TonyCamonte84 Reviews

Crime Story (1986–1988)

Ahead of its time for its serialized format, but not a great show unfortunately

[6/10 · 2 April 2014]

The 1986 NBC drama 'Crime Story' is often credited as a predecessor to today's greatly serialized TV show such as 'The Sopranos' or 'The Wire', and as the prototype for this kind of series whose story-arcs span multiple episodes. Set in the 1960s it's about policeman Lt. Mike Torello and mobster Ray Luca who rises through the ranks. The first season takes 22 episodes to tell their story, however – being among the first shows to not be completely episodic – it is not as brave in its approach as the shows that would follow it are, and there are a lot of episodic stories weaved into the overarching plot. The show still feels quite episodic because of it, and you can tell that the writers at the time didn't feel the viewers would be able to appreciate a single narrative over the course of about 18 hours. This is especially obvious with the inclusion of season 1 'episode' 12 "Crime Pays", which is nothing but a 45 minute recap of what had happened in the previous 11 episodes. There are other moments later in the show, as it generally declines quite a bit, when there are long flashbacks, too.

As far as I'm concerned that's a blemish for the show, as it insults the viewers' intelligence, even though the times and their viewing practices might have warranted that. The show does have a bit going for it, though, other than retrospectively exploring the beginnings of today's great shows' narrative structures. It features some very good acting, especially from Dennis Farina (playing Lt. Mike Torello), and Jon Polito, whose character Phil Bartoli doesn't get enough screen-time, though. A young Julia Roberts has a guest role in one of the episodes, too, as well as Kevin Spacey and other great actors. Also, there's some fantastic work being done behind the camera. Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant, King Of New York, The Addiction, …) directs the two episodes spanning pilot and Michael Mann (Heat, The Last of the Mohicans, …) produces the entire series.

It's quite evident that this show was made in the 80s, and it feels like the 1980s 90 percent of the time (not only because of the constant anachronistic 1980s score), even though its story takes place in the 1960s, but that doesn't really deter from the production quality of it all. Where the show – at least for me – ultimately falls short of being a great one, though, is in the writing. There's just not enough substance to it. The story definitely has the potential for it, as Michael Scorsese later showed in 'Casino', which was inspired by 'Crime Story', as he himself admitted, but the show doesn't quite live up to it. The episodic elements don't help, but in the end it comes down to the characters not being refined enough. Torello and Luca are interesting enough in the beginning, but character-wise they stay where they are for the rest of the series. They are mainly identified by their hatred for each other, their ambition and their hotheadedness. Unfortunately, there's little beyond that. We get to see them with their significant others and similar things like that, but little is done to further the characters anyway, and in the end there's just too little to care about, especially when the main storyline regularly gets interrupted by often uninspired cases-of-the-week.

The dialogue-writing is sharp enough for it to be a decent show, yet sadly the characters aren't fleshed out well-enough. The plot- writing is also not up to par. It often takes the cheap way out and generally lacks credibility and quality. There wasn't nearly enough for it ever to be a great show, but it could have been a good one with a few tweaks. All of this, by the way, is only talking about the first season. The second one is generally another notch below the first one.

Rescue Me (2004–2011)

Not a drama – It's a soap opera with bigger production values

[4/10 · 24 March 2014]

There's no two ways about this: 'Rescue Me' is a soap opera. Yes, it has significantly better actors in it than 99% of other soaps, and yes, its production values are a lot higher, too. Still, in its essence 'Rescue Me' is not much more than one of those shows that are the very lowest form of television series. It's a masculine version of the soap opera that also features reoccurring parts of terribly unfunny and predictable sitcom.

I could write a dozen paragraphs about how the main protagonist's completely unlikable character doesn't work in the same way the disgusting protagonist of 'Enlightened' worked, as 'Rescue Me's Tommy Gavin was just a terrible human being without providing any insights into… well… anything, or at least anything other than a overdrawn unrealistic fictional character. Or I could go on about the way the show is shot, and how bad camera work and awful musical montages drag the show further down. But in the end it doesn't come to any of this, when discussing why 'Rescue Me' is ultimately not a show worth watching.

