The latest from the Duffer Brothers is excellent
Older people are revered for their wisdom while simultaneously being pushed to the edges of society. It’s a mystery that most people only think about as they approach their own twilight years. In Netflix’s sci-fi horror drama, “The Boroughs,” creators Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews, along with executive producers the Duffer brothers, deliver a delightful, intriguing adventure with some very unexpected heroes at its center. Heartbreaking, funny and endlessly fascinating, ‘The Boroughs’ is a show that explores loss, pain, time and the trials and tribulations of life during the golden years.
The eight-episode first season begins on a quiet cul-de-sac in a luxury retirement community, The Boroughs, led by CEO Blaine Shaw (Seth Numrich) and his wife Annaenlise (Alice Kremelberg). Grace (Dee Wallace) goes through her nightly routine, eating in front of the TV and watching “Jeopardy,” and later video calling her husband, Edward (Ed Begley Jr.), who now lives at The Manor, The Boroughs’ long-term care facility. Although everything seems normal, viewers soon realize something is wrong.
A few months later, grieving widower Sam Cooper (Alfred Molina) arrives in town, driven by his daughter Claire (Jena Malone), son-in-law Neil (Rafael Casal) and two grandchildren. Unfortunately, the lifelong Chicagoan has no interest in setting up shop in the middle of the New Mexico desert. After all, moving to The Boroughs was his late wife Lily’s (Jane Kaczmarek) idea, and now that she’s gone, all Sam has is his pain, anger, and disgust. Unable to escape the contract he and Lily previously signed, the retired engineer must unpack the fragments of his past life and settle into the house once occupied by Grace.
Even though Sam is a card-carrying cheapskate, his neighbor Jack (Bill Pullman) doesn’t let that stop him from inviting him to a barbecue. Jack – and other dead-end residents, Wally (Denis O’Hare), a former doctor dying of stage 4 prostate cancer; married couple Judy (Alfre Woodard) and Art (Clarke Peters) and the lively and bubbly Renee (Geena Davis) – welcome Sam with open arms. Sam decides that his neighbors are not his enemy and reluctantly begins to build a routine in The Boroughs (which usually consists of him stomping around his house). However, when he witnesses something truly gruesome, Sam soon realizes that what lurks around the golf courses, pools and restaurants of The Boroughs is much more than he bargained for.
Monsters, shootings, crows and a very special liquid all appear in “The Boroughs”. But offering additional clues around the sci-fi element would be to give away too much of the story’s intricacies. What is most compelling about the series, however, are the characters and themes that anchor the story. From their sordid backstories to their daily lives in the retirement community, all the people Sam encounters have different perspectives on this chapter. Grief also plays a role here, of course, but it is not just about the misery of losing a loved one, whether dead or still alive. As Sam explains it, grief also comes with the trauma of growing old while dealing with the literal pain of your body breaking down.
As Sam and his motley crew come to understand, despite their experiences, many are willing to dismiss retirees as senile or sickly. As a society we are dismissive of the elderly, and ‘The Boroughs’ shows how patronizing and infuriating this can be. Amid all the action-packed moments, the series delves into why underestimating an entire generation is probably not in anyone’s best interest.
With a fantastic cast bringing this ensemble of complicated characters to life, ‘The Boroughs’ turns a familiar genre on its head, allowing audiences to look at the limitations of the human experience, what it means to be fearless and the finality of death from a different vantage point. Fascinating and intense, viewers will indeed have the time of their lives with ‘The Boroughs’.
“The Boroughs” is now streaming on Netflix.
