"Sketch Artist" is the latest in a string of police procedurals I have watched that are underwhelming. It's not that it's an awful show, but since the epic days of Nordic noire ("The Bridge", "The Killing"), American shows like "Bosch" and "Low Winter Sun", and even the Canadian detective show "Cardinal", this seems a big step down in intensity.
The characters are kind of phoned in stereotypes - there's the rugged old-school tough detective, the geeky young IT wunderkind, the unstable but empathetic sketch artist, Eve Garance (from which the show is titled), and an invalided tough as nails female boss. They all work in a special unit outside of the police (so no actual police procedure needs to be researched), working out of a suitably dingy basement, for dramatic effect. You don't have to be a stereotype to work there, but it certainly helps. It's a bit like power rangers, but coloured suits are replaced with cardboard cut-out stereotype personalities
Certain glaring weaknesses can bring a show down, destroying the suspension of disbelief, even for a viewer who wants to enjoy it. As an example, the tough detective, Bernard, doesn't mind using a bit of old-school (and highly illegal) strong-arm violence to crack cases. But he looks too old and slow to possibly be a physical enforcer. It is jarringly implausible.
Stories are dictated via the script in a ham-fisted way. They might as well all walk in and describe their characters, "I'm the one who...".
Also, we don't have one single epic tale here, but rather a sequence of smaller cases that are more or less uncovered by investigation. Arguably, this is not a failing.
I would describe this as early post-woke offering. As an example, when the IT wunderkind, Anthony, attacks the rugged old detective, Bernard, for not liking him for his skin colour, Bernard has a mini-rant about hating everyone equally. It's pathetic. It's not quite as bad as having woke politics preached to you, but having anti-wokeism preached ain't that great.
Despite my whining, it's kind of watchable on a rainy day.
The characters are kind of phoned in stereotypes - there's the rugged old-school tough detective, the geeky young IT wunderkind, the unstable but empathetic sketch artist, Eve Garance (from which the show is titled), and an invalided tough as nails female boss. They all work in a special unit outside of the police (so no actual police procedure needs to be researched), working out of a suitably dingy basement, for dramatic effect. You don't have to be a stereotype to work there, but it certainly helps. It's a bit like power rangers, but coloured suits are replaced with cardboard cut-out stereotype personalities
Certain glaring weaknesses can bring a show down, destroying the suspension of disbelief, even for a viewer who wants to enjoy it. As an example, the tough detective, Bernard, doesn't mind using a bit of old-school (and highly illegal) strong-arm violence to crack cases. But he looks too old and slow to possibly be a physical enforcer. It is jarringly implausible.
Stories are dictated via the script in a ham-fisted way. They might as well all walk in and describe their characters, "I'm the one who...".
Also, we don't have one single epic tale here, but rather a sequence of smaller cases that are more or less uncovered by investigation. Arguably, this is not a failing.
I would describe this as early post-woke offering. As an example, when the IT wunderkind, Anthony, attacks the rugged old detective, Bernard, for not liking him for his skin colour, Bernard has a mini-rant about hating everyone equally. It's pathetic. It's not quite as bad as having woke politics preached to you, but having anti-wokeism preached ain't that great.
Despite my whining, it's kind of watchable on a rainy day.