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Shooter (2016)
Ruined by selfishness /unrealism
I enjoyed the first two seasons. I thought the stories were mostly believable and the use of the basic Shooter plot as the basis for the first season was a good choice and the variance was well done.
I was able to accept Ryan Phillipe's boyish looks and that they moved them from Arkansas (is that a spoiler?) to Texas, Harder to accept is how often they are able to engage in firefights and brawls in public and not attract attention. Has no one pulled their faces from CCTV and put them on wanted posters? Or videoed them and posted it on that thing, what is it? Oh, yeah, the internet.
As the second season wound down, two things crept in that have seriously hurt the series. It shifted from the against-all-odds, mission first perspective to self-indulgence.
1) The personal backstories have blown up to crowd the main story line.
2) The characters are choosing to pursue their personal vendettas over solving the end of the world. This indulgence is more striking when they choose killing people for revenge over using them as intel sources.
This is the kind of writing that infects so many shows today. "I can do what I want, however illogical, and things will turn out all right." Are people so self-centered today that they can accept such a flawed premise? That people would choose their own gratification over the ruination of the lives of every person on the earth?
Things would be so much better if they would back off on the personal narratives and get back to action and justice.
NYPD Blue (1993)
Andy Sipowicz hurts the show, but the storylines make it tolerable
If it weren't for the storylines of the the rest of the squad room, I couldn't watch this.
As the lead, Andy Sipowicz's anger can be understood, but it is too overblown and his racist attitude flies in the face of logic toward his boss Arthur Fancy, considering that he owes his career to Fancy. Franz emotes just a bit too much and comes across as a cartoon at times.
As it goes on, Andy's self-appointed godhood regarding everyone in the squad room including his bosses is exhausting. The attraction of any woman for him is a mystery, especially when you watch his relationships and how he treats women.
The childishness, sycophancy, and neuroticism of Greg Medavoy makes me think that there's a good chance they will reveal that Medavoy is a prolific serial killer in the final episode and the final scene will be a slow fade with all of Greg's fellow detectives sitting at their desks with their throats cut and Greg sitting there smiling and filling out his 5.
And I wonder how true the interrogation scenes are.
Blue Bloods (2010)
Show is suffering becuase of the writing.
At times it feels like the writers don't agree with the values that this show projects and are trying to undermine them through the actions of the characters.
Used to be a 10 for this show. The way that writers let Danny's character go off on everyone around him without being checked is growing increasingly unrealistic. No one is allowed to defend themselves with anything stronger than a hurt look.
The complete lack of logic is irksome. His failure to follow procedure when he failed to call for back-up when entering Thomas Wilder's house endangered the victim and directly lead to additional deaths. His borderline integrity issues such as claiming a suspect confessed in Season 9 are beginning to make this hard to watch. These devices are getting old, and writers are leaning on it too hard.
And I'm beginning to think that Erin would be justified if she stabbed Danny while doing dishes after Sunday dinner. And that's a failure by Frank to reign in Danny.
There are also far too many instances in which otherwise intelligent police officers don't get on the phone or radio and use the resources much closer at hand to resolve situations (I realize that would take away from the opportunity for them to act heroically) with less risk to the victims.
Other than this, I'm ready to go along with the various dynamics of the show and lack of compliance with police procedure.
And what is up with Frank's half-a** salute?
New Tricks (2003)
Don't pass on this without a look
Probably my favorite police show. It engaged me from the start. It has drama, but also a lot of light-hearted fun, avoiding the constant dark tones that so many of the British police dramas favor. (Not that I haven't enjoyed a few of them, such as Genttly, Endeavour, and DCI Banks.)
This show has a cast of characters that play well off each other, good stories for the individual episodes, and good backstories that weave in and out of the episodes and seasons. I appreciate that not every episode or case has a neat bow at the end, either due to politics stopping the enquiries, or just being plain outwitted by the criminals on occasion.
Psych (2006)
Escapist, Unreal, and Just Plain Fun
My writing skills don't support parsing this down into a point-by-point without putting a lot of time into it. I simply look forward to the goofiness that is Shawn. It appears that Shawn is just an extension of James Roday's personality, and I do appreciate that Shawn and Gus seem to click/enjoy themselves even more as the series goes on.
Zoo (2015)
Soooo Bad
Good concept, terrible execution. I'm used to pushing the "suspend disbelief" button when watching TV and movies, but this series has me raging at the tube. I echo the review that the fascination lies in the unrealness, not in becoming invested in the plot or the characters. Watching this has become punishment.
The self-centeredness of this "noble team" as they choose their own families or their need for revenge over the saving of humanity makes me despair. The writers cannot honestly think that the actions of the characters are believable. It feels like they sit around playing a game of Topper inventing the most implausible plot mechanisms and twists to amuse each other.
I hope season 4 is the end - I have one episode left and my sanity can't take any more.
Go Hybrids!