I live in Asia and was looking forward to this Singapore drama by HBO for months. Many of the finest programs come from HBO, expectations were high. The cast is good, the Asia backdrop inviting, and the premise engaging.
Embarrassingly, this series could have been set in Saskatoon and named Saskatchewan road - there is none of the rich history of British colonization, no remnants of Japan's extreme brutalization are evident, no Indian element (though a major Singaporean class). Nothing for us Asian fans at all (except old radios and period dresses).
Still, the idea of entire episodes being formulaic, predictable and riddled with bizarre and exasperating moral preachiness left everyone in our house deeply troubled... this is NOT daring work, not in any way insightful, the plots never bite into real issues. We have an absence of exhilaration or even titillation.
Smoky bars and prostitutes galore (with transvestite darlings who get their testicles fondled as pivotal part of plot development?), check. Ridiculous fist fights from deeply into middle-age Sam who gleefully dives headfirst into rooms full of actively fit muscular young men serves only to prove that our protagonist is unable to think through even the most simplistic of predicaments - decidedly sloppy for a character who is purported to be wise. Bar brawls sprinkled in every 20 minutes is in all absolutes not an Asian cultural reality, quite specifically this must be a 'Western adaptation' as any Asians would label this behavior dense and unrefined at best. Forlorn broody looks from love interests that go nowhere, yep. And of course, all Americans and America are always evil, all Australians saints? Ahh yes, this is clever award winning stuff .... And the ONLY black person in the series is an innocent - falsely accused by the Evil Empire, check. Zero humor, zero twists, zero tension, zero...
How, how did this ever get past quality control? HBO should be ashamed.. . Rrrrr, such hope...
Embarrassingly, this series could have been set in Saskatoon and named Saskatchewan road - there is none of the rich history of British colonization, no remnants of Japan's extreme brutalization are evident, no Indian element (though a major Singaporean class). Nothing for us Asian fans at all (except old radios and period dresses).
Still, the idea of entire episodes being formulaic, predictable and riddled with bizarre and exasperating moral preachiness left everyone in our house deeply troubled... this is NOT daring work, not in any way insightful, the plots never bite into real issues. We have an absence of exhilaration or even titillation.
Smoky bars and prostitutes galore (with transvestite darlings who get their testicles fondled as pivotal part of plot development?), check. Ridiculous fist fights from deeply into middle-age Sam who gleefully dives headfirst into rooms full of actively fit muscular young men serves only to prove that our protagonist is unable to think through even the most simplistic of predicaments - decidedly sloppy for a character who is purported to be wise. Bar brawls sprinkled in every 20 minutes is in all absolutes not an Asian cultural reality, quite specifically this must be a 'Western adaptation' as any Asians would label this behavior dense and unrefined at best. Forlorn broody looks from love interests that go nowhere, yep. And of course, all Americans and America are always evil, all Australians saints? Ahh yes, this is clever award winning stuff .... And the ONLY black person in the series is an innocent - falsely accused by the Evil Empire, check. Zero humor, zero twists, zero tension, zero...
How, how did this ever get past quality control? HBO should be ashamed.. . Rrrrr, such hope...