssen is doing a fine job as the uber-bitchy Olivia, and the “kids” are good as well – Landon Liboiron as Peter and Bill Skarsgard as Roman.
Just finished the series last night. I’m totally hooked now. I’m going to be super pissed if we don’t get a season two!! Those last two episodes literally had me on the edge of my seat. No doubt this series does get better in the later episodes.
(Is there more information you’re asking for though?)
So is there a consensus here that it starts out slow but gets better? Define better? I was a little interested, but the reviews for the show were fairly abysmal. But they were all coming in probably after people had only watched the first few episodes.
Yeah, it starts out that way but the teen romancy stuff takes a back seat to all the other twisted that goes on in the later episodes.
Hemlock is no Twilight. Not by a long shot.
Netflix is a streaming service. It’s a pay service but I believe they’re still offering the first month for free, which would give you plenty of time to watch Hemlock Grove if you’re really interested.
A series on Netflix means they give you all 12 episodes at once and you’re welcome to watch at your own leisure. You can watch the entire series in a single weekend or do one show a week. It’s all up to you.
Thanks, but Shakes, no, I know that Netflix is a streaming service…but it’s also DVD by mail. The reason I said it might be a stupid question was because I couldn’t think of a good reason why Netflix would create an original series to be released only on DVD.
Think Lost meets True Blood. Only except, unlike Lost, questions DO get answered.
Also, you’re not going to see a lot of vampires and werewolves running around. It’s more of a plot driven series. (If that makes sense.)
Except the first couple of episodes leaves you with the impression that it is going to be a Twilight clone. Just hang in there, it goes a completely different direction.
I saw them all, I give it a thumb’s up. Famke’s inconsistent accent bothered me a bit at first, but either I got used to it or she got better at it.
I like the part of the werewolf transformation where the wolf eats up the human meat that sloughed off. Yummy!
A question about the last episode: was I supposed to know what the baby or whatever it was in the box was about? Or is it something that was to be left unexplained until later season(s), if there are any? I didn’t give the last episode my full attention, so I may have missed stuff.
My husband and I watched the first episode and our reaction was WTF?? I thought about trying to watch episode 2 but now that I know what it is, I’m not going to waste my time. I’m glad I opened this thread.
The SO is watching it now. At the 3rd episode, I’m pretty sure it’s mostly a show about a bunch of d-bags who look like d-bags and act like d-bags. Can we please get rid of the teen paranormal romance genre please? And while I don’t really like either of the Brontes, I’d much rather sit through a 13 episode miniseries of Wuthering Heights than this.
Just finished it, and I thought it was incredible. The last several episodes were wrenching. It certainly had its cliches, but it was altogether a great way to spend ~13 hours. I thought the two young male actors, in particular, really sold the conflicted nature of their roles. It probably didn’t hurt that they’re at that weird age distance from me where I can appreciate how beautiful they are, yet still want to protect them and be their mom.
Wouldn’t mind an answer to my question in post #15. Was the viewer supposed to know what that was and I missed something? Or was it something we weren’t supposed to understand yet?