Dispatches From Elsewhere

This show is Jason Segel's existential crisis brought straight to the screen. It's part David Fincher's "The Game," tossed in the Dharma Initiative of TV's "LOST" and the breaking-the-fourth-wall of "The Holy Mountain" (but the fun of Ferris Bueller). What's it all about? There are four main characters played by Jason Segel (Peter), Sally Field (Janice), Eve Lindley (Simone), and André 3000 (Fredwynn). They each get wrapped up in a game that brings strangers together in a kind of surreal Amazing Race treasure hunt where the goal isn't known but it's all about the adventure, the journey. As a viewer, you get caught up in the fun and the magic of these characters and their escapades. The show is full art both actually and metaphorically. The whole thing gives you a feeling like you walked into a museum of the absurd, a circus show of freaks. It's also a show that embraces difference. The most important being Eve Lindley's Simone. Eve Lindley is a real Trans woman and she play a trans woman, Simone, in the show. Peter has a relationship with Simone and it's complex. Quite frankly I found it brave of Jason Segel to put this on screen. Brave and important. It shows Simone struggle as a Trans person but it also make strides for humanizing Trans people and not have them be the butt of transphobic jokes. For nothing else, Dispatches From Elsewhere should be hailed as important for Eve Lindley's portal - she really does a great job.

But Simone's story is just one piece (albeit large one) of a complex story with many moving parts. Hats off to Jason Segel to keep it all moving. Some people may be disappointed in the show's ending - you are shown the wizard behind the curtain. I loved it all. Go have an adventure and catch this amazing and important series on Amazon Prime.