Mysterious Ways (2000–2002)
4/10
Bad writing
27 May 2021
While the premise of this show is good and has potential (an anthropology professor studying unexplained phenomena) the execution is brutal. It suffers mostly due to poor writing and a complete lack of scientific understanding. A lot of people try to relate this show to X-files, which it really isn't. Maybe because there are supernatural elements but that's where the comparison ends. At least X-Files tries to present believable science, but this show is all about conveniences. Like how conveniently Miranda is capable of handling anything research related. Conveniently she has access to a myriad of labs, documents, tools - many of which made up compeletly so as to provide an immediate solution to whatever problem she faces - why? Because she's hyper intelligent! And that's the only excuse we get, she specializes in everything...and yet somehow she's still just a graduate student and not employed by the FBI. Likewise, conveniently Peggy, a psychiatrist employed by the hospital, can do whatever she pleases: accessing private files, sharing patient information, providing unsolicited counseling, or carrying on unprofessional external relationships with patients - all things that would not only get her canned in real life but would have her barred from practicing psychiatry ever again. Or how Declan, the professor, can waltz in and out of restricted areas in the school and hospital, and can leave campus during school hours with a mere slap on the wrist from his superiors. I haven't even actually gotten to the science yet! These are just the enormous holes in the overall story arc of the series.

Each episode presents what they like to call "miracles" and the term doesn't real suit a lot of what takes place in the series... Mysteries would've been more accurate. A few of the episodes are religious, but not the entire series as some reviewers have been mistakenly saying. Each episode provides several terribly conceived theories to explain away something perceived as supernatural, but it always ends with a "twist" that implies that the supernatural occurrence must really be supernatural (this wears thin quickly). The worst episode, and you may stop reading now if you wish, is where a teenage boy avenges the gangland murder of his younger brother, where, despite being a high school drop out, he devises a complicated plan to deceive his entire community and church congregation into believing in the miracle of God. He somehow manages to capture the blood of his dying brother (regardless of time and trauma) pours it into a red wax pill cap (knowing enough beforehand to dilute it with olive oil, and prevent coagulation with acetaminophen), he then stuffs it into a stained glass window of the Virgin Mary so that she cries tears of blood whenever the window heats up in the sunlight. Forget the weeping Virgin Mary, it's more unbelievable to me that a street kid could even pull such a thing off in the first place!

That's this entire series in a nutshell, just a load of outlandish nonsense and lazy writing. You have to be insanely naive to accept these theories and explanations. I have only given this show four stars because Adrian Pasdar has a tight butt.
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