Three shows are very definitely in the “good-to-very good” category: Dept. Q… a unique police procedural in which the entire first season of nine one-hour episodes is about one “cold case” and its impact on the lives of the show’s principal characters. The whole thing, complete with interesting stylistic choices of revealing flashbacks, is set in Scotland, and more likely than not you will want to employ your subtitle option as the brogues can get rather thick.
Englishman Matthew Goode plays the fish out of water police officer who leads this eclectic band of sleuths. It is on Netflix, and it is well worth your time.
Jessica Biel leads the cast of The Better Sister, an interesting idea for a most provocative character-driven mystery series. Elizabeth Banks is Biel’s polar opposite sibling and Amazon Prime just may have a hit on its hands with this (I presume) limited series.
The two leading women are solid, but I found the remainder of the cast to be, at best, somewhat sub-standard, save for Kim Dickens as Detective Guidry and John Finn as her boss. The series sags a bit mid-way but picks up the pace towards the end. The writing is a bit uneven and the direction pedestrian. The fact that it works as well as it does is a tribute to the leading actors and, just maybe, the fact that my old series, Cagney & Lacey, is referenced three or four times in dialogue. What can I say? I am easily seduced.
Among the “good” is the particularly good A French Village, a period drama taking place after France’s capitulation to the German army in 1940. An interesting, different take on what would then soon become WWII. (I know, I know… Google says WW II began with the German invasion of Poland in 1939, but how is it called a “WORLD war” when not one country in the entire Western Hemisphere would be involved until the end of 1941?) Onward: while A French Village was first shown in France in 2009 it can now be seen here in the US on Amazon Prime, or for free on some PBS outlets. It is that rare series that combines good staging, photography, acting, and writing. Well worth your time.
Finally, in the “even better than very good” category is one of the best of the Cagney & Lacey writing staff, Terry Louise Fisher. Terry died June 10, way too young at the age of 79 in Southern California. My memoir, Cagney & Lacey… and Me, has many references to Ms. Fisher to whom I owe a great deal. A true professional who was diligent, hardworking, smart, and talented. She is the third Rosenzweig alumni to pass this month, and this is the fourth obit I have felt compelled to write this week. Hopefully, it is the last. *See below.
The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window falls in the “bad” category… even though it stars the generally terrific Kristen Bell. It is on Netflix, and I suggest you avoid it.
The “ugly” is also on Netflix and is titled Kleo… a German spy “thriller” with a perfectly awful, and inordinately unattractive, cast. The series is set around the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall, but that is not the only structure which collapses in this sure-to-disappoint TV series. As if to add insult to injury, the dubbing job into English is even worse than any recently seen; and, trust me, that is an extremely low bar.
Revisiting Etoile proved worthwhile to this viewer. As stated in my initial review, it is not for everyone, but it is, at the very least, smart and stimulating. I was surprised to learn that the bosses at Amazon have cancelled the show, even before the already ordered season two.
The “surprise” for me at the early termination was not because of the cancellation of the show itself … I get (though it disappoints) that this series is at a denominator well above the usual standard for TV execs when ordering something into production in the first place… my surprise is that Amazon would risk the wrath of creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and, her husband, Daniel Palladino…arguably the two very best producers of anything on television in a generation, whether on a network or one of these premium platforms.
For now, before revisiting the Palladino’s mega hit, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, a show I admired more than almost any that comes to mind, I will content myself with finishing the (yet-to-be-seen-by-me) last half of the team’s, just this side of spectacular, 153 episodes of The Gilmore Girls.
Follow Barney at: www.cagneyandlacey.com
https://www.facebook.com/CagneyAndLacey
https://twitter.com/CagneyandLacey
To purchase “Cagney & Lacey and Me” go to Amazon, or Apple Books. For a personalized/autographed copy, go to: http://www.cagneyandlacey.com/products-1/merchandise