Oneillmike's Reviews

The Blacklist (2013–2023)

3/10

14 February 2015

Really disappointing. I like James Spader and the initial premise was interesting but the execution is just awful. The same formula is repeated in most episodes. Spader tells them who to get. The FBI screw up. Spader tells them what to do next. FBI screw up again and finally after Spader again tells them what to do they finally catch the bad guy.

I think the most comical character is the boss who walks in, gets briefed, barks out a few orders like "let's get this done" or "let's get this guy" and walks out again.

I am up to episode 13, series 1. The chick and her limping colleague can't even manage a simple arrest. How many bungled stakeouts or failed arrests before they realise these 2 agents should be making the coffee not running around the streets with guns.

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Suits (2011–2019)

5/10

No substance

12 April 2013

I have watched all the episodes and became increasingly disenchanted with the show. Too much melodrama, not enough substance. I am a person who loves legal dramas, anything with convincing courtroom scenes. The initial premise of an unqualified lawyer with a photographic memory was interesting but this plot was quickly relegated to the back burner. Instead each show became more typically an average soap opera where the main characters were routinely thrown into conflict with each other and starting keeping secrets and telling lies to each other. This is the staple diet of any soap you care to watch and the easiest way to create tension and drama. The love affair between Rachel and Mike was juvenile and it got to the point where I would fast forward when Rachel came into view - all she did was to complain about Mike and life in general. Finally I have to say that at the end of season 2 I lost any interest in Harvey, he seemed selfish and isolated and I could not understand his position at all. He was fighting everyone and for what reason ?

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Secret State (2012)

8/10

Enjoyable if a little far fetched

29 November 2012

Warning: Spoilers

Good cast and exciting plot. I think that in order to raise the excitement and make Tom Dawkins more vulnerable they gave him no friends or allies at all. It seems he had no one in the intelligence or military services that he could trust and was constantly fed bad or no information. He was very isolated and this was not really believable, as was his inability to protect the GCHQ girl who was helping him. I thought he was Prime Minister ! Having made those criticisms I was entertained and I thought Byrne was excellent as was the supporting cast. Nice to see Stephen Dillane on the box again. The good guy lost so any chance of a follow up series ?

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DCI Banks (2010–2016)

5/10

The miserable detective

3 November 2012

I have seen the last 4 episodes and have been greatly disappointed. This is a good cast but I have not been entertained. DCI Banks is wandering around with the longest of long faces in a mid life crisis unsure whether he really even knows what he is doing anymore. Caroline Catz is acting like a 15 year old in her first day at a new school. This part of the story, Catz's problems fitting in , was over laboured. The plot has moved very slowly and unevenly. All very downbeat and depressing. But maybe that's just Yorkshire ? The action scenes were poorly done and in my opinion not really necessary in a police detective story if the plot is good. So nothing original on offer and not even on a par with the competition. Opportunity missed I would say.

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Rampart (2011)

1/10

Horrible

10 August 2012

Story of a scumbag complete with shaky camera work and cigarettes in nearly every scene. How you could be interested in this character is beyond me. Well acted by Woody but no entertainment, artistic or educational value whatsoever. I don't understand what the director was trying to do. I expect to be entertained or at least informed but this film just shows the activities of a dirty cop on a daily basis. It's hard on the eyes as well. No justification for his behaviour other than he thinks he has the right to do what he wants. No redeeming traits to his character at all. Not even a clear ending to the movie. I have seen other favourable reviews on IMDb but I can't see the attraction.

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Wallander (2008–2016)

6/10

Good but gloomy

10 August 2012

I have just finished watching the 3rd series. The plots are intricate and the acting very good. The camera work and scenery in particular are excellent. Wallender is an angst ridden detective, has a drinking problem, divorced, has a bad relationship with his daughter. In the first episode he was living with a lovely woman but she had gone by the second ep so I guess she could not put up with him either. Not surprising as he is a loner and obsessive in his work.

To be honest I was getting a bit fed up with him towards the end with all the long guilty intense stares and silence. Half finished sentences seem to be his forte.

As good as the acting and camera-work are, I found the series not as entertaining as it should have been.

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The Walking Dead (2010–2022)

6/10

Opportunity missed - just another soap

14 January 2012

Warning: Spoilers

I have seen all of Season 1 plus 5 or 6 episodes season 2 and the programme has declined. It is now just another soap. The real interest for me would be how the group would survive in a broken down society - finding food, water, shelter, medicine. Instead the plot involves a series of manufactured accidents (falling off horses, down wells, being accidentally shot) linked by the standard soap sub plots (unwanted pregnancies, illicit love affairs). For me it's an opportunity missed - this could have been so much more. You have the opportunity to tell a story of survival against an extraordinary set of circumstances but instead it wants us to worry about very mundane matters.

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A Perfect Spy (1987)

7/10

Great acting but not much action

19 August 2006

Warning: Spoilers

I have just watched the whole 6 episodes on DVD. The acting throughout is excellent - no question. There was not quite enough action for me I must say. No real suspense as such, just plenty of first class character development. Nothing like Tinker Tailor in terms of "whodunnit". If you like a good story slowly and carefully told then this is for you. Peter Egan as the lead Magnus Pym is excellent.

The film portrayed the life of a traitor. A man who should have been a loyal member of the British Intelligence Service but who was so damaged psychologically by his unhappy childhood that deception became his way of life in all things. As a child he adored his father but his father was exposed time & time again as a crook and a con man. Pym betrayed not for ideology or money but because he needed to deceive those closest to him (wife, son, mentor). Pym is fatally damaged by his father's influence - it has eaten his moral fibre away. He has no real love or loyalty in him.

Heavy psychological stuff and not many light moments in the 6 hour series. Very well done though.

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Deadwood (2004–2006)

10/10

An adult show for adults

13 August 2006

Many thanks for the producers of this show for providing intelligent adult entertainment for adults. The language is harsh but funny and for most people it will add to the enjoyment. If you have an open mind you will enjoy the bad language as part of the show (watch the scene between Al & Mr. Wu "discussing" the stolen drugs which had me roaring with laughter). Great scripts and great acting make for great entertainment and the camera work is also excellent. I have just finished watching the first series on DVD and it is easily one of the best TV series I have ever seen. Great stories all the way though. Can't wait to catch up on Series 2 & 3 on DVD.

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Oneillmike

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