The story and the writing are what make 'Rescue Me' – plainly put – a bad show. In typical soap opera fashion conflicts get stacked upon each other in a laughably unrealistic fashion, one after the other. Suspension of disbelief is fine and all – I don't expect every show to be 'The Wire' in regards to realism – but 'Rescue Me' is so far out there it takes away from every other merit the show might have had otherwise.

And there are some upsides to the show. The acting is generally very good, and I mainly attribute the performances of the main stars to not realizing how much of a soap opera the show really was within the 1st season. Maybe it wasn't back then – maybe it was indeed a decent show in the beginning that served as a kind of milieu story of the special breed of people that are fire-fighters – but I'm not going to re-watch it to find that out.

Generally, I felt like the show got continually worse the more it wore on. When I was at season 4, I thought it really couldn't get much worse, but I was proved wrong three more times with each new season. It got unbearably bad at times, and – even at risk of repeating myself – I feel the need to again point out that it's unfair to potential new viewers as well as to other dramatic shows to classify 'Rescue Me' as a drama. It's not. It's a soap opera, quite clearly.

Brimstone (1998–1999)

Mostly cringe-worthy trash, unfortunately

[4/10 · 6 March 2014]

Somebody recommended 'Brimstone' to me. Unfortunately I can't remember who, otherwise I would go back to ask him what the hell he was thinking. The show about a cop who went to hell, but got back on earth to catch 113 escapees from hell, is quite dreadful. It is trashy with awful cinematography, typical trashy overused 90s soundtrack and terrible special effects. It's not really well-written, and a very formulaic episodic monster-of-the-week type show.

Add to that a lot of rather bad actors and a so-and-so supernatural story, and what you get is a run-of-the-mill episodic TV show that can serve as a guilty pleasure, if you are able to tolerate a high amount of cringing and a heap of gaping plot holes. Every "twist" can be seen miles ahead, the characters are superficial at best, and still the show feels the need to spell out every single thing to the viewers, completely insulting their intelligence. If it was a movie it would star Michael Dudikoff.

The Booth at the End (2011–2012)

Jabbing at greatness, but lacks the KO punch

[7/10 · 23 February 2014]

'The Booth At The End' has a lot of things going for it. It has an interesting and kind of novel premise about a guy who sits in a restaurant and "provides opportunities" for people. He asks them what they want and they get it, if they do something very specific.

Not only is this premise interesting and has a lot of potential to go into a lot of different directions, it also allows for all of the story to take place at one single location (even if he sits in a different restaurant in season 2). I am a sucker for this kind of show, especially if it is dialogue- and character-driven, which 'The Booth At The End" is.

The dialogue is well-written for the most part and the characters are decently portrayed and mostly interesting. I enjoyed watching the short episodes, which consist of the man talking to about half a dozen characters, who take centre-stage for only 1-2 minutes before the scene cuts to another conversation.

However, I felt there wasn't really enough pay-off in the end to consider it a really good show. I don't think the underlying mystery needs to be resolved, as I can accept a supernatural premise and suspend my disbelief for it, but in the end I think there's next to nothing the show is really telling us. It's entertaining to get to know the different characters and their motivations, but if the point of the show is to show us how far people are willing to go to get what they want, it fails, because we simply don't get to know the characters for long enough to make them really life-like. They are just there in order to trade something in to get what they want, so there's no way for the viewer to relate to the characters and how they got to the point of doing something more or less horrible to get something else. As far as I'm concerned, that's the major flaw with the show, and that makes it merely entertaining instead of outstanding.

Breaking Bad (2008–2013)

Decent, but incredibly overrated

[7/10 · 30 January 2014]

Breaking Bad is not a bad show. It is very well produced, has good actors for the most part, some decent ideas, including a very good one that serves as the main plot, and is fast-paced enough to keep your interest. However, don't be fooled by other reviewers that Breaking Bad might actually be comparable to shows like 'The Wire', 'The Sopranos' or other series masterpieces. 'Breaking Bad' is more comparable to '24', a well executed popcorn series, that mixes action and suspense with a dark overtone. The writing is not quite as good as that of '24', but on the other hand it does not require as much suspension of disbelief as '24' does, even though 'Breaking Bad' also tends to become quite ridiculous in later seasons.

