There are a lot of scrutiny on this show, as many blamed its birth at the expense of the beloved Kim's Convenience's demise. Let's be clear - no matter if Kim's is going on or not, this Nicole Power lead new show will still be a go. So we should hope that our beloved Shannon would at least get a good home in her new Hamilton based operation.
Watched the first two episodes before deciding to write this review, because the first episode does not really grab me, and in fact it is borderline annoying me. Sadly, the second episode is not any better either. While I always found the Shannon bits funny in Kim's, it is exactly what it is - the small dose of wackiness, that breaks up some of the heavy themes of the show. However, Strays only take that and drag the bits into a full on 30 minutes. I like the Handy weird crew in small doses but in this show, everyone is a wacko and you just cannot take them seriously. There is also a lack of central core in the show for us to get attached to. If they think just coz we like Shannon in Kim's then we will follow her character to a new path, at least give her some character and stop leaving her to be the exact same "joke of the day" person. 2 episodes in, we have no idea why she took this out of the left field job (other than for the convenience of the plot of the show they made up), and all of the supporting cast are just being caricatures of jokes from other sitcoms.
This show is all jokes with no heart.
Watched the first two episodes before deciding to write this review, because the first episode does not really grab me, and in fact it is borderline annoying me. Sadly, the second episode is not any better either. While I always found the Shannon bits funny in Kim's, it is exactly what it is - the small dose of wackiness, that breaks up some of the heavy themes of the show. However, Strays only take that and drag the bits into a full on 30 minutes. I like the Handy weird crew in small doses but in this show, everyone is a wacko and you just cannot take them seriously. There is also a lack of central core in the show for us to get attached to. If they think just coz we like Shannon in Kim's then we will follow her character to a new path, at least give her some character and stop leaving her to be the exact same "joke of the day" person. 2 episodes in, we have no idea why she took this out of the left field job (other than for the convenience of the plot of the show they made up), and all of the supporting cast are just being caricatures of jokes from other sitcoms.
This show is all jokes with no heart.