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Reviews
Slow Horses: Strange Games (2023)
Lay off Jackson Lamb
After 12 episodes and two seasons, the show runners have set the tone, created enduring storylines and established the characters. Diana's blindspots are her ego and ambition. River tries too hard. Louisa is racked by guilt. And so on.
However,Jackson Lamb apparently amused the writers so much that three seasons in, they need to waste valuable viewer time reminding us that Jackson has lousy hygiene, farts in public, looks awful and revels in his offensive presence.
ENOUGH! We get it. So, please stop with the fart jokes and not clever observations by other characters as to his awfulness. It takes away from the pace and feel of the show. Please, move on.
One Day: Episode #1.14 (2024)
Emma & Dex
I really disliked Dex in the beginning. That guy at your college who seemed to glide through school without a worry because life came to him so easily. His looks and charm would be his career. And then he becomes a TV presenter and turns into a full jerk.
Meanwhile Emma plods along trying to figure it out. You can see she loves Dex in her way but she knows he's toxic. When they get lost in the maze, it's all right there and Dex is getting married to Ice Princess Sylvie and a kid is on the way.
My wife cried at that scene. In fact she cried at all the rest of the episodes, especially episodes 12-14.
And we came to root for Dex and then Emma and Dex. Hate the end of episode 13.
Happy Valley: Episode #3.1 (2023)
Great actors done in by lame plot
I like the family interplay in the series. Catherine and Claire get the sibling bond thing dead on.
And, I realize Tommy is a necessary ingredient to the series. I hated it that I knew he would escape at some point because, it's TV. Lame, predictable.
But what I think really diminished this season was the drug dealing pharmacist and the mean old Eastern European gangsters. Really!! Stereotype weak Asian guy completely out of his depth. This storyline was paint by numbers. As was the side story to the side story of the coerced so xer coaches wife with the daughter who sees everything but is nearly catatonic.
Catherine is a great character. She deserved a better story line to go out on.
London Kills: Connected (2019)
Accept it for What it is
London Kills has 4 main characters: the complex and troubled boss, the tough under appreciated female detective, the guy who gets things done and the well meaning rookie. The actors playing them are excellent although they lapse into stage acting every so often. Plus we get 3 reactionshotsin every scene.
What they have to work with is rather predictable scripts - the killer is almost always the person you think it is 5 minutes in. The show features music that tries to relay the mood and is comically bad. The show uses the same filler scenes over and over. Same extra as a cop reading a file. Over and over.
But, the stories that arc the entire season are pretty good and it holds your interest just enough. There are worse shoes out there.
Blue Lights: Love the One You're WIth (2023)
Reminds me of Hill Street Blues
I almost quit 15 minutes into the first episode. Oh no, a throwback rookie cop show. Every probie has a flaw, who won't survive? But then I read the reviews and gave it a second chance.
It's a great procedural. It reminds me somewhat of Hill Street Blues from the 1980s. Hill Street was gritty and here the officers and their station are very spiffy. But, the characters are well developed and the storylined are plausible. I especially like the Grace character. I met a number of people who took uppolicework as a second career. She nails it
Episode 6 is an audience pleaser. It works, things fall into place as they should. Gerry's death is a shocker and it propels the plot. Jen got her exit after proving herself under actual fire.
True Detective: Night Country: Part 4 (2024)
It's True Detective not True Social Worker
A group of men are dead and no one knows why. A environmental advocate is dead, has been dead for a year or two. Her murder is unsolved. They may be related. There might be other elements at play.
But, we don't know how these investigations might intertwine because a Troopers sister is deeply mentally ill and a cops daughter is a hot teenage mess. Neither story moves the plot or helps solve the crime.
But we do know the town of Ennis has crappy social services and Danvers is a lousy mom. What a waste of acting talent. The mystical allusions are too obscure to connect to the viewer.
The show is a mess.
Last Tango in Halifax (2012)
What Is This Series???
I saw the actors and eriter involved in this series and thought it has to good. Then I read the reviews. Glowing. After struggling through about a half dozen episodes and skipping several to find one that made sense, I gave up.
This show has no idea what it is. Is it about two people in their 70s reconnecting after half a century? Is it about Nikola Walker, who is a tragic figure, a woman with deep secrets and a generally screwed up life? Or John, the terminally irritating ex-husband of the lovely Caroline who sort of is in a relationship with Kate, a co-worker?
It starts out cute, starts to meander with side trips to depressing and annoying. I think this series was written for people who think "Happy Valley" is a comedy.
Albert Brooks: Defending My Life (2023)
Rob Reiner likes his friend Albert Brooks
There's a danger in saluting your friend to an audience. Especially when you commit your adulation to film. And then sell it for showing to the masses. I kind of see Albert Brooks as a better looking forerunner to Larry David. He's turns annoyance and insecurity into an art form.
But as original as he may have been in his early days , he was often better in other director's material like Taxi Driver and Broadcast News.
