A few weeks ago, Amazon dropped season three of The Expanse (alongside the first two having gained the UK rights from Netflix last year) and although it took a while to catch up, I've finally finished all thirteen episodes. And what episodes they are.
One of the things that I really like about The Expanse is that it combines personal stories from excellently well defined and acted characters with grand scale sci-fi, big ideas and a good dose of realism. True, the first season took a while to get going but with the third run, they drop the viewer right back into the action that season two ended with and you get much time to breathe. This show does exactly the opposite of many short run series, packing in more than enough for the compact 40 minute episodes and ensuring that the pace never slackens. Whereas I found watching pretty much every Marvel TV show a slog as they seemed to have eight episodes of story for a thirteen episode season, The Expanse is almost the opposite, and while they never feel rushed, you get the impression that there is much more they could put on screen. No, the writing and direction of the show is taut and lean to the point of bare bones - and this is not a bad thing.
The season itself is divided into two parts story-wise, with the conclusion of the Prax story as he searches for his daughter taking up the first six episodes, whilst the remaining seven deal with the "Ring". It's a roller coaster ride to be sure.
Standouts for the season - Shawn Doyle as the reptilian Errinwright - there is a man you'd love to hate. Pretty much all of the regulars are also at the top of their game and even the child actors get by without being annoying. Tonally, there is no black and white to the story or the characters and their actions, and it is this contrast that old-school Trek (amongst others) really misses out on.
Of course, combining small and large scale does put pressure on the shows budget and it is telling at a few points that the vision exceeded the money. Not by much, and what you get on screen is uniformly good and in places excellent, but hopefully Amazon will through a little more dough on screen for season four. Having said that, I still think they have the scale of the crew wrong when you see them on the exterior of their ship, the Rocinante but maybe that's just me.
Having mentioned Trek, I must admit I am watching and immensely enjoying ST Discovery. With one episode to go of the current season, it pretty much surpasses any other sci-fi on TV at the moment, except maybe The Expanse, especially as my good lady and I are slowly getting through season one of Star Trek Deep Space 9. I know, DS9 is 25 years old, but it feels much, much older, not just in style, but in pacing and story telling. I am told it does get better, but by God, the 45 minutes in DS9 feels like hours compared to The Expanse and Disco. Out of the 19 episodes in season one, only one, The Duet, really stands out. And the semi-regular heavy focus on Jake Sisko and Nog make it almost a children's show at times. Anyhoo, we'll get to season two shortly and see if it improves.
Once again, The Expanse is a highly rated show and if you don't have an Amazon Prime account, seasons one and two are available on DVD and Blu-Ray.
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Saturday, 13 April 2019
Sunday, 26 August 2018
Warehouse 13
When it comes to television shows, my tastes tend to veer towards the sci-fi and fantasy genres with some action and drama to add a bit of variety (plus a hint of Lark Rise to Candleford, which I'll explain in a bit). As such, most of the shows I watch tend to be American in origin, they of course having a history of sci-fi shows that tend to outshine the UK's own stellar output. An admission here - I love a lot of the homegrown shows, and not just the usual suspects like Dr. Who and Blake's 7. There are fantastic shows such as The Box of Delights, Quatermass, Doomwatch and Star Cops. No, what I mean is that there tends to be a greater acceptance of sci-fant in the US, which combined with the greater number of television networks and distribution mediums, leads to a much greater number of shows. UK output, even when they do feature a sci-fant background, tend to be more reserved and I get the feeling that the genre as a whole is sniffed at by TV execs in general, so what is produced is either aimed at children or ends up going for the cerebral angle and winds up dour and somber. The aforementioned Box of Delights was a 1980's children's program that transcended its target audience. It also helps US shows that they tend to have a higher budget per episode.
This brings me to Warehouse 13, a US (Canadian produced) SyFy show that lasted five seasons from 2009 to 2014. The premise is that artifacts with unique attributes are collected and stored in a secret warehouse so that they cannot pose a threat to humanity. The Warehouse is governed by a group known as the Regents, who monitor the Special Agent in Charge and their team of agents as they scour the globe (usually the USA, which is always Canada dressed up a bit - think of the Dr Who/Blake's 7 quarry setting - it's amazing what you can do with a bit of set dressing) for said artifacts. Naturally, there are those who which to use those objects for their own gain/world domination/insert reason of the week here and the show did a very good job over 64 episodes to portray that.
Despite the serious sounding description above, Warehouse 13 was a light hearted show and could be very whimsical at times and it managed the duality of action and whimsy very well. That is due to the generally good writing (though there were some stinkers during its run) and the excellent cast. Saul Rubinek, always a joy to watch, inhabits the role of Arthur (Arty) Nielson with a warmth that comes across naturally, His occasional grumpiness and ever present heartfelt humanity combine to give a well rounded core to the show. This wouldn't work, however, if the two agents he manages were poorly cast, but they got that right too. Joanne Kelly nails it as the studious and serious Myka Bering, whilst Eddie McClintock very neatly fuses the "Pete Latimer - geeky man-child" with "Pete Latimer - former alcoholic ex-Marine". Indeed, McClintock is the comic heart of the show and Kelly is the perfect foil for this. There is also the almost obligatory "will they/won't they" angle which is addressed in the final season. Both characters work to each other's strengths and form a prefect triad with Nielson.
