Rectify

Rectify has established itself as a trip worth taking, and for a discriminating few, at least, the protagonist’s slow road to redemption remains an utterly absorbing one.

It's rich with beautifully crafted scenes that capture the distance, anger, and confusion of a fragmenting family and souls in flux. [10/17 Jul 2015, p.101]

Rectify is still a show that trusts its viewers more than most, telling a high-stakes story in a decidedly low-key way.

The pace is deliberate, and there aren’t the kind of laughs that other dramas employ as comic relief. But there’s real wit and propulsiveness in the storytelling Ray McKinnon does in this show.

Rectify is such a quiet, patient series that it takes awhile to realize how radical its storytelling is. Near the end of season two it seemed to rethink itself, and the first couple of episodes of season three suggest that the show is about to reinvent itself and shift its focus while trying to hold on to the qualities that made it so special--and frankly, peculiar.

In a way, the show is both complement and antithesis to the true-crime phenomena The Jinx and Serial; rather than attempt closure and a solution, it cares far more about how people live with the unknown.

The boldest new injection comes via flashback, a consistently and effectively utilized path into Daniel's headspace.

Rectify can be both hypnotic and heart-wrenching for viewers who have invested in these characters throughout the first two seasons. Season 1 remains the high point, though, and there doesn’t seem to be much time left to scale some of those peaks again.

The characters all still feel recognizable and lived-in, but it is true that especially in its second season and going into the third, Rectify is slow.