Cin city

In hopes of putting together the massive, analytic, important review of the premiere of John from Cincinnati. I can't actually do that.

Yes I took a whole day to watch the show and I could have watched it 10 times. Truthfully, I watched it one and a half. It was tough to pick up on the first time so I restarted about half way through.

Here's what I know. It's about a family of surfing royalty -- three generations of the Yosts. The eldest, Mitch, hurt his knee and never surfed in public again. His son, Butchie, became famous and then followed drugs back to obscurity. And Butchie's son, Shaun, is a star rising faster than HBO board members' worries (about the executives, not the show... yet).

They're safely in the realm of dysfunctional. Enabling grandma Cissy wants Shaun to follow his dreams, but everyone else is worried he'll end up like his father. Their friend Bill is an ex-cop with what seems like PTSD. And then there's John, who arrives at the show's opening as if from nowhere. He picks up English quickly from his surroundings, but it's not clear why he only knows three phrases when he shows up or where he came from (the show's big mystery, it seems).

And that's it. There's some story and character development that I won't get into. It's really not important. The real problem is, the show is a little slow moving, and I can't judge it on just one episode. I'll continue watching (though I probably wouldn't if this show'd arrived during the regular season) and report back later. Until then, I honestly recommend you take a look at the show. You'll recognize some familiar faces if you're a displaced Deadwood fan. You'll also recognize a familiar writing style.