The film is more of a friendly chat between long time pals than a serious dissection of Brooks impact on comedy. Honestly, some of the bits Brooks did as a kid killed Rob's dad's friends but struck me as "had to be there" moments.
In sum, it's not a terrible documentary but unless you are a comic nerd, it's a bit dull.
Bosch: Legacy (2022)
Maybe Time To Retire
I loved the first 2 seasons of the original series. Titus Welliver certainly inhabits the character. But the extremes, the righteous bent, the stalwart belief in his approach are becoming cartoonish. Just once in a while a seed of doubt would be good.
Oh, and tone down the jazz afficiando bit. By this point if you have tracked this show to Freeve you know the characters. I hate the way Bosch drops condescending one ups on some musician no viewer has never heard of but the other characters in the story has.
So, in the new show, Maddie is more prominent. It's nice to see that expansion but better story lines would help.
The Morning Show: Fever (2021)
They Can't Right This Sinking Ship
Given the talent involved and Jennifer A. 's involvement as exec producer as well, it is hard for me to fathom how this got so bad so fast. The highlight of this season for me was Mitch's death. Finally. The continued Mitch storyline was dragging down the whole show. The big send off with Alex must have appealed to the actors but it was lousy as storytelling.
This was an Alex and Cory centered
season. Cory was better as a side character who made things happen. He got too much face time and the show went from Alex to Cory with a little bit of Bradley's brother and her emerging lesbian interests. Many of the episodes, especially the finale, felt like an Alex monologue.
I'm done with the show. They even botched the Covid story.
Justified: City Primeval: The Oklahoma Wildman (2023)
Please do better
The massive flaw in this series is the character of Willa. It's not the actress's fault. It's a really dumb plot device - Willa brings all momentum in the show to a dead halt. The dad-daughter thing sucks energy from the plot and details the story line.
In this episode the cops plus Raylan are starting to get a sense of who they are dealing with in the judge's murder. But then we have a sideshow straight out of a bad novel when Mansell connects with Willa. Then we get to see Raylan lose his s--t and beat Mansell up. In real life, Raylan is on his way back to Florida or Willa is on an airplane. But this TV and, we'll likely have the kid around for the rest of the show.
Battleground (2012)
Worth your time
This show is from 2011 but it captures the current political state of the country just fine. Covering a fictional senate race in Wisconsin, you have gender, sexual identity, netdism and old fashioned political ambition at play.
The pacing is brisk, the ensemble just about perfect - especially the leads - and the writing is excellent. The show, done in mockumentary style, captures the tone and humor/pathos of a political campaign. The one flaw is the amount of time in the middle episodes devoted to a fringe character, the candidate's son. Imagine if Chris Farley had a no talent child. That bad thread aside, the show works.
Treason (2022)
Silly Spy Fluff
Netflix posted and promoted Treason when I was between shows. As soon as I saw Cirarn Hinds was the head of MI6, I knew who the bad guy was. The rest of the casting is a bit better but, the real problem -setting aside an implausible script - is the lead, played by Charlie Cox. He's awful. This guy doesn't have any gravity to him. He isn't believeable as a high ranking spook, as a father, as an action hero. The actress playing Kara is from a different show. While astonishingly beautiful, she exudes toughness. I'd watch a show about that character.
Know going in it is five episodes of silly. If you fast forward through the scenery shots, you can knock of 7-10 minutes per episode.
Kærlighed for voksne (2022)
One huge flaw
It's a massive mistake. The actress playing Lenora is not attractive. It's not like she starts out great and dissolves into tightly wound shrew. She starts out that way. Her hair is silly her body rail thin and her face conveys a very small range of emotion.
You see Xenia and you say, "yeah, I would do her." It isn't fair to the story. If the Lenora character had someone looking like a young Kathleen Turner, you'd say there's more to it than hot architect versus anorexic wife. As is, it doesn't work for me.
Consider Fatal Attraction. Michael Douglass's wife was very attractive. But Glenn Close's character was pure sex. You can understand the risk the guy took for a one time thing, but not anything else.
Van der Valk: Love in Amsterdam (2020)
Better than most PBS British imports
I have never heard of Barry Foster or a show that was the forebearer of VanDer Valk . I didn't watch it with any pre-conceived ideas of what it should be. I liked it. I found it to have better pacing and more interesting side characters than most of the Brit imports on PBS. There are some predictable elements. The nerdy new guy to the team turns out to be useful. The potential girlfriend for the lead is bad news.i like the way Marc Warren handles his character - he seems much bigger than 5'8". Maimi McCoy is great fun as Officer Lucienne.
I don't know what the original show was like years ago. As a stand alone it's a nice treat.
The Time Traveler's Wife (2022)
Enchanting and Complicated
I stumbled on this show. I really like Rose Leslie and I thought I'd take a chance. The show has a great look, the principal actors have chemistry. Fascinating premise. It includes shots from the Fields Museum in Chicago. Great start.
