How could a screenwriter and the producers so destroy the entire reason the Armand Gamache series is beloved and successful?
Looking at this as a standalone mystery series - trying to ignore the books - I can say that it is pretty (although not like the 'real' Three Pines), there are some twists... but then you have to ask... Who are all these people and why do I care what their names are? They have nothing whatsoever to do with the episodes. They just appear now and then and we're told who they are. It's like having extras that for some reason have names.
Looking at this as reflecting the books ... we don't get to know anything about even one character... while in the books, each is richly described, and we learn more about each in book after book, coming back again and again to be with our friends in this village (or elsewhere in Quebec).
The personalities and interactions of Gamache, Beauvoir and Lacoste are key and critical... to say nothing of Reine Marie, Clara and Peter, Gabby and Olivier, Myrna, Ruth, etc etc. Yet, we know absolutely nothing about any of them in this one dimensional who dunnit. Heck, NCIS Los Angeles explores its characters way more deeply... and its a pretty shallow show!
How can we NOT see the relationship of Gamache and Beauvoir? How is it that Beauvoir has almost no lines?! How is it that Agent Nichol isn't absolutely annoying and infuriating as she is supposed to be? Why is nobody who they should be?
When some of Tony Hillerman's books were made into TV movies, the disappointment was in the bad acting. Here, the acting from the main characters is good... but the screenwriter gave not one character - even Gamache - any depth. Such a waste of the beautiful, complex characters that Louise Penny created and the evolving relationships between them over time.
I was going to stop... but the TV people just did not "get" Three Pines itself either. In the books, it is not on any map (well, pretty much). People do not get there except by accident, or knowing the way and dropping into the hollow, below the hill, into the town on the river Bella Bella. Cell phones do not work, nor is there high speed internet. This creates the isolated locale with a fixed set of characters as used in Agatha Christie's books. On TV, there is a major paved road leading into an open (and rather ugly) small town, no isolation, cell phones work, etc, and the historic three pines are about 10 years old and spindly.
I give credit for weaving in the topic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. It has been good to see that theme also in Alaska Daily. I hope this raises awareness and action beyond those of us who live where these tragedies continue to occur on a frequent basis.
Looking at this as a standalone mystery series - trying to ignore the books - I can say that it is pretty (although not like the 'real' Three Pines), there are some twists... but then you have to ask... Who are all these people and why do I care what their names are? They have nothing whatsoever to do with the episodes. They just appear now and then and we're told who they are. It's like having extras that for some reason have names.
Looking at this as reflecting the books ... we don't get to know anything about even one character... while in the books, each is richly described, and we learn more about each in book after book, coming back again and again to be with our friends in this village (or elsewhere in Quebec).
The personalities and interactions of Gamache, Beauvoir and Lacoste are key and critical... to say nothing of Reine Marie, Clara and Peter, Gabby and Olivier, Myrna, Ruth, etc etc. Yet, we know absolutely nothing about any of them in this one dimensional who dunnit. Heck, NCIS Los Angeles explores its characters way more deeply... and its a pretty shallow show!
How can we NOT see the relationship of Gamache and Beauvoir? How is it that Beauvoir has almost no lines?! How is it that Agent Nichol isn't absolutely annoying and infuriating as she is supposed to be? Why is nobody who they should be?
When some of Tony Hillerman's books were made into TV movies, the disappointment was in the bad acting. Here, the acting from the main characters is good... but the screenwriter gave not one character - even Gamache - any depth. Such a waste of the beautiful, complex characters that Louise Penny created and the evolving relationships between them over time.
I was going to stop... but the TV people just did not "get" Three Pines itself either. In the books, it is not on any map (well, pretty much). People do not get there except by accident, or knowing the way and dropping into the hollow, below the hill, into the town on the river Bella Bella. Cell phones do not work, nor is there high speed internet. This creates the isolated locale with a fixed set of characters as used in Agatha Christie's books. On TV, there is a major paved road leading into an open (and rather ugly) small town, no isolation, cell phones work, etc, and the historic three pines are about 10 years old and spindly.
I give credit for weaving in the topic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. It has been good to see that theme also in Alaska Daily. I hope this raises awareness and action beyond those of us who live where these tragedies continue to occur on a frequent basis.