That is not to say the additional cast are any less good.. CCH Pounder is perfectly sphinx-like in the role of Regent Mrs Frederick. Initially a cipher, her character development reveals greater and more intriguing depths as the show progresses. Allison Scagliotti, as (an almost stereotypical) rock chick hacker Claudia Donovan could be one note at times but, on the whole, added a younger vibe to the show and the near paternal banter between Donovan and Nielson is a high point of the show. The same can be said for Aaron Ashmore's Steve Jinks, a late-comer to season three. I can see why the character was introduced (and is indeed handled well throughout season three) but you do get the feeling that at times, they didn't know what to do with him. Once embedded in the cast though, Ashmore visibly has more fun in the role and the natural chemistry with Claudia is a hoot. Less well handled, however, is Genelle Williams, playing Lena, the owner of the B&B the agents live in. Although a cast regular, her appearances are not and it is not until season four that her role becomes more significant.
Of the recurring cast members, mention must be made of Jaime Murray's Helena G Wells (yes, that Wells!). Although quite a wooden actress (her delivery is at times note perfect with a role she had in Dexter), you do end up liking the character and she plays the part well.
Guest appearances are something else and they pick actors liberally from other genre shows (Alphas, The Bionic Woman, Star Trek, Torchwood and Buffy the Vampire Slayer to name a few). There are always going to be genre favourite actors and when they do turn up, it's a nice bit of geekery to see. What is evident, no matter who appears, is that they always seem to be enjoying themselves - Anthony Stewart Head as Paracelsus gives a hint of what an older Giles (BtVS) would have been like and he gives it his all in a panto worthy turn, adding a nasty edge to the role just for kicks.
Tonally, as mentioned above, the show was mostly light-hearted and whimsical, playing well with the concept. There is comedy, drama and action. The show was never afraid of presenting adult themes and killed off more than one or two of the main cast. The warehouse itself was destroyed at one point but an artifact saved the day, a running theme throughout the show that even they referenced from time to time. There were also crossover episodes with Eureka, another SyFy show of the time but they were limited to Claudia and Fargo (from that show), so effectively just extended cameos.
Were there issues with the show? Yeah, a couple. One was episode count. Respectively the seasons contained 12, 13, 13, 20 and 6 episodes. The elongated fourth season permitted two villain arcs but the truncated fifth was ordered just to give the show a send off after cancellation was announced at the end of season four. At least this was better than Eureka where cast and crew had to be hastily re-assembled in order to complete a final episode to be tacked onto what turned out to be the shows final season. The short fifth season does mean character and story arcs are a tad rushed but they still nailed the landing.
Aside from pacing issues, there was what can only be described as the bane of TV shows portraying the wider world - back-lot and set-dressing to hide the fact they were still in Canada. The most obvious of these were the 19th Century London set episodes following the backstory of HG Wells and Warehouse 12. It always seemed to be the same three buildings and a street corner. I am also sure that the "Moscow" streets were also "Paris" later in the same series, but hey-ho, it's all about illusion, though the portrayal of "Watford Racecourse" and the b-roll footage of "Paris" with a UK National Lottery ticket pod did raise chuckles.
Then there was the CGI. Now before anyone gets up to say that they only had a TV budget, I get it. You can only have so much money to show what you want on-screen but, like its stablemate Eureka, Warehouse 13 relied a lot on CGI: some of it decent, some of it terrible. Looking back, it adds a certain charm to the show even though the sheer naffness of it at times destroys all sense of disbelief. Then again, that's never harmed Dr Who throughout the decades.
The thing about Warehouse 13 is that was meant to be fun and funny, and it was both of those things. Whether you got the geeky references or the historical bon mots detailing the background of the artifacts, WH13 gave you 45 minutes of easy watching television and there are times when that is all you need. That sense of fun was no less apparent than in the establishing location shots. They must have had great fun deciding what each one would be. one favourite of mine is the establishing shot of Boston where the S in Boston kicks the T into the Charles River.
I was going to list a few of my favourite episodes but there are more than just a few and that could get a little tedious so I'll tell you about two episodes, both from the final season, that neatly sum up WH13.
"Savage Seduction", fourth of the season's six episodes, switches between two plots. Claudia and Steve investigate a campus where an artifact splits people into two so they can study and party at the same time (Steve, being gay, gets split into campy and straight versions of himself, the results of which are hilarious without falling into the stereotypical pit hole). Pete, helping his former girlfriend whose grandmother is trapped inside a Mexican tele-novella, is joined in there by Myka and Arty and the results are even funnier. It's in Spanish, so the cast's reaction to hearing themselves speaking Spanish is brilliant. Embracing the tele-novella format, the acting is so OTT that it reaches pantomime levels of absurdity, especially when the cast switch between their own persona and the tele-novella persona - the Mariachi band blaring away and the wind wafting across their faces at each transition never gets old. Indeed, the transitions get more exaggerated each time and I am sure Pete's mustache is insured by PETA. The OTT theme encompasses the whole episode, from the little Mariachi band during the opening credits to the revised theme during the closing credits. This episode shows the entire cast and crew aiming for the boundary and knocking it out of the park with ease.
