Ratched

Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story) serves up Ratched, with a superb Sarah Paulson, and it's solid. It's got a slight AHS feel to it and it's nice that Murphy takes us to a mental institution again, and even though it's not quite as crazy as Asylum, it's still a thriller that stylistically feels like an 80s horror flick. Paulson is sensational as the nurse, uses intelligent dialogue and can be pretty sneaky. What I enjoyed the most were the therapies, which could be called torture (cooking a woman alive at 48 degrees, or lobotomizing her is a good one), and occasionally the director serves us some nice gore (the scene where a young boy cuts off his hands with a chainsaw and wants to have someone else's hands sewn on is one of the creepiest ideas ever). I was disappointed that the first half of the series packs a lot of punch in this regard, while in the second half the pace slows down considerably and the story focuses on less interesting things. That said, the characters are fun, there are a few unexpected twists, there's a lot of sex, the hospital atmosphere is good, and even though I would have preferred it to take a turn for the more savage, it's still decent stuff that I watched in one day. PS: Praise is again due to Vincent D'Onofrio, who, albeit in a smaller role, once again played the Governor so unpleasantly and respectfully that even the Kingpin would have a fit. Story****, Action>No, Humor>No, Violence***, Entertainment****, Music****, Visual****, Atmosphere****, Suspense***. 7.5/10. (20.09.2020)

Ratched cannot be compared to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest because of the different format (series vs. film) and the time of its creation (in this case, the multi-cultural cast goes hand-in-hand with Ryan Murphy as one of the show's leading creators). I was kind of expecting a variation on American Horror Story: Asylum, which for me personally was the best season (of the ones I’ve seen), but Ratched holds its own quite well despite more than one murder. The biggest stumbling block for me was the casting and portrayal of the characters, where in several instances both the unlikeable lead and the character portrayed by him came together. But I welcomed the smaller or larger roles for Harriet Sansom Harris (you can never have enough of the demonic Felicia from Desperate Housewives) and Sharon Stone. Sarah Paulson was fine as Mildred Ratched, but "Lana Banana" suited her better, and the unraveling of her past rather than her current storyline appealed to me more story-wise. The conclusion of the first season left not a door, but literally a gateway for further seasons, so I'm curious to see what direction Ratched's story will take (if there really is another season). (25.06.2023)