Crossovers work when you have two series which are reasonably well matched. A good example might be the CSI American series of 20 years ago when years ago CSI Las Vegas did crossovers with both CSI Miami and CSI NY. By definition, all those series are similar so a crossover works. It makes sense and the result was fine.
Or a crossover between two legal series (e.g. The old Boston Legal maybe with LA Law) would certainly work.
But when series is a fairly serious drama with only the occasional touch of humour (i.e. Astrid) while the other series seems to have been intended as a comedy with the occasional hint of drama (Alexandra), it is a mismatch that is going to be very hard to pull off.
(I'll have to admit I've never seen the Alexandra series prior to viewing this so can only surmise it is a comedy based on what was shown in this movie length farce)
Predictably then, this crossover between a drama series and a comedy series didn't work and the result was terrible to the point of being offensive to the viewer.
I did read one interview with Sara Mortenside before viewing this which immediately rang alarm bells. She commented that having to pair up with the Alexandra show meant that they had to adjust to the "lighter" tone set by that show. I had two immediately thoughts when I read that and both were of the "oh oh, that's ominous" nature.
Firstly, that phrasing suggested that meant that the Astrid team had to "dumb down" to match the tone of the other series. By "lighter", I understand now that she meant a rating of something between "suitable for a six year old" and "absolute rubbish". Sadly, on watching the movie we confirmed that dumbing down was exactly the right phrase. Dumb it certainly was.
My second reaction to reading the interview was that Sara seemed to be apologizing in advance to those in the Astrid world for the result. And, yes, on viewing this I thought that an apology was both appropriate and required.
Watching the usually serious Astrid and Raphelle characters suddenly behaving like comedic characters simply doesn't work. Yes, Astrid and Raphaelle have their "lighter" moments but those moments are never glaringly stupid as was the case here. Why did the writers think it would having the two characters behave in ways that wasn't consistent with their behaviours in their Paris based world? Beyond belief really.
One can only hope this won't be attempted again as it was a disaster.
For anybody considering viewing this I can only advise that if you are coming in from the Astrid world that you stay away. Far far away so as not to spoil your understanding and image of the Astrid et Raphaelle world.
Fortunately, viewing this nonsense was simply a prelude to watching series 5 of Astrid so I can only hope that the characters return to "normal" behaviour next week. I just wish I could erase the 90 minutes of this crossover from my mind.
If you are coming in from the Alexandra side and contemplating viewing this, I don't know what to suggest. If this is typical of the Alexandra series, then ... well, I won't put my thoughts on your viewing taste in writing.
I'll leave it there.