"Endless" is the season (and show) finale, so what do they do? They do a clip show. For those of you who don't know, clip shows are used to fill an episode where the producers want to save money or there is a production strike or whatever. They re-use a ton of clips from previous episodes with the bare minimum of new scenes to tie it all together. They are cheap fillers. A classic example for those who have seen it is Star Trek: The Next Generation's season two episode "Shades of Gray". It is diabolical. They ran out of money for the season so produced the only clip episode in TNG's run and it did not go down well, to say the least. Anyhoo, back to WH13 and they finish the show on a clip episode, yet they play with that. Yes, it has the format of a clip show but they are all new clips, subverting the formula. They saved up for this one and boy, does it show! Starting off with a fantastic tap routine (42nd Street), they riff off Fantastic Voyage before ending with a sense of closure for the cast and a brief glimpse of the future. It is slightly forced (they could have used a feature length show for this to be honest) but they did a good job and I have seen far worse series endings. I felt quite sad the last time the credits rolled.
Alongside Eureka, Warehouse 13 is damn good light science fiction television. That it got 64 episodes is kind of a blessing and for me, it could have continued on for at least another couple of seasons. Having said that, going out when you at the top of your game is no bad thing.
Oh, and Lark Rise to Candleford? I watched the show a couple of years ago upon the recommendation of my better half and I quite enjoyed it. As a BBC period piece, it was a tad too twee for me but it was something relaxing to watch. For those of you who have seen it, may I pose a question? Wouldn't the set up lend itself to a period detective show in the style of Murder She Wrote with Postmistress Dorcus Lane as the sleuth? No? Just me then. Oh well, I'll save that for the fan fiction.
This brings me to Warehouse 13, a US (Canadian produced) SyFy show that lasted five seasons from 2009 to 2014. The premise is that artifacts with unique attributes are collected and stored in a secret warehouse so that they cannot pose a threat to humanity. The Warehouse is governed by a group known as the Regents, who monitor the Special Agent in Charge and their team of agents as they scour the globe (usually the USA, which is always Canada dressed up a bit - think of the Dr Who/Blake's 7 quarry setting - it's amazing what you can do with a bit of set dressing) for said artifacts. Naturally, there are those who which to use those objects for their own gain/world domination/insert reason of the week here and the show did a very good job over 64 episodes to portray that.
Despite the serious sounding description above, Warehouse 13 was a light hearted show and could be very whimsical at times and it managed the duality of action and whimsy very well. That is due to the generally good writing (though there were some stinkers during its run) and the excellent cast. Saul Rubinek, always a joy to watch, inhabits the role of Arthur (Arty) Nielson with a warmth that comes across naturally, His occasional grumpiness and ever present heartfelt humanity combine to give a well rounded core to the show. This wouldn't work, however, if the two agents he manages were poorly cast, but they got that right too. Joanne Kelly nails it as the studious and serious Myka Bering, whilst Eddie McClintock very neatly fuses the "Pete Latimer - geeky man-child" with "Pete Latimer - former alcoholic ex-Marine". Indeed, McClintock is the comic heart of the show and Kelly is the perfect foil for this. There is also the almost obligatory "will they/won't they" angle which is addressed in the final season. Both characters work to each other's strengths and form a prefect triad with Nielson.
That is not to say the additional cast are any less good.. CCH Pounder is perfectly sphinx-like in the role of Regent Mrs Frederick. Initially a cipher, her character development reveals greater and more intriguing depths as the show progresses. Allison Scagliotti, as (an almost stereotypical) rock chick hacker Claudia Donovan could be one note at times but, on the whole, added a younger vibe to the show and the near paternal banter between Donovan and Nielson is a high point of the show. The same can be said for Aaron Ashmore's Steve Jinks, a late-comer to season three. I can see why the character was introduced (and is indeed handled well throughout season three) but you do get the feeling that at times, they didn't know what to do with him. Once embedded in the cast though, Ashmore visibly has more fun in the role and the natural chemistry with Claudia is a hoot. Less well handled, however, is Genelle Williams, playing Lena, the owner of the B&B the agents live in. Although a cast regular, her appearances are not and it is not until season four that her role becomes more significant.
Of the recurring cast members, mention must be made of Jaime Murray's Helena G Wells (yes, that Wells!). Although quite a wooden actress (her delivery is at times note perfect with a role she had in Dexter), you do end up liking the character and she plays the part well.
Guest appearances are something else and they pick actors liberally from other genre shows (Alphas, The Bionic Woman, Star Trek, Torchwood and Buffy the Vampire Slayer to name a few). There are always going to be genre favourite actors and when they do turn up, it's a nice bit of geekery to see. What is evident, no matter who appears, is that they always seem to be enjoying themselves - Anthony Stewart Head as Paracelsus gives a hint of what an older Giles (BtVS) would have been like and he gives it his all in a panto worthy turn, adding a nasty edge to the role just for kicks.
