I'm always sad when a promising series with intricate story lines and character development descend into farce/soap opera/pitiful scripts.This series with a quite brilliant cast (with the exception of one) manages all three.By Season 3 I thought I was watching a soap opera, a very bad one. Plot twists and turns had me suspending my disbelief button and I found I could not get engaged with any of this dreck. What the hell happened? Nicole Walker playing Gillian, Alan's daughter, started out being unlikeable and remained that way for this viewer. Her tics and eye-rolls, lip biting and overall dourness and lack of even basic humanity (Yeah, I get it might have been written that way) put this viewer off completely. Too dark with no light. She has been typecast badly as I've seen much of this same type of performance in other series she's been in.Series 1, an 8/10, Series 2 was a 5/10, Series 3 1/10.

Started out wonderful. Love the actors. Have enjoyed them in other series. Started going downhill by episode 6. My opinion is personal and my own. Don't need to be lectured about modern morals. The character Caroline is unloving, thoughtless, selfish and treats her mother disrespectfully. The actor portrays an awful daughter and overall an awful person! If I was her husband, I would've left her too. Alan claims to love Celia but after 50 years of pining for her, he can't accept her as a real person with differences of opinions? Not very believable. And not very nice of him as this is a double standard. Wouldn't make for a very stable marriage when one party is not entitled to have their own feelings. Of course all is well when poor Celia has a change of heart. I watch shows to be entertained. This is not entertainment. This is preaching, proselytizing, and the writers' own agendas. Very disappointed.

I completely fell in love with this series. This was real people with faults and skeletons in the closet just like the rest of us, not that perfect sugar coated s**t produced by "Hollywood" (Hey guys, we aren't all 20 years old throughout life, beautiful and wakes up with perfect makeup everyday). The writers really thought things through. Every time the storyline takes a twist it either seems like it will be the end of the world or as it is the best thing to ever happen, but then the negative sides start to appear in the perfect facade or new possibilities emerge from the devastating news. Because that is what happens in real life. I'm looking forward to season 4, and I am hoping that there will be a lot more of them.

Ever since I saw Derek Jacobi in "I Claudius," I've loved his acting. Even today he does a remarkable job with silly movies like ones with vampires. This series started off with a terrific cast and deep story lines. Then, something happened around the second year. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, had relationships that deteriorated into backbiting, arguing and soap-opera like twists.I watch television for many reasons, but mostly to get myself OUT of the doldrums. This series makes the Manson family look more loving and loyal. Sorry to say that I stopped watching.....not because of any one particular character but because they all turned bitter, nasty and argumentative. Perhaps the writers should bring back some humor and just a bit of caring. Not sticky sweet but balanced. Right now, it gives me acid reflux.