The original post: /r/television by /u/No-Expression1224 on 2025-09-26 09:19:02+00:00.
[I tried to post this in the “Smoke” subreddit, but it was–predictably–removed, since specific show subreddits are often so zealously moderated there’s no point even posting in them.]
This is probably the worst TV show I’ve seen this year. Frankly, I am astounded this received a positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and mostly positive comments online.
The characterizations are bizarre, and all over the place (like Michelle’s boss/boyfriend/eventual victim). The writing is sloppy, often aimless, and extremely repetitive–how many people can people tell us they hate Dave? Or how many scenes can Michelle’s brother act like a jerk? How many scenes of Freddy spookily staring off into space and making absolutely no sense while every other character reacts to him completely normally? How many scenes of Dave’s wife Ashley looking sorrowful? How many scenes where Dennis Lehane shoehorns in an entire subplot about the publishing world just for filler (I HATE when authors do this because they don’t know enough about another profession besides “writer”)?
This show is an outright mess, right down to the opening “definitions” that never matched the episode title (just for an example, one episode’s definition is “fury” while the ep. title is “Mercy”). Every scene is faux-gritty and unconvincing, right down to the inconsistent accent Taron is using, and I almost can’t believe how few people have seemed to notice.