I’d just go look this up, but I have found that it’s impossible to avoid major spoilers for ongoing shows. (For example, I was looking up something simple about House, when we were in about teh 5th season, and the first sentence of some essay gave away the major plot development that closes the series. Totally screwed the remaining eps for me, waiting for the shoe to drop.)
Without spoilers, is it ever explained what the forking fork is “wrong” with Sonia? Three episodes in, her character is so annoying I want to strangle her and/or stop watching. It occurred to me last night that if she was supposed to be playing an android, Terminator or alien she would be doing it perfectly. It’s not Asperger’s (not convincingly, anyway). It’s just an overblown Monk trope, or so I see it so far.
Without spoilers (again), can someone tell me if her condition is ever explained believably and/or if she ever gets less irritating?
Explained? No, not really. Though you learn some about her past it is never entirely clear if past trauma is the cause or an amplifier, or if she just has always been like this. IMHO they push her oddness a little less as season 1 progresses and in season 2 they noticeably back off the more extreme tics. One can even argue that she undergoes some character growth and increasingly comes out of her shell. But she remains an odd duck.
First of all, I am with you and that nearly made me give up on the show. First of all, they backed off on that crap pretty significantly in the second season. To answer your specific question, they do have an answer for the behavior.
First of all, I am with you and that nearly made me give up on the show. They backed off on that crap pretty significantly in the second season. To answer your specific question, they do have an answer for the behavior.
I watched the first few episodes on my DVR and figured she was high-functioning autistic…and then my DVR crashed and I lost all the episodes and didn’t bother to try to track it down again.
Thanks for all answers. She’s not in any way a person with a convincing ASD disorder, even Asperger’s - it’s a weird mixed bag of behaviors, many of which are inconsistent with Asperger’s/autism.
As I said, she is playing the perfect robot/android/AI/Man from Mars, though. I think maybe that’s the showrunners’ intent, but it’s poorly worked out. There is nothing interesting or charming about her - just effing irritating in every way. I could handle it better if there was some… reason or basis, even a nonsensical fictional one.
As mentioned, in the second season Sonya is basically ‘normal humorless, low-on-social-graces cop’ rather than ‘something-like-Asperger’s cop.’
I thought the concept was interesting, but I gather that the feedback was so negative that the showrunners decided to drop the “non-neurotypical” storyline. (By the way, the Wikipedia article on the show states, with sourcing, that Asperger’s IS what Sonya is supposed to have. The article on the original Danish/Swedish show on which this one is based, also refers to a female lead with Asperger’s.
I haven’t seen the American version but Saga Noren, the Swedish original is IMO one of the best characters I’ve seen for a long time. I’ve no idea though if my tastes are radically differnt to yours or if the American version screwed her character up.
I’d be interested to see that, Mr Shine. I know Diane Kruger has taken a lot of criticism for her portrayal; but she has given effective performances in the movies–she’s not incompetent. So I have to wonder if it’s a case of the showrunners/directors lacking a clear understanding of Asperger’s.
I mean, *Monk *ran for 'leventy seasons and there were never any inconsistencies or unbelievable aspects of his OCD, and they never changed it from show to show to accommodate a script, or anything like that.
Mrs. B. is an autism specialist and says Sonia’s behavior is completely inconsistent with spectrum disorders on several points. She’s just Data without an emotion chip.
Hmn, well, maybe it does come down to Kruger, then. It’s a shame if it puts people off the show, though, which has several interesting aspects. (For one thing, it demystifies Mexico’s image of being only the ‘scary land of violent druglords.’ The show DOES show plenty of violence from violent Mexican druglords, but puts it in a wider and richer context than American entertainment products usually do.)
I’ve always thought of her as a little stiff in what little I’ve seen her in. She doesn’t seem so much a bad actress as much as more of a just ok one. Like Kevin Costner or Lindsay Crouse she generally seems a little emotionally constipated, which may be why she landed this role. But it doesn’t compromise my enjoyment too badly, especially as the second season in particular trended towards more of an ensemble act.
I think of it as a really well put together show that somehow stumbles almost as often as it scores. Sometimes I find myself riveted, other times I’m quirking an eyebrow. Mostly well cast, mostly beautifully shot, often intriguing but sometimes just befuddling. Mostly I think it comes down to the plot juggling which sometimes works, but sometimes is a massive fail. It’s like they throw ten plots at the wall to see which one sticks and if one isn’t working out they let it peter out with a whimper after a half dozen wasted vignettes over as many episodes.
I do respect the amount of Spanish they drop into the show, though. Really gives it a more authentic border feel when the folks in Mexico actually only speak Mexican to each other.
I have Aspergers myself and thought Saga Noren (in the original) was brilliant.
It wasn’t just they way she delivered the script, but also her expressions and body language.
(I haven’t seen the US version, but doesn’t Hollywood usually change things somewhat in a remake to suit an American audience?)
I am enjoying the show more and more and able to get past her (already) slightly toned-down performance, although if I was watching this cold and without outside info, I’d be waiting for the dramatic scene where she’s shot… and her robotic guts are exposed.
Demian Birchir is a hell of an actor as well, and as noted, the continuing slide from English to Spanish and back gives the series a gritty, authentic feel.
I am amused that the Scandinavian original is based on a bridge between Denmark and Sweden, the US remake is based on a bridge beween the US and Mexico… and the UK version is based on the tunnel between England and France. This could be remade almost endlessly…
Weird fact: I may have a very close connection to Demian Birchir [Najera]. My first wife was from El Paso, and her (brief) second marriage was to a ________ Birchir Najera, who was from a wealthy Mexico City family. Unless it’s a coincidence, he would have been an older cousin of Demian. Small, small world…