Critics are praising HBO Max.
The Flight Attendant stars Kaley Cuoco as the protagonist (or possible antihero) Cassie Bowden. During a night in Bangkok, the titular flight attendant becomes romantically involved with Wall Street trader Alex Sokolov (Michiel Huisman), and later discovers that he's been murdered after a one-night stand. Cassie cleans up the crime scene, travels back to America, and enlists her lawyer friend Annie Mouradian (Zosia Mamet) for legal advice. The Flight Attendant often plays out like a proper thriller, but the dialogue and filmmaking techniques steadily remind the HBO Max audience about the comedic undertones.
After three episodes, HBO Max, however the overall tone favors comedy over traditional suspense. Plus, with the flashback element, the filmmakers allow the audience into the mind of a dead character, with the joke being that he's living within Cassie's mind. So, there are various layers of depth to appreciate, even if some of the directorial decisions may seem formulaic. Here are some positive takes on The Flight Attendant.
"It's a lot of fun, if you're willing to go along for a ride that doesn't always track but almost always entertains. It's a thriller, and it's a drama, but it's also almost a comedy, with a brisk pace and a playful tone."
"So much of what's enjoyable about the first episodes is the series's ridiculous high-wire act, and my hope is that it will find a way to navigate Cassie's eventual epiphany without sacrificing the show's silly, over-the-top caper feel."
"Cuoco is sharp and likable throughout, two necessary ingredients for playing a character who makes a scene wherever she goes."
"Maybe that's the most brilliant twist in Cuoco's performance as Cassie: She's playing a character who isn't put together or impressive, but rather just this side of annoying-and somehow you end up rooting for her anyway."
"Like the best of all such genre-melding stories, it's a lot more complicated ... thanks in no small part to a career-best performance from Kaley Cuoco."
The Flight Attendant appears to be a critical hit for HBO Max, assuming that that miniseries doesn't de-rail midway through; however, there are certainly flaws that stand out. Even though Cuoco delivers a raw yet still endearing performance in her first big (live action) role following Run (not to be confused with the Hulu movie of the same name) teases audiences with clever dialogue and cryptic character backstories, but the climax doesn't really amount to anything revelatory. Here's the one sharply-critical take on The Flight Attendant from a major publication.
"For this Flight, the plan seems to be madcappery over meaning."
Overall, The Flight Attendant feels like a series that understands its audience. A lackluster production might rely heavily on Cuoco's performance and use cheap filmmaking tricks to cover up the inherent flaws. But just as HBO Max similarly knows that modern streamers don't need heavy exposition to connect all the dots. Interestingly enough, the wildly-different Tomatometer scores imply that some viewers aren't fully impressed, even if they're still intrigued by what they've watched thus far.