That's the basic premise of this encore, which sees the wide-eyed Mary Ann traveling back to San Francisco for a birthday celebration of Anna Madrigal (Olympia Dukakis), still the caring den mother to the younger folks who reside at her welcoming complex.To no one's surprise, Mary Ann winds up sticking around, offering the chance to reconnect with her daughter Shawna (Ellen Page) and ex-husband Brian (Paul Gross), who share time with an assortment of new characters, most saddled with the kind of stiff dialogue that amounts to making speeches more than actually conversing.Slowly paced, there is a central mystery to help drive the story through the 10 episodes, involving someone, unknown, threatening to expose secrets from Anna's past. But too much of this "Tales" feels like simply spinning its wheels, providing an updated view of what it's like to life and love in San Francisco but building that around too many thinly drawn characters.The major exceptions to that are an episode near the end of the run, which flashes back to a young Anna arriving in the city, offering a glimpse at just how grim the bad old days were. Not only does that chapter explain how she came to Barbary Lane, but it's imbued with a genuine emotion and depth that most of this "Tales of the City" lacks.Similarly, there's a powerful sequence at a dinner party, in which older men lambaste a 20-something who has the temerity to chide them for the slang terminology they use, reminding him of all that they overcame and survived. If only more of "Tales of the City" crackled with that kind of energy and relevance.In addition to Page, the more recognizable cast additions include Zosia Mamet ("Girls") as a young documentary filmmaker, but her direct-to-camera interviews feel like another over-used device in an attempt to give this "Tales" a 21st-century sheen.Produced by Lauren Morelli ("Orange is the New Black"), "Tales of the City" does provide an intriguing referendum oRead More – Source
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