Will never stop loving detective/mystery dramas/series. Have loved them for a long time now and love that a wide range of tones are encompassed, whether light-hearted yet still with clever well plotted mysteries, gritty all the way through, gritty with a balance of comedy, the slow-burns, the multi-layered, the procedural/profiling-dominated and ones with rich characterisations and lots of twists and turns. Will not say that every one around is great or that every episode of personal favourites are immune from criticism, as neither are the case, but those of high-quality are so many.
'Taggart', one of the longest-running, is one of the examples of the gritty all the way through kind, and when it was in its prime (namely the Mark McManus/Taggart period, which was a consistent one in a good way) it was one of the finest examples. Liked to loved a lot of the James MacPherson/Jardine episodes too, the bizarre "Apocalypse" being one of the exceptions. Am not as sold on the episodes with Burke in charge, took me a while to warm to the character himself but the quality of this period was more variable with too many of the later episodes being too short, rushed and run out of ideas-like, the grit and surprises not as strong.
"Bloodlines" is from the Jardine-era, and for me it is not one of the best 'Taggart' episodes and a lesser one from this particular period. It is not a bad episode, there is a lot to like, but there were a few issues (not minor ones either sadly) that made it fall short of the usual standard.
For one, do agree that it has too many characters/suspects that it feels like an over-egged omlette. The episode diverts suspicion numerous times, very quickly sometimes too, on so many suspects that keeping up creates a whirlwind of confusion that gets bigger as the mystery thickens. It is also a bit of a slow-starter, it takes a while to get going and to the point.
Other than the over-stuffed characterisation, the other big problem with "Bloodlines" was the ending. The writers did get lazy here it felt and seemed to had dreamt up an as absurd an ending one could get. Didn't buy the identity of the murderer, who for me was one of the last people to do it or be capable of doing it when you have numerous other characters with such strong motives and more physically capable. Also the motive had the sense of that it came out of nowhere (there have been good examples of not-what-it-seems motives but this one lacked credibility and felt somewhat extreme) and it just felt rushed and contrived.
However, "Bloodlines" does have a lot working for it. Much of it is cleverly plotted, with enough surprises (the truth behind the fire left me in shock) and for a show known for not-for-the-faint-hearted murder methods there are a couple of particularly brutal and elaborate ones here. It was involving as it got going and it kept me guessing, and the character of Susan Kellar is an interesting one. The pace allows the case to develop, important for quite a fair bit going on in the story, but still keeps things interesting. How the team solve the crimes and their methods intrigue and entertain and any personal life subplots don't get in the way, that for Ross threatens to but just about doesn't.
Visually, as usual for 'Taggart' "Bloodlines" looks slick and stylish and matches the gritty tone very well. As does the very memorable theme song. The script is thought-provoking and it is very hard not to love the chemistry between the team, especially Jackie and Jardine. Ross has settled well, more so than Stuart did when he was first introduced. The acting is solid from particularly MacPherson and Blythe Duff, as well as scene-stealing Robert Robertson and of the supporting cast Aline Mowat.
In conclusion, decent but not top 'Taggart' standard, it would have been if it tried to do less and had a much more easy-to-swallow denouement. 7/10 Bethany Cox
'Taggart', one of the longest-running, is one of the examples of the gritty all the way through kind, and when it was in its prime (namely the Mark McManus/Taggart period, which was a consistent one in a good way) it was one of the finest examples. Liked to loved a lot of the James MacPherson/Jardine episodes too, the bizarre "Apocalypse" being one of the exceptions. Am not as sold on the episodes with Burke in charge, took me a while to warm to the character himself but the quality of this period was more variable with too many of the later episodes being too short, rushed and run out of ideas-like, the grit and surprises not as strong.
"Bloodlines" is from the Jardine-era, and for me it is not one of the best 'Taggart' episodes and a lesser one from this particular period. It is not a bad episode, there is a lot to like, but there were a few issues (not minor ones either sadly) that made it fall short of the usual standard.
For one, do agree that it has too many characters/suspects that it feels like an over-egged omlette. The episode diverts suspicion numerous times, very quickly sometimes too, on so many suspects that keeping up creates a whirlwind of confusion that gets bigger as the mystery thickens. It is also a bit of a slow-starter, it takes a while to get going and to the point.
Other than the over-stuffed characterisation, the other big problem with "Bloodlines" was the ending. The writers did get lazy here it felt and seemed to had dreamt up an as absurd an ending one could get. Didn't buy the identity of the murderer, who for me was one of the last people to do it or be capable of doing it when you have numerous other characters with such strong motives and more physically capable. Also the motive had the sense of that it came out of nowhere (there have been good examples of not-what-it-seems motives but this one lacked credibility and felt somewhat extreme) and it just felt rushed and contrived.
However, "Bloodlines" does have a lot working for it. Much of it is cleverly plotted, with enough surprises (the truth behind the fire left me in shock) and for a show known for not-for-the-faint-hearted murder methods there are a couple of particularly brutal and elaborate ones here. It was involving as it got going and it kept me guessing, and the character of Susan Kellar is an interesting one. The pace allows the case to develop, important for quite a fair bit going on in the story, but still keeps things interesting. How the team solve the crimes and their methods intrigue and entertain and any personal life subplots don't get in the way, that for Ross threatens to but just about doesn't.
Visually, as usual for 'Taggart' "Bloodlines" looks slick and stylish and matches the gritty tone very well. As does the very memorable theme song. The script is thought-provoking and it is very hard not to love the chemistry between the team, especially Jackie and Jardine. Ross has settled well, more so than Stuart did when he was first introduced. The acting is solid from particularly MacPherson and Blythe Duff, as well as scene-stealing Robert Robertson and of the supporting cast Aline Mowat.
In conclusion, decent but not top 'Taggart' standard, it would have been if it tried to do less and had a much more easy-to-swallow denouement. 7/10 Bethany Cox
