Hard Reset: The Movie: The Netflix Miniseries: The Review · 4:56am Feb 13th, 2019
I'm not actually going to subject you to the same shtick as when I reviewed Edge of Tomorrow. That's funny once and only once. But! This past weekend I watched Russian Doll on Netflix, Which is very much a merger between Groundhog Day and, uh, probably Final Destination, but I'll get to that. And it reminded me that there was this website I used to write for where I had a preposterously-specific reputation as the the 'Time Loop Guy,' so here we are.
Short version: Tentative but heartfelt recommendation IFF (if-and-only-if for those of you without a lot of formal logic background) you go into it with the right attitude. That being that you don't actually give a fuck about the why or the mechanics of what is happening and are prepared to just sit back and enjoy the ride. Which the show itself kinda undermines in the way it... no, I said I would get to that later.
You really are along for the ride here, and the ending moral of 'Give a Shit About Other People' is very much pony-compatible and generally good. I wouldn't call it the central thrust of the show, but the final episode won't send you into any denigrating spirals of depression you aren't already in. Natasha Lyonne's performance in the main role is at least half the reason to check this out. If I actually were doing the whole 'Hard Reset: The Miniseries: The Whatever" thing I'd be gushing all about how they incorporated Twilight's psychological damage in Closure and how it benefits from making her misanthropic, self-destructive fucked-upness a part of the plot rather than a twist. I'm not though. But for the story this series wants to tell, it's pretty much perfect. The sort of character that you love watching on TV, but would cut out of your own life in the interest of self-preservation if she were a part of your real life. She's misanthropic enough that her having enough friends to populate the entire birthday party sequence is a borderline-plothole, but there you go.
Anyway, I'm going to dig a lot deeper into structure, motivation, all that bullshit writer stuff from here on out, so at this point I'm just going to say I liked it (sort of) and if you have 4 hours and a Netflix subscription it's not a waste of time. Though it drags at points and probably could have been cut back. In a head-to-head with Edge of Tomorrow and Groundhog Day it's certainly taking the bronze, but having watched it I'm glad I did.
Cool, so going on from here, again, spoilers will be a thing.
Spoilers
For realsies.
Spoilers beyond this point.
Okay! so let's examine what I really don't like about this series in the abstract. Groundhog Day is the obvious reference point. But this series has the reset mechanism of when-you-die the way very different stories do, but it tried to tell a Slice of Life tale with these parameters. It didn't quite work. First of all, tons of the narrative momentum comes from 'reveals' at the end of the episodes that string you along with the promise you that there's a pattern here that if you see the series through, you'll understand.
There isn't.
This is a big part of why I say you shouldn't go into this with the wrong mindset, because if you expect answers to questions like 'Why Is This Happening?' or even just 'Wait... How?' you are not going to get that. This is a series that is very much an example of Magical Realism, but it doesn't act like one. It constantly strings along questions that you are not going to get satisfactory answer to, but it acts like you will. I'm sure that there are fansites that decipher everything and make me look dumb because I clearly didn't get the significance of that one line from the homeless dude in episode five, but I'm not as willing to extend that much benefit of the doubt to the series as they are. If you were a watcher of LOST while it was on the air, you know what I'm talking about.
See, there's a hidden cost to requiring your main character to die whenever you want the loop to reset. You have to keep killing them. Groundhog Day never felt the need to murder Bill Murray to restart the loop, he'd just have to wait a while and he'd wake up again in that hotel room. And the deaths in Russian Doll are contrived and do not feel like they 'just happened'. There's a very real sense of the writers coming in and saying 'no, this choice the character is making will not let them escape, because I want them to find the path I'm thinking of' and then a piano falls on them or whatever. Arguably that's every story, but in Russian Doll you will feel it much more because of how contrived it is. Hence the Final Destination comparison: there's obviously an outside force that wanted to find the ONE TRUE WAY to break the time loop, and for me that was a constant ruiner of my suspension of disbelief.
With that said, having two characters both looping at the same time is an excellent device, if only because bouncing them off one another opens up a vast range of possibilities. Many of which the show exploits for great effect. And thematically, it makes the ending feel earned even if mechanically it's kind of an asspull. I found that ending unsatisfying because I thought it was the writers saying 'This is the message' and not because their escaping derived from anything they learned about the mechanics of the loop itself, at least naturally. Yes, Nadia lays out the reason for the loop. I maintain that it's not earned from anything the characters do. It took sleeping on it to get over that, and come to the conclusion that, again, if you're just along for the ride this show hits more targets than it misses.
