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satedmurray
Reviews
The Irregulars (2021)
three big problems
1. Sherlock Holmes worked in a world of science and logic, this is supernatural rubbish so isn't part of the SH world.
2. No British 19th century royal would hang around with an ethnically diverse group, very questionable if a 20th century one would.
3. A person who can control all the birds with his mind would not be locked up in an asylum but put to work by the government to save farmers and destroy foreign enemies.
Conviction (2016)
Left of centre sure but suffers from the same flaw of all US cop/detective shows
The good things first, Hayley Atwell, Shawn Ashmore and Daniel Franzese are excellent. The show appears left of centre which makes a change from pretty much all other US cop/detective shows. The cases and forensics are explained so that anyone can follow them and are mostly engaging.
The poor bits next, other than the three above every character is so one dimensional to be nonexistent (the attempts to give them all back story are clichéd - don't know if that is the writers, directors or actors fault but I suspect it was a team effort), one characters sole role seems to be listing the left of centre facts that clearly put off other reviewers (or it could be that they are actual facts and not alternative facts that put them off). There really seems to be no chemistry between the love interests in the show. There are thirteen cases and only one of those wrongly accused isn't a literate, well spoken representative of the American middle class (even the token guy from the street appears totally middle class), which is too say nothing like the vast majority of actual prisoners in the US.
However the real problem with the show is the one shared by all US cop/detective shows. The lawyers and cops in this show break the law, cover up for each other (breaking more laws in the process) and of course get away with it. US shows regularly have the police/lawyers above the law and justified in breaking laws because they always turn out to be right and only ever trample on the rights of the guilty (who as I have learnt from US television have no rights). It is ironic that a show based on the premise of over turning wrongful convictions itself commits so many crimes in doing its job. The show is clearly intended to be left of centre politically but frankly ends up as right wing as any other US cop/detective show.
One star for each of Hayley Atwell, Shawn Ashmore (I admit I like Killjoys) and Daniel Franzese and maybe half a star for Richard Thomas.
Riverdale (2017)
Archie meets Twin Peaks and it works
Some friends and I got drunk back in the 1980's and decided on a series of Archie movies taking them from 12 to 22. We wanted something that got grittier as they aged - some of things we decided on - Jughead becomes a junkie (no-brainer), Archie ends up with Betty, Moose is actually gay (comes out at university), Reggie turns out to be a serial killer (the Reggie in this show is already more dimensional than the comic), Veronica ends up with Jughead after saving him from himself (she was always too good for Archie) and we had something really cool for Midge (managing Josie and the PCs I think). Some of this was in the first episode - mind blown and only taken Hollywood thirty years to catch up.
I haven't read Archie in over 20 years so no idea what the comic is like now but I got to say I love the first two episodes of the show. It is very Twin Peaks in tone, style, story-line and pacing but less twisted and that works in its favour. The cast are excellent (okay Jughead is a little too emo and short while Archie doesn't look anything like Ron Howard but I will let that slide). The adult characters are much more rounded than the comics and anything my friends and I came up with (one there for Hollywood). The characters Cheryl Blossom and Alice Cooper (not the awesome singer but Betty's mum) are both too one dimensional given the amount of screen time both get but the show is only two episodes old.
Look die hard comic fans probably wont like this (their loss) and die hard Twin Peak fans will may well look down on this (their loss also) and Dawson's Creek fans will probably enjoy this.
Frankly I really like it because it is grittier than the comic, it is clearly Twin Peaks influenced and there really does seem to be intelligence in the writing (plus my drunken past self gets to be right about some of the characters).
Outsiders (2016)
Poor show best viewed as a parable of contemporary US politics
The problem with this show is not that the writing and acting isn't good because for half the show it really is.
The show portrays the towns folk brilliantly as the characters are well rounded flawed everyday Americans struggling with unemployment, addictions, intolerance, interpersonal relationships and how to get ahead. The writers have tapped into something (not as well as say Mr Robert has but well none the less). In particular the writing for and acting by Thomas M. Wright is brilliant as the flawed but well meaning sheriff (what is it currently about Australian actors). If all the show was as good as its portrayal of the towns folk this could be close to 10/10.
The problem is that the rest of the characters - the evil mining company and the hillbillies are one dimensional paper thin characters, that really are mostly clichéd to the point of caricatures (without the self awareness of that to make them ironically interesting). There is also so many flaws with the logistics of the mountain community to list here so lets just say the show gets minus 5 for the fact that half the show is frankly too unreal to be watchable (when you are less believable than a show involving vampires you are in real trouble). Maybe if the townsfolk were as unbelievable as the rest it wouldn't be as bad but I am not suggesting deliberately poor writing (television has too much dumbing down as it is).
What got me through the last couple episodes was treating the whole show as a parable of contemporary US politics, the townsfolk represent the average American (good and bad) while the hillbillies are the republican party in total disarray as the Trump character (Big Foster Farrell) destroys whatever it is they stand for (I have no idea and I have seen the show ) meanwhile the evil mining boss is the Clinton character (Haylie Grimes) with one mobile phone and nothing but personal gain as her motivation.
Hope this helps but I doubt I will watch a second season unless both halves of the show become believable.
Hunters: The Beginning & the End (2016)
Cliché ridden mess
Show uses that irritating insect clicking noise that every alien show has used since the dawn of time (I was sick of it before the opening credits by the closing credits I had the mute on for each time it turned up - I may have missed some awesome dialog but I really doubt it), add in a suspended FBI agent who served 2 tours in the middle east and now has PDS, young fit people who are so serious they are almost non- dimensional, a secret government alien catching agency, an alien bad guy who you already know will turn out not to be the bad guy, repeated camera refocusing tricks to convey the inner turmoil of the characters because they aren't good enough actors to convey it themselves, a character who pulls a gun from nowhere and uses it on themselves instead of the enemy who they have the drop on but use it only after they have given away the 'twist' or 'hook' that is so tired I could see the lines falling into a slumber as the actor delivered them. I will finish with something positive the use of the song Maid of Orleans by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark was the highlight of the show - it is from 1982 and is the youngest thing in this cliché ridden mess.
The Magicians (2015)
Harry Potter meets Dawson's Creek but really so much more
Harry Potter meets Dawson's Creek was how I described it after the first two episodes, my flatmate and I laughed at each obvious Harry Potter borrowed plot, we laughed even more at the pub as we described the opening couple episodes to our friends and it's many similarities to both shows but this is a show that keeps getting better and the cast for the most part are excellent.
It takes a much more adult twist than Harry Potter ever managed and is nowhere near as self indulgently angst ridden as Dawson's Creek. Get through the many obvious Harry Potter bits and pieces from the first three episodes and this show is very much it's own magic ride (well when it isn't turning into the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe). Episode four, which ironically starts with a well worn trope is when it really starts to find it's own legs - symbolically when the main character breaks into song is when the show breaks free and comes into it's own.
I haven't read the books so I can't comment on that but if it continues as it has done this will get a deserved following all it's own. Now my flatmate and I laugh with the show and not at it.