The easy shorthand for how to describe Netflix’s “The Boroughs” is that it’s like “Stranger Things” with walkers instead of bicycles, and that’s not just because of the foundational similarities in its plotting. The score, the credits font, and even the creature design all share a bit of that Duffer Brothers flavor, which makes sense given their credits as producers, but I would argue that it boasts DNA with the ‘80s creators that inspired the pop culture juggernaut, more than it seeks to copy the formula of the modern-day hit.
And probably only people versed in the sci-fi of the era will come with me when I say this is more Joe Dante or even Robert Zemeckis than it is the Spielberg/King stew that inspired the Duffers. It has that B-movie-meets-suburbia vibe of something like “The Burbs” or “Gremlins,” right down to a cast old enough to remember when those movies were hits (like me). Overall, it’s a fun ride with just enough emotional weight given to it by an excellent ensemble. It suffers from a few common Netflix original issues like a washed-out color palette and awkward length, but these stars from the ‘80s know how to deliver character-driven escapism that would have been right at home in the era when many of them became household names.
Sam (Alfred Molina, as good as he’s been in years) is facing the commonly intertwined hurdles of grief and aging. His wife, Lilly (Jane Kaczmarek), recently passed away, leaving him alone in The Boroughs, a seemingly perfect retirement community in the middle of the New Mexico desert. With no one around for miles, The Boroughs has everything its residents could need, including a gym and even a mental hospital for when dementia strikes its citizens. It’s almost like its own society, right down to a charismatic community manager named Blaine (Seth Numrich) and his gorgeous wife Anneliese (Alice Krembelberg). With its own medical and security teams, what could go wrong?
As he’s navigating his way out of his grief, Sam is struck by a tragedy that won’t be spoiled, but it leads him to get in touch with the former resident of his Boroughs abode, Edward (Ed Begley Jr.), who has been hospitalized after talking about monsters and things in the wall. Of course, Edward isn’t entirely crazy, but no one believes him when he says there’s a threat out there in the desert. It’s easy to dismiss the concerns of the elderly, especially when they’ve been cut off from the rest of society. And it’s easy to think that their proclamations of monsters in the middle of the night are merely symptoms of dementia. What if they’re not?
Sam joins forces with a Mystery Machine gang of engaging characters: Judy (Alfre Woodard) is struggling through a degrading marriage to her husband Art (Clarke Peters) when tensions rise; Wally (Denis O’Hare) is facing a terminal cancer diagnosis when he’s given what could be a final chance to be a hero; Renee (Geena Davis) is surprised to find herself in a fling with a security guard named Paz (Carlos Miranda), who joins the monster hunters. Other familiar faces fill out the ensemble, like Jena Malone as Sam’s daughter and Bill Pullman as a neighbor who really starts the sci-fi ball rolling.
It’s a fantastic cast, in that every single member adds something different to the team. Molina, Woodard, and O’Hare end up being the core of the show, and they all do the work to delineate their characters, giving them back stories and emotional interiority that a lesser version of this show wouldn’t have allowed. We can all picture the generic old-folks variation on this tale, one that diminishes the leads as real people and merely uses them as cogs in a monster-show machine. Molina finds emotional grace by overcoming loss through action; Woodard conveys a defeated anger at a life that robbed her of an unexpected happiness; O’Hare captures a man who was once a potential hero, finding a way to become one again through science. They’re all great.
Not everything about “The Boroughs” works. It has a washed-out, beige color palette that is probably meant to reflect the sandy air of New Mexico but feels almost antithetical to the era that inspired it (Dante loved color!). And the show really peaks in the fifth episode, the best of the season, but then has three more to fill. Instead of racing to the end, the requirements of a Netflix season order demand that the pace slacken a bit.
Still, there’s more than enough to like about “The Boroughs,” a show that will be written off by some who don’t watch it as “Elder Things” but works because its excellent cast takes it more seriously than that.
Whole series screened for review. On Netflix now.
