TV Show Blues
In the past couple years I have started watching two police-type dramas, The Blacklist and Blindspot. In both cases, the scenario provided enough inspiration for one reasonably-good season, which “we” got.
The Blacklist was about a fabulously rich master criminal (Raymond “Red” Reddington, played by James Spader), who was apprehended by the FBI, and who personally knew anybody and everybody involved in major international crime. In a deal with the FBI, he would feed them information about major international badguys and their nefarious plans, so that they could capture (or kill) them and put them out of business, in exchange for the FBI giving him a free pass on the various crimes that he was associated with, and not throwing him in jail.
It shortly came out that Reddington had a particular interest in a particular FBI agent, one Agent Elizabeth Keen, (played by Megan Boone), and was insisting that she play a key role in apprehending the weekly badguys.
His relationship with Keen was apparently father-daughter, but both denied this vehemently. Red continually told Keen that (a) he knew who Keen’s father was, (b) it wasn’t who Keen thought it was, and (c) it wasn’t him. He always speaks in riddles, even when it makes no fucking sense to talk in riddles, so he has never clearly told her what he knows about her parentage.
Now we are in the third season, and it becomes more and more preposterous that Reddington - now basically out of commission for a couple of years - STILL knows detailed information about current criminal plotting and activities. It is no longer believable (if it ever was).
And he is still fucking with Keen’s mind, telling her that the person she NOW “knows” is her father – by DNA evidence no less – is NOT her REAL father.
Jesus Fucking Christ, Red, tell her who her father is – or who you think her father is - cut the fucking riddles, and move on! The program has become insufferable!
Then we have Blindspot. “Jane Doe” (played by Jaimie Alexander), is a gloriously-tattooed woman found unconscious by police, who has complete amnesia about who she is, how she came to be tattooed, or how she got in the position where police found her.
Like “Jason Bourne,” she is later found to have super-human killing skills, including lethal hand-to-hand fighting and expert knowledge of all manner of firearms.
It turns out that the tattoos on her body provide the FBI (again) with valuable clues to solve major crime conundrums, and she proves to be such a wonderful intellectual and tactical asset that they simply cannot even attempt to solve these crime sprees without her help.
Again, where do you go in season 2? It is not even imaginable that these tattoos can STILL be providing detailed clues about criminal activities from – at least – many months ago. It is no longer believable (assuming it ever was). And her supposed hand-to-hand fighting skills long ago reached the level where only an 8-year-old girl would find them believable.
And not to get personal but Jaimie Alexander has demonstrated an acting catalog of exactly ONE facial expression which screams, “I’m about to cry hysterically!” and she uses it eight or ten times in each episode. I’ve seen porn actors with greater “range.” On an aesthetic level, she was moderately cute with short hair (season 1), but is something of a dog with the long straggly hair she displays this year. Isn't she supposed to be Eye Candy?
Similarly, her FBI handler, “Kurt Weller” (played by Sullivan Stapleton) has the same acting problem, with a single expression (confused and angry at the same time), that occupies his face through 80% of each episode.
Both of these series need to be put to bed.
In sports, we have the occasional superstar that manages to go out on top: Jimmy Brown, Pete Sampras, Ted Williams – why can’t TV producers have the balls to recognize when a good series has run its course, and just let it go off into the sunset?
In the past couple years I have started watching two police-type dramas, The Blacklist and Blindspot. In both cases, the scenario provided enough inspiration for one reasonably-good season, which “we” got.
The Blacklist was about a fabulously rich master criminal (Raymond “Red” Reddington, played by James Spader), who was apprehended by the FBI, and who personally knew anybody and everybody involved in major international crime. In a deal with the FBI, he would feed them information about major international badguys and their nefarious plans, so that they could capture (or kill) them and put them out of business, in exchange for the FBI giving him a free pass on the various crimes that he was associated with, and not throwing him in jail.
It shortly came out that Reddington had a particular interest in a particular FBI agent, one Agent Elizabeth Keen, (played by Megan Boone), and was insisting that she play a key role in apprehending the weekly badguys.
His relationship with Keen was apparently father-daughter, but both denied this vehemently. Red continually told Keen that (a) he knew who Keen’s father was, (b) it wasn’t who Keen thought it was, and (c) it wasn’t him. He always speaks in riddles, even when it makes no fucking sense to talk in riddles, so he has never clearly told her what he knows about her parentage.
Now we are in the third season, and it becomes more and more preposterous that Reddington - now basically out of commission for a couple of years - STILL knows detailed information about current criminal plotting and activities. It is no longer believable (if it ever was).
And he is still fucking with Keen’s mind, telling her that the person she NOW “knows” is her father – by DNA evidence no less – is NOT her REAL father.
Jesus Fucking Christ, Red, tell her who her father is – or who you think her father is - cut the fucking riddles, and move on! The program has become insufferable!
Then we have Blindspot. “Jane Doe” (played by Jaimie Alexander), is a gloriously-tattooed woman found unconscious by police, who has complete amnesia about who she is, how she came to be tattooed, or how she got in the position where police found her.
Like “Jason Bourne,” she is later found to have super-human killing skills, including lethal hand-to-hand fighting and expert knowledge of all manner of firearms.
It turns out that the tattoos on her body provide the FBI (again) with valuable clues to solve major crime conundrums, and she proves to be such a wonderful intellectual and tactical asset that they simply cannot even attempt to solve these crime sprees without her help.
Again, where do you go in season 2? It is not even imaginable that these tattoos can STILL be providing detailed clues about criminal activities from – at least – many months ago. It is no longer believable (assuming it ever was). And her supposed hand-to-hand fighting skills long ago reached the level where only an 8-year-old girl would find them believable.
And not to get personal but Jaimie Alexander has demonstrated an acting catalog of exactly ONE facial expression which screams, “I’m about to cry hysterically!” and she uses it eight or ten times in each episode. I’ve seen porn actors with greater “range.” On an aesthetic level, she was moderately cute with short hair (season 1), but is something of a dog with the long straggly hair she displays this year. Isn't she supposed to be Eye Candy?
Similarly, her FBI handler, “Kurt Weller” (played by Sullivan Stapleton) has the same acting problem, with a single expression (confused and angry at the same time), that occupies his face through 80% of each episode.
Both of these series need to be put to bed.
In sports, we have the occasional superstar that manages to go out on top: Jimmy Brown, Pete Sampras, Ted Williams – why can’t TV producers have the balls to recognize when a good series has run its course, and just let it go off into the sunset?
