Here is a conversation (Episode 5) in which the girls talk to Roddy. Can you tell who's saying what?
RODDY: Well, it's a gig, but it's just one song. Just a trial kind of thing.
???: Don't worry, that's just fine.
???: Hey, what song should we play?
???: Well... why don't we write a new one?
???: Good idea, let's do that.
RODDY: By the way, isn't it a little dark in here?
???: They still haven't turned the power on.
???: All right, let's do it outside!
Here's another (Episode 6):
???: Wow, look at all these people.
???: I'm pumped!
???: I'm so nervous!
???: Look, Crystal is performing too.
???: I gotta go see her!
???: Do you think we're breathing the same air right now?
???: Maybe her breath's mixed in with the air here!
Within the show, this kind of bland, uninteresting dialogue is pervasive. The main characters lack substance. They are shallow and uninteresting. Carole and Tuesday see eye to eye on everything, with the exception of an argument in Episode 11 (which—for the record—is resolved in the span of an episode and then never referenced again).
Worse, the show leaves virtually no character development for the two mains. There are certainly hints of it—when Carole speaks to her father, and later, a childhood friend, we think there might be something there. Yet, they are static characters; namely, no amount of conflict in the show can make them change in meaningful (or even noticeable) ways.
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD.
The first cour (Eps 1-12) is mostly centered around C&T competing in a talent show and somehow manages to be even more predictable than the TV shows of that sort. Round 1 pits mildly interesting musical artists against people who are clearly not meant to be taken seriously (see Mermaid Sisters). Round 2 pairs the main characters (C&T, Angela) against other artists who have had much less screen time (really, I’ll let you guess who advances.) Round 3 is just a huge cop out for reasons I'll avoid going into detail about, but the result is meaningless and frankly a little disappointing. The whole arc amounts to the conclusion, "the girls now have marginally more exposure!”
Cour 2 (Eps 13-24) isn't much better. Most of cour 2 focuses on random other artists—at the start of an episode, we've never heard the artist's name before; by the end, we know their whole life story, in bullet points. Cour 2 continuously had me asking, ‘why should I care?’ It's bland, it lacks impact, C&T respond in the same predictable ways, we move on. The season finale tries tenuously to connect these characters again but fails to do so in a way that's interesting.
A few positive points—the show is visually gorgeous; that's Studio Bones for you. There is, on average, an original song per episode, and it's interesting to see the intersection of genres, even if nothing on the soundtrack is particularly groundbreaking. The series takes place on a terraformed Mars well into the future—the worldbuilding is well-integrated and subtle enough as to not be distracting.
What saddens me is that this show—in theory—had a lot of potential. The main immigration plotline (which has to do with Mars and Mars-bound refugees) is, in part, social commentary from the writers, and it's VERY relevant to the current political climate. The show TRIES to say something important—it’s just not well-executed. The entire plotline is relegated to the sidelines for the majority of the show, and even when C&T become directly involved, they feel disconnected–as if writing a good song is still their first concern, they react to everything like they’re one-step removed.
In cour 2, the pacing moves from repetitive and sluggish to whiplash-fast in the last three or so episodes (there's enough plot to go around; really, guys, just split it up). The writing is atrocious. The show’s biggest downfall, I think, is that it focuses on C&T, of all people. They are the winners. They make it big and keep making it bigger. They have it easy—they are the textbook heroes. They don’t face real conflict, but they watch others fall down, again and again. (The hero’s origin story is only impactful when the hero has to work for greatness.)
Many of the side characters, though archetypal, are much more compelling than C&T. Angela believes in her own greatness but feels, still, utterly and illogically alone—she is an antihero in the sense that she’s envious of C&T. She’s tragically unfulfilled. She lacks autonomy; her Mama uses her as a vehicle to achieve her dreams. Yet she’s arrogant, and memorably so, and that makes her plot arc all the more shocking.
Spencer, the son and right-hand-man of a presidential candidate, watches his own mother’s policies become more and more corrupt; mother’s joy becomes his burden. He is the flipside to Tuesday; he is someone who once loved music but turned his head and learned to give it up. Seeing him leave his mother’s side later on holds weight to it. Meanwhile, Tuesday’s one weighty decision—to leave home and pursue music—happens in episode 1. It’s arguably the only meaningful decision she makes in the entire show, so it's all downhill from there.
Katy, the observer, the unfulfilled fan. Even Ertegun, who leans on fame to find his sense of self. They’d all be better focuses than C&T, who—as characters—are interchangeable and flat.
TL;DR Carole and Tuesday could have been great, but the main characters are badly written and the pacing is uncomfortable. The result is far from great.
