WOW!
For sheer volume of SW content alone, this was incredible. Sure, there were occasional times the green-screen SFX were a little janky, but overall, the effects team and especially the set/prop design team knocked it out of the park. The creativity of using oversized everyday items for certain things, such as Lindy's bow and arrow and canoe and paddles, was exceptional. Although, I wish we could have seen her paddling the canoe in the moat.
I'm pretty sure they touched upon everything that was referenced in the short story. Granted, the story is about 20 pages, and the series had 10 episodes to do, but they hit it all and a lot more. The scene where Les grabs Lindy off the sink counter and drops her above the toilet only to catch her gave me legitimate chills. In some respects, this went a lot darker--especially in episodes 6 through 8--than the story might have. Or maybe it felt that way because this was visual instead of textual. Reading the story, you can opt how (or not) to visualize it in your head. In the series, you have no choice, and that really hits hard.
My biggest shudder moment was when Les bats Lindy across the room. By that time, Lindy had stabbed Les in the eye and had him slip on the marbles, so she had assaulted him, and we're in full-on
War of the Roses territory at that point, but that one was a little too much for me. Les setting Mr. Magoo on Lindy didn't bother me as much because (a) I expected it from the story and trailer, (b) I can rationalize it that a human brain could outsmart a cat or at least find a hiding spot, and (c) she had plot armor and wasn't going to die. In fact, here's another moment where having shrunken Richard pays off. He gets to be the cat's plaything, and Lindy can be the hero by advising him to play dead then distract and trap the cat. Shrunken Lindy is a total girl boss. Absolutely loved the psychological warfare she used on Les at the start of Episode 7, controlling the speakers and lights.
But even amidst all that chaos, I really loved the heart-to-heart between Lindy and Lulu. Great interaction when Lulu poked Lindy to prove she was real, and the nose hug was really sweet.
And that's another thing I really appreciated about the series. I went on an emotional rollercoaster throughout. I laughed, I gasped, I jumped, I got angry, and I got teary-eyed. I didn't expect that would happen. I also liked how different episodes had distinctly different feels. If episode 1 was all exposition, episode 2 was the discovery of the situation--especially important for this crowd. There was romance with Richie in episode 4. Then the aforementioned psychological and physical battle of episodes 7 & 8. The really dark farce of the episode 9 flashback--and great unexpected guest spot from Christopher MacDonald as Lindy's Dad. And then it became a heist flick in Episode 10, which I especially enjoyed how almost every major character was able to play an important role in those series of events.
People can argue that the happy ending shouldn't happen. I mean how can Lindy forgive Les for everything he did to her while she was small, right? If this were to happen in reality, which it obviously can't, then maybe she would have left him, contacted the authorities, who knows? But in the confines of the series, which isn't reality, and thematically is supposed to provide commentary and insight on relationships, the happy ending is the conventional outcome. And though it involved yet another shrunken man, Les's "grand gesture" to shrink herself, get the vials of restoration formula with her, and then test it on itself first, is indeed standard narrative procedure. Again, speaking thematically, it's less about whether they forgive what they did to each other while Lindy was small and all about whether they forgive each other for what they did
before she was small. They really did a number on each other while married, and after understanding how their parents were, yikes! No matter what parents do, it affects their kids. And in a marriage, even the happy ones, partners know each other at both their best and their worst.
Before I wrap it up, just a couple more items I want to mention:
- I said after Episode 6 that I didn't care much for Terry's elevator tryst with cowboy-hat guy. Upon learning he was Hel's father, I rescind my earlier opinion. I thought that it was a well-played twist.
- Due to my displeasure of the weak third act shrink-the-world plot in The Incredible Shrinking Woman I'm really happy that the military using the tech did not become a major plot point. I believe tech-bro billionaire Hilton would go that route, but I'm glad the series kept the finale focused on Lindy and Les. And destroying the lab along with his ability to win the Nobel was better character growth for Les.
- Regarding the other shrunken men: (1) Lulu definitely restores Richie so he can be with Janet. There's no way that doesn't happen, but there's also no reason to show it at that point. (2) Glad to see they didn't leave Nils as a plot hole, even if I'm confused how he got where he was, why it's Meg & Gary who happen to stumble upon him, and how Vivienne tracked him down. But I also don't care that much.
And since I said plot holes, remember there will ALWAYS be plot holes in fiction. It's not real life, and there's only so much screen time to get everything in to tell a coherent story. These were the only nit-picks I had:
- Les stated in episode 1 that it was shrinking by reducing the space in atoms. Ugh. I hate this explanation. If that's what happened, then the shrunken object wouldn't lose any of its mass, and there's no way shrunken people could be picked up so easily. As a person with this fantasy, I'm obviously willing to suspend my disbelief to enjoy shrunken women content, just stop using that explanation. Just go with vague cellular reduction or something.
- But once you make it general cellular reduction, how does the shrinking of inorganic matter work? If Les is primarily working on agrotech, why shrink non-foodstuff items? It's established in episodes 2 & 3 that he's been shrinking stuff for the dollhouse for years; hell, even Lulu knew that! I can accept that he was starting his miniaturization tech on inorganic stuff before moving to organic stuff, but then it has to be shrinking atomic space. Yeah, I know this is me being nit-picky
- Will we ever learn how Lindy's clothes changed from the outfit she wore when sprayed to the pink pajamas? Either Les did it himself, which Lindy would've called him out for, or Les places her in the dollhouse, shrinks pajamas for her, and she woke up in the middle of the night and changed before going back to sleep?
Before the show aired, I figured we'd at least get some great SW content--which we did, and you can't deny it. There were handhelds, both gentle and not gentle. There were exceptional environments. And I'll say it again,
Elizabeth Banks CRUSHED IT! Maybe this will open the door for more mature SW content, but maybe it won't. I'm just grateful I was around to see it and can call it the definitive mainstream shrunken woman show/movie from here forward. I loved it.
). I think it also helped explain why Diane was more lenient with Les distracting her. As character building, it was kind've interesting, but ultimately begs the question that I first saw in a Time review - since the premise of the husband and wife dueling careers and estrangement while handling their daughter was already fraught, did we need the tiny woman stuff at all? (....what a horrible thing to say 
).