Lodge 49: Season 1 (2018)

My time is more valuable than "sticking with" a show that could not be more boring. Sorry, makers, the life of a loser just isn't worth more than two episodes (which is all I watched.) All I could think of was, haven't I already seen this? The story of a supposedly-lovable-basement-philosopher? In, say, "Last Man on Earth"?

I finished the season and I'm still not sure I liked the show. Odd show with odd pacing, plot, and characters. Kept coming back to see what would happen even though not much did.

THis show was FANTASTIC!!!!

The two negative critics missed the entire point of this show. I suspect they also only watched a few episodes. The show starts out slow and builds. There is a purpose the "boredom" of the beginning episodes. There is something about this show that makes you keep pushing play on each successive episode, and although I'm not sure why I kept sticking with it, I'm glad I did. This season is a piece of art as a WHOLE. It can not be judged by a few of it's parts. The pay off is well worth it. It has really made me reevaluate my own life, and given me some insight into joy and happiness. This is not to say that there are not times in the show that feel sad, depressing and hopeless. But it is speaking to those times in all our lives. It shows us that it understands, and in the end, why we should carry on. I can't wait for a second season.

Part a slacker comedy, another part a conspiracy thriller, and all-around abnormal, Lodge 49 is likely the year's most original new show by a mile. Taking cues from surrealist novels (the title itself is a reference to Thomas Pynchon's The Cyring of Lot 49), the show plops viewers into a narrative that gets deceptively more strange as it goes along, stringing along bizarre scenarios and (potential) mythology that may or may not be red herrings in the end. Despite the fairly complex narrative, however, Lodge 49 is just as commendable for how down to earth-it-is, and has a firm understanding on everyday life. Themes such as financial stability, work environment, and family are explored this season, and damn well too, and hopefully the show will be able to work with a similar pace for future seasons. Some critics were quick to label Lodge 49 as "The Big Lebowski as a TV series" but the distinction isn't quite accurate (that Coens Brothers movie is practically a Farrelly Brothers compared to this), but those looking for something zany and out-of-the-box are well advised to check this promising new series out.