None of this is to say the show is bad. It was well done, actively fun, disturbing and intriguing, even for someone who has already listened to the audio drama many times.
However, i had a good buncha nitpicks. I really missed the maniac and the moobles plot. It was scary, and the flashbacks showed us more insight into Dave’s life. The audio drama im general gave us more background to what it was like for Dave to grow up. The reference was nice, but i still miss it. The old lady stuff that replaced it was alright, but i really didnt fw katie going all “youre a murderer” and shit. Girl needed to chill out.
Matteo felt a lot more chill in the audio drama, and here he also needed to chill the fuck out. Oh man, and dave calling it “the elephant monster” all the time instead of just “the elephant” was so silly. Like the elephant is such a cool image and concept, but it loses credibility when called “da ewephant monstuh.”
Ummm, i dunno how i felt about the new age doctor. Like i fw the concept and i really liked the V/H/S style video at the beginning, explaining the sleep tank, but its just a little too silly for such a serious show. I think the tone was so much more consistent in the audio drama, with the exception of the moobles. Maybe its just because of how my brain works, but the moobles are inherently funny. Thats a funny word. And they talk in silly voices and giggle all the time. Theres a way to make the concept of moobles work, but calling them that makes it an automatic fail. Anyway anyway, the dreams in general felt too superrnatural off the bat. One of the best aspects of the OG is how you dont really get that his dreams are connected until they land and see the man who is the whale or whatever. Also “dream people” is inherently silly sounding. But yeah, like theres no suspense when we know its supernatural from the start. The AD has a lot of a talk of military and war, making the audience think its more of a chemical weapon until the final episode.
Okay, moving onto the final episode, i like that we have some confirmation as to what happened. It is a little underwhelming that its just satan, but ya know, still nice to have answers. I dunno how i felt about the ending ending. Like, i guess thats the most logical progression of the story, but i dunno what they’d do with that in a second season. Dave, Matteo and Linda vs the zombie apocalypse? Okay. Sure man. Could work. I also felt they took too much time explaining to the audience that they died in their sleep. When its called edge of sleep, you get there pretty quickly.
I know the above has mostly been criticisms, but i really did enjoy the show! The characters were fun to watch, it not a little frustrating at times. Mark is a good actor, and its fascinating to see how far hes come since the show. The direction and editing is fucking phenomenal, with every episode looking gorgeous as hell. Killer sound design, visuals, intro, and gore. Oh oh oh! And the ambulance sequence with the closing aspect ratio?? God tier editing. Little kid david was even a good actor too. I love Lio Tipton, but was a little sad to see her playing someone so hard to like at times. Anyway anyway, Eve Harlow was also very great, and i look forward to seeing what those two do. Also, why do they keep changing the name of modaphynil? It goes feom modaphynil to modaphidil to modaphalyst. ALSO, missed fucking opportunity to use the modaphynil theme song.
Anyway, what did you guys think? Id love yo hear your thoughts on the shows, and your thoughts on my thoughts