I guess in conclusion my final word is worth watching, but if there's ever a second season I would avoid it. I mean, seriously, how gigantic of an asshole would you have to be to think that just because you have a wildly successful story centered around a character into a time loop you can somehow justify a.... sequel... story....
Whoops.
Holy shit, you live?
5012232
I do live! I don't do much pony stuff anymore, but I'm happily ensconced in the Denver, CO area with a job and several writing projects that don't intersect the pony fandom at all.
Very happy to hear from you. Your Time Loop series is one of my favorites on the site, and A Taste of the Good Life is a very enjoyable story as well.
(Sorry for mild fanboying.)
I've been looking for something new to watch on Netflix, so I'll check this series out. ^^
5012236
If your non-pony writing goes anywhere, let us know! Because good writing is good writing!
And I'll come back and read this when I've watched the show...
It's good to hear from you again, whether or not you plan to stick around.
I hope to hear your opinion on any future time loop movies that come out.
Welcome back! Glad to hear that life's treating you well and that you're still writing, even if it's not pony.
Well, I suppose the big question is, who takes gold? Groundhog Day or Edge of tomorrow?
Also glad to hear you're still writing, even if it isn't horse words :p
5012236
Just know that you are missed, and that we are happy for you.
Please try and keep us updated on your other stories; we’d love to read them!
5012236
Going to echo the sentiment of "Let us know when your other projects get somewhere." More stuff from you is always welcome, regardless of its pony content.
I'm just going to come right out and say that I'm one of the approximately twelve people that didn't like Hard Reset. Not enough to drop a DISLIKE upon it, but I will say that it showed a lot of Creativity.
I've always been here for some of your other output. It's good to know you're still kicking.
Oh.
Nice to see you still exist somewhere in the fandom.
I came in not expecting the question of how the loops worked to have an answer, and so I interpreted Nadia's attempts to suss one out as being more a commentary on her character (and Alan's) than an authorial statement.
A wild Eakin appeared!
Time to break out that Master Ball I've been hoarding
.
Great to see you still around! I, too, hope those nonpony writing projects get shared.
… well, yes.
In its house in R'lyeh, HR2 waits a-dreaming … and stirs in its slumber. I've actually written about 20,000 words since the beginning of the year — finishing a sequel to Administrative Angel and bringing Time enough For Love up to 21k words, both of which have been overdue and are going to be in my Bronycon short-story book. HR2 is currently in line behind Time Enough For Love: it's my biggest "finish before the fandom ends" project.
Hey, nice to see you here again! Might have to check it out.
I wish I could read more of this post but I'm avoiding spoilers just in case. Still, good to see you!
This. Broke. Me. For. An. Hour
5012320
Edge of Tomorrow is a fun movie, but Groundhog Day is an unbeatable classic
I watched Happy Death Day and it made me think of your story. How she tries hard but just gives up for a few loops to have fun. Another loop spoof movie that you gotta accept as turn off your brain fun.
To be fair your sequel story actually exploring the psychological trauma of someone who escaped a time loop is one of the best parts of your trilogy. Top three favorite parts of your story at the very least in my opinion.
5014526
Top three parts of a trilogy? So... one of the parts?
5012754
I was actually tempted to riff on how the show didn't have a satisfactory conclusion. Like HR2 didn't. Still hoping you'll amend that, btw.
5015113
Top three scenes so to speak.
In no particular order:
God I'm gonna have to reread this again now.
5012332
Definitely in support of this. Even if you (Eakin) don't do pony-related works anymore, like many of this site's great writers, you have a fanbase who recognizes you for your writing skill beyond just ponies. Give us a heads up when you'd like to share, I for one would be happy to read more of your words online or even on paper.
I will also echo the "It doesn't HAVE to be pony for me to read it" sentiment. I mean I liked your friendship is optimal stuff.
If you happen to be in the mood for another time loops show on Netflix, there is this movie called ARQ that I thought was pretty good. I mean, it is clearly low budget, but the story works. It has surprising twists, and a premise that makes some sense. Not complete sense, but it actually does go somewhere. It also does multiple characters looping, though in a different way than any other story I have seen.
5093380
Sounds like it could be neat! I'll take a look
I have a refrain that I invented elsewhere but is very appropriate here: quality, not qualities. I don't care what your subject matter is, only that you write it well.