iNickR
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Seven Seconds centers on a Jersey City PD narcotics team, and their possible cover-up of the hit and run of a black teenage boy. The team is headed by Sgt. Mike DiAngelo (a chilling David Lyons), resilient and respected among his team, and officers within the department. Mike, who has no children of his own, takes young, and mostly naïve, officers under his wing and shows them the ropes with some tough-love and conditioning. Think Denzel Washington's character in Training Day and you'll get a really good idea of Mike DiAngelo's personality.
DiAngelo's newest recruit is the young, soon-to-be-a-daddy, Pete Joblonski, a cop transferred in from a "better part of the city", at DiAngelo's behest. The two share a loose familial bond; but that's enough for DiAngelo to vouch for Pete and to know that he can trust him to fall-in-line when needed. Narc veterans "Manny" Gary Wilcox (a convincing Patrick Murney) and Felix Osorio (a shining Raúl Castillo) round-out the four-man Special Investigations and Gang Unit of the JCPD. This team will do virtually anything for their leader...no, scratch that, will do anything at all for DiAngelo. He is a god in their eyes.
It's the early-morning hours after Valentines Day, and Pete is rushing to the hospital to meet his pregnant wife. The roads are slick, the snow is falling. Pete is distracted on the phone. Without a visible cue to the audience, Pete slams on the breaks and wipes out. He's fine, but what's under the car is not. Thankfully, we're spared from the gory view. All we see is a bicycle tire spinning, and a homemade paper seagull attached to the frame...the significance of which becomes quite compelling when we do learn the nature of the two.
The driver of the bicycle is a young, black teenager named Brenton; a suspected "banger" from Jersey City's most feared gang. DiAngelo, with the rest of his team in the backseat of his seized-from-a-drug-dealer sports car, arrive on scene to find Pete still behind the wheel of his slightly damaged SUV, and a blood trail leading to a ditch. It's one's moral duty to render aid to someone who is injured. This thought would cross anyone's mind when seeing someone critically hurt, but a cop....well, they're obligated to help.
DiAngelo follows the blood trail to a ditch where he finds Brenton's broken body, and a serious pool of blood. What does he do? What any selfish cop would do. Fearing an incredible backlash from the (mostly black) community over the recklessness of a white cop's actions against a black kid, DiAngelo orders Pete to leave the scene, and instructs the rest of the team to clean up the evidence. Forget about the kid in the ditch, "He's nothing."
The boy's parents, devoted and pious Latrice and Isiah Butler (the brilliant Regina King and the marvelous Russell Hornsby) also become victims - right from the get go. Victims of an anachronistic system where the black population are at a disadvantage starting from birth. Does anyone care about their rights? Does anyone care about Brenton? As the story plays out over the full 10-episodes, we discover the answers to those questions and get an intimate look at why "Cops don't go to jail", especially if the victim is black.
The series has many twists and turns, most will be of the "blind-sided" type. This isn't your typical, "I know what's coming next" kind of plot, even though the story may seem similar to you. For whatever reason, we have this insatiable appetite for police procedural TV, going back at least 60-years with "77 Sunset Strip" (1958 - 1964). Hawaii Five-0, Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, Law and Order, LA Law, CSI, to name a few more. Certainly, there are a lot of shows on TV that "play the race card" and attack police for their bias. I admit I was a little skeptical of Seven Seconds at first because of that. Like those silly "coming of age" movies I'm so sick of watching, has this topic not been done enough? Are we not yet bored by dramatizations of white vs. black, race on race, BS shows? Why do we need to see another?
According to one website, of the last two-decades, ¼ of the top-40 shows on television are police-procedural. I've seen them all (shows like NYPD Blue, Law and Order, Homeland, The Wire) and there isn't a single show within the group of 10 that, at some point, didn't deal with race-relations and police bias. Most were fictional, some based on true events. The sad truth is, without real life stories, the writers would have nothing to write about, and we'd have a lot less TV to watch.
There is an element of truth to Seven Seconds. The series seems plausible, especially to those (black or white) who have had some dealings with the law. Mentions of the Ferguson, Missouri shooting come up, as do other similar real-life occurrences that have happened. We are reminded, again, of how archaic some things, some people are. Sadly.
This series is powerful, and moving, make no mistake. The characters are deep and complex. They have flaws and secrets. They are like you, me, and our neighbor. The production value is what you would expect from Netflix; no expense is spared to make everything as realistic as possible.
A favorite quote of mine is by Dante. It goes, "The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis."
