British TV!
Jan. 22nd, 2013 04:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
next_to_normalI've been spending some quality time with my BFF, Netflix streaming, lately, and watched Wallander and Party Animals. Anyone else ever seen them? They came to my attention primarily because of who's in them (Tom Hiddleston and Matt Smith, respectively) but I ended up quite enjoying them even aside from that. They're also both fairly low time commitments, which is nice. I always feel quite daunted starting something that's seven 22-episode seasons long.
Wallander is based on a Swedish novel series that is centered around a police detective in Ystad. There's also a Swedish TV adaptation, but I have not watched it. The British version stars Kenneth Branagh as Kurt Wallander, and in the normal TV format, it would probably feel like any other procedural, but it's structured like the Sherlock series, where each season is three 90-minute episodes. Each episode feels almost like its own movie, and the longer running time gives both the characters and the cases room to breathe.
In a bit of a departure from the typical crime drama, Wallander experiences an incredible amount of empathy for the victims of these crimes. Unlike the jaded CSI or Law & Order ilk, who barely bat an eye at gruesome murders, Wallander is horrified by the violence he encounters and is always deeply affected by each case. They are not mere puzzles or games; the reflection they provoke is of an existential nature and leaves Wallander with a residual sadness that never quite dissipates.
Unsurprisingly, it is far too easy for Wallander to get too wrapped up in his work. His personal life in the first two seasons is rather bleak, having separated from his wife and alienated his adult daughter, Linda. Some of the show's most interesting arcs, however, are Wallander's relationships with Linda and with his ailing father, a painter with Alzheimer's who paints the same landscape over and over. It's neat the way the cases in each season tie into a theme that relates to those arcs - all three of the first season's episodes involve young women, while Wallander's relationship with his daughter is most prominent. Then, in season two, as Wallander is dealing with his father's death, he has three cases involving elderly people. This is seemingly intentional on the part of the British series, since they've switched around the order from the novels.
Unfortunately, I found the third season to be oddly inconsistent in tone and quality. The "theme" of those episodes is relationships, and Wallander suddenly has a new girlfriend on each case, in stark contrast to the first two seasons. Coupled with more cliched cases and a broadening scope (one episode is set in Latvia and involves the mob), it's a distinct shift to a much more conventional genre. The season also suffers from the absence of Wallander's father and Tom Hiddleston's Magnus, as well as the sidelining of Anne-Britt, the lead female character, for much of the season. (One of my favorite things about the show was that Kurt and Anne-Britt have a great working partnership and friendship without a hint of UST. She's married with children and he's a hot mess she's not gonna touch.)
On the whole, I would enthusiastically and unreservedly recommend the first two seasons. If you're as sucked in as I was, you'll probably want to watch the third as well - and it's still good, just not quite the same. Word is there will be a fourth (and final) season coming... sometime? I will probably watch that, too.
Party Animals, on the other hand, seems like a show that was made especially for me. It's centered around two brothers - the younger (Matt Smith) is a researcher for a Labour MP, and the older brother is a lobbyist who ends up falling for a Tory candidate while he's running her opponent's campaign. *flails* Politics! British people! Siblings! Matt Smith being a doof! What's not to love?
Only that there's not more of it! It's only eight episodes (normal length ones), and presumably was canceled since it ends rather unsatisfyingly without resolving some important things. What is there, however, is delightful and clever, and it had me so invested in the characters in such a short time. It's more Battleground than The West Wing, and I've no idea how accurate it is, not being involved in British government, but it's a lot of fun if you're interested in politics. And maybe even if you're not? I am a terrible judge of such things.
But it has this:
Matt Smith is dancing, your argument is invalid.
Wallander is based on a Swedish novel series that is centered around a police detective in Ystad. There's also a Swedish TV adaptation, but I have not watched it. The British version stars Kenneth Branagh as Kurt Wallander, and in the normal TV format, it would probably feel like any other procedural, but it's structured like the Sherlock series, where each season is three 90-minute episodes. Each episode feels almost like its own movie, and the longer running time gives both the characters and the cases room to breathe.
In a bit of a departure from the typical crime drama, Wallander experiences an incredible amount of empathy for the victims of these crimes. Unlike the jaded CSI or Law & Order ilk, who barely bat an eye at gruesome murders, Wallander is horrified by the violence he encounters and is always deeply affected by each case. They are not mere puzzles or games; the reflection they provoke is of an existential nature and leaves Wallander with a residual sadness that never quite dissipates.
Unsurprisingly, it is far too easy for Wallander to get too wrapped up in his work. His personal life in the first two seasons is rather bleak, having separated from his wife and alienated his adult daughter, Linda. Some of the show's most interesting arcs, however, are Wallander's relationships with Linda and with his ailing father, a painter with Alzheimer's who paints the same landscape over and over. It's neat the way the cases in each season tie into a theme that relates to those arcs - all three of the first season's episodes involve young women, while Wallander's relationship with his daughter is most prominent. Then, in season two, as Wallander is dealing with his father's death, he has three cases involving elderly people. This is seemingly intentional on the part of the British series, since they've switched around the order from the novels.
Unfortunately, I found the third season to be oddly inconsistent in tone and quality. The "theme" of those episodes is relationships, and Wallander suddenly has a new girlfriend on each case, in stark contrast to the first two seasons. Coupled with more cliched cases and a broadening scope (one episode is set in Latvia and involves the mob), it's a distinct shift to a much more conventional genre. The season also suffers from the absence of Wallander's father and Tom Hiddleston's Magnus, as well as the sidelining of Anne-Britt, the lead female character, for much of the season. (One of my favorite things about the show was that Kurt and Anne-Britt have a great working partnership and friendship without a hint of UST. She's married with children and he's a hot mess she's not gonna touch.)
On the whole, I would enthusiastically and unreservedly recommend the first two seasons. If you're as sucked in as I was, you'll probably want to watch the third as well - and it's still good, just not quite the same. Word is there will be a fourth (and final) season coming... sometime? I will probably watch that, too.
Party Animals, on the other hand, seems like a show that was made especially for me. It's centered around two brothers - the younger (Matt Smith) is a researcher for a Labour MP, and the older brother is a lobbyist who ends up falling for a Tory candidate while he's running her opponent's campaign. *flails* Politics! British people! Siblings! Matt Smith being a doof! What's not to love?
Only that there's not more of it! It's only eight episodes (normal length ones), and presumably was canceled since it ends rather unsatisfyingly without resolving some important things. What is there, however, is delightful and clever, and it had me so invested in the characters in such a short time. It's more Battleground than The West Wing, and I've no idea how accurate it is, not being involved in British government, but it's a lot of fun if you're interested in politics. And maybe even if you're not? I am a terrible judge of such things.
But it has this:
Matt Smith is dancing, your argument is invalid.
no subject
Date: Jan. 23rd, 2013 01:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Jan. 23rd, 2013 01:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Jan. 23rd, 2013 01:26 am (UTC)Well, they didn't renew it for a second series. But my impression is that on British TV they normally finish filming the entire series before they broadcast any of it, so mid-season cancellations on the American model don't really happen. Not to mention that series are normally a lot shorter: 6-8 episodes per year not 22 of them!
Also, you changed your name!
no subject
Date: Jan. 23rd, 2013 01:41 am (UTC)Also, you changed your name!
I... did? Like, two years ago...?
no subject
Date: Jan. 23rd, 2013 09:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Jan. 23rd, 2013 02:25 pm (UTC)