285. Web-series Reviews – 118

More web-series reviews…

Will Trent – Came out in 2023.  The series revolves around special agent Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation who was abandoned at birth and endured a harsh coming-of-age in Atlanta's overwhelmed foster care system. But now, determined to use his unique point of view to make sure no one is abandoned like he was, Will Trent has the highest clearance rate in the GBI.

Based on the books by Karin Slaughter.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

Will Trent (Ramon Rodriguez) is an investigator for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He is called in on difficult or high-profile cases. Often he has to work with the Atlanta Police Department, but few of his associates like him. One reason is he's an odd duck, different from other people. And his social skills are suspect.

Still, he has a few friends. Like Betty, the homeless dog he took in. And undercover agent Angie (Erika Christensen), with whom he shares a dark history.

The tone of this drama is often noir-ish, but it never gets too dark. And the incidental music helps with its stylish atmosphere.

Trent is dyslexic, but he can read a crime scene like no one else. He carries scars and demons as a result of his checkered history, but he copes. When he is assigned a partner, Faith (Ianatha Richardson) of the APD, they have to learn to cooperate and overcome their personality differences.

This police procedural is very engaging, because of both the acting and the storylines. All of the main players are fun to watch. The writing can be fast-moving, but the stories are never dull. I am hoping the series can keep its edge while simultaneously developing the main characters.

My Take – Worth a watch!

 

Rabbit Hole – Came out in 2023. Nothing is what it seems when John Weir, master of corporate espionage, finds himself at the center of a shadowy conspiracy. After uncovering a dangerous plot by powerful forces with the ability to control populations and subvert democracy, Weir is framed for murder and put on the run, trying to figure out who and what is real in a reality turned upside down. As a man who deals in mistrust and deception, can John Weir trust a team of unlikely allies to outwit an enemy with deep ties to his past and who's bent on using our own data against us? John Weir must navigate a world of surveillance, misinformation and manipulation to uncover the man at the center of the plot and stop him before it's too late.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

After watching years of 24, I finally became bored of the formula towards the end. Twists and turns, that you can read and predict, because by their very nature they were just bluffs that became double bluffs, that became triple bluffs. That good guy, who you think is bad, but is proven to be good, only for a last minute twist back to actually being bad, it became tedious.

For that reason, when I saw keifer Sutherland, advertised in something called Rabbit hole, knowing very little about it, i ignored it, I was going down that one again.

However, having run out of content, I thought I would give the pilot a try. I was immediately hooked on the concept. Then what began to play out, for a moment I thought, hey I know exactly where this is going. But, it surprised me, in so many good ways.

It's very rare, that a twisty, suspenseful , drama can do that so well these days, but rabbit hole managed to break away from cliche playbooks and continuously surprise episode after episode, right up to the finale.

Huge credit to the editing and way it was put together, I enjoyed moments of familiarity with the best bits of early 24 and times where I could see it was trying to break Predictable narratives, by constantly "changing the narrative".

My Take – Worth a watch!

 

The Marvelous Mrs Maisel – Came out in 2017 and stil running its 5th season.  Set in 1950s Manhattan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is a 60-minute dramedy that centers on Miriam "Midge" Maisel, a sunny, energetic, sharp Jewish woman who had her life mapped out: go to college, find a husband, have kids, and throw the best Yom Kippur breakfasts in town. Soon enough, she finds herself exactly where she had hoped to be, living happily with her husband and two children on the Upper West Side. A woman of her time, Midge is a cheerleader wife of a man who dreams of a stand-up comedy career, but her perfect life is upended when her husband suddenly leaves her for another woman. Utterly unprepared, Midge is left with no choice but to reevaluate her life. When she accidentally stumbles onto the stage at a nightclub, she discovers her own comedic skills and decides to use this newfound talent to help her reinvent her life. The series follows the trajectory of Midge's journey as she pursues a career in the male-dominated stand-up comedy profession, and it transforms from uptown society matron to East Village club performer.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

(Reviewed after Season 4).

It's 1958 and Miriam "Midge" Maisel and her husband Joel seem to have everything they ever wanted. Then Joel leaves Midge for his secretary and her world falls apart. In a drunken rage she lets out all of her anger and frustration in a passionate rant...and discovers she has a talent for comedy. Could this be her calling?

I was hooked on this show almost from the first minute and in Season 1 it just seemed to get better and better. Very funny with a decent plot and some good dramatic moments. Rachel Brosnahan is wonderful, and gorgeous, as Midge, giving her character a great sense of fun, gaiety and quick-wittedness and making for a great amount of character engagement.

Equally impressive is Alex Borstein (of Family Guy fame) as Susie Myerson, Midge's agent. The banter between her and Midge is off-the-charts great, especially in the first two seasons or so.

Completing a trio of great performances and characters is Luke Kirby as the great Lenny Bruce. Weaving in an historic comedian, and one of the magnitude and influence of Lenny Bruce, adds a great sense of realism to proceedings.

Throw in a solid performance by Michael Zegen as Joel and some great supporting characters - Imogene (played by Bailey De Young), Zelda the maid (Matilda Szydagis), the hysterical fortune teller (who really should get much more screentime she's that funny) - and you have a warm, funny, engaging show.

Not all the characters are great though and this is where the negatives start. All four parents of Midge and Joel are incredibly irritating - individually obsessive-compulsive, prissy, overbearing, rude and intrusive. Their traits are initially quirky and funny but the writers keep using these over and over again as punchlines. It becomes very repetitive and annoying, very quickly.

Worse still, these four characters get more and more screentime as the series goes on. Initially I thought they were just there as background characters, to show Midge and Joel's life and the effect of them splitting up, and that they would just fade from the scene as Midge's career takes off. Unfortunately, the opposite occurs. They become major characters, with their own sub-plots, independent of Midge's life.

This makes for an uneven viewing experience from Season 2 onwards. On the one hand we have the engaging, funny scenes involving Midge and Susie (and Lenny Bruce or Imogene on occasion) and on the other the irritating scenes involving the parents.

Season 3 took another step backwards when some of the Midge-Susie sub-plots and developments became quite silly. There's still the occasional zinger but the writing lacks the freshness of Season 1, relying largely on quickfire banter that by now is repetitive and annoying.

Season 4 is more of the same, complete with plot development that doesn't make much sense. Every time Midge catches a break she deliberately messes it up or turns it down, seemingly based on the flimsiest of principles. The engagement factor wanes when the hero keeps making stupid, self-destructive decisions. It's as if the producers and writers are deliberately avoiding progressing the plot, likely to draw out the number of seasons and thus maximise revenue.

Minimise the screentime of the parents, focus entirely on Midge, have a plot that moves forward rather than goes around in circles and this would make a brilliant mini-series. But where's the money in only making 10 or so episodes...?

If there is a Season 5 (and it looks like there will be), I won't be watching it.

Season ratings: S1 9/10, S2 8/10, S3 6/10, S4 5/10.

My Take – Worth watching the 1st season. I saw the 1st season and 1 episode of season 2 and then quit😊!

Cheers till next time😊!!