Tonally, as mentioned above, the show was mostly light-hearted and whimsical, playing well with the concept. There is comedy, drama and action. The show was never afraid of presenting adult themes and killed off more than one or two of the main cast. The warehouse itself was destroyed at one point but an artifact saved the day, a running theme throughout the show that even they referenced from time to time. There were also crossover episodes with Eureka, another SyFy show of the time but they were limited to Claudia and Fargo (from that show), so effectively just extended cameos.
Were there issues with the show? Yeah, a couple. One was episode count. Respectively the seasons contained 12, 13, 13, 20 and 6 episodes. The elongated fourth season permitted two villain arcs but the truncated fifth was ordered just to give the show a send off after cancellation was announced at the end of season four. At least this was better than Eureka where cast and crew had to be hastily re-assembled in order to complete a final episode to be tacked onto what turned out to be the shows final season. The short fifth season does mean character and story arcs are a tad rushed but they still nailed the landing.
Aside from pacing issues, there was what can only be described as the bane of TV shows portraying the wider world - back-lot and set-dressing to hide the fact they were still in Canada. The most obvious of these were the 19th Century London set episodes following the backstory of HG Wells and Warehouse 12. It always seemed to be the same three buildings and a street corner. I am also sure that the "Moscow" streets were also "Paris" later in the same series, but hey-ho, it's all about illusion, though the portrayal of "Watford Racecourse" and the b-roll footage of "Paris" with a UK National Lottery ticket pod did raise chuckles.
Then there was the CGI. Now before anyone gets up to say that they only had a TV budget, I get it. You can only have so much money to show what you want on-screen but, like its stablemate Eureka, Warehouse 13 relied a lot on CGI: some of it decent, some of it terrible. Looking back, it adds a certain charm to the show even though the sheer naffness of it at times destroys all sense of disbelief. Then again, that's never harmed Dr Who throughout the decades.
The thing about Warehouse 13 is that was meant to be fun and funny, and it was both of those things. Whether you got the geeky references or the historical bon mots detailing the background of the artifacts, WH13 gave you 45 minutes of easy watching television and there are times when that is all you need. That sense of fun was no less apparent than in the establishing location shots. They must have had great fun deciding what each one would be. one favourite of mine is the establishing shot of Boston where the S in Boston kicks the T into the Charles River.
I was going to list a few of my favourite episodes but there are more than just a few and that could get a little tedious so I'll tell you about two episodes, both from the final season, that neatly sum up WH13.
"Savage Seduction", fourth of the season's six episodes, switches between two plots. Claudia and Steve investigate a campus where an artifact splits people into two so they can study and party at the same time (Steve, being gay, gets split into campy and straight versions of himself, the results of which are hilarious without falling into the stereotypical pit hole). Pete, helping his former girlfriend whose grandmother is trapped inside a Mexican tele-novella, is joined in there by Myka and Arty and the results are even funnier. It's in Spanish, so the cast's reaction to hearing themselves speaking Spanish is brilliant. Embracing the tele-novella format, the acting is so OTT that it reaches pantomime levels of absurdity, especially when the cast switch between their own persona and the tele-novella persona - the Mariachi band blaring away and the wind wafting across their faces at each transition never gets old. Indeed, the transitions get more exaggerated each time and I am sure Pete's mustache is insured by PETA. The OTT theme encompasses the whole episode, from the little Mariachi band during the opening credits to the revised theme during the closing credits. This episode shows the entire cast and crew aiming for the boundary and knocking it out of the park with ease.
"Endless" is the season (and show) finale, so what do they do? They do a clip show. For those of you who don't know, clip shows are used to fill an episode where the producers want to save money or there is a production strike or whatever. They re-use a ton of clips from previous episodes with the bare minimum of new scenes to tie it all together. They are cheap fillers. A classic example for those who have seen it is Star Trek: The Next Generation's season two episode "Shades of Gray". It is diabolical. They ran out of money for the season so produced the only clip episode in TNG's run and it did not go down well, to say the least. Anyhoo, back to WH13 and they finish the show on a clip episode, yet they play with that. Yes, it has the format of a clip show but they are all new clips, subverting the formula. They saved up for this one and boy, does it show! Starting off with a fantastic tap routine (42nd Street), they riff off Fantastic Voyage before ending with a sense of closure for the cast and a brief glimpse of the future. It is slightly forced (they could have used a feature length show for this to be honest) but they did a good job and I have seen far worse series endings. I felt quite sad the last time the credits rolled.
Alongside Eureka, Warehouse 13 is damn good light science fiction television. That it got 64 episodes is kind of a blessing and for me, it could have continued on for at least another couple of seasons. Having said that, going out when you at the top of your game is no bad thing.
Oh, and Lark Rise to Candleford? I watched the show a couple of years ago upon the recommendation of my better half and I quite enjoyed it. As a BBC period piece, it was a tad too twee for me but it was something relaxing to watch. For those of you who have seen it, may I pose a question? Wouldn't the set up lend itself to a period detective show in the style of Murder She Wrote with Postmistress Dorcus Lane as the sleuth? No? Just me then. Oh well, I'll save that for the fan fiction.
Thursday, 26 July 2018
The Magnusson Protocol
No, not a Robert Ludlum thriller, but more like a state of mind to be in when I approach a new book, TV show, game, whatever really. It can be summed up in a simple phrase: "I've started, so I'll finish."
