Undone Undid Me This Morning

Half asleep, I stumbled out of bed to let my beloved vociferous cat out. I looked at the clock and couldn’t believe how early it was. I was either going back to bed, or I was going to embrace this early morning rise. Stuck between these two polar decisions, I found myself breaking one of my own rules and watching TV in my bed.

As I browsed through Amazon’s Original Series, a cartooned preview grabbed my attention. Something about the vivid colors, innocence, and the morality often portrayed in animated movies takes my heart. Since no one was around to judge this inclination, I clicked on it.

As soon as “Undone” began playing, I was enthralled. My great addiction to coffee was paralyzed by this absorption. I couldn’t bring myself to pause the series for my vital hot and bitter cup of drug. Adenosine was about to be thwarted by something other than caffeine today.

I watched the entire season with no respite.

One of the reasons this show is fascinating has to do with its rotoscoping animation technique. Rotoscoping converts live-action motion pictures to drawings or paintings using a computer algorithm. In the case of “Undone,” it was hand-crafted over still images of filmed scenes in a Los Angeles studio, layered with sounds and images of the story’s location in San Antonio, Texas.

Inspired by a seventeenth century Dutch oil painting style, eight hundred paintings were created by artists, then combined with modern techniques. As a result, the affability of the series warms the heart. Facial expressions and emotions are genuine because real actors portrayed them. This also allowed for ethereal backgrounds and time warping scenes to flow seamlessly, captivating the viewer’s imagination.

The extremely well written script of the series is another affective aspect of its distinction. It’s witty, emotional, and at times instructive. Expect to laugh and cry, feel hope then be awakened by reality, and expect a catechizing of materiality and spirituality to rise deep within you.

“It’s all about your emotions. You need to feel them without letting them become you.” “How do I do that?” Alma and I said to Jacob. “Deep breaths. Be like the sky, let your feelings pass through you like weather.” Such words are a counsel to my cyclically perturbed self, and to many others I’m sure.

I aim not to further spoil the show for you. I will let this psychological and action filled spiritual riddle -pleasantly- dramatize your day, or early morning.

If you insist,