The miniseries is either a moving sci-fi brainteaser or dull prestige claptrap.
Disney’s newest we-own-everything initiative is FX on Hulu, a cable-streaming hybrid launching this week.
Maybe it’s the multiverse’s fault?
Credit: Raymond Liu/FX
So far, so whatever, right?
The first thing to grab me aboutDevswas an aerial shot from Lily and Sergeis commute.
What did you know aboutDevsgoing in, Darren, and what were your first impressions?
First: Every episode is written and directed by Garland, a filmmaker I sort of admire.
He wrote28 Days Later,Sunshine, andDredd, an essential trilogy of hard-R genre brainblows.
Then he madeEx MachinaandAnnihilation, dreamy science fiction featuring great performances and no small amount of Deep Thought navel-gazing.
Second: I knew that you really dugDevs, Kristen, which gave me hope.
All that pretty much goes out the window after the fatal incident that climaxes the premiere.
Mizuno was a fun deadpan presence inEx Machinaand NetflixsManiac, but shes just not compelling as a driven investigator.
For too long, Lilys stranded far from the essential question: What is Devs?
Am I missing something here, Kristen?
For me, I got hooked on another question:Whyis Devs?
moments, like that open-window escape you mentioned.
And honestly, I dont really care.
For me, the appeal of Garlands story comes down to what drove Forest to build it.
When Sergei first gets the offer to join Devs, hes so overcome that he tears up.
(Glusman is so good in that moment, delivering hours of backstory without saying a word.)
Its an amazing thing where love will take you, Forest says in episode 6.
The lengths youll go.
Is that a little corny?
Which performances stood out to you the most?
DARREN:Well, my favorite character is Zach Grenier’s Kenton.
(In plot terms, he’s a sibling to the random astronaut-slashing murderer inSunshine.)
I dolovea good chillyBlack Mirror-esque dreadfest, Kristen.
Here, cauterized grief is pretty much the only note Offerman gets to play.
Which, in a strange way, turnsDevsinto propaganda for the technocracy.
Forests intentions are shrouded in mystery and finale twists.
But even the not-exactly-subtleWestworldnailed some trenchant commentary on weaponized private data, before everyone turned into revolutionary shape-changers.
I really did enjoy the scenes with Spaeny and Henderson, though.
Their odd-couple interaction feels beamed in from a Philip K. Dick-ian dark comedy of cyber-god manners.
Were there other performances that stuck out to you?
KRISTEN:For sure: Grenier just kills it as Kenton (heh heh).
And I absolutely love that Garland chose to cast actress Cailee Spaeny as 19-year-old Lyndon.
Spaeny is completely convincing as the kid genius programmer who nonetheless doesnt quite grasp the danger hes in.
you’ve got the option to take nothing at face value in this case, literally.
Another capital-c Choice is Mizunos performance as Lily.
Thats the kind of science fiction I can get behind.
DARREN:Were certainly overdue for a riotous female-forward thriller about the plight of womanhood in Silicon Valley.
I just dont think this is it.
Theres a thread about government interference that only exists to proveDevshas budget for a helicopter.
Lets not even get into the Chatty Homeless Guy.
My, arent we fancy!
All that humorlessly hyperlinked self-importance removesDevsfrom the casual humanity of even the most ornateBlack Mirrors.
So Im glad that the series worked so well for you.
For me, its a frustrating missed opportunity.
Of course the characters dont have free will.
That would require imagination, somethingDevscan only simulate.
KRISTEN’S GRADE: A-
DARREN’S GRADE: C
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