Saturday 28 January 2012

Life's Too Short: Episode 3 Review

Can this series be saved?

After I watched the second episode of Life's Too Short I was really disappointed. Quite frankly, I thought it was crap. BUT, after watching it a second time I thought maybe I was judging it too harshly. I should stop comparing it to the greatness of The Office/Extras because it will never be as good as them. I just need to accept it for what it is and then maybe I'll get more enjoyment out of it.

With that in mind I watched episode 3 and I felt that there was an improvement.


Episode 3 follows Warwick as he sets up a website and gets himself a job working opposite Helena Bonham Carter - despite an uprising from many of the DwarvesForHire clients.

I found the episode to be generally a lot better than the previous one. There was more of a plot and more funny moments - although still not enough for humour to be the shows strongest point.
Cheryl continues to be the best character by far, and Helena Bonham Carter manages to be a lot funnier than her frequent co-star Johnny Depp was, with a guest appearance almost rivaling Liam Neeson's. Almost.

Plus, I found something in this episode that I had failed to see in previous ones. I think I finally see the message that Gervais and Merchant were trying to get across when writing this. And that message is how prejudice people can be to dwarfs, and adding to that, how degrading and embarrassing being a dwarf working in show business can be. I'm glad I figured this out as it gave me a lot more respect for the series.
But, I think if they really wanted to put across this message they could have made Warwick's character more likeable as - while I did sympathise with him a bit in this episode - I still found him to be a bit of an arrogant d**k. This just makes it a bit harder to get on board with the message, as the other dwarfs are only covered briefly.

I also found the awkward moments in this episode to be a lot less tedious than they were before, and did in fact get some enjoyment out of them.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that Life's Too Short: Episode 3 is a big improvement on the second and is one of the best episodes so far. With a better story that hints to a more serious message, and more funny moments, this episode has given me a bit more hope that the series could yet be redeemed.


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