The first season was generally the best. It had a fresh idea and told it with a plan in mind. After that, the show gets a bit too unbelievable, repetitive, and popcornish. It'll probably hold your interest to the last minute, but much of it is style over substance, and you won't nearly get as much out of the series as you will out of shows such as 'The Wire' or 'Mad Men'.

ReGenesis (2004–2008)

Underwhelming, not well done, and by the numbers

[5/10 · 30 January 2014]

I started watching 'ReGenesis' with moderate expectations. I had heard good things about the show, but then again that doesn't mean much. And unfortunately 'ReGenesis' didn't live up to my moderate expectations.

While it starts out looking like having an overarching plot, which it does to a point, from the 3rd episode on the serialized aspect becomes less important, and as the show becomes more episodic, sadly cases-of- the-week take over most of the screen-time. The show becomes formulaic, but at least the weekly story lines aren't all that bad.

So, the story itself is decent enough, but the storytelling is not. From the first minute in there's an awful overuse and abuse of music, horribly annoying effects, unnecessary flashbacks and mind-numbing montages. The dialogue is quite dumb, as the show tells you everything instead of being able to show it. Its usage of split-screen is completely uninspired and purposeless, the attempts at humour fall completely flat, and some wooden actors (especially Maxim Roy) don't exactly help much either.

It's not a bad show per se, it's just completely by the numbers and not always connecting them well, either. There's dozens of shows like it out there; ReGenesis doesn't manage to stand out among them.

Matador (1978–1982)

The times they are a-changin'

[10/10 · 24 January 2014]

"The good old days give way to new ones, but things repeat themselves." As much as 'Matador' is a period piece about the time between 1929 and 1947, which is exclusively set in a fictional Danish town, it is really a universal timeless classic. It is about change as much as about anything else.

People and families find together while others drift apart, children grow up while adults refuse to change and learn, morals and standards get rewritten and challenged, and political events come and go affecting everyone in their unique way, because the characters are not only the catalysts for change, they are also its manifestations. Whether they grow, adapt or just stand still – they are all testament to the changes that happen all of the time, and they are the heartbeat of 'Matador'. There are literally dozens of them, and while some take more of a centre-stage-position than others, everyone counts and is given enough heart and enough screen-time to matter.

Even the characters, that start out a bit cartoonish, such as Maude or Mr. Schwann, become fully fleshed out over the course of the series. You'll find yourself sympathising with every character at one point or another, and, with one or two exceptions, will also find yourself hating every character for his/her actions at another point. Everyone has his own subtle arc, which is generally very well executed and stays true to life, although it might catch you by surprise. There's no black-and- white here, it's shades of grey. The writing is full of great little observations and the acting is always good enough to breathe real life into each and every character.

All of this is done with a constant fresh dose of humour, great acting, excellent production, and at a great slow pace. 'Matador' is almost flawless and can hold its own with the greatest of TV shows produced all over the world. In fact, I have rated more than 200 shows, most of them highly critically acclaimed, and this is only the 3rd one I give the perfect 10 out of 10. Go watch it for yourself and find out why.

KDD - Kriminaldauerdienst (2007–2010)

Maybe I was just expecting too much

[7/10 · 15 January 2014]

but altogether I was greatly disappointed by 'KDD – Kriminaldauerdienst'. Yes, it is better than 99% of the usual dreck that is on German TV, but that doesn't really mean much. Yes, it's a decent show with some ambition and good actors. But can it compete with the great international TV shows? Unfortunately there's no way it can.

While hailed as the German "The Wire" it falls spectacularly short of that admittedly very high standard. One of my main criticisms would be the lack of realism. While Berlin is one of the rougher German cities, the amount of major crime that happens in this series is nothing short of ridiculous. Also, the minor crimes that get interspersed between the main story lines are, while often based on good ideas, completely cliché- ridden. It's a bad sign when you know who did it long before the cops do or criminals mess up in the most ridiculous ways. Apparently, it's also incredibly easy to get criminals to confess their crime simply by simply insulting them in a way vaguely connected to the crime.

