TV Review: Still Star-Crossed

I was looking forward to the premiere of Still Star-Crossed on ABC. Even though Romeo and Juliet is not one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, I think it's an interesting idea to imagine what happened to the Montagues and Capulets after the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.

Even though most people are familiar with the story of Romeo and Juliet, I'm glad that they began the series with their wedding and subsequent deaths, to introduce the world we're entering, how the characters of the series relate to Romeo and Juliet, and to show where the "sequel" starts. Now, that we've reached the end of Shakespeare's tale, we'll see how R & J's choices continue to affect the lives of those secondary characters.

I liked the "look" of the series. It doesn't look like it's all been filmed in front of a green screen, like ABC's Once Upon a Time. I feel it captures the time period well.

I know that there really wasn't time to tell much of Romeo and Juliet's story, because the series isn't about them, and you can get the whole story if you read the play or watch a version of the play or movie, but I wish they hadn't changed some of the details. Such as Rosaline finding the "dead" Juliet, instead of the nurse, and Juliet finally dies by drinking the same poison that killed Romeo, instead of dispatching herself with the "happy dagger."

I was disappointed that Lord Capulet wasn't distraught over the death of Tybalt. He just says that a Capulet was murdered by a Montague in the streets. Tybalt wasn't just a Capulet, he was his nephew. Couldn't he at least have mentioned him by name?

I was surprised they didn't mention the infatuation that Romeo had with Rosaline, not even in passing. It's interesting that the main character in Still Star-Crossed is a character that is only mentioned in Romeo and Juliet, but she is the reason that Romeo meets Juliet to begin with. Why not reference this at all?

And, that was just the first episode.

The second episode just didn't go anywhere to me. Is the whole series going to be "will they marry or won't they marry?" I don't know if that's enough to keep me watching.

Although... I was happy to see that Torrance Coombs is in the cast. He was one of my favorite characters in Reign, and I was sad when he left. It took me a while to watch Reign again after he left.

Just sayin'.