Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Director: Rodrigo García
Author: Lauren Oliver
Release Date: June 20th, 2014
In a not-so-distant future, love is a disease that the government eliminates by forcing all citizens to get the Cure when they’re eighteen. Shortly before Lena Holoway’s scheduled procedure she does something dangerous: she meets Alex and falls in love.
From the Book:
Ninety-five days, and then I'll be safe. I wonder whether the procedure will hurt. I want to get it over with. It's hard to be patient. It's hard not to be afraid while I'm still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn't touched me yet. Still, I worry. They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness. The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't.
Thoughts:
First I understand that only the pilot is out, but I have a few random thoughts on the series so far. I don't understand the direction of the series overall, and I would love to bring some attention to them as well. Let me say this first though, I think the issues and problems I have with the series isn't necessarily the actors fault, more so the screenwriters. The series on Hulu just doesn't seem to follow the book at all, but at the same time they take some liberties that I enjoy.While the pilot is out, what they did was take nearly the entire first book, Delirium, and pack it all into a 43min pilot episode. I would've much rather seen them do this as a section or season 1, start the build up and the romance, and end the season with her escaping. I thought that the whole gist of the first book was feeling the loss of Alex and the sacrifice that he made for Lena. I just didn't see it, I didn't see the romance between the two. It was too rushed, too fast, and almost heartbreaking to me to even watch it.
However, what they did with Hana and Julian. They took some liberties explaining their defiance and how they interact with each other. I loved how they are both shown and not thrown in later like they were in the book series. Further it explains how Julian came to question his father, the governor or mayor of the town. Julian as a bit of a pansy, but he was that way at the start of the first book, I just don't see how he and Lena are going to fall for each other later on.
Either way, the pilot was just too fast paced. I thought it was more of a highlight reel and that they were trying to show you what the first season could be like if given the time. I wanted the pilot to be slow, and if they continue to push it on and actually do a season, I wish that they would wipe the pilot and actually do it correctly. Make the romance something worth remembering and giving the season that heartbreaking ending. This does not do it's fans any justice had they actually enjoyed the book.
Overall - I like what they did with some of the series, I just wish they would have taken the time and sat down and did it right. I don't think what they did was credible to the series, I enjoyed parts of it; mainly the parts with Hana and Julian. However, I wanted more of Alex and Lena and to feel their romance and trauma, it just went by too fast for me to really understand or grasp what happened. Redo it, and do it right.
