The BBN Review: Umbrella

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorThe umbrella is a three-act tragedy in which the hero abandons you in the second act, precisely when the plot gets interesting.

2. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorIt's a portable roof, Dale. It's a hug you can hold over your head, and I will not hear otherwise.

3. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorThe opening is promising. That small mechanical click, the bloom of fabric. And then you step outside, and the wind reads the script.

4. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorA misunderstanding. The wind just wanted to dance.

5. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorIt inverts, Vera. Every Tuesday, on every corner, a grown adult wrestles a collapsed black flower, and the rain wins by a decisive margin.

6. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorA legacy of defiance, then.

7. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorAnd the third act is worse. You leave it in a restaurant, and it simply vanishes. The ending is always an absence.

8. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorPer Wikipedia, Jonas Hanway is credited as the first man to dare public ridicule by carrying one habitually in London.

9. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorExactly. The first reviewer was the public, and they were merciless. Three centuries later, I finally see their point.

10. 

    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorHe was brave. You bring a spare cardigan to a sunny day.

11. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorI was caught out once, and I have never forgiven the umbrella since.

12. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorVerdict: two and a half stars. One for the click, one for the handle, half a star for the one time it worked.

13. 

    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorPull quote: a roof that believes in you, briefly. Which, Dale, is more than anyone says about you.