Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector

I watch a lot of the European crime mini series genre and I think it's ruining me for American tv. Much like last season's "Prodigal Son" I was eager to watch the premier of this new serial killer hunt show and, just like "Prodigal Son" I was very disappointed. So many of these shows attempt to be all things to all people and take their design from 10 other shows all combined and repackaged as a "new" show. I'm not going to go into a plot synopsis as I think it's been covered here and in the book and film, so I will get straight to my impressions of the show. First of all - too much cast. It's hard work keeping track of all of them. Way too many background players, "team" members in various roles assisting the bed-bound Lincoln Rhyme. Other shows do these various roles with one person per job - this has at least 2 per. The exception being Rhyme's hovering nurse who spends her time pursing her lips and shaking her head while she takes Rhyme's vital signs. (Prediction, she will either end up needing to be being rescued or will surprise us all with her previously unforeseen toughness.) Next, the show foreshadows way too heavily and loudly. If you are introduced to a new character who is emotionally connected to main cast, odds are really good that they will need to be saved within the next 15 minutes. The use of "emotional flaws" to humanize main characters is also telegraphed loudly and comes into use as a plot device within the next 15 minutes also. Lastly, and I have seen this mentioned in other online reviews, this show is crazily unbelievable. There is no reality to their portrayal of the NYC police and it seems to exist in some alternative dimension. It actually has the feel of a super hero/comic book movie with the rapid fire clue, chase, find, repeat activity that occurs. I'd also like to mention that the over-use of CGI to illustrate Lincoln Rhyme's thought processes is boring and uninteresting. Taking a page from "The Alienist" Rhyme has pre-1900's New York City maps, geology and history in a giant library inside his head so every clue must be sketched out to demonstrate it's source. If there was any explanation as to why the main protagonist The Bone Collector uses these points of reference and is thus so clearly matched with nemesis Rhyme I missed it. I know I will watch a few more episodes to see if it improves and I hope it does. If it does I will edit this, but like "Prodigal Son" I do not hold out great hope.

This series really misses out on the chance to recreate some amazing people that appear in Jeffrey Deavers Lincoln Rhyme. I have no problem with changing the race of the characters but I think you need to keep it consistent If Rhyme is black I think Sachs should be black also not that there is anything wrong with interracial couples but that nowhere this story lies. None of the characters in the tv series have the little quirks that make them so compelling. Sachs has no arthritis,no Mustang that she loves to drive fast,red hair and she does not seem to falling for Rhyme the way it is in the books. And don't get me started on what they have done to poor Tom. The carekeeper they have in the series is interesting and I like her but if you are representing someone's writings don't you have an obligation to keep the people consistent with the way they are in the books. Tom from the books is one of the more interesting characters in the book and I would like to have seen him in the series. I think they have done a good job in capturing Rhymes personality,the actor does an amazing job capturing his disregard for people's feeling and over all misanthrope. Maybe going forward they will add some more depth to the characters and give Sachs the amazing personality she displays in the novels.

The way the character is written and acted is really annoying. I like the show at certain levels but overall not great.

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.

NBC did bad with this one. Real bad. Its such a shame. The atmosphere, the slow build up, the dark and gritty sides of New york its all non-existent. The show is so fast pased things just swoshes by. It all becomes unreal and even cheesy at many points. So thats the key words here; TOO FAST! This story would have been awesome on the hand of for ex HBO...