Inciting Incident

Panchayat, the Amazon Prime web series could not have timed its launch better. Season 1 dropped on 3^rd April, 2020. The show had a captive audience – the world had just gone into lockdown. Unsurprisingly, it went straight to the top of the charts and stayed there for months. But unlike Tiger King, this wasn’t mindless drivel that captured the zeitgeist by a stroke of luck.

Panchayat was exactly what people needed in those dark, uncertain times. There was an earthy wisdom, a directness in every scene. This may or may not have worked by itself, but when combined with authentic and detailed art design¹, it made the world come alive, a modern day Malgudi. In showing restraint, the writing allowed us, the audience, to escape to this wonderful world where the stakes were never too high. No matter how absurd the situation, a lauki (bottle gourd) or a swivel chair could resolve that episode’s tension.

And yet, it managed to pull audiences in. This was partly because of how well the characters were written. Their interactions with each other felt real, because they were honest and true to everything we had learnt about them so far. Importantly, the writing never lets us look down upon them. This was genius, and such a devious trap that the writers sidestepped. Instead, the show gradually developed these apparent caricatures into full formed personalities, with quirks and traits all their own. This is hard work, and rare. Done well, it can build a true connection, like we have with the folks at Sterling Cooper. Or the crew of the USS Enterprise. Panchayat landed it perfectly.

No wonder then, that audiences adored the show, giving it the highest popular honor there is today: meme status.

I do not envy the task the writers had coming into season 2. How does one follow up on that kind of success? An MLA (state level legislator) is introduced as a newer, more powerful antagonist. This endangered the central premise of Panchayat, that the stakes may be low but the people and emotions are real. Suddenly, the stakes were getting high too.

Season 2 managed to redeem itself on the back of some phenomenal acting, and one of the best performed scenes² of any Indian web series, ever. Still, the bell could not be unrung. Things could only get bigger going forward.

Season 3, thus, had a central character being shot at. Suddenly we were in a high-tension political drama with only memories of the simple challenges that once befell little Phulera.

And that brings us to Season 4, which dropped this week. The election is finally upon us, and the fates of our protagonists are going to be decided. That alone would’ve provided enough fodder for the whole season. And yet. New characters are introduced with no rhyme or reason. Stakes are raised in the hopes of building tension, with the plot having to resolve itself neatly before the episode ends. One can imagine the conversation in the writer’s room:

“What’s more high stakes than an MLA? An MP! With a bigger house! And fancier cars! And more gunmen!”

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“We ‘ll bring back the MLA’s daughter for one weird confrontation and then never reference her again.”

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“Let’s introduce a character just for one not-so-funny joke. Since we already have him, he can also dispense general old-man wisdom.”

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Throughout the season, it hurts to watch these wonderful actors and beloved characters do their best, looking more like laminated copies than flesh-and-blood originals. The writers subject them to humiliation, increasingly bizarre situations and general apathy, in hopes of keeping the audience hooked. Barring one scene featuring Ashok Pathak (Binod), this endeavor fails through and through. The climax, which seems to be setting up the next season, is wholly unsatisfying and bewildering to watch.

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In a striking coincidence, this week was also the debut of Season 4 of another drama series- FX’s The Bear. I haven’t watched the entire season yet, but a line in Episode 2 made me think of Panchayat:

“That day, Carm, you had such a spark. Like, it was this beautiful thing… it was somebody being in love with something. And being fucking great at it. And being loved back.

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You found something that you love. And it’s completely, 100% OK if you don’t love it anymore. Because the most special part about it is that you are capable of that love.”

To the writers and the creative team of Panchayat, and to the decision makers at TVF – you made this amazing thing that touched millions of lives and provided solace, wholesomeness and simplicity when the world needed it most. Thank you so, so very much. Now please walk away, and let the world of Panchayat rest in peace. Phulera has earned that honour.

1. Something I’ve previously written about here.

2. Also something I’ve written about in depth here.