Stars: 5/5
“Undone” began and ended as powerfully as it did abruptly. Everything in between flowed seamlessly into itself as a single cohesive experience which is exactly the sensation for which the supernatural content strives. While the tangible story of Alma Winograd-Diaz navigating family and relationship issues is entirely plausible, the events of episode one set up different stakes: the main character’s manipulation of time and reality.
The animation style of “Undone” is eerily close to live action and takes some getting used to. However, making the series such an odd brand of animation unlocks the trippy, visually innovative realm it delves into as Alma explores her newfound powers.
Some sudden scene (and timeline) changes require mental gymnastics to grasp, headache sometimes included, but their creativity cannot be denied. The transitions do not follow traditional cinematic practices and it borders on unfair to call them transitions.
As the mind bending content ramps up to full force, so too does the theme of smoothly switching between instances of reality. This is beautifully embodied by the visual twists and turns taken to transform one scene into another.
Despite its animated nature, “Undone” still affords its cast plenty of opportunity to shine. The main characters remarkably resemble their voice actors and actresses, one of whom is instantly recognizable to fans as Saul (Bob Odenkirk) of “Better Call Saul” and “Breaking Bad.”
Rosa Salazar brings much needed conviction to her character Alma’s “crazy” ramblings about her developing abilities and their complicated relationship to what she previously perceived as reality. Not an easy situation to convey, but Salazar does so swimmingly.
Each episode of the eight in the first season takes less than 30 minutes to watch, making it an easily attainable Sunday afternoon binge. That is the ideal method of digesting this less-than-four-hour masterpiece. It is easy to get lost in the non-linear order of time in the main story, let alone with abundant flashbacks and interruptions thrown into the mix.
Giving the viewer time to walk away from the show and readjust to the world around them does not seem to be the intention. Complete submersion into Alma’s more fluid existence and real-time comparison to one’s own reality is how the series leaves a unique (if unsettling) feeling in its audience.
Raphael Bob-Waksberg garnered acclaim and praise for both “Undone” and Netflix’s now concluded “BoJack Horseman” in what is still the infantile stage of his creative career. His work quenches the thirst for authentic and hard-hitting adult animation that is severely lacking in the raunchy-humor saturated animated market.
Despite their shared genre tags, comparing Bob-Waksberg’s work to “Family Guy” or most Adult Swim content is criminal. Despite its monumental cliffhanger, “Undone” is beyond satisfying as its current singular season.
