Happy new year, 2022 wasn’t my most efficient in terms of output, and so I believed it may be time to “hang up the writing gloves”. Even beginning to write my final post, a final goodbye to the blog I have ran for the past eight years.
But as 2023 rolled in, NETFLIX recommended a new show to me: Kaleidoscope. A heist thriller, starring the incredible Giancarlo Esposito and the much redeemed Jai Courtney. However the most exciting part of Kaleidoscope, is every NETFLIX user will have a different order when it comes to the episodes, with each episode being a colour.
So I watched it, and never have I had such an urge to instantly open WordPress and begin writing a review more than today. And because this is quickly reviewed, I will not be going too deep on characters but rather just a overview on the things I liked and didn’t.
If you go an read any of the other hundred reviews I have done, you will notice I always look on the bright side, choosing never to be too harsh on anything I watch especially as I know my opinions on something may change over time.
With that being said, Kaleidoscope is a show that thinks it’s smarter than it is. Kaleidoscope’s greatest strength is it’s concept, the story is a huge let down, and it’s final twist is something so obvious. So let’s start at the beginning
The idea of this show is far better than its execution, in fact the only reason I watched this show was thanks to the idea of it. I like how every episode is a different colour and that colour is prominent in the episode. And regardless of what some may say, there is a right order to watch this show – chronologically, for reasons I will get into.
Multiple times throughout the show I was primed and ready to go and then because of the order I was given, I am then taken out and transported to thirty years in the past. I went from being five days before the heist TO 30 YEARS BEFORE IT.
As soon as the next episode started and I saw 30 years I screamed. I was ready to go, however with that being said when I watched that episode it was very good, really compelling and extremely emotional.
I am then transported to after the heist, which then makes me feel as though seeing the heist is redundant because I know somethings gone wrong. After that episode is the six months after episode, which I appreciate for it’s boldness and decision’s. But, because it is the last chronologically, this is essentially the last episode. And for all the characters it is the end of their stories, so after I watched it, I kept thinking why do I now care what happened during the heist? I’ve seen how it ends.
But I kept thinking, hoping and expecting through all the episodes, that only one thing could save this. A final twist. There had to be a twist to make this all good, a final twist that would be jaw dropping and amazing. Maybe a character like RJ was the secret mastermind behind it all.
There was nothing. Oh, the creators expected me to be shocked that it was a character that took all the money (I won’t spoil it because even though it is so obvious there is no point in watching the finale if it’s spoilt)
Maybe I’m being too harsh. Because as I’ve said, I really enjoyed the majority of the episodes as a stand alone entity. Even when I was transported to the thirty years before episode, I enjoyed it. And, I really liked how bold Violet was even though I didn’t want those outcomes for the majority of the characters.
It’s just a case that the final episode is so disappointing. I have never seen a heist film or show not have a final twist that connects everything together. The final twist this show gives I realised instantly, even with the idea of how the money was removed from the business and it is so simple that everyone I watched it with figured it out.
So, back to the concept of the show. Because of the idea, I have zero care for some of the characters and they have no depth, Hannah for example hardly has any character development past being Leo’s daughter. Stan disappears for a few episodes, Ava gets a great arc but her arc is intwined with one of the worst characters I have ever seen on TV, the FBI agent..
And, all this lack of character development makes the demise of some characters so boring. However, although I have said a lot about the show not being complex enough, I will applaud the way in which it shows the audience who the final killer of the Violet episode is. As that was the only thing I did not see coming.
I had to check I’ve watched all the episodes because I am pretty sure there are some missing plot points. Or things that are just brushed over and we are meant to figure it out. Case and point- who’s the father. Oh we don’t care. Suddenly the police is looped into the operation, why, how? Did Roger Salas know that Hannah was his daughter?
AthemovieZ 