User reviews

Lady Alex Lindo-Parker (Ophelia Lovibond) convinces her bosses at the British Museum to fund an Amazon expedition to find the lost Victorian explorer Percy Fawcett last seen in 1925. She is captured by natives along with treasure hunter Ulysses Hooten (Michael Landes). They escape and find Fawcett's map to the legendary city of Z. They would continue to have many adventures retrieving lost artifacts.

This has the Romancing the Stone vibe. Lovibond and Landes have a solid combative romantic chemistry. There is a bit of exotic with the locations. The production is relatively good. With more money, it could really take off. On the other hand, the show has structural problems. The fact that the two leads aren't together means that the show has to construct various reasons to pull them together every week. It has to waste ten minutes out of every episode to make up an excuse for them to join forces. It would have been so much easier if the pilot has Hooten arrested and part of his parole is to help the Lady retrieve artifacts for the museum. There is also very little need for the museum people. The boyfriend is useful but he should be jettisoned at the end of the first season. The show doesn't last that long and is canceled after eight episodes.

Lovibond reminds one of those older Swiss Army Knives. No matter what the situation, you can always find a blade or attachment that fits the situation. Similarly, to her credit, Lovibond never plays the same character twice, and yet always seems to command attention on the screen. Landes was, is, and always will be charm personified. This "adventure" series is technically excellent, but the real question will always be the chemistry. Is there any between the stars. Indeed there is. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))