You see, I have recently read a pair of books (of a trilogy - the third part has not been completed yet) and watched a TV series that have both invoked the Magnusson Protocol, the former being a good example of sticking with something, the latter less so. Let me explain.
Stephen Kotkin's Stalin: Paradoxes of Power 1878 - 1928 and Stalin: Waiting for Hitler 1928 - 1941 are, without doubt, two of the most exhaustively researched and highly detailed accounts of the life of Stalin and the Russian Empire/Soviet Union I have ever read. Not quite as personal as Simon Sebag Montefiore's superlative duo of tomes, Kotkin's work is truly on an epic scale while, at the same time, maintaining a personal focus on Stalin and those around him. For those who measure such things, the hardback second volume contains 900 pages of densely packed type before you get to the notes and bibliography. They take up another 200 pages of even smaller type.
It took me a good month to get through the first volume in paperback and I approached the second with some trepidation, knowing full well this would be a long slog to the end. There is nothing wrong with the style of writing, nor does it need any editing - there is just an awful lot to read and the second volume took about six weeks to wade through. If I were to complain about anything, well, that would be his propensity (as an Yank - sorry, American) to refer to the British as Brits (and individuals as a Brit) in volume one. It's a smidge annoying and he only does it once in volume two so I'll leave it there, but you know, no one else gets the shortened nationality so why should we...
Educational, informative and enlightening, I am pleased I stayed with these books and I will read the third when it is published. That is not to say I actually enjoyed reading them. That is something entirely different, but the knowledge I gained from completing the two volumes has, in my opinion, outweighed the struggle of getting through them. It was good to finish, as indeed I had started. If you have an interest in the period, by all means give them a go, you may find them an easier read than I did.
The TV show that also invoked the Protocol was Luke Cage. Now in its second season, this show had built up a decent base of expectation, with its soul, character and writing. True, there were issues with pacing and the musical accompaniment that made each episode feel like a riff on "Opportunity Knocks", either that or some record label paid a lot to have their bands perform in the show, but overall, season one showed promise. All season two had to do was provide a decent story and improve on the weaknesses. It didn't.
Season two has all of the faults of the first: the pacing is glacially slow and doesn't really kick off until episode 5. Yep, episode 5 of 13. It feels like once again, the writers of a Marvel show have a cracking set of storylines to fill eight hours of brilliant television and then get told that the network have booked a 13 episode season - but since the budget was for the 8 hour story, they have to stretch everything out to cover the mandated air time - and that means the pacing goes all to hell. The show still has the musical interludes, covered as acts performing in one of the main locations, so you have between five and ten minutes (of a roughly 55-60 minute episode) of bands/groups/solo artists performing. Why? Well, why not? It fills in the run time. Except that even when these sections are woven into the story telling, they drag the episode to a halt, destroying any pace built up and making even those short hours feel like they are a lot, lot longer. Ignoring the advertising function of these sections, they add nothing else to the show.
Not that the negatives end there. Oh no. The Netflix/Marvel TV shows have always tended to look right, that enough money was spent to make sure that, whatever other faults they had, they didn't look cheap. Well, this season of Luke Cage might be the tipping point. I understand that location filming in New York is expensive but when most of that location shooting is in an old warehouse, on a dis-used wharf or in some generic back street, you might want to consider your future options. It also affects the balancing act that every superhero TV show and film has to make - swinging between drama and over-the-top antics. Whereas the likes of Jessica Jones veers towards drama, if a little dour at times, and Daredevil keeps us knee deep in red leather, Cage is hitting that OTT limit, even when it doesn't mean to. From the overuse of slow motion camera work in fight (and walking) scenes to the visibly fragile props (tables, walls, padlocks - they all look like they were made on Blue Peter), the show is heading dangerously close to the 1970's Spiderman TV show in the levels of naffness and I can't help but feel that the show's budget needs a bit of a pick me up if they want to keep the New York filming.
Direction is leaden despite the regular change over of directors and this impacts the acting too, as most of the regular cast aren't that bad, or at least they weren't in season one. Now, however, Alfie Woodard's scheming villainess starts at Pantomime dame levels and camps it up higher and Theo Rossi's Shades is just a pastiche now - all sharp, too-tight suits, whisper level delivery and sunglasses at night. Even Mike Coulter, as the titular character, seems to be phoning it in, either gruff and bored or gruff and angry whilst looking bored. There is only so much broody-face you can get away with in one episode, yet this spans the whole season. I am presuming the tone of the characters was a conscious decision by the showrunners but for the most part, the cast come across as caricatures at best and lazy stereotypes at worst.
If, by reading all of the above, you may think I don't like the show at all. To be honest, it's not about liking it, more in being terribly disappointed in it. There were some good points - the best being the one episode cameo by Iron Fist who, surprisingly for his character, isn't annoying. It does give me some faith that Iron Fist season two might atone for the sins of the first season. Maybe...
