This was a superb, richly original and interesting series. It started with a road-rage incident between two people form very different backgrounds Both were Asian/American, like virtually the entire cast which allowed the writer to explore, fascinatingly, the impact and effect of that background and which was one of the best and most original aspects of the series. However this apparently trivial incident, although one that often evokes an almost absurdly excessive and visceral response to something that is intrinsically minor like pulling out in front of an oncoming vehicle, triggered and set of a tsunami of ever-increasing actions and responses. These had a ripple effect so that as the story unfolded more and more people in the orbit of the two central characters got involved, either directly or indirectly. While the plot went in often unexpected directions, it was never ridiculously implausible and there was a logical link to the progress and direction of the story as it unfolded.
The stories played with our responses as the characters were slowly revealed through both their actions and speech and ones responses to their initial likeability and/or unlikeability was constantly changing and so kept us wholly engaged with them. We learnt more about them until by the end we had a richly deep portrait of certainly the two central characters and, to a slightly lesser extent, many of those others who were a part of their lives or came into their orbit.
For almost all characters, the powerful influence of family and upbringing was made very apparent with a perceptive and thought-provoking take on the often well-meaning but often inadvertently toxic effect of families and parents.
The plotting was very effective and convincing; if one referenced later events in the series without putting them in their context they could come across as too extreme but the writers masterfully controlled this. The dialogue was often very pungently funny but also wholly convincing. Neither was it over-written with writers trying to convey too much in what the characters said This often has the result of making the dialogue sound mannered, inauthentic and, at its worst, falling into speechifying but here all these traps were very effectively avoided.
The final episode was really remarkable with the majority of it being a duologue between the two central characters that was funny, touching, wholly plausible – indeed everything that a drama should be. And it was again refreshing to see that each episode was not overlong, coming in at just over 30 minutes each.
The use of a brief scene before the title-card was very effective – particularly the weirdly fascinating crow dialogue that preceded the final episode. And the paintings that were used in each of these title-card sequences were weirdly fascinating and would doubtless repay a freeze-frame to examine them in more detail as I am sure that they were subtly effective in referencing both past and future situation in the series.
Honestly, it must be one of the best things currently on Netflix. Do see it.