That moral crisis is race relations within our own community, specifically with police. This has always been an issue during my lifetime (I'm middle-aged), as it was during my parents' and my grandparents'. Whether the place you call home is Jersey City, or Ferguson, or where I'm from, we have all seen parts of "Seven Seconds" play-out in real life. I know I have, in more ways than one. That's what makes this series hurt so much.
DiAngelo's newest recruit is the young, soon-to-be-a-daddy, Pete Joblonski, a cop transferred in from a "better part of the city", at DiAngelo's behest. The two share a loose familial bond; but that's enough for DiAngelo to vouch for Pete and to know that he can trust him to fall-in-line when needed. Narc veterans "Manny" Gary Wilcox (a convincing Patrick Murney) and Felix Osorio (a shining Raúl Castillo) round-out the four-man Special Investigations and Gang Unit of the JCPD. This team will do virtually anything for their leader...no, scratch that, will do anything at all for DiAngelo. He is a god in their eyes.
It's the early-morning hours after Valentines Day, and Pete is rushing to the hospital to meet his pregnant wife. The roads are slick, the snow is falling. Pete is distracted on the phone. Without a visible cue to the audience, Pete slams on the breaks and wipes out. He's fine, but what's under the car is not. Thankfully, we're spared from the gory view. All we see is a bicycle tire spinning, and a homemade paper seagull attached to the frame...the significance of which becomes quite compelling when we do learn the nature of the two.
The driver of the bicycle is a young, black teenager named Brenton; a suspected "banger" from Jersey City's most feared gang. DiAngelo, with the rest of his team in the backseat of his seized-from-a-drug-dealer sports car, arrive on scene to find Pete still behind the wheel of his slightly damaged SUV, and a blood trail leading to a ditch. It's one's moral duty to render aid to someone who is injured. This thought would cross anyone's mind when seeing someone critically hurt, but a cop....well, they're obligated to help.
DiAngelo follows the blood trail to a ditch where he finds Brenton's broken body, and a serious pool of blood. What does he do? What any selfish cop would do. Fearing an incredible backlash from the (mostly black) community over the recklessness of a white cop's actions against a black kid, DiAngelo orders Pete to leave the scene, and instructs the rest of the team to clean up the evidence. Forget about the kid in the ditch, "He's nothing."
The boy's parents, devoted and pious Latrice and Isiah Butler (the brilliant Regina King and the marvelous Russell Hornsby) also become victims - right from the get go. Victims of an anachronistic system where the black population are at a disadvantage starting from birth. Does anyone care about their rights? Does anyone care about Brenton? As the story plays out over the full 10-episodes, we discover the answers to those questions and get an intimate look at why "Cops don't go to jail", especially if the victim is black.
The series has many twists and turns, most will be of the "blind-sided" type. This isn't your typical, "I know what's coming next" kind of plot, even though the story may seem similar to you. For whatever reason, we have this insatiable appetite for police procedural TV, going back at least 60-years with "77 Sunset Strip" (1958 - 1964). Hawaii Five-0, Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, Law and Order, LA Law, CSI, to name a few more. Certainly, there are a lot of shows on TV that "play the race card" and attack police for their bias. I admit I was a little skeptical of Seven Seconds at first because of that. Like those silly "coming of age" movies I'm so sick of watching, has this topic not been done enough? Are we not yet bored by dramatizations of white vs. black, race on race, BS shows? Why do we need to see another?
According to one website, of the last two-decades, ¼ of the top-40 shows on television are police-procedural. I've seen them all (shows like NYPD Blue, Law and Order, Homeland, The Wire) and there isn't a single show within the group of 10 that, at some point, didn't deal with race-relations and police bias. Most were fictional, some based on true events. The sad truth is, without real life stories, the writers would have nothing to write about, and we'd have a lot less TV to watch.
There is an element of truth to Seven Seconds. The series seems plausible, especially to those (black or white) who have had some dealings with the law. Mentions of the Ferguson, Missouri shooting come up, as do other similar real-life occurrences that have happened. We are reminded, again, of how archaic some things, some people are. Sadly.
This series is powerful, and moving, make no mistake. The characters are deep and complex. They have flaws and secrets. They are like you, me, and our neighbor. The production value is what you would expect from Netflix; no expense is spared to make everything as realistic as possible.
A favorite quote of mine is by Dante. It goes, "The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis."
That moral crisis is race relations within our own community, specifically with police. This has always been an issue during my lifetime (I'm middle-aged), as it was during my parents' and my grandparents'. Whether the place you call home is Jersey City, or Ferguson, or where I'm from, we have all seen parts of "Seven Seconds" play-out in real life. I know I have, in more ways than one. That's what makes this series hurt so much.
For the review, scroll down to paragraph five. For the added bonus of my incoherent, gonzo-esque ramblings, start reading now.
