WARNING: This post contains spoilers!
The latest show to take Netflix by storm is The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell.
As an artist, model and baker, there really isn’t much Christine can’t do. Christine rose to internet stardom via Instagram for her devilishly delicious concoctions. She also received internet claim for elaborately decorating her parent’s house. Also, she is the author of Deceptive Desserts: A Lady’s Guide to Baking Bad!
Similar to Zumbo’s Just Desserts, in terms of its Willy Wonka aesthetic with an Addams Family twist, Christine’s show teaches its audience how to bake pieces of macabre art good enough to eat, sew costumes and be a good 1950’s housewife.
Well, sort of.
Unlike other more traditional cooking and baking shows, Christine combines recipe tutorials with a loose story arc. Located in a demi-magical world, Christine’s neighbourhood and cast of characters consist of both human and the occult.
The story begins with Christine and her pals awaiting the arrival of a mysterious guest. Living in an illustrious Victorian mansion in an undisclosed location, the weird, strange and plain bizarre are considered “normal.” Throughout the series, we get to know the lives of the characters, Christine’s and her eventual love interest: a serial-killer in hiding named Norman.
There’s Rose, a literal piece of roadkill (also a hybridized skunk-raccoon creature with a fork for a hand); Rankle, an Egyptian cat mummy; Edgar the werewolf and Milly, a tentacle-d fridge-creature.
Other characters worth mentioning are Viviane, a ghost that inhabits all mirrors in the house and is loving portrayed by burlesquer Dita Von Teese, as well as Bernard, a monster that lives in Christine’s basement.
Along with praise, there is some criticism facing Curious Creations. I personally found the appearance of undead Muppets highly disturbing. I’m absolutely terrified of dolls, see Child’s Play and Anabelle for reference. I was also disheartened by Christine’s hyper-focused attention to detail (I’m too impatient I guess). Other recipes were lacking steps: with Christine electing for pre-made versions of her “favourite dough” and time-jumps to the final formation and presentation of numerous dishes. This is where Curious Creations lacks in content for more traditional baking shows. In terms of the thematic storyline its general cheesiness, combined with a lacklustre romance, were somewhat predictable elements.
Nevertheless, I binged the series in its entirety, only left wanting more upon its completion. There is something so intriguing about Christine’s poise and delicateness that is beyond fascinating when combined with the utterly bizarre and nonsensical. Overall, dry wise-cracking humour, elaborate designs that appear inhuman and references to various horror/thriller classics (Psycho as a major one), Curious Creations is unlike anything to ever grace your T.V. or laptop screen. Described by The New Yorker as “Martha Stewart meets Tim Burton”, Curious Creations is an oddity worth gawking at and I implore you to give it a try.