This was a series that kept me addicted to watching episode after episode on Netflix, all the way to the end, just to see what was going to happen next. I mostly enjoyed it, but felt really frustrated with the storylines and characters much of the time. In particular I wanted to slap Celia on many occasions.
She was the character I found completely unlikeable. She was selfish, self-absorbed, judgmental, bigoted, homophobic, and had the attitude that she was better than other people. I could understand the excitement of her and Alan meeting up again after 60 years, and deciding to get married (though it happened too quickly, in my opinion) but neither of them accounted for all the changes that life had put them through, and how their personalities were different from their teenage selves. Celia's life had seemingly turned her into a somewhat bitter woman. Her husband, Alan, was surprised to discover that the woman he married could sometimes be so small-minded and mean-spirited. Yet, he kept indulging her, and catering to her. He got mad at her at times, but always quickly forgave her, and overlooked her many character flaws. Both of them could be prickly at times, and get all bent out of shape when things happened that they didn't want to deal with.
And she treated her daughter Caroline badly, refusing to accept her lesbian relationship, and treating Kate badly too. She did later apologize (maybe more out of self-interest since Alan was upset with her attitude, and it threatened her marriage) but then she went on to refuse to attend her daughter's wedding. She just had to throw a wrench into the whole proceeding, making it all about her instead of just being part of her daughter's celebration. It seems she couldn't tolerate not being the center of attention.
I liked the characters of Caroline and Gillian the most, but it was frustrating seeing all the stupid choices, and sometimes impulsive, reckless behavior they both exhibited at times - particularly Gillian. She seemed like a strong, intelligent woman, but then would would do or say something impulsively that was immature or idiotic. And both of them kept going back and forth about their relationships, and creating a lot of drama where there didn't need to be any drama. It could have been avoided if they had better self-awareness and better communication skills.
There were a number of characters that seemingly had no real purpose in furthering the story. They seemed to just be tacked on for awhile and then dropped. Like Paul. Why was he in the story at all? We never found out what happened to him. And Gary. He served as Alan's illegitimate son that Alan never knew he had. It was interesting for awhile, with all the different dynamics playing out when he came into the picture, but then he didn't continue in the story and was just dropped. And Olga. She just sort of appeared and then disappeared. Like, why bother introducing her? And the boy that was living in people's sheds and became friends with Alan. Why was he included? There seemed to be no satisfactory ending to his storyline.
And they did not cast well for the two babies (Calamity and Flora) as they grew up. As someone else mentioned in another review, Flora was shown as a white (or white-appearing) baby, then as a black toddler, and then was seen as an Indian-looking 5 year old. Calamity had dark hair as a toddler, and then was blonde as a 5 year old. Then the actor who played Caroline's oldest son, William, was changed halfway through the series. The grown William did not look much like the younger version.
I did get sucked into the drama of the series, and was rooting for the characters (except for Celia) but sometimes it just felt like too much. Too much secret-spilling and feuding with each other. Too much indecision when the characters couldn't figure out what to do, or kept repeating the same dumb mistakes. I didn't think the character of Robbie was fleshed out enough. His and Gillian's relationship could have delved into a lot deeper complexity, considering their history with each other. He was portrayed as too one-dimensional. And he did a sharp about-face from cursing at Gillian, accusing her of killing his brother, and even turning her son against her in the beginning, but then apologizing and wanting to marry her.
The character of John, Caroline's ex-husband, was frustrating. He was a cad and a louche. He kept wanting to get back together with Caroline, but was quick to turn to other women for a roll in the hay or a place to live. He seemingly did not have the capacity to get his life together. And he was a lousy parent. Yet Caroline kept letting him hang around, and Gillian kept indulging him as well. He was like this sad-eyed puppy dog that was naughty, but everyone kept cleaning up his messes and keeping him around.
I was unhappy with the ending of the series. It seemed to me like there were too many loose threads not tied up. It felt abrupt - like there should have been a lot more to the story and it was just left kind of hanging.
On a positive note, what I like about British series is that the people (the actors) look like real people you'd see anywhere, not like plastic Hollywood people. If this series had been made in the U. S. the characters would have been much more attractive and "perfect" looking. Not at all like real people you'd see on the streets. It makes the characters much more believable and relatable.
