Lincoln Rhyme: Der Knochenjäger

I keep watching the next episode hoping that my ambivalence to this show will dissipate. It has yet to do so. I loved the movie, I never read the books to be honest, so my critiques is less regarding source material and more the show. At first I couldn't put my finger on what bothers me about the show...but unfortunately it comes down to Russel Hornsby. His portrayal of the main character is painful to watch. The timing feels strange, the writing for him is terrible. His stoicism is almost annoying. He is really hard to watch. (This isnt to say I haven't liked Hornsby in other roles, I really blame the back room for this mess)

The writing in general is terrible. They don't allow for any exposition to come naturally, through acting or organic story. Its all shoehorned really awkwardly into some cringe-worthy dialogue.

Why bother to trade on a popular book series and then change half the characters? What possible difference could it have made to keep the caregiver Thom, the forensic guru Mel, the police officer Ron? Why change Sachs' back story to a generic TV show drama trope? And especially the beginning - made up and completely different than the book. Deaver evidently sold out to change not just the characters but his carefully crafted portrayal of a quadriplegic. This show's version has Lincoln all but get up out of bed and dance a jig.

A lot of that was the characters as Deaver wrote them. When you take away characters the (highly successful) author created that are central to the books (ie Thom, Mel) and change the ones backstories that you did keep you are left with this....yet another cop show like all the other cop shows. There is nothing interesting about this show. Putting a man in bed does not create something new or exciting. To make it worse, Russell Hornsby's portrayal of Lincoln Rhyme is just off. Sometimes I'll give shows a chance to get better, but this sadly won't be one of them.

I realize a lot of viewers probably also read Jeffrey Deaver's bestselling books so they will have preconceived notions before watching this. It's not PERFECT but it's good. The cast is terrific but I think it's a bit too ambitious in the pilot episode and it was a bit overwhelming. But episode two is better and more evenly paced. Let's try to judge it based on the SHOW not the books However. I think it has definite potential if it continues getting better. It's interesting.

But I seriously can't stomach Russell Hornsby's smarmy and irritating portrayal of Rhyme. Even the other characters on the show are making excuses and hoping that he will lighten up. I am hopinh he will go through some epiphany eventually becoming a decent human being but I am not holding my breath.

The implausible and convoluted clue-solving is fine though.