kgirl-83327 Review of The Guardian

The Guardian (2001–2004)

Inconsistent writing & lots of darkness

[5/10 · 16 September 2018]

I just recently watched this series on Amazon Prime. I made it through 2 seasons and was going to stop, though a friend said the 3rd season was better so I finally watched it all. I agree with others that the focus on the community services situations were very interesting and well done. The best parts of the show. And I did enjoy the development of the relationship between Nick and his dad, Burton. I liked the storyline with Burton and the girl he tries to adopt. Both Baker and Colemen did nice work. But I often felt writing was subpar. Storylines often felt weak or unfinished. Major plot lines just stopped - characters just disappeared. What? That same unevenness also showed up in how key characters behaved at times, which I found unsatisfying. For me, this was a key downfall of the show. As written, the Lulu character especially blew hot and cold - in an inexplicable way. By the end of season 3 I felt she appeared more uncaring, selfish, and manipulative than the Nick character ever was supposed to be. Very unsatisfying. OTOH, the way Nick's character was written, I often wondered if he had Aspergers or something - lacking social skills, an inability to properly communicate his emotions, and a consistently flat affect. To me, that explained his character's uneven behavior. Lulu's just made no sense to me, and made many episodes unsatisfying. Like discordant music. The show also has few moments of joy or happiness. Even hard dramas, like this show, need moments that make you smile or at last feel hope for the characters. Didn't happen much in this show. No balance. I read someplace that Baker didn't really like working on this show. Considering his nickname as a kid was "Smiley", and he rarely gets to smile in this show, that makes sense. However, after all that whining, I still think it was an interesting show to watch. There was some fine acting despite some of the writing. And a few fun casting gems -like seeing Chris Pine before he was famous featured as a former foster kid who is a liar and thief.