Homestead

Then there is Bailey Chase as Jeff, the hard nosed special ops guy hired to run security, who constantly clashes with Ian over how draconian the commune must be to fend off attack.

What is particularly edifying is that this weird, eschatological tale, the sort of thing that emanates from Cheeto-perfumed, paranoid basements, is it has the style and beats of a glossy prime-time TV show. Tyler Lofton and Olivia Sanabia are excellent as a couple of teenagers falling in love, and everyone is pretty damn easy on the eye. 

For example, when Jeff has a row with his wife Tara (Kearran Giovanni) about security patrols it is laced with frisson, despite being a simple argument between a stable, married couple. When Jeff tells Tara that her perimeter needs securing it sounds like a randy euphemism. A threat and a promise all at once. 

“…has the style and beats of a glossy prime-time TV show…”

The show also plays nicely against the authoritarian cant that so much TV has sunk into. As shown in it’s brutal view of what remains of the government; they only appear to put the squeeze on the homestead’s resources with bullshit requisitions masked by an ‘audit.’ It’s not your everyday. 

It’s all pretty slight, but it is very refreshing to see libertarian ideals rendered into what is otherwise really rather soapy.  The abiding impression I came away with was of Melrose Place with bandoliers. No bad thing.