‘Below’ Review: Netflix Series Makes Monster More Believable Than the Story Itself
In a post-Widow’s Bay world, is there enough room for another small town, bay-based TV show like Netflix’s Below? The two shows are quite different in terms of their premise and, most importantly, in their quality. While there are snippets of genuine surprise, Below is not a Netflix series you have to run and see.
[Warning: some spoilers for the series are discussed in this review of the series.]
The inky premise of Netflix’s Below
Below starts with a flashback in 1986, wherein the Penney family is moving their house across the sea. Upon a snag, the father gets trapped in the house as it sinks. Our young hero, Calvin Penney, is the one who has to cut the rope and essentially kill his dad to save everyone else in the boat. Brutal.
Fast-forwarding forty years, Calvin is now an adult, played by Josh Hartnett, who is essentially the major reason to watch this show. You can buy that he has become a fisherman for this role, or more like an iceman, as the fish have all but swam away in this tiny Newfoundland village of Snook’s Arm. Once again, the townsfolk are being bought by their parent company, The Crockers, but some don’t want to move again.
Besides that, a recent chunk of ice Calvin finds in the ocean contains some mysterious materials that a local scientist, Dr. Fonda Howander (Mackenzie Davis), begins to study. This is all shown in the first episode, so let’s go ahead and spoil what this all means. Below is a show about a giant squid terrorizing a small town. How did it get so big? Where did it come from? And why is it attacking humans? What’s going on with the massive iceberg in the bay?
Those should be the show’s focused questions. But somehow in six episodes, it diverges so much, that I feel like every writer on the show wrote a page and then passed it along to the next person who barely skimmed what was already written. It’s not confusing at all. The show’s many divergences are just not returning.
Too many confusing storylines and not enough tentacles
There’s an evil company running a town and a giant squid killing people. That should be enough, but there’s so much more. One of Calvin’s kids, Wade Penney (Charlie Heaton), is overprotected and a bit on the spectrum. He witnesses a murder one night and is attacked by the squid, causing him to have hallucinations and become incredibly thirsty. It reminded me of the 2001 movie Dagon, but unfortunately Below is nowhere near as erotic or frightening.
Two more of Calvin’s kids return for a local festival. Mary Penney (Ruby Stokes) brought her fiancé, Noah Townsend (Kaleb Horn). He fumbles a proposal in every episode while the show sort of forgets to write anything compelling for Mary to do besides look frazzled.
Then there’s Jay Penney (Rohan Campbell), an oil worker who claims he is making tons of money but is actually deeply and dangerously in debt. His side story is the widest of the bunch and is not needed, as two thugs chase him around for their money like Looney Tunes characters.
How Jay’s side story wraps up is baffling, but that’s kind of how I feel about how every plot line wraps up in Below. Many things just don’t add up, and I completely bought the idea of a giant prehistoric squid eating people. That’s fine. It’s the family drama, various cults, and squid fanatics that I don’t buy.
The show makes some very awkward attempts at messaging about the dangers of global warming and corporate greed, but unfortunately that all gets lost in the chaos and mess of the rest of the series.
A show with six episodes does not need this many villains or characters in general. I could name more characters, but it’s pointless at this point, as you can probably guess where my overall thoughts are headed.
Netflix’s Below series rating and final thoughts
I think what really made me scoff at Below was the last scene. The audacity to leave on a massive cliffhanger was bold. Netflix does not renew shows after one season all the time. Much better shows, too, like Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. If Below gets a second season, I’ll eat a giant squid while it eats me.
The only positives I can name are that the acting is good and it’s shot well. The CG squid sometimes looks believable on screen, and the deadly bay iceberg is presented even better except for certain angles.
I believed the town of Snook’s Arm was under attack. Unfortunately, I just didn’t care what happened to its people. Below is not offensively bad so much as it is bland, and in some cases, that’s a worse offense.
Below is currently streaming with six episodes on Netflix.
Also check out: Widow’s Bay Season 1 Review
