Red Garden

Holy sh--.

The first episode of Red Garden has just about destroyed me.

I will not talk about the plot. What I will say is that the episode is steeped in mystery, and the atmosphere throughout is so oppressive that you know Something Not Good is going to happen at some point. The revelation that eventually comes at the end, while not particularly surprising, is a satisfying conclusion to a carefully constructed setup.


The best part of the whole episode is a musical number about two-thirds of the way through, where a character sings a lament to her lost friend. It's chilling and heartbreaking at the same time. The way her voice quivers and cracks as she half-whispers the words is like a knife through the heart. I really hope this show turns out to be a musical. That would make it even more of a stand out series than it already is.

My only concern at this point is that this is a Gonzo production, and they're somewhat notorious for making shows that start strong and end up fizzling out later on. If Red Garden can avoid that pitfall, it could really turn out to be something special.