Swarm on Amazon Prime

are we a JOKE to you??????????

Yes, it’s good.

Dominique Fishback was great on The Deuce. She played a prostitute who starts reading and decides to leave the life and get an education.

I read something about it this morning in The New Yorker. It's created by Donald Glover, I think. Sounded interesting.

Looks good! Thanks for the tip OP!

Billie Eilish is shockingly good in it as a Boho Musical Festival Influencer cum Cult Leader

it looks very fashion.

[quote]Dominique Fishback was great on The Deuce. She played a prostitute who starts reading and decides to leave the life and get an education.

Dominique STOLE The Deuce with an astonishing performance. So good that I made note of her name, and am looking forward to this.

I saw her interviewed and she's bright and bubbly, nothing at all like her characters. A real actor.

Oh shit r6, didn't even clue in that was her.

I'm 4 episodes in, will get on with my day and binge the rest tonight. It's the best thing I've seen in a while.

R7 it's an indictment of the "fashion" of obsessively engaging in social media. Told through the lens of the SM culture that obsesses over Beyonce.

Sado Masochistic = SM ?

Touché, r10.

Thanks for the recommendation.

Watched the first two episodes last night. It's simultaneously a comedy, a black comedy, a piece of pathos and a horror movie and Dominique acts the hell out of it.

The first episode even has shots that evoke both "Carrie" and Carol Speed in "Abby."

I wonder how the 🐝 hive feels?

^homicidal no doubt!

Looks terrifying and great

They should do Larries next or those batshit Twilight fans who think Rob and Kristen are still together with a family.

Are there still Twilight fan groups and do they really think that?

R18 yes, hkn haven is still a thing.

I don't think this show should have a second season. I think Dre being an unreliable narrator works in this show's favor, and the questions people have should remain unanswered. It's better that way.

Made it to episode 4 last night. Can't believe that a) Billie Eilish was that sensational and b) this is her first acting gig. She could have a second career. The camera loves her.

yeah, shes no joke really good. maybe the best acting performance I've ever seen from a pop star

This is really well done, very insider fashiony. Sharply observed. Darkly witty. Yet I think it's also, often, condescending to its characters and nihilistic and makes me feel dirty, like its forcing me to be appalled by the characters as much as the production is.

Don’t be mad, but it reminds me of “Promising Young Woman”. It’s very good.

I do feel sorry for black actresses in their thirties who are going up against Dominique. She's a generational talent.

At the beginning she's supposed to be, what, 17 or 18? And she was entirely believable as a teenager.

Marissa was a middle class child. Why was she living and acting so “ghetto” with Dre? Was it rebellion against her parents? Was it more unreliable narration? She would have had higher ambitions than living in a dump and being a makeup artist and being at the mercy of people lower class than herself.

Also, I LOVED the part where Hailey/Halsey believes she’s black because her father is half-black. Paris Jackson was pretty good in her part!

R26 that was Paris Jackson!? She really was good. I thought the actress had striking blue eyes but did not make that connection at all.

Paris Jackson was surprisingly effective. I didn't recognize her and thought she was a real actor. I watched the show over the course of an evening. Worth it even though it's pretty sad.

[Quote] Also, I LOVED the part where Hailey/Halsey believes she’s black because her father is half-black. Paris Jackson was pretty good in her part!

I hope the real Halsey doesn't have a meltdown over it 😄

R28, I watched the entire thing, too. Although there were a few things I didn’t love about it, overall, I thought it was excellent. I think it rivals “White Lotus” in every way.

As another commenter said, I don’t think there needs to be another season. Maybe it would be fun to follow another hive member; the cuckoo man who seemed to have an internal tug-of-war of whether he’s commit murder for Ni’Jah. It doesn’t have to be murder, it could be doxxing or other fuckery.

Anyone else see the parallels to “Promising Young Woman”?

Seven episodes was enough. One more episode and it would have been overkill. Although the series is overall quite good, it’s still though to watch and very dark. It’s also not exactly exhilarating when murder isn’t occurring.

Watching it now. Wow, the first episode was hard to watch, her character is just so...off and is treated as such. And then it suddenly got insane and now I'm on episode 4 and plan to finish it today. It's pretty captivating. Paris Jackson is hilarious as her stripper buddy on episode two.

Malia Obama co-wrote an episode!

[quote]Dominique Fishback was great on The Deuce. She played a prostitute who starts reading and decides to leave the life and get an education.

Reminds me of the old joke:

Teacher: "Please use 'horticulture' in a sentence."

Student: "You can lead a horticulture but you can't make her think."

I didn't notice she was supposed to be "queer" but of course pink news is all over it.

I saw Paris Jackson in some forgettable movie with Kelsey Grammer, not realizing who she was. I was like “who is THIS?” She’s quite beautiful and charismatic.

