Yahoo News Is What/If on Netflix a *deliberately* bad TV show?
When a TV series is ripped apart by critics it’s usually important to remember that everyone involved tried their best. No one wants to make a bad show, right?
We’re not so sure.
At face value, What/If is easily one of the worst things that Netflix has ever produced. The story of two newlyweds tricked into a lucrative but dangerous deal with Renée Zellweger’s mysterious benefactor sounds like it’s been "ripped out of a bad '90s movie" and even the characters themselves acknowledge this early on in the pilot.
On top of that, corny dialogue and inexplicable plot turns root this show firmly in the same patch as low-budget erotic thrillers of the past, complete with a soapy sheen reminiscent of the melodramatic dramas most networks stopped making a decade ago. This all makes sense given that Revenge creator Mike Kelley spearheaded the project. But something still doesn’t add up here.
It’s hard to imagine why anyone would make a show like What/If in 2019, and it’s even harder to discern why an Oscar winner would plumb such depths for her big TV comeback, particularly when shows like Sharp Objects and Big Little Lies have provided Renée’s peers with far meatier roles… unless of course, that’s the whole point.
Although it’s possible we’re giving the creators way too much credit here, there’s a strong chance that the team behind What/If know exactly what they’re doing, deliberately setting out to make something that’s intrinsically 'bad'.
Psychosexual dramas of this nature are usually defined by excess anyway, but here, it feels like the writers are in on the joke, knowingly pushing already big leaps of logic to their breaking point with a cheeky wink and a smile.
Nowhere is this more obvious than in the role of Anne Montgomery. When she’s not privately screaming into her stuffed tiger toy(!), the sexually manipulative puppet master loves nothing more than smirking at her butler or shooting actual arrows at her enemies under the guise of training.
It’s magnificent to behold how preposterous this character truly is and Zellweger dives in with even more relish than Bridget Jones cracking open a bottle of Chardonnay.
In every moment she’s on screen, Renée commands attention with a regal and yet somehow goofy air of pretension that shouldn’t work and yet somehow fits perfectly. Instead of merely chewing the scenery, Zellweger full on devours the entire set with a voracious theatricality that can’t be stopped – and neither would you want it to either.
When Anne is off hosting galas or writing her memoirs by the fire, the rest of the cast go through the motions in soapier storylines that are defined primarily by sex, most of which is not of the faithful kind.
It’s particularly in these moments that What/If deconstructs the trashy network dramas of old, playing out like a diluted Grey’s Anatomy meets Basic Instinct but with a knowing meta-commentary typical of 2019.
But if Zellweger and the show’s creators are all in on the joke, this still doesn't explain why Netflix would take a risk on something so obviously bad like What/If.
The key of course lies in the show’s histrionics and penchant for camp.
Rather than admonish the team behind What/If, plenty of reviewers have already begun to celebrate the show’s kitsch appeal, acknowledging that it’s bad while simultaneously encouraging readers to check it out. This week alone, The Telegraph described Zellweger’s latest project as a "contender for guilty pleasure of the year" and EW joyously claimed that "What/If is terrible and I can't wait to see more."
In her ‘Notes on “Camp”, Susan Sontag once discussed the appeal of cultural objects that are truly awful, explaining how connoisseurs of bad culture enjoy extravagant works of art that achieve a certain kind of "failed seriousness."
In recent memory, no other program encapsulates this better than What/If, entrancing and appalling in equal measure. Science says trash TV can soothe us in these increasingly stressful times, so it’s smart of Netflix to finally cave and provide us with the same kind of riotously silly shows that the networks they’re slowly replacing once specialized in.
While most TV creators try their best to make something good, it seems that everyone involved with What/If did the opposite, instead striving to create something gloriously bad and Netflix subscribers are better off for it.
Don’t feel guilty about watching this 'guilty pleasure'. Instead, revel in the messy drama of it all like Anne Montgomery herself as she looks around and takes in all of the chaos she’s created.
Season one of What/If is now available on Netflix.
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