Like so many other shows, it's mainly the writing that lets down 'KDD'. While not necessarily bad, it's just filled with way too many flaws. Occasionally bad dialogue, the afore-mentioned story cop-outs and dei- ex-machina, and general over-dramatisation drag the show down and sometimes even give it a soap-opera feeling, when characters continually get involved in outrageous story lines and half of the police department have affairs with one another.

'KDD' is far from bad, though. It shows ambition with presenting multiple story lines and arcs at the same time, portraying almost nothing as black and white, and not neatly wrapping up everything within the 45 minutes episodes. It's also decently shot, features good actors most of the time, and has a lot of good ideas. If you are able to suspend your disbelief a lot, it is (alongside 'Im Angesicht des Verbrechens') probably the most entertaining, ambitious, and simply best show that German TV has created within the last 20 years or so.

The Returned (2012–2015)

Starts out great, but becomes less than it could have been

[5/10 · 25 December 2013]

'Les Revenants' is a beautifully shot and well acted show with a great score from Mogwai. It has an interesting idea and one of the better pilot episodes out there. Yet it falls short of what it could have been, sadly.

The show fails to make the most of its quite interesting premise. Instead of focussing on themes such as change, loss, grief and acceptance, which it does touch upon, but not to a satisfying degree, the mystery increasingly takes centre stage and absorbs screen-time. The supernatural starts to dominate and as more and more fantastic elements are introduced the human side to the story gets neglected.

It slowly descends into style-over-substance and the plot becomes, to be honest, rather silly.

It's evident that some talented people worked on this, but sadly they took a lazy approach to a decent premise. I had to force myself to watch through the last episodes of season one and will likely not watch the second one.

Spartacus (2010–2013)

The ugly, trashy stepbrother of 'Rome' and 'I, Claudius'

[2/10 · 25 December 2013]

If you are thinking of watching this, just watch the first 10 minutes, and you'll know whether you like it or not.

'Spartacus' is a style-over-substance (the catch being, that the 'style' is done extremely poor, too) show that places emphasis on graphics, slow-motion violence, nudity, slow-motion-blood spatter, 'cool' dialogue, slow-motion 'awesomeness', boring clichés, and anything else you might possibly want to display in slow-motion.

For the sake of that, it sacrifices story, good writing, character development, depth and any kind of subtleness. Subject matter is the only thing that remotely connects 'Spartacus' to the vastly superior HBO drama 'Rome' or the supreme 'I, Claudius'. Quality-wise it is a lot closer to guilty-pleasure trash, whereas I could find little pleasure in watching it, to be honest. If you want some easy-to-digest popcorn series, you'll probably find it to your liking, though. I'd like to write some more about it, but, to be honest, it is so bad that it kind of defies belief. Watch for yourself (20 minutes will suffice) to find out how utterly awful it is.

In the Face of Crime (2010)

A good show with some flaws butchered down in post-production to a decent one

[7/10 · 25 December 2013]

'Im Angesicht des Verbrechens' is without a doubt one of the best German shows in quite some time, which is not saying much, though, considering the abysmal quality of recent German TV programming. Amidst all of the dreck 'Im Angesicht des Verbrechens' distinguishes itself with a good story, a variety of good characters, and a general ambition, which is very refreshing, even if it's not always lived up to.

The show is quite well written, but ultimately let down by sub-par editing and various stylistic missteps. I can overlook those up to a degree, but they constantly overshadowed an otherwise decent show.

Also, while there are some good actors at work, some of the less important roles are played by lesser actors. Way too often I found my attention diverted because the characters would speak so unnaturally. Many of them over-pronounce their words, and it felt like they were reading their lines instead of acting them out. The script is also guilty of underestimating the viewers' intelligence and feeling the need to spell out every single thing. The show would tell you about things instead of showing them. Too often we would be shown a flashback of something we'd already seen at least twice, when it gets mentioned in a new episode. A little trust in the viewers' ability to remember those scenes would be greatly appreciated.