So, back to the Magnusson Protocol. When telling a friend about the issues I was having watching Luke Cage, he commented that I should give up on it, that it was a waste of time if I wasn't enjoying it. I can see the point he was making and on a level, agree with it. However, if I had stopped half way through, I would not be in a position to make a fully informed comment on the show or make a judgement as whether or not to watch another season if one is made. It's a personal choice, as with all things leisure time related, but I think that there is something to be said for not giving up just because it's not really working for you at the beginning. In the case of the books, they fulfilled their purpose albeit with a bit of a struggle. With the TV show, it failed to be entertaining but knowing why it wasn't and what I feel didn't work, I will know better in future.
You see, I have recently read a pair of books (of a trilogy - the third part has not been completed yet) and watched a TV series that have both invoked the Magnusson Protocol, the former being a good example of sticking with something, the latter less so. Let me explain.
Stephen Kotkin's Stalin: Paradoxes of Power 1878 - 1928 and Stalin: Waiting for Hitler 1928 - 1941 are, without doubt, two of the most exhaustively researched and highly detailed accounts of the life of Stalin and the Russian Empire/Soviet Union I have ever read. Not quite as personal as Simon Sebag Montefiore's superlative duo of tomes, Kotkin's work is truly on an epic scale while, at the same time, maintaining a personal focus on Stalin and those around him. For those who measure such things, the hardback second volume contains 900 pages of densely packed type before you get to the notes and bibliography. They take up another 200 pages of even smaller type.
It took me a good month to get through the first volume in paperback and I approached the second with some trepidation, knowing full well this would be a long slog to the end. There is nothing wrong with the style of writing, nor does it need any editing - there is just an awful lot to read and the second volume took about six weeks to wade through. If I were to complain about anything, well, that would be his propensity (as an Yank - sorry, American) to refer to the British as Brits (and individuals as a Brit) in volume one. It's a smidge annoying and he only does it once in volume two so I'll leave it there, but you know, no one else gets the shortened nationality so why should we...
Educational, informative and enlightening, I am pleased I stayed with these books and I will read the third when it is published. That is not to say I actually enjoyed reading them. That is something entirely different, but the knowledge I gained from completing the two volumes has, in my opinion, outweighed the struggle of getting through them. It was good to finish, as indeed I had started. If you have an interest in the period, by all means give them a go, you may find them an easier read than I did.
The TV show that also invoked the Protocol was Luke Cage. Now in its second season, this show had built up a decent base of expectation, with its soul, character and writing. True, there were issues with pacing and the musical accompaniment that made each episode feel like a riff on "Opportunity Knocks", either that or some record label paid a lot to have their bands perform in the show, but overall, season one showed promise. All season two had to do was provide a decent story and improve on the weaknesses. It didn't.
Season two has all of the faults of the first: the pacing is glacially slow and doesn't really kick off until episode 5. Yep, episode 5 of 13. It feels like once again, the writers of a Marvel show have a cracking set of storylines to fill eight hours of brilliant television and then get told that the network have booked a 13 episode season - but since the budget was for the 8 hour story, they have to stretch everything out to cover the mandated air time - and that means the pacing goes all to hell. The show still has the musical interludes, covered as acts performing in one of the main locations, so you have between five and ten minutes (of a roughly 55-60 minute episode) of bands/groups/solo artists performing. Why? Well, why not? It fills in the run time. Except that even when these sections are woven into the story telling, they drag the episode to a halt, destroying any pace built up and making even those short hours feel like they are a lot, lot longer. Ignoring the advertising function of these sections, they add nothing else to the show.
Not that the negatives end there. Oh no. The Netflix/Marvel TV shows have always tended to look right, that enough money was spent to make sure that, whatever other faults they had, they didn't look cheap. Well, this season of Luke Cage might be the tipping point. I understand that location filming in New York is expensive but when most of that location shooting is in an old warehouse, on a dis-used wharf or in some generic back street, you might want to consider your future options. It also affects the balancing act that every superhero TV show and film has to make - swinging between drama and over-the-top antics. Whereas the likes of Jessica Jones veers towards drama, if a little dour at times, and Daredevil keeps us knee deep in red leather, Cage is hitting that OTT limit, even when it doesn't mean to. From the overuse of slow motion camera work in fight (and walking) scenes to the visibly fragile props (tables, walls, padlocks - they all look like they were made on Blue Peter), the show is heading dangerously close to the 1970's Spiderman TV show in the levels of naffness and I can't help but feel that the show's budget needs a bit of a pick me up if they want to keep the New York filming.
Direction is leaden despite the regular change over of directors and this impacts the acting too, as most of the regular cast aren't that bad, or at least they weren't in season one. Now, however, Alfie Woodard's scheming villainess starts at Pantomime dame levels and camps it up higher and Theo Rossi's Shades is just a pastiche now - all sharp, too-tight suits, whisper level delivery and sunglasses at night. Even Mike Coulter, as the titular character, seems to be phoning it in, either gruff and bored or gruff and angry whilst looking bored. There is only so much broody-face you can get away with in one episode, yet this spans the whole season. I am presuming the tone of the characters was a conscious decision by the showrunners but for the most part, the cast come across as caricatures at best and lazy stereotypes at worst.
If, by reading all of the above, you may think I don't like the show at all. To be honest, it's not about liking it, more in being terribly disappointed in it. There were some good points - the best being the one episode cameo by Iron Fist who, surprisingly for his character, isn't annoying. It does give me some faith that Iron Fist season two might atone for the sins of the first season. Maybe...
