Considering that all the material created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino has always been extremely theatrical and with a signature humor of fast dialogues, I could not expect that in Étoile they would take ballet “seriously” and break the paradigm that all film or series stories about the subject would stumble upon melodrama or, directly, horror. Gilmore Girls was a delicious dose of escapism from an idealized life in the countryside. In The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, we navigated through a New York historically full of stand-ups. Now we are in the present day and in Manhattan-oh, in Paris too – following the stresses and dramas of two ballet companies that find in the exchange of their stars a hope of regaining audience and prestige. I will watch it, but I already think, as they joked in puns, it is not ‘on pointe’.

The series stars two non-dancers – Luke Kirby (so handsome he’s distracting) and Charlotte Gainsbourg (trying too hard to be funny) – and that’s okay because they run the companies and don’t need to dance anymore (but they should at least act like they once did). Ex-lovers, competitors, and under pressure, they lead the hysterical tone of the “Palladian” universe that takes a while to get used to. The French accents only make it harder to follow. But let’s go.

Jack McMillan (Luke Kirby) and Geneviève Lavigne (Charlotte Gainsbourg) come up with an ambitious plan to replace their main artists for a year to reverse the public’s exodus and create attractions for new generations. Geneviève’s plan is a bit bizarre: she anticipates what Jack will think and gives in because she wants a talented choreographer like he has, Tobias Bell (Gideon Glick), and the ballerina she let slip by and who is now a potential star, Mishi Duplessis (Taïs Vinolo). Jack “wakes up” and takes away from his ex the current biggest star in dance, the insufferable Cheyenne Toussant (Lou De Laâge), and so begins the emotional and professional chess game on both sides of the Atlantic.

The dance scenes are excellent, there are real stars among the actors, but there is something that immediately stands out: for an Art where expression is mute, having the verbiage of the Palladinos exhausts us. The energy is beyond tolerable: Jack enters and leaves rooms and rehearsals aimlessly, wandering in a universe that only becomes even stranger for the uninitiated.

If you can get past the rhythm, you’ll see that the characters are captivating, and there’s potentially a beautiful story, like the cleaning lady’s daughter, SuSu Li (LaMay Zhang), who practices alone and hidden in the dark rehearsal room while her mother cleans the place. A “Cinderella” is waiting to be discovered. There’s a brilliant scene of Tobias concentrating on his choreography on top of Tico Tico no Fubá (only Brazilians will recognize it right away), and of course, Cheyenne and her temperament are a lot to laugh about, but it’s all a bit confusing.

That’s why critics from all sides consider Étoile to be lacking and I tend to agree, with a heavy heart! After all, it was time to take ballet out of the horror genre, but throwing it into comedy isn’t fair or ‘works’ either.

It’s a shame because this is an extremely personal series for Amy Sherman-Palladino, a former ballerina and daughter of a ballerina, so the dance is shown with greater respect and truthfulness, even if confusing. But, even without being able to place it among “the best of the year”, I still consider it one of my favorites. The question is, will it be able to survive and have more than one season?