Netflix releases their original series, (usually) all episodes, at midnight pacific time. When I binge on a new series I'm up exactly when it premieres. I live on the east coast so for me, 'up' means awake at 03:00. I don't have the luxury of being apart of the secret society known as the 'Netflix Media Center'. Neither do I know their classified handshake, nor possess the diamond-encrusted-Netflix-logo-pinky-finger ring each member is issued (folklore has it that Netflix founder Reed Hastings personally casts each ring in the basement of his medieval castle). So, I'm not privy to advanced streamed screenings of Netflix shows. Ironically, Netflix premieres for me are by 'appointment TV'. Thus, my appointment is set for 3 a.m.
I'm less of a critic and more of a fan who likes to write, so I don't mind paying for my streaming services. And, let's face it, my writing skills are as questionable as my photography skills were when I was making TV magic many years ago (just ask any of the warm props I worked with). But I digress.
It's now 3:00 am. It's quiet, the kids are asleep, the wife's somewhere else. Everything Sucks! has started. Beside me is my morning mocha (an addiction I'm not fond of). On my lap sits my HP-Mini (yes, laugh it up) where I am writing this. A few feet yonder is my work laptop, sitting on a spindly table that was bought for $1.00 at a yard sale in 1995 (how fitting!), streaming the show.
So, in short, this is not a rip-off of Stranger Things (thankfully). Whatever comparisons were/have been made are just asinine. Everything Sucks! is about a group of high school kids attending Boring High School in 1996. Boring is an actual city in Oregon (twinned with 'Dull, Scotland', and not too far away from 'Happy Valley'...seriously, you can't make this stuff up), with a population hovering close to 7500. I wanted to know the town's reaction to the series, but my email to Netlfix's PR rep for the show went without a response. Contacting the Boring CPO (Community Planning Organization) didn't get me anywhere either. I guess that's the difference between being a credible journalist and a hack like me.
Anyway, the series mainly focuses on Kate and Luke. Kate (Peyton Kennedy, impressive), a sophomore, thinks she's a lesbian and is seriously crushing on a girl in her class. She struggles to fit in with pretty much everyone but not because of her (rumored) homosexuality. She's nicknamed 'Plutonium' (as in stay-away-from) because her father, Ken (Patch Darragh), is the principal. Luke (the awesome Jahi Di'Allo Winston) is a freshman and has a serious crush on Kate. He earnestly strives to gain her interest and love, even knowing that the gossip about her sexual preference may be true. 'A' for effort, Luke.
They are both in the school's AV club, along with a few other dweebs: McQuaid (Rio Mangini), wicked smart way beyond his years, sporting nerdy 90s clothes and a 90s-cool slicked-back coiffure. Tyler (Quinn Liebling), the squeaky-voiced comic relief of the group, lives with an alcoholic step father and struggles to read at a 5th grade level; and Leslie (Abi Brittle), is super religious and secretly crushing on Tyler, who can't take the hint. Overseeing the group is the mellow Mr. Stargrove (series co-creator Ben York Jones - who was born to play this role by the look of it). Clearly, he's the coolest, most unboring Boring High teacher.
The AV club is battling with the overly-dramatic Drama Club. Scott Pocket (Connor Muhl) anchors the school-televised morning announcements along with Jessica Betts (Nicole McCullough); both are a-typical divas. The real pains-in-the-butt, however, are wannabe actors, and part-time couple, prima donna biatch Emaline (Sydney Sweeney - who you will grow to love as this series plays out) and primo uomo douchebag Oliver (a cunning Elijah Stevenson), who clearly missed his calling as a professional douchebag.
Everything Sucks! starts out kind of boring (lol!), but once the jitters work themselves out, and after we finally meet the entire awkward cast towards the end of the first episode, it becomes quite enjoyable. The series is more of a drama than a comedy; I'd say maybe a 60-40 split. I grew to like and care about the characters, even the douchebag. Peyton Kennedy (as Kate) plays her role with dignity and respect and one can hope that her performance inspires real-life LGBTQ youth to be comfortable in their skin. She delivers a powerful message with confidence. The entire cast delivers in style, and if you have a history like any of the characters they portray, you will get emotional. I did.
There's a lot of 90s nostalgia, and a soundtrack that brings back fond memories. Oasis, Tori Amos, Spin Doctors, Space Hog. Each episode runs about 23 minutes, on average. It's the perfect length. I was able to sit through the entire series without getting bored - which bodes well for Netflix because I am a part of the intended demographic (just barely, I graduated high school in 91). Ugh, I feel old.
