'Tell Me A Story’ Season 2 Review: Excellent art direction makes it visually delightful despite loopholes
The very first day, when the first episode aired, the thought about the show’s art direction crossed our minds. But we refrained ourselves from exploring it further, thinking if it will sustain all through or will it remain just for the few initial episodes.
We must say, we have been pleasantly surprised.
Throughout the entire second season, ‘Tell Me A Story’ manages to keep you hooked with its brilliant visual aesthetics despite the slow start and unintriguing character development. If you have not noticed it already, then read and see what we mean. And if you have and you agree with us, then, well, the creators of the show would be really proud, as they should be.
So, here’s how it goes. The season opens with a very modern but twisted take on the fairy tale characters of Belle, The Beast, Cinderella, Aurora, and Maleficent. The story of Sleeping Beauty is represented by Tucker Reed, Olivia Moon, and Maddie Pruitt, Beauty and The Beast by Rebecca Pruitt, Ashley Rose, Beau Morris, among others, and Cinderella represented by Jackson Pruitt and Simone, Vanessa, Ron, and Derek Garland.
Even before the show starts, the production team does a great job with the title credits. The animated paper cutouts of the original fairy tale characters mixed with key elements of the show’s plot, silhouettes of the characters, combined with somber music, make for a great opening to the show.
And then we notice how each story has been color-coded.
Cinderella aka Simone’s story uses red and its various shades, Tucker, Olivia, and Maddie’s plot revolves around green, and Ashley’s story is predominantly blue with gold undertones. This, by all definition of art and aesthetics, is extraordinary, especially for a series. Had this been a movie, we would say it was expected. But to pack such detailing in art and maintaining it throughout ten long episodes is truly commendable.
And if you observe, it’s not just the holistic use of the colors, but making sure that every little thing in the frame or the background is in sync with the color scheme. For instance, while showing Ashley’s story, everything from the home decor, upholstery, to even the costumes of the secondary and tertiary characters are done in blue, gold, and/or black. And the same goes with Jackson’s apartment, where even background items, which are out of focus, are also in red. It is indeed visually delightful when you see three stories in three separate color tones, which gives the respective plots a distinctive feel.
If we could take the liberty to compare it with other great works of art, we would say that it reminded us of the Chinese wuxia movie- ‘Hero’, which uses colors to define timelines, sub-plots, and seasons.
In simpler and crisper words, ‘Tell Me A Story’ has had a lot of drawbacks across its 10-episode second season, but we can probably look past all that now, thanks to their excellent art production.