The Hazards of a Creative Process

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I'm halfway through watching Etoile. What a delightful show. I think it's the most solid series I've seen from the Palladinos. At least the first four episodes are. According to some reviews, it kind of goes off a cliff after this so I guess I should savour it now.

The screwball comedy dialogue is exquisitely written and perfectly delivered. A lot of stuff that felt slightly out of place or gratuitous on Gilmore Girls makes sense in the world of obsessed ballet people. You can have a guy who flies from Paris to freak out about his choreography because someone was recast without his knowing. You can have Cheyenne's weird routine about picking a partner. It's absurd but also very credible.

And all that great stuff stops in the fourth episode so we can actually watch some ballet and it's beautiful. Again, I thought of The Red Shoes. Maybe any ballet movie or series would inevitably draw comparisons to that one that set the standard but, just like The Red Shoes, it goes from being a behind the scenes procedural to being actual ballet. I guess The Red Shoes does it with a lot more chutzpah because it gives us a single story while Etoile goes for a montage. Still, it's wonderful stuff. It's a shame this show isn't getting more attention.

Etoile is available on Amazon Prime.