The comedy is mainly smart, thankfully no slapstick or sight gags. At times I groaned at the jokes, but only because I remember laughing at them when I was a kid. Ugh, I was lame.
The shooting style is like that of Arrested Development - handheld, but not to the point of being nauseating. Tripod-cam would just feel out of sync for this show.
There are so many unanswered questions and the final scene in the season finale leaves the door wide open for another 10 episodes. I miss the show already.
Netflix releases their original series, (usually) all episodes, at midnight pacific time. When I binge on a new series I'm up exactly when it premieres. I live on the east coast so for me, 'up' means awake at 03:00. I don't have the luxury of being apart of the secret society known as the 'Netflix Media Center'. Neither do I know their classified handshake, nor possess the diamond-encrusted-Netflix-logo-pinky-finger ring each member is issued (folklore has it that Netflix founder Reed Hastings personally casts each ring in the basement of his medieval castle). So, I'm not privy to advanced streamed screenings of Netflix shows. Ironically, Netflix premieres for me are by 'appointment TV'. Thus, my appointment is set for 3 a.m.
I'm less of a critic and more of a fan who likes to write, so I don't mind paying for my streaming services. And, let's face it, my writing skills are as questionable as my photography skills were when I was making TV magic many years ago (just ask any of the warm props I worked with). But I digress.
It's now 3:00 am. It's quiet, the kids are asleep, the wife's somewhere else. Everything Sucks! has started. Beside me is my morning mocha (an addiction I'm not fond of). On my lap sits my HP-Mini (yes, laugh it up) where I am writing this. A few feet yonder is my work laptop, sitting on a spindly table that was bought for $1.00 at a yard sale in 1995 (how fitting!), streaming the show.
So, in short, this is not a rip-off of Stranger Things (thankfully). Whatever comparisons were/have been made are just asinine. Everything Sucks! is about a group of high school kids attending Boring High School in 1996. Boring is an actual city in Oregon (twinned with 'Dull, Scotland', and not too far away from 'Happy Valley'...seriously, you can't make this stuff up), with a population hovering close to 7500. I wanted to know the town's reaction to the series, but my email to Netlfix's PR rep for the show went without a response. Contacting the Boring CPO (Community Planning Organization) didn't get me anywhere either. I guess that's the difference between being a credible journalist and a hack like me.
Anyway, the series mainly focuses on Kate and Luke. Kate (Peyton Kennedy, impressive), a sophomore, thinks she's a lesbian and is seriously crushing on a girl in her class. She struggles to fit in with pretty much everyone but not because of her (rumored) homosexuality. She's nicknamed 'Plutonium' (as in stay-away-from) because her father, Ken (Patch Darragh), is the principal. Luke (the awesome Jahi Di'Allo Winston) is a freshman and has a serious crush on Kate. He earnestly strives to gain her interest and love, even knowing that the gossip about her sexual preference may be true. 'A' for effort, Luke.
They are both in the school's AV club, along with a few other dweebs: McQuaid (Rio Mangini), wicked smart way beyond his years, sporting nerdy 90s clothes and a 90s-cool slicked-back coiffure. Tyler (Quinn Liebling), the squeaky-voiced comic relief of the group, lives with an alcoholic step father and struggles to read at a 5th grade level; and Leslie (Abi Brittle), is super religious and secretly crushing on Tyler, who can't take the hint. Overseeing the group is the mellow Mr. Stargrove (series co-creator Ben York Jones - who was born to play this role by the look of it). Clearly, he's the coolest, most unboring Boring High teacher.
The AV club is battling with the overly-dramatic Drama Club. Scott Pocket (Connor Muhl) anchors the school-televised morning announcements along with Jessica Betts (Nicole McCullough); both are a-typical divas. The real pains-in-the-butt, however, are wannabe actors, and part-time couple, prima donna biatch Emaline (Sydney Sweeney - who you will grow to love as this series plays out) and primo uomo douchebag Oliver (a cunning Elijah Stevenson), who clearly missed his calling as a professional douchebag.
Everything Sucks! starts out kind of boring (lol!), but once the jitters work themselves out, and after we finally meet the entire awkward cast towards the end of the first episode, it becomes quite enjoyable. The series is more of a drama than a comedy; I'd say maybe a 60-40 split. I grew to like and care about the characters, even the douchebag. Peyton Kennedy (as Kate) plays her role with dignity and respect and one can hope that her performance inspires real-life LGBTQ youth to be comfortable in their skin. She delivers a powerful message with confidence. The entire cast delivers in style, and if you have a history like any of the characters they portray, you will get emotional. I did.
