Kaleidoscope (Netflix series, 2023)
Kaleidoscope is a rock solid anthology crime series, created by Eric Garcia, starring Giancarlo Esposito, Rufus Sewell and Paz Vega.
Its most distinguishing aspect is that - according to Netflix - you can play the eight episodes in any sequence you like.
You can play them in chronological order, you can play them going back in time. You can play them in the order Netflix has put them online for you, or you can just do your own thing and mix them up completely.
It’s meant to play like a puzzle box, or like a Jigsaw, which was the original title of the show that was scrapped because it was too reminiscent of the Saw-franchise.
Every episode can basically stand on its own, so if everyone chooses their own order, everyone will have their own more or less unique viewing perspective.
It’s a gimmick, of course it is, there are plenty of anthology series that you can watch like this, but as a gimmick... why the hell not?
As you can enter the story in eight different ways, it’s best not too describe the plot in too much detail.
It concerns a big heist 25 years in the making, which was apparently inspired by a heist that took place during Hurricane Sandy. It concerns a motley crew of colourful rogues, some more sympathetic than others. It’s about trust, loyalty and of course, betrayal. It offers up a fair share of surprises, whichever way you look at it.
The show was created by Eric Garcia, who wrote the books Matchstick Men and Repo Men and who knows his way around a puzzle box.
So yeah, it is pretty damn good. Every episode offers its own insights into the characters and their motivations, so you do have watch the whole series to get the complete picture.
Still, if it was absolutely brilliant they wouldn’t have needed the whole jigsaw gimmick in the first place. And if they hadn’t used it Kaleidoscope would just be one of the many (good) crime series released this year.
My guess is, audiences like this kind of thing and will probably lap Kaleidoscope up. And this way, at least, it stands out from the crowd.