blairandmary

Tony and Ziva looked quite promising in the trailers, and I was looking forward to the first episode. I knew full well it would not be an NCIS- type of episode, and was fine with the tangential references. The weakness, however, occurred in the story execution. Much of the back-narrative is shown through an opening montage some of which did not take place in any NCIS episode. Then moving forward, the storyline also jumped back-and-forth in time, which is normally not a problem unless the dialogue is insufficient to fill in the blanks - which it was. Eventually, by the end of the episode, it all starts to pull together, but it was too little too late. Plus the added swearing. There's no need for that, and it degrades from the show's quality. Is that supposed to be edgy? It doesn't add anything and is often a cover-up for lazy writing.

Really quite funny all the way through. Some running gags, which are fun if done well - and they were. Especially enjoyable since I live in Indiana. Although I'm not sure why it took them so long to get from Terre Haute (where the state penitentiary is) to Bloomington - but I guess something went wrong with their getaway "car" as well!😊 Of all the episodes, I think this was the most family friendly. No sexual innuendos or suggestive content which made the whole production enjoyable and an easy one to share with any of my friends without having to worry about what was in it. I would highly recommend this one is a good introduction to the whole premise.

Overall, the show has interesting elements. The trapped-in-location set-up harkens back to classic television episodes from shows like Fringe and Twilight Zone among others. There is a fairly decent balance between narrative, character development, suspense, and action. However, there is a serious flaw in the writing. At times it seems the writers just rely on pop psychology and navel gazing. A little bit of it is fine, but it becomes pedantic after a while. At times, it was so boring I just let it run while I went to the kitchen.

All-about-my-feelings may be a go-to trope during our current time, but the truly lazy writing is evident in the dialogue. It is heading into Walking Dead territory with non-sequiturs, non-cogent thoughts, and illogical follow-ups. Who talks like that?! And I know that it's an MA show, and I'm not clutching pearls here, but after a while, the foul language really detracts from the story. Almost every character uses the F word. I can go weeks and weeks without ever hearing it from any of my friends, colleagues, or people I meet on an everyday basis. Yet very few characters can speak without cursing. It is so not like life that it pulses the viewer from the necessary willing suspension of disbelief. Ultimately, it becomes a time filler because writers cannot figure out how to express concepts or emotions without falling back on course language. Writing is hard work, and for the sake of the story, I hope these writers step it up and put in more effort. Maybe spend some time in real life to see how people actually speak.