The Boroughs

A consistently surprising new-by-way-of-old-school genre affair that appears primed to be the streamer’s next big thing.

Once you get on its wavering wavelength — sentimental, sincere, sweet, a little silly, not overly concerned with making perfect sense — and realize the show is not out to hurt you, it’s a very enjoyable watch.

The Boroughs’s ensemble cast is so experienced and gives the characters such depth that the series’ hokier creature-feature ideas become tolerable and its larger considerations about what the purpose of life is as we near its end feel momentous.

Overall, it’s a fun ride with just enough emotional weight given to it by an excellent ensemble.

“The Boroughs” may feel like “Stranger Things” meets “Coccoon,” but that oversimplification is a disservice to what viewers get here. Even in moments that are shaggier than the 1960s carpets in their homes, the experience of this cast matters in carrying multiple genres at once.

The series is pretty terrific.

It is, obviously, a fine cast and any fears (deriving from the presence of the Duffer brothers, famed for Stranger Things, as producers) that some of the best actors in the business are about to be wasted on hokum are soon laid aside by an intelligent, witty script and a plot that nods to all the most entertaining monster tropes without being slavishly devoted to them.

It’s The Goonies for senior citizens, full of warmth and never taking itself too seriously.

Part Thursday Murder Club, part Stranger Things, The Boroughs may not sweep the board at the Emmys but it is an unexpectedly entertaining mix of adventure and wonder, drama and humour.

Never as intense as Stranger Things, but also never as surprising, The Boroughs charms while plucking the heartstrings as its characters, especially Sam, contend with grief, loss, and regret while displaying admirable resilience and a timeless respect for Bruce Springsteen.

It’s not as well-plotted or engrossing as Stranger Things‘ first season—again, the comparisons are inevitable—but The Boroughs offers plenty of fun and nostalgia (including a cheeky Thelma & Louise reference) in its own right.

The ordinariness of “The Boroughs” doesn’t mean that there aren’t some time-tested horror-movie ideas kicking around in it — it’s a fairly amusing gloss on the notion that the people warehoused in retirement communities are literally having the life sucked out of them. And while the main characters fall into types like the aging stud and the aging hippie, most of the performers find a little extra personality around the edges.

The stellar cast of The Boroughs is the biggest reason to watch this series, even if the story might be a bit predictable.

Depth could have been distributed more evenly across the ensemble rather than focused so heavily on Sam. Even so, the cast remains one of the show’s strongest elements.

The set-up is intriguing and fun, with the first episode establishing an appealingly quirky tone that’s hopefully backed up by a worthy story across the eight episodes that will fully make proper use of these actors.