Tag Archives: TV Review

Game of Thrones – Sex of Substance – TV Review

Long, long ago I was standing in the book store staring at the science-fiction/fantasy section with uncertainty. I had a gift card, a desire to read something knew and no idea what to get. I kind patron pointed me in the direction of George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. So I bought it, got maybe two chapters in and decided this was not for me. Thus it cannot surprise that when the series came out I did not immediately watch it. That and I don’t have HBO. Anyway, after many strong recommendations, I finally decided to give the series a try. Though I did wait until the Library had a copy.

Cover for the DVD of season one. I like the power of this image. It is dark and brooding and the character is fully clothed. It is also Sean Bean – so guess what happens by the end of the season?

And thus I have come to Game of Thrones, the TV series, after the entire projected has finished. In fact, knowing that they had completed the series was one of the selling features for me. In many ways it is the only selling feature, because I don’t like Game of Thrones.

While I found the caste of millions not as off putting as others, it does make it hard to connect with the series. Entire episodes pass without spending even a minute with some characters. Further, it is confusing to track all the names, lineages, and locations – and this is with me watching the entire first season over the course of a week.

The biggest complaint I have is the gratuitous nature of the visuals. There is a great deal of explicit sex and violence scenes which do little or nothing to forward the plot or character development. In fact, the sex (in particular) seems added for shock value or titillation only. And quite frankly, it is more than I care to see. Besides the graphic presentation of sex, it is also unrealistic to the time they are trying to imitate and also demeaning. Show me one character (over the age of 13) that is not demonstrated to be a whore. And don’t tell me this is reflective of the times. Because so much of this show is most definitely NOT reflective of the times (assuming the times are a pseudo-medieval period).

Welcome to the North, where the Starks reign. It is cold, grey and ominously close to the Wall. Here everyone wears a cape. Sometimes two. Except the prostitutes who continue to run around naked – is this because they were too poor to own clothing?

In terms of violence, wow do those bodies bleed in ways I am sure most modern coroners would find extremely odd and unrealistic. Also, the swordsmanship of these people (who in theory have spent their lives learning the art) is comically bad. I will say this for the violence, those who are dead stay dead – unless they die on the other side of the Wall.

One thing I do like is the way that large battles are dealt with off camera. I thought that was a clever way of dealing with a limited budget and time. Unfortunately important dialogue is also dealt with off screen, which is not good. How do two men go from supporting Ned to betraying Ned in the 6th or 7th episode? Well, that is a question that was never answered and does make me wonder: Did the writers not know why these characters suddenly had a change of heart? OR Did the producers cut this important bit of dialogue so they could show two naked people having sex instead?

So the Dire Wolves were supposed to be a thing, right? I mean each Stark child was given a wolf. And occasionally, the wolf appears on screen. But then is conveniently absent the next time something terrible happens. This is the sort of inconsistency that I find frustrating. Cute puppy though.

What could be an interesting story, even with all its multitude of factions and questionable characters, is destroyed by a focus on something I hope is not in the source material. Too much sex and not nearly enough substance makes for a tedious series. There is too much political plotting going on to be sidetracked constantly by boobs. Also, is there not even one strong female character in this world whose plot does not focus on her reproductive organs?

TV Review – Scorpion

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It is fall and that means there is a new crop of TV shows assaulting the airways. One of the shows that caught my eye (for reasons I cannot entirely explain), is called Scorpion. It is supposedly about a group of geniuses who form a special unit in the US government to solve crimes and right wrongs and hunt bad-guys. The standard sort of fare.

Not my image. Title image of TV series on CBS.

I was not expecting much, though the first episode proved splendidly awful. It was tripe, clichéd and illogical. It was Flash Gordon bad – so bad it was kind of good. It was funny, when it was trying to be serious – or at least intense. All the emotional, concluding moments were far too contrived to take seriously and the plot was over the top to say the least.

Bored, I watched the second episode. I was expecting another ridiculous romp. Unfortunately it was so glaringly bad that I could not loose myself in the outrageous plot line. In fact, it was almost offensively stupid and illogical.

Where to start my actual complaints?

While I would rewrite everything, I don’t think it is so entirely without potential. However, the main character makes zero sense. He cannot be emotional disconnected and the leader of a team of misfits that all need special handling. No person is that conveniently inept. He also cannot be a genius at everything if he still needs a team of secondary characters. So, one of the first things I would do (besides recasting the flat and poorly acted parts) is to redefine the group members, their roles and more importantly their limitations.

The ‘Human calculator’ and ‘Mechanical superstar’ should be rolled into one character; ‘the Engineer’. The lead should be brilliant at computers and software and average at other things. The amazing psychologist should be the team leader – he has the skills for this position. This is the character who should be responsible for interacting between the group of misfits and the rest of society. I would then add someone with a different expertise, something in either physics or biological sciences.

The main caste of the Team of Misfits – missing only the surly Government Official that put the team together.

Further, when faced with a problem the characters should play to their strengths, fall apart with their weakness. Their dialogue should also reflect their roles in the group. This would help with character development and consistency. For problems completely outside their purview, they should fail. Or at the very least call in guest characters to help/lead them threw that challenge.

