Article first published as TV Review: VIDA on Seat42F.
Starz premiered a pair of two new half
hour shows this week. While traditionally half hour programs are
comedies, Starz has broken that mold more than once, and VIDA, one of
the newbies, is certainly a drama. When the titular character dies,
unseen by viewers, sisters Emma (Mishel Prada, Fear the Walking Dead:
Passage) and Lyn (Melissa Barrera, Siempre Tuya Acapulco) return home
for the funeral and to take care of her affairs. But secrets come out
and circumstances conspire to keep the two tied to the Eastside of Los
Angeles, the heavily Mexican-American neighborhood they grew up in.
Prada
and Barrera are excellent as the two siblings at the center of VIDA.
Their interactions reveal gobs of backstory. While much of their rocky
relationship seems familiar and relatable, they are fully formed
individuals, not stock characters. This allows us to both quickly
understand the dynamic between them, but also not to give away a
predictable story. The best scenes of the pilot are any time the two of
them are talking to one another. Thankfully the premise sets this up to
be a big part of the series.
Their
first obstacle, and probably the biggest they face, is that their
mother’s property is to be split three ways, not two. The reveal that Vida’s
roommate, Eddy (Ser Anzoategui, East Los High), is actually her widow
is far from a surprise, obvious from the moment the character is
introduced. But despite the stereotype the character visually appears to
be, she quickly reveals herself to be a more rounded personality,
sympathetic and warm. Eddy is much more than a side player, and her
existence plays into a lot of possibilities moving forward. Hopefully,
VIDA will give her as much prominence as the other two.
More
of a trope is Johnny (Carlos Miranda, The Bling Ring), Lyn’s ex who is
engaged to the mother of his soon-to-be-born child, but who of course
falls right back into sexual relations with Lyn. This is a very overdone
type, and not one I’ve ever encountered in real life. He is there to
add tension, but unless they develop him beyond the superficial, and
they may, there’s not much point in having him around beyond how he
informs on Lyn’s character.
The wild
card is Johnny’s sister, Mari (Chelsea Rendon, Bright), who is a rebel
with some causes, seemingly. She is fighting back against the
gentrification of the neighborhood, though she is doing so in such an
extreme way that it’s clear she won’t succeed. Not that one would expect
any single person to be able to stop a trend like this, but she is
going about it in probably the least productive way. After episode one,
it’s not clear exactly how she will figure into the sisters’ tale,
though given their desire to sell the bar and apartment building their
mother owned, there will likely be a bit of overlap.
I
liked VIDA, but I didn’t love it. The characters and world are very
specific, in a good way, with a well-defined universe to exist in. There
is representation in the cast and story that don’t often show up on
television, and the social issues raised are timely and important. There
pacing is fine, and the direction is interesting. It feels like an
indie drama film about a family, stretched out a bit.
Yet,
it lacked a strong hook. I’m curious about what will happen next, but
there’s not a character that stands out or a part that really draws
focus to latch onto. The evenness of the quality is generally a good
thing as a show goes on, but the pilot needs something special to really
make a broader audience take notice. I can’t say I really saw that in
the first episode of VIDA. Though, at only six episodes in the first
season, and the apparent quality of the production, it’s probably worth
giving it a chance.
VIDA airs Sundays on Starz.
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