So, back to the Magnusson Protocol. When telling a friend about the issues I was having watching Luke Cage, he commented that I should give up on it, that it was a waste of time if I wasn't enjoying it. I can see the point he was making and on a level, agree with it. However, if I had stopped half way through, I would not be in a position to make a fully informed comment on the show or make a judgement as whether or not to watch another season if one is made. It's a personal choice, as with all things leisure time related, but I think that there is something to be said for not giving up just because it's not really working for you at the beginning. In the case of the books, they fulfilled their purpose albeit with a bit of a struggle. With the TV show, it failed to be entertaining but knowing why it wasn't and what I feel didn't work, I will know better in future.
Friday, 19 January 2018
Hard Sun - TV Review
Every once in a while, one of the mainstream UK television networks tries its hand at science fiction. Sometimes, these can be successful (I am thinking season three of Torchwood), yet many times, they fall more than a little flat (pretty much anything on ITV, they always seem to either go kiddie safe or full on mopey drama). That's not to say they shouldn't keep trying and here comes the BBC with a Hulu co-operation: Hard Sun.
Before I go any further, beware, there are going to be spoilers so if you are watching the series on BBC One, beware. However, since it was also full released in BBC iPlayer, you can do what I did and get through all six episodes over a couple of nights.
So, the premise is pre-apocalyptic, the sun is going to kill us in five years, humanity and all life on earth. This knowledge is being tightly controlled until a hacker steals the data and promptly falls off the top of a tower block, triggering the involvement of out two protagonists: DCI Charlie Hicks (played by Jim Sturgess) and DI Elaine Renko (played by Agyness Deyn). From this point, the show becomes a standard cop show with some conspiracy theory leanings, the sci-fi angle is a macguffin that essentially exists to motivate the cast. And what a set of characters we have: Hicks is a rotten person, he steals from the underworld, is suspected of killing his former partner (who Renko has replaced), has a pregnant wife with a daughter and is also sleeping with his late partner's widow. Yep, he literally has no redeeming features - even the displays of love for his unborn child are tempered by the extra-marital activity. Renko has been secretly given another chance to prove herself by investigating Hicks on behalf of the departments head, DCS Roland Bell. She also has a teenage son, the result of a rape attack when she was a teen, who is severely mentally ill and has extreme issues with her. These two are not the best examples of modern Metropolitan Police recruitment and it's hard to think of many shows with main characters that are so completely f**ked up. Sturgess plays Hicks as if he wants to be the next strongman of Eastenders and Deyn, all vulnerable yet handy with a baton, gets to show her acting chops well. The dialogue does let them down though, all hard-boiled, over-wrought and hyperbolic.
The supporting characters are much more likeable: the standouts being sarkey DS Mishal Ali (with a decent Geordie accent) and blokey Welshman DS Keith Greener. There is a pretty much even coverage of the countries and regions of Britain in the unit and smacks too much of quota filling - even so, whilst not overly realistic, the characters themselves are pretty well rounded.
Once we get out of the info dump of episode one, setting up the premise and the characters, episode two switches from conspiracy mode to "nutter of the week" territory, neatly destroying the urgency and paranoia of the first outing. Episodes three and four cover one nutter (so "nutter of the fortnight"), Five covers Renko's son and the need to take on the almost ever present security services, and Episode Six rounds off the series by a game of cat and mouse between the duo and Security Service agent Grace Morrigan (a lovely controlled and meticulous Nikki Amuka-Bird) as well as a second plot strand about missing people - it turns out a cancer victim is taking people to be happy then forcefully lobotomising them. That particular story has a couple of stand outs - one, if you have any fear of something getting in your eye, this episode is not for you, and two, Gotham actor Anthony Carrigan plays the cancer victim, Mr Weiss who, we thought when he first appeared, had walked off the set of Fringe, pale, hairless and wearing a black suit. For one second, we thought cross-over!!! Sadly, it wasn't to be.
Most of the plots strands are tied up by the end, Hicks admits to Renko that he did kill his partner, it's hinted the the DCS was in love with the dead-partner, hence the fight to get Renko to nail Hicks to the crime, Renko and her son start the basis of a relationship that means he doesn't try to kill her and then there is the ending... (I'll get to that lower down).
As I said above, the series was released in one go on iPlayer and I am pleased it was. I don't think I would have stayed with the show for six weeks. The problem? Pacing. That familiar problem of pacing. I can see why they have six episodes, and theme wise, they work well and are well made, but each episode is 50 to 60 minutes long and there are far too many dramatic pauses, long shots, etc that act as just filler. The music is quite good, though when you get harsh sun glare shots, there is always an ominous note, and that gets a bit wearing after the fifth or sixth time in an episode. The opening credits, too, are distinct and stylish, even if they do steal a bit from the new Star Trek: Discovery show, even down to the Michelangelo hands shot.