Thanks OP for the alert. The faux documentary episode is a lot of fun. Donald is showing so much talent in his productions, maybe he’ll eclipse Jordan Peele.

I enjoyed this and stayed up into the wee hours to watch it. It is difficult to watch at times as other posters have mentioned.

The documentary episode seemed to throw some people off. Maybe it should have been the final episode?

The doc episode was a hoot!

I didn’t mind it.

Didn’t work for me. I did think Billie Eillish was surprisingly good, but overall i didn’t get into at all. I did like the episode with the girl who said she was black “like Halsey.” Such a dig.

Billie Eillish was perfect in her role. She was captivating in those one-on-one sessions with Dre, even though the other actress was doing the more dramatic acting.

I'm watching, inspired by this thread. It's compelling I guess but god what a revolting character.

R42, the fun part of that dig was that the actress is Paris Jackson. Michael Jackson’s daughter.

Seriously? I had no idea that was Paris r45!

It makes fun of stupid black people in most episodes. And includes clownish flaming black gay characters, who are also condescended to. The episodes drag on. The series starts strong, shoots its shot, and then is just hipster sneering at the unhip. The actors, their acting, the production, the styling, all super hip and applied to trash characters they are making fun of. By the end I found it really offensive and repulsive.

It didn't really catch my eye when I kept seeing the title card on Prime. But people keep saying it's crazy fun. Maybe I'll check it out.

I decided to check it out after learning Dominique Fishback was in it. It wasn't what I expected, and I ended watching the whole series in one day. I also didn't recognize Paris Jackson, and Billie Eilish was unexpectedly great. She's a better actress than a singer.

I binged it yesterday and Dominic did a fantastic job. Billie really held her own in the cult episode. The references to Sanaa, Solange and Bey cracked me up. Festival from "Ni'jah" is now stuck in my head.

For some reason Dre's visit to the cellphone store with the cheerful queen really cracked me up.

I’m watching this now. I find it super weird, but I’m going to continue on.

A bit unconvincing how everyone adored and pursued Dre.

That's part of the cynicism of the creators, R53. Dre often can't even say hello to people. And she's plainly cagey as fuck. But her victims include stupid vulnerable people and as the series dragged on it pushed me to consider their murders as somewhat their own fault for being: corrupt, inauthentic, mean and/or vapid, or victims themselves. They play with fire and get burned. Dre is a chaos character and is also a devil created by the mediated zeitgeist. The series is so very clever but doesn't respect most of its characters.

Thanks for the heads up on this. What a fucking trip. It’s equal parts can’t look away ambulance chasing horror, comedy, suspense and brilliant acting.

R53 the strippers didn't.

Hmm good points R54.

A few of the kills may be of characters who the viewer can feel empathetic/sympathetic. For example Paris Jackson's stripper is killed as collateral damage because Dre can see Hailey's a dingbat and Dre just murdered Hailey's abusive boyfriend. Hailey is manic and trouble for Dre. A weight.

Hailey is pretty sympathetic as a character but It's possible the writers/creator are killing Hailey for her ridiculous claim of being black. Rather than Dre doing it for some Dre reason.

Killing the people who hate Ni’Jah makes senses in the world of the narrative and Dre sociopath logic. Some are Social media trolls who don't actually hate Ji'Jah but just need attention online.

The girlfriend is killed because she was slumming with Dre. She's a bourgeois woman and considers Dre stupid when they FIRST meet, and is just turned on by Dre's working-class ghetto lesbian cosplay as a man. She's strangled when she calls Dre stupid for Dre doing exactly what Dre does. That girlfriend knew that's who Dre was all along. What a cunt. I'm kind of glad Dre strangled the rich bitch.

[Quote] Some are Social media trolls who don't actually hate Ji'Jah but just need attention online.

Which they showed when Drea confronted Reggie about his tweets. It was uncomfortable as fuck and the other strippers were baffled by her.

Eilish's character, Eva, is an evil narcissistic witch, cosplaying as a healer. Eva does hypnotism and mind fucks with ease. She realises Dre is a killer and she is so into her own "power" she keeps playing with Dre. Haha. She gets burned.

R59 that doesn't mean Rashida deserved to die. And her argument was the same one Marissa had with Drea before dying.

Dre delights in killing bourgeois bitches, female and male. Is it the second kill? The black man in the contemporary mansion? Also that women's cult is very high bourgeois - that's was the entire point, it seemed.

As I said, the series is very very clever, it's very cutting social satire, but, it's super cynical and most characters are repulsive types the creator doesn't like. Remember that Laura Dern series Enlightened - every character made my skin crawl.

It's a genre of series. When all characters are cringe.

R62 Yes in OUR WORLD Rashida doesn't deserve to be serial killed. IN the morality of the serial killer narrative, that's why she gets it. And yeah she was slumming and slumming is a bitch move.

