Little Fires Everywhere (Prime show)

[paruses]

Appeared on Prime the other day. The premise is that Reece Weatherspoons lives in a town that's bit like a gated community with rules and regs. She is a native of the place and embraces the order. A single mother an artist with teenage daughter drifts into town and rents a place from Witherspoon and then some other stuff happens.

To be honest it's too slow to really say what is happening. The artist one might be a stalker and the stepford wife seems quite nice but naive and patronising - but that's it. I have no idea if I'm supposed to like the free-thinking artist (I don't - she's selfish and antagonistic). It is also set in 1997 for no discernible reason. The only real concession they have made to it being 23 years prior to now is Witherspoon using a corded car phone. But then American fashion has always seemed a bit weird and static outside of California hipsters. Oh, they make the odd reference to late 90s songs. I think the reason for the setting may be so that attitudes can be a litle more regressive - but as nothing has happened in 3 episodes it's hard to be sure.

Anyone else bothered with it? I quite like it but couldn't really say why.

[steveh]

I really liked Celeste Ng's original book. She has an ability to write believable characters who are very different and to deal well with the complexities of human relationships and issues of race and class while still holding down a good story. I've been avoiding the show though as I felt I could only be disappointed, especially given the pre-publicity suggested it simplified the characters and reduced it to a smaller number of primary players. If it's really slow as well then I'm not sure I'm tempted...

[paruses]

A book can also be on TV? Whatever next?

I didn't realise. Am on e5 and feel I was a bit premature to judge.  That makes more sense now - the characters just don't go deep enough but look like they would. And the plotting is multi-layered at this point. This does feel like it's a version of something that was much better at some point.

I may have further observations at a later date.