Power Book III: Raising Kanan 2021

Something finally clicked for me after this third season episode 9 about why this, and really all of the spin-offs or Starz-level shows are generally a step below the best of HBO or even Netflix originals. It's more soap opera than drama. The characters never have to be particularly deep or have complicated motivations. They just need to occupy the most cliche roles imaginable, and then get shuffled in and out of implausible scenarios and unbelievable dialogues. The whiplash I get from characters who are presented a certain way and then, through simple scene transitions or a new episode, become something new completely cripple any anticipation or intrigue as to how that character, and their deeply rooted pathology, is going to behave. There's never any payout. The most compelling moments are completely erased or washed out the longer any given character is on screen. To say nothing of the infinitely too-convenient timing and just bizarre reasoning that kick the plot along, as is the soap opera way. It's boring. I don't care what happens to anyone. I can barely be bothered to remember their names. When I'm tricked into believing for a moment in someone or a scene, it's betrayed. I need to reflect on why I bother putting myself through series like this just to be a "completionist."