Why Giancarlo Esposito’s Parish Reviews Are So Divided

In the latest AMC series, Parish, Giancarlo Esposito stars as the show’s title character, Gracián “Gray” Parish, a former criminal and current taxi driver with a particular set of skills. Set in New Orleans, the series follows Gray, who is still grieving in the wake of his son’s untimely death. His life is further upended after his old friend, Colin (Skeet Ulrich), approaches him with a quick job that will earn him a lot of cash. On the verge of losing his home, Gray reluctantly agrees and is quickly pulled into the world of a Zimbabwean gangster known as The Horse (Zackary Momoh), whose predominant line of work includes human trafficking and exploiting undocumented immigrants.

Based on the BBC One seriesThe Driver, Parish creates a much larger world than its inspiration as it strives to tell a bigger story. While there’s plenty of potential in expanding such a narrative, it’s not without its risks, given how adding a slew of characters and subplots could muddy the waters. The series premiered at the end of March, and since then, the show’s reviews have been divided among critics and viewers. As it currently stands on Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 30% average among critics and a 76% average among audiences. Despite some great performances, it would seem that allowing for a larger story has made the series too big for a cohesive narrative worth watching, at least according to critics.

Giancarlo Esposito Makes Parish Worth Watching

Parish

3.5/5

Release Date

March 31, 2024

Cast

Giancarlo Esposit , Zackary Momoh , Arica Himmel , Ivan Mbakop , Dax Rey

Seasons

1

Read Our Review

Best known for his role as Gus Fring in Breaking Bad and its prequel Better Call Saul, Esposito has made quite a name for himself as one of the greatest TV villains of all time. His role in Parish couldn’t be further from a character like Gus. In fact, Gray is the kind of character who would reluctantly be working for Gus as one of his reliable lackeys. Without a doubt, Gray is the only character in the series that feels fully formed, which is undoubtedly thanks to Esposito and his talents. According to the critics, the series wouldn’t stand a chance without his performance. That isn’t to say other performances are lacking. Instead, their characters simply aren’t fully developed, and it shows.

Although critics and audiences remain divided about the series, they both agree that Esposito is definitely the show’s best feature. He does a wonderful job of conveying every emotion the audience is meant to feel on Gray’s behalf, making the series worth watching. While there are other solid performances from Skeet Ulrich and Amanda Brugel, they don’t compare to its star, especially when the series struggles with providing a foundation for them to stand on. Without that foundation, Parish feels disjointed even with its compelling performances.

On its surface, Parish appears to be the next big AMC hit, but it has yet to capture the same kind of buzz as Breaking Bad or The Walking Dead and its various spinoffs. Unfortunately, Esposito’s performance may be the only thing that makes the series worth watching. He sits at the center of the show, which means there aren’t many scenes that don’t include him. As such, it makes sense why viewers who love Esposito would flock to the series and continue watching even when critics have found it lacking.

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As Variety writes, “With so many storylines, characters and revelations, Parish loses its plot, and even the prowess of Esposito can’t save it from feeling like a cobbled-together journey with no distinct destination.” In addition, Collider shared a similar sentiment, “Parish fumbles all its themes, barely scratching the surface of them, and delivers a show that feels generic, soulless, and ultimately forgettable.” In MovieWeb’s own review, we brought forward complaints about the timeline of the series, “However, there are some inconsistencies with the overall timeline. The entire series takes place within an action-packed week. That aspect isn’t entirely convincing as days and nights blur together…”

Parish Struggles With Its Narrative, But Viewers Don’t Care

Despite Esposito’s performance, as critics have noted, Parish struggles with its narrative. While a handful of compelling aspects might be tucked away within its story, the series has created too big a world in too short a time. As such, the overall flow of its narrative is disjointed. However, that doesn’t seem to bother viewers who have happily been pulled into the action of the show.

From the onset, the series throws its audience directly into the middle of Gray’s story. Then, it jumps back seven days to explain how he ended up in the driver’s seat, speeding away from the police. While critics were unimpressed with how the show attempts to impress its audience, viewers don’t feel the same way, given the Rotten Tomatoes audience score. Rather than criticize the action, viewers take it for what it’s worth and allow themselves to be entertained.

Critics have stated that Parish introduces quite a bit of narrative and characters rather quickly without adequately conveying the importance of it all. The stakes in the action series are high, but it’s hard to understand why. That being said, viewers don’t seem to care as much. Despite the show’s missteps, it’s an entertaining series audiences seemingly want to see.

Even though the pacing of Parish struggles to flow cohesively, the show offers its audience a vast world with someone they love to watch at its core. Viewers clearly see something critics are overlooking. Rather than deconstruct Parish, fans are simply taking the series at face value and enjoying the ride, and there’s nothing wrong with fun, casual entertainment. New episodes of Parish premiere every Sunday night on AMC and are streaming on AMC+.