bobn-10809
Joined Jun 2020
Welcome to the new profile
We're still working on updating some profile features. To see the badges, ratings breakdowns, and polls for this profile, please go to the previous version.
Reviews14
bobn-10809's rating
Love the series, rewatched more than 'lots'.
...BUT... there are two criticisms:
There is no 'edginess' developing as impending doom approaches although Flanigan does a great job as Shepard as does Momoa as Ronan (a glimpse of what he has to offer).
The last season finishes with a whimper.
Overall, loved the series, but it could have gone for another 1-3 seasons if the writing had more depth.
...BUT... there are two criticisms:
- The lack of character development. The obvious one is the Rodney McKay character... perpetually arrogant and hysterical coward incapable of mastering basic weapons skills. No capacity for self-reflection and awareness... after 2 1/2 seasons I found the character irksome... I put that down to poor writing and direction. Hewlett does a great job given the character constraints.
- The relentless moralising by the Dr Beckett character ("I have sworn an oath and have a duty to do no harm").
- ...and similar criticism of the Tayla and Weir characters.
There is no 'edginess' developing as impending doom approaches although Flanigan does a great job as Shepard as does Momoa as Ronan (a glimpse of what he has to offer).
The last season finishes with a whimper.
Overall, loved the series, but it could have gone for another 1-3 seasons if the writing had more depth.
I am a big fan of the world Jordan created and this adaptation is both excellent and irksome at the same time, but then the same is true of so many adaptations (The Game Thrones being the most recent but likewise for series like the Shannara Chronicles and the Conan books and so many others).
The books are irksome in the sense that the middle volumes (6-9) lacked the pace of the earlier books with too much focus on clothing fashions and not on plot lines... they could have been easily condensed into 2 novels. The 'chapter written by Sanderson regain the rhythm, tension and excitement factors that made the first five so engrossing.
The series so far lacks any real backstory about the Dark One and the 'Breaking of the World' and it lacks any sense of geography (where is the Two Rivers, Falme, where were the Sanchean from, the Sea People etc., etc.). These two things would have given some better context.
That aside it is excellent, worth the effort and I suspect that for those who have never read the books it would be a rollicking yarn just like GoT.
While the acting is really good overall I think the direction of the lead characters presented those characters as immature and hysterical teenagers rather than adults, albeit naive.
As it stands the series is If you are new to the story and haven't read the books it is well aimed for the young adult and the young of heart who like high fantasy (unlike the GoT series it doesn't have the graphic sex and violence depicted on TV).
If you expect a play-by-play of the books you will be disappointed, if you enjoyed the books you will need to accept the divergences and the practicality of condensing 14 intricate books into what is (hopefully) 5-6 seasons of ripping and gripping high fantasy.
To me? ...a must watch.
The books are irksome in the sense that the middle volumes (6-9) lacked the pace of the earlier books with too much focus on clothing fashions and not on plot lines... they could have been easily condensed into 2 novels. The 'chapter written by Sanderson regain the rhythm, tension and excitement factors that made the first five so engrossing.
The series so far lacks any real backstory about the Dark One and the 'Breaking of the World' and it lacks any sense of geography (where is the Two Rivers, Falme, where were the Sanchean from, the Sea People etc., etc.). These two things would have given some better context.
That aside it is excellent, worth the effort and I suspect that for those who have never read the books it would be a rollicking yarn just like GoT.
While the acting is really good overall I think the direction of the lead characters presented those characters as immature and hysterical teenagers rather than adults, albeit naive.
As it stands the series is If you are new to the story and haven't read the books it is well aimed for the young adult and the young of heart who like high fantasy (unlike the GoT series it doesn't have the graphic sex and violence depicted on TV).
If you expect a play-by-play of the books you will be disappointed, if you enjoyed the books you will need to accept the divergences and the practicality of condensing 14 intricate books into what is (hopefully) 5-6 seasons of ripping and gripping high fantasy.
To me? ...a must watch.
For me 'Lie to Me' was a fantastic and very original series.
But ultimately it needed some new characters to keep the interest up.
Tom Roth was, as usual, outstanding and so much fun to watch him having fun... maybe they should have killed him off but there was no obvious 'inheritor' that had been introduced, or killed off Gillian or Emily and exposed his emotional side.
Perhaps the story lines did become a bit stale and less creative.
The finale could have been so much better, which highlights the lack of creativity from the writers... it's lime everyone got bored and looking to do a 'Loker'.
But Is was a better way to finish than another awesome show, 'The Mentalist' dragging out the series after Red John was killed off...
Anyway, Lie to Me was fun while it lasted.
But ultimately it needed some new characters to keep the interest up.
Tom Roth was, as usual, outstanding and so much fun to watch him having fun... maybe they should have killed him off but there was no obvious 'inheritor' that had been introduced, or killed off Gillian or Emily and exposed his emotional side.
Perhaps the story lines did become a bit stale and less creative.
The finale could have been so much better, which highlights the lack of creativity from the writers... it's lime everyone got bored and looking to do a 'Loker'.
But Is was a better way to finish than another awesome show, 'The Mentalist' dragging out the series after Red John was killed off...
Anyway, Lie to Me was fun while it lasted.