Domino Petachi This series has been heralded as a gritty masterpiece and what Showgirls should have been. To that I say, "settle down, bro." I have just finished binge watching this monstrosity of entertainment and a masterpiece it ain't. In fact, it is the dirty dog of scandalous TV and its bark is as delightfully vicious as its bite. I like that in a series and if you're even remotely interested in watching beautiful women dance en point and want to be entertained for a few hours then this is the show for you. Are you going to learn how to go over the box? No. Are you going to truly get an inside look look at the life of a struggling dancer? Nah. So, if you're looking for that then you just pirouette up to the wrong stage. This is not a learning tool. THIS IS ENTERTAINMENT!A couple of reviewers appeared to be just shocked to their pointed toes at the gratuitous 'this and that' and criticized the inaccuracy of this show's portrayal of ballet life and what an affront it is to their craft. Leave it two a couple of uppity wannabe "prima ballerinas" to think their niche in life really does "transcend". These folks need to transcend their egos. There are loads of legitimate documentaries on the life of a dancer which, in fact, does include a lot of ugly things about the business (e.g. drugs, eating disorders, etc). However, we aren't watching a television series with the intent to douse ourselves in reality. We are watching these series and movies to escape it. We don't work our asses off all day to get ahead just so that we can go home and watch someone else do it. We want to be entertained and this show delivers that; entertainment. That said, the plot and character development is about as thin as an anorexic counting the calories of a feeding tube which I can understand if more seasons are to come. However, if this is all we are going to get then I'll have to give it a FAIL stamp in that regard. The casting is great and there is some real chemistry happening among the actors, but the characters need a whole lot of developing and frankly so does that plot. Develop the former and the latter will fall into place, IMO. This show has the potential for at least three successful seasons. Wanna watch some pretty girls dance en pointe and plenty of "gratuitous" sex with a little incestuous romance a la V.C. Andrews? Don't miss this one. In addition to being totally entertaining what this show does very well is give a vivid illustration of how even the most talented, creative, wealthy and beautiful people in the world can be dredges of humanity.PS. The wacko bum was totally unnecessary and frankly just annoying. I kept hoping he would get hit by a bus the whole time.

ariake76 "Dark side of the ballet world" stories are always pretty intriguing, and "Flesh and Bone" is the ultimate take on that concept. I was thoroughly hooked from the first episode, but with each subsequent one, new twists were revealed that made the wait for the next episode (because, y'know, life gets in the way of TV-watching) interminable. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next.I have a high tolerance-- and appreciation-- for twisted stories. This one, even by my standards, is super dark. Part of what makes it that way is that the darkness isn't contrived-- it isn't like these people are fighting literal demons or enduring the apocalypse or something. Instead, several of the characters are dealing with fascinatingly complex emotional stuff that motivates all their behavior, all their choices, and provides an understandable context for behavior that would be incomprehensible if it weren't for that. But you DO understand it, and there are numerous moments when you watch what a character is doing and think, "wow, something is really, really wrong with you."This is helped along by very good acting. I've seen varied reviews on the acting, but I found it extremely impressive, especially when the actors were sometimes given material (i.e., dialogue) that wasn't necessarily the best. Sarah Hay as Claire is terrific. She is not only a technically skilled dancer, but she shows the vulnerability and toughness that this character needs to carry the show. She's completely believable in the role-- and I have to say, having looked her up, I love that one of her few acting credits is for the "Mary-Kate and Ashley's Ballet Party" video (when she was much younger). Given how skillfully she handles the screwed-up material of this show, it's kind of delightful that she got her start in an Olsen Twins video. People have talked about how good Ben Daniels is in his role as the guy in charge of the ballet company, and he is, but I want to talk about Josh Helman, who plays Claire's messed-up brother Bryan. There's a moment, toward the end of the season, when the father smacks him, and he turns to him with a look that sent an actual chill down my spine. I watched that moment three more times just for the pleasure of seeing acting that good. Damon Herriman in the role of Romeo, the homeless guy, is very good too. I didn't love this character conceptually, but it was Herriman's acting that made it work for me. The "homeless guy living in an aesthetically pleasing little fairy den on the roof" thing is not exactly believable and vaguely insulting, and when you add in the "mentally ill guy as prophet" aspect, it's even harder to love. But that's not Herriman's fault, and he gives the character a vulnerable appeal that I could appreciate.The only thing I really found fault with was the final episode. I should have seen those resolutions coming, but it drew attention to how the whole "fairy tale as allegory for Claire's story" aspect was clumsily written all along. I get what they were going for, but in order for it to work, you had to buy into the idea that 1) all these people would let Romeo get that involved in their personal lives and that close to their physical selves in the first place, no matter how obviously crazy he was, and 2) agree that Claire was not complicit in her own problems to some degree, when-- I'm trying to avoid spoilers here-- the show had been asserting the idea that she was. There are plenty of moments when Claire is presented as a victim of her circumstances, but there are lots of others where she goes out of her way to keep the fire of those problems burning. Which is psychologically interesting, but makes it so that when Romeo sets out to be her champion, I thought, jeez, if you're so perceptive about people and their lives, shouldn't you have noticed that Claire is causing this guy the same problem he's causing her?Overall, though, the season was more than enjoyable. I was sorry that it ended in so few episodes, because the conflict was good enough for a season three times as long.

Seemp deHond After 2 episodes I was already bored with this plot less cliché dancing Bambi drama. Every single cliché is milked to the t. Small town girl runs off to the city, angry flamboyant gay ballet director, bitchy dancers, Russian dance teacher holding a pooch, slutty room mate, innocent doe-eyed protagonist,French sexy 50 something wealthy benefactor. It has no end.Even the dance company is called American Ballet Company. ABC... Really? There is no story here except the Cinderella one for teens except that it wasn't meant for that audience per se.Would surprise me if there was a second season, but then again Vampire diaries has 4 and Smallville keeps going for ever and Pretty little liars never stops.

A_Different_Drummer The year was 1995 and Joe Eszterhas, the top of writer of the day for mainstream exploitation films, released (unleashed) his most exploitative script of all time -- Showgirls.At the time, it seemed like a slam dunk. It had something to push everyone's buttons. It was about strippers. It had dancing and sex. It had backstory. And just as additional insurance to guarantee greatness, the casting director deliberately picked the female star of a popular teen sitcom for the leading role -- guaranteeing a "shock" factor as the world watched a sweet teen icon go down the darkside.It should have worked but it didn't. The mass audience, the gestalt, seemed to belatedly develop a conscience and punished the film, presumably, as payback for all the earlier works of of Eszterhas' they enjoyed but probably shouldn't have.A major TV comic talking about the film (which was a flop within weeks of release) said "I haven't seen so many poles abused since WW2."Ironically 20 years later, with TV in full-on stratification and everyone with a video camera offering a new series, the writers of Flesh and Bone have taken the ideas comprising Showgirls and fixed them and repaired them.It is exploitative but does not make you feel guilty.Pretty good TV.