Why the series "Flight" with Mikhail Efremov turned out to be ambiguous

On January 25, the TV series "Flight" will be released on TNT TV channel and on the Premier online platform. This is the directorial debut of screenwriter and producer Pyotr Todorovsky Jr. Based on his filmography, it was difficult to imagine how the new project would turn out. In the list of his works - the script for the disastrous film "Jolly Fellows", and this is alarming. However, in the fall of 2020 Poljot received the main prize of the Serial Killer festival in Brno.

The plot is based on the story of colleagues who go on a business trip. The company is very motley: there is a lawyer-boor, a quiet writer from the financial department, a shy woman and other colorful characters.

At the airport, the heroes realize that they made a mistake with the place of departure. They are far from the destination, but they were already late for the flight. While trying to buy new tickets, they find out that their plane crashed. This event brings about dramatic changes in the lives of the characters.

The soil for the development of action is very nutritious. However, the show has both strengths and weaknesses.

Original main idea

Airplane crashes, unfortunately, are not such a rare event. But many people are saved from a sad fate shortly before landing. Someone is late for the flight, others choose a later departure time. While the media and the public talk about the victims of the plane crash, the survivors remain out of focus. But their life, obviously, is shaded by a terrible event and becomes somewhat different.

Such a successful idea is being developed by the creators of "Flight", however, they do it too dashingly.

But too unrealistic events

Watching the series, I want to exclaim: "I don't believe it!" It is clear that it would be strange to shoot about the unremarkable life of an ordinary person. However, the stories told in Flight often make you want to frown with skepticism.

For example, a spouse who has been married for 7 years cannot sit down and openly discuss the problem in the family. It seems as if the couple did not solve difficult issues at all. That is, she was either in a vacuum or in the country of rainbow ponies.

There is another example of how fiction transcends boundaries. The symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder in one of the heroines do not diminish when working with a psychologist, but disappear after whiskey and flirting with a colleague.

In some moments, the absurdity reaches the extreme. So, there is an episode where a character with a severe wound in subtle metaphors discusses the meaning of the word "truth".

Such irregularities distract the viewer from the events, annoy and interfere with empathizing with the heroes.

Intriguing non-linear storytelling

Each new episode is dedicated to one character. We are told how he lived before the miraculous salvation and what he did after. The viewer is already familiar with this plot development scheme: it was used in the Russian TV series "The Game for Survival" and "Call Center".

Very quickly the viewer realizes: the ill-fated flight is not the worst thing in the fate of the heroes. Something else had happened, and they all ended up at the bottom. But what exactly is unknown.

So, each episode not only throws us back to the beginning of the story and shows the development of the character, but also tells the details of the case, which ended in a general collapse. This approach is painfully reminiscent of the cult American show "Lost" and literally makes you watch the series further.

By the way, “Flight” captures from the very first frames. Side-by-side montage shows us a running man, a housewife serving dinner, and a smoking trunk. Of course, the viewer immediately tries to put the puzzle together from these events. And the catchy presentation is maintained throughout the show.

But the illogical development of characters

At first, the variety of characters promises us stories for all tastes. It seems that a humble writer will poetically talk about rethinking life, and a boorish lawyer will tell about his indifference. Each viewer has a chance to feel warm feelings for at least one hero. This means that it will be with great pleasure to follow the continuation of the series.

Then, on the other side of the screen, a game begins with the audience's expectations, and Todorovsky really manages to deceive them. Exactly what happens to the characters that we do not expect from them. True, the creator paints his characters with too bold strokes. With the development of the plot, the characters become more and more similar to each other.

For example, almost everyone begins to feel the urge to take revenge, go over their heads and get into trouble. It looks very pretentious: an intellectual becomes a criminal, and a modest girl becomes a seducer.

Paradoxically, the repulsive unpredictability of the characters is combined with a shallow elaboration of the characters. Acquiring alien traits, the characters continue to be slaves to stereotypes. For example, the frivolous secretary Kitten begins to behave like a fighting Amazon, but at the same time, she does very stupid things.

The choice of speaking names (Kitten, Zhabenko and others) is also catchy here, which force the viewer to form an opinion about the characters in advance.

Good acting work

The series also starred bright young actors (Yulia Khlynina, Pavel Tabakov) and their accomplished colleagues, for example Oksana Akinshina and Mikhail Efremov. The character of the latter is frightening by the fact that he partly repeats the sad fate of the artist. The hero sits behind the wheel drunk, and it ends badly.

The minor characters unexpectedly evoke sympathy. Their characters are less textured (in contrast to the central characters), and therefore look realistic. Acting in such conditions, by default, becomes more organic.

It is also pleasing that notable actors play not the main characters, including Victoria Tolstoganova, Svetlana Kamynina, Gleb Kalyuzhny and not only.

But foreign art elements

Apparently, to revive the characters, Todorovsky prescribes obscene words in the script. It is expected to hear them from the lips of the impudent lawyer Zhabenko, but the abuse of other heroes looks unmotivated. For the most part, such episodes look alien, because swearing is not always associated with events. One gets the impression that this is a mate for the sake of mate, which is intended to provoke the audience, and not reflect the state of the hero.

But the solution to this inorganicity is very simple. Two versions of the series have been created. The first has a limit of 16+ and will be shown on TNT. The other, labeled 18+, will be released on the Premier platform. It is clear that it is better to embed fragments with obscenities into the script, so that later they can be easily removed from the finished tape. This is where eclecticism comes from.

Some soundtracks can also be called foreign. For example, the story of an ordinary Moscow family is told to pop American music of the mid-twentieth century. It creates dissonance and looks ridiculous.

There are also visual solutions that cause confusion. As a rule, the director sets the scene beautifully and difficult when he wants to tell us something important. However, in "Flight" it is not always possible to understand the purpose of such episodes. A striking example is a piece in which the hero of Nikita Efremov dances with a revolver. The viewer already felt that something was wrong when he saw the weapon. Why savor this moment?

Another example of a picture that hurts your eyes is an episode splash screen. It is a cutting of frames of aircraft crashes. When starting to watch the series, many viewers want to relax and have fun. Such an introduction certainly does not help with this.

It is still difficult to say how successful the project will be: its advantages and disadvantages are equally strong. Perhaps in the sequel we will see a more subtle and even narrative, where the emphasis will be placed on the diversity of human natures. But maybe the creators of the show will reinforce the already unfortunate moments. Then "Flight" will turn into a motley round dance of fables and caricatured characters.