Status Updates From The Nice House On The Lake,...

Notes:
(1) So, perhaps I'm overrating it, but I'm giving the last issue here points for being intellectually interesting. Except for the very end, nobody does much of anything.
- It's a lot of talking about doing stuff, plus more mixed-media storytelling with text messages, e-mails, etc.
(2) If there's a single takeaway, it's that the whole series was merely act one.

Notes:
(1) Issue #11 might be the weakest so far. Which isn't exactly ideal going into the finale.
- Unlike issue #9, which didn't have much going on, this has a lot going on but Tynion makes it difficult to make sense of anything.
- For example, we get a flashback to Day 31... which is when, exactly? It's Day 48 in the present, but was Day 31 before or after the big reset?

Notes:
(1) You know, issue #10 is the first one where I've felt any real drive or urgency to read on.
- I think that's a major reason why this series hasn't been very bingable.
- Being fast and bingable is one of the reasons I'm usually eager to read Tynion's work.
- Not that this isn't good, but it's more... cerebral. I'd have to be in the right mood to really eat this up.

Notes:
(1) This is the most low-key, uneventful issue so far. On its own, I wouldn't think too much of it, but it's a decent follow-up and connective tissue issue, if you get what I mean.
- Characters discover something we already knew, which blunts the revelation.
- Ryan steps forward as the main character/hero of the series, which is ironic since she's barely in this one.

Notes:
(1) There are some pretty interesting things going on here. Two stand out the most.
- It's very clear that Ryan shouldn't be there. She's not only the odd one out socially, she also doesn't really fit the guest list criteria.
- Walter's carefully laid plans are being stymied by free will and human nature... and love. He didn't count on love outside his social circle.

Notes:
(1) One major criticism I have of Tynion is that he has a really weak chit-chat game.
- I see it a lot in his other work too, it's just particularly noticeable here since most of what characters do is chit-chat.
- It's never really all that interesting, never really adds much to the narrative and (if characters are gay) very often defaults to talking about being gay.

Notes:
(1) Volume 1 started with a bang but quickly plateaued at a slow-paced melancholy.
- Not that there's anything wrong with that, especially in the initial issues when fleshing out characters and spelling out how the world works is important.
- I expect a lot more plot development in Volume 2, now that setup's seemingly done and sci-fi/fantasy rules have been laid out.