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stephenw-thompson
Reviews
The Virginian: Legend for a Lawman (1965)
Time travel?
Always enjoyed any chance the writers gave Randy to sing, but the Hank Williams song he sings in jail was not written until the late 40s and early 50s ( because it was recorded by Luke the Drifter who was Hank Sr.s alterego.)
Good song, just made me think Randy could've used that time travel to escape. LOL.
Hawaii Five-O: Use a Gun, Go to Hell (1979)
How Many More Times, Oh Lord...
Throughout most of the 70s it seems every police show or detective show on television used the premise of how one gun becomes involved in a series of violent episodes. While I appreciate how hard it can be to come up with a script that is well-meaning, sometimes a picture of violence results in, dare I say, overkill.
In 1974, Richard Link and William Levinson wrote a movie of the week called The Gun which basically followed the "life" of a gun through its different owners. This seemed to spark a copycat effect throughout the television industry as everyone did their best to take their idea one step further. By the time this episode aired, Five O had already mined this territory once before and this one seemed more preachy than the original episode.
Hawaii Five-O: Image of Fear (1979)
Almost Great, Then it Falls Apart Like an Overcooked Souffle
When you borrow from classic film noir, you take your chances. This one had a really interesting premise taking Gaslight and liberally mixing it in with other films with characters who, at first, seemed the usual pristine secondary characters and towards the middle we as the audience discover an alarming fact about them.
When done well, this can produce some rather bold and genre defining stories like the British series Midsomer Murders. When done here, the script lets the young actress down into a mauldlin mash-up of The Bad Seed and a bad soap opera.
This could have been great but the script falls apart like an overcooked soufflé. And whomever decided this was the time to start giving McGarrett lectures that sound like second-rate Joe Friday must've been paid to kill the show all by themselves.
Hawaii Five-O: Good Help Is Hard to Find (1979)
Tony Alika is no Artemus Gordon
In the waning years of the original Hawaii Five O, Tony Alika became a recurring bad guy in the vaunted tradition of Big Chicken and Honore Vashon. However, this final episode tends to make one recall a Batman villain rather than the type of rascals Five O generally pursued. While Five O was without peer in the way criminals were often pictured as having their comeuppance, this episode seemed rather trite by comparison to other better episodes. Other than eventually tying up a loose end with the past of Kimo, this one is rather predictable.
Hawaii Five-O: Sign of the Ram (1979)
Down for the count
I loved nearly every season of the original Five O series, but this episode was almost as bad as the reboot episodes.
Wooden dialogue and weak riffs sounding like imitation film noirs abound. Not a shock that many of the fans say this was the worst of the twelve seasons.
Big Sky: The Big Rick (2020)
They may have kidnapped the wrong girls...
It's been a few years since I literally was out of breath after watching an hour of network television, but this episode was like a marathon on acid.
I still believe Jerrie to be one of the most interesting characters in a long time. Kudos to Jesse James Keitel in this role and to the writers in their ability so far to make a character who could have easily lapsed into one note and have composed a symphony.
As the weeks pass, I find myself eagerly awaiting each new episode. Good show.
Big Sky: Pilot (2020)
I just had to look, having read the book...
I'd been looking forward to watching this throughout most of the plague year because I recalled reading the book this series is based on back when it first came out. I was a bit concerned given I knew what eventually happens about midway through the book and was still pleasantly shocked at the timing of the incident.
While the main characters have yet to be fully developed for me by the end of this first episode, I was immediately hooked by the performances of the victims and the somewhat (David) Lynchian performances of the villains of the piece.
A really interesting start to this series. I know full well that for every promise of another Twin Peaks we are often given pale imitations, but at least with a bona fide series of novels based on the central detective of this piece we at least have the potential for a resolution.
Big Sky: Nowhere to Run (2020)
Remarkable
As an avid reader and watcher of mysteries, I recall reading the novel this series is based on from a few years ago. As much as I recall about the novel, so far it looks like David E Kelley and company have made a few well-placed improvements, not the least of which is the character of Jerrie as portrayed by Jesse James Keitel. This is a remarkable performance in my opinion. When you think of how much the character probably feels like an outsider and an alien in this rural Montana setting, to suddenly have to have a revelation of such personal magnitude under very extreme conditions and to have it conveyed as elegantly as it could have been conveyed brought me to tears. I have no idea how the television story will unfold from this episode, but I have to watch and see what happens next. Another nice touch in the telling of this tale was the inclusion of the Gospel song Down to the River to Pray as the episode faded-out. I may never hear that fine old song the same way again.