Undone: Gorgeous But Traumatic and Trippy
All I have to say about this series is wow. Amazon's original series Undone is unlike anything you have ever seen in your life. That's what makes it a treasure. Undone was created by Rapheal Bob-Waksberg and Kate Purdy, the creators of Bojack Horseman. The series is animated and follows a character through a psychological journey of the mind.
The first thing to note for this amazing series is its use of animation. Undone was created using rotoscope animation. This process uses live-action footage and traces it to yield animated imagery. This medium is the perfect fit for the content of the series and after watching it seems like there is no other way to portray the beauty and trauma of this universe. The series slides around through the present, past and hallucinations through the eyes of the main character, Alma.
Alma is a daycare employee who is a relationship with Sam. Her younger sister Becca has just gotten engaged. The opening shot is Alma getting into a car crash and the series going back to the prior events that caused this including her breaking up with Sam and an argument with Becca. Alma is put into a coma and wakes up in episode two where her world changes. Her late father played by Bob Odenkirk arises in her hotel room and she goes through a continual loop of the same conversations and actions. Alma begins to walk through realms with ease but sometimes can't control it. Her dad acts as her guide to show her how to bend time and space with the end goal to find out how he died.
Alma's interactions with those in her life and her new powers allow her to enter repressed thoughts and memories from childhood and adulthood. This can be seen as a way of therapy for her as she is a very broken individual. The series raises a lot of questions mainly from the car crash. Did the car crash damage her brain or lead to her recovering these memories? Is she still in a coma? Is she schizophrenic? As the series progresses the episodes get more fascinating and dive deeper into Alma's mind.
The detail of the animation makes the series enjoyable and adds to its exploration into time and space. Every frame is breathtaking and displays the character's facial expressions perfectly. Everything adds to the idea that Alma is reaching for something out of each. Undone is its own thing and there is nothing like it. It is a must-watch to understand and grasp the concept of the show. Undone raises the question of "Is it mental illness or is it a superpower?"