There's a lot of 90s nostalgia, and a soundtrack that brings back fond memories. Oasis, Tori Amos, Spin Doctors, Space Hog. Each episode runs about 23 minutes, on average. It's the perfect length. I was able to sit through the entire series without getting bored - which bodes well for Netflix because I am a part of the intended demographic (just barely, I graduated high school in 91). Ugh, I feel old.
The comedy is mainly smart, thankfully no slapstick or sight gags. At times I groaned at the jokes, but only because I remember laughing at them when I was a kid. Ugh, I was lame.
The shooting style is like that of Arrested Development - handheld, but not to the point of being nauseating. Tripod-cam would just feel out of sync for this show.
There are so many unanswered questions and the final scene in the season finale leaves the door wide open for another 10 episodes. I miss the show already.
I binged the entire series (4 seasons) one weekend in 2018 (over 1,000 combined minutes in 19 episodes). Black Mirror has been reviewed ad-nauseum, and I have nothing more to add that will influence anyone's viewing decision either way. However, I will offer a brief opine and a selection of the best episodes for your consideration.
Each episode is a self-contained pseudo-science fiction story, running anywhere from 43 minutes to nearly 90 minutes. I can compare it to an updated version of The Twilight Zone, at least that's the first thing I thought of. Except, in Black Mirror the characters aren't really in another dimension per se, they're in the now and all the freaky stuff that happens is 'common' among the population.
Technology, and how it can affect (sometimes adversely) everyday life is the centerpiece of each episode. If you're looking for a feel-good series with predictable plots you're not going to find it in Black Mirror. You'll see the dark side of humanity and what people are capable of when this cool technology is exploited for all the wrong reasons: some of these episodes get really gloomy.
Although each story can stand on its own (you can afford to miss episodes and still know what's going on), I counted least seven chapters that briefly refer to another in the series (like a specific piece of technology, or a quote from a character). If you miss the reference, though, it's not going to totally throw you for a loop.
Among the dark themes, there is some humor. Odd, creepy humor. Don't feel weird or awkward laughing at certain situations that may otherwise be inappropriate. I was horrified after the first episode in season 1 (The National Anthem). Truly sickened, in fact. When I watched it a second time, I giggled like a mad-man. But it's that humor that makes Black Mirror a fun and addictive series to watch. Some of the 'laugh-out-loud' moments, for me, were in seeing justice get served to the deserving. What boundaries will they cross in the next season I wonder?
My favorite episodes are:
Season 1, Episode 3: The Entire History of You (9/10)
Season 2, Episode 2: White Bear (9/10)
Season 2, Episode 4: White Christmas (10/10)
Season 3, Episode 1: Nosedive (9/10)
Season 3, Episode 3: Shut Up and Dance (10/10)
Season 3, Episode 6: Hated in the Nation (9/10)
Season 4, Episode 3: Crocodile (9/10)
Season 4, Episode 6: Black Museum (9/10)
Each episode is a self-contained pseudo-science fiction story, running anywhere from 43 minutes to nearly 90 minutes. I can compare it to an updated version of The Twilight Zone, at least that's the first thing I thought of. Except, in Black Mirror the characters aren't really in another dimension per se, they're in the now and all the freaky stuff that happens is 'common' among the population.
Technology, and how it can affect (sometimes adversely) everyday life is the centerpiece of each episode. If you're looking for a feel-good series with predictable plots you're not going to find it in Black Mirror. You'll see the dark side of humanity and what people are capable of when this cool technology is exploited for all the wrong reasons: some of these episodes get really gloomy.
Although each story can stand on its own (you can afford to miss episodes and still know what's going on), I counted least seven chapters that briefly refer to another in the series (like a specific piece of technology, or a quote from a character). If you miss the reference, though, it's not going to totally throw you for a loop.
Among the dark themes, there is some humor. Odd, creepy humor. Don't feel weird or awkward laughing at certain situations that may otherwise be inappropriate. I was horrified after the first episode in season 1 (The National Anthem). Truly sickened, in fact. When I watched it a second time, I giggled like a mad-man. But it's that humor that makes Black Mirror a fun and addictive series to watch. Some of the 'laugh-out-loud' moments, for me, were in seeing justice get served to the deserving. What boundaries will they cross in the next season I wonder?
My favorite episodes are:
Season 1, Episode 3: The Entire History of You (9/10)
Season 2, Episode 2: White Bear (9/10)
Season 2, Episode 4: White Christmas (10/10)
Season 3, Episode 1: Nosedive (9/10)
Season 3, Episode 3: Shut Up and Dance (10/10)
Season 3, Episode 6: Hated in the Nation (9/10)
Season 4, Episode 3: Crocodile (9/10)
Season 4, Episode 6: Black Museum (9/10)
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