atching an interesting show on NetFlix – Carol and the End of the World. It’s animated and interesting – I’ve only seen three episodes so far so I won’t be spoiling much.
So all we know is that some sort a massive body in space (a planetoid or something) is moving towards Earth and will destroy it in seven months. And so everyone is fulfilling their dreams and living life to the fullest. Happily, there is very little rioting or freaking out (the only evidence are broken windows and national guard tanks outside the supermarket – with bored guardsmen running the registers). Most scenes show the city with balloons an hang gliders soaring about while fireworks burst, all with that green object getting larger by the day.
Carol is a sad little woman who has no place in the world (the old and the new). As she doesn’t know what she wants in life, she just lies to people about “her dreams” – it’s depressing that her happiest memories involve an old Applebees (which has now closed, and so she goes in and sits in it in the dark).
And then she finds an office which is (for some unknown reason) still operating. It’s kinda an eerie place, just desks of silent workers running spreadsheets, filling our reports. But it seems that this is where Carol should be. Rather than facing the extraordinary, she is more comfortable with the mundane.
The only reason I’m bringing this up at all is that this slow-paced show appeals to me. Like a good book, the reasons and messages are hidden and developing. I’m curious about this lonely woman, this weird company and the drones who work there. I want to know what the end is going to be. And unlike faster-moving stories, this one seems to have depth. Of course, as I said, I’m only three in so far.
But it’s worth a watch for the curious.