Also, R62 - Dre is despicable, broken and sociopathic. She's reduced to a cunning, killing, animal on the run, at the end of the first episode. Rashida overloads Dre with truths about Dre, which Dre can't take on. Just like her sister in adoption did.

Per DL's recommendation, I am on epidote 5. I watched 4 episodes last night. I don't know what to make of it, but I am interested to see where this is going. I always love concepts and characters that are just totally out there. If not heard of the lead actress, but she is really delivering a powerful performance. Equally impressed with Paris Jackson and Billie Ellish. When DL is emphatic about a certain show or movie, you all are usually pretty spot on.

There was a thread here recently about a lawyer who felt bad that someone like a construction worker wouldn’t really date him. What happened between Rashida and Dre is a good example of why. Because somewhere down the line, during an argument, the class/education issue would be used as a cudgel. That killing also reminded me of “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, when Tom kills his lover at the end. Same kind of thing.

I might have to re-watch this, to understand Marissa better. Someone upthread mentioned that the version of the Jackson’s and their home was less grand in the documentary. In Dre’s “universe”, the house was rather opulent, and someone said they were different actors?

OP who is your favorite artist?

Billie Eillish is good! She's shockingly really good. Why is she not acting instead of whisper cooing with her brother? Why is this?

Paris Jackson?! Great sense of humor about things with her. I read that she wrote her main bit, if you will, about Halsey. Paris Jackson is truly very pretty in reality and I guess she borrowed one of her "aunt" LaToya's wigs from back in the day for her scenes.

This with Swarm has been quite alright. It's very creative. I'm trying not to spoil anything. With the streams and such it's not like everyone watches things when they first air.

It’s creative and fresh - I enjoyed watching it.

The "therapy" scenes between Billie Eiillish and Dre reminded me of Get Out.

[Quote] Someone upthread mentioned that the version of the Jackson’s and their home was less grand in the documentary. In Dre’s “universe”, the house was rather opulent, and someone said they were different actors?

Yes, the documentary episode showed the real people. You notice the mother is a lot more softer and the father was long gone. I'm wondering how Drea got in touch with Marissa again after they got rid of her? And how did Marissa get over what happened at the sleepover?

[Quote] OP who is your favorite artist?

And do they have more than 26 Grammys?

Are there any gay male characters in it?

[quote]Are there any gay male characters in it?

There's a very funny cellphone store employee who's gay with a tinge of nonbinary vibes.

And one of the Ni'Jah stans is also a flaming queen (also, very funny).

[Quote] And one of the Ni'Jah stans is also a flaming queen (also, very funny).

Seeing him debate over whether he would actually kill someone while wearing Ivy Park clothes was 👌🤣

I just finished and really enjoyed it. It was fresh, well acted, I never knew where it was going, and I love a great ending. I was a refreshing change of pace from the shit Netflix puts out. All the actors, especially the lead, were fantastic. The gays were great in this - very funny.

[quote]There's a very funny cellphone store employee who's gay with a tinge of nonbinary vibes.

That was a woman.

R79, I thought it was a man. Not looking to get into an argument, or anything. Just genuinely surprised that someone else saw them as a woman! I’ll take another look.

R79 Rickey Thompson is a woman?

R74 I am sorry to inform you that the documentary Episode 6 is NOT "real people". It is another set of actors, perhaps again representing (loosely) real people.

The phone store character is a flaming queen MAN. In my opinion.

You don't say R82

Team Ni’Jah!

R80 you can tell by the face and physical makeup. Was a woman or FTM

Also not looking into getting into an argument. Originally thought was a lesbian.

Nothing compares to MY performance.

There are two gay men and both are hilarious. One is a Nijs super fan and the other works in cell phone shop, which was one of my favorite scenes.

Amazing show! I'll give it 9 out of 10!

The girl is a massive psychobitch and I love her!!!!

There’s also a the gay man who gets her into the gym.

The flaming gay who is Nijs super fan is funny but a caricature and a negative one. He clearly struggles to say that violence and muder would not be correct in response to an insult to Nijs.

But yeah, a funny performance.

The phone shop man is funny and not condescended to, finally, because he sticks his ground and has morality and not a fool. He's a great "shop bottom".

The gay man who gets her into the gym is a stereotype and the writers condescend to the character, who is a clown.

I guess a gay "man". There's no way that person has a penis.

Loving this hoe! I mean show!

On Episode 3. OMG I didn’t know that was Paris Jackson? She was great, and is stunning.

Donald Glover is a transphobe who thinks trans are mentally ill sociopaths who murder people. Shame on his TERF ass.

R96 and why would you expect DLers to care? They're not going to condemn him. Wrong site.

Huh r96, I took at as Beyoncé fans who are mentally ill sociopaths. She was fine as Tony until she found out the GF didn’t like Ni’Jah