I kept hearing about From, streaming on MGM+, and how it was the best horror show. And no one was watching it. Probably because it’s on MGM+, which, despite being owned by Amazon, isn't available by default on Prime TV. Boo. I was hoping to post this catch up before the newest season started to air, but there are so many TV shows and only so many of us to cover them. (On a related note, if you want to write for Culture Combine feel free to reach out at info@culturecombine.com)
From was compelling and spooky from its first episode, but it wasn’t terrifying like many would lead me to believe. In fact, shortly after the first episode, the tension started to dwindle away and devolve into elongated storytelling. What I mean by that is there is very little happening with a whole lot of melodramatic dialogue and scenery chewing about the things that are happening. And with mystery after mystery starting to stack up with no answers in sight, I started to feel like we were in a Lost type situation. This was confirmed by my wife who was there when Lost originally aired. (Thankfully, I missed that phenomenon and only knew of it second hand.)
What I’m saying is that the first two seasons of From could have been condensed into five episodes or fewer without much being lost.
And while From does its best with its limited budget, it still seems like a show with a limited budget. Again, some tightening of stories and maybe shortening of the season would have helped alleviate that a bit. I started to appreciate American TV going down to the 10 (or fewer) episode standard, but 10 episodes per season make From feel like it has a lot of wasted space.
Not only that, but a lot of the premises that were established early in the series were dropped almost immediately. The Colony House vs Town dynamic wasn’t explored as in depth as I feel like the showrunners originally planned. Ultimately, it never felt like there was enough difference or conflict to differentiate between the two.
And through the first season the creatures and the mysteries took a backseat to interpersonal drama. I wanted to watch a show about mysteries and monsters, not a bunch of people arguing all the time. And whether you can blame the influence of their surroundings, the stress, or the need to fabricate drama, every character is always angry, going on long aggressive rants about this or that. If everything is dialed up to 10 when the show starts, there’s really nowhere to go. And that's' sort of what From does.
From’s second season made up for a lot of the frustrations I had with the first. Sheriff and town leader Boyle has gone off into the woods, having gotten a few answers. And the show finally starts to peel back some of the layers of the mystery.
Even despite Season 2’s livelier pace and more information, I still wanted the ability to speed From up. I listen to a lot of audiobooks, and I enjoy the ability to make the narrator talk at 1.5x or even 2x the speed to get through lengthy books. I would have loved to have somehow watched From like this.
If you enjoy shows where no one talks civilly, everyone takes their secrets to the grave, and there are no guarantees that any questions will be answered, then you should check out From. Or do what I wish I would have, and just waited until the show was over.
That said, there were some highlights, especially in Season 2, Episode 6 where Boyd murders one of the monsters–the first time they showed any weakness (besides the talismans).
Also, I get that everyone is under lots of stress, but humans can work together through that. From has a level of adversity between each character that starts at a 6 out of 10. It could be chalked up to some sort of mental effects from the place they’re in, but at least throw in some dutch angles or other clues to make that apparent. Because the characters in the show act in ways that just don’t really make sense
Now in its third season, From is currently streaming on MGM+,
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