Review of Almost Paradise

I was a big fan of Leverage, Spencer was one of my fav characters. In Almost Paradise, the writing is about a 4 by comparison, the actors are also around that same number with an occasional 5 or 6 brought in. Kane really carries this show against all odds, to be honest. But on an apparently tiny budget the producer managed to put a decent frame around Christian, who probably picked up a whole new set of fans -- PI women are suckers for good looking American's, according to my aunt from Manilla, and watch pretty much any show or movie with a Filipino actor. If you can get past the inexperience of Samantha Richelle as a lead and the out-in-left-field aggression she mysteriously has for Alex -- who has saved her butt and the day numerous times and yet still doesn't have her respect-- you can enjoy the show for what it is: An action comedy that brings back fond memories of shows like Magnum PI and A Team, who also had mostly unknowns in lead roles. The show doesn't try to insert personal drama and milk it for an entire episode the way some modern shows do; there is point A, point B, and then the wrap up -- perfect timing. I think this show should have opted for at least one other American lead. If Filipinos had a foot in the door on TV and film, we would know about it. They don't. So although it's a beautiful setting and our cute DEA trying to relax is a good story line, I feel the whole cast being Filipino is just unbelievable and makes it a show that only the PI and Kane fans can appreciate. I also feel they should add more kick butting and let Acuna dazzle us more with his martial arts (maybe that's later in the series). I'm still giving it 8 stars but more realistically it's probably a solid 6.

After watching part of S2, I'm taking my 8* down to 5*. I can see why the series was dropped. The lightheartedness is completely gone, the focus on Kane is gone. Suddenly it's a hodgepodge of Filipinos attempting to act and too heavy issues. Really disappointing. Cutting my loses on E4.