22/21
The exploits of various guests and employees of a luxury resort during the course of a week. HBO renewed the series for a second season, despite it being intended to be a limited one-season miniseries. The series is said to be an anthology-style series with new characters each season. HBO previously did this (to universal acclaim) with True Detective (2014). He appeared in Jeremy Vine: Episode #4.175 (2021). Although part of the first season was embarrassing. This second season is as masterful as anyone could have hoped. It starts off a little slow, the first episode, but soon picks up the pace and captivates me over and over again, captivating me like I wasn’t quite there yet. It feels like a review of every thought I’ve ever had at a resort, many of which I’ve long since forgotten. For that reason alone, it’s a delight, but don’t worry, it goes far beyond that, flirting with operatic heights of drama and beauty, which is quite appropriate given the setting in Sicily. Given the brilliance of the acting and the apparent effortlessness of the story, I’d say that Mike White, the creator of this series, is some kind of unsung genius. The guy seems unaware of boundaries, yet has one of the sharpest eyes for detail I’ve ever seen.