I don't really agree with this. The show isn't particularly fucked up any more than anything else on TV until like ep7 and then it ends in ep8. So yeah, like 2 eps of dark vile shit.
Then ep9/10 are "Amazon gave me money and I'm an artist so I will keep shooting until I run out of money" like the story keeps going for another 90 mins and nothing happens outside a goofy scene about "Cartel TV" and "White Boy Taco Trucks", I"m not even joking about the first thing, Refn is quoted saying something like where do you know how to stop/end a series? When the artist runs out of ink or something @______@ I like parts of the show (ep5 is the best) but overall it's the biggest self-wankfest I've probably ever seen by a director.
Yeah, it didn't go as vile as i was expecting.
Overall, it felt really stretched thin (like, to a comical degree) under some half baked ideas thrown over a style that has become a bit of a clichè for him.
I never loved his movies past the Pusher trilogy, but at least they felt exploratory in a way, Valhalla Rising was different from Bronson, which was different from Drive.
Post Drive, they definitely started to feel less "daring" (though Neon Demon was probably among his best ones, in recent years).
TOTDY is the culmination of all his flaws as an artist, which is a shame, because there are interesting ideas (as i said, undercooked) and there are some good sequences, but ultimately, this could've worked over a 4 episodes stretch (or honestly, even just a 2 hours movie).
Characters barely have any development, the plot is paper thin, and the thematics don't really get explored much.
Everything feels like a way to milk run time, which is frustrating to watch, and numbs you to even the positive moments.
When characters do have monologues longer than 2 sentences, they feels sort of clumsy and ultimately reveal a lack of deeper layers to the whole thing.
And those 2 final episodes are just... c'mon man.
I knew what i was getting, going in, i wasn't expecting Refn to rock my socks with depth, this was still a disappointment in almost any other regard though.
Shame, the trailers had me hyped.