mrrcave

First thing to note is Maggie Q actually carries off the role very well, albeit with way too much foundation plastered on her face.

Ballard progresses at the good pace, building characters and relationships, and although on episode 2 it looks to be a pretty decent cop show.

One thing that irriates me about cop shows coming from the US, and Ballard is no exception are the cliches, namely: obstructive and arrogant detectives who wave their metaphorical d*cks around in a show of defiance, position or "the badge", the usual corrupt cop, the disfunctional lead who has a history of some trauma or other, the members of the public who blame the police for every mistake and failure in finding a killer of their loved one (cops are only human and are doing the best they can in what appears to be a chaotic and ruthless world), the usual sexism toward females in a lead position - the list goes on and on.

On a final note - Titus Welliver. He can't act and doesn't even try. He's more wooden that a 4 x 2, and having watched Bosch you get the sense he knows he's onto a good thing and really only turns up for the money. Why he was included in this show is beyond me.

I saw this on the off-chance and thought it would be fun to watch, and given Ruby's personality and life - insightful.

I thought Ruby very brave in attempting, and completing the stay on a island, although she did get a substantial leg-up from the chap who is a survivalist.

Ruby did what would be to be a huge, huge tick on a bucket list and I would have liked to have see more by way of exploring the island, battling with food and hunger, more insight as to how absence of human contact and indeed the everyday items we take for granted were missed, forgotten, replaced.

All in all the feeling I was left with was that a opportunity had been missed and the whole experience and coverage was a little insipid.

It was enjoyable and certainly watchable but instantly forgettable.

First off I've experience of autism, so the review is based on experience.

My three main problems with this show are: 1 the lead character who play's Patience is wrong. She doesn't play the part well in the way her mannerisms are and her interactions with other people. It's a poor "homage", if you will, to those who do have Autism. Secondly the Mark Benton is just wrong full-stop. Thirdly the dialogue is at times so very bad it spoils the underlying plot. It is stilted and doesn't flow at all leading to one line statements which should be part of a conversation, but really is just a declaration.

Furthermore Nathan Welsh can' act for toffee.

On a positive note - Laura Fraser is great.

I can only hope the second series, if there is one, improves and the show, which does show a lot of promise, improves a hell of a lot.