Pmother and son in life and on set. Rob Lowe and John Owen Lowe are the protagonists of Unstable, series in 8 episodes available on Netflix. They play a world-renowned visionary entrepreneur pursuing the goal of making the world a better place, and his son, a boy trying to shake off a heavy legacy.
Unstablethe plot of the series
Ellis Dragon (Rob Lowe) works hard to develop a project that will turn the world of biotech upside down. His challenge is to figure out how to extract carbon from the atmosphere and use it to make cement. The goal is lock up climate-changing gases for over 1000 years and save the world.
He is an eccentric, self-absorbed man who is grieving over the recent death of his wife Katie in an accident. The series begins when he returns to his company after a period of absence. “Katie kept him grounded,” he rightly reflects his right hand Anna (Sian Clifford). Indeed, Ellis he is unable to meet his commitments or listen to those around him.
John Owen Lowe and Rob Lowe in “Unstable”. (Netflix)
desperate, Anna brings back Ellis’ son Jackson (John Owen Lowe) from New York, where he’s a flute teacher. But their father and son relationship is an ongoing match and the boy is reluctant to work in the family. Little by little, however, the two find a meeting point. Ellis understands that he has to listen to each other and Jackson learns to accept the parent for who he iswith its strengths and weaknesses.
The review
Unstable it is a series which, using the register of irony, focuses on three themes: the father-son relationship, the elaboration of mourning and the world of work.
Rob Lowe and John Owen Lowe at the launch of ‘Unstable’. (Netflix)
On the one hand, there are two men confronted with their own frailties. On the other hand, beyond the suffering that both have to face, there is also the possibility of a redemption for both. But to get there, both must get to know each other and overcome the stakes that keep them apart.
Among the good reasons to see the series, there is also a surreal and entertaining representation of the world of work. Ellis has built a company whose pivot, besides himself, is the team it employs: passionate young scientists, who work hard to carry out the project. Interpersonal relationships and various archetypes also emerge, typical of any workplace.
Alongside the enthusiasts – united with each other, eager to team up and animated by healthy competition – there are those who, on the other hand, plot behind to get their hands on the company and destroy Ellis’s dream. Out of sheer envy.
The old and the new world collide and the reading offered is the hope of a better world not only thanks to research on biotechnology, but also in different and less prestigious fields, no less important for this. A dream? Perhaps. After all Unstable it is only a series, not a programmatic manifesto.
Rob and John Owen Lowe, father and son back on set together
It’s not the first time that father and son have worked together. Born in 1995, John Owen Lowe has already shared the set with Rob in 2015 in the series The grinderfollowed in 2017 by The Lowe Files. He also takes part in the project brother Edward Matthew Lowe. In 2019 they find themselves in the Netflix movies A safari for Christmas. He also worked as a writer on some episodes of 9-1-1: Lone Starin which the father plays the protagonist Owen Strand.
In addition to sharing the same job, they both had to deal with the same addiction drama. Rob Lowe is a former alcoholic, sober since 1990. John Owen has experienced the same fate. A long battle that led him to the hospital more than once, until he managed to get out.
“I almost died several times,” said a People. “I am eternally grateful to have parents who supported me and were there when I needed them”. John Owen and Edward Matthew were born from the union of Rob Lowe with the wife Sheryl Berkoff, married 1991.
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