336. Web-series Reviews – 159

More web-series reviews…

Reacher – Season 2 came in end 2023. Itinerant former military policeman Jack Reacher solves crimes and metes out his own brand of street justice. Based on the novels by Lee Child.

A review from IMDB...

2nd season syndrome. Where a tv show fails to carry on the same quality of storytelling as season 1. I'm seeing far too many of these shows and unfortunately Reacher is one of them.

I'm going to be honest. The days of me liking Lee Child's books are over. I couldn't even get past chapter 1 of the last book I got. I did however like season 1 of Reacher. It felt like a Lee Child book. The story and supporting cast for that story were great. It held my interest far more than season 2.

Season 2 is another matter. Nothing about this is great, I haven't finished the season yet. I probably will since I've made it through most of it. I don't like the supporting cast. They keep insisting on bringing. Neagley back. She was the only supporting character who I didn't like in season 1, so of course she is there in season 2 and I see season 3 as well. Reacher in the books didn't have this backup and I don't think she should be here either. It defeats the purpose of the Reacher character. The story for season 2 is meh.

I may give season 3 a chance but I find when a show has 2nd season syndrome they normally don't improve again.

My Take – An ok watch!

 

Revenge – Came out in 2011 and went on till 2015.  The original series of Raveen Tandon's Karmma Calling.  As a summer to remember begins in the Hamptons, new arrival Emily Thorne dazzles the members of high society by making herself known in the exclusive social circle of Grayson Global CEO Conrad Grayson and his socialite wife Victoria. But it soon becomes clear that the beguiling young philanthropist has a dark past. Emily was once known as Amanda Clarke, a young eight-year-old (in the summer of 1993) whose life was torn apart when her father - Grayson Global hedge fund manager David Clarke - was falsely accused of channeling money to a terrorist organization responsible for the downing of a commercial airliner. Now living under an assumed identity, she is determined to seek vengeance on the people who destroyed her father's life - the two main conspirators being Conrad and Victoria Grayson - by making their lives come crashing down around them. Because when everything you love has been stolen from you, someone has to pay.

Trivia

Loosely based on Alexandre Dumas's novel The Count of Monte Cristo.

A review from IMDB...

Fantastic first season and then it took a dive

Revenge made a huge splash when it first aired. It was fresh, had a great story, great characters, excellent directing and good performances. We saw a strong independent young woman seek revenge for the framing of her innocent father that ruined her life. It was almost mesmerizing and thrilling watching Emily/Amanda cross each name of the list through each episode. Just when we thought she had met her match she always had a trick up her sleeve or fooled the audience as it was part of her plan all along. Season 1 was a huge success.

Season 2 marked the point when the show started to decline. The producers desiring more money aimed for longevity as opposed to the story and high quality. Suddenly we found out there was this ridiculous sinister group behind it all. It recovered later when it focused on Emily's revenge and taking out the Grayson's for good. Then it got worse when David Clarke himself returned from the dead which was what the whole series was built on. The show looked like it had no direction or purpose and sadly it was wrapped up after 4 seasons. Whenever I think of Revenge and its exceptional first season and what happened after I always think of what could have been.

My Take – Watched the 1st season and stopped. A good watch for the 1st season.

 

Mr Bates vs The Post Office – Came out in 2024. One of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British legal history where hundreds of innocent sub-postmasters and postmistresses were wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting due to a defective IT system.

A review from IMDB...

The perfect educational segway into the biggest miscarriage of justice in British history

For anyone who doesn't know the story of the Horizon Post Office Scandal, it's hard to sum up in a few line sound bites. Essentially at the turn of the year 2000 the entire Post Office Network in the UK became computerised. The new computer system, Horizon, was outsourced and designed by Fujitsu. It was already late, had gone over budget and was full of bugs, but was launched anyway. Soon thereafter Postmasters all over the country began experiencing shortfalls on their accounts, shortfalls which due to their draconian contract they were legally liable for. The Post Office had an entire investigation and legal department responsible for prosecuting postmasters, which it did with great vigour, while exercising no investigation whatsoever to the Post Masters claims - that Horizon was at fault. This party line continued for near on 20 years, while Postmasters all over the country were having their lives systematically destroyed by the very brand they had been working for. Many lost most or all of their savings, relationships suffered, and some committed suicide.

The main protagonist here is Alan Bates (Toby Jones) a former Subpostmaster who begins to rally other victims to his cause, and ultimately takes the Post Office on in the High Court. The span of the story here covers a period of well over twenty years and it does well to juggle multiple narratives and storylines, as well as give a greater insight into some of those who were responsible (at least two of whom, portrayed in this drama, should be facing prison sentences) fort this utter travesty - The meat of the screen time goes to Bates, Jo Hamilton (an excellent performance from Monica Dolan) and Lee Castleton (a nice out of type casting of Will Mellor in the role) - Postmasters all at the sharp end of this tale. A couple of composite characters make up some of the other Postmasters and other characters in the story including Bob Rutherford (Ian Hart) are composites, his character being based on the Second Sight duo of Ian Henderson & Ron Warmington. Hart nails them both superbly wioth his role. Other notable performances are the likes of Lia Williams and Katherine Kelly, playing Paula Vennells and Angela van den Bogerd, two women who were out of their depth in their own Post Office Senior Management roles, let alone in exploring the Horizon issue at hand. And whose lying apathy is brilliantly captured by both actors. Shaun Dooley, an actor I always have a lot of time for is great as Michael Riffikin, the man who saw first hand accounts being altered by employees at Fujitsu remotely. Amit Shah & Alex Jennings both give solid turns in their respective roles.

When I first saw the trailer for this series, I was initially worried that such a crucial story of our time had been reduced to a Ms Marble like Sunday easy going drama affair. Fortunately, despite the God awful song on the closing credits of every episode, this drama scores more than it misses and doesn't shy away from several of the darker aspects of the story.

For the most part this is a show which does a superb job of juggling an incredibly complex topic, and is anchored by solid and well researched performances. Some of the dialogue is very expositional at times, (especially in episode 1) but there is a lot to pack into the four hour running time. In what really should have been a six parter for a story of this type and scale, inevitably some things, events and people were not included. It did feel a little criminal not to at least mention the investigation work done by Panorama, (a major turning point in the story) or have the name of investigating Journalist Nick Wallace mentioned by someone, somewhere in the show. (his name is in the credits to be fair) These were key turning points in the fight for justice and warrant inclusion and I am sure we could have had a few less shots of the impressive Welsh Countryside and a bit more meat elsewhere.. But this is essentially the Postmasters story, and while it would have been interesting to see more scenes on who, what, where and when took key decisions at both the Post Office and Fujitsu, this drama should go a long way to waking up the general public on this crucial issue of public interest, who have been largely ignorant of it for so long.

It's vital viewing and essential part of the quest for justice in what has become the biggest miscarriage of justice in British history. I remind you, like the show does itself, the fight continues for many, and its not over yet.

Highly recommended.

My take – Worth a definite watch!

Cheers till next time😊!