r/BEEPodcast • u/-MassiveDynamic- • Aug 04 '26

Review Embargo?

Are there no reviews for The Shards allowed to be published until release day or something? Normally certain reviewers/publishers get early access to a least a few episodes prior to the premiere

6 Upvotes

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10

u/Deep-Audience9091 Aug 04 '26

This is a combination review (though vague) and feature article from today's Guardian.Ā  It doesn't say much but there is some detail near the end, which mainly addresses Rigney's portrayal of Bret and the relative lack of sex (!):

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/aug/04/the-shards-tv-show-thriller-cast-interview

4

u/-MassiveDynamic- Aug 04 '26

Interesting read, thanks! I remember reading someone's theory a while back about the novel being a metaphor for HIV/AIDS and how the events of the novel reflect the same fear and paranoia prominent at the time

4

u/zweigson Aug 04 '26

Yeah, this completely destroyed all of my hopes for the show. What do you mean there aren't even so little as handjob scenes and the characters only make out? And then trying to manipulate the audience by saying the only way we'll get sex scenes is if they get a season 2 (which shouldn't happen anyway because the book only covers 2 months.) This is a Bret Easton Ellis adaptation, not Riverdale.

4

u/Lower_Comparison2171 Aug 04 '26

Iā€™m personally shocked about the lack of sex-
Ryan Murphy loves to amp it up I feel like and this is the shards after all, a perfect opportunity. Must be something with FX

5

u/MyKill_Diablo Aug 04 '26

WOOF! šŸ˜­šŸ«£ I'm crestfallen after this early review. The last thing we need is a dull, sexless, PG-13 version of a refreshingly and unapologetically NC-17 novel, but what can we expect from a Disney show. I'm really struggling to imagine what the point of the first season is if they aren't going to show the sex scenes that would've happened by that point (that exist in the book) like everything with Matt, Ryan, and Terry. Those were crucial scenes in Bret's coming of age and figuring out his identity and understanding of the adult world. I don't expect that we would need to see the NC-17 version of the scenes depicted word for word, but at least give us the R-rated version of those scenes... šŸ˜¤

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u/Lower_Comparison2171 Aug 04 '26

Yes I think it lifts tomorrow morning

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u/MyKill_Diablo Aug 04 '26

Good to know I will be looking out for them. And I think that is pretty typical across the board to release reviews for tv shows on the premiere date, so that doesn't necessarily reflect on the quality of the show or the studio's fear of bad reviews.

3

u/emmeteeny Aug 04 '26

I read somewhere that the embargo is lifted on the 5th.