Rob-O-Cop
Joined Jun 2007
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Reviews714
Rob-O-Cop's rating
Well they made it to the end and that's something. And they at least attempted to do something original or clever to get them there, points for that too.
What was clear over this last season is they'd lost their way, and they even acknowledged that as an insider joke in this episode although that didn't really excuse the end result. Knowing you're off course and not fixing it doesn't really make it better.
The writing definitely drifted in the last few seasons. More brutality where there used to be understated charm, more pushing for shock value instead of intelligent comedy.
The best things we're left with from the show are the characters who were always the core of the show, and making them jump through writers 'whim hoops' is what damaged it at the end. The corporate shades hurt some of the characters, even though the set up was promising, it didn't really deliver.
The higher budget sets and staging looked impressive but didn't help the core of the show, the characters.
What was clear over this last season is they'd lost their way, and they even acknowledged that as an insider joke in this episode although that didn't really excuse the end result. Knowing you're off course and not fixing it doesn't really make it better.
The writing definitely drifted in the last few seasons. More brutality where there used to be understated charm, more pushing for shock value instead of intelligent comedy.
The best things we're left with from the show are the characters who were always the core of the show, and making them jump through writers 'whim hoops' is what damaged it at the end. The corporate shades hurt some of the characters, even though the set up was promising, it didn't really deliver.
The higher budget sets and staging looked impressive but didn't help the core of the show, the characters.
Nice acting, animation was good, story was a rehash of the outline of the first film without any of the heart and charm.
It was basically a run through of some special effects scenes, hollow dialog, you can do it, I can do it, let's do it, a run though of tired tropes and touchstones, but it didn't go anywhere, there was no arc, we didn't really learn anything and it's messages rang hollow.
The songs were unmemorable, which wouldn't be so much of a crime if the first movie didn't have some great ones in it.
If you look at the writers and directors you can see why it failed though. The crew that wrote and directed such a winner of a first movie were completely absent.
Looks like they're going to do another one but I doubt we'll bother calling in to see it. I'm sure it will be called Moana 3 and it will have the same shallow content.
It was basically a run through of some special effects scenes, hollow dialog, you can do it, I can do it, let's do it, a run though of tired tropes and touchstones, but it didn't go anywhere, there was no arc, we didn't really learn anything and it's messages rang hollow.
The songs were unmemorable, which wouldn't be so much of a crime if the first movie didn't have some great ones in it.
If you look at the writers and directors you can see why it failed though. The crew that wrote and directed such a winner of a first movie were completely absent.
Looks like they're going to do another one but I doubt we'll bother calling in to see it. I'm sure it will be called Moana 3 and it will have the same shallow content.
Great characters, great cast, fatally flawed sub par writing again by the creator and writer of all of them Robert Murphy. He's the weakest link and the one stopping the show from excelling, and disappointingly so.
With so much going for it it's saddening to see it fail every episode because of poor writing.
They've got a fantastic location (Bath!!) 2 great lead characters with interesting back stories and character traits, but episode after episode the show fails to do anything substantial with them.
Instead we get episode after episode of try hard ambling stories that have nothing to do with the quality set up, none more so than this episode that embarrassingly by shoehorning a stolen storeline about Robert Johnson's Crossroads story into the Bath landscape. It's an awkwardly embarrassing and uncomfortable fit and one wonders if it is purposely so, is it supposed to be funny? Am I missing the ever so subtly joke?
Added to that is Dodd's equally embarrassing character arc, where his close friend who we've never heard of in a sizable group of friends we've never seen or had any inkling he had is murdered. Said friend Jinxy had an obsessive and excessive passion for blues music and the legend of Robert Johnson but absolutely none of his friends including Dodds knew anything about it, even though he took yearly trips to america to pursue it.
Dodd's takes it really badly, although we've never seen this side of him or have any reason to believe Jinxy meant anything to him to elicit such a shaken core.
On top of that the normally good Jason Watkins' Dodds plays it really badly, erasing what was interesting about the character, the calm, unassuming, unflustered, invisible detective genius.
THe actors do a good job on bad material and it's now absolutely clear this show can't deliver on its promise.
Coals to Newcastle, Sand to the Sahara, what's the point?
Robert Murphy needs to recognise his own failings and get someone who can deliver on the promise of these 2 detectives in quintessential England. He clearly can't do it.
With so much going for it it's saddening to see it fail every episode because of poor writing.
They've got a fantastic location (Bath!!) 2 great lead characters with interesting back stories and character traits, but episode after episode the show fails to do anything substantial with them.
Instead we get episode after episode of try hard ambling stories that have nothing to do with the quality set up, none more so than this episode that embarrassingly by shoehorning a stolen storeline about Robert Johnson's Crossroads story into the Bath landscape. It's an awkwardly embarrassing and uncomfortable fit and one wonders if it is purposely so, is it supposed to be funny? Am I missing the ever so subtly joke?
Added to that is Dodd's equally embarrassing character arc, where his close friend who we've never heard of in a sizable group of friends we've never seen or had any inkling he had is murdered. Said friend Jinxy had an obsessive and excessive passion for blues music and the legend of Robert Johnson but absolutely none of his friends including Dodds knew anything about it, even though he took yearly trips to america to pursue it.
Dodd's takes it really badly, although we've never seen this side of him or have any reason to believe Jinxy meant anything to him to elicit such a shaken core.
On top of that the normally good Jason Watkins' Dodds plays it really badly, erasing what was interesting about the character, the calm, unassuming, unflustered, invisible detective genius.
THe actors do a good job on bad material and it's now absolutely clear this show can't deliver on its promise.
Coals to Newcastle, Sand to the Sahara, what's the point?
Robert Murphy needs to recognise his own failings and get someone who can deliver on the promise of these 2 detectives in quintessential England. He clearly can't do it.