Bellevue

I really enjoyed this story in spite of all the unexpected twists and turns. Complicated, weird and even gory at times, but with so many deeply-felt emotions and a real understanding of family relationships (somewhat extreme and perverted here). The setting is wonderfully eerie too with the mine and the woods, the darkness and the snow at the end. The acting is wonderful. I had only seen Anna Paquin in the film "the Piano", and she has retained the passionate intensity of that little girl. Allen Leech is very moving in all his clumsy warmth.I didn't know any of the Canadian actors, but I found their portrayal of these troubled characters very believable. The young girl who plays Daisy is so cute and vibrant she manages to lighten up the dark mood. So much better than many popular shows, it is complex and moving!

I awaited the first episode with high hopes after seeing Paquin knock it out of the park in True Blood, but was very disappointed to say the least. "Annie Ryder" plays just like "Sookie Stackhouse" on a bad day, minus the southern accent. Same facial expressions and body language, same use of words, vocal tones and speech pauses. It doesn't look like Paquin has a real handle on the character, or that she put a lot of effort into really finding that character in herself.

The writing and the other actors (except for Shawn Doyle) did not impress either. The characters feel wooden, the dialogue doesn't flow and it seems like the writers tried to cram way too much plot background and backstory into the first episode. None the characters appears to actually care about any of the other characters, except, again, for Doyle's character Peter Welland.

And for what it's worth, while I had read that the creators found the giant slag heaps at the filming location picturesque and beautiful, all I could think about when they came into view was that some mining company should be sued for creating such a hideous mess of the landscape.

All in all, not one of CBC's finer efforts so far. I'll watch a few more episodes to see how it goes, but my expectations have now hit bottom.

Just finished the first season (will there be more?) and I LOVED it. At times some of the characters were confusing and seemed of little consequence to the finale and the whole story, but if you had patience, enjoyed the mystery and creepy feeling of the setting, for me, the ending was great. Fantastic. And nothing I saw coming. An extra point for that. Unfortunately I will admit again that some characters who seemed insignificant were very significant in the end, the tale that needed telling and the old murder that was solved, so I understand that some viewers were frustrated. Overall I found the major players diverse enough in personality that it kept me glued for the whole season. Every time I see Anna Paquin I still think of "The Piano," despite how long ago that film came out. All grown up, I still see that little girl's face. I have to give this show 8/10 stars. It kept me stuck on CBC after Murdoch, and that's impressive.

I find the premise and plot very interesting and I am eager to see how the show develops. The characters however aren't very interesting but I feel like the plot makes up for it. My only negative about the show, which is a huge negative, is Anna Paquin's acting. It's just bad. The way she delivers most of her lines is just off. Her inflections often miss the mark. She often says her lines without enough feeling. It's hard to watch. Not everyone will notice these things about her acting. But if you generally pick up on bad acting you most likely will notice that Anna's acting is not up to par with the rest of the cast.

Bellevue (2017): Right from its posters to its trailers,Bellevue promised a great thrilling series.After Cardinal,which is a great investigative thriller,I expected a lot from another detective thriller.So how is it? Plot: Bellevue is a mystery set in a small town with a lot of 'good people' who 'live right' and take it upon themselves to make sure the neighbors do too. Driving the series is Detective Annie Ryder (Anna Paquin), a cop whose intense and brazen personality has always been at odds with her hometown. When a transgender teen goes missing, Annie dives in to unravel the disappearance that suggests foul play, despite finding herself in a difficult position as she must cast suspicion on people she has known all her life. As the case pulls her further away from her family, she is also confronted by a mysterious person from her past with disturbing answers and a terrifying need to get inside her head.

My Review: The phrase "edgy and eerie" has been used repeatedly by CBC to describe the series, but that doesn't do it justice.

Bellevue has one of the most intriguing potential in recent times and has all the opportunities to make a masterpiece thrilling series but all of it was misused to bring us a boring messy series.The problem with the series is that it always seems like a lot is going on in the town and we try to keep track of all those but unfortunately most of the time we don't succeed.All the episodes features only three types of scenes.One is where Anna talks with her family,second is where she talks with Police colleagues and third is where she talks with town people.Most of the series is just talking and driving and even roaming in forest.

Direction and dialogues are biggest drawback of the series.We even feel like laughing whenever any important discussion is going on.Acting is mediocre.Cinematography is the only part which is impressive.

So,Bellevue is one of the most disappointing TV series I had even seen.A wastage of strong potential.

My Rating 5.25/10