However, with all those negatives mentioned, 'Im Angesicht des Verbrechens' is still a very good show, telling an interesting story in a mostly well-done way. It's good, but just falls short of being great for a variety of reasons, most of which could have easily been avoided. It's still the best German TV show for quite some time, apart from KDD- Kriminaldauerdienst.

Enlightened (2011–2013)

Greatly under-appreciated

[8/10 · 25 December 2013]

'Enlightened' is not particularly easy to get into, which may be the reason for it not being discussed more often as a great show. I felt it flew a bit under the radar, but as I watched both of its seasons I realised that's not due to its quality.

It took some guts for the writers to focus an entire show on a completely unlikable person such as Amy Jellicoe. 'The Sopranos' have a mob boss as the protagonist, 'Mad Men' a habitual adulterer, 'The Wire' focuses on gangsters and equally morally bankrupt policemen, politicians, etc., and Dexter is centred around a serial-killer, but all those shows manage to create sympathy for their protagonists by showing them as very flawed in certain aspects yet also very likable in others. We root for Dexter Morgan, Tony Soprano or Don Draper, but find little to create sympathy or empathy with Enlightened's egotistical, annoying, and narcissistic protagonist. It's a gamble, but one that pays off, I feel.

Very few other shows manage to create such a good balance between comedy and drama, and portray a character as honestly without over-dramatising the bad nor the good sides. At its best 'Enlightened' is a spot-on character study of somebody you would never want to meet, that tells you a bit more about human nature. At its worst it still manages to be very entertaining, funny, as well as well-produced, superbly acted and fluidly paced.

I, for one, like the first season a bit more, as I felt the 2nd season suffered from focusing on the plot too much, which left the characterisation a bit under-developed in season 2. Nonetheless, even that was very good television with moments that bordered on brilliance.

It's a shame HBO canceled it, as I thought it was among the best shows on television alongside the still-running 'Mad Men' and 'Boardwalk Empire'.

Ailiseu (2009–2013)

Don't expect ‚24'

[5/10 · 25 December 2013]

As the title says: Don't expect this show to be '24'. It is not nearly as good as the adventures of Jack Bauer. 'IRIS' is thematically similar, which invites the comparison, but falls short in its execution. While the South Korean setting has some fantastic potential with the friction between the North and the South, 'IRIS' clearly doesn't succeed in making the most of it.

The show is often quite cheesy, and at the same time stylized, while at times looking like a cheap soap opera. The annoying hand-held camera work with lightning-fast cuts is also very tiring, as are some of the quite ridiculous story lines and huge plot-holes and deus ex machinas.

Nevertheless, I'd be lying, though, if I denied that it was entertaining at times. Sure, you have to suspend your disbelief a lot and also be willing to overlook loads of huge flaws, but if you do, there will be some very decent scenes.

I had to force myself a bit to sit through the entirety of season 1, and while I wouldn't necessarily recommend 'IRIS' to friends, I wouldn't say I completely wasted my time watching it.

Braquo (2009–2016)

The Shield meets 24 in Season 1 - laughably bad in Season 2

[6/10 · 28 October 2013]

The first season of 'Braquo' is an entertaining watch, a fast-paced cop action drama that keeps you from asking too many questions by piling on the thrills and twists in rapid succession. Its plot is reminiscent of 'The Shield' while the execution reminded me more of '24', though it does not quite have the quality of either show. Nonetheless, it's definitely entertaining and thrilling. A very solid 7/10 in my book.

The second season, however, is one to completely forget. It gets ridiculously hard to suspend your disbelief as the plot continues to dumb down and the characters get increasingly unbelievable. The complete 2nd season just feels beyond lacklustre, rushed and uninspired with plot holes bigger than all the dozen international criminal organisations featured in it combined. About a 3/10 at best.

Lastly, I have no idea where the comparisons to 'The Wire' come from. 'Braquo' is nothing like the masterpiece that 'The Wire' is, so don't get fooled by that misguided comparison.

Top of the Lake (2013–2017)

Atmospheric, but ultimately lacking a good script

[7/10 · 16 July 2013]

The main strength of 'Top of the lake' lies within its tone, its atmosphere. The show really succeeds in creating a tiny little world of its own and it does kind of suck you into it. The scenes are filled with an underlying subtle suspense, but also somehow seemed to portray peacefulness and an idyll to me. It's a strange mixture that works.

