I ask because I really am enjoying the show, but have just read that the ratings weren’t good over the last 4 weeks. It is one of the shows I make sure to tape, so I never miss it.
In England, it was named Spooks.
I ask because I really am enjoying the show, but have just read that the ratings weren’t good over the last 4 weeks. It is one of the shows I make sure to tape, so I never miss it.
In England, it was named Spooks.
I suppose if you survived Episode 2, you know whether it’s the show for you or not. It was pretty popular here, but that episode got a lot of complaints because viewers hadn’t been warned what to expect in the prepublicity.
Here’s an episode guide, but it might spoil the ones you haven’t seen yet. The site also contains background information and an episode guide to the second series. If the ratings are low over there presumably that might all be academic.
I have tried to watch it a few times, but left after a few minutes cause I just didn’t get it. It seems, to me, if you missed the first few episodes, it don’t make sense. Plus I am one of those who always seem to enter a show 10 minutes late. MI-5 doesn’t like that. So I have yet to see a whole episode.
BUT I do like Red Cap on BBC. Actually it is rapidly becoming one of my favorite shows.
But everton, episode two is part of the reason I like the show so much. There was no the-cavalry-shows-up-at-the-last-minute-and-saves-the-day moment. These people are supposed to be spies, who put their lives on the line every time they show up to work, and a job like that has real consequences and dangers. As sick as this may sound, it was refreshing to see what happens when the good guys don’t show up in the nick of time.
I like it, but am I the only one who has noticed studly Tom seems to have a makeup artist who is a drag queen?
In some scenes, the guy has ruby red lips and eyelashes that would put Liza Minelli to shame.
Very odd.
Yeah, but in a good way.
I’m watching it and loving it. Even the disturbing Episode 2. Makes a big change from the crappy shows dreamed up this side of the Atlantic.
I saw the ads for it and just thought it looked dumb.
And crappy shows over here? I haven’t seen this much good TV in ages, assuming you stick to cable and away from the networks.
I’ve seen one episode and I like it. The realistic take on spy work is refreshing. What happens in the second episode? Is it the one with the deep frier?
Yes! That is EP 2!
It is a little like 24 in the way it is shot and edited and I find it riveting.
I hope they keep it going here – I’d hate to see A&E drop it. It’s got everything from CIA operatives in the British Government, Russian mobsters, to fudamentalist Americans bombing abortion clinics. GREAT STUFF!
About not liking you coming in 10 minutes late: YES! It uses every second of air time to tell a usually complex story – nothing, NOTHING is filler so far.
PS: Thanks for the Episode guide Everton.
I tried MI-5 (Spooks), and may return to it, as I tend to enjoy almost any British show, but it seemed badly edited to me. Since it is a BBC production, it is an hour-long show (no commercials). The fact that A&E cuts it so mercilessly just to shoe-horn it into an American hour-long (i.e. 40-45 min.) spot really pisses me off. A sitcom can stand to lose a one-liner or two here and there, but with a fast-paced, complicated show like MI-5 that you really have to pay attention to, cutting it is sacrilege IMHO.
(Mind you, I hate watching anything that I know is edited, either for time, content, language, etc. It’s the purist in me, I guess
You’re very welcome ddgryphon. The complaints about the deep fat fryer episode were explained in this way:
Of course bibliophile effectively makes the producers’ own case about why it was an original plot twist, but it seems there would have been fewer complaints if there had been some kind on “this show contains…” message beforehand. Perhaps I should say that I wasn’t one of those who complained; some of us were just disappointed there would be no more Lisa Faulkner on view.
I watched the first three episodes. It sucks that we Stateside folks are looking at edited eps - that clearly can affect how the show comes across.
On the whole, pretty good, but not the “ohmigosh, better than Alias and 24” wonder that I had heard it was. When it is working it is as good, when it doesn’t work, it has the same problems those shows do trying to stay sharp with a series-format show.
As for the second ep, I found the scene in question shocking and disgusting - I can’t tell you how lucky I was that my wife was out that night and missed the show. If she had seen it, she wouldn’t have slept for a few days. I appreciate the “hey, reality happens” implications of the scene, but there was no warning (like the plastic-surgery-based drama, Nip/Tuck, that just started and all the critics are warning about graphic operation scenes). I felt like there was an element of shock/manipulation that was inappropriate. It did put me off the show.
The third ep, the one with Anthony Stewart Head, just struck me as a bad episode. Unengaging plot, with an ending that didn’t make a lot of sense to me. It reminded me of an old Miami Vice episode, where some character is featured throughout the show, then someone close to that character dies or has something bad thing happen to them, then the camera closes on the main character’s face as they contemplate man’s inhumanity to man. Roll credits!
Guess you must pretty much hate watching any television, film, or listening to the radio, hmm?
I wasn’t watching the show because I didn’t know about it before today, but I’ll definitely be giving it a shot. Sounds like just my cup of tea, as 'twere.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Avalonian *
**Guess you must pretty much hate watching any television, film, or listening to the radio, hmm?
You’ve got a point there I guess I meant anything that was edited from the form that its creators intended it to be presented in, if that makes any sense. Although, I do find it quite hilarious to watch movies on American networks and listen to the dubbed insults. I remember once watching some film where the insult “ck-sucking motherfker” was changed to “sock-sucking motherlover”.
It was even more hilarious because the dubbed voice was several octaves lower than the original voice.