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Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (2016)
Truly Awful
Bombastically annoying take on the original Adams material.
A show that tries, so desperately, to come off as quirky and off-kilter, yet only ever manages to frustrate and confound with its total lack of cohesion, and pointlessly frenetic storytelling.
Worse yet, none of the Adams spirit and wit seems to be present here, at all.
Adding to this unintelligible mess is the fact that Elijah Wood is very clearly the star of the show. He receives top billing, the lion's share of the plot revolves around him, his sister, and their daily struggles. So why call the show 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency"??? Wouldn't a better title be 'Elijah Wood and that stammering, yammering British guy whose agent needs to be fired because he actually got his client second billing in a show in which he supposed playing the title character?"
Truly, a mess.
Northern Exposure: Russian Flu (1990)
Sit-com tropes ahoy! (But not in a bad way)
By the time "Russian Flu" rolls around, were deep into the excellent first season of Northern Exposure, the few 'opening night jitters' that plagued the show for the first half of the season are gone, and the cast and crew are turning out some really fantastic television on a regular basis.
Additionally, we're treated to the introduction of that tried and true sit-com convention - the visiting relative (or, in this case, fiancee) trope. A trope the writers would come to rely on frequently, not just for the rest of season one, but for the duration of the show.
And, while this convention is so often annoyingly associated with the latter seasons of well-worn sit-coms, vainly attempting to inject some measure of life into a show that overstayed its welcome years prior, in the case of the first season of NE, the result is often spectacular.
Rather than focusing on the main cast of actors early on in the show's run, we get to meet their fiancees (Russion Flu), brothers (Aurora Borealis, a Fairy Tale for Big People) and ex-husbands, among others. This has the effect of taking the spotlight off of the main characters, thus increasing their 'shelf-life' in the eyes of the viewer; if it takes us longer to get to know these characters, then, theoretically, it may also take us longer to get tired of them. Similarly, by focusing on relations, rather than main characters, the show's writers don't have to worry about running out of ideas for their main cast as quickly either. As interestingly quirky as the denizens of Cicely are, that quirkiness is a finite resource, best not to blow your wad right out of the gate.
As always, the formula that makes this episode enjoyable for me is no different than the formula I've referred to else-where in these NE reviews: eccentric characters, involved in eccentric situations, all underpinned by a generous helping of adroitly applied light-comedy, good television ensues.
Northern Exposure: A Kodiak Moment (1990)
Harbinger of things to come?
It was a hard decision giving this one only seven stars. On the one hand, it is part of that exceptional first season of Northern Exposure. But, on the other, it's also an example of how even a show of this caliber can succumb to lazy writing and hackneyed plot devices. Furthermore, even though this show was just a slight bump in an otherwise stellar season, it was also, possibly, a portent of numerous episodes to come (mostly after season three) that would also suffer from similarly poor writing. The most glaring shortcomings revolve around the two separate storylines involving Maurice and Holling. In the former, as Maurice considers making Chris his heir and sole beneficiary of the Minnifield fortune, we're treated to the rather worn-out "odd couple" trope that, at times, almost smacks of below-average sit-com writing. And in Holling's story, the writer's make that truly annoying blunder of essentially negating and contradicting all the development they've put into a character up to that point. For six episodes, we've been treated to stories of how seasoned and formidable of an outdoorsman Holling is; how numerous times, in the wild, he's stared death in the face and lived to tell the tale. So what are we treated to in an episode that is supposed to feature the titanic showdown between Holling and Jesse The Bear that almost killed him years earlier? Nothing more than a gimmicky plot, played mainly for laughs, about how when he takes Shelly into the woods with him to hunt for Jesse, he ends up completely ignoring the bear in favor of two days of canoodling with Shelly in his tent. The only aspect of the episode that seems to retain the real spirit of quality Northern Exposure is the near-always enjoyable acrimony between Maggie and Dr Fleischman. Certainly a long way from the worst Northern Exposure episode you'll ever see, but pretty far from the best as well.
Northern Exposure: Sex, Lies and Ed's Tapes (1990)
Getting to know the rest of the cast...
