297. Web-series Reviews – 130

More web-series reviews…

London Kills – 4 seasons of 20 episodes. 2019-2023 so far.  With the world's most recognizable city as its backdrop, LONDON KILLS will dramatize the experiences of a team of top murder detectives. Slick, modern and fast moving, the series will be shot like a cutting-edge documentary. Each episode of LONDON KILLS will focus on a different murder following the detectives as they uncover the truth behind the killing but will also have a serial story involving the lead detective's missing wife.

A review from IMDB...

This is the oddest series, more like a soap opera than a crime procedural as it has many flaws.

On the policing front, you have false accusations just about every episode along with suspect interviews never being taped and often just one on one in a lonely room with a desk and two chairs and no one way observation window. Notes are taken when the actor thinks of it and jots down a word or 2,

You get many time filling chases through alleys, often by solitary cops.

It's the emptiest police department ever seen. There are the four detectives and no one else in this enormous building and an empty underground parking lot.

There are many breaches of protocols, the major one being a chief superintendent directly involved in his missing wife's case. Secondary was a detective having an affair with a suspect. Reprimands are absent.

The cast is excellent, though they have much stilted dialogue to work with, coming in short full sentence bursts between mad runs through alleyways chasing supposed perps, guilty or not they all run. Little kids are interviewed without a social worker present, etc.

The city of London is shown off quite beautifully. But that too, for such a busy city, is oddly empty due to budget and production challenges no doubt.

I understand there is a Series 4, not available as yet on Acorn. Season 3 ended with quite the cliffhanger.

7 out of 10 for the effort and brilliant cast quite wasted in this.

My Take – Worth a watch!

 

Lincoln Lawyer Season 2 – Came out in 2023. An iconoclastic idealist runs his law practice out of the back of his Lincoln Town Car in this series based on Michael Connelly's bestselling novels.

A review from IMDB...

I am now into the second season of this show and I am still a bit unsure about it. The storylines and twists are very good but that is because it has Michael Connolley's fingerprints on it! I think if you like Bosch TV series you will like this. I don't think it is quite as bingeworthy as Bosch. My issue is with the direction of the main actor. It is pretty clear he got the role as a result of some auditions recreating court room scenes and chats with defendants. I say this because he is absolutely brilliant in these scenes. The way he charms the judge/jury the audience etc and his interactions with defendants etc are perfectly executed. The issue is outside the courtroom or in his family relationships. He is just not quite right. It might be they have different script writers for these scenes or he is directed too much like his court scenes which are high emotion, putting on a performance. If you want to see an example of how tone changes in the court room look no further than "A time to Kill" with Matthew McConaughy. The other actors in it are great and Cisco character is a great story line about trying to break from your past. I would of given it a top rating but just feel it is achingly close to being one of the best shows on TV and that somehow annoys me!

My Take – Worth a watch!

 

Depp Vs Heard – Came out in 2023.  Co-produced by Empress Films and Bitachon 360, this three-part documentary series re-examines the trial of the century - Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard's April 2022 defamation court case. Through the lens of a post-truth world, where emotion trumps truth, and shaped by footage from inside and outside the courtroom, this definitive series will dissect the events that consumed an entire planet - to question, what role does truth and justice play in our social media era? Was this a trial by TikTok?

A review from IMDB...

Depp DESERVED his win - thus, making him more likeable.

Overall, this 3-part mini series displays a good recap of the 2022 trial that would go down in history.

The creator is strongly biased in support of Amber Heard, as is evident, especially in the final episode.

There is a caption at the end that states: The most "likeable" person won, due to the influx of the role social media played in favour of Depp - suggesting that justice wasn't served. While social media no doubt amplified the trial, most people went in with an open mind at the start of the trial in order to seek justice and weigh out both sides. As much as social media was amplified, it was actually due to Amber Heard's increasing actions on the stand - and not because the world immediately favoured one party over the other at the start of the trial.

Johnny Depp was and is the clear and deserving winner of this case: Not due to the world adoring him but due to the fact that Amber Heard spewed out ridiculous claims that proved everything she said as uncredible. Had she even an ounce of respect in stating the actual truth without her horrible and disgusting hyperbole acting, the world would have taken her more seriously and understood that these were two human beings that existed - perhaps with equal-causing problems within a marriage. Her lack in taking responsibility for her actions and laying all the blame outside of herself is what gave her this horrible growing reputation on social media.

The show's creator clearly believes that Amber Heard was unfairly treated. While the age of social media can be absolutely vicious - this can clearly and expectedly be the case for the Amber Heards and Meghan Markles of the world who exaggerate the exposure of events that may or may not have occurred, in order to garner sympathy from a larger audience. The world only has so much sympathy for the "infinite victimhood mentality" that these characters personally bring upon themselves. For both of these women, this outpour of having to be "right" rather than wanting to be "truthful" has tremendously backfired.

Johnny Depp won, not because he was loved (in fact, he was absolutely wrongfully defamed prior to the trial due to how he was portrayed by Heard's allegations.) He won because he was honest - and certainly more honest than Heard ever could be. The final caption at the end of this series indicates that because the world hated Heard (due to the negative social media directed upon her during this trial), it is why she lost. When the result is that she made herself unlikeable through her repulsive lies and disgusting acting on the stand.

We all have a responsibility in this life to take accountability for our own actions. We as humans are not perfect. What we can do though, is admit to and learn from any of our mistakes and mistreatings towards the world and others; and become better people as a result of this. If Amber Heard didn't exaggeratingly lie and present herself in the way she did, the world would have continued properly listening to both sides. The negative social media attention was brought upon herself: This is where the documentary creator completely missed the mark, in her biases towards favouring Heard. Ultimately, the jury decided; and they did - rightfully so, given the concrete evidence and the misleading outpour they witnessed with this drama queen on the stand.

There are only so many "crying wolf" situations that can play out by its perpetrators, before viewers step up to prove that those watching are not stupid people. Cheaply throwing someone under the bus for something they did not do - such as instigated by the Amber Heards and Meghan Markles of the world - is what grows this person's haters - and should not be targeted towards those that they wrongfully accuse when intending to cause harm.

5/10 rating for the collection of footage and editing, and the overall production and recap of the trial within these 3 episodes - but the biases didn't sway my opinion against the justified winner of this case - Depp, despite its biased intent. If it were more balanced and not leaning more towards Amber Heard at the end, this rating would deserve something higher at 8.5/10 for its production. A good documentary lets the audience decide their own verdict, without having any hidden agenda - which was greater revealed towards the ending, after the documentary's buildup.

In conclusion: #JusticeForJohnny-IS JUSTIFIED: And for his growing and coming up as the better person at the end of this all. He was the true winner, not only in winning this trial but, in also not having to put up with this abusive person in his life any longer. Continue the healing, Johnny Depp and perhaps one day, Amber Heard can do the same when or -IF- she comes to terms with reality and taking accountability and responsibility for her own actions and mistakes in life.

My Take – Worth a watch.

Cheers till next time😊!!