stnwal9 Reviews

Mary & George: The Second Son (2024) Season 1, Episode 1

Not a stodgy costume drama

[9/10 · 6 April 2024]

I read the nonfiction source for the series and knew a lot about the relationship between James I and George Villiers beforehand. The book tried to come off as academic/history, but had more speculation than facts, falling into so much 'could have', 'might have', I thought it would have worked better as a novel. That issue is solved here. This is not a stodgy historical costumer. The script is fun. The writing borders on camp with Julianne Moore having a great time with dialogue worthy of Housewives of Anywhere or Rupaul's drag race-and the young men are gorgeous with some full frontal added to the scenery. Forget the history, embrace the fun, and sit back and enjoy the ride.

Irene Huss: Tatuerad torso (2007) Season 1, Episode 1

Bad writing, amateurish

[3/10 · 17 March 2024]

Who's writing this stuff? Only 2 episodes in, and basic police procedures are seriously lacking. For example, a few detectives track a serial killer to a ship. There's no call out of support officers, no back up on the dock or in boats. Of course the killer gets away. In another, examining the serial killer's lair, no one has gloves on. Each is picking up evidence with bare hands, pawing everything of forensic value--even picking up a plastic bag with a head in it. There's tailing a suspect's car-- only 50 to 100 feet behind. Really? Then, with no close backup, two detectives get spotted spying on the perps in a house. One perp leaves and disappears. Neither detective even considers he's circling around or that they should pull back-and they get knocked out. What a surprise. At least the cliche of kidnapping the cop's daughter was not dragged out. This is just sloppy, lazy writing. Hard to believe this is a Scandinavian series. But then, I guess I'm just spoiled by others of quality.

Hidden: Förstfödd (2019– )

Plodding and confused

[2/10 · 26 January 2024]

I can't believe how bad this series is. Poor plotting. A bad script. Four episodes in, and the viewer still has no idea who's against who or what the point is. On top of that, "the romance" is trite, boring--and the two lead characters aren't too bright either. Technically, there are so many scenes in this series that are irrelevant and unnecessary that 3 hours could have easily been cut off the 8 hour series with no loss of (bad) plot. For example, in one scene a man gets bad news on his phone. He gets out of the car, walk ten steps into a field, stares across it, then gets back in the car. Seriously pointless?

Give it a pass. Life is too short.

Tore (2023– )

More than disappointing

[3/10 · 2 November 2023]

It's hard to like this series because the lead character, Tore, is so unlikable. In the first 10 minutes he reveals himself to be emotionally and intellectually stunted. He's 27 and has the maturity of a 13 year old; he behaves badly at almost every opportunity; he makes a lot of bad choices; he never considers others. None of this can be attributed to his grief. He's this way from the beginning. We have little sympathy for him.

Side note: this has made me wonder if this series isn't a lesson about raising a generation of kids who have been sheltered and given everything: Hey! Look what you get, parents! But I digress.

Other supporting characters are about as bad: Viggo as a druggie, almost rapist and un-boyfriend; Erik who almost beds him only hours after a tiff with his boyfriend about having a baby; a senior citizen's 2 daughters; a 'sister' who has tantrums most of the time.

A couple of characters are interesting: the drag queen Shady Meat and a senior citizen, Heidi. It's too bad these weren't developed and made more central. They might have been able to humanize Tore.

Moreover, the ending of the series is despicable--stealing back a dog Tore sold to a family with a little girl who adores the dog--and this is played for laughs and triumph. I was hoping the family would call the police and put Tore and his 'sister' in jail. That might have saved this series.

Enough said.

The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)

Simply brilliant

[10/10 · 25 October 2023]

So many series these days are boring, trite, derivative, and often you're thinking about cancelling your Netflix subscription--maybe even Hulu and Prime--and then Fall of House of Usher comes along with an intelligent and even poetic script, an amazing incorporation of Edgar Allen Poe's work into a modern scenario that could have gone wrong at so many points but never plays a false note from beginning to end. The plot is tight. The individual episodes based on Poe stories are appropriate, suspenseful, and intriguing as we watch the fall of this family. The use of Poe's poetry and fragments of his stories could have been awkward and hokey but are realistically and masterfully incorporated into dialogue. The acting is superb from the smallest to biggest roles. Mark Hamill as the family enforcer is particularly surprising and noteworthy. The production values are top-notch: sets, sound, cinematography, direction, and editing are seriously excellent.

