msghall

Starting with the victim doing something totally ridiculous and getting himself killed, you knew right away this is not Silent Witness at its best. The next 20 minutes or so are confusing, scrambled. Some of the characters are more caricatures than anything believable.

A LOT of hysterics and whining bring the whole thing down, too. Not sure who's to blame - the writer or the director - or both but this episode does not live up to the standards Silent Witness has entertained us with for years and years.

It does pick up and get better as it goes along but it took me three tries to get through just the first half hour. There's kind of a dead, if you pardon the expression, feeling about the whole thing. The pacing is funereal. Worst of all, it's so easily forgotten, not staying with you like the best of this show.

Typical Bigelow fare: passable acting (except for Elba who excels); sloppy camerawork; empty, cardboard characters; predictable dialog, etc.

Starts off OK, if not involving, but deteriorates with repetition and a sense of Deja Vu. You know you've seen it all before, perhaps in something with Ben Affleck or Harrison Ford.

The ending is one of those 'you decide' kind of things but this time it just feels like we've been cheated.

It starts off well enough but soon deteriorates and ends up in ridiculous fashion. Main problem is that Knightley hasn't learned that playing hysteria is best served with underacting. Keira is guilty of WAAAAY overdoing it, making her panic seem artificial and annoying. Actors need to realize that underplaying anxiety is the best way to communicate their character's predicament. It doesn't help that the plot is thin and predictable, without any witty dialog or skilled direction.