Hide or Seek

I was surprised this episode was the lowest-rated of the season so far. I liked how the Ratliff family, Rick & Chelsea, and "Greg" all came together in this episode to intertwine their stories. The yacht led to some awkward but hilarious interactions between the groups. I feel for the father of the Ratliff family, but he continues to sink into bigger trouble with the controversy. This was also my favorite episode with the three women. Instead of being catty with each other and talking behind their backs, it was refreshing to see them let loose and look for ways to mix up their fun. This was probably the funniest episode of the season, and I'm glad the season is slowly getting better. 3.5/5 stars.

After three mini-developing and uneventful appetizer episodes, we are starting to be served with a choice of main meals, some a little bland, some tasty piquant and some even spicy sweet.

So far, the main problem with this season are the unlikable and uninteresting guests. Think of them as dead old flowers genus turned dry, put them in a bright sunny environment and make them artificially twist and twitch. All you'll be achieving is the dried flowers, some with thorns "dancing" and being shaken.

Now imagine fresh colorful flowers in a rainy, gray and grim weather with gusts of wind making them move wildly around. All you'll pay attention to is the flowers and their colors, you'll soon forget about the depressing weather.

As much as this season tries, until the end, we would only see the first scenario with some twists and turns, cause we are offered with "decaying" characters from the get go.

That said, I truly would have loved for the foreigners to be at least thrice as large, have a SWAT team ready on the resort (hidden of course), some clouds of electrifying danger and tension gathering above their heads and for Belinda to be bitten repeatedly but surviving.

Viva Lorazepam mixed with scotch!

• Screenplay/storyline/plots: 7
• Production value/impact: 7
• Development: 7.5
• Realism: 6.5
• Entertainment: 7
• Acting: 7
• Filming/photography/cinematography: 8.5
• VFX: 8
• Music/score/sound: 7
• Depth: 5.5
• Logic: 3
• Flow: 7
• Dark comedy/adventure/satirical drama/slight mystery: 7
• Ending: 6.

Did the studio say "you have to dumb this down, middle America doesn't get it. Make it more like marvel"?. Every character is so poorly written and so one dimensional, including established characters from previous seasons. The beauty of the previous two seasons was the realistic dialog, and incredible dimension given to each person. You cared about everyone, and in this season, you care about no one. The cinematography is stunning as always, but the direction is just... dumbed down. Belinda especially, why is she all of a sudden so stereotyped? She feels like an entirely different character. There's a scene of her sitting on a lounger reading a book, and I swear you can see a lightbulb over her head when she gets an idea. It's like watching a high school play. It's all just so.... "High school play".

Simply put, the atmosphere is deep and amazing. It's clear to see how it's either love it or hate it. It may seem slow for some, and for others it's perfectly executed. It's honestly amazing how Mile has put this together and the whole vibe is very, very hard to encapsulate into film/media. I personally think it's going over a lot of people's heads, and I think it's people who are more into fast paced and action packed stuff. The core values of this show and (especially this season which I think is only nice) is the subtle acting, subtle buildup, the quirky characters and atmosphere. But you have to really watch it with heart, otherwise you might get bored if you're on your phone meanwhile.

I see much criticism to the pace, while for me the rhythm of this season is actually an advantage. If nothing overdramatic is happening, it is an opportunity to watch the scenery and the dynamics between the characters (actors are amazing, so different and so complex in their anxieties and internal conflicts) with more attention.

And some questions from last seasons are waking up: Who is Greg after all and what is his biggest problem after his cancer and money issues got, it seems, resolved? Where did Belinda's ambitions shift? How can a dysfunctional family resolve a crisis if they spend a week 24/7 together? To which extent friendship can become dead or reborn if there are political and philosophical differences?

There is no need for innumerable cliff hangers every episode to look forward to the continuation. Drama is actually often happening inside us not outside.