Reviews Broadchurch and Michael J Fox Show

Finished watching the BBC series Broadchurch - which was quite good. Better than most of the mystery serials that I've seen, and far better than either The Bridge or The Killing.
David Tennant once again blew me away - with his performance. An extremely good and versatile actor. Actually the whole cast is quite good.

It's a quiet murder mystery about a boy who gets killed in a small British sea-side town. The story is about how the murder affects everyone in the town, depicting how media and the police can disrupt things. Deftly showing how malicious gossip can destroy lives.

At the heart of it is the simplest of messages...stated by the lead, a DCI with a heart condition. "We never truly know what lies inside another's heart."

The story never preaches, it never shouts or yells or manipulates...it just gently unwinds, showing the viewer facets of each character and different points of view. It is about family, and pedophilia, but not quite in the way one might think. It's weirdly compassionate towards all its characters, peeling back the layers and showing that people are never just one thing.

Possibly one of the best things I've seen on television this year, and amongst the most touching and hopeful - which is odd to say about a murder mystery.

I also saw The Michael J Fox Show which was much better than I expected. And far better than it's competition, The Crazy Ones. It does borrow heavily from Modern Family - copying the same narrative style of documentary style interviews. Also the comedy is somewhat similar in tone. Fox is as usual, charming, and witty. He makes fun not of his disease so much as the situations having Parkinsen's places him within.

For example?

The plumbers show up with a new washing-machine part that plugs in somewhere. But he can't remember where or what they were supposed to plug it into. So he calls his wife to ask, but ends up fumbling the phone and dialing 911 instead of 917. He tries to tell the computerized voice that it isn't an emergency and he dialed the wrong number by mistake. Then in frustration hangs up. Forty-Five minutes later, while he's under the sink attempting to show the plumbers which part to fix - the cops show up, and think something bad is happening. He frantically explains how he dialed by mistake and besides, that was over forty-five minutes ago. They are late. If it were a true emergency - he'd be dead by now or it would be over.
The cops state it's the damn new system, it logs it in and doesn't tell them until 45 minutes have passed.

Another joke? Michael is in a network news van which is a bit bumpy with his producer, the producer is struggling. She looks at Michael - how are you doing?
Michael - for me this is still. See, charming, and dry-wit.

In addition, it's extremely well cast. The cast is appealing and multifaceted. Michael's boss - is played by the same actor that played Detective Jimmy Mcnulty's partner in The Wire - whose name I can't remember. But he's the big man. His wife? Betsy Brandt from Breaking Bad. Everyone is well-cast in this show.

I've come to the conclusion that casting is extremely important and they should hand out Emmy's to casting directors. Casting can break or make a tv show. See Crazy Ones and Marvel Agents of Shield for examples on how NOT to cast a tv series, and see Michael J Fox Show and Sleepy Hollow for examples on how to cast a tv series. You wouldn't think this was that difficult, but apparently it is.

You can also dive in and out of it whenever. In short it is an episodic series, not a serial.
So I'll just watch it when the dramas I'm watching are in reruns or off air. (I'm right now watching Glee, Grey's Anatomy and the Originals - one on On-Demand.)

TV Poll

LJ is mostly dead on weekends...so hopefully more than two or three people will answer this poll.

[Poll #1936186]

And I'm going to wait to answer my own poll - after I've watched Hostages and The Backlist.

TV Reviews: The Black List and Hostages

Finally got around to watching The Back List and Hostages.

1. The Black List

The skinny? It's good folks. Really good. Fun, twisty, intelligent, with snappy dialogue. Plus it's smart. And well cast. The theme is who can you trust? Is there anyone? And the protagonist is a female FBI agent who wants to have a family and solve crimes, but, well, it's not that simple. We're mainly in her point of view. Her's and James Spaders.

James Spader plays an criminal mastermind, Raymond Reddington, known as The Concierge. He basically coordinates criminal activities and aids criminals - terrorists, hackers, etc. Think Professor Moriarty mixed with a bit of Hannibal Lector (except without the serial killing and cannibalism) as played by the devilishly witty James Spader. Spader who is balding has wisely shaven his head for the role. One day he decides to turn himself in to the Feds, lead by Harry Lennix (who you might know from Firefly and Dollhouse). In return for sharing his wealth of criminal expertise not to mention lengthy contact list - he wants one thing, well a host of things really, but one big one - he only talks to Agent Elizabeth Keen, a wet-behind the ears,or so it appears, new FBI agent. Keene has a cute teacher husband named Tom, and is planning to adopt a baby. She promises to put her family before her job and not let it get in the way. This is all established within the first five minutes - so not really spoiling you.

Neither character is quite what they appear. But if I say more - big time spoilers! At any rate, suffice it to say, a great deal happens in first episode. And quickly. I was never bored.

While it is a procedural - in that they have to figure out a crime each week - it's fast-paced and not plodding, and also seems to veer away from the procedural cliches. The first episode had a cat-and-mouse game feel about it. Spader's character is part of the reason for that - and provides a lot of the humor. At any rate it surprised me. And the protagonist - Keen is likable, so too is Spader, but that's hardly surprising.

2. Hostages

Better than expected. Granted you do have to suspend disbelief in a few places but not as badly as you did for shows like 24 (which I gave up on). It too is about a smart woman trying to have a career and her family. Except much like Elizabeth Keen above, Ellie, doesn't know her family very well. My one caveat is some of the family's issues are a bit cliche.

Ellie, a lung surgeon in her late 40s, appears to have it all. A lovely house in the DC suburbs. A lovely picture perfect family. A successful real estate developer husband. Two smart kids. And she's been selected to perform surgery on the President of the United States. She's attempting with not a lot of success to juggle both lives. But not all is what it seems...her family is not quite as picture perfect as they appear.

Enter the Rogue FBI Agent...and his team. They take the family hostage. What ensues after that is a bit of a cat and mouse game between Ellie and the Rogue Agent. ( Read more... )

It's a risky show for procedural driven CBS and is only 13 episodes - so will be wrapped up. They are trying to a narrative format that is similar to American Horror Story. Creating a television series that acts like a mini-series. Which the Brits actually did first. The US is sort of borrowing the model. It's cheaper and much easier to pull off.