With "Sex, Lies and Ed's Tapes", Northern Exposure stumbles upon a formula that it will use adroitly for much of the rest of the series, namely, letting the supporting cast of townspeople carry the main storylines while Morrow's Dr Fleischman functions as a cynically bemused straight man, in some ways, standing in for the audience as we witness their bizarrely eccentric behavior. And, quite often, the result is great television. In this case, we get to finally learn about Maggie's 'black-widow' tendencies, as well as Shelly and Holling's 'May-December' relationship. And, following on from the events in "Soapy Sanderson", we're also treated to witnessing the first steps of Ed's fledgling film career. This episode is a perfect example of how the quality and diversity of this cast, along with their wonderful foibles makes this show, at times, so watchable.
Northern Exposure: Dreams, Schemes and Putting Greens (1990)
Another good, early episode
While still yet to achieve the brilliance of later episodes, 'Dreams, Schemes and Putting Greens' nonetheless is still vintage Northern Exposure. With a plot that, for the most part, relies on a fair amount of humor, particularly regarding Joel and Maurice schmoozing some Japanese businessmen, we're treated to what really made the early seasons of the show work: a deft, light-comedy that underpinned and permeated the more serious aspects of the show, namely, Shelly and Holling's wedding.
Northern Exposure: Soapy Sanderson (1990)
Almost there, but not quite...
If "Soapy Sanderson" had run in one of the later seasons of Northern Exposure, we no doubt would have been treated to a joyless and dreary meditation on the nature of aging, or solitude, or suicide or some other such pompous nonsense.
Fortunately, we're still in the first season, where, thankfully, the writers, more often than not, felt these topics were best dealt with using a heavy dose of light comedy. And the result is the beginning of some truly great television.
Soapy Sanderson is the first episode where it really feels like all the disparate elements of this gem of a television series are finally starting to come together - interesting characters, outlandish plots and, at the center of it all, Morrow's causticly petulant Dr Fleischman. And, as a true testament to how great this show is, it's not the main plot (Fleischman's attempts to duplicitously sell off land that he and Maggie have just inherited), that garners the praise here, but, instead, it's the subplots and secondary characters that really start to come to the fore, foreshadowing the strong ensemble nature that this show will eventually take on. Case in point: Ed's introduction to film making by a documentary film crew, as well as how we get to learn more about the citizens of Cicely through their interviews. High points here include the first time we get to hear David Schwartz' beautifully contemplative piano theme that would serve as a sort of leitmotif for Maggie's character throughout much of the series, as well as an early television role from guest star Christa Miller.
Northern Exposure: Brains, Know-How and Native Intelligence (1990)
Good episode, slight let down from the pilot
All the component parts are here: the quirky characters, the original story ideas and, of course, Morrow's wonderfully, miserable and bitter Dr Fleischman. But, for some reason, the parts don't gel as seamlessly as in other episodes of this fine series. Not that it's a bad episode at all (and Northern Exposure, unfortunately, has plenty of those), just one that feels a bit lacking. Though, compared to most television fare on offer in the early 90s (and even today, for that matter), it's still some pretty enjoyable television.
The feud between Maurice and Chris is probably the best storyline of the three, but as it's relegated to a "B" story, it doesn't get a lot of screen time. Joel and Maggie's acrimonious early "courtship", while fun at times, can get a bit tedious. And even the main plot-line of Joel helping a local Indian healer, feels a little directionless at times. Still a solid episode though, just not up to the insanely high levels the series would reach in future shows.
Northern Exposure: Pilot (1990)
Good Pilot
Like lots of pilots, this one suffers from some slight inconsistencies with the actual series. Darren E Burrows hasn't gone "full Ed" yet in locking down his character's wonderful idiosyncrasies. And certain characters - Chris and Shelly - don't even have speaking parts here. And for a series that could be uneven as Northern Exposure was, you wouldn't be surprised if the pilot was a little off the map. However, to the contrary, this episode serves as a great introduction to Dr Fleischman's predicament in the wilds of Alaska and the quirky town he'll be based in for the next six seasons.