Ratched Season 1 (2020) Review

This show hit Netflix last week and I have managed to finish the first season of the One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Prequel Ratched and here is my review for it. The premise of the season sees Doctor Mildred Ratchet begin work at a leading psychiatric hospital, where she actually has darker intentions. 

Main Character

Sarah Paulson plays Ratched and I thought she did a really good job here. She speaks very softly and that is actually more unnerving then her going around screaming everywhere, so I thought that made her an interesting person in this show. She is easily the most interesting thing about this show and that is mainly due to the charisma that Paulson oozes on screen. But, I had some issues with the character. When you are playing a version of an established character it is important to at least pretend like you care about that but that isn't here, Paulson just plays herself and her character is literally nothing like the version in the film and that hurt my viewing, and some of the things they do with the character just didn't work for me. 

Supporting Characters

Jon Jon Briones plays the main doctor of the facility and I thought he did a good job in his role, the show surrounds this character in mystery and it makes him pretty interesting and Briones adds a lot to his character. It is just the show never goes far enough with it, it skids around it and doesn't give you enough to fully get yourself interested and feels like it sweeps the leg out from under the character. Judy Davis also does a good job as Nurse Bucket and I think her performance rose above the character and managed to make her slightly memorable. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast just didn't grip me, Finn Wittrock plays the main bad guy and he just didn't captivate me, it is clear he is meant to be playing this crazy guy but I never actually thought he acted that crazy which made it hard to buy this personality that he was going for. Cynthia Nixon plays a companion to Ratched and their whole thing just didn't quite work for me, it just wasn't developed enough for me and when it started up it just seemed to come out of nowhere and felt it was put in here for other more political reasons. Corey Stoll, Vincent D'onofrio and Sharon Stone all have roles here and they are all fine but their characters are just so generic and it does feel like they are wasted and any actor could have played them and they could have saved some money there. 

Story

The story is fine, some of the things that go on in the mental hospital are interesting and it is just funny how some people thought illnesses were treated back then. Also seeing Paulson's characters plan is well executed at least in the first few episodes, she seems calculated and pretty ruthless which makes sense and then the show basically forgets about it. The majority of all the supporting plots are uninteresting and aren't really given much to work with, I mean the plot involving Stone and Brandon Flynn from 13 Reasons Why doesn't really add anything to the show and you wonder why it is being shown when it seems to end in an earlier episode. It just seems unfocused and even though the ending is decent, I just wonder if they could have cut a few stories and really focus up the plot. 

Script

The script is okay, it builds the tension quite well and Paulson delivers her lines really well to add mystery and intrigue to her character and the plot overall. But overall, the drama and humour never hits the level that is required and it doesn't quite have the complexity that the original film had. 

Style

The style of the show has some pretty violent and over the top horror which mostly worked for me and the tension was built pretty well in the hospital with some well paced scenes. Also there are times where I thought colour was used well to convey actions and emotions but then there are times where I think it was done pretty poorly. It seems showrunner Ryan Murphy who is known for his over the top style fell asleep in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and decided just to make the facility and world incredibly vibrant and over the top which slaps the film in the face and feels like it doesn't pay an attention to it at all.   

Overall

Overall, this show disappointed me, I just don't really understand why this character and world needed a prequel. It is just very average and not memorable at all, their are just so many shows that are average at the moment and again for me Ratched isn't worth the 8 hours to watch it. 

Rating - 5/10