Contributing to this are some very good performances and excellent cinematography, as of course the always beautiful landscape of New Zealand.

Therefore it's a shame that the writing lets the viewers down a bit. The story feels too drawn out and inconclusive at times. I liked how natural and unforced it felt a lot of the time, partly because not everything was explained, yet in some important scenes the writing lacked precision, sharpness and logic. More importantly I felt all in all it lacked narrative cohesion.

So, while 'Top of the lake' was great at conjuring up an atmosphere, I felt it was sub par at telling a gripping story despite having set the groundwork to do so early on. It's still a rewarding watch, just not as good as I feel it could have been.

The League (I) (2009–2015)

Decent show turned awfully unfunny

[5/10 · 11 July 2013]

The first season was funny. Nothing groundbreaking, but entertaining and funny. A solid 7/10.

The 2nd season was quite a let-down. It felt a bit forced and less original.

But since then it has become absolutely awful. The jokes are just cliché and can often be seen from miles away. He's cleaning up his stains in his crutch with the au pair's photo lying around... and surprise: The au pair comes in thinking he's masturbating. How originally funny! Or they ask the daughter to put in the DVD at some Jewish fest, which is at the place where we previously saw them put the porn DVD. Did not see that coming! Or those extremely hilarious original situations where the dialogue makes them seem gay to outsiders listening in.

I'm giving it a 5 as the first season is really worth watching, but the rest just gets increasingly terrible.

24 (2001–2010)

Thrilling ride

[8/10 · 22 June 2013]

'24' is kind of a guilty pleasure, admittedly. It doesn't feature insightful social commentary like 'The Wire', and does not live off great well-nuanced characters like 'The Sopranos', but it does what it sets out to do incredibly well. You'll have to suspend your disbelief, but you'll be rewarded with a thrill ride, that, as far as I'm concerned, is still unrivalled in terms of pure entertainment value.

Kim Bauer might be as annoying a character as there has ever been on TV, when she stumbles from one calamity to the next one, and Jack Bauer might be as unbelievable a hero as you could imagine, when he continuously defies all the odds and saves another day, but the well executed action, the turns and twists, that are mostly clever, and the adrenaline-laden tension that fills every scene for 24 hours per season, just keeps you glued to your TV screen.

The show has misfired in some seasons, but when it's on its best, '24' is phenomenal. If you are looking for a show that'll really entertain you, keep you guessing and simply thrill you, look no further. '24' is the best kind of guilty pleasure television.

Lost (2004–2010)

I can't believe how many people bought into these Emperor's new clothes

[5/10 · 22 June 2013]

Well… where to start? Lost is a decent enough show in parts. It's well produced, mostly well directed, has a good soundtrack and a lot of good actors among a few bad ones. It has an interesting premise, some good ideas, but sadly mostly bad ones.

Early on I liked how the show focused on one character per episode and how we got to know them through flashbacks as well as events going on on the island. OK, some characters were clichéd paper cut-outs and some back-stories were quite ridiculous, but it featured some involving story lines and some clever ideas. I didn't even really mind the constant stressing of opposites and contrasts. A child being born while somebody dies, a person being in the exactly opposite position on the island to the one he was in before.

But the characters stopped developing or, in the few cases they didn't, took unrealistic turns that felt really forced. Also, a problem with the episode design of focusing on one character each episode started to show more and more. Characters disappeared more or less completely (at least as far as meaningful scenes are concerned) for a couple of episodes only to return when needed. It started to feel increasingly less organic. The flashbacks also started repeating themselves and adding next to nothing to the characters. When they switched to flash- forwards in the later seasons, it was a decent idea, but the show had already gotten so ridiculous, it didn't really redeem anything.

Still, character study is Lost's biggest strength in my opinion. For every character that was unbelievably constructed (Sawyer), evolved uncharacteristically (John Locke) or was flat-out annoying (Ana Lucia), there were some well drawn-out characters that evoked my interest.

