347. Web-series Reviews – 165

More web-series reviews…

Candy – Came out in 2022.  Texas in 1980 and based on the true story of killer Candy Montgomery and her victim, Betty Gore. Jessica Biel plays Montgomery, who seemingly had it all - a loving husband with a good job, a daughter and a son, a nice house in the brand new suburbs - so why did she kill her friend from church with an axe?

Same story as Love and Death series.

A review from IMDB...

There is an epidemic of streaming crime docudramas, they are inexpensive to make - a prewritten relatable narrative, a preexisting cadre of voyeurs and prebaked external tension. Often these preordained advantages breed laziness and produce sloppy television.

This, though, is a strong setup, introducing the key characters and quietly building Hitchcockian suspense towards the revelation of this heinous murder. The cast is strong and Jessica Biel is fabulous, leading the line as the eponymous character. Candy is superficially a suburban supermom, but also a passive-aggressive charred-martyr who courts adulation.

After one outing, Candy is entertaining and enjoyable, raising anticipation for the second instalment. The consecutive-day episode-delivery compromise is good, minimising the wait without the daunting one-day dump.

My Take – Worth a watch!

 

Black Bird – Came out in 2022.  Based on a true story. After Jimmy Keene is sentenced to 10 years in a minimum security prison without parole, he cuts a deal with the FBI to enter maximum-security prison for the criminally insane and befriend a suspected serial killer, Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser). Keene's job is to elicit a confession from Hall in order to slam the door on Hall's appeal and find the buried bodies of as many as eighteen women. But is Hall a serial killer? Or a serial confessor?

A review from IMDB...

This was on my radar anyway, from the good reviews that I've seen but it was the shows position on the Guardian's top TV of 2022 list that pushed me to watch it now. Whereas Paul Walter Hauser's performance has landed the most plaudits, this is the best I think I've seen Taron Egerton be.

Having been arrested on an aggravated drugs charge James Keene (Taron Egerton) is offered a commuted sentence if he can befriend Serial Killer Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser) and get him to admit to further murders, before Hall's appeal comes before a judge. Keene is reluctant until his father James Snr (Ray Liotta) suffers a heart attack, and he realises that the deal is his only chance to see him again. Outside Prison, Jimmy's handler, FBI Agent Lauren McCauley (Sepideh Moafi) and Detective Brian Miller (Greg Kinnear) try to recreate the steps of the original investigation and turn up new evidence.

I do feel, in retrospect, this is a show you watch for the performances, and they are indeed probably worth the price of admission alone. Hauser is great, but also, he has the mannered lunatic to portray, with a high-pitched voice and mutton chops to play up too. Egerton is all about hiding. In the opening scenes it's hiding behind a veneer of pleasantness and charm, but later it's keeping it together when he hears stories of true despicable evil.

I thought the story was reasonably good until that final episode when it feels like we rush through to a conclusion. Even though the start of each episode says that it's a true story, somehow that didn't really register with my until the final episode, with the epilogue moments. I did come a way feeling a bit, "Oh, is that it" I have to admit, as a couple of storylines don't really pan out to mean anything and the whole conclusion is messier than you would have hoped (though presumably that's what actually happened).

Whilst I don't regret watching the series by any means, I'm not sure that much more than the central two performances will remains with me in a few months' time.

My Take – Worth a watch!

 

Reina Roja/Red Queen – Came out in 2024.  With an IQ of 242, Antonia Scott is officially the smartest person on Earth. Her intelligence earned her the chance to become the "Red Queen" of a secret and experimental police project across Europe, but what seemed like a gift turned into a curse, and she ended up losing everything. When the son of a powerful banker is found grotesquely murdered in her mansion, and the heiress of the richest man in Spain is kidnapped, the Red Queen organization is launched. Mentor, Antonia's former boss, turns to Jon Gutiérrez, a temperamental but kind-hearted Basque police officer, to revive Antonia

A review from IMDB...

TV shows from Spain continue to amaze me, they are original and very well shot and written.

To be fair, this is series is based on best selling books, so the hard work is done for the writers. By episode 5 it is not hard to see the plot twist at the end coming, so writing is not perfect. But it does engage the viewer and keeps it interesting.

There are two lead characters in this show, the hyper intelligent female and the Kojak/Columbo style disgraced gay policeman. I wanted to mention that the police character is homosexual because of the way the show handles it. Unlike 99% of all shows and movies , there is zero wokeness. It is written into the show in a very realistic and organic way. Extremely so. I can say that is the best handled character I have seen so far. No hidden agenda. No messaging. His being a homosexual when the show refers to it is very mature and feels like part of the plot. It is however not central to the show, but instead is shown as giving the character unique ways to handle situations and people in a way not possible by a straight guy. Very well crafted. Not shown as bad or good, but something that just is and the character just lives his live.

The show can be broken up into three acts, with the last 2 episodes being act 3. Act 3 is the weakest, as it felt a bit rushed. They tied up everything neatly with a bow tie, probably in case there was no season 2. If season 2 had been pre-approved, they could have taken more time and it would have helped.

Episodes 1 to 3 are 9.0, 4,5, and 6 are 8.0, and 7 and 8 are 7.0. In the first few episodes specially and less so towards the end, her intellect is shown in the same way we see Murphy in The Good Doctor use his. With graphics and all. Show would have been higher rated if they had kept this up all the way to the end. It is used less as the show advances.

The shadowy organization that uses her superior intellect to solve crime and bring bad guys to justice is interesting but we are not given much info on them. Other than they do what regular cops can't. Nor are they "all good". They have no qualms with abusing and torturing their recruits in the name of "making them better", including giving them special drugs for enhancement. Pretty shady.

The female lead may be the most intelligent person on earth (maybe), but is still flawed in ways and still cannot make it on her own. Highest iq on earth is not enough. The show excels at showing this.

The middle age cop blackmailed into being her squire is likable, described as being an incurable romantic that decides things based on his heart and not rules and hard logic. An underdog that is easy to root for. His good heart sometimes leads to geiting his teeth kicked in. But he perseveres.

Overall there is a kidnapping they need to solve before the kidnapped is killed. Unlike many serials, the entire first season is the one case. We are used to resolutions in crime series per episode, so this took me by surprise and I had to get used to it. The case though is not what it seems, and if it was an onion to peel it would have many many layers before the final plot twist.

A season 2 is setup but the show can be seen as complete in season 1. There is enough resolved that you will not be bitter if there is no season 2. But you will be curious. There are always the books though.

My Take – Worth a watch!

Cheers till next time😊!