Category Archives: Crime

WTF of the week: The Following

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Dear ladies and gents,

WTF of the week has been reserved for the Following. Don’t get me wrong – I can’t quit that shit. I need to see what happens. But seriously? I kant with these eejits.

Allow me a couple of rant worthy points:

  • WTF with that love triangle/threesome? A girl who stabbed her own mother, a dude who kidnapped a girl to prove he is not gay and wanted a girlfriend of his own and a dude who feels bad for not killing anyone just yet. What can possibly go wrong? Then again their romantic entanglements seem to be the least of their problems.
  • you can kill yourself by swallowing your own bandages – who knew?
  • WTF with all the cliffhangers? (me thinks someone has been reading too much Dan Brown)
  • it is always a good idea to let serial killers have access to Internet. Because I mean, what can possibly go wrong?
  • is it like a thing now to visit serial killers in prison? Because this dude has been holding more Audiences than the Queen of England
  • what’s with everyone going around stabbing everyone else? Seriously? All that blood is very unappetitlich.
  • dude whining to his girlfriend I cannot believe you left! after they got in a pickle with the FBI and SWAT and whathaveyou. O RLY? Maybe the fact she stabbed her own mother should have been an indication.

Good vs Bad

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Dear ladies and gents,

new series I’ve checked out this week.

THE BAD

Do No Harm

Oh gawd, don’t even know where to begin with this one. It is a twist on Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. To say it fails to deliver I think is an understatement. It is a story about a brilliant neurosurgeon Jason Cole (played by Steven Pasquale – you might remember him from Rescue Me), who has a dark secret – he has an evil alter Ian Price. This alter of his shows up every day at the same time. Cole manages to keep him in check with some type of experimental drug but after prolonged use, it doesn’t work anymore. So Ian shows up once again to wreck havoc with Cole’s life.

The premise, I mean, I guess it could work. The dialogue however is so horribly clunky, it’s just painful to watch at times. Pasquale meanwhile… the doctor dude is so earnest, it’s just… the alter on the other hand… well when he turns into his alter, he looks like he might be constipated. Or have something stuck between his teeth, can’t decide which. And I don’t think I’m the only one who didn’t like it (not that the ratings mean much). I hate to sound harsh, but don’t bother, it’s just one giant facepalm (as demonstrated by Mr. Humphries below).

THE GOOD

House of Cards

Ok I’ll try not to gripe about House of Cards being an adaptation of an UK series by the same name (also book written by Michael Dobbs), because frankly that only gives me indigestion.

Anyhow House of Cards is a Netflix production (and for what it is worth – David Fincher is on board as an executive producer). It is about a House Majority Whip and Democratic candidate Frank Underwood (played by Kevin Spacey). He gets screwed over for the position of the Secretary of State and as Cabbagepatch so eloquently puts it in Star Trek – Frank has come to have his vengeance. And make no mistake he will have his vengeance one way or another. The cast is quite good (Robin Wright stars as Frank’s wife Claire), the writing is top notch, there is intrigue, Machiavellian machinations and whathaveyou to keep you occupied. My only (minor) gripe is that is a tad bit too slow. Not slow as any AMC show, but a bit slow nonetheless.

Anyhow thumbs up from me.

So dear ladies and gents – tell me, how you seen anything particularly good of late? Or something atrociously bad?

The Following

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Image: Fox.com

Dear ladies and gents,

have you by any chance checked out the Following?

The Following is written by Kevin Williamson (of Dawson’s Creek and the Vampire Diaries fame) and it stars Kevin Bacon as Ryan Hardy, a former FBI agent who captured serial killer Dr. Joe Carroll (played by James Purefoy). Their encounter left Hardy a retired agent with a dodgy heart and an alcohol problem.

A decade later Carroll escapes from prison, goes on killing spree and Hardy is called in to help FBI capture him again. It turns out while in prison, the smooth talking former English professor Carroll has formed a cult like following online and has numerous serial-killers-in-training do his bidding.

Kevin Bacon is superb and, on a totally shallow note, looks great. Purefoy is sufficiently creepy.

The Following is good. Not great mind, but good enough to make me want to tune in and see the next episode. I do feel however the Following will be an acquired taste (think Dexter). It’s bloody and gory and creepy and intense. It is cliffhangers galore. As for the violence (and there is plenty) – shock value? For sure. And at some point we should have a discussion how desensitized we have become to blood and gore. But for me personally far creepier and horrible were the scenes where there was no violence shown. Also I think the series will benefit from the 15-episode season, which should make the story more compact.

Anyhow ladies and gents – have you seen the Following? What did you think?

Down below you can check the trailer and sneak peak trailer for the second episode.

Leverage canceled

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Dear ladies and gents,

first let me wish all of you happy holidays! I hope you had a lovely time. Or rather peaceful and cozy time? (yes family gatherings can be a bit erm overwhelming at times). And I also hope you have invested in a quality pair of stretchy pants. That one is self explanatory. Be as it may – it’s nice to have you back!

Now unfortunately for a bit of bad news – as I was munching on some cake, I saw the news Leverage got canceled. And I almost choked on a bit of walnut.

First I was all like

And this

With a bit of this

Then I got a bit angry

Just a tiny bit

While I understand that five seasons is an excellent run for a cable show, this comes after the news that Leverage has been nominated for People’s Choice Awards as favorite cable drama (as it happens you can vote for the show at this link)

And that kinda makes it worse and made me do this

If it is not obvious – I am 12. Mr. Devlin however is a much more gracious person then I will ever be

(Snape approves of the letter mind you, not of the cancellation).

You know, it’s lucky there is so much cake around at the moment otherwise I don’t know what I might do.

Tell me dear ladies and gents, will you miss Leverage?