Mozart in the Jungle

Embarrassing.

Abandoned halfway through season 2. Although it has an interesting and seldom explored theme, including cinema giants such as Bernal and McDowell, the series has a major setback in its lack of cohesion, flat and naive character development, anarchic plot progression, and its biggest sin of all: it feels like a neo-liberal propaganda piece, culturally appropriating classical music into (or vice versa) the shallow, egocentric culture of self-loving, glorifying the god of pleasure above all else.

Ah, o Gael não é tudo?

First season is tremendous fun, even though you're basically watching a soap opera with some Bizet thrown into it.

W3E1P1S1V1M1A1R1.

Reasonably entertaining fluff. As a classical musician myself... it gets more wrong about the business than it gets right, and all I could think was "weren't conducting lessons in the budget??" Then I read that Bernal was coached by Dudamel, which explains a lot. The Dudamel cameo in Season 2, Episode 1 is probably the funniest scene of the entire series.

Great concept and I love some of the musical analogies it makes, but towards the end of season 1 and pretty much the whole of season 2, it all seems to unravel a bit. The stpry begins to get a bit mundane and lacking cohesion and they end up just trudging through it.

Good thing someone figured out how to make Girls even more obnoxious by making the characters classical musicians.

season 1: 75 season 2: 60 season 3: 75

Truly a masterstroke in the work of highly comedic dramedy, MitJ is a heartwarming and earnest look into the life of highly capable classical musicians trying to work together. This show has such a whimsical and unique tone, I truly have not seen anything like it other than Nodame Cantabile. Unlike more rudimentary efforts like Flesh and Bone that are weighed down by cliches and melodrama, Mozart in the Jungle feels both grounded and familiar, yet untethered to the mundane. Bernal is electric.

Technically competent, totally insufferable.