The story line is massively complicated. The premise, Henry is a time traveler, is presented clearly. But I can feel nuances coming and the show has just 6 episodes. I hope there's 5 well written scripts to take us through the rest.
Annika (2021)
Different in a good way
This show won't be for everyone. But, it's sharp and silly and definitely doesn't take itself too seriously. Nikola Walker is great in the lead. A delightful change from her screwed up character in Unforgotten.
Yes, she talks to the audience. But it's like you're eavesdropping on her talking to herself. Her crew is almost sit com ragtag. The crimes are awful but not heavy.
Hacks (2021)
Painful
Cliche ridden. Predictable. Boring. I can't decide if the young woman sting the writer can't act or the script and direction are that bad. The annoying secretary, gee, maybe that's been done before. Not a single original, in predictable, moment. Emmy voters must love shows about show business. And Jean Smarts character is a rip-off of the Jane Lynch character on Mrs. Maisel.
One of Us (2016)
Fast Forward the scenery shots and you can save an hour and not miss a thing
Everyone who is critical of the ending is dead right. It's awful, it's a cop out and it's cheap emotional B. S. Now, they had a great concept with infidelities riplling through a relationship and unintended consequences years later. But the overwrought tone throughout the show and silly, silly cop side story, just undermine everything else. A show has to at least be plausible. This isn't.
Sex/Life (2021)
You can Watch the Entire Series in 2 Hours
There is exactly one reason to watch this show: the nudity/sex. The writing is hysterical. As in, so bad you laugh out loud at the serious stuff. The acting is non-existent. The direction had to be, "do your best."
But, Billie, the female has a great bod and is thrilled to show you. The two male leads also get to get naked. A lot. The scenes are reasonably well done if repetitive in style.
Once I got the story line - suburban house wife misses her wild days - I simply fast forwarded through episodes until I hit a nude or sex scene. Total watch time of 2 hours.
The Chair (2021)
Higher Ed Workplace Comedy, Sort Of
I wish Sandra Oh's character from Killing Eva was running the English Department at Pembroke U. She'd make decisions.
Someone compared it to Paper Chase. That's blasphemy. Paper Chase nailed the serious nature of law school and it's culture with a romantic sub-plot. The Chair is is a silly college workplace show. It's really likeable but not well written .Bill, theJay Duplass character, is a broad stereotype. Ju-ju the cute Asian kid is a cute Asian kid. Everything and everyone fits a niche - right down to the hip Black professor. The one thing the writer's nailed: the sanctimonious students. Spot on.
Shadowplay (2020)
Remove the Bad Backstory and it's a Good Show
The setting is great, it's what I imagine Berlin looked like after the war. The audience knows who the characters are and we have a plot. I think the writers had enough with the fish out of water in Max, the corruption in Berlin, the politics of the sectors and an ugly American profiting from ex-Nazis. What doesn't work is Max, the American cop's backstory of a mentally ill brother killing off Nazis and Nazi sympathizers because of a very complicated family history. It isn't necessary. The other unnecessary element is the way Michael C. Hall plays the state department official. Way, wy over the top and out of another show.
The 8th episode ended on a cliffhanger of sorts. A second season could be interesting. I'm not sure it was necessary.
The White Lotus: Departures (2021)
No Surprises Ending
Given the time commitment in the last episode to scenery, I wonder if showrunner and writer, Mike White simply didn't have enough story to fill the hour. No big reveals, Rachel realizes she married a jerk, Quinn is changed by his native pals, Paula realizes she's a token, not a friend and Tonya squints a lot while exercising all kinds of privilege.
We're all bummed out that Rachell stays with Shane. But we're not really all that invested in that outcome or any outcome in this show.
The White Lotus (2021)
It really is that bad! Believe the negative reviews
Mike White is a sharp observer. This time, he's writer, director and showrunner. It's too much. He needed a tough voice to say, nope, not working before it hit production. The look, the tone, the story. Collectively, it sucks. If you make it through episode 2, more power to you. The super annoying guy who won't let go of the perceived wrong, been done, better.
Marcella: Episode #3.8 (2020)
Not as Bad as some reviewers say it is
Seasons 1 & 2 were binge-worthy. The concept for season 3 is really pretty cool - Marcella is so distraught over mistakes she has made with her family that she disfigures herself and wanders off the grid. A cop from a special undercover unit finds her and offers her a job that requires that she is declared dead and assumes a new identity.
Off that interesting premise the show then meanders through 8 episodes that lack a cohesive center. It's a mess. As other reviewers have noted, the writing is not great and the actors don't help by seeming to overplay their role at every turn.
However, if you like the Marcella character and want to see where the showrunner takes her, stick with it. The last episode wraps this storyline up pretty well, with a nod to "Reservoir Dogs". I disagree with other writers that the last scene indicates that the producers left open a fourth season. They've done everything they could with Marcella but, they hinted that she may never fully escape her past.