Amazon Prime trailer:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nKRJGXgK0Q This is not a good show.
And the problem is its star, Maggie Q. She's a cold character with no charisma, the kind of good-looking person in your office who gets the job done but you don't want to hang with after hours. One whose affect is almost always downbeat. Is looking to be offended. Who takes her job too seriously. You just can't warm up to her.
Which is a far cry from Titus Welliver as Bosch. Leave him out of the equation and you've got something barely a notch above network television. As a matter of fact, I had to convince Felice to continue. I guess I just wanted to see Titus/Bosch reappear, which had been promoted in the press, and he does come on, but very briefly.
But it's worse than Maggie Q. The supporting cast is not in the league of Crate and Barrel, who lift the show at the funeral, and Mo Bossi, who also appears here, however briefly. The supporting cast in the original "Bosch" was outstanding. Now you've got the B-team.
What we've got here is a ragtag bunch of losers in the basement trying to solve cold cases. Sound like "Dept. Q"? Well not only is Maggie Q no Matthew Goode, who is capable of showing his emotions and being 3-D, "Dept. Q" proves how much better foreign TV is than domestic. I laughed at the Emmy nominations. All that American dreck. And then there was that article that said "Adolescence" should immediately be given all the awards, which I agree with, it is the best show of the year BY FAR! Then again, America doesn't do well with the nitty-gritty, they see TV and movies as escape, whereas I prefer to see life reflected back upon me, I want to be made to contemplate and think. And then there are those saying they've stopped in the middle of "Adolescence." But you must continue, every episode raises new questions.
I would have been happy if they'd made Titus/Bosch shows ad infinitum, forever. His attitude. His prickliness. His occasional warmth and protectiveness. His evidencing humanity when you least expect it. But Amazon said NO MAS! They killed off the original "Bosch" and we got "Bosch: Legacy," but now Titus has ridden into the sunset.
As for the supporting cast...
We've got Michael Mosley as Ted Rawls, who was absolutely phenomenal as the preacher in "Ozark," but here he is two-dimensional, his character is not fleshed out. Why is he so prickly? Why is he there to begin with, since his private security business is doing so well?
Rebecca Field as the volunteer ultimately shines. At first she seems one note, but unlike Maggie Q she can show emotion, she's a lot more alive and fun.
I could list the rest of the characters, but I'd rather just focus on one, John Carroll Lynch as Thomas Laffont. Lynch evidences a warmth and humanity that he normally doesn't show in roles. I liked him, whereas usually his characters are off-putting.
As for the plotting...
It's traditional Connelly. In that you know the original suspects won't prove to be the culprits. There are ten episodes, and you've got to live through the twists and turns. Which is ultimately the only reason I stayed with the series, purely for plot.
But all the bells and whistles, the zings of the Welliver shows, are absent. The cop captain is so forgettable I can't even remember his name. Cardboard.
Remember the early "Bosch"? With police chief Irving? Unfortunately Lance Reddick has passed, but so has the intensity, the sense of danger and risk, you just can't get as involved with "Ballard."
They got a new Darren in "Bewitched," can they please get a new Renée Ballard?
This has got nothing to do with sexism. We've already had successful female cop shows. Both Cagney AND Lacey were warmer and more fleshed-out than Maggie Q's Ballard here. How about someone feisty. There are numerous actresses who could do well with this role. Why in the hell did they employ Maggie Q?
And while I'm at it, the writing is definitely from the B-team but what was most offensive was the cuts. Now that Amazon Prime is all about advertising the show fades to black constantly, one time literally in the middle of a scene! Got to make holes for those commercials. We paid the $2.99 to get rid of them, but still...the cuts were jarring.
"Ballard" is a formulaic product made for TV. This is what "The Sopranos," et al, were a rebellion against. Reinvent the formula and apply the art and techniques of film. "Ballard" just fills space. Couldn't anybody blow the whistle and get rid of Maggie Q? They do this in film, not regularly, but when an actor doesn't work out, they fire them. Maggie Q should be fired immediately, before the next season is shot. And can they get a showrunner who cares?
I doubt it.
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