But I highly suspect that my reaction is within the realm of what creators Segel and Mark Friedman were going for - Dispatches from Elsewhere affected me and has absolutely stuck with me.Īndré Benjamin as Fredwynn, having a existential moment. Having so many meta-truths (or, at least meta-statements) thrust at me was overwhelming, and I found myself longing to get back to the story at hand rather than being pseudo-pulled into the show's universe myself. It's unsettling to watch the all-powerful narrator expose each of the four protagonist's deepest insecurities and weaknesses and undermine the priorities, values, and identity in which each character has taken great comfort.
#Where to watch dispatches from elsewhere series#
spends a lot of time detailing the meaning of life to Peter, Fredwynn, Janice, and Simone, and to the audience through a series of direct-to-camera monologues.
However, the "creepy undercurrent," to use Simone's phrasing, that pervades each episode with increasing fervor takes the form of existential awareness.
#Where to watch dispatches from elsewhere how to#
Janice learns how to live a life independent of her husband. Simone is forced out of her anxiety-filled interiority.
Peter feels an unfamiliar, wonderful sense of belonging. Cliffhangers, clues, and (at times) nonsensical and unexpected narrative twists and turns keep viewers on the edge of their seats.Īs the series unfolds, it feels a bit like you're reading a classic novel, chock-full of themes and motifs pertaining to how each character approaches the mission to find Clara based on their own lives and worldview in some way - Fredwynn, for example, devotes himself to uncovering clues that lead to the truth behind the mission because he believes it's all part of a government conspiracy -and the significance their journey has for them personally. Watching Peter, Simone, Janice, and Fredwynn solve the mysteries set up in Dispatches from Elsewhere is intriguing. (In the four episodes I've seen, the viewer is not informed who Clara is, or how she went missing.)Īt one point, Simone remarks that "this whole thing" - aka, the journey she, Peter, Janice, and Fredwynn have been pulled into - "floats in and out of levels of bizarritude, most of which I dig, but there’s an undercurrent of creepy that I can’t quite put my finger on.”Ī creepy undercurrent pervades each episode with increasing fervor, in the form of existential awareness. They embark on a scavenger hunt to find her, following clues left by the Elsewhere Society that take them in and around Fishtown, a neighborhood in Philadelphia. The team of four is tasked with finding a girl named Clara who possesses "divine nonchalance" - yet another turn of phrase we aren't supposed to truly understand the meaning of. Through the Elsewhere Society's initiation process, Peter is united with Simone (Eve Lindley), an art museum docent struggling with what appears to be social anxiety Janice (Sally Field), whose life partner was recently rendered unresponsive by a stroke and Fredwynn (André Benjamin), a genius with an affinity for conspiracies. After his trust in the Jenjune Society is undermined by the urgent messages he receives from the Elsewhere Society, Peter chooses the latter. Immediately after being recruited by the Jejune Society, Peter is recruited by its rival, the Elsewhere Society. Credit: Jessica Kourkounis/AMCĪs has now probably become clear to viewers of Dispatches from Elsewhere (and to the reader of this review), the series is intentionally vague. Grant as Jejune Society head honcho, Octavio Coleman Esq. Grant, who acts as an all-knowing narrator through the series), the Jenjune Society designs products that "fill the void" - or, presumably, help individuals cope with the occasional bout of hopelessness.ĭuring his visit, Peter is informed that because he called the number on the flyers, he's qualified as "one of the special ones" and his participation is requested in the organization's search for "something greater." There, he learns that under the direction of founder Octavio Coleman Esquire (Richard E. Out of curiosity, he calls the number on the flyers and is summoned to the Jejune Society, where he goes to briefly interrupt the mundanity that is his daily life. Peter (Jason Segel), an ordinary-presenting man living in Philadelphia (who viewers learn has been devoid of strong emotions of any type for many years) notices a set of mysterious flyers stuck to telephone poles that line his daily route to and from work. Wasting no time, the new AMC anthology series Dispatches from Elsewhere introduces viewers to the first of its four protagonists on the fateful day in which everything changes.