This series is a nice wallow in dysfunctional family dynamics. Like a guilty pleasure. Some of their dysfunctional communication and behaviors was maddening, but the story still pulls you in.
She was the character I found completely unlikeable. She was selfish, self-absorbed, judgmental, bigoted, homophobic, and had the attitude that she was better than other people. I could understand the excitement of her and Alan meeting up again after 60 years, and deciding to get married (though it happened too quickly, in my opinion) but neither of them accounted for all the changes that life had put them through, and how their personalities were different from their teenage selves. Celia's life had seemingly turned her into a somewhat bitter woman. Her husband, Alan, was surprised to discover that the woman he married could sometimes be so small-minded and mean-spirited. Yet, he kept indulging her, and catering to her. He got mad at her at times, but always quickly forgave her, and overlooked her many character flaws. Both of them could be prickly at times, and get all bent out of shape when things happened that they didn't want to deal with.
And she treated her daughter Caroline badly, refusing to accept her lesbian relationship, and treating Kate badly too. She did later apologize (maybe more out of self-interest since Alan was upset with her attitude, and it threatened her marriage) but then she went on to refuse to attend her daughter's wedding. She just had to throw a wrench into the whole proceeding, making it all about her instead of just being part of her daughter's celebration. It seems she couldn't tolerate not being the center of attention.
I liked the characters of Caroline and Gillian the most, but it was frustrating seeing all the stupid choices, and sometimes impulsive, reckless behavior they both exhibited at times - particularly Gillian. She seemed like a strong, intelligent woman, but then would would do or say something impulsively that was immature or idiotic. And both of them kept going back and forth about their relationships, and creating a lot of drama where there didn't need to be any drama. It could have been avoided if they had better self-awareness and better communication skills.
There were a number of characters that seemingly had no real purpose in furthering the story. They seemed to just be tacked on for awhile and then dropped. Like Paul. Why was he in the story at all? We never found out what happened to him. And Gary. He served as Alan's illegitimate son that Alan never knew he had. It was interesting for awhile, with all the different dynamics playing out when he came into the picture, but then he didn't continue in the story and was just dropped. And Olga. She just sort of appeared and then disappeared. Like, why bother introducing her? And the boy that was living in people's sheds and became friends with Alan. Why was he included? There seemed to be no satisfactory ending to his storyline.
And they did not cast well for the two babies (Calamity and Flora) as they grew up. As someone else mentioned in another review, Flora was shown as a white (or white-appearing) baby, then as a black toddler, and then was seen as an Indian-looking 5 year old. Calamity had dark hair as a toddler, and then was blonde as a 5 year old. Then the actor who played Caroline's oldest son, William, was changed halfway through the series. The grown William did not look much like the younger version.
I did get sucked into the drama of the series, and was rooting for the characters (except for Celia) but sometimes it just felt like too much. Too much secret-spilling and feuding with each other. Too much indecision when the characters couldn't figure out what to do, or kept repeating the same dumb mistakes. I didn't think the character of Robbie was fleshed out enough. His and Gillian's relationship could have delved into a lot deeper complexity, considering their history with each other. He was portrayed as too one-dimensional. And he did a sharp about-face from cursing at Gillian, accusing her of killing his brother, and even turning her son against her in the beginning, but then apologizing and wanting to marry her.
The character of John, Caroline's ex-husband, was frustrating. He was a cad and a louche. He kept wanting to get back together with Caroline, but was quick to turn to other women for a roll in the hay or a place to live. He seemingly did not have the capacity to get his life together. And he was a lousy parent. Yet Caroline kept letting him hang around, and Gillian kept indulging him as well. He was like this sad-eyed puppy dog that was naughty, but everyone kept cleaning up his messes and keeping him around.
I was unhappy with the ending of the series. It seemed to me like there were too many loose threads not tied up. It felt abrupt - like there should have been a lot more to the story and it was just left kind of hanging.
On a positive note, what I like about British series is that the people (the actors) look like real people you'd see anywhere, not like plastic Hollywood people. If this series had been made in the U. S. the characters would have been much more attractive and "perfect" looking. Not at all like real people you'd see on the streets. It makes the characters much more believable and relatable.
This series is a nice wallow in dysfunctional family dynamics. Like a guilty pleasure. Some of their dysfunctional communication and behaviors was maddening, but the story still pulls you in.