Going to DIETLAND

Article first published as TV Review: DIETLAND on Seat42F.

 

Erin Darke as Leeta, Julianna Margulies as Kitty, Ricardo Davila as Eladio, Will Seefried as Ben, Robin Weigert as Verena, Tramell Tillman as Steven, Rowena King as Cheryl, Adam Rothenberg as Dominic, Joy Nash as Plum Kettle, Tamara Tunie as Julia – Dietland _ Season 1, Gallery – Photo Credit: Erik Madigan Heck/AMC

AMC’s news drama, DIETLAND, feels like a bit of a departure for the network. While they have done shows that border on the fantastical, the tone of this one is silly, and yet deeply dark. It revolves around several different women, including some involved in a cult-like conspiracy, as they maneuver the modern world and current political climate post-#MeToo. There’s also a mystery unfolding in which men who have been cruel to women keep winding up missing and often dead.

Joy Nash (Stallions de Amor) stars as Plum Kettle, a ghost writer who handles the Ask the Editor questions for Daisy Chain magazine, a lifestyle advice rag. Underpaid, underused, and underappreciated, Plum is weighed down with the depressing material of others’ letters, while struggling with her body size and lack of romantic life. Plum is intelligent, an excellent baker (a skill she tries to ignore), and determined to improve herself, having no patience for the ‘fat is beautiful’ set. She is also ripe to picked up by a group of women trying to fight back against the current system.

This conspiratorial group, hidden within the walls of Daisy Chain, is led by sweet-yet-tyrannical Julia (Tamara Tunie, Law & Order: SVU). Working right behind the back of the editor herself, Kitty Montgomery (Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife), Julia uses Leeta (Erin Darke, Good Girls Revolt) to gather intel on targets, which she then might send to Verena (Robin Weigert, Big Little Lies), the daughter of the founder of an extreme weigh loss program built on lies. Plum becomes their latest target, though it’s not immediately clear why exactly (although multiple explanations are presented to viewers), or how many others might have been singled out before her. What is shown is that the operation seems professional and wide-reaching.

The mystery of the shadowy group, mixed with an Ugly Betty-like office, makes for an interesting setting. However, Plum often works from home, so other scenes take place at her residence, her weight loss support group, a doctor’s office, and a café run by her best friend, Steven (Tramell Tillman). It’s a wide-spread number of locations for a sprawling narrative, which, although entangled within itself, feels very far spread.

I mentioned the tone being silly earlier, and yes, there’s a layer of odd comedy over the whole thing. Plum begins hallucinating. It’s unclear what exactly causes the hallucinations. Could it be stress? Withdrawal from a medication? Maybe there’s something in the makeup Julia gives her? These visions match the crazy theme song of the show, but while they are unfolding in-story, they aren’t explained.

There’s also a possible love interest / danger for Plum in Detective Dominic O’Shea (Adam Rothenberg, Ripper Street), who may want to date Plum, but may just be using her to look into a hack at Daisy Chain. With Dominic and reporter Cheryl Crane-Murphy (Rowena King, Shut Eye) among the leads, there’s definitely more dominos to fall as secrets come out.

What DIETLAND has going for it, besides being created by the talented Marti Noxon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, UnREAL), is a timely message and a lot of mystery. There are compelling characters, a fleshed-out world, a seemingly intricately plotted story, and a delightful tone.

What works against it is that it is very dense and a lot of questions go unanswered, likely for the foreseeable future. Some of the best television mysterious unfold a clue at a time, whereas DIETLAND just drops you into a puzzle that reveals pieces all around, without context. It can be overwhelming and messy, and that will likely make it difficult to access for some viewers.

I, however, like it, and plan to watch more. DIETLAND airs Mondays on AMC.

GOOD GIRLS REVOLT Or Revolting?

Article first published as GOOD GIRLS REVOLT Review on Seat42F.

Amazon has a new period drama called GOOD GIRLS REVOLT, which premieres this week. Set in the late 1960s, it’s a drama about the employees of a newsroom for a magazine (similar to Newsweek) called News of the World. Specifically, the characters at the center are women ‘researchers’ who essentially do all the work of writing the articles, but get none of the credit because of the sexism of the time. Now, they’re ready to fight for their rights and recognition.

GOOD GIRVLS REVOLT is confusing because it’s got a lot of real elements, but is not actually a true story. For instance, the events mentioned that are reported on more or less actually happened. Several characters, including Eleanor Holmes Norton (Joy Bryant, Parenthood) and Nora Ephron (Grace Gummer, Mr. Robot, The Newsroom), are real people. Yet, what they are doing isn’t true to life. Ephron did work for Newsweek, but at a different time, and for a longer period than what the show portrays.

Because of the real names and events, viewers are likely to be tricked into thinking this is a true story. I feel like that’s kind of dangerous. It’s absolutely fair to take a little creative license when portraying historical happenings, but GOOD GIRLS REVOLT isn’t doing that. Instead, it’s misleading to lend itself unnecessary and unwarranted authenticity. This is purely personal opinion, but I don’t approve of that sort of element at all.

Taken on its own, I did enjoy the pilot of GOOD GIRLS REVOLT, before I looked into how accurate it was. It’s very easy to get behind two of the three main women, Patti (Genevieve Angelson, Backstrom) and Cindy (Erin Darke, Love & Mercy), and root for them to succeed. It’s also a timely tale as the first female candidate of a major political party runs for office in a race beseeched by sexism, so it seems important to bring these things up.

However, the show is also pretty predictable and one-dimensional. The costumes and music are almost a bit too over the top, and the drug use and penis sculptures just make it seem ridiculous. Could people have acted like this? Perhaps. Did they? Probably not to this extent. This is more a vision of what modern viewers think the 1960s was like, taken in a cartoonish fashion. Even Patti, Cindy, Nora, and Eleanor are more archetypes than complex characters.

The one player that gets a bit of depth, Jane (Anna Camp, The Good Wife, Pitch Perfect), is not likeable. I’m not complaining about the actress; I’ve enjoyed Camp very much in several other projects. But instead of letting us see the internal struggle she is going through, wanting to hold onto the achievements she has made and afraid of rocking the boat, it’s actually surprising when Jane does the right thing in episode one because she’s shown to be such a cold person prior to this. We don’t get any insight into why she makes that decision.

There are men in the show, too, specifically, Chris Diamantopoulos (Silicon Valley), Hunter Parrish (Weeds), and Jim Belushi (According to Jim). They fare no better than the women, coming across as entitled bullies who may like girls that know their place, but certainly aren’t going to join the cause of gender equality. They aren’t outright villains, but are (mostly) quietly prejudiced. They are simply the obstacles in the way that must be toppled.

I do kind of want to see where GOOD GIRLS REVOLT is going. I like enough of the elements to be curious about episode two. Yet, that’s more because of a fascination with an era and the positive feelings I get from watching women kick butt than the show’s own merits enticing me.

GOOD GIRLS REVOLT season one will be released on Amazon this Friday.