An unusually good American drama-series that is actually more of a serial since its episodes often end on a cliffhanger and issues continue in later episodes. This is not just a dramatic contrivance, but the presentation of real-life ethical dilemmas that make the watching of succeeding parts kind of compulsory.
As usual with US tv, each show has to fit into a predetermined time-frame while the screen goes black at regular intervals for edited-out commercial breaks. It's also replete with annoying shakycam establishing-shots of the city that does little more than irritate to no true purpose. These make each programme appear a little too formulaic for its own good but the acting, particularly of James Spader and William Shatner – along with the quality of the writing – makes the whole thing very watchable. The characters are actually three dimensional and we get to learn more about them as the series progresses. This show is also willing to make the characters unlikable by revealing skeletons in their closet and/or the fact that they are emotionally repressed in some way.
The actresses, however, are the usual tv second-raters who could not make it in the more exacting medium of the cinema; retaining unchanging expressions no matter the emotions the script requires them to evince! (Graduates of the Roger Moore School of Acting!) They merely exist to have sex with the actors as well as to prove that male writers cannot write convincing female parts. Close-ups of hands are designed to conceal poor acting ability but merely serve to reveal it.
The most unpredictable aspect is the humour that springs naturally from the characters rather than being merely a gimmick: A black humour based on experience with real and rather perverse criminals. Surprisingly intelligent and insightful and genuinely comic because it does not try too hard to make you laugh. A series aimed at the more intelligent and well educated viewer that rarely disappoints in any major way.
Copyright © 2009 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.
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