It's difficult to make any show about the "right now" without seeming mawkish, awkward, dated or rushed and unfortunately this well-meaning anthology series often dunks into all four categories (sometimes all in one episode) - but in these unprecedented times it definitely deserves marks for trying. Technologically it's quite smart and is varied enough to keep it interesting. To pull it together at all is a serious achievement but the nature of doing so quickly means the majority of stories feel a bit "first drafty" and either have too many endings or not enough of them. There are some diamonds here though - the touching funeral episode, the cathartic threesome episode and the genuinely sharp final episode "Pomp and Circumstance" which I feel like people may be analyzing in a decade's time as a sort of allegorical microcosm of what tensions where at play in the US this crazy year.
So yes - a fascinating effort to "make TV safely" in the era of the virus - and like any anthology it has highs and lows but in its earnest attempts to encapsulate American humanity in these times it may have accidentally done just that. So, fair play, but more drafts required if it gets another go.
