I agree. Sure the soap opera elements were on the nose, and the spy stuff was silly, but the cast managed to put together an ensemble of characters that was interesting. There really was a lot of potential to this if they had worked out the kinks.
It's been a couple of years now so it would be unfair for me to criticise based on any specifics I had trusted to memory, but by 'kinks' I really mean how characters haven't bedded down into their nature and the storylines in a way that is familiar and comfortable. Even well regarded TV shows have kinks in their early days. If you have ever revisited the first series of what are now considered classic shows, Cheers and Seinfeld are good examples, it is often disconcerting watching the actors 'finding' the characters. The inference is that writers and directors faced similar challenges.
Take the Ted Vanderway character for example. We never found out what he was really supposed to be. A comic foil in the vein of Major Healey from Bewitched? A spoilt asshat? We will never know, and from what we have, just too many things going in different directions. Multiply that across the cast of characters and mixed storylines and we have what I have labelled, out of convenience: kinks.
I guess I wouldn't call those kinks, but it's an understandable usage. And those "kinks" might have been complicated by - if I remember correctly - some of the episodes not being shown in their intended order, once the cancellation had been decided.
My biggest problem actually is that they changed some of the music when it came out on DVD and probably for Netflix etc too. Especially, they used something else at the end of the first episode instead of "Mac The Knife" which I think was a huge mistake.
Reply by Jacinto Cupboard
on March 4, 2018 at 1:52 AM
I agree. Sure the soap opera elements were on the nose, and the spy stuff was silly, but the cast managed to put together an ensemble of characters that was interesting. There really was a lot of potential to this if they had worked out the kinks.
Reply by Knixon
on February 14, 2020 at 5:11 AM
What kinks?
Reply by Jacinto Cupboard
on February 14, 2020 at 5:33 AM
It's been a couple of years now so it would be unfair for me to criticise based on any specifics I had trusted to memory, but by 'kinks' I really mean how characters haven't bedded down into their nature and the storylines in a way that is familiar and comfortable. Even well regarded TV shows have kinks in their early days. If you have ever revisited the first series of what are now considered classic shows, Cheers and Seinfeld are good examples, it is often disconcerting watching the actors 'finding' the characters. The inference is that writers and directors faced similar challenges.
Take the Ted Vanderway character for example. We never found out what he was really supposed to be. A comic foil in the vein of Major Healey from Bewitched? A spoilt asshat? We will never know, and from what we have, just too many things going in different directions. Multiply that across the cast of characters and mixed storylines and we have what I have labelled, out of convenience: kinks.
Reply by Knixon
on February 14, 2020 at 5:50 AM
I guess I wouldn't call those kinks, but it's an understandable usage. And those "kinks" might have been complicated by - if I remember correctly - some of the episodes not being shown in their intended order, once the cancellation had been decided.
My biggest problem actually is that they changed some of the music when it came out on DVD and probably for Netflix etc too. Especially, they used something else at the end of the first episode instead of "Mac The Knife" which I think was a huge mistake.
p.s. Major Healey was from I Dream Of Jeanie.![grinning](/assets/emojis/v8/1f600.svg)
Reply by Jacinto Cupboard
on February 14, 2020 at 5:55 AM
Seniors moment. LOL