High Desert

[High Desert] is ramshackle in the right ways, led by Arquette’s tour-de-force of mad, messy, brazen desperation and determination.

Peggy is your consummate weirdo, and Arquette nails the vibes. To watch her try to pull one over on a world that rewards sensibility is extraordinarily fun, and the rest of the show keeps pace one perfect half-step behind the viewer.

What may, at times, feel like too much, always stays true to its own kooky vision, and as a showcase for Arquette (who also executive produces), “High Desert” provides an ample spotlight. It won’t be for everyone, but neither is a 75-degree Thanksgiving.

While there’s an ensemble of kooky characters around her, this is a showcase for Arquette’s unique energy. There’s a vulnerability at her core, but also the frankness of someone who has spent most of her life operating on survival mode.

The show might not be everyone’s cup of tea because it demands fortitude. While the early episodes are enjoyable, High Desert shapes itself into a more insightful version over the remaining tightly paced outings.

She may sound unbearable. She can certainly cause a cringe or two. But because she's played with such brazen, blowzy, oxygen-bogarting abandon by Patricia Arquette, Peggy is a real original.

What keeps “High Desert” from greatness (though there is hope, if it gets another season!) is a failure to unite the farcical stuff, much of which is delightful, with the deeper story. The plot starts to feel so crowded, rushed and messy that the finale (critics got all eight episodes) at times feels as if it was written by — rather than for — Peggy.