I had been greatly looking forward to this series from the moment I first heard of it. As someone who has studied the Gilded Age era, I've thoroughly enjoyed Julian Fellows' series and was hoping this one would fill the gap while waiting on season 3 of The Gilded Age. What a disappointment overall!
On the positive side, the lead actress is strong and I felt the hinted women's suffrage connect was positive. Her character would have had a link to Alva Vanderbilt Belmont, who had much to do with the Gilded Age society dynamics but later focused on the suffrage movement as her calling. There is potential in this.
The mystery itself was sufficient and allowed the main characters to develop our understanding of them as they worked to untangle what was afoot.
The settings, while short of the glamour Fellows creates, were nice and provided glimpses of the Newport world of the time. The costumes were also fine to bring us into the time period of the show.
So why only 2 stars? Because for some incomprehensible reason, the creators decided to repeatedly yank us out of 1895 Newport in an attempt to show an inclusiveness that absolutely did not exist at the time. That blacks would be received at the Breakers and that interracial couples would go about at parties and in town would be great in a show set today - but 130 years ago in ultra wealthy Newport it simply wouldn't exist. Had the creators built realistic and sympathetic characters into the story that showed the injustices of the era, we could have had depth and reality. Instead, we got jarring anachronisms.
I also found the closing scene both unrealistic and frankly a disappointing take on the lead. One minute she is toying with marriage or at least a relationship with the detective, then she's suddenly flirting openly with another man a room away? I'll let slide the extreme unlikeliness of the interracial aspect, but just that the lead would switch abruptly.... Just left me feeling less of her, though I'm sure some will enjoy the idea of this uncertainty in her.
I wanted to be drawn into the story, the characters, and the time period. Why the decision was made to portray the period as it never was kept me from being able to stay engaged. The Gilded Age series has found ways to enlighten and inspire us with the struggles and successes of black Americans in the era and richly integrated this into the story arcs. I feel Hallmark almost mocks the realities of black lives and struggles in this false portrayal.
On the positive side, the lead actress is strong and I felt the hinted women's suffrage connect was positive. Her character would have had a link to Alva Vanderbilt Belmont, who had much to do with the Gilded Age society dynamics but later focused on the suffrage movement as her calling. There is potential in this.
The mystery itself was sufficient and allowed the main characters to develop our understanding of them as they worked to untangle what was afoot.
The settings, while short of the glamour Fellows creates, were nice and provided glimpses of the Newport world of the time. The costumes were also fine to bring us into the time period of the show.
So why only 2 stars? Because for some incomprehensible reason, the creators decided to repeatedly yank us out of 1895 Newport in an attempt to show an inclusiveness that absolutely did not exist at the time. That blacks would be received at the Breakers and that interracial couples would go about at parties and in town would be great in a show set today - but 130 years ago in ultra wealthy Newport it simply wouldn't exist. Had the creators built realistic and sympathetic characters into the story that showed the injustices of the era, we could have had depth and reality. Instead, we got jarring anachronisms.
I also found the closing scene both unrealistic and frankly a disappointing take on the lead. One minute she is toying with marriage or at least a relationship with the detective, then she's suddenly flirting openly with another man a room away? I'll let slide the extreme unlikeliness of the interracial aspect, but just that the lead would switch abruptly.... Just left me feeling less of her, though I'm sure some will enjoy the idea of this uncertainty in her.
I wanted to be drawn into the story, the characters, and the time period. Why the decision was made to portray the period as it never was kept me from being able to stay engaged. The Gilded Age series has found ways to enlighten and inspire us with the struggles and successes of black Americans in the era and richly integrated this into the story arcs. I feel Hallmark almost mocks the realities of black lives and struggles in this false portrayal.