I’m starting to get the impression that a lot of people out there hold the belief that their problems are best solved by killing… or at least this is the second web series I’ve seen where the main characters shared that line of reasoning.
I’m on the fence about Pat And Myra, and I attribute that to a show that is not entirely sure what it wants to be. Is it a drama or a comedy? While the creators would call it a dark comedy the show takes itself fairly seriously, which revealed a sort of contradiction from my perspective.
Our main characters, Pat and Myra, are a bit odd… bonding instantly over their shared hatred of one woman in particular. Their decision to hatch a plot to murder her is as absurd as the characters themselves, which is not all that surprising. As the show goes on we get a deeper look into the characters. We see their victim from a more personal, humanized perspective as well. We see Pat as more understanding and empathetic. This is where the contradiction comes in.
It’s hard to ask an audience to like, or cheer on your main characters, when they go from absurd, to nuanced. They go from zany, odd ball crazies that make us laugh to sinister environmental terrorist psychopaths.
The odd part of it is that I found the dramatic, character oriented later portion of the show to be far stronger. This might imply that a dark drama with villains as main characters might have been the way to go. Of course I’ve been ensured that the upcoming season two will be far more funny, and less dramatic. This is also a good thing, as zany characters hatching morbid plots to kill CEO’s has a lot of potential. Pick one and stick with it.
There were a couple other discussion points raised in today’s chat. One related to bonus video content. The show features six episodes but also had two bonus videos, a training video and a TED inspired “NED Talk” video that fits squarely within the shows plot line. I had no idea those videos existed, because I was watching a six episode playlist that didn’t include them. It makes a lot of sense to take advantage of Youtube annotations and let the view know that they are out there.
The other topic was the use of a post episode call to action. These are getting quite common and are one way shows can stand out technically from others. The issue here was the use of the same clip from the first episode at the end of every episode. Ideally the ‘click here to watch the next episode’ should highlight something from the next episode.
These last two things are just minor nit picks that can make your presentation stronger. Overall though “Pat & Myra Kill Somebody” is an interesting series searching for an identity. Perhaps after season two the show will have a consistent enough perspective for me to recommend it – we’ll just have to wait and see.
“Pat And Myra” debuts their second season next Friday, June 13th! You can find them at their online home http://killsomebody.tv
