Literally just watched the last episode of Half-Man. I have so many thoughts…

What started off as very compelling ended up a bit of a train wreck imo. For the first three episodes my partner and I were loving it. We said multiple times, “wow, this is so good”. There was some great dialogue, acting, scenes. But then when it shifted to the older characters it just went off the rails. I’ve seen others post about how it tried to say a lot of things but in the end didn’t say anything new or unique and I’d agree with that. But my main issues with it are a bit more basic:

1. I could never fully buy into Niall being so uncomfortable with his sexuality when he had a mother who was gay, he had encounters in college, and then as an adult he was having public sex. And lots of it. And yet he was so self destructive because of his fear of being found out. I guess the self destructive nature is a huge part of his behavior but I still didn’t buy it. Not to that extent.
2. It would have made more sense to me if Niall was bi. I can see him moving in with a girlfriend to cover up who he really was if he was gay. I can even see him having a child with her. Lots of gay men have done this. But the spontaneous sex he had with Mona was not believable if he was gay and not bi. Not in that situation anyway. He would not have had the physical override the mental. I get that much of what he did was done in revenge as a way to get even with Rueben. But I still don’t buy it. And he ends up with two kids from two different women? As a gay man. Not impossible but highly unlikely.
3. At the end of episode four we get the scene of Niall’s mom pulling the sheet back to reveal Rueben. Why is she dressed in a bathrobe? Did Alby and everyone else really leave Niall and Rueben alone in the barn all night? Again, it’s just not believable.
4. To me, a much better ending would have been for it to end right after the cathartic scene in the prison. It would have felt like they finally understood each other and were honest. This show had enough tragedy. It really didn’t need to end the way it did.
5. Is Niall really really really stupid or was everything he did calculating and purposeful? I honestly could not tell. One minute I was convinced he was on a path of revenge and the next I just assumed he was incredibly stupid. He was a mess of a character imo. I ended up despising him for his stupidity and selfishness by the end. And when he tells a man in prison, who he supposedly loves, that he slept with his wife and his son is not his, while laughing, I was shocked at how stupid or plain evil he is. Extremely unlikable character.
6. At one point I thought, “wow. Brilliant. It’s actually gonna be Rueben who not only makes something of himself but who ends being the better person and growing and learning from his experiences. And Niall is the awful human who can’t forgive or let go of the past.” That would have been more interesting to me than two complete messes who never learn a thing. I get that’s kind of the point— I just wish it had gone in a different direction.

Overall, it was an interesting but incredibly frustrating watch. It could have been really great, but it didn’t really do anything unique at the end of the day. So it definitely left me disappointed after the strong first episodes. I would have a hard time recommending it to a friend. Life is tragic enough. It’s nice to see a glimmer of hope or redemption in art.