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I was really excited to watch The Paradise. I love period dramas. The first episode wasn't particularly striking, but hey it was BBC. And BBC can't go bad right? What I've realized about a few good episodes in is that the Paradise really lacks dramatic tension and blunders the art of pacing a story. I'm not joking when I say the creators of this show could have definitely made this show a hundred times better.
Don't get me wrong, occasionally The Paradise has some really nice moments: good acting, good shots and a soundtrack to match (music is pretty catchy), but story progression really takes a hit. Especially when it comes to the meat of the story - romance.
The first season sets up Denise's life in the Paradise, the inner workings of this mysterious modern commercial empire headed by John Moray - a fickle man who doesn't know which woman he really wants to be with. Throughout the series Moray is pursued by a rich woman, an employee and of course the main character Denise. What's interesting is that Moray pursues no one in return, choosing only to sleep or have an intimate affair with women who suit his convenience. So what am I getting at here? There's nothing really interesting about this guy. He's presented as the king of the street but has the emotional depth and character of a brick wall. His initial bold flamboyant nature is offset by his unsure demeanor, poor decision making and wavering loyalties between people. Even I was unsure what this character wanted. How can someone like this A) be the head of an enterprise and B) be the object of affection for any woman in this show? Verisimilitude. Make the character believable and make his actions match his character. This causes a problem in the romance sector of the Paradise. The audience doesn't have the right motivation to root for the characters pursuing Moray or even Moray himself as a character. Nearly every single other character was more interesting than Moray. So if the story is going to revolve around him, he better be interesting or complex. Just having an unfortunate accident happen to him does not make up for the emotional believability and complexity a main character should have.
Uncle Jonas saves the day. Literally. No matter what bind the main characters are in (especially fickle Moray), Jonas steps up in the most crucial pivotal plot points of this story. Jonas is supposed to be a side character but in The Paradise he's a warp point for everything. Through Jonas, the story is deprived of things that make stories fun. He'll reveal everything he's doing (that killed the fun in trying to figure out if he was a bad guy). He fast forwards plot points (killed the fun of seeing a character struggling for a goal). And then Jonas "saves" people (giving characters an easy way out of everything – especially Moray who didn't even fight his own battles). Jonas' emotional depth is great but his character role underlines how poor the plot line actually is in The Paradise. There's an art of building up tension, making the audience unsure, making it seem as if everything is hopeless and then giving the cathartic release. You won't find it perfected in The Paradise. It's served straight cold with very few things left to muse about. A little note: there are some modern historical inaccuracies in this period drama. Sometimes it doesn't feel authentic to its time. There were no 'Drink Nights' or 'Girl's Night Out' sort of things. There weren't boyfriend/girlfriend couples with physical intimacy (Moray/Denise) otherwise it would've been frowned upon by society. Yet when it comes to Denise wanting to move up in the commercial world, the historical accuracy jumps sharply back into the storyline. Either stick to it and recreate a period drama with a historical backdrop or make your own world with your own rules (BBC's Merlin did the latter and turned out just fine). Not sure why but picking and choosing = too much bias.
In closing, the Paradise was a good show for its short runtime. It had many great elements but a poor implementation of dramatic tension due to shortsighted storyline and plotting. Offers an average story experience with a frilly ending that isn't really moving at all.
score 5/10
straightace 8 September 2016
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3540477/ |
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28-1-2021 22:07:07