Times they are a’ changin’
…I guess you can say I was a fan? Which is weird cause I was so excited for the show, even though I didn’t really know much. I saw a teaser on Netflix’s Facebook and it was mysterious and beautiful enough to sell me on watching it outright. I didn’t even know the premise but once I found out it was a German time travel show, I was sold. I’m currently writing a time travel short story, so it was almost mandatory to watch this and for the most part, it was good. But just like time travel I find my enjoyment of this series is semi paradoxical.
Initially, the first thought that came to mind when I started watching was how beautiful everything was. Literally every single shot was stunning. Its set in a small German country town and I’m sure every little town is gorgeous but the way everything was framed, left me amazed. Even with the non-landscape shots, design was still purposeful. Conversations or singular tracking shots were done with almost grace and if push came to shove, I would have to say that the direction and cinematography is my favourite part of this show.
Now if that’s a good thing or a bad thing for a sci-fi show, I don’t know, but normally I feel that the writing should be at the first foremost of enjoyment and that’s sadly where my paradoxical love comes from. I would say that as much as I like the show, I also don’t. Every time it does something interesting; story or time travel wise, it does something equally boring or focuses on relationship things that do not matter to the plot. Maybe boring is a strong word but there seemed to be plenty of times, where I rolled my eyes or was left confused with a scene that’s borderline nonsensical in the grand scheme of things, especially in relation to the dire situations of the plot.
One of the biggest problems I face when writing this review is being careful of spoilers. This is due to the fact that, aside from the cinematography, the other part of the enjoyment is from trying to guess what’s happened/going to happen. It takes place in three separate time periods and trying to guess which kid is what adult was an interesting concept and then trying to figure who’s related to whom and in what capacity made it that much more enjoyable.
The first 7 to 8 episodes were interesting and the last few were okay, but I guess maybe I was let down with a few things. It ended in a way that I didn’t think it would, leaving me with a sour taste in my mouth. I can still enjoy the things I liked (obviously) but I know it wasn’t perfect, even though I wish it was. After all that, I would still say watch it, as it’s gorgeous and has a pretty interesting story. So, I guess you can say I was a fan?…