Cracow Monsters
Directed by: Kasia Adamik and Olga Chajdas
Written by: Anna Sienska, Gaja Grzegorzewska, and Magdalena Lankosz
I really enjoy shows that feature cultural mythology. I'm especially fond of Asian and Native American, but I'll go for most any. So when a friend recommended this series about Polish mythology, it was pretty easy for me to agree!
In basic, Cracow Monsters is about a university student who becomes targeted by powerful and malevolent supernatural entities that are trying to wreak havoc on Krakow, Poland.
While the production value is impressive and the story is written well, I found my attention waning toward the end of the season for the same reason it does with many other shows: not enough attention to characters by the writers. The show seems to put more emphasis on supernatural horror and visual shock value with graphic images than developing personal stories. It's a trend I'm noticing with a lot of shows in the 2020s and I'm thinking it's developing with the trend of streaming services (all of them) to purchase smaller episode counts, forcing writers to pack as much plot and VFX into each episode as possible to try and hook the audience. But the sad payoff is that while those things are exciting in the first few episodes, their value wears off quickly and is not sustainable in maintaining interest. Of course, this is just my theory.
Cracow Monsters only seems to give valuable character background in terms of flashbacks Alex experiences that are brought on by supernatural entities and in terms of conversations she has with some extended family in later episodes. But these are far from enough, and develop little more than Alex herself. I'm left starving when it comes to important supporting characters like Lucky and Iliana, who are central to Alex's journey and fundamental to supporting her throughout the season.
Despite those flaws, though, the show keeps itself interesting with quirky dynamics among the family of students who take Alex in to help her fight the supernatural, and, of course, the supernatural entities themselves. They each seem to have their own specialties, though there were many students and I think they're all criminally underdeveloped, so I could never keep track. The only student whose specialty was prominently featured was Iliana due to her ability to read and "see" feelings and memories, allowing her to communicate with the ridiculously uncommunicative Alex whose emotional walls couldn't be cracked with an industrial wrecking ball.
Yet Alex what Alex brings to the team is greater than her flaws: a motivation and conviction to get things done and take evil down that this team otherwise lacked. When supernatural events occurred, she led the students (recklessly) to the site to gather information and figure out what was going down. When their team itself was infiltrated by a dangerous spirit, she led the charge to solving the mystery, pinpointing the spirit, and saving their colleague.
Between Alex's mysterious connection to these dangerous spirits and her motivation to taking them down, Lucky's affection for her bringing a voice of reason and logic to her battering ram personality, and Iliana's special sense helping them all communicate just a bit better, the show brought on a compelling first season that kept me going and kept the human element alive.
Comments
Post a Comment