Even though I try to pay attention sometimes
some TV series just manage to pass me by. I discover them later, sometimes years
later. This year I had some time on my hands due to the long holidays and I
decided to see what networks have to offer us in terms of midseason premieres.
As usual, no spoilers.
Billions
I don’t think I even heard about this one, so I
totally didn’t expect to see Damian
Lewis of Homeland fame in one of the
lead roles. After that I vaguely remembered something about this casting. And
let me tell you, it was spot on, I did not see Brody in him at all. Some of the
investment gibberish didn’t spoil Billions’
pilot and it turned out to be absolutely brilliant. It is gripping, smart,
unpredictable and totally addictive. I certainly hope they will keep it up.
Verdict: Definitely check it
out.
Shadowhunters
I am perfectly aware
that there is absolutely nothing new under the sun, but come on. They threw
everything in this one: vampires, demons, warlocks, shape-shifters and very
poorly choreographed swords fights. Add to that terrible (terrible!) acting
(apart from Alan van Sprang) and incoherent dialogue, plot jumping all over the
place - and I’m not sure how something like this was even picked up. This
painful mess reminded me of every supernatural show that has come and gone. Let
me prove it to you: the lead is a girl who finds out about her destiny and
supernatural world on her 18th birthday, there is a sidekick nerd
friend who is in love with her, there is also a strong gorgeous shadowhunter
and you can pretty much guess how it all will end. I’m not gonna stick around
to see it, neither should you. Unless you’re 15 years old.
Verdict: Definitely pass.
Colony
After checking out
some info about the plot, I knew this was my post apocalyptic cup of tea. I was
waiting for it to blow me away. I did not. Let’s see. After the invasion by
some forces (presumably alien) people well, keep living their lives almost like
nothing changed. Some of them and it’s not all peachy… there is a curfew and
problems with food supply, barbwire everywhere….. Some lucky bastards joined
the winners enemy and others (poor souls) were sent to work at the factory
(sounded like it's a very bad place). The stars - Josh Holloway and Sarah Wayne Callies - were both doing a decent job, selling well
the story and their relationship. I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly went wrong for me, but there
was something missing and I was not hooked instantly. The action kept jumping all over the place. Despite the overall
tension I didn’t feel the actual catastrophic situation. The enemy that no one
can see is very suspicious and makes me think there isn’t one, or at least not
the one they think. It is totally
possible I didn’t understand something. I will tune in for couple more
episodes, to see if they make me change my mind.
Verdict: rather a ‘no’ than
‘yes’, but need to watch few more episodes to be sure
Shades of blue
Lately it seems that everything is about shades
and colors. We had Blue Bloods and Code
Black now it's Shades
of blue. What is next? The color palette is certainly extensive, if only
the quality was a bit higher. Why am I spending so many words on colors? Well,
there is not much to say about the pilot. I tired it twice and turned if off.
Since I cannot write about an episode without watching one, I decided to make
another attempt. Third time was a charm and
Ray Liotta was the reason
I got to the end of this pilot. He is simply brilliant and totally saves it.
Jennifer Lopez on the other hand is not convincing at all, but maybe that’s
just me, because my totally personal opinion is that she is not a good actress.
As for the story and pilot in general, it’s not like it’s very bad, but it’s
just not good. It’s all been done before and considering the amount of crime
drama available these days one can certainly find something better. I know I
will.
Verdict: We all have favorite
actors that we could watch reading telephone book for hours, if JLo is yours,
go for it; the rest move right along.
Second chance
To be
completely honest, I almost turned it off, because this Frankenstein type plot
annoyed me for some reason. But the series had Tim DeKay from White Collar, so I gave this one another
20 minutes. Strangely Tim was a second reason for me to almost turn it off.
Yes, I’m wacky that way. The thing is that he plays an FBI agent and it all was
so familiar that I kept expecting Neal to show up. But as soon as you let that
factor go and pretend you didn’t see the pseudo science behind the Frankenstein
(big help that they avoided all the gore), the series itself is not that bad. Robert Kazinsky is a very likeable lead who
perfectly conveyed all the difficult emotions. But it’s where they go next is what
worries me.
Verdict: TBD – need to watch
few more episodes.
What about
you? Did you see any of the above? If so, what did you like or hate?
Sound off
in the comments!
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