by John Tillyard, Contributing Writer
While studying in Florence, American woman Amy Wheeler (Zoe Saldaña) falls in love with Sicilian man Lino Ortolano (Eugenio Mastrandrea). The limited series, From Scratch, encompasses their lives, romance, and marriage over the decade or so that follows. Using Tembi Locke’s memoir as its inspiration, it splices together many moments of drama, comedy, emotion, and romance across American and Italian culture, exploring Amy’s passion for art and Lino’s talent as a chief.
The story has the kind of look and feel of most love stories. There are the standard beats of the two leads’ awkward first meeting, followed by their bonding in sequences showcasing the beautiful scenery of the story’s setting. They fall out, starting to question if they love each other, but ultimately kiss for the first time to signify the start of a relationship.
However, while most stories will end with the couple embracing their love, in this series, that’s only the end of the first episode. The rest covers what happens after their happily ever after. Most episodes begin with a time jump, taking the story to different stages of their lives. The slice-of-life story goes into many typical areas of work, family life, and raising a child that you would expect from a series like this. Some might be bored by this and feel there is nothing to the story for the first few episodes, other than their fairly unremarkable lives. But I’ve always enjoyed stories like this, and you don’t necessarily need a person’s life to be dramatic for it to be interesting. The story does, however, become much heavier later, and, to be fair, it becomes a lot more interesting when it does.
But as these story aspects unfold, it all feels like they are things done before many times. I can spot the tropes from a mile off: the stick-in-the-mud boss, the clashing of cultures, and the main character’s yearning to do more with their life. Tried and tested tropes in a story are fine, but there needs to be some nuance. I want to see something about their presentation that’s completely original. The only thing different about how this story does them is that there’s much more of it than you would see in a film since there is additional time. For example, Lino has a problematic relationship with Amy’s family as they fail to understand his culture. Lino’s family, meanwhile, is absent from his life for a large part of the story. Because this is a series rather than a film, these two arcs have the time to develop more naturally over multiple episodes. The conflicts and disagreements between the family members result in a lot of exciting drama and a good source of comedy. Still, the ultimate conclusion to these arcs is nothing you couldn’t have predicted. On top of that, specific reasons for the conflict also break the, “show, don’t tell”rule, with characters verbalizing why they are upset or annoyed with someone.
Speaking of the families, Amy’s extended family members make for the more entertaining scenes in the series. Amy’s mother, Lynn (Kellita Smith), and stepmother, Maxine (Judith Scott), compete over who is Amy’s actual mother as they attempt to control her life. While her father, Hershel (Keith David), tries his best to connect with Lino, but struggles with adjusting to the different culture from which he comes. While Amy has the problem of her family being too involved in her life, Lino has the opposite problem with his, as they aren’t part of his life. The introduction to his family takes us away from the main story as his father, Giacomo (Paride Benassai), has disowned him for years and forced his mother, Filomena (Lucia Sardo), and sister, Biagia (Roberta Rigano), to do the same. There’s an exciting mix of drama during this part of the story, as Biagia and Filomena fight with Giacomo to allow him back into his family’s life. But without seeing any of Lino’s life before he left home, it’s hard to understand why his father is so angry at him.
The mix of comedy and drama can be a little jarring at times. While humor is needed when it comes to the more emotionally challenging aspects of a drama, the way this story transitions between them feels clunky and sometimes forced. Scenes of family banter will suddenly shift into awkward moments of anger and distress. Possibly, this is due to how different plot threads come together. There will be a lighthearted exchange between characters in one storyline, clashing with scenes of conflict as part of another simply because, at that point, that’s where those respective storylines happen to be. It’s a slightly sloppy way of structuring the story, but it didn’t bother me once I got used to it. Specific plot threads relating to Amy’s job at the gallery and a conflict with her sister Zora (Danielle Deadwyler) are also dropped partway through the series without any proper conclusion.
A theme runs through Amy’s character arc about choosing between a career you are passionate about and one that puts food on the table. I have always found that a fascinating dilemma. The problem is, it feels like Amy is choosing between two different passions: working in an art gallery and looking after kids, and the latter paid much less. I’d have been okay with that since choosing what dream you want to follow in life is another interesting idea to explore. But the way the characters talk about the decision seems to suggest she’s choosing between more money and doing what she loves. I found this an ongoing problem with the two leads in many scenarios. They often categorically verbalized their thoughts and told me what I should think. As another example, when first setting up the idea of Amy and Lino having a child, Amy sits down with a small girl who asks her to draw something, and another character comments that she’s good with kids. No room for subtlety or interpretation. They just told the audience the purpose of the scene.
It’s a shame about some of the dialogue because a lot of the visual storytelling is good. Some of the best moments are the passage of time montages and the sequences showcasing Amy’s art and Lino’s food. Italy’s visuals are also lovely, and it is interesting to see the more retro areas of the country.
The second half of the series has a much heavier storyline as a character develops an illness, which is where I found the series far more compelling. It felt like a real story rather than just showing these characters’ lives. The humor from the clashing of cultures with Lino’s family makes it easier to watch. I recognized the frustration the characters feel with the language barrier when Lino’s family comes to America. It’s further made easier by the fact they are raising a child during this part, leading to many lighter scenes that I’m sure any parent can relate to, only too well. The balance of drama and comedy is far less jarring in the second half of the series. A character struggling with an ongoing terminal illness, and the family facing up to the fact that it is honestly something they will have to live with feels like a very mature lesson. It’s also something that I actively related to emotionally, having lost my mother to cancer a few years ago. I especially relate to Filomena’s arc that she goes through in the last few episodes. Seeing the gradual bond between Amy and Lino’s families is also satisfying.
The acting from everyone is solid, and I couldn’t spot a bad performance anywhere. Even in scenes where characters are speaking Italian, you can still feel the emotional weight of what they are saying, despite the fact you have to read subtitles. Saldana and Sardo are notable standouts in the drama department, and David adds a lot of good humor in the first few episodes, though his distinct voice made it hard for me not to think he was the president from Rick and Morty.
Overall, From Scratch is two stories. The first four episodes are a fun but dramatic slice-of-life story that lacks subtlety in many areas. However, the final four episodes are where you will find the real meat of the story, and where the actual weight of emotional connections with the characters comes. It does drag in some areas, specific plot points overstay their welcome, and others suddenly get dropped. But the heavier moments in the second half make this worth the admission price. The first four episodes are certainly not bad; they are worth watching, and their lighter-hearted tone made the second half’s emotional hit less severe.
Score: 7/10
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