Not always an easy watch, but worth the effort.
If you walked away after the drug addled first episode or the horrendous day in episode two, one could hardly blame you.
The beautiful scenery and acting may have seemed a way to disguise the ugliness in the life of an unsympathetic misanthrope.
But if you were able to see it through to the end you were rewarded, just as the protagonist might be by the time the credits roll at The end of episode five.
The easiest episodes to watch are, not coincidently, the optimistic episodes three and five. As in life, there is often more cast upon us to make us bitter than is given to us to make us happy. Is what is withheld from us going to define us? Is what is cast upon us going to shape what we are for our entire life? Can we truly find redemption and hope in the arms of another person when we loathe ourselves still?
Patrick Melrose asks those questions better than anything else I have seen. It is never too shy to show the cause of bitterness, rage, and deep sadness. Nor does it hide what the effects can be.
While being ironic to a brilliant degree it is not cynical however, which would have been the easiest route for the creators to take.
The beauty of the series is that after a lifetime of bad occurances and bad choices, a person can decide to change his mind.
If you walked away after the drug addled first episode or the horrendous day in episode two, one could hardly blame you.
The beautiful scenery and acting may have seemed a way to disguise the ugliness in the life of an unsympathetic misanthrope.
But if you were able to see it through to the end you were rewarded, just as the protagonist might be by the time the credits roll at The end of episode five.
The easiest episodes to watch are, not coincidently, the optimistic episodes three and five. As in life, there is often more cast upon us to make us bitter than is given to us to make us happy. Is what is withheld from us going to define us? Is what is cast upon us going to shape what we are for our entire life? Can we truly find redemption and hope in the arms of another person when we loathe ourselves still?
Patrick Melrose asks those questions better than anything else I have seen. It is never too shy to show the cause of bitterness, rage, and deep sadness. Nor does it hide what the effects can be.
While being ironic to a brilliant degree it is not cynical however, which would have been the easiest route for the creators to take.
The beauty of the series is that after a lifetime of bad occurances and bad choices, a person can decide to change his mind.
Tell Your Friends