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High Desert - General Discussion

AnimeMania

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AnimeMania

AnimeMania

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High Desert is an eight (half-hour) episode dark comedy TV Series streaming the first three episodes on May 17, 2023 on Apple TV+. High Desert follows Peggy, an on-again-off-again drug addict, who lives with her mother, Rosalyn, who was always there to support her, regardless of her questionable life choices, in the small desert town of Yucca Valley, California. After the death of her beloved mother, all Peggy has left are judgmental siblings who haven’t forgiven her for becoming a drug dealer, even though the entire family was happy to spend the money she got from her illegal affairs. Peggy decides to make a new start as private investigator, even though she refuses to do any work before 11am. Her new career as a PI will soon get her involved with dangerous people and situations she’s too distracted to notice.

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Patricia Arquette as Peggy, an recovering drug addict who decides to make a new start by becoming a private investigator. 

Brad Garrett as Bruce, a private investigator whose business is circling the drain, and who becomes Peggy’s reluctant employer.

Weruche Opia as Carol, Peggy’s closest friend, the bored fiancé of an ER doctor and a permissive new stepmother — who has a secret of her own. 

Bernadette Peters as Rosalyn, Peggy’s complicated mother.

Rupert Friend as Guru Bob, a local ex-anchorman, who, after a trauma, rebrands himself as a mystic desert personality. 

Matt Dillon as Denny, Peggy’s ex, an undeniably charming parolee and a relentless operator.

Christine Taylor as Dianne, Peggy’s buttoned-up sister, who tries to make order of Peggy’s chaos. 

Keir O’Donnell as Stewart

Eric Petersen as Owen

AnimeMania

AnimeMania

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High Desert     May 17, 2023      Apple TV+      

Episodes 1-3    Titles and Descriptions

Spoiler

S01.E01: Pain Management 
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Grieving her mother’s recent death and under pressure from her siblings to get a job, Peggy finds a new vocation in private investigating.  

S01.E02: Two Knockers and No Boyfriend = A Felony
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Accused of stealing money from the Pioneertown safe, Peggy takes it upon herself to find the culprit. 

S01.E03: I’m Getting Close to This Guru Bastard
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Peggy gets closer to the case of Guru Bob’s missing wife, plus meets her own mother’s doppelganger.

EtheltoTillie

EtheltoTillie

(edited)

I started watching and I immediately thought of Poker Face as well. I like it well enough. I thought it was funny, and I appreciated her con artist takes on being able to get information. I watched most of episode one. How will Bernadette Peters fit in?  Flashbacks?  I like all the actors a lot. 

Edited by EtheltoTillie
iMonrey

iMonrey

I feel like there are too many shows branding themselves as "dark comedies." It's like they can't commit to any particular tone. Sometimes they feel like doing drama, sometimes comedy. It's hard to pull off and I don't think they're doing it very well here.

Patricia Arquette is eminently watchable, but the story isn't really gelling for me.

iMonrey

iMonrey

I still feel like the show is trying to do way too much, between the Old West town, the guru, the massage parlor, the detective agency, the missing wife, the ex-husband, the sister and brother, etc. And what is up with Bernadette Peters as some random stranger who just happens to look exactly like Peggy's mother? It's just so random and weird. There are funny moments here and there but the story is kind of a mess.

chediavolo

chediavolo

1 hour ago, Ilovepie said:

I guess I am alone here, but I am loving this show. I find it quite funny. Patricia Arquette is fantastic. Tonally and location-wise, it reminds me of Poker Face and Mrs. Davis, both of which I also loved, so maybe that's why it's working for me.

I love it too. Patricia Arquette is a great comedic actor. Nice to see Matt Dillon again. 

  • Like 1
iMonrey

iMonrey

On 6/12/2023 at 5:00 PM, chediavolo said:

I love it too. Patricia Arquette is a great comedic actor. Nice to see Matt Dillon again. 

I agree Arquette is funny, and so is Matt Dillon. I got a kick out of the opening where he's robbing a dispensary while talking to her over the phone.

But the show is a complete mess. It's like there were three or four different concepts of what the show should be about, and they all got thrown into the pot together. It's just tonally uneven and all over the map.

chediavolo

chediavolo

19 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I agree Arquette is funny, and so is Matt Dillon. I got a kick out of the opening where he's robbing a dispensary while talking to her over the phone.

But the show is a complete mess. It's like there were three or four different concepts of what the show should be about, and they all got thrown into the pot together. It's just tonally uneven and all over the map.

I think it’s a fun distraction which is good for me. 

  • Like 1
iMonrey

iMonrey

Wow what a mess this show was. There were about six or seven different stories going on, the show could never decide what it wanted to be about. The subplot about the detective agency went absolutely nowhere. Bruce and Carol were in the car on their way to Pioneer Town but never showed up. Both their stories were pointless and baffling. Apparently Carol wasn't even Carol, and Denny knew her? What an odd thing to reveal in the last episode. Especially if there's no second season. And I doubt there will be. The woman who looked exactly like Peggy's mother made no sense either. The whole thing was so scattershot and unfocused.

Admittedly I got a good chuckle out of Peggy which kept me watching, but still, the show itself just didn't seem to know what it wanted to be about.

peeayebee

peeayebee

I watched the first three eps, and that was more than enuf for me.

I agree that Patricia Arquette is very good in this, and the character of Peggy is interesting and unique, but I just hated watching her. Her selfcenterness and immorality were hard to take. I like some antihero shows, but she was just too much for me. And no way would I compare this to Poker Face. I loved that show. The main character, Charlie, was empathetic and liked people. She was good with people, or at least with those she liked, and she wanted to do the right thing. From what I watched, Peggy was never interested in doing the right thing, only what was right for her.

I found parts of this funny. But I decided there's too much to watch out there without spending time with this.

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