The one hundred twenty-seventh TV show: #882 Winners & Losers

I'm struggling to figure out how I feel about this show, and it's the different sides that feel so frustrating. There's a premise here that sounds good - four losers in school come back for their reunion and decide to share a lottery ticket. That ticket wins eight million dollars that they split (with some drama here, as always) as it transforms their life. They're now winners, at least supposedly, but are they really?

It's a decent premise, but while not quite abandoned, the changes I'd expect in their lives - how do other people treat them, for example, or what happens if they spend too much and still need to watch their finances - don't really materialize. Yeah, they can buy their own place and don't have to go for a promotion at work, but mostly it plays out like a soap where none of the characters end up worrying about money. If they just didn't mention it, it would be like any other soap story.

With that, some of the characters don't stay as compelling. Francis is an amazing character, played perfectly, and Sophie's arc in the first few episodes makes her a lot more likeable. On the other hand, Jenny is well played and likeable, but the story feels quite cliche. It just never really connected in a way that became interesting.

The whole thing never quite delivers on its premise and sadly it goes in a direction that doesn't work for me. There are bits that I'd love to see more of - Francis especially - but on the whole it doesn't feel worth going on with how little actually changes.