Oh, come on.
'The Commander' seems really popular. Why?
It always looks like it's the sort of the thing I should love, given my tv viewing habits, but I've never been able to get into it. I've really tried, though. I've tried to find something good about it - mainly for my own sanity, as I spent 3 hours watching it and I really want to justify that.
Maybe it's the editing, or La Plante's writing style, but the whole thing seems so jumpy - lack of a narrative flow or something. The most recent plotline seemed like it'd been transferred from a whiteboard - some big diagram consisitng of names, actions and many many arrows, to make sure nothing's left out no matter how shoehorny the result.
Too many overt dramatic pause-type moments for me. Too many blatant twists and turns; in the end I only kept watching in exasperation and bloody mindedness. I was waiting for the goodness which never came. I actually didn't mind there were 2 plots running simultaneously...although the likelihood of those events occurring at the same time? Meh.
I did realise early on that the police guy hadn't killed his mother...why else would they keep banging on about it? Or start off with such emphasis on making it look like he had? Given that there were three episodes, it was also fairly easy to realise it wasn't going to be the slightly posh, clearly unbalanced bird, who took the baby. It just felt a lot like Lynda La Plante was trying to challenge our preconceptions with a sledgehammer. Which is a shame, as the whole thing clearly took a great deal of effort.
About the main characters - I don't mind the police officers having personal lives, or making mistakes; I don't even mind them being unable to work as a team. That can be interesting - the interpersonal stuff. I do mind there being no consequences for their general crapness and incompetence (although I guess that's none of my business). The only one I had any interest in was the guy whose baby got stolen...can't for the life of me see how they let him carry on investigating that other murder, though.
I suppose it doesn't help that I really dislike the main character - I don't mind flawed heroines, or even unpredictable ones, but there doesn't seem to be any coherence at all there, or do I mean cohesion? Both, I think. Anyhow, I can't get invested in her at all. She resigned? Well, good. Babysnatchers should actually go to jail, surely? She's supposed to be so scary, but she seems to keep her team in line just by being cross and ruling by reputation than showing any real bite. *rolleyes*
Possibly part of me is still stroppy at Amanda Burton for leaving 'Silent Witness'...not just that, but having the cheek to step straight into another police procedural series. It messes with my head. If she's still investigating murders, I'd like her to be up to her elbows in entrails, not bitching randomly at inferiors and having drinks and flirting with suspects, please. I badly want to see Amanda Burton throw herself into something else - I want to be reminded of how cracking she can be, given the right vehicle.
Why did I stick it out for 3 hours? Well, people kept going on about how great it was. I think there must be something others are seeing that I'm just not. Apparently, I'm just that easily influenced into wasting my time on something I didn't really enjoy at all.
Also, I saw an ad for the new 'Survivors' - currently scheduled for Sunday 23rd Nov, 9pm on BBC1. It does look good. But I've learned my lesson. I hereby promise that I won't stick with it if it feels like I'm not getting it. Unless there's shallow reasons, obviously.
It always looks like it's the sort of the thing I should love, given my tv viewing habits, but I've never been able to get into it. I've really tried, though. I've tried to find something good about it - mainly for my own sanity, as I spent 3 hours watching it and I really want to justify that.
Maybe it's the editing, or La Plante's writing style, but the whole thing seems so jumpy - lack of a narrative flow or something. The most recent plotline seemed like it'd been transferred from a whiteboard - some big diagram consisitng of names, actions and many many arrows, to make sure nothing's left out no matter how shoehorny the result.
Too many overt dramatic pause-type moments for me. Too many blatant twists and turns; in the end I only kept watching in exasperation and bloody mindedness. I was waiting for the goodness which never came. I actually didn't mind there were 2 plots running simultaneously...although the likelihood of those events occurring at the same time? Meh.
I did realise early on that the police guy hadn't killed his mother...why else would they keep banging on about it? Or start off with such emphasis on making it look like he had? Given that there were three episodes, it was also fairly easy to realise it wasn't going to be the slightly posh, clearly unbalanced bird, who took the baby. It just felt a lot like Lynda La Plante was trying to challenge our preconceptions with a sledgehammer. Which is a shame, as the whole thing clearly took a great deal of effort.
About the main characters - I don't mind the police officers having personal lives, or making mistakes; I don't even mind them being unable to work as a team. That can be interesting - the interpersonal stuff. I do mind there being no consequences for their general crapness and incompetence (although I guess that's none of my business). The only one I had any interest in was the guy whose baby got stolen...can't for the life of me see how they let him carry on investigating that other murder, though.
I suppose it doesn't help that I really dislike the main character - I don't mind flawed heroines, or even unpredictable ones, but there doesn't seem to be any coherence at all there, or do I mean cohesion? Both, I think. Anyhow, I can't get invested in her at all. She resigned? Well, good. Babysnatchers should actually go to jail, surely? She's supposed to be so scary, but she seems to keep her team in line just by being cross and ruling by reputation than showing any real bite. *rolleyes*
Possibly part of me is still stroppy at Amanda Burton for leaving 'Silent Witness'...not just that, but having the cheek to step straight into another police procedural series. It messes with my head. If she's still investigating murders, I'd like her to be up to her elbows in entrails, not bitching randomly at inferiors and having drinks and flirting with suspects, please. I badly want to see Amanda Burton throw herself into something else - I want to be reminded of how cracking she can be, given the right vehicle.
Why did I stick it out for 3 hours? Well, people kept going on about how great it was. I think there must be something others are seeing that I'm just not. Apparently, I'm just that easily influenced into wasting my time on something I didn't really enjoy at all.
Also, I saw an ad for the new 'Survivors' - currently scheduled for Sunday 23rd Nov, 9pm on BBC1. It does look good. But I've learned my lesson. I hereby promise that I won't stick with it if it feels like I'm not getting it. Unless there's shallow reasons, obviously.