Are you watching Line of Duty? I’m not. I lie - I did watch the first episode of the current series but gave up when I couldn’t see past a bunch of unconvincing actors spouting mouthfuls of acronyms that I didn’t understand and couldn’t be bothered to try. It seemed wooden and silly.
But wow! Last week a wonderfully chilling performance by the superb Anna Maxwell Martin lifted the whole thing to another level. She was magnificent. She must have observed someone in real life who could smile so disturbingly and so ominously. I do hope I never have to come into contact with someone who does that. They could destroy you with that smile.
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What did you think of Fleabag? Did you like it?
I enjoyed it because of the quirky dialogue and the cinematographic charm. (I do use that word even though I’m not sure of the exact meaning.)
One quibble was that the script had the priest uttering ‘fuck’ all the time, perhaps to shock us out of our preconceived assumptions about priests. One assumes that it was a writerly device to indicate that he was up for a bit of unpriestly behaviour. I felt that the script’s reliance on that one word was somehow jarring and a little bit lazy. It turns out he was a conventional chap(lain) after all. It was very entertaining though. I like Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s strip-cartoon way of handling her drama, which is why I also liked Killing Eve.
I’m guessing that “Fleabag’ was spawned from the name Phoebe. I bet JD Salinger spawned a lot of Phoebes back along.
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There isn’t much else good on at the moment, is there? I was captivated by “Follow the Money’ at first, but now it seems to be degenerating into an unsatisfactory flubbery-flabbery (like a deflating balloon) ending. We’ve got the unconvincing, uncharacteristic kind of behaviour with which promising dramas often conclude, disappointingly, as though the writers have run out of steam and as their allotted time expires they just go “that’ll do”. Anyway, we’ll find out on Saturday.
Although I like most of those BBC Four Scandi-noirs I can only remember the beginnings and middles of most of them; in other words the memorable parts. The endings are often so forgettable that one can hardly be certain whether they’ve actually ended at all. Come to think of it a lot of TV dramas are like that. Don’t you think?
I liked 'Fleabag' a lot and - great minds! - I suspected the Fleabag/Phoebe connection too. [Looks to camera and smiles]. I binge-watched both series over two days.
ReplyDeleteThe swearing priest didn't ring true to me either though.
DeleteI only watched "Follow The Money". I'm getting a bit confused as to which non-ethnic Scandinavians are working for whom but does it matter?
ReplyDeleteI don't understand Alf, given his background why did he accept the chief's instruction to 'leave off' certain parties. That surely sets of the corruption bells for the thickest cop, which Alf certainly isn't. What's with Stine? Does she fancy Alf?
I did wonder if it was all becoming about how we are all corruptable. Nicki just slipped from car mechanic to drug dealer, Anna turns from mousey bank cashier into Mrs. Big, (the acting is very good, the story not so believable), and Alf turns a blind eye, for what? A few pills? Keeping his (now compromised) investigation on track? Although these Scandi-noirs can be a bit PC I'm sure that if the BBC made them all the top cops would be black and all the baddies would be white - so predictable and story destroying!