margaret-austin Reviews

Vanished (2006)

Shows promise but needs more character development

[7/10 · 18 October 2006]

I have to confess to originally seeking this out because Gale Harrold is in it - I was a big fan of Brian in Queer As Folk. He doesn't look any older although he's not quite as pretty as he was in QAF. The show is promising. It's a series rather than an episodic drama - think 24 rather than Bones. The plot is moving along nicely, and making a lot more sense than 24. Its big problem is that Gale's character, FBI Agent Kelton, is still two-dimensional after 7 episodes. We don't know how he's feeling. We can guess from the odd flashback to former cases he's worked on but the script needs to allow him to take time out to unburden to another character so that we can better understand what makes him tick. Compare and contrast Bones where we regularly see Jack and Angela or Booth and Brennan sharing thoughts, hopes, fears and concerns. We know little of Kelton's relationships (personal or professional) with the other characters. Not the best show on TV at present (that's probably Battlestar Gallactica although Veronica Mars comes close) but worth watching.

Robin Hood (2006–2009)

An abomination

[1/10 · 18 October 2006]

This is truly awful. It's set in 1192 but includes Tudor buildings. The whole look and feel of the show is far too modern for the period and the producers seem to have randomly changed the spellings of both character names (eg GUY OF GISBURNE) and places (LOXLEY) from previous incarnations of Robin Hood. Notwithstanding these problems,the Sheriff showed promise in the first episode but then Keith Allen is always good. So, I thought I'd watch the second episode but I gave up after only a few minutes. The dialogue was slow and, frankly, dull. Not at all what I'd been expecting from writers of Paul Cornell's calibre. (I haven't been able to establish whether Paul actually had a hand in episodes 1 and 2 so, if he didn't, my apologies for casting aspersions on his writing talents.) If this series takes off, it'll either be due to the quality of Keith Allen's performance or the good looks of Richard Armitage.

Give me Robin of Sherwood any day!