Reviews

...but they killed off the best actor in episode nine. Mariko really carried the show. Meanwhile the Blackthorne actor was the absolute worst. I'm sure they made him look even weaker when compared to the strong Japanese cast. And I do think episodes seven through nine dragged on a little too long. Too much focus on the ancillary characters rather than moving ahead on the plans to defeat the Council of Regents. And let me say it again, Mariko and the actor that portrayed her should have been alive at the end. Just a sorry way to end an otherwise interesting and well played series. Also, contributes to the history of Japan albeit in a fictional context.

So the first issue I had was that the majority of the film is spent with the heroine running from the dragon in the cave. I think we got the picture that the dragon was a badass early on so why spend all that time reinforcing it. That leads to the second issue in that the scene where the royal family gets havoc delivered on them lasts about two minutes at the end. How about the heroine taking some of that screen time to personally get her revenge. And letting the dragon live makes no sense. While the dragon claims that only three princesses were to be sacrificed to equal the three babies she lost, we see that there at least a dozen names scribbled on the cave wall. So it seems like this was an ongoing thing. A better ending would have been killing the dragon and then the heroine taking her own revenge on the royal family. And she could have taken over ruling the castle and kingdom which was much more promising than her former land. Plus, do you trust the dragon to always stay on good terms with you? The betting says no.

... but still was a strong showing. First, Helin is one of the best actors ever in her role. Simply outstanding. The biggest issue I had though was the mother storyline. There was enough other stuff going on that this storyline just seemed to get the way. So Saga's mother shows up and Linn decides to let her discuss all the things she thinks are wrong with Saga. In itself, that's highly unlikely that a conversation would ever take place. But then Rasmus is charged with checking out the allegations even though he is biased because Saga had him removed from their department. He cannot come up with any facts and instead offers that Saga is strange and odd. Duh. Everybody knows that. Then the Internal affairs interview should tip off the investigator that Saga is being set up. As a police woman Saga would have covered herself better if she was guilty of murder. But the obvious issue here is that Saga is incapable of telling a lie which all her co-workers know because of her condition. But the IA department puts more credence in a woman (her mother) who abused both her daughters and was sent to prison for it rather that a tenured police woman who might be different but is obviously being set up. The only other issue I had is one that is common in many shows like this. Why Freddie didn't beat Emil to death leads to the obvious--Emil tracking down Freddie. A little more creativity by the writers could still maintain the suspense without resorting to a dimwitted response by Freddie.

...only to hit the skids and go downhill about halfway through the series. Too many irrational and unclear motivations. The biggest is why Mannix decided he had to return from 2053 to 1890. He already had created the world he wanted. Next is Polly staying with him for 40+ years after she realized that Mannix did not lover her when she gave birth but it was all part of his master plan instead. And why did Mannix on his deathbed in 1941 decide after almost 150 years that he was indeed wrong in his global plan. Finally, Hillinghead falling for the journalist Ashe was suspect. Ashe was self-centered and in it for his personal gain. And Hillinghead did not need him to solve the crime since he had the photo. And why did the portal still exist unguarded by anyone after Mannix and his crew had killed everyone. The latter episodes really got bogged down in too much detail. Over 20 minutes was spent trying to explain the Mannix/Polly marriage when we already knew they were married. As I said, a great premise that just went belly up by episode 3 or 4.

...this series. At least that's my take after the first two episodes. But the biggest casting mistake is his daughter. First, it gets old when almost every series casts a son/daughter of the principal character as a sniveling spoiled brat. They don't listed to their parent (say in the hotel) and just beg to get sideways with a villain. How about a character that actually listens to the adult in the room and--surprise--is never put in danger throughout the series. Just tired writing. Second, his daughter is a terrible actor with no emotion and a monotone voice. One plot question. Why didn't Raylen and the other cop just go into the bathrooms at the bar to look for the gun. All they need to do was say they found it in the trash can and then turn it over to police. No warrant was needed. I understand this would have truncated the overall storyline. But the writers could have worked around it.