I want to add this note: In recently reviewing the Netflix series Bodies, I stated that I rarely give 10 stars ratings, and here I am giving the second 10 star rating in less than a week. But I have to say, it was worth the wait. My hope is that I won't have to wait a long time for such quality and intelligence to emerge again.

Bodies (2023)

I rarely give 10 stars

[10/10 · 22 October 2023]

I love good sci fi, but it's difficult to find these days. So much of what is called sci fi is formulaic drivel. Combining sci fi with a good detective story is even more challenging, but Bodies gets it right. Setting the story in 4 time periods would complicate this plot even more, but the writers handle all this brilliantly. The characters are compelling and fully drawn by the end of the 8th episode, the plot is tied up and makes sense, and the wrap up is surprising and crowd-pleasing genius. Bodies could have gone off the rails at so many points, in so many ways, but it stays on track from beginning to end. One has to wonder at the middling score it has at this point (7.1); I suspect it's due to lack of a tired/overused formula, shortened attention spans that can't follow an intricate plot, and/or the inclusion of a gay male relationship, which often seems to knock 10 points off any series or movie, but this is a class act, the quality of the Watchmen series and Lovecraft Country. Just brilliant from beginning to end.

Van der Valk: Magic in Amsterdam (2023) Season 3, Episode 3

A terrible and shocking ending

[3/10 · 11 October 2023]

The 3rd series starts out with a bang then moves slowly. Piet hardly speaks during episode 1. I almost expected him to only grunt the rest of his dialogue in Episode 1. It takes a while for the action to build, but the ending picks up with the expected denouement; however, the narrative collapses with a seriously problematic scene at the end. I ask, if you were locked in a completely non-communicative state with no hope of recovery, just lying in a bed unable to move, would you want to be kept alive? If yes, then you'll be happy with the conclusion. If you find this condition horrifying, you will be disgusted by the writing team not only keeping this person alive but bringing her back and then having the characters being self-gratulatory about affirming life-albeit a life locked in a non- reactive body. To this viewer, they left her in a state of daily torture. It's like something out of a Poe story-and not in a good way.

I have loved this series, but this disregard for the quality of life really sours me. I'm still stunned that they would be so self-righteous about doing this to another human being.

The Wheel of Time (2021– )

Wheel of stupidity

[1/10 · 9 October 2023]

I have not read the books, but I was looking forward to a good, intelligent, well-produced fantasy series. This isn't it. As I waded through the first season, I kept hoping the characters would grow up, mature, develop some intelligence, and was disappointed. And it was silly of me to think any of them would mature, act like adults facing difficulties and a worldwide crises in the second season, but no; they continued to behave like stupid, myopic adolescents. And it doesn't help that most of actors playing the teen characters are too old for these roles. But stupid is the key here: the lead characters are scripted to behave stupidly over and over- and the only interesting aspect of this is that they each behave stupidly in different ways. Consequently, none of the main characters are likable. I kept hoping they'd get killed off and let the supporting characters, who are far more intelligent, believable, and watchable than the annoying leads, take over. All this is a writing problem. The production values are excellent, but this series is a lost cause.

Who Were We Running From? (2023)

Excellent mystery

[10/10 · 30 March 2023]

This is an outstanding short series. A mother and daughter on the run. Their relationship is quirky- and a somewhat disturbing at times. They live in their own little world. The plot is fresh and the background unfolds in flashbacks and witness testimony. These devices are very effective. The acting is excellent. The ending is faithful to the mythology they live by. Do not watch the dubbed version. It's clunky. Watch/listen to the original Turkish to get the true feel and scope of the script. After trying to watch so many formulaic series filled with so much bad plotting, trite dialogue, and expected cliches, this is a delight.