Here we have a new thing, and the new thing is this: an operatic miniseries. It's going to be eight episodes, with two new ones available each Friday in June. Of course, you think, huh, a miniseries? That's different. And it is, but possibly less than you'd think. Each episode is sitcom-length (I mean, I assume that will continue to hold), and since that's only sixteen-seventeen minutes minus the credits, we're really talking about a total of less than three hours. Nothing unusual, length-wise.
Episode One, "This House Is Now"
Ellen Reid
Neither of these exactly has much narrative thrust: we start with a man named Ion addressing his dead lover, Rufus (is "Ion" a non-standard spelling of "Ian?" I've never seen it before). Then we switch to this establishment known as the Desert Inn (in spite of which, the title is "in" with one 'n'--it may be polysemic, though it's not clear how at this point). It's managed by a woman named Sunny and her wife, Cass (who, it is repeatedly emphasized, are about to celebrate their twentieth anniversary--I'm sure that'll come to something or other). And as we learn, this is no ordinary inn: no, this is a Magical Realism Inn, or possible a Science Fiction Inn, depending how things go: here, you can reunite with your dead lover. At first when you see Ion with Rufus, you think it must be a flashback, but by the end, you realize what's going on. Anyway, that's about it for this episode. You can't really tell where it's going, but it intrigues. Do Cass and Sunny have good intentions? And what's with this possibly-sinister dude named Federico with a prosthetic leg who keeps appearing but doesn't do much? We may find out!
Episode Two, "Love Is like the Sea"
Nathalie Joachim
Well, we may, but we don't hear: this is even less plot-oriented than the first episode. We start with a little promo spot for the Desert Inn, as narrated by the inn's transgender lounge singer. "The Desert Inn, where all of your dreams can come true for eternity--or until your credit runs out!" Not exactly subtle. Anyway, after that, the rest of the episode consists of everyone at a pool party. Ion and Rufus have a little argument about their memories of what happened. We are still left with more questions than answers. Well, all questions, no answers, might be a better way of putting it. Stay tuned.
One thing you might ask: why does this exclusively involve gay couples? Is it some kind of AIDS allegory? Well, it so, they're playing it close to the chest so far. There are no allusions to the disease, and if this is meant to be set in the eighties, it's not immediately apparent (and actually, the sign says "wifi," so I think we can count out that possibility). We can probably assume that this inn is No Good, though. Or maybe it's just surreal. The whole thing does a bit remind me of Bruno Schultz' "Sanatorium under the Sign of the Hourglass," and if you haven't read that, what are you even doing? Get it together.
Ah yes, the music. Duh. Well, as you can see, every episode looks like it's fixin' to have a different composer, but these first two definitely feel of a piece: neo-romantic music with tension waiting to spill over. "Love Is like the Sea" has a lot of sort of island-ish rhythms which you'd associate with a vacation gettaway. It's all good. The cast is one of those things that feels slightly unbalanced owing to the inclusion of one singer massively more famous than all the others: here, you probably don't know most of these people, but bam, Isabel Leonard as Cass. Go figure.
Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing how this tale unspools.
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