Now, the ending - the last five minutes of Episode Six vex me. Why? Because at the very end, we realise the Powers That Be have lied, that Hard Sun wasn't five years away, and that it is starting now. A shot of the sun, a giant flare swinging out to one side, captivates everyone who sees it. And then that's it. So everything MI5 have done, the killing, the chasing, all of that was for no point. If the PTB already knew this, why the five years deadline anyway? It feels a cheat by the writer, a shock ending that finishes the story with a final exclamation mark. Much like the "one month later" note at the start of episode two, this feels like a con. This show could have continued for a coupe of years, much like Millennium, which was the vibe we got during the middle episodes, yet no, it's had its six ep run and there you go. Maybe there might be more, the series doesn't air in the US until March but I doubt it. If I were to mark this out of ten, I'd say 5 - average.
Before I go any further, beware, there are going to be spoilers so if you are watching the series on BBC One, beware. However, since it was also full released in BBC iPlayer, you can do what I did and get through all six episodes over a couple of nights.
So, the premise is pre-apocalyptic, the sun is going to kill us in five years, humanity and all life on earth. This knowledge is being tightly controlled until a hacker steals the data and promptly falls off the top of a tower block, triggering the involvement of out two protagonists: DCI Charlie Hicks (played by Jim Sturgess) and DI Elaine Renko (played by Agyness Deyn). From this point, the show becomes a standard cop show with some conspiracy theory leanings, the sci-fi angle is a macguffin that essentially exists to motivate the cast. And what a set of characters we have: Hicks is a rotten person, he steals from the underworld, is suspected of killing his former partner (who Renko has replaced), has a pregnant wife with a daughter and is also sleeping with his late partner's widow. Yep, he literally has no redeeming features - even the displays of love for his unborn child are tempered by the extra-marital activity. Renko has been secretly given another chance to prove herself by investigating Hicks on behalf of the departments head, DCS Roland Bell. She also has a teenage son, the result of a rape attack when she was a teen, who is severely mentally ill and has extreme issues with her. These two are not the best examples of modern Metropolitan Police recruitment and it's hard to think of many shows with main characters that are so completely f**ked up. Sturgess plays Hicks as if he wants to be the next strongman of Eastenders and Deyn, all vulnerable yet handy with a baton, gets to show her acting chops well. The dialogue does let them down though, all hard-boiled, over-wrought and hyperbolic.
The supporting characters are much more likeable: the standouts being sarkey DS Mishal Ali (with a decent Geordie accent) and blokey Welshman DS Keith Greener. There is a pretty much even coverage of the countries and regions of Britain in the unit and smacks too much of quota filling - even so, whilst not overly realistic, the characters themselves are pretty well rounded.
Once we get out of the info dump of episode one, setting up the premise and the characters, episode two switches from conspiracy mode to "nutter of the week" territory, neatly destroying the urgency and paranoia of the first outing. Episodes three and four cover one nutter (so "nutter of the fortnight"), Five covers Renko's son and the need to take on the almost ever present security services, and Episode Six rounds off the series by a game of cat and mouse between the duo and Security Service agent Grace Morrigan (a lovely controlled and meticulous Nikki Amuka-Bird) as well as a second plot strand about missing people - it turns out a cancer victim is taking people to be happy then forcefully lobotomising them. That particular story has a couple of stand outs - one, if you have any fear of something getting in your eye, this episode is not for you, and two, Gotham actor Anthony Carrigan plays the cancer victim, Mr Weiss who, we thought when he first appeared, had walked off the set of Fringe, pale, hairless and wearing a black suit. For one second, we thought cross-over!!! Sadly, it wasn't to be.
Most of the plots strands are tied up by the end, Hicks admits to Renko that he did kill his partner, it's hinted the the DCS was in love with the dead-partner, hence the fight to get Renko to nail Hicks to the crime, Renko and her son start the basis of a relationship that means he doesn't try to kill her and then there is the ending... (I'll get to that lower down).
As I said above, the series was released in one go on iPlayer and I am pleased it was. I don't think I would have stayed with the show for six weeks. The problem? Pacing. That familiar problem of pacing. I can see why they have six episodes, and theme wise, they work well and are well made, but each episode is 50 to 60 minutes long and there are far too many dramatic pauses, long shots, etc that act as just filler. The music is quite good, though when you get harsh sun glare shots, there is always an ominous note, and that gets a bit wearing after the fifth or sixth time in an episode. The opening credits, too, are distinct and stylish, even if they do steal a bit from the new Star Trek: Discovery show, even down to the Michelangelo hands shot.
Now, the ending - the last five minutes of Episode Six vex me. Why? Because at the very end, we realise the Powers That Be have lied, that Hard Sun wasn't five years away, and that it is starting now. A shot of the sun, a giant flare swinging out to one side, captivates everyone who sees it. And then that's it. So everything MI5 have done, the killing, the chasing, all of that was for no point. If the PTB already knew this, why the five years deadline anyway? It feels a cheat by the writer, a shock ending that finishes the story with a final exclamation mark. Much like the "one month later" note at the start of episode two, this feels like a con. This show could have continued for a coupe of years, much like Millennium, which was the vibe we got during the middle episodes, yet no, it's had its six ep run and there you go. Maybe there might be more, the series doesn't air in the US until March but I doubt it. If I were to mark this out of ten, I'd say 5 - average.
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