Room 104 Season 1 Review

Room 104 (2017-)
Season 1 - 12 episodes (2017)

Watch Room 104 on Amazon Video with an HBO Subscription
Created by: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass
Starring: James Van Der Beek, Keir Gilchrist, Phillip Baker Hall, Davie-Blue, Clark Duke, Jay Duplass
Rated: TV-MA

Plot
Set in a unique room of an average American motel, HBO series Room 104 tells a different story each episode about the assorted guests who pass through.

Verdict
This is a great anthology. These stories don't require an investment, paying off impressively after half an hour. The stories are distinctly human, exploring different emotions and small moments in this one room. While I thought this might skew to paranormal after the first four episodes, it soon begins to focus on feelings and emotion. Many of the stories have some kind of twist or an emotional impact. Sometimes I want a complete story in half an hour. This does that and so much more.
Watch it.

Review
This show is such a trip. Some episodes are supernatural, some are rather grounded and some are creative. Each episode is a self contained story, giving the episodes the chance to do something completely different every time. The second half of the season focuses on internal struggles and decisions. It's here that the show seems to find it's footing instead of trying to do horror type stuff. Episodes one and two were low points for me. Episodes five, six, and ten impressed. Episode one isn't a bad start, but episode two has some very similar themes, and episode four is more paranormal. Just changing the order of episodes could have helped. This has already been renewed for a second season.

Episode one is twisty with a babysitter and a kid who has multiple personalities, is possessed, or might just be strange. Who is crazy? The story left a bit to be desired, but the directing was well done. Episode two has an intriguing, thought not unique ideas, but it's bewildering. I didn't know if the room exerted some kind of force on people and if all the episodes would be weird. It's all taken very seriously by James Van Der Beek.

After episode four, I thought there were only two episodes worth watching, four and two. Four manages to pull double duty better than the others. It's another strange episode, but the guy may be talking to a ghost or might be wrestling with his past, memories, and torment. Once the episodes starts going internal into these characters, this picks up.

Episode five, which on paper sounds boring, in 1997 a son needs his mom's help to retrieve his manuscript on a laptop, plays out wonderfully. It's easy to connect to the character in the situation and the conclusion just takes a crazy twist. This episode is what I wanted out of this season, and we got good follow up episodes after this.

Episode six contains no dialog. It's a bold movie, but it's why I like this episode. It tells a complete story despite the lack of words. This format gives this a lot of freedom to tell stories uniquely.

 

Episodes seven, eight, and nine all focus on a character wrestling with their memories, past, and future. It's compelling story telling. Episode ten does a lot of the same, but the stakes are higher, making it more powerful. This might be the best episode of the season.

Episode eleven has a simple concept. Two MMA fighters decide to throw a fight, but can't figure out who should win. This doesn't have the raw emotion of the other episodes, but I love how it plays out.

I like an anthology style series anyway, Black Mirror is great not that I'm comparing. This is a very different show. I love what it became in the second half of the season. I appreciate a show that doesn't want to tell an ever involving story. Sometimes I want a complete story in half an hour. This does that and so much more.