TV Reviews: The Black List and Hostages
Sep. 28th, 2013 11:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatFinally 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. Ellie must kill the President of the United States on the operating table or her family dies. The surgery is the next day. It's a routine surgery. She's been selected for Political Correct reasons and to garner votes. The Rogue Agent played by McDermott's character informs Ellie that if she doesn't comply - he will hurt her family, they will die. It's her family or the President. This is established in the first five-ten minutes of the episode.
Great casting. The acting is quite good. While there's a few cliches - the family and McDermott's family problems feel like a mashup of various Lifetime movies of the week, the main plot focuses on what amounts to a cat and mouse game between McDermott and Ellie or a power struggle. He's used to accomplishing whatever his goal is by whatever means necessary, a guy who truly believes the ends, whatever they may be, justify the means - particularly when it is a just cause which he believes in. Beware the righteous man. Interesting - McDermott, who has always played self-righteous characters, is subverting the trope lately, by making these characters complex anti-heroes. He's also used to taking high-stake risks.
Ellie - a lung and heart surgeon at the top of her field is also used to taking risks and is no push-over.
What is compelling in the episode is their cat-and-mouse game or power-play. Will Ellie actually go through with it and kill the President as McDermott believes? If she doesn't will McDermott actually kill her family? What will happen afterwards? I found it to be more compelling than expected, in part, because of Toni Collett portrayal and her character - who is believable, sympathetic and not a wimp as well as how the rogue FBI agents are not portrayed as clearly bad guys. We don't know why they want her to kill the President yet.
It's a show that so far doesn't have clear good or bad guys, so much as a lot of shades of grey. You want to hate the Rogue Team, but you can't quite.
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.
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. Ellie must kill the President of the United States on the operating table or her family dies. The surgery is the next day. It's a routine surgery. She's been selected for Political Correct reasons and to garner votes. The Rogue Agent played by McDermott's character informs Ellie that if she doesn't comply - he will hurt her family, they will die. It's her family or the President. This is established in the first five-ten minutes of the episode.
Great casting. The acting is quite good. While there's a few cliches - the family and McDermott's family problems feel like a mashup of various Lifetime movies of the week, the main plot focuses on what amounts to a cat and mouse game between McDermott and Ellie or a power struggle. He's used to accomplishing whatever his goal is by whatever means necessary, a guy who truly believes the ends, whatever they may be, justify the means - particularly when it is a just cause which he believes in. Beware the righteous man. Interesting - McDermott, who has always played self-righteous characters, is subverting the trope lately, by making these characters complex anti-heroes. He's also used to taking high-stake risks.
Ellie - a lung and heart surgeon at the top of her field is also used to taking risks and is no push-over.
What is compelling in the episode is their cat-and-mouse game or power-play. Will Ellie actually go through with it and kill the President as McDermott believes? If she doesn't will McDermott actually kill her family? What will happen afterwards? I found it to be more compelling than expected, in part, because of Toni Collett portrayal and her character - who is believable, sympathetic and not a wimp as well as how the rogue FBI agents are not portrayed as clearly bad guys. We don't know why they want her to kill the President yet.
It's a show that so far doesn't have clear good or bad guys, so much as a lot of shades of grey. You want to hate the Rogue Team, but you can't quite.
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.