Who does not love a good time-travel story? Well, calling “Undone” a time-travel story may be oversimplifying it a bit. After all, it was co-created by Raphael Waksberg (“Bojack Horseman”), so viewers can be assured that the issue will be treated with finesse and originality. The eight-episode miniseries, streaming on Amazon Prime, the conglomerate which will consume us all one day, chronicles the life of one Alma Winograd-Diaz (Rosa Salazar, “Alita: Battle Angel”) after a car accident leaves her with the seeming ability to manipulate time and her quest to use said ability in search of the person who killed her father.
The entire show is presented using rotoscope animation, animation drawn over real video footage, giving a hyper-realistic and eerie feel, and it fully takes advantage of its medium. The characters are lively, the backgrounds are beautifully painted and the animation is used to create surreal perceptions and environments which make the entire show a visual treat. This, coupled with the show’s habit of jumping between moments and timelines, creates a dreamlike experience perfect for boggling the senses.
The characters are likeable and become more realistic as the show progresses. Their flaws are explored through the eyes of the main character, who herself is incredibly flawed. Special notice goes to the character of her mother, Camila Diaz (Constance Marie, “George Lopez”), who may be one of the most sympathetic portrayals of a traditionalist parent onscreen at the moment, tied with the mom from “The Farewell.” The show does lean toward the philosophical, though it pokes fun at Alma for her overly-nihilistic worldview by deconstructing the ideas of what is normal and what is absurd. It also tackles concepts like mental illness, covert racism, quantum physics, recontextualization of one’s memories, grief and the barrier between reality and fantasy.
The series weaves an intelligent web of symbols and images that tell a layered story. It is also quite a charismatic and even funny show thanks to the genuine character interactions. There are a few clunky bits, however and these are important because some viewers may genuinely take issue.
The first is just a matter of exposition, there are times when the dialogue reveals too much too soon that could have been shown rather than told and sometimes it can be a bit on the nose, this is more of a problem in earlier episodes. The second and more serious issue is how the show addresses what some might consider sexual and/or emotional abuse. Viewers may find themselves split on the portrayal, but the show does not shy away from discussing it. In all, do not be put off by its philosophical bend, give this strange short series a watch and get pulled in by its mystery and the layers of subtext enriching its story.
Image from Amazon Prime Video via YouTube
