Season 1 – High Desert

Audience Reviews

View All (61) audience reviews

Cherie R I don’t write reviews for many things I watch, but am compelled to do so after watching 6 1/2 episodes waiting for the show to kick into gear. Sad I wasted so much time. This is a show that has no real direction and so many dumb elements. I think they intended for the main character to be struggling to be a hero, but failing at every turn. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/16/25 Full Review Greg J Patricia Arquette is a gifted actress, but the impressive talent on display in Escape at Dannemora isn't evident in High Desert. The fault lies in the script. The storyline wanders all over the place, the characters aren't very interesting and if there's a narrative arc, I missed it. The cast gives it their all, but the series is only minimally entertaining, not bingeworthy. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 11/04/24 Full Review Joe W Not terrible, but not good either. The characters are just a little too silly to be plausible in a drama. Of course, it does have comedic overtones, but that's not a compliment. I wish they'd just pick drama or comedy. The combination is just kinda stupid. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/15/24 Full Review Martin B Epic fail. Enjoyed the quirky series but with Arquette in a cannon as a tease for season two it's cancelled. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 06/11/24 Full Review Gareth v While the ever excellent Patirica Arquette does her best to save this comedy/drama, she is let down by an ad hoc script that leaves little room for any meaningful character development. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/09/23 Full Review E D High Desert is unnervingly satisfying with every trip over the top. Patricia Arquette's portrayal of caftan-wearing, drug-dealing Peggy Newman takes on heavy themes with rare comedic complexity. A decade after the DEA raids her drug-cached, SoCal desert home, Peggy zig-zags her way through self-reinvention as a historical re-enactment performer and private investigator. Matt Dillon, Bernadette Peters, and Brad Garrett's supporting roles are fun to watch. Peggy is smart and scrappy but also narcissistic and dishonest. She finds opportunities to reinvent herself at every turn. Addiction can make that a life path. The script and performances blend camp, heart, and dark comedy, while navigating themes like addiction, grief, and family dynamics. The story jumps about at times and may not hold the attention of all viewers. The zaniness is a wild ride, and I predict family members of people like Peggy will find the whole thing indulgent and annoyingly familiar. As her back-story unfolds, Peggy becomes more relatable but not less eccentric. When her sister sees her with an actress who strongly resembles their dead mother (Peters), Peggy explains she is working with catharsis – Aristotle style – purging her "mommy s##t" so it doesn't give her cancer. Critics and audiences like the series – a sure harbinger of cancellation, these days. And, so it goes with High Desert. We won't find out what becomes of Peggy. The series ends with Peggy preparing to be shot out of a canon – not the first time adversity and addiction have rendered a person's life every bit as technicolor interesting as it is fragile and dehumanizing. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/04/23 Full Review Read all reviews

High Desert — Season 1

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Watch Now on