If I had to complain about Hulu, my sole complaint would be that Hulu gets you to watch a show. Then abruptly in the middle of the series (12 Monkeys) or after a couple of seasons (Vikings, The Blacklist, Bates Motel, Haven), no more episodes are available. Since Hulu usually automatically adds episodes to your queue a day after airing, you may not even realize that the show is still airing new episodes. If you do notice, then you have to remember to add the series to your Netflix queue. Then you have to wait until the entire season is available on Netflix. By the time it is available on Netflix, you have forgotten everything that you watched before and have to rewatch certain episodes before getting caught up because it is unlikely that you will remember which episode you saw last. As a completist, I get really frustrated with Hulu even though I know that it is a function of the changing contract between Hulu and the companies that own the rights to these shows.
I unnecessarily watched the tv movie, Lizzie Borden Took an Ax, before watching the first four episodes of The Lizzie Borden Chronicles on Hulu. Then I stopped getting new episodes. When I realized the entire first season was available on Netflix, the show did not stay in my queue for long before I watched all eight episodes in one sitting. I did not even mind wasting some time and rewatched the first four episodes.
The Lizzie Borden Chronicles is the epitome of a guilty pleasure. The Lizzie Borden Chronicles sports no pretense of historical accuracy. The Lizzie Borden Chronicles stars Christina Ricci as the titular character . Borden revels in murderous empowerment as she flouts her period’s standards of appropriateness, encourages others, with mixed results, to abandon gender roles of being the victim and gets what she wants. The Lizzie Borden Chronicles is delightfully anachronistic as it combines a nineteenth century look with a soundtrack filled with electric guitars.
While The Lizzie Borden Chronicles may seek to exploit the success of anti-hero series like Bates Motel, it suffers none of the tragic mournfulness of being a Bates. Even by its own standards, the story stretches pretty thin by the last two episodes. The Lizzie Borden Chronicles triumphantly suggests that being a Borden has more in common with being a Slayer (literally and figuratively) from Buffy the Vampire Slayer than a Bates, but without the supernatural premise. The Lizzie Borden Chronicles may have a twisted and misguided sense of justice, but it is very human to want to kill people who abuse or exploit women, animals and the sick without any consequences.
Of course, many of Lizzie’s victims are innocent. Viewers may get frustrated how Lizzie’s schemes repeatedly lead to further complications that require more murders and suspension disbelief that she would not get caught. The story is over the top ridiculous and contrived, but The Lizzie Borden Chronicles knows it and has fun by constantly raising the stakes. If you find violence in tv and movies off putting, then you should not even consider watching The Lizzie Borden Chronicles and shame on you for not figuring it out immediately. The Lizzie Borden Chronicles is a must see for Ricci fans, lovers of anachronistic storylines and the revenge fantasies.