You say that like those aren’t being nitpicked to death too!
Bump
The series resumed last night. I missed the first 5 minutes, basically because I didn’t see any promos for it. I seldom watch ABC.
It was Kirkman that was shot, obviously not killed. He went under anesthesia so they invoked the 25th amendment. New VP did somethings that raised eyebrows.
What was the nefarious reason for the VP to keep the stock market open? There seemed to be an agenda…
So I just got caught up on the last 3 episodes. I wasn’t expected the MacLeish subplot to be “resolved” that quickly. Also I was shocked that the helicopter with the rest of the First Family just took off and flew away instead of immediately exploding.
Oh, the as-yet-undetected villain (the one who kidnapped the little boy) gave her name as “Angela Lindsey.” Sounds like a shout out to Angela Lansbury, who acted in The Manchurian Candidate.
We know Lansbury was a serial killer…
I just binge-watched the whole season over the last three days. Some thoughts:
I’ve been fascinated by the USSS for decades, and have read extensively about them. So I’ve found myself constantly nitpicking anything to do with them (and there’s been a lot to nitpick about).
I was also (and still am) a fanatic of The West Wing. It’s obvious that while this shows tries to copy parts of it (especially cinematography), it’s not even close (although I highly doubt anything will come close to TWW, especially those seasons written by Sorkin). This show is obviously not about issues like TWW was, and doesn’t really try. The only issues we’ve seen discussed in 13 episodes are the 25th Amendment & immigration. The rest has been based on suspense/mystery. So if anyone is hoping that this series will take a more cerebral turn, I’m not holding my breath for that to happen.
They also copied The Walking Dead’s opening theme.
I see that nobody caught (or at least mentioned) the goof in ep. 5.
It seems like Angela/Claudine is the only important villain left, but I think she’d awfully young for this level/quantity of villainy. The McLeishes, now dead, are also young for that, and I don’t think Aaron is the mastermind either. Someone older is behind it. Speaker Hookstratten is possible, but I’m guessing it was actually ex-President Moss. He just seems too nice, and he’s angling to have a bunch of his people in Cabinet positions. He’ll probably have a suggestion for VP, too.
If only. In my opinion, the writing is far too weak to be compared in any way to The West Wing (I know, that’s a high bar to reach, but still, this writing seems pretty bad).
I had high hopes for this too. Started with it in the fall, but couldn’t keep going more than about five episodes. When we had constant issues like the President needing to convince governors to hold elections to reconstitute Congress (like that wouldn’t be a prime motivation for governors already) and an FBI agent telling only one other person in the entire world what she knew/suspected (thus keeping plot lines going that should have wrapped up in about two episodes), I was out.
President Kirkman’s knowledge of urban planning proved useful.
Last week’s episode was amazingly stupid.
- Sooper secrit FBI chick needs backup to go to the bad guy’s (gal’s) lair. She can’t ask other FBI people, so she goes and finds the father of a kid killed by the bad gal. Yep. That’s who I’d want as my sidekick – I guy mired in grief and looking for revenge at any cost. What could go wrong?
- Except, on the way to the lair, they get cut off in traffic. Sidekick jumps out of the car and threatens to kick the other driver’s ass. Whew. Crisis averted. Agent Anorexia dumps her sidekick and proceeds to the lair IN THE DARK and WITH NO BACKUP AT ALL. Oh, and she only told her computer nerd where she was going. Good thing no one was at the lair. Well, except for that security camera she failed to notice.
- Back at the good gal’s hideout (the computer nerd’s apartment), the two are working together. The nerd wants Agent Anorexia, but can’t get up the nerve to say anything. The have a picture of the bad lady with a wineglass in the background. FBI chick tells the nerd to zoom in on the wineglass and lift the fingerprints from it. Poof, now we know who the bad lady is.
- Later, FBI chick says, “Do you smell gas?” The nerd says, “Yeah, the <name of gas company> was here to check it out. It’s nothing.” FBI chick says, “But <name of gas company> doesn’t check out gas leaks. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT DOES!” As nerd and FBI lady run down the hall, there is a giant explosion blowing out windows, bringing down walls, etc. If there was that much gas in the air, how were nerd and FBI lady still breathing??
I think I got a few things out of order, but sheesh. That was awful.
Well. Progress, of sorts, following the conspiracy. Agent Wells and her former boss have tracked the folks to their lair, or at least their campground. They all read a blue-covered book called “Pax Americana”, which contains a melange of leftist and rightist anti-government rhetoric. They realized that they were in the right place by all the out-of-state plates they saw around some podunk town.
Senator Butthole wants to renege on a deal to fill the SCOTUS with 4 libs, 4 cons, and one moderate. (He thought the moderate was too liberal.) Kirkman says, “Fine, approve the other eight and we’ll go from there.”
I am an original 24 and Keifer fan, so I eventually got around to it and watched 17 episodes of DS these past two weeks. Although history will not be kind to this show and it will be a footnote in Keifer’s career like Touch, I still enjoyed the first 14 episodes.
Again, although it could be argued it jumped the shark at Day One due to being unrealistic and too retro and cliched, I feel the show lost its steam with Episode 15 “One Hundred Days”. I was really into the VP conspiracy but with so many conspirators dead all the tension is gone. I was at the edge of my seat and it was very scary not knowing who the traitors were and what devious act would be committed. Heck, bring back the Governor of Michigan!
Aaron not being President Kirkman’s Chief of Staff was also another blow to the suspense (his character is now gutted and not credible- he should be loyal to the congresswoman and working against Kirkman’s interests with dirty tactics like any Washington political hack- it is too weird to have so many enlightened and altruistic characters in Washington).
The intriguing villains (and the General) are nowhere to be seen now. Hannah being deputized took the tension out of her investigating. Jack Bauer worked best when his own government did not believe him, which is what the bulk of DS season 1 was until now. Jason is also weaker since his son died. Reed Diamond a favorite actor from Homicide is too stiff for FBI head.
Without a serious West Wing-type writing staff, none of the rebuilding of the federal government floats my boat. It feels like a compressed comic book, similar to how 24 handled the White House- not a shred of realism.
On a positive note, the reporter Abe (inspired by Seymour Hersh?) is awesome.
By the way- not cool on Page 1 of this thread to “shame” Maggie Q for being skinny. She is into yoga, working out, and diet and has no real body fat, which is perfect in my book…I’m pretty sure it would not be OK to say how fat an actress was, so…
So looks pretty clear at this point that the bad guys are basically Sovereign Citizen types, and from the preview for next episode, that the Browning Reed CEO is the top bad guy.
The Ford commercial in the middle of last episode did not feel like a good sign for the longevity of the show. Not that I’d necessarily mind, for me it feels like inferior versions of West Wing and 24 (or any other politicial/spy/conspiracy thriller) being packaged together and to be honest I’m only watching it because my family is.
Just as well I gave up on it, sounds like.
Its just not enough to base a multi-season series upon. It would work well as a Netflix limited series.
I think I said way back in this thread: eventually the conspiracy has to get solved and then the series just becomes The West Wing.
And not a very good West Wing, at that.
Whatever happened to the pain-in-the-ass Governor of Michigan? Was he prosecuted for treason? Convicted?