Reluctant to quote myself, but this was the problem. "Delicious in a way that movies used to be".
You sit me down for two hours and give me a mob story involving the passing of a city's graft which mirrors the chain by which immigrant groups (inc from the country of "slavery") gained purchase in the American Miracle; a mythic code by which they keep the peace; a prim poison angel sex nurse; miscegenous funeral directors to process the body count, yet properly raise their savant daughter, largely left to wonder on her own whether to be good or great; escaped lesbian outlaws with a Mormon Earp marshall on their tail; the truly compelling big brother situation of an unlikely pair of life's captives, a wintry urban setpiece on a stormy plain, etc etc. i'm gonna forgive you for whatever you dont resolve in one sesh. String me out over a coupla months of rising & falling w your story, though, and you gotta have your team tying it all together from the start instead of enjoying how to explore each element of the initial creative burst. i'm glad i got sent on the mission of wondering how these delicious elements would play out, but i cant see how i wont be disappointed by the result.