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Reviews
Grey's Anatomy (2005)
Kindergartners, MD
This cast of emotionally stunted, confidence-deficient characters make you wonder how they ever put their socks on, paid a bill, cooked mac 'n' cheese, much less got through life, let alone med school, let alone conflicts, let alone surgeries. These caricatures of adults with their never-ending internecine dramas make kindergartner sandbox politics look like high-level international deal brokers by contrast. Meredith and that babysqueak voice who holds an endless torch for a dead-ender; Alex and his abject d-baggery, betrayals, and frat-boy antics; Cristina with an emotional iq of -- somehow is "brilliant"/please?!; McDreamy who can rewire brains but can't figure out that he doesn't like his wife anymore; McNally who's got an elementary-grade crush--and what is with the unbelievable high body count? The death rate on the ORT makes it look like they got their med degrees at a vending machine. After a few episodes, we saw the pattern, "Oh, s/he's not going to make it. That one's going to croak," and sure enough, we could predict with 95% certainty what would happen. It would be a comedy if the jokes were better and a drama if it weren't lathered in soapy ridiculousness. Total snoozer. This show's characters needed to have mature, internally strong personalities with high moral integrity and backbones working on patients--these show docs are often selfish, egotistical, dismissive, condescending and contemptible toward their patients--WHY would they go into medicine/surgery if they were misanthropes and preferred gazing at their bellybuttons (and below) more than saving lives and advancing medicine? It's a prima facie contradiction that sets up an untenable arc for compelling tv. Save yourself time.
Innocente (2016)
Draws you in
Good story, with interesting twists and turns, and the narrative covers lots of ground in an economical but focused way, respecting the viewer's time and intelligence. It sure kept me guessing as to who dunnit! The relationships are well fleshed out and not just slap-dashed-by-lazy-writing. This is an excellent thriller.
Bliss (2021)
Wished for better
The premise, acting, actors, sets, and costumes were interesting, but the narrative and plot seemed very disjointed. I never got a fix on where the characters really were, where they wanted to be ultimately, or where the viewer should be, nor quite how to root for them. This reminded me of the ideas in The Matrix, but not as compelling or engaging.
Bridgerton (2020)
Gorgeous Fiction
Bridgerton made for entertaining watching, and judged on its own, it's a delightful romance swathed in period taffeta, jewels, ornateness, decorum, and rule breaking. The fictional story did some very interesting things in its narrative (and some have panned that): its inclusive casting, and as I saw it, a female-centered (if not feminist) perspective and the claiming of female agency, physical, emotional, and intellectual, despite the constraints of conventional patriarchal norms. I really liked that the lead female character (Dynevor) was full of personality and worked hard to define herself for herself as much as possible, going against the grain, and forging her personal path through various challenges and setbacks. She stands up for her emotional/romantic happiness and does not compromise or "settle" in the affairs of her heart, which is a rather more modern notion dressed up in period costume. The show lent itself to very interesting analyses by the choices it made, and it posited some different perspectives that in a way reimagine history by setting it in a fiction genre--i.e., projecting a "what if" world vs a documentary "what was/what is" one. Fantasy, fiction, or even historical fiction, have plenty to offer on their own genre's terms, juat as does Bridgerton.
Poirot (1989)
Outstanding
A terrifically acted series. Delightful and masterful. Wish they had kept it going even longer.
Whitechapel (2009)
Outstanding
The acting, the plots, the scripts, sets, costumes and dialogue are all of the highest caliber, bar none. The tight scriptwriting keeps things moving along with intrigue and just enough of the personal lives of characters to make for compelling watching. THIS is a series that respects its viewers' time and intellect (especially if you like procedurals) and understands the modern, sophisticated a/v media consumer who has logged a lot of content watching and has a broad base of comparison.
Capitani (2019)
Another way-too-long series...
That works through a simple story line by silent-stare-acting and overdramatized glares to faux amp the small-town-secrets coverup mystery. So many of these overdramatized shows that run at six, ten, twelve episodes a series really should be two- or three-parters (a la BBC White Chapel) to tighten up the pace of delivery and spare the viewer all the empty seconds of pregnant pauses and unanswered questions in the dialogue. More languishing emoting whisper acting is not more; it's just a time filler instead of sticking tightly to what is a fairly decent concept for a plot.
Caïn (2012)
Action packed
The plots move at a good clip in every episode, not too much soapiness in the personal lives of characters, and the acting is good all around. The actor who plays Cain does a great job, and it's forward thinking of the show creators to feature characters of different abilities in prominent roles and demanding occupations. The gritty and beautiful landscape geo setting in and around Marseille makes it très interesting as well.
Profilage (2009)
Too clichéd
A profiler (Chloé) who arrives late to crime scenes in runway getups, nylons, heels and dressy handbags, who winds up in rabbit holes with suspects without a gun, without any backup, without a walkie or a working phone?! What kind of police work is this? How would she ever run after a suspect in her stilettos, her handbag slung around her elbow?!! The character isn't written to appear more than a crime scene ornament with profiling abilities. Criminal Minds (and JJ) this is not, but, this show could have benefited from some of CM's type of rigorous and solid writing, because this show really strains the viewer's smarts, esp. fans of procedurals.The way Chloé's portrayed, she could do her job from a desk, but out in the field, it's absolutely the most unrealistic, not to say ridiculous, characterization.