The plot, however, is just completely unbalanced and, frankly, quite bad. Huge plot-holes are mixed with a mythology that attracted many fans, but ultimately only existed for the sake of itself. It is completely meaningless and honestly ridiculous. Where Twin Peaks succeeded Lost fails miserably. Surreal does not equal good without further qualities. The less than satisfying – to put it mildly – end does not help Lost's cause either. The end proves that Lost is lost in its own plot devices and twists that never served any purpose. The hooks it threw out to bait the viewers have nothing at all at their other end. Throwing in random references to The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, or whatever else the writers could think of doesn't make a show clever. Neither does over saturating it with symbols and iconic imagery that only serves to look cool.

Furthermore, a lot of the things Lost did were quite cheap. Cutting away from a tense moment to show a flashback can be a useful device, but doing this every…single…time… is just lazy and cheap. The same goes for some much too obvious plot twists that are executed as if they were incredibly clever but actually are anything but. People have also praised the show for connecting the end of every episode to the beginning of the next one. It's no real artistic achievement, though. Pretty much all the writers are doing is taking the beginning of the script of one episode and inserting it at the end of the previous one. This keeps the viewers wanting to see the next episode, but it's quite cheap and lazy when employed every time. In later seasons they also tend to ignore the last episode's cliff-hanger for entire episodes to artificially keep the suspense going. That's not even talking about the story, in which every open question was basically answered by "because the island is special", "because he is special" or "because magic".

I wouldn't mind the now infamous ending to the series, if the ride up until then had been outstanding. I could forgive that. But, as it happens, it has not. The early goings of the first season is clearly the best. After that it goes downhill quite quickly with some good moments, ideas and even episodes (The excellent '?' for example) sporadically mixed in. Yes, the show keeps you guessing. But when the writers are able to write in whatever they feel like without ever explaining anything, that hardly holds any merit. So, if you like stories about ghosts, mysterious smoke monster security mechanism ancient evil twin brothers (which appear ever so conveniently when needed as a plot device, but otherwise leave everybody alone), people coming back from the dead, cursed magic numbers, sketchy science, buttons that have to be pressed all the time to prevent the end of the world, time travel, islands with miraculous healing abilities, unexplained giant statues, immortality,…, and like them to be told with big special effects, eye candy, a Hollywood budget and cheap thrills, this might just be the series for you. But if you care about good storytelling, character development, meaningful plot or producers and writers simply having a bit of respect for their viewers, you'd better steer clear of 'Lost'. Luckily there are dozens of shows out there who have more of the latter than of the former.

Party Down (2009– )

Not having fun yet

[4/10 · 22 June 2013]

I heard good things about this show and decided to give it a try. Sadly it's another show with formulaic characters and unoriginal jokes making it a run-of-the-mill comedy.

It gets really cringe-worthy when the jokes are way too obviously set up and are delivered by punchlines no real person would ever utter ever. There were 3 "jokes" in the pilot alone that made me immediately want to turn it off and never watch it again, because I felt they insulted my intelligence just too much. I stuck with it for a lot longer just to see if it would get any better, which it does not, and to be able to write this review.

I have yet to laugh a single time watching 'Party Down'…or even smile… If anything it's annoying and a waste of time. I couldn't bear it anymore after 3 episodes. There are hints of wit in the dialogue, but they're few and far between. The simple formula of creating absurd awkward situations that are completely unbelievable comes across as forced, simplistic and insulting to the viewer.

Prisoners of War (2009–2012)

A fantastically slow-paced show

[9/10 · 31 May 2013]

While 'Hatufim' is definitely worth being judged on its own merits, it probably will, for some time, always be compared to the US series that was based on this Israeli original... and after having viewed both series I'm confident in saying that 'Hatufim' doesn't have to shy away from the comparison. In fact, I think it is the superior show of the two.

Whereas 'Homeland' is clearly in the same vein as other US shows and boosts a fast pace, twists and turns and lots of action, 'Hatufim' is much more of a psychological thriller. On the surface much less happens than does in 'Homeland', but 'Hatufim' involves a lot more subtleties as well as realism and character study, especially in its 1st season.

