This 21 episode television series, a joint South African and Candadian effort, is less like a traditional TV show (where episodes have a beginning, middle, and end) and plays more like a very long mini-series. Watch Charlie Jade like you are reading a book; each episode is a chapter. Influenced by Sci-fi noir films like Blade Runner, creator Robert Wertheimer was determined to make a science fiction series like nothing that has ever been made before, and he has. Throw away any preconceptions you might have, especially if you're an American. This is nothing like American TV programming. Shot in Cape Town, South Africa, the show, despite it's futuristic and science-fiction edge, is both stylish and surreal and yet also firmly rooted in reality, dealing with real issues like terrorism and the abuses of power by massive conglomerates. It is filled with real people, not pretty models of perfect people. It starts off with a slow, patient pace, which some might find frustrating or boring, but hang in there! By the end of the pilot and the start of the third episode you will be hooked and utterly captivated.
Review of Charlie Jade
