Good and barely a cookie. (spoilers inside)

Have you seen that SNL skit about Netflix's programming executive? It's pretty spot on. They're trying to thrash out as much content as possible, as quickly as possible. I think it's gonna be like this the next ten years before they slow down and try to develop some HBO level shows.

This show also reminded me a lot of Altered Carbon with all it's pacing issues, weird for the sake of weird scenes, and sloppy writing.

I have to agree with you about the ending. No. 5 suddenly having the power to transport everyone back seemed a little too Dues ex Machina, even for this. Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the show very much, for all the same reasons as you, but the ending really seemed rushed.

Also, Allison has an incredible power, and sometimes it seemed that when she could have really used it, she chose not to. So she used it on her daughter to go to sleep (show me a parent who wouldn't do that at least once), her husband gets upset and divorces her, to a point where she gets no custody of her daughter, and they want to tell us that she chooses [i]not[/] to use her power to get to see the kid???

OP, you write very well, a rarity here and everywhere else on the internet, and IRL. That also means that you think and conceptualize. To paraphrase your post, I agree that Netflix series are McSeries. They are prima facie engaging, but start to crumble, have more filler than nourishment, and are meant, frankly, for kids. Having said that, I felt that I got value from this series. First, it WASN’T Marvel. It was Dark Horse. I am so fed up
with freaking Marvel and the zombies who slavishly follow it. Second, the music, and dancing, constituted an infectious element. Has ANY dance sequence in video or film fallen short, except for Adam Ant dancing at the Grammys? One of the superlatives offered by Big Little Lies was/is(?) stellar music choices. I cut such series a LOT of slack. I cautiously recommend The Umbrella Academy, though I think its bunnyrabbit-out-of-the-hat (English vernacular for deus ex machina, the god out of the machine, the “nick of time” rescue in Roman playa) falls beneath the quality of its first few episodes. Question: Is the source graphic novel for the narrative? Does the source continue the story? If not, will this series generate its own narratives in order to continue, like Hemlock Grove and Game of Thrones? If it’s the latter, empirical evidence doesn’t bode well for its future.

I mean, Altered Carbon I couldn't watch at all - by episode three I was bored out of my mind and decided to cut my losses, but overall I don't think this criticism of Netflix is deserved. Netflix has produced more quality series in the past few years than network television has in a couple of decades. Ozark, Mindhunter, Daredevil, Stranger Things (can't wait, btw), freaking DARK - no, no crumbling. And House of Cards was good until, I suppose, it literally crumbled.

I'll grant you that with a show like The Haunting of Hill House, but I'd say that is a commonplace problem with the horror genre in general - it's actually really hard to think of anything in it where the denouement is on par with the buildup.

On a separate note, I was actually thinking about this the other day - I don't think American Horror Story quite receives the credit it deserves. It's a seminal show in many ways.

Have you seen season two yet?

On your biggest issue

It was set up fine in his flashback that he was more powerful that his father was letting him be. People are able to do more than normal under times of stress and I just see it as Number 5 doing that.

In case you have not seen Season 2 yet I covered the Season 2 Episode 1 spoiler
Also do not forget that even though he did bring everyone back they all went back to different times so it was not like he did it perfectly.

I agree in many regards. Klaus and Five were the best of the bunch for me. Season 1 Luther was pretty bland, but that was by design, and I really like how some time on his own in season 2 opened him up. He went from maybe my least favorite to probably 3rd place. Diego was always funny, and his delivery of "because I love her" at the end was wonderful.

Regarding Five-- where do we learn that he can't travel back in time without assistance, or that he specifically can't bring others with him? He makes it clear at the end season 1 that he's trying something he's never tried before, but the world is ending, so why not try? It made sense to me that he may have sussed out how to travel back in time at some point, even if he couldn't initially do it. He had a number of years working for the Committee to practice and learn, and it was never, in my recollection, spelled out that he couldn't do it.

The dance scenes are some of my favorite moments. When I watched the first episode I was not initially sold on the show until that scene where they all dance on their own. That grabbed me, and that's why I kept watching.

I haven't seen Altered Carbon, or, now that I think about it, many other Netflix shows, but I certainly don't think this one became inconsistent or fell apart. I liked the first season better than the second, but only because it built to such an emotional climax, with Klaus finally stepping up, and Ben revealing himself to his siblings, and the family bonding around Vanya, and the crazy final scene. And that wonderful dance sequence in episode one. The hair salon dance was nice, but not as good as that first one.