Is John F. Kennedy your favorite president? Do you think he died before he could do more great things? If you could change the past, would you?
If you answered yes to any of the questions above, then you’re just like character Al Templeton, played by Chris Cooper, in the Hulu show “11.22.63.”
Hulu’s “11.22.63” is one of the most confusing, captivating and mind-boggling shows viewers will watch.
The show, which premiered on Hulu in early 2016, is given multiple labels for its genre. The show is a historical-mystery-thriller-drama miniseries with one singular mission, save Kennedy.
James Franco stars as Jake Epping, your everyday high school teacher in 2016 who happens to be going through a divorce.
Life for Epping is ordinary until he goes to a diner owned by his friend Templeton after work. Templeton tells Epping to go into the back of his closet, and Epping discovers a portal to the past through that closet. Templeton tells him it leads to Oct. 1,1960.
The first major plot hole of the series is this: Why is there a time travel portal in this diner in the first place, and why does the portal go exactly to 1960?
Those questions are never really answered, but you digress, as does Epping, and continue to listen to Templeton who tells Epping he has an important mission he must accomplish.
That mission is to go back into the portal and save Kennedy from dying and make the world a better place.
Why is Kennedy important to humanity? Why does Templeton think Kennedy’s presidency and life will make the world better?
No one and nothing gives you a straight answer. The entire series is basically built on the conspiracy theory that saving Kennedy and having him as a long-term president will positively affect the world and make it better than it is today.
Whether or not that belief holds true is somewhat answered in the final episode but believing that result is up to your own opinion.
The most interesting recurring theme in the series is the fact that Epping is sent on a mission to change the past, but the past may not want to be changed.
While Epping is in the past, he remembers a series of moments, shown as flashbacks, from preparatory conversations with Templeton.
Templeton warned Epping before he went through the portal to be careful with his actions. He must not completely disrupt the past.
To put it in less explicit words, Templeton says that if you mess with the past, then the past will begin to mess with you.
Once in the ‘60s, Epping quickly learns the past does not want to be changed. His attempts to alter the course of history can quickly turn dangerous for him and the people around him.
To sum up the series without giving away spoilers, it could best be described as “alright.”
While the suspense and mystery behind whether Epping will get discovered as someone watching these people or if he will in fact save the president is interesting enough, the plot itself has too many consistency issues to remain captivating.
Many viewers said they found themselves simply continuing not because they were captured by the storyline but because they were waiting for the series to get better and answer the giant question.
This series will really only hold the attention of someone who enjoys the thought of alternate realities, time travel and conspiracies.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t suggest diving into the nearly nine hours of story unless you want to become aggravated with questions.