...then it's not a bad watch. But the Basso as the lead talks like he has a dip of snuff under his upper lip. And if Dejardines doesn't get into crying mode she is ok. But the worst actor is Chau who seems to be clueless. Some issues that don't make sense. The two assassins move into a vacant house and the neighbors don't call the cops even though the lights are on at night. I doubt the people left town who owned the house without letting their neighbors know. Then the assassins run around in the same car for most of the series without any cops being on the lookout for it since they know the plates. A typical trope where the spoiled rich girl sneaks out on her security detail only to be kidnapped. For once you would think they would find another plot device that is not so worn. Other issues--too much time spent on the backstories when they would become evident if the current timeline kept rolling. And as an "expert counterintelligence" operative, sort of dumb for Basso to hang out on his godfather's boat. Last one; with time running out and less that 3 minutes before the bomb goes off Sutherland decides to get into a fistfight with the bad guy even though he has a gun. Uh, maybe shooting the bad guy wn the wiser choice.

...and great story line. I thought all the actors were perfect in their roles. Not sure about the Moriarity character though. Seems to have gone a bridge too far there. Millie Bobby Brown really carries the show with her personality. I hope they will continue with future seasons. Maybe Enola will have her own detective agency in the future now that Watson has showed up. A couple nice twists in the overall story. But nothing too surprising regarding who the true villains were. But I always like a period piece anyway. As I said, hoping there are more episodes in the works. Although it only might be a point where Enola outgrows the story.

...ever. By the third or fourth show he's broken the case for the most part. But his boss doesn't want him to solve it so he has some of his people kidnap his daughter and then try to kill him. What does he do? He agrees to work for these same people to find out who robbed the bank. When his wife cheats on him he decides they should stay together. There is no outrage or angst, just a shrug of the shoulders. Even when his wife is killed you think he would go right after Jonkhere who did it. But no, he says he must find the bank robbers first which makes no sense. And by letting Jonkhere live it results in several other needless deaths. The entire series could have lasted half as long and would have been less painful based on Gerardi's ineptness.

...meaning the other reviews. Terrible writing, bad acting, etc. The villain can't even pronounce "paroxysm" correctly. Obviously he needed to be confined to one syllable words. You can guess who the mole is from the opening scenes., Just nothing about this flick justifies the team spent watching it.

...and then really went off the rails in this last season. What happened to Villanelle's quirky and humorous dialogue. In fact, what happened to Villanelle. She became an after thought as the series for some reason decided to bring in al sorts of other characters or spend more time on current characters. Backstory on the 12--useless. Carolyn getting more screen time--horrible. Pam--where was that ever going? Konstantin and Villanelle made the show the hit that it was early on. I guess the writers had a three year commitment and decided to just show up the last year.

So the idea of shapeshifting was a popular series staple about 10 years ago. Then viewers got tired of the lazy writing and it disappeared. Now it makes a comeback in this series. So the viewer will never know who Anna is. In the close, we see what appears to be Anna digging up a phone and telling whoever that the plan has succeeded. So here are some theories. First, the Russians assigned her to kill her mother, end of story. Or Anna is in some Russian prison and that's not really Anna digging up the gun. Or there is some other off the wall explanation. The point being that once again the writers got lazy and didn't know where else to go with the storyline. That and the fact that her daughter, Becca, is insufferable are enough for me to check out on this show.

...because they could have had Bond and family do a cameo in retirement on Jamaica (a nod to Fleming). The only issue I had was Safin. Malek is not a strong actor. And on top of that, Safin had to be 20+ years older than Madeleine based on the beginning of the movie where she appears to be 8-10 years old. By the time she and Bond meet after their breakup, she is in her early to mid-30's So Safin should be 50+ but looks like he's the same age Madeleine is. Producers obviously looking for an actor that is the current "face" rather than one with more gravitas.

...but not in this series. One of the main things that gets an audience to buy into the characters and storyline is that ultimately good will be rewarded and evil will not. In this case all the malefactors went on to live another day while too many of the conscientious people trying to do good did not. Karin, Tom, Engelmacher and Izasimov were despicable characters who should have been sent to the great beyond. For that reason I rated it down even though the actors were great and the period piece had potential.

