''Room 104'' is an American

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

television series created by

Mark Duplass Mark David Duplass (born December 7, 1976) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and musician. With his brother Jay Duplass, he started the film production company Duplass Brothers Productions in 1996, for which they wrote and directed ''The ...

and

Jay Duplass Lawrence Jay Duplass Jr. (born March 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author widely known for his films ''The Puffy Chair'' (2005), ''Cyrus'' (2010), and '' Jeff, Who Lives at Home'' (2011), made in collaboration with his younger br ...

, first broadcast on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

between 2017 and 2020.

Premise

Set in a single room of an American roadside motel, each episode explores different characters passing through Room 104, ranging widely across horror, thriller, and comedy genres.

Production

The series received a 24-episode order and all the episodes were shot back-to-back as a cost-saving measure, and they were split into two 12-episode seasons. In a December 2018 interview, co-creator Mark Duplass revealed that the third season had already been filmed and edited, and he was writing season 4. According to Duplass, episodes of ''Room 104'' are made for "a quarter" of the cost typically expected for HBO series. Episodes are conceived in a "

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

" by the writers where they come up with dozens of ideas, and then they reach out to filmmakers that they are interested in to direct the episodes. Episodes are filmed in a "fast and loose" manner; for example,

Josephine Decker Josephine Decker (born April 2, 1981) is an English–born American filmmaker. Films she has directed include '' Butter on the Latch'' (2013), '' Thou Wast Mild and Lovely'' (2014), '' Madeline's Madeline'' (2018), '' Shirley'' (2020), and '' Th ...

directed her episode in two days only using an

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

. For the editing process, directors do not receive final cut, and Duplass screens the episodes to a group of 20 people who work at their company for feedback. The series debuted July 28, 2017, on

. A twelve-episode second season aired between November 9 and December 15, 2018. On February 8, 2019, HBO revealed that a third season had been filmed and that the network were in talks for a fourth season renewal. The show's twelve-episode third season premiered on September 13, 2019. Filming for season 4 was completed by September 2019. HBO announced in May 2020 that the fourth season would conclude the series, which started airing July 24. and concluded on October 9, 2020.

Reception

''Room 104'' has received generally positive reviews from critics. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the first season has a score of 65 out of 100 based on 22 reviews. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, it has an 87% approval rating with an average score of 6.85 out of 10 based on 39 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Room 104'' uses its anthology structure to its advantage, telling a series of short, eclectic stories that hit their marks more often than they miss." Reviewing the entire second season, Ben Travers of IndieWire gave it a positive review with a "B+" grade. He wrote, "the variety of storytelling on display builds such tingly anticipation, each new episode is worth it even when the narrative disappoints" and that it is "such remarkable, refreshing television that even when it's bad, it's good".

Episodes

Season 1 (2017)

Season 2 (2018)

Season 3 (2019)

Season 4 (2020)

References

External links

* * {{HBONetwork Shows 2017 American television series debuts 2010s American anthology television series 2010s American drama television series 2010s American horror television series 2020 American television series endings 2020s American anthology television series 2020s American drama television series 2020s American horror television series American English-language television shows 104 Magic realism television series HBO television dramas American thriller television series Horror drama television series Television shows set in New York (state) Television series set in hotels Television series by Home Box Office Television series by Duplass Brothers Productions