The budget is only a portion of the US remake, but it seldomly shows. Great actors accompany an even better script that left me feeling a lot more involved than the fast pace and action of 'Homeland' did. In fact, Hatufim's 2nd season picks up in pace and action, but still keeps that intimate feeling and heart that 'Homeland' sometimes lacked.

'Homeland' is a very good series, but 'Hatufim' is, in my opinion, a great one.

Epitafios (2004–2009)

Should have been a 3-parter, not a 13-parter

[5/10 · 26 May 2013]

I heard a lot of good things about this series, unfortunately they don't really hold true.

It starts off decent enough. But after 4 episodes at the latest, the writers must have run out of an idea where to take the show. Instead of progressing, the story regresses and gets more ridiculous by the minute. After episode 7 everything told me to quit watching, but I continued just to be able to write this review.

The writing gets laughably bad at times, as the police do everything they can to ensure the killer gets away with everything he does, as the latter gets a new character written into the show every week to kill off. As if the police's incompetency wasn't enough, we get some more ridiculous plot lines (russian roulette, anyone?) plus some over-the-top acting.

The show has its redeeming qualities, but especially during the 2nd half of the series you have to constanly remind yourself of them in order to keep yourself from turning it off.

Person of Interest (2011–2016)

Very flawed

[5/10 · 13 November 2012]

This show could have been a lot better. The main idea, while a bit silly in general, has a lot of promise, little of which is actually explored, sadly.

The machine, which produces social security numbers of people who are about to be involved in violent crimes - either as perpetrators or as victims - provokes little to no post-9/11-angst and just serves as a means to get the case-of-the-week rolling. It also leaves lots of plot holes.

The actors are good, especially those playing the side characters, but the writing really isn't. The show feels the need to spell out everything for the viewer. It is also too fast paced, which leaves you not caring about anything happening. There are also lots of silly situations and plot holes as well as various instances of deus ex machina.

It's hard to count the times the bad guy holds a gun to the potential victim saying the last words to him only for Jim Caviezel to show up out of nowhere at the very last second to shoot the bad guy... very convenient.

Also, the show wastes a big opportunity by being a case-of-the-week show instead of making the most out of the premise and delivering a continuous story arch. After 2 or 3 episodes you think you have seen it all already, and basically you have. Yes, there are some elements that span multiple episodes, but it's mostly that it's one bad guy being behind more than one of the cases that get neatly wrapped up at the end of each episode. Oh, and the plot twists that occur in literally every episode are a lot less clever than they think they are and can usually be spotted from miles away.

Jeremiah (2002–2004)

Killed by really bad writing

[4/10 · 29 March 2012]

The concept sounded interesting and appealing to me, so I decided to watch "Jeremiah". Sadly, everything that could have been good about the show, was ruined by terrible writing.

I could have forgiven the show for all those clichés it included, the over-the-top characters and the stupid story lines, but it was the dialogue that really killed it for me. There is absolutely no subtlety here. Characters say things they would never say, just to get something across to the audience that the writers had no idea how to communicate otherwise. Just watch the first two episodes and you will see for yourselves.

The acting isn't good, and the pacing is not well-done, either, but the writing is really frustratingly bad. There are multiple scenes in every single episode, which left me feeling embarrassed to watch it.

I heard the second season is even worse, but I honestly couldn't make it that far. This show is cringe-worthy, mainly so because of horrible writing.

Suing the Devil (2011)

Don't be fooled

[1/10 · 30 December 2011]

The concept sounded interesting and drew me towards this movie. A guy sues the devil and Satan appears to defend himself...

It only took about two minutes for the first question marks to be raised. The direction looked incredibly amateurish from the get-go, and as soon as the dialogues started it just became worse.

All the actors are abysmal, apart from Malcolm McDowell, who must have went mad to ever agree to star in this contender for worst movie of all times. The dialogues are ridiculous, but still topped by the worst voice-overs I've ever heard.

Every now and then the movie drifts into pure propaganda, and at that time I was glad it was so poorly done that the propaganda was hard to take serious, even for the most gullible people. I wanted to turn this movie off after 15 minutes, but forced myself to sit through it, just so I would be able to write this review, and let me say that it has absolutely no redeeming quality at all.