The Institute (MGM+ Series)

This is the right show for the moment. It explores the pure banality of evil and how people can do the most horrific things if they convince themselves they are being done for good reasons. So far, I don't like it as much as the book. But it's nearly as upsetting and has a couple of extra twists and turns.

Let's talk about some of the differences. Luke is a couple of years older here. Not TOO big of a deal, but one change I don't much like is that Luke seems to have similar mannerisms to kids on the spectrum. And while that will sell the idea he's a genius to certain audience members, one of the interesting things to me about Luke in the book was that he was a genius who absolutely acted like a completely "normal" kid and was totally well-adjusted. The fact that he gets along with the older kids after the test was a good demonstration of that, but Luke is a little too awkward here.

I also question making Tim the series' adult lead. In the book, Tim is really only in the beginning and the end. If they are going to add scenes for Ben Barnes to be seen every week, I'm not convinced that's a good thing. They are already adding things I don't think they should have (including the idea that Ms. Sigsby burns herself when she's alone).

The kid they got to play Nick is fantastic. I don't think they could have done better.

One scene I loved that was the same as the book was Hendricks noting that when Luke is asking why they are made to wander around before meeting the adults he points out none of the others ever asked that. It actually seems to worry him.

I was not surprised Ruby's lover was an Institute mole and shot her. I was more surprised that Ruby was repenting to begin with. She was pretty vile in the book.

Believe it or not, David E. Kelley was initially attached to develop this and be showrunner. He left the project, but if he had stayed I wouldn't have bothered watching. Mr. Mercedes was a trainwreck. Guarantee that hack would turn this story into a courtroom drama by the end of it. Relitigating the exact same cases he did on Picket Fences and The Practice. Hack is as hack does.

This adaptation is brutal so far, but hasn't strayed too far from the source material. The Pilot is solid. 4 stars.

The thing with the goodbye parties is a mixed bag. While Luke is right it's creepy (which is its selling point) I felt the kids disappearing to Front Half without a goodbye or any advanced notice was far more devastating in the book. The first thing makes me uncomfortable. The other thing filled me with dread.

Sigsby and Hendricks hooking up is pure padding. Adds nothing except proof this show didn't need to be 8 episodes long.

Decent. 3 1/2 stars.

Annie didn't die in the book. Of course, she wasn't clairvoyant in the book either. I think the show has nothing for Tim to do and this was their solution. Still feels like padding.

I don't think putting Tim in Maine in the same town of the Institute is a great idea. It's the fact that he's so disconnected from everything in the book which is sort of what makes his and Luke's meeting interesting. Him already being in the Institute's business could lesson that.

I never would have cast Jeff Fahey as the Lisping Man in a million years. But the way, he doesn't really lisp here.

So far not too much has been changed from the book. But the stuff that was changed isn't actually for the better. 3 1/2 stars.

One of the most horrifying things of the book for me, when you learn what Back Half is for, and what the Institute is doing, it gives a LOT of insight about the violence and cruelty the adults inflict on the kids. Just based on what the mission actually is, it's clear neither thing is actually necessary. The adults are violent and cruel because they ENJOY being violent and cruel. Not because it's a necessary part of saving the world. I don't actually believe ANY part of the Institute is necessary, but if it actually is, that bit right there exists solely for the adults' twisted pleasure.

The scene with Harry and the twins was more horrifying in the book, but in fairness, describing that level of violence with children in a book is a lot different than showing it on-screen.

Tim investigating the Institute remains pure padding, and I can't think of how it possibly strengthens the story.

Interesting episode. 3 1/2 stars.

One of the cool things about film and TV adaptations is figuring out which stuff is better and which is worse than the book.

The way Luke found out about his parents is WAY better here. By a mile. And one of the cool things about Stephen King is if he had thought to make the scene that specifically clever and gut-wrenching he would have. He LOVES it when film and TV producers improve upon his work.

I mentioned earlier the graduation parties are less gut-wrenching than the random disappearances. Still true. And yet NONE of those disappearances landed as great as the way Nicky went out here. And he was never the guy you could snuff out quietly. There are disadvantages to the change, but Nicky's riot was a definite positive.

Luke's escape in the book was far less complicated, and if you ask me it never NEEDED to be more complicated than that. I mean, the show's take has dramatic weight, and even more tension, but the truth is it probably occurs the way it does because MGM+ ordered 8 episodes of the series instead of 6.

Speaking of which, Stackhouse menacing Jamieson? That! That!

The scissors in the ear thing is brutal in the book, but it's worse to see it on-screen. I don't know why that is, because it's not usually how horror works properly, but for this one thing, it's true.

The best episode so far. 4 1/2 stars.

I think I can better say why I like the fact that Tim operates in a different part of the country than the Institute in the book and that he's absent for the middle part of the story. The Institutes are global. And despite the fact that the South is a part of America, Luke traveling across the country to randomly meet the night knocker we befriended in the prologue of the book gives the story actual scope.

Maybe it's less dramatically interesting than Tim encountering Luke in the forest during his escape, but I prefer the scope more.

The show did right by Maureen. Good.

Another damn good episode. On to the videotape! 4 stars.

Oh, man. Great episode. The thing is, the climax in the book is SOOO much better!

This is why they shouldn't have killed off Annie. There was an actual shoot-out in the police station between the Institute and the town, and moral is you don't start shooting up police stations in the fucking South. You are not the only people with guns. And Sigsby's petulance over being shot in the book is both pathetic and ironic considering the suffering she is responsible for.

In the book Luke points out the flaw in the "cost / benefit analysis" bit. The farther away the event is predicted, the less likely the accuracy of the prediction. Random events change shit all the time. My argument against this is even if Sigsby is right about the numbers there, the specific cruel things they put the kids through and the violence and death they inflict on them is not necessary to take out "The Hinges". Goddam, what do we have wetworks for anyways? And if you know a future is possible, there are additional guardrails that can be taken to prevent it. Even if Sigsby is right about the threats the world faces, she's wrong because not only is doing it the Institute's way evil, it seems needlessly complicated.

What Sigsby is right about is Luke should have been asking why the entire time. Frankly, this accusation isn't leveled against Luke in the book, which is good, because it's a good point, and the book Luke isn't dumb or stubborn enough to act like that specific thing doesn't matter. That was a TV snit for a character King took great pains to show was clever and calculating in the book.

Did you like that? I did too. Believe it or not, the book was still SOOOO much better. 4 stars.

Oh geez, a near perfect adaptation for the finale until they utterly fucked up the final scene. The book's ending is definite. As it should be. Having Sigsby survive is the producers dumb enough to think the show needs a second season. Of course it doesn't happen, but the foolishness of the promise means the satisfying ending of the Lisping Man coming to torment the kids, and the kids just not having it is gone. And that sucks.

In fairness, in the episode it's shown the (Non)-Lisping Man has grandkids he loves and dotes on, making his particular brand of evil ironic.

I hate television. Truly. A miniseries refuses to offer us a good ending the story demands just in case there is still money on the table somewhere. It pisses me off like nothing else. 3 1/2 stars.