Finally, we need to address the idea of genius. What is a genius? According to this show, those who are good with math and incompetent at social interactions are geniuses. I am not certain that you have exhibit characteristics of autism to be classified as super-duper brilliant – but then I didn’t spend a lot of time studying this concept. Also, everyone understands that the IQ test is not the be-all end-all of intelligence testing right? The test is largely based on cultural knowledge. Besides, how do you define intelligence? Everything has to be learned so what are we really measuring? This however is a question best left to other people (like my brother who has actually some background in this area).

Anyway, I just want to say that while I don’t hate everything, Scorpion is a terrible show. Atrocious writing, terrible acting, zero chemistry and absurd plots make for poor TV – except for the numerous viewers who have no discerning taste.

Intelligence – a review

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Ok, I would just like to point out that I am not skipping this week – so take that!

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If you didn’t already know, the Olympics are on right now. I think they are rather interesting and I have been watching many of the different sports. I have also spared a few moments to watch some TV – alas, I have not read anything worth noting. So instead I am going to take a very brief moment to comment on one of the newest TV series titled: Intelligence.

It is terrible.

In fact I am struggling to find one redeeming quality in this show. Now, I know that people will blissfully sit and watch awful programming. I have been known to absently watch poorly created TV without much thought; usually with knitting needles busily clicking in my hands.

So, let’s take a moment to consider the various aspects of the show.

Characters: well, they are all really, super boring with no characterization. Essentially, all the characters are interchangeable. Really, if I was to describe them we have: The Male Lead (with noticeably sloping shoulders), The Female Lead (a brunette), The Super Genius Scientist (of unspecified discipline, but advanced age – hence the smarts), The Scientist’s Sidekick (who is his son – wow, isn’t that new and different!), and the Hard-Ass Female Boss (the older blond). I assume the characters have names, but they are forgettable.

Plot: so here we have a super-secret technology based agency who have created an amazingly dangerous weapon by implanting a computer chip in a human. Yup, that is all they have done. A small chip, the size of a pea (or there about) was inserted in the brain of a human. How does this make them super-human and extremely dangerous? Why was this human able to survive the surgery when all others died? How can we protect this expensive asset?

Well, these are reasonable questions and the show has answers for some of them. First, there is a gene that allows only some people survive the implantation of a computer chip into the brain. Wait. A gene? As in genetics and DNA?? But that doesn’t make any sense at all. Even those with a rudimentary understanding of biology must recognize the fallacy of this statement. How could there possibly be a genetic trait for such a concept? What sort of mutation exists that allows people to better interface with implanted computer chips? I mean really?!

Second, according to all the people on the show, one single, small chip was implanted in the Male Lead’s brain. As best I can tell it is a portable internet search engine – WiFi enabled. Apparently through tech-magic, it also allows the user uninterrupted access to all types of technology that are powered by electricity. The Male Lead can turn on cell phones, hack into closed circuit surveillance cameras, utilize satellite imagery, search every database in a millisecond and remotely unlock key-pad operated door locks. All this using a very tiny chip and I have yet to touch the fantasy of ‘cyber-renderings’, which are ultimately too stupid to comment on.

At one point the Male is lamenting the ‘knowledge’ streaming through his head. He knows all the details of his partners life because of the data trail she leaves behind and he really wishes for one day he could wake up and just not know these things. At which point the Female should have said ‘Then stop googling my life, you stalker!’ Alas, the show failed to see the ridiculousness of its own creation.

Their magic chip is capable of everything or anything at every moment, which does create a huge disconnect. Where is the drama, the tension, the drive of the plot when the magic-chip will come through and expedite the problem solving process? The show has completely failed to define the limitations of their magic-chip. Without this critical framework, the creators really have nothing to explore since any problem the characters come across can be easily solved with that all-purpose magic-chip. Without challenge, there is no conflict and without conflict the show lacks any real draw.

The Third question is really stupid. The chip was implanted in a military-marine, who should be well trained to protect his brain. So why they brought in a female secret service agent to protect him can only mean they are looking to set up a love interest (how predictable).

This brings me awkwardly to the Writing. Obviously the writers have put little thought into the world’s development. They have not flushed out any of the characters. They do not have a clear idea what sort of themes they want to explore – and this is perhaps the most frustrating as there are so many options. You could explore the impact of bionics on humans and the blurring between man and machine, but not if the only difference is one tiny implanted chip. It would be interesting to explore the benefits (beyond a glorified search engine) and the manifold limitations (data corruption, viruses, the need to constantly clear the memory, etc), but they do not.

The writing in each episode has the heroes charging off to save the people from their everyday problems: kidnappings and terrorist attacks. All the while they are trying to keep their implanted human secret while using him as their most effective asset. There is question about government and power that could be explored, but isn’t. And of course, with modern media there are the constant, illogical and poorly conceived action beats. Why does a car chase suddenly erupt, well because it has been 10 minutes since the last chase/fight/explosion. Uhg, how predictable.

In the end, Intelligence brings nothing new to the table. It doesn’t even competently rehash old ideas. It is bland, super-bland. It is just another program adding to the monotony of current television programing.