When I first read about this show, I was definitely intrigued...what English major wouldn't be? A story about what happened in "fair Verona" after the most famous literary event there ever? However, when I watched the first episode I was horribly disappointed. The acting was like watching a high school drama club production, and then there was the poorly considered casting. What Shonda Rhimes apparently does not comprehend is that when you're doing Shakespeare, you can only go one of two ways: either absolute & total spot-on accuracy in setting, costuming and casting (1968 "Romeo & Juliet," "Shakespeare in Love," Anonymous") or completely, blatantly adapted/adjusted/modernized, where you get to change whatever you want to make whatever statement you want (Branagh's "Hamlet," McKellen's "Richard III" or Luhrmann's "Romeo + Juliet"). Instead of choosing one direction or the other, Rhimes decides to straddle the fence. She gives us the beautiful period-accurate sets and costumes that others have noted (which is the only thing that earned the second star from me) but then she absolutely ruins the illusion she's trying to create with what can only be described as a politically correct cast. As I once read in a review elsewhere, there's only so much suspension of disbelief possible for a viewer. When I'm too distracted by trying to figure out why the black prince has an Iranian sister and how a Latina mother gave birth to a lily-white daughter, your show has lost me. As another reviewer noted, perhaps if the casting had been more uniform at the very least along the family lines (ESPECIALLY in a story where the main conflict is the feud between two families!), it would've been less jarring and confusing. However, that's not even the worst fault; that came at the end of the pilot episode, when it became clear that the least talented, least attractive actress of the diverse-for-diversity's-sake-only cast was meant to be the main protagonist of the show. Seriously, who could be blamed for not wanting to marry her? Even if I could wrap my head around the rest of the completely disjointed cast to attain that suspension of belief necessary to be entertained by this show, I wouldn't want to waste anymore of my time subjecting myself to her high school drama club level of acting. When I checked Lashana Lynch's filmography, I was not surprised to find only a few unheard-of, D level movies, nor do I expect much from her in the future if her performance in this show is any indication. Again, just a complete disappointment from a story concept that had so much potential.
Review of Still Star-Crossed
