Ranking Every HBO Drama Series From Worst To Best

Episodic TV horror is having a moment, and by all rights this should have been the best of the lot. The cast was quality, the source novel decent, and Jordan Peele producing had fans assuming it would be in the vein of Get Out, Peele’s genuinely disturbing debut film which blended horror and social commentary.

Well, there was some of that here, but it wasn’t handled with nearly the finesse of Get Out. The setting is Jim Crow era America, and the setting boasts huge tension for the mostly Black characters attempting to get by in an area awash with racism. And that’s before you bring in the Lovecraftian elements: body horror, alternate dimensions and the like.

But where Get Out eked out its commentary smartly, Lovecraft Country is far more brash. What’s more, it invokes genuine horror stories in America’s racist past - the murder of Emmett Till, the Tusla massacre - in a cackhanded manner, using the oomph of these historical blights for a storytelling shortcut.

At its best, the show is hugely effective, making use of a tremendous cast, but its clumsiness and uneven pace lets it down.