Incorporated Season 1 Episode 2 Review: Downsizing
Ron Gilmer
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Blah, blah, blah, blah.
We're only up to Incorporated Season 1 Episode 2, and watching it is already a slog.
The same problems that plagued Incorporated Season 1 Episode 1 are abundant in this episode, as well.
Flat, unlikable characters, a plot that has a "been there, done that" feel and just an overall paint-by-numbers world.
The attempt at a back story for Ben/Aaron was very ordinary, only reinforcing what we already know: that he knew his love Elena from his Red Zone days.
The thing about this show is that they drop in some little nuggets that are reasonably clever, such as lines like this:
What's going on downstairs is just the tip of the iceberg. Do you know that expression? It's from when I was a kid.
Elizabeth
And the "blink and you miss" things, like the Red Zone fast food container that boasts "Made with 10% real beef," actually get a chuckle here and there.
But those things should be clever details that enhance the plot, not the only things you remember.
I assume the actors are directed to be cold, bloodless, and unemotional, since everyone but Laura is exactly that.
She remains the only interesting character, because she actually FEELS emotions and displays them.
The fact that she harms herself again out of guilt over Chad's family, whom she doesn't even know, is especially jarring in this world, because no one seems to care about anyone – only the bottom line.
Elizabeth: Did you just use my grandchild as a bargaining chip?
Laura: Not everything is a negotiation-
Elizabeth: But this is.
Her relationship with her mother, the only real attempt at human interaction, brings nothing to the table, because Elizabeth feels nothing at all for her daughter.
Ben is still a stiff, cardboard cutout of a character. He supposedly has all this love and passion for Elena, but none of it shows.
I know that they want to show Spiga, and by extension this world, to be a cold, robotic, cutthroat place.
I just wish that the writers had a little (or a lot) more imagination, and not make a corporate run post apocalyptic world just like practically every other one we've seen for decades.
Think outside the box, people!
There doesn't have to be such a sharp delineation between the have and have – nots. More than two classes of people would be a welcome relief, frankly.
We've seen it over and over again: either you are the uber rich, or you're an animal scrounging for scraps. Way too simplistic.
Dennis Haysbert as Julian is being wasted here IMO. He doesn't bring enough menace to the role, and actually makes Elizabeth look like the bigger badass.
I guess that why she runs the joint – haha.
Theo's fighting plot line is way too obvious also.
So, after one fight he will conveniently get the chance to fight at the executive club where his sis is being held captive? Puhleeeze!
And don't get me started on the "sex scene" with Ben and Laura in the car. Most. Un – sexy. Scene. EVER. That is the crux of this show's problem, other than a decided deficit of imagination.
LACK OF EMOTION. Viewers generally want to care about the characters they watch on the TV Box.
But there is such a dearth of emotion on this show, I feel like if they don't care about each other on the screen, then why should I?
I had the worst fucking day ever!
Laura
That's how I felt after watching this one. I feel you, Laura.
That's my take: tell me yours. Is there anything you like about this show so far? Chime in on the comments.
And remember you can watch Incorporated online, right here on the mother ship, TV Fanatic!
