Hanna225

First, this is a forum for reviews. Not everyone is going to love or hate a show and when considering whether or not to watch something I welcome both perspectives. With that said I really wish some reviewers would quite saying "ignore the negativity" or "don't believe all the hype" when sharing their POV as if their perspective is all that's important. Pardon my digression.

Chad Powers turned out to be a fun uplifting series about the power of second chances and most of all forgiveness. Maybe a little Mrs. Doubtfire meets Ted Lasso. As a die hard UGA fan I was at the 2024 GA/Miss State game where the final episode was filmed and as a Glen Powell fan had been anxious to see the series. For the most part I loved it and was strangely rooting for Chad in the finale when he walked on the field to face off with my beloved Dawgs. If you're a CFB and especially SEC fan you'll probably get a big kick out of the show. My only frustration is there were just 6 short episodes. Hopefully we'll get a second season, at least.

As a fan of the highly popular "Blue Bloods "I never understood why CBS chose to cancel a show still in its prime. It was a great show with an interesting concept focused on family values and professional loyalty. I had my suspicion the cancellation was due to the show not fitting into CBS's political agenda but didn't wanna believe it. I just streamed the first episode of "Boston Blue" going in with an open mind and here are my takeaways.

The Good: Senequa Green brings a fresh energy as the female lead alongside Donny Wahlberg, the only actor to make the cut from the original BB cast. The pair has great onscreen synergy as does the talented supporting cast. The setting in Boston is beautiful. Since the pilot episode was more about setting up the characters and drawing parallels to the fan fave "Blue Bloods", there was minimal focus on the crime of the week and therefore I can't fairly judge on how interesting the crime procedural aspect of the show will be.

The Bad: I find it unfortunate they felt the need to recast one of the main characters from "Blue Bloods" who also happens to be the pivot point to "Boston Blue". Fans watched this character grow up for 14 years and it feels like a slap in the face to the actor who portrayed him for the life of the series.

The racial undertones start early with the announcement the Boston PD will be suspending use of a face recognition software that appears to be biased toward AA, coincidently developed by an AA who turns out to be a suspect of the crime of the week. Then we have main character Lena making references that she's held to a higher standard because of skin color. There's a hint of sexism with a male detective/colleague. Then there's the new blended family at the heart of the series checking all the boxes that "Blue Bloods" obviously did not.

"The Ugly" While a wonderful actress, Gloria Rueben is no Tom Selleck.

The "Boston Blue" parallels to the Regans in "Blue Bloods" with their unique professional dynamic and family dinners seems like a stale attempt to endear fans of the original instead of relying on the talent of the cast to carry the new show.

As another reviewer noted this would have made for a nice crossover to "Blue Bloods" but not a replacement. It's sad CBS doesn't recognize there is room for both shows. I used to stream "Blue Bloods" the Sunday after it aired but won't be rushing to watch "Boston Blue". However I will pay attention to other reviews and maybe stream the episodes at a later date.

Finally, it's interesting they're making Wahlberg's character's move to Boston temporary. I guess that means if "Boston Blue" doesn't make the cut they still have an option to try a different spinoff route for the beloved original.

"Landman" started out great with a promising cast and engaging story arcs but episodes 4-7 have been on a decline. Other than Thornton and Larter (who's a hoot in this), we're served bits and pieces of the other stars and story arcs. We know Taylor Sheridan can tell a compelling story when he wants to but as of late seems to think that requires a lot of sexploits, vulgarity and violence. Perhaps that's the life of a landman but there are more creative ways to engage an audience. I'm a huge fan of many of his other shows but he seems to have an endless assembly line of new projects and for me it's impacting the quality of content.