The Changeling: First Comes Love Show Only
September 8, 2023 1:16 PM - Season 1, Episode 1 - Subscribe
Apollo Kagwa is a charming man, a bookseller, and a father-to-be. We learn how his parents met (in a meet-cute that parallels how Apollo met his wife, Emmy), and that his father left, and that nightmares plague him.
Based on the book of the same name, but this post will be book-free. Streaming on Apple+ in the US; the first three episodes dropped September 8th, with five more scheduled to be released weekly.
"Featuring dynamic performances from Oscar nominee LaKeith Stanfield and Clark Backo, the sprawling eight-episode fable is a fascinating and sometimes unsettling exploration of love, parenthood and the up-all-night anxieties that spawn from them." -- Brian Truitt, USA Today
"What should have been an enchanting horror fantasy gives way to a baffling jigsaw, teetering on the absurd. Some stories, with all of their strangeness and symbolism, are better left on the page." -- Aramide Tinubu, Variety
"The Changeling’s creative team has a strong and stunning vision for where they want to take the series. It’s one that makes working your way through its eight hour-long episodes an absolute joy — even (or especially, if you’re into it) when things start getting real weird." -- Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge
Based on the book of the same name, but this post will be book-free. Streaming on Apple+ in the US; the first three episodes dropped September 8th, with five more scheduled to be released weekly.
"Featuring dynamic performances from Oscar nominee LaKeith Stanfield and Clark Backo, the sprawling eight-episode fable is a fascinating and sometimes unsettling exploration of love, parenthood and the up-all-night anxieties that spawn from them." -- Brian Truitt, USA Today
"What should have been an enchanting horror fantasy gives way to a baffling jigsaw, teetering on the absurd. Some stories, with all of their strangeness and symbolism, are better left on the page." -- Aramide Tinubu, Variety
"The Changeling’s creative team has a strong and stunning vision for where they want to take the series. It’s one that makes working your way through its eight hour-long episodes an absolute joy — even (or especially, if you’re into it) when things start getting real weird." -- Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge
Man, it took a while, but the 4th episode really kind of started to run with things. Up to that point, it was still a good sort of investigation into grief and loss and all that, but it also just sort of felt like it was a little weird for the sake of being weird.
posted by Kyol at 6:19 PM on September 20, 2023
posted by Kyol at 6:19 PM on September 20, 2023
And by the 7th episode I'm kind of wishing this wasn't a weekly, but less because I'm on the edge of my seat and can't wait for more and more because I think the weekly wait allows the story to kind of go off the rails a bit.
Like, I'm not sure how any of it is connected. Apollo's story and his mother's traumas, and his father's disappearance and all that are an interesting story, and Apollo and Emma's story and post-partum story and even the Mystical Woman island are interesting and kind of work well on their own, but I find myself sort of struggling to justify why both plots are in the same story beyond generational trauma or curses or etc. And is the quote from Superstition just there to be cool, or does it _mean_ something? Like, who is actually professing belief in things they don't understand? Maybe Emma towards Cal? And Apollo is kind of going along with the whole "not getting beaten" thing, I guess...
As a binge drop, at least I could just go "ach you fuckers, are you going to resolve any of this, or is this all really supposed to just be taken as a series of loosely connected parables or something?" and watch the next episode right away.
posted by Kyol at 1:02 PM on October 11, 2023
Like, I'm not sure how any of it is connected. Apollo's story and his mother's traumas, and his father's disappearance and all that are an interesting story, and Apollo and Emma's story and post-partum story and even the Mystical Woman island are interesting and kind of work well on their own, but I find myself sort of struggling to justify why both plots are in the same story beyond generational trauma or curses or etc. And is the quote from Superstition just there to be cool, or does it _mean_ something? Like, who is actually professing belief in things they don't understand? Maybe Emma towards Cal? And Apollo is kind of going along with the whole "not getting beaten" thing, I guess...
As a binge drop, at least I could just go "ach you fuckers, are you going to resolve any of this, or is this all really supposed to just be taken as a series of loosely connected parables or something?" and watch the next episode right away.
posted by Kyol at 1:02 PM on October 11, 2023
Mod note: Just a reminder that this is a post for Episode 1!
posted by travelingthyme (staff) at 2:15 PM on October 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by travelingthyme (staff) at 2:15 PM on October 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
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But hey, I'll watch Stanfield be charming at people for an hour a week, no problem.
posted by Etrigan at 2:04 PM on September 8, 2023 [2 favorites]