I am no Polyanna. I am not opposed to dark and disturbing tales. In fact I 'enjoy' (of course that's not the best term) them. More than that there is much to learn, much to take away from stories about people on the edge, on the very brink. More than once I have seen myself, or parts of myself, represented in a dark character.
But 'The Responder'; it is relentless. Relentlessly depressing. For the episodes I viewed I kept wishing for a break, a slice of sunlight, a hope. But there was none. A film or book or TV Series about a depressed individual need not - itself - be depressing. Over the course of the story there can be moments, characters, even alternate points of view - that give the reader or viewer a breath of fresh air and, in doing so, cast the main character's darkness in an even more dramatic 'light'.
Unfortunately this series does not do anything remotely like that.
But 'The Responder'; it is relentless. Relentlessly depressing. For the episodes I viewed I kept wishing for a break, a slice of sunlight, a hope. But there was none. A film or book or TV Series about a depressed individual need not - itself - be depressing. Over the course of the story there can be moments, characters, even alternate points of view - that give the reader or viewer a breath of fresh air and, in doing so, cast the main character's darkness in an even more dramatic 'light'.
Unfortunately this series does not do anything remotely like that.