Humble AK Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 So I am going to give this season up. It's unbelievably awful. Vaughn's speech about his father and the rats was hilarious, and there were other bits of dialog scattered throughout that were also unintentionally humorous, but I'm not watching this show for its MST3K value. All of the characters are tropes, none of the actors are good enough to elevate the poor writing, and the plot itself is a boring poor man's Chinatown. If there was anything at all to this season, just one shining virtue, then I'd muster through, but I honestly think at this point an episode of CSI is not only more entertaining than this, but actually smarter too.Pity. I loved the first season so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewJ Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Another thing I noticed with Paul - he went to great pains to make it clear that his girlfriend was responsible for their break-up and not him. "You're the one doing this, not me. It's not on me, it's on you!" More evidence for the argument re him being gay, perhaps? "I'm not breaking up with this hot girl. I want to be with her coz she's hot and I'm straight! It's her breaking up with me!!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Pity. I loved the first season so much. On the brightside it's a completely different show (or at least utterly separate from season 1's plot) so you still have that. I really need to watch Chinatown alomg with a general binge of 70s noir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbunting Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 As to the shooting at the end, I did see the car, and as Farrel was walking through the house my radar was up, waiting for bird(person), I just didn't think he would die. Now, also, IMO, he better damn well be dead. You do not get shot two times at close range with a shot gun and live, it doesn't happen. As to Kitchs' character, yes they are really making us see him as repressed so it wouldn't be shocking if we see that he was abused by a male as a child. He said his scars were from before the "desert" which leans to abuse in my mind. And yes, all latino women look alike.,...,.,.,.,.,sexy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 More evidence for the argument re him being gay, perhaps? "I'm not breaking up with this hot girl. I want to be with her coz she's hot and I'm straight! It's her breaking up with me!!!" While there's lots of evidence that he's either gay or otherwise repressing something, I'm not sure about this one. This just seems like classic narcissism, which certainly crosses all sexual orientations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cas Stark Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 While there's lots of evidence that he's either gay or otherwise repressing something, I'm not sure about this one. This just seems like classic narcissism, which certainly crosses all sexual orientations. It's all a bit much though isn't it? Every single character is totally whacked out to the max, not like 'colorful/eccentric' as in season 1, or somehow it strikes me differently, and so far, really, not very likeable. I don't have to like to leads to get invested in the show, but when you have a gazillion leads and none of them are very sympathetic or charismatic.... We'll see. It's a rocky start given the cast they have to work with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dez Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 I've been pretty surprised that most of the critical discussion treats the episode's ending as a cliffhanger. For something to be a cliffhanger there needs to be some ambiguity and room for an alternate interpretation of the scene. There isn't anything ambiguous about a point blank shotgun blast to the chest. I think the discussion has pretty much been fueled by the critics- they've seen another episode or two, correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 It's all a bit much though isn't it? Every single character is totally whacked out to the max, not like 'colorful/eccentric' as in season 1, or somehow it strikes me differently, and so far, really, not very likeable. I don't have to like to leads to get invested in the show, but when you have a gazillion leads and none of them are very sympathetic or charismatic.... We'll see. It's a rocky start given the cast they have to work with. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. If it was just one lead, and that lead had the same screentime as the four leads combined and was just as depressing and messed up, I certainly wouldn't have a problem. That's standard noir. But because we're seeing four different people in that bad a shape, it does sometimes seem like a bit much. At the same time though, if one character does have their life figured out, there's a pretty big risk that they would either seem too much like the lead when there's supposed to be four leads or that they would just seem boring compared to the other leads. I think if Pizzolato wanted to do noir, he probably should've followed the conventions a bit closer, and had just one of the leads (either Farrell or McAdams); give them a lot more screentime, and relegate everyone else back to the supporting cast. Its interesting to see one totally screwed up person trying to tackle a large conspiracy (which is a stand-in for trying to tackle the world). It seems a bit much to have four totally screwed people doing it. At the same time though, I am enjoying the show, so I'm not going to complain too much. Also, while they're all screwed up and not very sympathetic, I do push back against none of them being charismatic. Farrell is totally on point and interesting to watch (which is why I really hope he's not dead, he's by far the best part of the show so far). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cas Stark Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 He's totally not dead and yeah he's good to watch but they've dialed down his charisma as much as possible, which, I get it, doesn't want to be a pretty boy any more, but, this is a bit much. I like VV, too, but he's also dialed way down. 4 leads is too many I think is the problem, which is then compounded by everyone being totally damaged. And, it's not just the leads, the mayor, her father/sister, Colin's wife, everybody is messed up. I suppose you could say that is also a noirish convention to a degree, but it feels too much to me, over done. Yeah, we're all damaged in some way, but we're not all doing porn, running a cult, beating up parents of our children, rape survivors, crooked pols, etc. etc. ... So, far, compared to last year, it underwhelms, but the critics are way too harsh on it. LOL, compared to GOT, which can have total crackpot nonsense go on as far as plot and no critics even notice [couldn't resist]. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astromech Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 4 leads is too many I think is the problem, which is then compounded by everyone being totally damaged. And, it's not just the leads, the mayor, her father/sister, Colin's wife, everybody is messed up. I suppose you could say that is also a noirish convention to a degree, but it feels too much to me, over done. Yeah, we're all damaged in some way, but we're not all doing porn, running a cult, beating up parents of our children, rape survivors, crooked pols, etc. etc. ... The writers are dwelling too much on the leads' backstories. The murder of Caspere almost seems like a subplot. I am confident the missing girls, Caspere's murder and the railroad corruption will all tie together somehow, but tone down the depressing backstories of the leads. It's really too much with all 4 of them being a trainwreck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewJ Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 While there's lots of evidence that he's either gay or otherwise repressing something, I'm not sure about this one. This just seems like classic narcissism, which certainly crosses all sexual orientations. I'm far from sure, too. :) But he did definitely go to great lengths to make it absolutely clear that he wasn't the one responsible for the break-up. If he said it once, that's fine - but he said it literally about three times. (At least twice, but I think it was three). One thing seemed pretty clear to me, though. He certainly didn't love his girl-friend. He made no attempt to convince her to stay with him - he never tried to meet her half way and suggest she come with him or comfort her and promise he'd be back on the week-ends or anything. It seemed he was eager to escape out the door and that the only thing he really gave a damn about was making it completely clear he wasn't to blame for their relationship ending. I hadn't considered the repressed homosexuality angle at all until reading this thread. And viewed through that lense, it seems to fit. But yeah - nothing is certain. (My reading of it, at the time, was he simply was tired of hiding his erectile dysfunction and wanted to escape from the relationship and the pressure to perform for that reason That still could be the case - but if that's all there was to it, I'm not sure why it matters so much who was responsible for ending the relationship) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baitac Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Rachel McAdams' hair alone is a complete train wreck.Favorite post!!! <3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nictarion Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 She looks good too me. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsay B. Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 She looks good too me. :PYeah, I like it too(but we're also dudes). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elder Sister Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Her hair is a total mess, but I think we're supposed to infer from it that she's too busy and distracted to get her color done or get a decent blowout.I dig her silver rings. Back to the commentary about this week's episode, I'm kind of surprised by all the hate for VV's daddy/rat story. I thought he did really well. I think his wife is involved more deeply in all of this than we've seen so far. I'm basing this strictly on the fact that the actress playing her is usually cast as an evil/bad girl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixodes Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 I think his wife is involved more deeply in all of this than we've seen so far. I'm basing this strictly on the fact that the actress playing her is usually cast as an evil/bad girl.Yes. My completely unfounded spur of the moment theory? The wife is the murderous Bird. Through some nefarious way, she figured out their money was stolen. She took revenge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 I think the VV rat/ dad scene is shot really well ( I love the lighting on that scene ), but it failed to get any sort of reaction from me. I couldn't bring myself to care about any of it . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Her hair is a total mess, but I think we're supposed to infer from it that she's too busy and distracted to get her color done or get a decent blowout.I dig her silver rings. Back to the commentary about this week's episode, I'm kind of surprised by all the hate for VV's daddy/rat story. I thought he did really well. I think his wife is involved more deeply in all of this than we've seen so far. I'm basing this strictly on the fact that the actress playing her is usually cast as an evil/bad girl.In fact, I'd be disappointed if BasinsVaughn's wife isn't me heavily involved in some aspect. See how she seems to coordinating at the poker room in the first episode? I think Vaughn's character's desire to do more and go straighter is a result of his wife's influence. Thigh she's likely just as ruthless add he is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Buck Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Them silver rings look like the cherry on top of a mean right hook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elder Sister Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Them silver rings look like the cherry on top of a mean right hook. You know it. I think I could rock that look, but it's iffy on the right hook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.