Wonderfalls: Caged Bird
September 7, 2015 1:29 PM - Season 1, Episode 13 - Subscribe
As Eric prepares to leave Niagra forever, Jaye, Sharon, Alec, and Wade are held hostage in Wonderfalls by a bank robber on the run.
AV Club Review!
"The reason why the show failed is exactly the reason that fans fought to save it so hard, why it’s remained a cult favorite for years and why I greeted reviewing a new episode each week with glee: At no point in its run was Wonderfalls like anything else on television. Even now, having seen the entirety of the series, I don’t know how to classify it, as it defies categorization as either a comedy or a drama and flits between the two with confident ease. It cherry-picked aspects of multiple genres and pulled them in as it saw fit, had a cast of relative unknowns that enjoyed an easy chemistry with each other, and wove a romantic comedy/coming-of-age story with a cryptic Joan of Arc narrative while maintaining a marvelous balance between the two. It was unique, the sort of unique that makes it damn hard to come up with a successful marketing campaign, and the sort of unique that would inspire a rabid fan base but one nowhere near numerous enough to support a network drama." -- and all the Hannibal fans reading nod in agreement on Fuller's track record of creating bizarre, fascinating, entertaining shows that no one watches.
More pessimistic take on the series as a whole from Scott Tobais
AV Club Review!
"The reason why the show failed is exactly the reason that fans fought to save it so hard, why it’s remained a cult favorite for years and why I greeted reviewing a new episode each week with glee: At no point in its run was Wonderfalls like anything else on television. Even now, having seen the entirety of the series, I don’t know how to classify it, as it defies categorization as either a comedy or a drama and flits between the two with confident ease. It cherry-picked aspects of multiple genres and pulled them in as it saw fit, had a cast of relative unknowns that enjoyed an easy chemistry with each other, and wove a romantic comedy/coming-of-age story with a cryptic Joan of Arc narrative while maintaining a marvelous balance between the two. It was unique, the sort of unique that makes it damn hard to come up with a successful marketing campaign, and the sort of unique that would inspire a rabid fan base but one nowhere near numerous enough to support a network drama." -- and all the Hannibal fans reading nod in agreement on Fuller's track record of creating bizarre, fascinating, entertaining shows that no one watches.
More pessimistic take on the series as a whole from Scott Tobais
Mark Watches (Of Mark Reads fame) totally did a complete watch of Wonderfalls here
posted by The Whelk at 1:41 PM on September 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 1:41 PM on September 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oh hey Wonderfalls! Ohh what could of been. Exactly zero people in my life know what that is, sadly.
Man I'm still bitter that I missed out on getting a smooshed-face wax lion prop off of eBay after the show got canceled.
posted by littlesq at 5:56 PM on September 8, 2015
Man I'm still bitter that I missed out on getting a smooshed-face wax lion prop off of eBay after the show got canceled.
posted by littlesq at 5:56 PM on September 8, 2015
After all of that, whew, I'm glad it ended the way it did.
I miss that show. I can't make myself watch Hannibal to make up for it, though.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:18 PM on September 8, 2015
I miss that show. I can't make myself watch Hannibal to make up for it, though.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:18 PM on September 8, 2015
Well Hannibal is a VERY different show where all the whimsy and quirkiness becomes lush queer Gothic murder opera with lots of symbolist references and gore.
It's kind of interesting how you can sort of see the through lines between the shows but also totally can't.
posted by The Whelk at 10:25 PM on September 8, 2015
It's kind of interesting how you can sort of see the through lines between the shows but also totally can't.
posted by The Whelk at 10:25 PM on September 8, 2015
Les was probably right about it being difficult to market. I remember seeing the first promos for it being like a pedestal with the smushed-face wax lion on it and it slowly zooming in and the lion turns his head and says something. That told you basically nothing about the show and it was like they weren't even going to try to capture the feel of the show. It worked on me and probably like 12 other people. What can I say, I'm curious by nature. It was poor marketing, but I don't think good marketing would've saved the show.
(And then 5-6 years later Terriers does a similar marketing campaign that basically tells you nothing. Dumb.)
posted by john-a-dreams at 10:49 AM on September 9, 2015
(And then 5-6 years later Terriers does a similar marketing campaign that basically tells you nothing. Dumb.)
posted by john-a-dreams at 10:49 AM on September 9, 2015
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posted by The Whelk at 1:40 PM on September 7, 2015