So this season is rolling along--good acting, well written, plausible storylines. Then we get to episode 5. This was the episode written by the script writer right after he had a rough night at the bar. So he wakes up, thinks to himself he has to write an ending then just bails on it and goes back to bed. To think that Baptiste would leave the mother in the cage with her terrorist son just blows up all believability they could squeeze out of the last two episodes. The son is the only ne connected to the pending catastrophe that they have. So let's just leave his mother with him so he can escape--duh. Ray Charles could have seen this coming. How about these alternatives; the son doesn't escape or Baptiste figured he would and put a tracker in his phone. Just a terrible job of writing.

...was the fact there were too many ancillary issues that led nowhere. One of the biggest was Rodney. Great character but way too much screen time for a person who doesn't factor into the overall storyline or plot. Spending more time on Abbott would have resolved both those issues. But tight script and good writing overall. A shame that it wasn't picked up for a second season.

...after about four episodes. While the lead actor was was great, my issue was with the long drawn out investigative process. Way too much time was spent on Dylan and his mother. We knew from episode two everything we needed to know about their mentally defective characters. But the series spent an inordinate amount of time on them and not enough on the investigation. The writers need to tighten up the show.

Actors who were washouts from the Lee Strasberg school of acting reciting lines that could be written by a 12 year-old. And the scenes. Starts out with the government setting up their big PR announcement right next to the sinkhole. A real safety issue they just ignore. It would have been better if the sinkhole had just swallowed them up. But the height of stupidity is the closing scene where the three characters find the ambulance, stand outside yim-yammering and then here comes another wolf on steroids. Do they think to get right back into the ambulance for safety. No. They say "run for it" like that's the smart decision. Really laughable. So I have seen all I need to of this joke of a series.

...that love each other but never commit to it. Instead they choose relationships that are destined for disaster. Thomas gets back together with his ex-wife who left him three years ago And the only reason she wants to get together again is to have a baby. Once that is done she's off on her own again. And Nora picks a relationship because she can't stand to be alone. Her first husband is slimy and her subsequent boyfriend brings nothing to the table but jealousy. So this has gone on for 7 years now and neither Thomas or Nora are any closer to committing to each other. Just a strange way to develop a storyline.

...and it was too predictable. Plus they crammed every PC trope into the 2+ hours they could. But the biggest issue is near the end of the movie when they think they know how to find the aliens and destroy them. Now faced with imminent extinction you would think the officials would say they have nothing left to lose. But no, they refuse to help in that endeavor. Lots of action but just a poor storyline and dialogue.

...and poor writing. This series in general is worth about 8 stars. But this episode was so unwatchable because of the absurdity. A killer is released from prison after 7 years. He then kidnaps the underage sister of the girl that he was accused of killing. He sets up Veum by taking some photos of him and the girl in a compromising position (while he's tied to the bed). Now the killer threatens to blackmail him by releasing the photos if Veum doesn't help him prove his innocence. But wait, he also threatens to kill the underage girl on the phone with Veum while a cop is in the same room with Veum. Does Veum think to put it on speaker so the cop can hear this? No. Does he tell the cop what he was just told? No. Then the killer puts a gun to Veum's head and threatens to shoot him if he doesn't help. And the killer releases the photos anyway. So Veum gets arrested later but the killer doesn't even though he's committed so many crimes to date that he should be on his way back to prison. As I said, the writers must have taken a holiday and given the script assignment to a freshman screenwriting class.

...because they obviously were going to do a second season which never came to fruition. But Sofia not being caught and the PM getting away with it were disappointing. But the biggest issue is there were 4 murders in the first few episodes but you hear nothing more about them until the last episode or two. Then you intro the terrorist plot and spend way too much time on that as opposed to the authorities investigating it (ugh, episode 5 was a total waste). It was like we needed to spend hours figuring out the motivation of these people when you knew all you needed to know within a half hour or so; they were killers. And the depiction of the police makes them look foolish. The scene where they block the bridge and they know the car that they are looking for but let the car thru because it only had one female drive was laughable. A series that had not continuity and should have been split into two separate series.