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Reviews
Masters of the Air (2024)
Should Have Been Much Better
This could have been great but the overall premise from the outset had flaws. Rather than follow a single thread through with characters that develop, it includes as many stories from the era as possible, even though the man characters would not have been involved. This seems to be a common failure in recent dramas, covering up weak scripts/story with as many impact events as possible.
Special effects good but the number and proximity of the aircraft is way too tight. Bailing out of a P-51 at a couple of hundred feet would only have had one result - fatality.
Likeable characters - Rosie and Croz, Buck/Bucky just passed me by though I imagine the actual airmen were way more interesting than that.
Anti-English sentiment was evident throughout - but why? One of the final scenes really took the biscuit when the children run towards the airfield as the squadron is leaving for home, shouting "They Won!". No way - as my parents who lived through the war told me we were all in it together and every headline, including US papers, had "We Won!".
Shame - a bit less Hollywood and a bit more grit in the story and this would have been good.
Silent Witness: Familiar Faces - Part 2 (2023)
What Happened?
I would say that they all lost the plot but that suggests there was one to start with. So many conflicts, errors, poor acting , etc.
The characters are all cliched, poor dialogue, absurd storylines and emotions, what more can I say. All the main characters appear to require extreme diversity in the literal meaning of the word - is this intentional or a desperate play for relevance which has long since gone? And why do they do all the investigating while the police await their beack and call?
10 years ago this was a series worth watching but it has jumped the shark too many times. Please stop...
The White Lotus (2021)
Good in Parts
I must admit I have been a little disappointed with Season 2 after the great work in Season 1.
What I liked:
- Daphne, a great character, well acted, and some telling dialogue
- The nihilism when the Di Grasso men tried to find their roots
What I didn't like:
- Some slow episodes that added little to the stories
- Overboard caricatures, e.g. Jack with a mockney accent, Quentin, happy hookers, etc.
- So much unexplained, was this due to laziness of writing? For example what happened to Greg after he left, what were the "really bad guys" up to. It is sometimes ok to leave something to the viewer but as this led to the climactic scene this was odd.
- Unbelievable actions. Valentina would never have let Lucia and Mia anywhere near her hotel, even if a guest requested.
So a missed opportunity after Season 1 and will there be Season 3? If so then please cast F. Murray Abraham again as he brings so much to any show.
Silent Witness: History - Part Six (2022)
Very tired and implausible
This is such a shame - in the early days with Sam it was enjoyable, different and stuck to "the facts". Now it has clearly run out of ideas, characters are very thin and so may implausible plotlines. Home Secretary killed so no national investigation, police able to keep up with the Jubilee Line by car across central London, Nikki and Jack's relationship with zero chemistry, and Jack saving the policeman from being shot by appearing out of thin air (he seems to be carrying a bit of a paunch these days). I agree with other reviewers - if this is to carry on it needs a complete revamp with new characters and writers.
Life After Life (2022)
Limited Single Idea Story
The production and actors were very good but the central premise of a girl repeatedly dying then having deja-vu memories to avoid danger works well for episode 1 but no further. It just becomes a series of repetitive vignettes with little overall plot or theme. Do not look for any particular insights or meaning and the final episode left my family wondering what it was all about and how it attracted such a production effort. Disappointing.
Help (2021)
Gripping and Depressing
This had me engrossed until near the end with fine acting from Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham. I was not sure about Comer as Killing Eve is ore about performance than acting but in this she was very good.
Although we all know about the care homes being dumped on and abandoned by the government, and then lies disseminated, this showed in some detail what it meant to those working there. Caring and trying to do their best but ultimately in vain. Heartbreaking and worth remembering.
8/10 as the last section was implausible but otherwise a fine drama very close to home.
Silent Witness: Matters of Life and Death: Part 2 (2021)
Oh no, just no
This series is really going downhill fast. So the basic story about a death in a care home seems plausible, but then add Nicki sh*gging one of her students which will end her career, a care home walking elderly infirm patients across a field in a howling gale to avoid a flood when the building was on high ground anyway, Simone fixing up Jack with a blind-date that again ended in bed, and where is the credibility?
This series used to be good, solid and patronising sometimes but believable. This is definitely now a case of jumping the shark as it seems bereft of ideas and supposes us interested in the private lives of the protagonists.
One matter of relief - nothing happened after the cringeworthy karaoke of the previous episode..
Silent Witness: Bad Love: Part 2 (2021)
Much better than last week
This was much better fare than Redemption for two main reasons, the first being some great humour with Frank the W*** (what is NI+?), and secondly the introduction of Adam, as Nikki and Jack could not carry the series on their own. More plausible plotline and the humour properly pricked the pomposity and self-importance of Nikki's character.
However for sheer intensity, darkness and colour the acting award for stealing every scene has to go to
.
.
.
Jack's hair (LOL).
What has been done to it? He is only in his early forties!
DNA Family Secrets (2021)
Bit of a Mixed Bag
To start with this is based on just the first episode so the series may hit its stride later on.
It is derivative of Long Lost Families but the hook is the public's interest in DNA analysis as advertised by many police dramas and websites such as ancestry.com. Ok, so maybe target something a little different than just finding lost relatives and that was done positively with the young mother's possible Huntington's disease.
What I was uneasy about was the emotional ambushing of the participants. In Long Lost Families both presenters were adopted themselves and have the empathy required for the people involved, with some news being delivered off camera. In this episode some surprising news was delivered directly on camera, with one person then having an immediate Zoom call with newly-found relatives that he clearly was not yet ready for.
Stacy has many gifts but her appearance dressed more as a teenager as opposed to her actual age is not IMHO the right approach. These folk need reassurance and sometimes comfort. She can do some really good stuff but here she does not seem the best fit. Then again that may well change for the better as this is based on just the first episode.
However the segment with the young family suffering the shadow of Huntington's disease looming over them was well done.
So 6 stars as there is potential here and I hope it improves.
DNA (2019)
Amateur Hour
Episode 1 and the script/plot has been written by a school-child. No inkling of any police procedure, cop leaves pram alone outside on ferry in a storm, forensic results phone to home addresses and discussed over family supper, and cliched dialogue. There are many better Nordic series so please watch something else instead.
Bloodlands (2021)
Cliched and Tortuous
So many contrived coincidences and relationships all centred on James Nesbitt who as an actor just cannot carry a series. Always looking miserable (as well he might in this woeful vehicle) and then acting by numbers as the scene demands. Really poor. And for anyone who enjoyed Derry Girls the supporting cast has a few surprises....
And now having seen the finale this plot has more holes than a sieve. The basic premise was ok but the contrivances to get a drama out of it, the lack of investigation of the evidence, sudden volte-face from them all thinking Brannick is the murderer to then believing his every word. As with some other reviewers, Lorcan Cranitch is good but Nesbitt just doesn't have the acting chops, and all his DS seems to do is look worried in every scene. Slightly creepy feel about his relationship with his daughter as well...
Do we really have to suffer another series?
Apparently the answer was yes...:(
Well,, the Series 2 trailer is comedy "gold" but with Nesbitt's expressions and growls, episode 1 left me cold as ice as it takes itself oh so seriously.
Just give it a miss, you know you'll thank me for it.